"Adelaide, who is she?"
Alice tilted her head, staring at Hermione. The young girl before her, dressed in Muggle clothing with bushy brown hair, looked to be about her own age, likely a peer.
However, no matter how Alice searched her memory, she couldn't recall ever meeting this person at Hogwarts.
Could she be from Beauxbatons, or perhaps Durmstrang?
Just as Alice voiced her question with full confusion, Hermione pursed her lips tightly, her sharp gaze locking onto Adelaide, waiting to hear what kind of answer she would give.
At this moment, Adelaide's heart was a tangled mess, and her speech became hesitant: "Uh... she, she's my junior from primary school..."
Before she could finish, Alice's beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly as she asked in confusion, "What is primary school?"
For a pure-blood Witch who had always lived on the islands, the term 'primary school' was incredibly foreign; it was likely the first time in her life she had ever heard the word.
Meanwhile, Hermione, whose face had been tense, suddenly reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her voice rising into a sharp scream: "What? I'm just your junior?"
Clearly, she was extremely dissatisfied with Adelaide's perfunctory introduction.
Seeing the situation turning sour, Adelaide hurriedly added a frantic explanation: "No, it's not like that (≧□≦)! You're not just my junior, you're my best friend!"
Hearing these words, Hermione's tense expression finally softened slightly.
But Alice, standing to the side, became even more bewildered. She asked again, "Isn't your best friend Senior Cho Chang?"
Hermione's face, which had just begun to thaw, instantly turned gloomy again, like the London sky suddenly covered by dark clouds.
Hermione stared intently into Adelaide's eyes, her teeth grinding audibly as she squeezed the words through her teeth: "Tell me, who is Cho Chang?"
Facing Hermione's aggressive questioning, Adelaide felt a massive headache coming on.
She cast a pained look toward Alice, inwardly crying out: My dear lady, could you please stop making things worse?
To be honest, Adelaide had truly messed up this time. Who could have expected to run into Hermione again before she officially enrolled at Hogwarts?
A pleasant reunion had turned into a terrifying encounter. At this moment, Adelaide really wanted to slide into a kowtow before Hermione and cautiously ask, "Hey, can we make up?"
However, reality would not allow her to do so.
One must remember that Hermione had not yet received her Hogwarts acceptance letter, meaning she was still just a little Muggle who knew nothing of the Wizarding World.
If Adelaide rashly confessed to Hermione that she had already gone to Hogwarts to study magic, she would likely face more than just a severe warning and disciplinary action from the British Ministry of Magic; all of Hermione's memories of this conversation would be ruthlessly erased.
Even worse, Dumbledore was currently representing the Order of the Phoenix and the Wizengamot in negotiations with the British Ministry of Magic regarding the elimination of Death Eaters. If she gave the British Ministry of Magic leverage because of this, harming the interests of the Order of the Phoenix and the Wizengamot—that was not what she wanted.
Sigh, I have to find a way to bluff through this first.
Adelaide leaned close to Alice's ear, afraid that Hermione would hear, and whispered a warning: "Alice, she's just an ordinary Muggle. You can't tell her anything about Hogwarts or the Wizarding World."
Alice felt a warm current of air brush against her ear. The strange sensation instantly spread through her body, causing her to shudder involuntarily and jump back as if she had been electrocuted.
Her face was flushed bright red as she rubbed her burning earlobe, glaring at Adelaide with a mix of shame and annoyance, snapping, "Hiss~ I get it! Don't blow into my ear!"
Standing opposite them, Hermione took in the entire scene—seeing the two of them acting so intimately right in front of her, Hermione was instantly consumed by rage. Her clear, bright eyes turned red with anger, as if they could spit fire.
She pointed her finger directly at Alice and questioned Adelaide furiously, "Who is she? Why are you two so close?"
Facing Hermione's sudden interrogation, Adelaide panicked, her mind turning into a jumbled mess.
She groaned inwardly. How was she supposed to introduce Alice to Hermione without revealing that Alice was a Witch?
Right, she'd just say she was a middle school classmate—
Before Adelaide could open her mouth to respond, Alice grabbed Adelaide's arm and said to Hermione in a contemptuous tone, "Hmph, what does that have to do with you? You and Adelaide aren't even from the same world. You'd better stay away from her and stop bothering her!"
As a member of Slytherin House, Alice, like most pure-blood Wizards, had never looked kindly upon Muggles.
Upon learning that the girl before her came from a Muggle family, Alice made no attempt to hide her internal disgust and arrogance—in her view, what right did a mere Muggle have to question a noble Witch from the Grindelwald Family?
Hearing Alice's merciless words, Adelaide was struck with shock, nearly fainting from the sheer surprise.
Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open as if she wanted to argue, but she was momentarily speechless, not knowing where to start.
Because on careful reflection, what Alice said wasn't entirely wrong; there truly was a massive gap between Wizards and Muggles, practically two different worlds.
But Hermione was going to Hogwarts next year!
This brilliant and diligent girl would show unparalleled talent and strength in her studies, steadily holding the top spot in her year for seven consecutive years, becoming an insurmountable mountain in the hearts of all her peers, including the savior and the young master Malfoy.
At this moment, facing Hermione's sharp, soul-piercing gaze filled with killing intent, Adelaide felt like she had needles in her back, her heart trembling with fear.
She closed her eyes in pain, trying to escape that terrifying stare. What should she do now?
Although Adelaide was usually known for her wit and a mind so quick it amazed others, in this thorny situation, even after racking her brains, she still couldn't think of a perfect strategy to defuse the crisis.
Seeing Hermione about to rush over and grab her collar, Adelaide knew she couldn't hesitate any longer.
As the saying goes, 'of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best.' She made a snap decision, grabbed Alice's hand tightly, turned around abruptly, and bolted.
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