Ron's eyes flashed with hatred. From the beginning, he'd never liked Ciel. After experiencing various events throughout this school year, even knowing he'd initially misunderstood him, it still hadn't changed his aversion—he wished he could draw his wand right now and strike him down.
"But young wizards can't cast spells outside of school freely, let alone attack classmates. If Hogwarts found out, I'd be expelled. Plus, if I injured Ciel, I don't want my family paying his medical expenses."
As Ron frowned, wrestling with these concerns, Nagini's voice sounded again in his mind, offering a suggestion:
"Ron, didn't you see this morning's Daily Prophet news before leaving? Dark wizards have been quite rampant recently. Last night, dark wizards apparently caused quite a commotion in Knockturn Alley. Many escaped afterward. So you could easily disguise yourself as a fleeing dark wizard attacking two students—quite reasonable. This way, whatever you do to them, nobody will know it was you. As for the Ministry's underage magic detection, don't worry—I can temporarily shield you. You can do whatever you want."
Hearing these words, Ron's eyes brightened at first, as if already imagining Ciel trampled beneath his feet. But immediately after, regarding Nagini's suggestion to impersonate a dark wizard, Ron still hesitated. After all, "dark wizard" throughout his years of education represented utterly evil people. The thought of disguising himself as one—something inside him still resisted.
"Dark wizards are all bad people. Should I impersonate them?"
After hesitating briefly, Ron asked Nagini another question, "By the way, Nagini, I've never asked you—are you a dark wizard? Like those dark wizards mentioned in the Daily Prophet being hunted?"
Nagini's reply was absolutely resolute, even tinged with anger at being insulted, "Me? Those dark wizards the newspaper mentioned, fleeing in panic? Ron, comparing me with them is simply insulting! How could I be such a dark wizard? Let me be blunt—in my prime, every dark wizard in the magical world trembled at the sight of me and shuddered at the sound of my name!"
Ron finally relaxed, "You're not a dark wizard—that's wonderful."
Nagini's words about dark wizards trembling before him made Ron recall something, eyes brightening with sudden excitement, "Then you must be a powerful, great wizard—like Dumbledore? I've wanted to ask this forever. Nagini, who's more powerful—you or Dumbledore?"
This question made Nagini pause briefly. Then a voice sounded in Ron's mind, "Dumbledore—we're evenly matched. Truthfully, I'm stronger than him in quite a few magics."
Ron took a deep breath, his heart pounding rapidly, "That means I'm receiving guidance from a great wizard comparable to Dumbledore?"
Nagini's voice was full of encouragement, "Yes, Ron. That's why I said you're the most special young wizard—the chosen child."
Moments later, having recovered from his excitement, Ron no longer objected to Nagini's suggestion. He lurked in the alley beside the sweets shop, using Transfiguration to conjure a black hooded robe, quietly waiting for Ciel and Hermione to emerge.
Meanwhile, Hermione found a spot in the sweets shop with Ciel. After ordering several desserts, she lowered her voice, eagerly telling him, "Did you see today's news? This morning before I left, the Daily Prophet arrived—it said many dark wizards were fleeing in the magical world, even offering rewards for escaped dark wizard leads. The magical world recently—I really don't know what's happening. First the Forbidden Forest incident, then dark wizard riots—not peaceful at all. Good thing we're meeting in the non-magical world—we shouldn't worry about these things."
After Hermione finished, Ciel finally asked, "By the way, Hermione, you said you had a major magical linguistics discovery—what was it? You really kept me in suspense—that's not your usual style."
Hearing this, Hermione's expression became even more excited, with obvious pride, "A remarkable discovery needs to be kept secret at first. Do you think I'm someone who can't resist blurting out correct answers to any question?"
Ciel's expression looked somewhat strange. If not for this, where did Hermione's "Know-It-All" nickname come from? Wasn't it because she couldn't help commenting on any discussion, earning this nickname? Only Hermione's genuinely extensive knowledge eventually turned this originally derogatory nickname into universally acknowledged praise at Hogwarts.
He silently counted five seconds. When he'd only reached three, Hermione couldn't hold back:
"I think you must have read that classic paper, 'On the Relationship Between Soul Essence and Magical Languages.' If you read it, you'd definitely discover—though you learned Parseltongue from Harry, you can only learn its pronunciation and use it to converse with snakes, but you're far from possessing Parseltongue's unique dark magic power or its ability to control most snakes. The paper explains why—magical languages are intrinsically tied to soul essence."
"Dragon speech—only dragon souls can wield its power. Mermish, Gobbledegook—these magical languages are almost all the same. Parseltongue is similar. It's so rare precisely because the magical world's first known Parselmouth—Herpo the Foul—performed certain dark magic transformations on his own soul. Afterward, he gained true Parseltongue ability. Herpo's bloodline has been passed down through generations, each descendant carrying such soul characteristics to varying degrees."
"Harry's bloodline, traced back, should relate to Herpo the Foul. You lack such a bloodline and corresponding soul characteristics, so you're naturally unable to wield this magical language's true power."
Hearing Hermione's explanation, he had an epiphany. Previously when discovering his Parseltongue effects were minimal compared to Harry, he'd suspected he lacked some key characteristic. Now it seemed to be what Hermione described—soul essence, soul characteristics.
But after understanding this, his heart sank. If all magical languages are related to souls, unless he coincidentally found one matching his soul characteristics, he couldn't master any. Communicating with Demeter during the next oracle to obtain information would be nearly impossible. After all, changing souls was extraordinarily difficult.
Just as these thoughts flashed through his mind, Hermione across from him suddenly showed a sly smile, "I think you're wondering right now—changing souls is too difficult, right?"
He looked at Hermione incredulously, "Hermione, you're not telling me you actually have a method? Soul essence-changing magic isn't first-year material. Even in the Restricted Section, such books are few."
Hermione smiled even more brilliantly, "Otherwise, why would I call this a major discovery? I dare say no one had similar ideas before this. Magical linguistics might enter a new stage because of my discovery."
After savoring his confused yet curious expression for a moment, Hermione finally revealed her "major discovery," "Animagus transformation—the magic Professor McGonagall used to turn into a cat in our first class. I've checked many materials and papers—I'm certain it can temporarily change a person's soul essence!"
He raised his eyebrows, his eyes wide with shock. He had to admit, if Hermione hadn't mentioned this, he truly wouldn't have thought of it. Using Animagus transformation to temporarily change soul essence—this sounded like a very innovative, feasible idea.
He recalled Sirius escaping Azkaban in the original story. Theoretically, Death Eaters' souls had long been twisted by dark magic, hardly retaining love or happiness—like bones without any meat for Dementors, who disliked such food. So Death Eaters lasting longer under Dementor influence than ordinary people was normal.
But Sirius was different—his soul wasn't twisted by dark magic. His mind still held many happy memories. He still cared about Harry Potter. Dementors affected him far more than they did Death Eaters. Yet in the original story, Sirius retained the ability to pass through Dementors and escape Azkaban. His reliance was precisely Animagus transformation.
This was also proved from another angle—Animagus transformation could indeed temporarily change human souls. Even Dementors, dark creatures feeding on souls, saw drastically reduced effects after Sirius used Animagus transformation.
Moreover, if he remembered correctly, the original story mentioned that Sirius, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew all mastered Animagus transformation during Hogwarts, all in the same year to help Remus Lupin. Several students mastering Animagus transformation proved its difficulty, though not low, was definitely not unreachable.
Compared to other soul-altering methods in the magical world, using Animagus transformation had not only lower difficulty but also much higher stability.
With this realization, he looked at Hermione with shining eyes, praising her generously, "Hermione Granger, Gryffindor's resident know-it-all—I'd say you're one of Hogwarts' smartest students ever. Amazing. Truly amazing."
This made Hermione somewhat embarrassed, "This wasn't my original idea. I just thought of it while reading papers. You're exaggerating."
He seriously shook his head, "Reading literature and thinking of a new method—if that's not genius, what is? Not exaggerating at all."
Looking at Hermione, remembering the original story where she ultimately became Minister of Magic, he felt some regret. Hermione becoming Minister proved her capability in handling affairs, but in his view, academia suited Hermione best. Politics somewhat wasted her talent.
Under his lingering gaze, Hermione's face flushed increasingly red, shyly lowering her head. 'If Gryffindor saw this, they'd be shocked—utterly stunned. After all, during school, nobody had seen Miss Know-It-All so bashful and shy!'
Meanwhile, Ron stood on boxes in the nearby alley, seeing this scene through the sweets shop's back window. Seeing Hermione's flushed face, watching her chatting happily with Ciel—anger burned in his chest. That feeling was like something originally belonging to him had been taken.
He ground his teeth. Countless dark thoughts flashed through his mind, finally crystallizing into one thought, Today, he must win. He'd personally strike Ciel down before Hermione's eyes, letting her know he was nothing!
Inside the sweets shop, Animagus transformation discussions continued. After admiring Hermione, he felt somewhat regretful, "Unfortunately, Animagus transformation can't let people choose what animal to transform into. What's more troublesome—it can't let people transform into magical creatures. Parseltongue is manageable—transforming into ordinary snakes should let you truly wield its power. But many magical languages only magical creatures can use. This greatly limits its magical linguistics applications."
Regarding this, Hermione shook her head again, "No—I must correct you on both points. The spell unable to choose transformation animals is the Patronus Charm. Animagus transformation just means each person has one most suitable transformation. Generally, most wizards use an extremely complex, luck-dependent method of practicing Animagus transformation—they'll only transform into this most suitable animal. But if your Transfiguration mastery suffices, you can choose your preferred form for transformation."
"Additionally, Animagus transformation isn't impossible for magical creatures. This just brings many complex conflicts—to date, nobody has managed to return to wizard form after transforming into magical creatures. But transforming into magical creatures—such records exist."
Hearing Hermione's corrections, his eyes lit up with excitement. Following this logic, using Animagus transformation to solve magical language problems, even understanding oracles through it—though this plan still had many issues, it was indeed an extremely feasible route. As for problems—nobody could immediately propose a perfect, flawless solution when solving academic questions. Every plan had problems—just solve them. But having the right approach was what mattered most.
"Hermione, you've helped tremendously. When it comes to academics, you're the only one among our peers I truly respect, Miss Know-It-All. Since you've given me such valuable insights, this dessert meal must be my treat."
His compliments obviously pleased Hermione. She even rarely joked, "Trading my brilliant theory for one dessert meal? You should at least let me eat in the Hufflepuff common room for a semester, right?"
Saying this, Hermione seemed to recall something, her expression becoming apologetic. Originally, her relationship with him had been genuinely good. Early in the school year when other Gryffindors ostracized and isolated her, she could only find him in the Potions classroom to confide in. Then, Hufflepuff students also accepted Hermione, often having her guide their magic.
But later, Hermione misunderstood that he was helping Snape, trying to seize the Philosopher's Stone. Only then, in anger and disappointment, did she reduce contact with him, never returning to the Hufflepuff common room. Now mentioning this, Hermione lowered her head again, "I'm sorry. I misunderstood you most of the school year. I shouldn't have doubted you..."
He looked at Hermione's already reddening eyes and glistening tears, helplessly shaking his head, "That's all in the past. Everyone makes mistakes."
He sat beside Hermione, gently patting her shoulder comfortingly, "I truly didn't mind or care about these things. After all, with Professor Snape around, your misunderstanding was quite normal. If we must blame someone, blame Professor Snape for looking gloomy all year without washing his hair. If he were sunny and cheerful, maybe everything would be different."
As if imagining what a sunny, cheerful Snape would look like, Hermione suddenly laughed through tears, repeatedly pounding his chest, "Merlin above. I can't even imagine. That would be absolutely insane! Stop talking—my stomach hurts from laughing."
Outside the window, Ron watched from afar as Ciel patted Hermione's shoulder and Hermione pounded his chest—his last thread of control snapping. How long had they been chatting after entering? Wasn't laughing and talking long enough?
Hermione had never laughed and talked with Harry and him this long—never! What did this shoulder-patting, chest-pounding mean? Flirting?!
"I never imagined Miss Know-It-All would be this kind of person! Traitor! They're all traitors!"
Ron gripped his wand tightly. After enduring for ages, he finally saw Ciel and Hermione stand up to pay, walking toward the sweets shop door. He exhaled deeply. The ordeal finally ended. Next, he only needed to consider one thing—how to beat Ciel in front of Hermione.
He'd suppressed this anger too long. Time to vent it. Ron tightened his hood, ensuring nobody could see his appearance or conspicuous red hair. Then, recalling Nagini's earlier teachings, he methodically checked his wand, slowly following behind them.
Moments later, Ron discovered that after leaving the sweets shop, they headed toward the nearby park, looking like they wanted to stroll. A cold gleam entered his eyes, quickly becoming a cold smile. The park—perfect for what he had planned. Ron already anticipated Ciel's frightened, screaming, collapsing expression.
"After all—I'm stronger than they could possibly imagine!"