Chapter 12, The Beaver Girl
[Dragon Knight], and the 'magic' bar activated by it seemed to have effects not described on the panel.
Neither in his past life nor now,
he had ever possessed such strong leadership.
But now, his words and every action were filled with a captivating and endearing quality.
Could this wand have even stripped away the charm of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table?
Was this why Harry was so sycophantic and filial to him all of a sudden?
Even Ron forgot his inferiority complex.
However, it was possible that the novel and the movie settings differed.
He vaguely remembered that the younger of the twin sisters, the one who preferred the Harry Potter novels, had once said that Hermione's excellence in the movies was due to the inclusion of Harry and Ron's highlight scenes from the novels.
And so, after becoming familiar with her, Ron spoke fluently and incessantly about various slang and customs of the British wizarding world, without repeating himself.
Even Basil, a native-born British wizard, was amazed.
Harry thus became much more familiar with the wizarding world.
However, Ron's greatest strength lay in his knowledge of snacks.
He knew the origins and ways to eat each snack like the back of his hand.
He could identify the many flavors of Bibimbap: chocolate, mint, marmalade, spinach, toast, coconut, baked beans, strawberry, curry, liver, tripe, pepper, grass, sardines, dried boogers, and more, all
by looking at the beans themselves.
This impressed Harry greatly.
But gradually, Basil also noticed one of Ron's weaknesses.
Once he started talking, he couldn't stop.
Even after introducing various snacks, especially Chocolate Frog, he still wouldn't stop.
"Harry, Basil, come on, my mom's sandwich! It's dry, savory, and delicious! You should try it!"
"My family are all wizards, and I'm the second youngest."
"But there's a downside to that. My clothes, wand, and textbooks are all old!"
"Even my pet—" Ron put down his licorice wand and reached into his inner jacket pocket to pull out a fat, sleeping gray mouse, "is also inherited from Percy. Its name is Scabbers, and it's been with us for almost eleven years."
He expertly played with Scabbers' chubby belly, his expression gradually darkening.
Scabbers obediently squinted and hummed.
"Here, your licorice wand!" Basil quickly handed it over.
It was too much! Ron, who had just been gloomy,
instantly brightened up the moment
he had something in his mouth.
He also removed his hand from Scabbers' belly.
"Thanks, um, wait," Ron suddenly stammered, looking Basil up and down as if seeing him for the first time, "Your last name is Granger? Holborn Forest is in Devonshire, right?"
Basil was a little confused, "Yes, why?" "My family is in Devonshire too!" Ron jumped up. Scabbers was thrown into the pile of snacks.
"You're the little wizard in the Daily Prophet who killed the werewolf Fenrir Greyback?"
"My mother hasn't let us go out for a month because of you."
"I dare say, the reason my mother was so angry just now was because of this—I strayed out of her sight."
"Murder?" Harry, who was stuffing Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans into his mouth, almost choked.
Suddenly, a terrified sob came from outside the cubicle.
Basil opened the door and saw a round-faced boy.
He stood frozen in front of the door, pale-faced, covered in beads of sweat, and trembling.
As soon as the door opened, he ran away without looking back.
Basil was exasperated and closed the door again.
"Looks like he heard you,"
Basil said in a low voice, glancing at Harry with a sinister look.
Harry chuckled, "You almost fooled me!" He was very confident in his ability to read people.
Ron's tone was more surprised than afraid.
"Tell me, what happened?"
Basil said irritably. "Don't listen to the Daily Prophet, it's a third-rate newspaper!" "That werewolf was clearly killed by a tree! My grandfather planted it."
"That's still quite remarkable!" Ron said with awe. "Fenrir Greyback is the most ferocious werewolf in the world."
"He made it his mission to bite and infect as many people as possible, hoping to create a large number of werewolves to defeat the wizards."
"The mysterious man also promised him some prey as a reward."
"Greybourne specializes in children. He bites them when they're young, then takes them away from their parents, instilling in them a hatred of wizards."
Ron couldn't help but shudder as he said this. "It's said that the Man of Darkness often threatens to release Greybourne to bite other people's children, and this threat is usually very effective."
"The Man of Darkness you're talking about, is it Voldemort?" Harry tilted his head curiously.
"You called out the Man of Darkness's name!" Ron said, sounding both shocked and moved. "I knew it. Of all the people, only you…"
Basil said earnestly, "In fact, Harry, if Voldemort were still alive, I would advise you not to call him by his name. He's put a spell on that name. Anyone who calls him by his name will be detected by him."
Harry asked doubtfully, "Then now?"
Basil: "Now, just say whatever you want. Just call him Voldemort. Always use the correct name for things. Fear of a name will amplify fear of the thing itself."
Ron coughed. "I'll try, Voldemort… I mean, Voldemort! Whew! I said it!"
He didn't notice that Scabbers in the snack pile had lost control of his bladder and bowels in fright.
Basil gagged.
He wasn't going to touch those snacks anymore.
Ron, seemingly oblivious, pulled out another licorice wand, ready to bite into it.
At the last second, just as Basil, unable to bear the pangs of conscience, was about to warn him,
the cubicle door opened with a whoosh.
Before him stood a girl who looked vaguely familiar.
She had already changed into her Hogwarts black robes.
The next second, Basil rummaged through his memories and found the corresponding face.
Hmm, what a kind soul!
However, she looked extremely angry. She
seemed to have run there in one breath, panting heavily, her front teeth rubbing together in the hot air, making a gurgling sound.
Like a little beaver with puffed-out cheeks, she was quite adorable.
[Cleaned Up]
While admiring this scene, Basil secretly pointed a finger at the licorice wand in Ron's hand and cast a Cleansing Charm.
This was another use of the [Wand Appearance] component.
As long as it wasn't materialized, the wand continued to circulate within Basil's body along with 'magic power'.
He could move his wand to his finger, mimicking the actions of a house-elf using his finger as a wand.
"So this is the Neville you bullied?"
"I thought you were a good person!"
"Your book list must be a lie too!"
"I'm telling the teacher!" The beaver girl glared at Basil with her deep brown eyes.
"You crazy girl!"
"We never went out!" Ron stood up, blocking Basil and the beaver girl.
Huff, huff.
Another heavy breathing sound came from outside the door.
It was the round-faced boy, clenching his fists and panting, standing in front of the girl.
"Hermione, watch out."
"He killed someone! I heard it with my own ears!"
Basil raised an eyebrow, patted Ron on the shoulder, and gestured for him to move aside.
[Petrify All]
With a light tap of his finger, the power of the binding charm froze the round-faced boy in place.
He walked straight to the girl, carefully examining her face.
"You're Hermione!"
"But you don't look like Emma at all."
"But, you're quite cute."
He regretted not paying closer attention to his 'friends' names when making friends.
Hermione [Echo] was a good thing.
It was his destiny.
Much better than Harry and Ron [Echo].
The beaver girl glared back at the boy defiantly,
a blush creeping onto her face .
"You really haven't gone out?"
Who was Neville?
Hermione indicated she didn't know him.
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(End of Chapter)