Hermione's eyes slowly widened, evidently realizing something. She trembled as she said, "So, that's it—"
"That's right." Vid said, "It's Harry Potter."
"—The mark of death!" Hermione shouted at the same time.
The two looked at each other.
"—Harry Potter?" Hermione said in surprise.
"... I said it was a joke." Vid said helplessly.
The two looked at each other again.
Hermione frowned.
Hermione gradually understood.
"No wonder..." she whispered, "Percy—Gryffindor's prefect, a fifth-year Weasley—said that before, whenever students were forbidden to go somewhere, Professor Dumbledore would explain why. But this time, he only said not to enter the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor, without saying why."
"If he clearly stated that there was a three-headed dog hidden there, not even the Weasley twins would go seeking death, let alone first-year Potter." Vid wasn't surprised, "An ambiguous warning is meant to attract the curious Gryffindors—Dumbledore probably left some sort of test there."
He remembered Harry Potter playing a real-life adventure game in his first year, where he and his friends solved each puzzle using their intelligence and abilities, and Harry ultimately used 'Love Magic' to defeat the final boss, Voldemort.
The seven volumes of Harry Potter grow thicker and darker, but the first volume is still filled with childlike fun, even the conspiracies seem innocent and cute, with Voldemort presenting himself to Harry Potter for experience points.
"How could he do this!" Hermione's fear immediately turned into anger, "It might be deadly! Does he not care about Harry Potter's life at all?!"
"So you rushed in without warning, were you hurt by the three-headed dog?" Vid asked in return.
"No, we weren't. But that's because it initially... ah—"
Hermione suddenly understood, feeling as if the fog had lifted and the truth was revealed.
"I guess—just a guess—perhaps Dumbledore placed some restriction on the three-headed dog, so it won't actually attack students who accidentally trespass, only scare them. But if they attempt to do anything further, the three-headed dog won't sit idly by." Vid pondered.
"I saw it standing on a trap door." Hermione said, "It must be guarding something."
"If things are as we speculate," Vid concluded, "Harry Potter is surely going to find out what it's guarding."
...
The progression of events seemed to slow down, perhaps because Hermione was angry with Harry and Ron, deliberately ignoring them and therefore not obtaining any further information.
However, Vid didn't really care about these matters, knowing everything was under Dumbledore's watchful eye, so there was no need to worry. Compared to Harry Potter's adventures, Vid was more concerned with the progress of Spellcasting.
During his last practice, he accidentally discovered that he wasn't only able to see the arc guiding the correct spellcasting method when instructing others; he could also see his own guide line when he looked in the mirror, which greatly accelerated his spellcasting practice. So Vid took some time to diligently practice potions – there were always many ordinary materials on the shelves at the back of the Potions Classroom, free for students to practice with. However, due to Professor Snape, most students wouldn't set foot in the underground classroom beyond lessons, not even the Slytherin students.
In his spare time, Vid practiced potions, while Snape turned a blind eye, occasionally pointing out his mistakes with a sarcastic tone. Overall, as long as one wasn't overly sensitive, they could learn a lot from him.
At such times, Vid was grateful to be a Ravenclaw—had he been a Gryffindor lion, he might have been kicked out the first day he privately entered the Potions Classroom.
One afternoon, Vid successfully brewed a batch of wound-cleaning potion, which Professor Snape deemed "barely usable" and asked him to deliver it to Madam Pomfrey—Quidditch matches were about to start, and the infirmary would be bustling at such times.
Returning to Umbrella House from the infirmary, Vid found everyone very excited. They were gathered around Theo, even Hermione put down her book and was calculating aloud, "I want three feet thick parchment, five bottles of ink. I heard there's a shorthand quill that's very useful, if available I'd like to buy two—"
Theo jotted it down quickly, while beside him Michael was loudly saying, "Oh, come on, Hermione. I know you love to learn, but life wouldn't be very fun if it were only about studying! You should get yourself something enjoyable! Honeydukes' candies are super awesome! I recommend Blowing Super Bubblegum, which fills the whole room with bubbles the color of bluebell flowers—it's almost every girl's favorite. Fizzing Whizzbees are also best sellers, and the Butter Beer at Three Broomsticks Inn—almost no one can resist having a drink."
"Hmmm—" Hermione hesitated for a while, then said, "Then get me a Galleon of candy too! But none of those weird Cockroach Clusters!"
Though she couldn't conveniently bring candy back to the dormitory—doing so would surely invite queries and possibly some sour gossip from other girls—she could place the candy at Umbrella House and share it with the SSC members.
"What are you talking about?" Vid walked over and curiously asked.
"You finally came, Vid! We were all waiting for you!" Neville said excitedly, "This week is the first Hogsmeade weekend, students from third-year and up can go to Hogsmeade Village."
"I know!" Vid said, "But what's it got to do with us first-years?"
Vid had of course heard of Hogsmeade Village, Britain's only Muggle-free wizard village, said to be very unique and interesting, located right next to Hogwarts, walkable from there.
But Hogwarts set a rule that only students from third-year and up could visit on certain Saturdays, and they must have signed permission from their guardians. Hence, Vid and the others would have to wait at least two years to visit Hogsmeade.
"Usually, it wouldn't matter." Michael said excitedly, "But Theo mentioned—an upper-year student from Hufflepuff said he could help lower-year students buy some items they wanted, and he listed a catalog of Hogsmeade Village's products. Theo and Leian told us we can add what we want to the list."
Vid took the catalog and asked curiously, "Who's this kind-hearted person? Isn't it troublesome—or is he doing it for some profit?"
Leian shook his head and said, "No, Cedric isn't doing it for money."
Vid was taken aback, "What's his name?"
"Cedric," Leian said, "Cedric Diggory, first in the third-year, almost every Hufflepuff student likes him."