· the saying goes: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated!
Hermione wondered—if she could study the way Dylan did, would she be able to communicate with the professors as effectively as him?
After a period of close observation, she reached a shocking conclusion.
Dylan truly devoted himself to studying!
One morning, she tried to wait for Dylan to see what time he got up. However, she waited until class started, and he was nowhere to be found. In the end, she almost ended up late herself!
This could only mean one thing—Dylan must have woken up even earlier than she had!
The realization stunned Hermione.
She had woken up at 6:30 AM to catch him, yet she hadn't even seen him moving around. What time did this guy get up? Surely, he couldn't have been studying all night? Didn't he need sleep?
The next day, she pushed herself further, waking up at six o'clock—but still, no sign of Dylan.
Determined, she forced herself to wake up at five.
With her sleep-deprived body, she hid in the common room, waiting.
Finally, she saw him!
This discovery made Hermione give up any thoughts of competing with Dylan. If she continued, she would simply waste her life away...
She had always considered herself diligent, thinking that waking up at 6:30 made her one of the earliest risers. But now, she realized how naive she had been.
After calming down, Hermione observed something else.
Dylan's attitude toward magic was different from hers. Unlike her, he never seemed anxious when struggling with a difficult spell.
She, on the other hand, would become extremely frustrated if she couldn't finish her homework or understand something complicated.
Dylan, however, remained calm and composed.
At times, she even wondered if the Sorting Hat had placed him in the wrong house.
"Hermione, good morning!"
Harry's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"You look much better than the past two days!"
Ron, sitting beside Harry, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, what have you been up to? You had huge dark circles under your eyes the other day!"
Hermione sat down next to them. "Oh, nothing. Just moved to a new place and didn't sleep well at first."
Since she had stopped getting up ridiculously early to stalk Dylan, she had finally been able to sleep properly.
She was well-rested now—of course, she looked better!
"We have flying lessons today. Are you ready?" she asked, changing the subject.
To better understand Dylan's studying methods, she had started hanging out more with Harry and Ron, trying to get closer to Dylan's roommates. Over time, this led to her genuinely becoming good friends with them.
Now, she was naturally part of their conversations.
"A little nervous," Harry admitted. "I'm just afraid of making a fool of myself."
Dylan, who had been quietly eating a small piece of bread, looked up. "Embarrassing?"
He blinked and continued, "Why worry about that? We're all beginners. It's normal to struggle at first. Just practice more, and you'll get the hang of it."
Harry and Ron exchanged looks before staring at Dylan.
Oh, sure. Easy for him to say.
Anyone could say those words, but Dylan was the least qualified to say them.
Yes, they were all beginners—except for Dylan, who had already demonstrated a ridiculous number of advanced spells in class.
Was he really a beginner?
Hermione picked up a glass of milk while pulling out a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages.
"I heard that flying is difficult to control and that it's easy to embarrass yourself. If I don't learn it well, the professor will definitely give me a low grade!" she said while flipping through the pages.
Dylan glanced at her. "From what I know, our first-year flying exam only tests our posture."
He took another bite of his bread. "As long as you can control the broom and complete a few simple movements, you won't get a low grade just because you didn't do well in the first lesson."
Hermione nodded slightly, but she continued reading, determined to find any useful flying techniques in her book.
Dylan watched her and shrugged.
Hermione was smart and hardworking, but she was too obsessed with perfection. She wanted to memorize every piece of knowledge and excel in every aspect.
But after mastering several high-level spells, Dylan had realized that some magic was simply practical—useful to know but not necessary to perfect.
For example, flying.
If someone could use Apparition freely, wasn't that basically the same as flying?
In the grand scheme of magic, some spells could be replaced or overshadowed by others.
Instead of holding onto everything, it was better to focus on what truly mattered.
A Sudden Arrival
Whoosh!
The rustling of wings filled the Great Hall.
A large group of owls flew in, delivering letters and packages to students.
Among them, a white owl swooped down gracefully, landing right next to Dylan's plate.
"Luna?" Dylan looked at the snowy owl in surprise.
Tied to its leg was a letter—no, two letters.
"A letter from my parents? But why two?" he murmured.
Had his mother and father written separate letters?
As an old couple, what could they possibly need to say to their son that the other couldn't know?
Dylan untied the envelopes from Luna's leg.
Harry and Hermione leaned over slightly, though they didn't directly read the letters. Instead, their eyes landed on a silver card inside the envelope.
"Whoa! What's that?" Ron asked curiously.
Dylan pulled it out and examined it.
His eyes widened.
It was a license.
A magical creature license.
A license to keep Wuying!
Dylan's face lit up with excitement.
He quickly unfolded the letter.
The first letter was from the Magical Creatures Authority, confirming that he had been granted the legal qualifications to keep Wuying.
But something was strange.
The recommendation letter had not been written by Hagrid.
It was signed by... Dumbledore.
Dylan hesitated before opening the second letter, which was from Hagrid.
Hagrid explained that he had originally planned to help Dylan by writing the recommendation himself. However, due to certain complications (which he didn't elaborate on), he had decided to ask Professor Dumbledore for assistance instead.
Hagrid also suggested that if Dylan had time, he should personally thank Dumbledore.
Mixed Feelings
Dylan stared at the letter.
The excitement from receiving his license quickly faded into a feeling of helplessness.
Brother Hagrid... if you couldn't help, you really didn't have to say yes in the first place!
Now he had to go and personally thank Dumbledore?
That wasn't a problem per se, but...
Well.
It was complicated.
(End of Chapter)
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