HP: Wizardry’s a Hassle, Wand in the Right Hand, Gun in the Left

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The little girl struggled weakly in Glenn's arms, desperately trying to break free to continue her classes. It took quite some convincing from Glenn to get her to bed.

As soon as Hermione was tucked in, her exhausted body gave in and she drifted off to sleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

The magical consumption had been too great. For a first-year student to cast the Marsh Spell was quite demanding. Hermione's success was testament to her talent - few could experience such complete magical depletion at her age.

Of course, it would be better to avoid such situations. While releasing magic could slightly increase one's magical capacity, excessive use could harm the body.

Hermione's desperate desire to save someone, combined with her knowledge, effort and talent, enabled her to cast such advanced transfiguration magic - nearly impossible for someone her age - to save Neville from his fall.

Glenn placed a calming charm on Hermione, who had curled up into a ball in her sleep. He then put his hand on her head, slowly transferring magical energy to her.

Compared to the complex magical circuits required for spell transmission, transferring pure magical energy was remarkably simple. Glenn had been secretly supplying magic to increase her reserves for some time now.

After all, magical capacity was crucial for witches and wizards. Glenn's own magical reserves far exceeded his peers', and unless he was training in alchemy or maintaining his hypersensitivity for long periods, he could barely use it all up.

So why not use this safe and convenient method to expand Hermione's magical capacity bit by bit?

This would make her magical journey much smoother.

Moreover, this method wouldn't damage the core like Glenn's Obscurus outbursts. Gradually transferring magic to a witch or wizard had only benefits, no drawbacks.

Of course, on days when he wasn't planning to transfer magic to the little girl, Glenn would train until his magic was depleted, appearing weak all day.

"What about shortened lifespan?" you ask?

Look what I have here! (pulls out the red stone)

With the Philosopher's Stone in his possession, Glenn had no concerns about reducing his lifespan. Currently, rapidly improving both his and Hermione's abilities was the top priority.

He had originally planned to use the Philosopher's Stone to refine the Elixir of Life for himself, Hermione, and their families. However, Hermione rejected this idea, saying "I'll stay looking like a child for too long - I want to grow up more!" They also carefully considered that the dramatic changes in their families' appearances might expose the existence of the Stone.

They both agreed to wait until they were capable of protecting both the Stone and their families before using the Elixir.

Lost in thought, Glenn continued transferring magic while practicing simple spells with his other hand.

It wasn't until dinner time that Glenn woke Hermione up. He had already prepared dinner in the Room of Requirement.

"Time to get up and eat," Glenn patted the bundle of blankets on the bed. "If you sleep any longer, you won't be able to sleep tonight."

The blankets began to stir and twist, occasionally emitting muffled sounds, until finally Hermione's drowsy head emerged from beneath them.

Glenn carried the sleepy girl to the sofa, helped tidy her messy hair, and they began their meal.

"Strange, why do I feel so light? Shouldn't magical exhaustion leave me weak for quite a while?" Hermione asked suspiciously as she assessed her condition.

She felt no emptiness in her magical core - quite the contrary, it felt fully replenished.

"I got some magical replenishing potion from Snape," Glenn offered as an excuse.

"But it shouldn't work this well, should it? Ah! Have you been faking your weakness after magical exhaustion all this time!?" Hermione's expression grew dangerous as a thought occurred to her.

"...Impossible. Hurry up and eat," Glenn replied calmly.

"?" Hermione tilted her head, her mind still booting up and not fully functional yet. Since Glenn said so, she decided not to think about it further.

After leisurely finishing dinner, Hermione had no desire to take an after-dinner stroll around the castle. Ignoring Glenn's advice, she flopped back into bed.

Glenn pulled her back out.

"You won't be able to sleep tonight at this rate," Glenn sighed. If Hermione slept too much now and became too energetic at night, it wouldn't be good for her growing body's biological clock.

"Ah, alright alright, let's study then." Hermione rolled over like a salted fish and reached out her right hand to Glenn, who understood and pulled out "Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1" from his waist pack to hand to her.

"Thwap." She batted it aside and patted the bed, reaching out again.

"..." Glenn rummaged around, trying to guess which book she wanted.

He pulled out Professor McGonagall's notebook and passed it to her.

Hermione nodded in satisfaction and began reading contentedly.

Glenn said nothing, taking out "Advanced Potion Making" that Snape had given him and studying the spells within.

Today I must master Sectumsempra!

...They studied until curfew...

"That's enough for today. I'll walk you back - it's almost curfew," Glenn closed his book and stood up, picking up his cane.

"Eh, can't I sleep here~" Hermione rolled around on the bed.

Glenn brought over her shoes. "Your roommates will worry if you don't return for the night."

Hermione blushed slightly. "That's true."

She didn't immediately get up to put on her shoes, instead playing around on the bed for a while longer before they both got properly dressed and left the Room of Requirement, heading toward the Gryffindor common room.

"Someone's there," Glenn said as they approached the Fat Lady's portrait, feeling vibrations through his cane. "Three people." He activated his hypersensitivity and moved in front of Hermione, silently flicking out his dagger and holding it in reverse grip.

After careful sensing, he realized it was three young Gryffindor wizards.

"What is it?" Hermione noticed Glenn's alertness and drew her wand.

Glenn remained vigilant but moved his dagger hand behind his back, whispering to Hermione: "It's Neville, Harry, and Ron. They're in front of the Fat Lady's portrait."

"Hm?! Don't they know it's past curfew?" Hermione frowned disapprovingly, selectively forgetting she was also out past curfew. She started forward but Glenn held her back.

"I'll go first," he said resignedly as they approached the three together.

They could faintly hear: "Right then — Neville, listen, we're heading somewhere, see you later."

Just as Neville was about to get up, a stern but young voice suddenly came from the dark corridor: "What do you three think you're doing?"

The three boys jumped in fright, not expecting to be caught right outside the common room. The voice was so sudden that Harry and Ron scrambled back against the opposite wall, trembling, while Neville remained frozen on the ground, his face pale.

Glenn and Hermione emerged from the darkness, with the little girl looking quite angry.

"What are you trying to do? Wander around at night? What if the professors or Filch catch you - do you know how many points you'll lose? My goodness, I can't believe how many points Gryffindor will lose!"

Ron was the first to recover, seemingly embarrassed at being frightened by Hermione. He growled in a low voice, "None of your business!" In his position of being caught, he forgot that Hermione was also out after curfew.

The little girl's delicate eyebrows furrowed as she put her hands on her hips and retorted, "If you three get caught, Gryffindor will lose at least thirty points - how is that not my business? You're being so selfish! You already lose enough points regularly - if it weren't for all the points I earn in class, Gryffindor would be in last place by now!"

Harry quickly stepped forward to explain: "Remember Malfoy from flying class today? He provoked us and challenged us to a wizard's duel in the trophy room tonight. Could you just ignore something like that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "But that's not a reason to wander at night. You should have dealt with Malfoy during the day..."

"Get out of the way," Ron said impatiently, trying to push past Hermione who was blocking the path. That's when he noticed someone else beside her.

He clearly froze, not expecting to see a Slytherin lurking near the Gryffindor common room at this hour.

"What are you doing here? You're... Glenn Hawthorne, right? That Slytherin oddball, Snape's lackey." Ron vaguely remembered often seeing Glenn around his least favorite professor.

"This isn't a place for you. Are you here to spy for Malfoy?" He suddenly grew suspicious and drew his wand.

"..." Glenn was speechless. Was this kid's imagination really this wild?

Spying for information? Draco had been hit with so many Stunning Spells from him that he'd lost count.

"I'm escorting Hermione back," he stated simply, telling the truth.

"Don't lie! You must have followed her to find our common room." Ron didn't believe him at all, his expression serious as he seemed lost in his own deductions.

"..."