Hogwarts Prefect, Head Coach of the Freshmen Team, All-Around Ace…

Undeniably, if it weren't for Aileen, Hermione would undoubtedly be the "model student" of the entire year.

More importantly, compared to the original timeline, Hermione's progress in interpersonal relationships has undoubtedly been greatly accelerated and optimized.

Whether it was her heroic efforts in the "Poisonous Mushroom Incident" last year or answering questions in daily studies, the little beaver's popularity in Gryffindor is even higher than Aileen's.

As the Parent-Teacher Conference began, Mr. Granger's proud smile never faded—aside from a bit of rebelliousness, his daughter was quite impressive.

"Too dangerous, wasn't it? Two grades of students poisoned—thank goodness Miss Granger recognized the poisonous mushrooms in time."

After listening to Hermione's complete recap of the "Poisonous Mushroom Incident," a witch breathed a long sigh of relief, saying with lingering fear.

"I heard that Mr. Granger, you are a healer in the Muggle world? In emergencies like this, children educated in families like yours are indeed reliable—"

"It's called a doctor, dear…"

Mr. Finnegan gently corrected, shrugging his shoulders and continuing.

"But it's about the same, in our non-magical world, usually only the smartest and most capable people can become doctors."

"Dentist, dentist. Our Hermione just likes to read a bit more."

Mr. Granger coughed lightly, waving his hand modestly, but the expression on his face was obviously very pleased.

Compared to his daughter's rebelliousness, which hides two knives in every three sentences, the compliments and praises from other parents obviously made him much more comfortable.

"Yes, I heard Neville mention before that Miss Granger's reading, excellent character, and hard work are too admirable—"

Mrs. Longbottom nodded, smiling friendly at Hermione, who was a little shy beside her. "You helped him through a lot of difficulties, didn't you? Alas, he's a good boy—"

She looked down at Neville along his pointed nose with a stern gaze, a little regretful, "Unfortunately, he doesn't have his father's talent. I have to say, if Frank were…"

Mrs. Longbottom pursed her lips slightly, her expression slightly dimmed, and she let out a low sigh.

"How so?" Mr. Granger asked curiously, Hermione wanted to stop him but it was a bit late, "By the way, speaking of which, I noticed that you came today—"

"Neville's parents used to be the best Aurors in the Ministry of Magic, similar to our police."

Hermione tugged at her father's sleeve, whispering, "I told you, a very dangerous dark wizard appeared in the magical world more than a decade ago, so…"

"Sorry, I didn't know—"

Mr. Granger was taken aback, and immediately apologized sincerely.

Perhaps he had lived in peaceful times for too long, he almost forgot that the peaceful era in the magical world had only arrived a little over a decade ago.

"Oh, there's nothing to apologize for or avoid!" Mrs. Longbottom shook her head, saying seriously, "I'm proud of them, yes, proud."

"My son and daughter-in-law were tortured to madness by the Dark Lord's followers, but they did not succumb to the dark wizard until the last moment," she turned proudly to the surrounding parents, raising her voice slightly, and continued, "They had great talent and were highly respected in the magical world. Even outnumbered, they bought time for others and eventually wiped out the Death Eaters…"

Most parents and students fell silent. Last year, during the trial of Peter Pettigrew, many people saw the magical shadows of the Longbottom couple in the sky.

If the "Boy Who Lived" ended Voldemort's rule, then the Longbottom couple marked the true arrival of the era of peace.

In fact, the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, and even all mainstream media newspapers have been promoting it this way these days.

In that darkest era, the most worthy of remembering and respecting was not a baby who survived, but the Aurors and righteous people who guarded the world at the intersection of light and shadow.

"That… Dark Lord you mentioned—"

Just then, a slightly trembling voice suddenly rang out.

Mrs. Longbottom turned her head and saw a Muggle housewife clutching the hem of her clothes, asking carefully in a low voice.

"That's what Professor Dumbledore called Voldemort, right? The murderer who killed Lily's family, I heard that guy seems… still alive?"

"Yes, the Dark Lord obviously mastered some kind of evil magic that can bring people back to life—"

Accompanied by Petunia Dursley's voice, Mrs. Longbottom couldn't help but shiver, saying with a grim face.

"But I believe in Dumbledore, even if he has temporarily disappeared, the Dark Lord has also disappeared again. In fact, I suspect the battle is still continuing somewhere—"

After a slight pause, Mrs. Longbottom's eyes swept over Harry, finally landing on Petunia Dursley, frowning slightly in confusion.

"You are—"

"Petunia Dursley, uh, Lily is my sister—Lily Evans."

Under the elderly witch's staring gaze, Petunia said somewhat flustered, she tried to restrain herself from looking at the horrifying vulture specimen on the other's hat.

"Since that incident, Harry has been living in my house, until two years ago when the owl… well, Mr. Hagrid notified Harry of his admission."

Hogwarts is undoubtedly a magical castle full of wonders.

But Petunia Dursley was too late, too late, so much so that the yearning and curiosity in her heart began to turn into fear.

She looked around, everywhere were wizards and magical creations that seemed unfathomable. As an ordinary person without extraordinary abilities, she was like an ant who had strayed into the land of giants.

"Ah, Mrs. Potter's sister, that's right—"

Mrs. Longbottom stared at Petunia Dursley, extending a dry, claw-like hand.

"Yes, yes, I've heard them say it's been difficult these years… Neville speaks highly of Harry, it seems you must have taken good care of and educated him—"

Compared to the Longbottom couple who lost their health and sanity, the sacrifice of the Potter couple had no hope of miracles, Augusta Longbottom understood that kind of grief too well.

And more importantly, in the face of incomprehensible and irresistible potential dangers, the Potter couple's relatives did not abandon Harry.

On the other hand, judging from Neville's evaluation, Harry Potter was quite excellent—not an overbearing savior, nor a clumsy mediocrity.

"Uh—thank you."

Petunia shook her hand awkwardly, saying with evasive eyes.

"Harry, Harry's grades should be alright, Vernon and I didn't pay much attention to their studies usually…"

Most wizards, after learning her identity, would show kindness and respect, but the more this happened, the more afraid Petunia Dursley felt.

During Little Harry's growth, the Dursleys certainly did not starve him, but they definitely were not very friendly or caring.

In fact, the moment Petunia saw Harry wearing wizard robes, her mind, which had been heated by the magic invitation, instantly cleared up:

If Harry accused her in front of Hogwarts, in front of his classmates, in front of so many wizards, then this magical journey would likely turn into an incredibly terrible public trial.

However, as time passed, Petunia Dursley soon felt ashamed of her worries.

Harry didn't show any dislike or embarrassment towards her, instead, he enthusiastically introduced her to Hogwarts and school life.

As an adult, she could clearly feel the sincerity of joy in the child's words and actions, to the point that she secretly resolved to treat her nephew well this summer vacation, even if Vernon and Dudley objected, she would make up for these years of neglect.

However, before she could take action, a series of inquiries from other parents overwhelmed her.

Most importantly, any discussion about magic was strictly forbidden in the Dursley household.

Therefore, Petunia had no idea about Harry's situation at Hogwarts. Whenever other parents talked about this part of the problem, she could only rack her brains to find some ambiguous words to muddle through.

Most of the time, the effect was usually good, after all, people's topics would not stay on Little Harry for too long.

However, this time it was clearly beyond Petunia Dursley's expectations…

“…Alright? Mr. Potter's grades are not in the category of 'alright'."

Before Mrs. Longbottom could answer, Mr. Granger frowned, glanced at his daughter's magic book, and said seriously.

"In Potions class, Harry Potter's average score is second in the grade, and he has opened up a considerable gap with others."

"I asked Professor McGonagall before, this score means 'same age' professor-level standard. This is not something that can be achieved by personal talent alone. Without a large amount of knowledge and practical accumulation, it is impossible to be so close to that Potions class teaching assistant…"

The second-year Hogwarts grade rankings can be found in each student's journal.

Considering various factors, the list only shows the top ten for the time being.

Aileen Cadwallader is undoubtedly far ahead, but her crushing scores are not of much reference value.

Because most of her subject scores are "**" blank, according to Professor McGonagall's answer, she belongs to a special exemption from exams.

Second only to Aileen, of course, is Hermione Granger, who took almost all the second place in all subjects… except Potions.

Mr. Granger keenly noticed that in Potions, Harry Potter's name had been steadily above Hermione's in daily grades and overall grades since the beginning of this semester, which clearly aroused the competitive spirit in his heart—he originally thought his daughter was invincible.

"Well, I don't know, maybe Harry has a talent for potions?"

Petunia Dursley replied puzzledly, suddenly remembering the acquaintance who picked her up at the castle that morning.

"Right. Speaking of which—the Potions Professor at Hogwarts is Severus, right? He should also take extra care of Harry."

"Huh? You know Professor Snape? I mean, are you also from our side…"

Mrs. Longbottom asked curiously, she glanced at Petunia Dursley, who was dressed as a Muggle, frowning slightly.

You know, Slytherin House can be said to be the furthest away from the non-magical world, no matter how you look at it, there is no intersection point between the two.

"Oh, I'm not a witch—but Lily is."

Petunia glanced at Mrs. Longbottom, instantly understanding the other party's speculation, and shook her head in reply.

"Severus lived near our house when he was a child. Before Hogwarts started, Lily and I knew him."

"Wait, wait? Aunt Petunia!"

Just then, Harry suddenly widened his eyes, looking at Aunt Petunia in shock.

"You just said—Professor Snape used to be your neighbor, so Professor he actually and my mother…"

"Childhood sweethearts, or good friends. Didn't you know? They were in the same grade when they enrolled."

Petunia Dursley shrugged, stammering a few times, feeling a little uncomfortable with the sudden focused gaze around her.

"I heard that the two had a big fight later, I don't know the specifics, Lily didn't mention him after that, I even thought something had happened to that guy—but the two of them had a really good relationship at first, they played together almost every vacation."

"You…neighbors? Wait, Professor Snape isn't a pure-blood wizard?"

Before others could continue to ask, Harry suddenly realized a problem, asking in surprise.

"I mean, aren't both of his parents wizards?"

"No—he told Lily that he was a half-blood wizard."

Aunt Petunia looked at Harry inexplicably, recalling past memories, saying slowly with some difficulty.

"His mother is a witch, her name is Prince or something, Old Snape should be an ordinary person from our side—but Old Snape's character was particularly bad, addicted to alcohol, gambling, and often beat and scolded them and their mother, later at some point it seemed they moved away…"

Half-blood, Prince… Prince?!

Harry paid little attention to what Aunt Petunia said later.

The inscription on the title page of that old potions textbook simultaneously appeared in his mind.

[This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince]

At the same time, Hermione, who was originally a little helpless about her father, seemed to have thought of the same problem, her eyes flickering back and forth between Aunt Petunia and Harry in surprise. If there weren't so many parents, she would want to rummage through Harry's schoolbag now.

Different from Harry, only one big, angry word remained in Hermione's mind:

Cheating!

————

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Hooray!

As expected, when suffering from writer's block, one should seek help from Professor Snape…