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

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"You're going to stop them, aren't you?" Glenn gave up trying to explain, ignoring Ron's hostility as he asked Hermione. Knowing her, anything involving House points would definitely get her involved.

Hermione nodded and said bluntly to the three boys: "Get back to your dormitory right now, or I'll tell Percy tomorrow. He takes House points very seriously these days."

Harry and Ron were completely frustrated - this girl just wouldn't budge.

Neville had finally come to his senses and added: "They're right, Harry, Ron. It's better not to go out at night. My gran says you can get expelled if you're caught wandering Hogwarts at night."

The two boys were alarmed - they hadn't known about this rule. But they had spent all afternoon planning, and if they didn't show up for the duel, they could imagine Malfoy's smug face tomorrow.

They didn't want to be called cowards.

Harry stepped forward and promised: "We'll be careful not to get caught, and besides..." He pointed at the Fat Lady's portrait, "We can't get back in now anyway."

The Fat Lady had gone visiting another portrait and wasn't in her frame, meaning they couldn't enter the common room.

Hermione was shocked. She went to check, and indeed the Fat Lady's portrait was empty.

When she turned back, Harry and Ron had already disappeared.

"Oh!" Hermione stomped her foot in frustration and gave Glenn an accusing look. "Why didn't you stop them?"

Glenn shrugged: "I don't want to get involved, and they seemed so confident - surely they must have some way to avoid the professors' night patrols."

Hermione frantically ruffled her hair: "I know exactly what those two are capable of! I can count the spells they know on one hand. How could they possibly avoid the professors, let alone win a magical duel?"

"Ahhh, our House points!"

Neville timidly spoke up: "Hermione, Glenn, what should we do now?"

"I give up! Let them do what they want - I'm reporting this to Professor McGonagall tomorrow!"

Perhaps hearing the commotion in the corridor, the Fat Lady returned to her frame. She looked surprised to see the three young students: "Oh my, what are you doing out here at this hour?"

Hermione thought quickly and smoothly delivered a string of lies: "I'm so sorry, Fat Lady. When I tried to return, I found you weren't in your frame so I had to wait outside. The same happened to Neville, and Glenn was just worried about me and escorted me back."

She added, "The password is 'Pig snout' - can we go in now?"

She turned to look at the two boys, who both nodded vigorously.

"Oh! Of course, of course, I'm terribly sorry - that was my fault. I'll open right up." Hermione's rapid-fire words hit the Fat Lady like bullets, leaving her rather flustered.

The entrance to the Gryffindor common room appeared in the wall, and Hermione finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well then, Glenn, Neville and I will head in now. Be careful on your way back," she said, shaking her head as if trying to clear away the unpleasantness, managing a smile at Glenn.

"Mm, good night," Glenn nodded.

"Good night." Hermione let Neville climb through the entrance first, then bid Glenn goodnight before entering the Gryffindor common room herself.

She couldn't wait to rant to her roommates about those two stupid boys! They made her so angry!

After watching Hermione return to the common room, Glenn headed straight back to his dormitory.

Entering the room, he saw that Malfoy's group hadn't gone to the trophy room for the duel as Harry and the others had said, and immediately understood.

"Well well, Hawthorne, coming back so late? Did you get lost?" they sneered.

"I ran into Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. They said they were going to duel you in the trophy room," Glenn casually responded while preparing his equipment for the Forbidden Forest.

"Ha! I knew they'd go! I've already told Filch there would be students wandering there tonight. Tomorrow we'll hear the good news about them being thrown out of Hogwarts," Malfoy said smugly.

He noticed Glenn changing clothes and frowned: "What are you up to?"

His only answer was three purple flashes and three blue-white ones.

...The Next Day...

At the Gryffindor table, Hermione stared oddly at Harry and Ron. They looked exhausted but seemed very excited.

They hadn't been caught?

Seeing Hermione's interrogating look, the two boys became rather pleased with themselves. Ron mysteriously told her: "You have no idea what thrilling events we experienced last night! We successfully escaped Filch's capture, and what's more, we found out why Professor Dumbledore forbade us from going to the fourth-floor corridor. It's because..."

Harry quickly covered his mouth: "The fewer people who know about this, the better."

Hermione rolled her eyes. She couldn't care less what was in that corridor - it was already a blessing these two weren't causing trouble. She turned back to continue chatting with Glenn.

Ron was clearly provoked by her indifferent expression. In the heat of the moment, he blurted out: "A monster! There's a monster in there! I bet you've never seen anything like it!" Then he noticed Glenn sitting beside Hermione and exclaimed in shock and anger: "What are you doing here?!"

Harry awkwardly nudged Ron: "You really hadn't noticed? Hawthorne has been eating at our table since the first day of school." How unobservant could he be to not notice this odd addition to Gryffindor table?

Hermione waved dismissively, pretending not to care about any monster.

"You talk as if you actually saw this monster yesterday. Well then, describe what it looks like! With your abilities, you wouldn't stand a chance if you really encountered a monster," Hermione smirked, not forgetting to fish for information even while mocking - clearly influenced by Snape.

Reverse psychology works best on these silly boys!

Ron's face alternated between green and white. The truth was, he and Harry had been stopped by a locked door and hadn't actually seen what the monster looked like. When they tried to kick the door open to hide from Filch, they had only woken up whatever was inside. It had roared once, scaring them half to death, and they had scrambled back to the common room, fortunately avoiding Filch.

But that rotten Malfoy hadn't even shown up for the duel! The lying snake!

Knowing he was in the wrong, Ron fell silent, just muttering under his breath and ignoring Hermione.

Harry was dumbfounded - hadn't they agreed not to tell anyone?!

Watching Hermione immediately relay what she'd just heard to that blind Slytherin and her roommates, Harry wanted to slap Ron.

...

In the end, Hermione didn't report last night's events to Professor McGonagall.

Since no points had been lost, better not to bother the professor - she was busy enough already.

Little Hermione was quite considerate.

What she really cared about now was the approaching September 19th - her and Glenn's twelfth birthday.

The little girl was very excited, not because she was growing another year older, but because Glenn's eyes would finally recover!

Two years! Do you know how we spent these two years?

Emmm though it wasn't so bad, there were lots of reasons to have physical contact with Glenn.

Pah! That's not the point - the point is I'm so happy Glenn will fully recover!

Yes! As a reward for my hard work taking care of him for two years, I need to think carefully about what to make Glenn do for me!

Hehe.