The Real Hogwarts Chapter 97: Sharp Granger
It snowed at Hogwarts on Christmas Eve.
Dolohov did not keep them for long. He suddenly returned to the castle early as if he had no purpose at all. He gathered the Mudblood students and rewarded each of them with a small cake. At 9 o'clock, he asked the students to return to the dormitory and then locked the door of the basement.
Hermione's heartbeat had not yet calmed down after returning to the dormitory.
She was very clear about how bold her actions today were. If she failed to find Jon in the place she guessed, she didn't know whether Jon would be able to escape in the end, but she was definitely finished.
Dolohov will definitely hire someone to change her memory and turn her into a robot like Taylor who only knows how to obey and has no other emotions.
But she still made up her mind to do it, because Hermione knew clearly that relying on these children in the castle alone, they would never be able to resist the oppression and rule of the pure-bloods in their entire lives. They needed the help of outside forces.
And Jon is this external force!
As the night deepened, she lay quietly in bed, not feeling sleepy at all, nor having any intention of falling asleep.
This wait lasted until midnight, when there were suddenly three light knocks on her door.
The sound was so subtle that if Hermione hadn't been paying close attention, she might not have even noticed it.
When there was a knock on the door, she immediately sat up from the bed, wearing only a thin and worn nightgown, and opened the door.
The moment the door was opened, Jon walked in very quickly, then turned around and closed the dormitory door again.
The dormitory was located underground, with no windows, and no moonlight could shine in. Only a single candle was lit, dimly illuminating the narrow space.
Jon looked at Hermione and didn't speak first. Instead, he took out the opened Marauder's Map and placed it in the most conspicuous place in front of him. This way he could always observe the movements around the dormitory and prevent Dolohov from making any surprise inspections at night.
After completing the protective work, he looked at the girl who was sitting in front of the wooden bed. She was wearing a gray and worn nightgown, had a thin figure, and was hugging her arms, her body shivering slightly from the cold.
"I suggest you put on some thick clothes first, because I may have a lot of questions for you next."
Although Hermione's face was a little pale due to the cold, her eyes were unusually bright when she looked at Jon.
Seeing her obediently wrapping her slender body with the quilt, Jon took a deep breath and spoke seriously in a voice that only the two of them could hear.
"First of all, I want to thank you for your help tonight, Miss Granger. If it weren't for you, I would have been exposed by now. But I still have a mission to complete, so I must ask some questions clearly, and you must answer me truthfully."
He asked, staring into Hermione's eyes without blinking.
"When did you realize there was something wrong with me?"
"Your first night at the castle," Hermione whispered, blinking.
Jon couldn't help but frown.
"First night?"
"You received a reward from Dolohov for your excellent summer practice performance. When I looked at the sandwich he gave you as a reward, you took the initiative to push it to me." Hermione explained softly, "The Randy I know is very timid and would never take the initiative to do such a thing. The most he would do is not touch the sandwich and let me take it away."
Jon's face turned strange. He had actually been careful about his performance and tried his best to imitate Randy's habits, but who would have thought that a 12-year-old girl could notice these things?
"Just because of this?"
"And your performance in the first spellcasting class. Randy doesn't actually have any talent for hand gestures. Last semester, when he was learning various hand gestures, in order to avoid being punished, he privately asked me to help teach him. But you learned the first cleansing spell in just one class. And I have carefully observed that your hand-waving habits are completely different from his. Although your movements are standard, they seem very unfamiliar, just like a beginner. This is not in line with common sense."
Hermione spoke seriously about the various problems she had discovered with Jon.
The two points before were just her perception of something wrong, but what really made her certain that the current Randy was no longer the same Randy as before was the day when they were preparing to clean the public bathroom together for the second time.
"Before you left, I specifically reminded you not to eat too much at lunch, saying that you cried the first time you cleaned the bathroom in your freshman year, and that you should force yourself to get used to it and slowly accept it. This was actually a lie. Randy hated cleaning public bathrooms the most. For most of the semester, he would cry while working in the bathroom, and the situation only got a little better near the end of the semester."
As Jon listened to the girl's story, he recalled that day and the expression on his face became more and more strange.
So that question that sounded like a casual question was actually a test?
Hermione stared at Jon's face, but there was no complacency on her face. Instead, she continued carefully.
"After I told that lie, your reaction was very calm, as if you completely agreed with what I said. It was at this moment that I was really sure that you were not the previous Randy."
It sounds like Hermione was able to discover Jon's identity purely because of his own carelessness and lack of preparation.
But no one can completely play another person, and Dumbledore did not use Legilimency on Randy. After all, those high-ranking professors in the castle generally would not pay any attention to a timid Mudblood. The classmates around him were all 12-year-old children, and they had known each other for less than a year. No one would have thought that such a young child would have any keen observation skills.
But Hermione just went against common sense. Even though Jon had read the original book and knew that she was actually the most careful of the trio, he never thought that she could be so careful.
It can only be said that such a harsh and difficult environment has catalyzed her growth, making her more cautious and careful, paying close attention to her surroundings at all times.
For example, now, when she was answering questions, she was always paying attention to Jon's expression and emotions, as if she was afraid that if her tone was even a little bit boastful or ostentatious, it would make him unhappy.
Jon rubbed his eyebrows and temporarily put aside the sigh in his heart. He looked at Hermione and continued with his questions.
"It's understandable that you can judge that I'm not the real Randy based on these, but why are you helping me? Aren't you worried that I'm actually helping those pure-blood wizards?"
