"But I really didn't expect we'd achieve victory so quickly back then. Professor Snape's face was as black as storm clouds—I thought he might spite us with a T grade, but fortunately we both got Outstanding."
"Hogwarts Castle has restrictions on spatial teleportation spells, making Apparition impossible. Snape's overall strength was naturally greatly weakened, while our approach was able to achieve excellent results. Overall, we won on that point."
Hermione propped up her head, sitting on a stone bench under the small pavilion, swinging her feet as she recounted the detailed specifics of her and Glenn's duel with Snape.
Glenn sat beside her, adding details about his own actions and providing commentary.
Discussing their final battle at Hogwarts before arriving in the Dragon Kingdom, Hermione couldn't help but feel emotional.
Although their side had two people, and their victory method was somewhat clever, Glenn and Hermione had genuinely defeated Snape in that duel.
"No, from my perspective, you both performed excellently—whether in impromptu decision-making or strategic planning. This has nothing to do with battlefield limitations."
"Catching the enemy off-guard, deceiving them completely—Hermione, you first used the stone golem's spectacular strike to draw your professor's attention and guide his thinking, then used feints to conceal your real attack, letting Glenn deliver the decisive blow. The counter-curse release, the alchemical reconstruction—these were the key reasons for your victory."
"Being overly modest isn't advisable, Glenn."
Across from them sat a beautiful girl in a cream-colored coat, poised and dignified. She appeared younger than Glenn and Hermione, yet somehow radiated a mature, steady aura that didn't quite match her petite frame and youthful features.
She was currently Glenn and Hermione's audience, expressing disagreement with Glenn's assessment and gently criticizing him.
"This isn't modesty, Grandmother. I'm simply stating what I believe to be fact."
Glenn rejected his grandmother's claim that he was being modest. In his view, their victory in the duel with Snape was due to venue restrictions and ability limitations. Without those—if Apparition were possible within Hogwarts, or if the dueling ground were more open—his and Hermione's strategy would have been useless.
"But if the situation were different, our strategy would have adapted accordingly, wouldn't it?"
Hermione understood Glenn's thought process in this regard. She patted Glenn's shoulder, offering her own perspective.
"So under those circumstances, we won because we were superior!"
Facing Hermione's enthusiastic thumbs-up right in front of his face, Glenn considered her reasoning, worked through the logic, and nodded lightly in agreement.
"Mm, I understand. That's indeed correct."
Lin Yingqing noticed the girl across from her playfully winking from Glenn's blind spot, secretly giving her an "OK" sign, and couldn't help finding it endearing.
It seemed Hermione had completely figured Glenn out.
Regarding Glenn's uniqueness, Lin Yingqing naturally understood a thing or two from her own observations, her son and daughter-in-law's accounts of his deeds, and information obtained from Dumbledore. Now with Hermione—this perceptive girl who understood him—by Glenn's side to interpret external thoughts through Glenn's distinctive thinking patterns, she felt deeply reassured as an elder.
Hermione: No one understands Glenn better than I do (confident gesture)
Glenn naturally noticed the eye contact between his girlfriend and grandmother, but he didn't mind. Since the discussion of that past duel had concluded, Glenn decided to ask some practical questions.
"Grandmother, when will the beast-hunting expedition begin? Today is already February first—if the situation is urgent, shouldn't it commence immediately?"
In fact, Glenn and Hermione had only recently arrived in the Dragon Kingdom. For them, with access to the Door, international travel was merely a matter of stepping through a portal. After Glenn's pleasantries with his grandmother and Hermione's account of their school life, he immediately posed this question, demonstrating its importance in his mind.
Lin Yingqing unhurriedly sipped her hot tea, exhaling white vapor, and smiled warmly at Glenn:
"It seems your professor has briefed you on certain matters. But there's no need for such urgency—our people have already begun moving."
"We've uncovered evidence following various leads, indicating there are parasites embedded within our country's upper echelons. The pest control operation is currently underway. Since communication with the outside world is impossible from within the secret realm, we're eliminating external threats first before launching this expedition, preventing outside vermin from detecting our activities and fleeing into the secret realm to warn their accomplices."
"But by my calculations, you should be able to depart with the team tomorrow."
Glenn nodded, unsurprised. News about the beast-hunting expedition being accelerated had reached his and Hermione's ears weeks ago, but the formal commencement being advanced yet not immediately beginning had seemed peculiar. However, such timing made perfect sense if it meant eliminating hidden dangers first.
"Sigh... But personnel placement and coordination is quite a mentally taxing endeavor. Convincing those children who received special missions to participate in this expedition also required considerable effort. This is another reason why the operation didn't launch immediately."
As if contemplating something particularly troublesome, Lin Yingqing sighed and massaged her temples.
"If only they could be as cooperative as you two, Glenn and Hermione."
Hermione's eyebrows rose slightly, her lips parting as if to respond, but she was interrupted by sudden thunderous whistling sounds cutting through the air.
Purple lightning crackled, gentle winds swirled, and a figure materialized in the pavilion wearing white silk pajamas and fuzzy cotton slippers.
"I'm clearly the one handling all the arrangements, while you remain quite leisurely, Great-aunt. Where does this talk of worry and mental strain originate?"
"Ah, Brother Yu, hello there."
Recognizing the newcomer, Hermione waved cheerfully and offered a greeting.
The arrival was Glenn's cousin, Lin Yu. When studying Dragon Kingdom techniques at Hogwarts, Glenn and Hermione would either correspond with Lin Yingqing or consult Lin Yu when encountering problems. Combined with their previous interactions in the Dragon Kingdom, they had grown familiar with this accomplished cousin.
However, his current attire and somewhat disheveled appearance suggested someone who'd been roused from sleep and summoned to handle urgent business.
Lin Yu waved casually at Hermione, exchanged a meaningful look and nod with Glenn as greeting, then turned toward Lin Yingqing to begin his report.
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