"Shawn! Shawn!"
A familiar voice made Shawn pause. In the corridor outside the greenhouse, the evening sun's afterglow fell, making the wizard beside the Gothic stained glass window look even more handsome.
"Bruce," Shawn nodded in greeting and was about to continue toward the greenhouse.
"You're going to visit Professor Sprout, right? I suggest you go back. The professor went to Greenhouse Three. That place is forbidden to first-year students." Bruce held his book and waited for Shawn's response.
"...Thank you for the reminder." Shawn stopped in place, his eyes somewhat confused. If Professor Sprout wasn't there, with his herbology knowledge, forget processing herbs—even basic identification would be difficult. And he didn't know which herbs to process either.
"You're really obsessed with magical plants..." Seeing Shawn's eager eyes become dim, Bruce felt like he'd done something unforgivable. He helplessly closed the book in his hand. "Generally speaking, Professor Sprout only stays in Greenhouse Three for a while. Tomorrow after class, you should still be able to find her in Greenhouse One."
Shawn's eyes immediately lit up. He nodded seriously. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Oh, and this is for you." Shawn looked over in confusion. A black shadow flashed, and there was a piece of cheese in his hand.
"Dragon Granny cheese. Although Charm Your Own Cheese has revised the method for Dragon Granny cheese, I still think the original version tastes better. Many people think so." Bruce said with his arms crossed and a smile. "Exchanging snacks—a Hufflepuff tradition. Even though you're Ravenclaw, who cares?"
While Shawn was examining the cheese, Bruce cleanly strode away. Shawn heard scattered conversation from the end of the corridor.
"I think the new version tastes better."
"Agreed."
"Pist, Leon! You two heretics! Don't make me angry right after I acted cool!"
"He thinks he's cool..."
"Leon, this time it seems..."
"Okay, Pist, you're right. I say, well done. That's very Hufflepuff. Bruce, you're quite something."
New version, original version? Shawn guessed this was like a regional food debate. Fortunately, he liked both.
Shawn glanced at the sky and decided to first complete what he'd always wanted to do—go to the Hogwarts Library. Think about it—Hogwarts had thousands of books, and they were free! Just this point alone made Shawn, who had spent heavily buying books, excited. Not to mention, he could also complete homework there. Good homework completion should also be one of Headmaster Dumbledore's evaluation criteria.
The Hogwarts Library was located on the second floor of Hogwarts Castle, with thousands of bookshelves storing tens of thousands of books. It was divided into three areas.
One was the ordinary area. Here, Shawn saw countless bookshelves like a dense forest, extending in all directions until disappearing into the distant darkness. They weren't completely uniform either—some places had varying heights, some even requiring creaky moving ladders to reach the top. Around the heavy oak tables in the middle sat scattered students studying hard, their faces illuminated by floating magical crystal balls on the tables, quills racing across parchment with rustling sounds.
Shawn tried to look far but couldn't see the Restricted Section at the back of the library. That was a legendary place. Voldemort found Secrets of the Darkest Art there and turned himself into a mindless psychopath. The trio found Moste Potente Potions there and made Polyjuice Potion. It was completely a treasure trove.
The third area was called the Invisibility Section, containing most books about invisibility. Who knew how to find them?
Shawn thought about this while carrying his small bag, preparing to find a seat, when he saw Justin silently shouting.
"Shawn! Over here!" (lip reading)
So Shawn quickly walked toward Justin and Hermione.
"Where did you go? Every time after eating, you disappear." Hermione lifted her face. It was clearly concern but came out as interrogation.
"Greenhouse." Shawn didn't mind at all and answered.
"Oh, I mean, well, do you know how to distinguish mature dittany?" Hermione seemed to realize her stiff tone, wanted to make up for it but didn't know how, and finally blurted out her problem.
"Dittany has a faint mutton smell. When it matures, this smell becomes stronger." Shawn repeated what Bruce had said. This feeling was wonderful, as if something had been passed down.
"You know!" Hermione covered her mouth. She'd just asked casually, not expecting Shawn to actually know.
"Is this what you gained from going to the greenhouse?" Shawn nodded. Sort of.
"I knew it!" Justin acted even more proud than Shawn, making Hermione blush slightly.
"But I memorized the entire first-year textbook, and there's no description at all." Hermione's ear tips turned pink as she asked quietly.
"Yes, I also memorized it. There's indeed no description." Shawn completely agreed.
"Goodness, you memorized it too!" Hermione covered her mouth again, carefully poking her head out from behind a thick brown book, looking around. Seeing Madam Pince was scolding a young wizard and hadn't noticed them at all, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then how did you?!" Her eyes sparkled, as if she'd found her kind.
"When I went to help Professor Sprout process herbs, a Hufflepuff student told me." After Shawn finished speaking, he took out A History of Magic and parchment. He decided to complete his History of Magic homework first.
Hermione and Justin exchanged glances. Their state was roughly "Huh?"
If Professor Binns hadn't said inches instead of feet, the homework wouldn't be much. But unfortunately, this professor was obviously somewhat confused, so Shawn and the others got a one-foot assignment. About one-third of a meter.
The young wizards busy with class dismissal obviously hadn't realized the seriousness of the problem. But soon, Shawn glimpsed at the second row of oak tables in the library, where Michael and others had already put on masks of pain.
"Three feet! Even if I set the spacing and font size to the maximum, I couldn't complete it!" Shawn heard a loud shout, then people in the library looked at Michael with pity. Only then did Michael cover his mouth, but it was too late. Madam Pince walked over menacingly, her shoes making fierce clicking sounds on the floor.
Shawn stood his book up and silently mourned for him, then went to collect books to write his essay. The essay seemed like a lot, but for Shawn it was no problem.
"Modern Magical History, three Galleons; Notable Magical Events of the Twentieth Century, four Galleons; An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms, five Galleons..." Shawn tried to pick the more expensive books. Expensive books weren't necessarily good, but definitely expensive. Once, Shawn couldn't reach them. Now, they were free.