The little wizards walking out from the Muggle Studies Class had a hint of obvious confusion in their eyes.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
Even Ron looked somewhat bewildered at the moment—was that old guy really teaching math, physics, and chemistry?
Although it was just the first class and the knowledge taught was not difficult, Ron still caught a whiff of the feeling he had during his high school physics class.
Could my guess be wrong? Could it be that the old man is not Grindelwald, but actually a science professor that Dumbledore pulled out from some university?
Although he knew this thought couldn't be true, the idea uncontrollably flashed through Ron's mind. After all, compared to this guess, the truth really felt like a sharp knife—a powerful black wizard active during World War II, the International Magic Association's top wanted criminal, the "Dark Lord" Grindelwald is now teaching Muggle physics at Hogwarts?
Doesn't that sound a little too magical?
Though lacking the crucial evidence, Ron still internally confirmed his guess—and he originally thought that the old man had something against him, but now it seems he has no particular interest in him?
Ron had expected to be detained after class, thus his confusion was understandable. During the opening ceremony, those two old guys looked like they had something against him. Now, after the first class, it felt like being taken up high, then put down gently—this confused Ron even more.
But Ron wasn't in a hurry. Since the other side wasn't either, he decided to take it slow; someone would eventually slip up.
Just a couple of old guys nearly in their graves; not a significant threat.
Coming back to reality, Ron had already reached the entrance of the hall, which slightly surprised him since he originally intended to head straight back to the Room of Requirement. But then, remembering something, he wasn't in a rush. He reached out and pushed open the hall door, and next moment, a burst of commotion suddenly came from one side of the hall—
"Maintain order, no cutting in line—Fred, get off the table, now!"
Percy's exasperated voice rang out, holding high the badge of his student council president, shouting loudly. But the Weasley Brothers seemed too lazy to pay him any heed. Arriving late due to class, they were craning their necks to sneak a look at the front of the line.
At the very front of the queue, Hermione sat at a small table, handing a registration form to a Slytherin girl in front of her—
"Name, age, house, and your best charm."
Hermione pointed to a few fields on the registration form, speaking briefly though her voice was hoarse, while beside her, Cedric was doing the same thing—originally, she was supposed to be alone. Given her access to the Time Turner, she could stay there all day, except for an occasional trip to the "bathroom".
But the truth was she couldn't manage—there were far more people registering for the Duel Club than anyone anticipated. Ron had set the threshold at the third-year level, yet a significant portion of little wizards joined in, not to mention many second-year kids trying to sneak past.
And there were other groups...
Seeing the Slytherin girl in front filling the assistant column beside Ron's name with hearts, Hermione couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth—and then remembered that she had done the same thing to Professor Lockhart's name in her class schedule last year...
This incident led to Ron teasing her for over half a month after Lockhart's downfall.
Suddenly recalling her own embarrassing history, the inexplicably ashamed girl subconsciously covered her face and looked up at the ceiling, only to unexpectedly catch Ron looking down at her... Even at such a deadly angle, it seemed there were no dead angles...
"...Are you alright?"
Seeing the girl with a blush, seemingly lost in some thought, Ron asked puzzledly.
"Ah—you, you, you're here?"
As if startled back to reality, Hermione suddenly stood up blushing, her sudden change also alarmed several people in line. The Slytherin girl busy drawing hearts around Ron's name quickly looked up, then instantly held her breath.
"...What's wrong with you?"
Ron also noticed this, his eyes filled with even more confusion.
"You-you-you-you-you...hello."
The Slytherin girl stammered and stretched her hand towards Ron. He didn't refuse, half-shaking with her, then pushed Hermione back into her seat, picking up the filled form and adding it to the stack of registrations beside, "If there's nothing else, perhaps it's time for the person behind you?"
"Oh-oh-oh... Okay."
The Slytherin girl rubbed her hands repeatedly, suppressing her excitement, got up, and hurriedly ran towards the crowd gathered not far away.
"...What are they up to?"
Pressing Hermione's shoulders, Ron looked over at the group of girls gathered, covertly stealing glances his way, finally asking aloud.
"They're all here for you."
Cedric sighed, his voice drifted from the side, "Given the current situation, isn't the classroom we originally booked a bit too small?"
Upon hearing this, Ron was also taken aback. Indeed, the registration numbers exceeded his expectations, nearly all last semester's Duel Club survivors signed up, even excluding the two lowest grades, the current registration is over two hundred people.
The fifth classroom simply couldn't hold so many people.
"Which classroom is next to the fifth classroom—"
Rubbing his chin, Ron quickly thought of a solution: borrowing the neighboring space should be fine, considering it's the weekend, probably not a problem—
"Snape, Ron, next to it is the Potions Classroom."
Cedric comprehended Ron's intention but his tone remained unchanged, still inexplicably lifeless.
"...Forget I said anything."
Ron nodded, indicating Cedric was indeed correct; other professors might be reasonable, but not Snape.
"Never mind, I'll think of something else—"
After a lengthy silence, Ron sighed, and then leaned down to Hermione, whispering, "Thank you for your hard work." It truly was arduous for her, though extended by the Time Turner, making her time considerably more abundant than usual, such tools are laden with taboos, with no discount on the energy invested.
Hermione lately had been a tremendous help, especially with categorizing information about the Seik Crystal. Without her, his progress would likely have been considerably slower.
Since she helped him, there ought to be some reward; Ron pondered how to compensate Hermione, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.