— — — — — —
"Stop running around!" Rimuru sighed helplessly as he chased after Milim, who was darting through the hallways like an untamed puppy.
"This might actually be my first time skipping class," Hermione muttered gloomily, keeping up with them. "There goes my perfect attendance for the month…" She didn't have a choice, though—if she let Milim run loose, she might accidentally destroy the whole school.
"Oh, right—Hermione," Rimuru suddenly asked, "what year are you guys in right now?"
"Second year," she answered. "You know—Chamber of Secrets stuff."
"Bestie! Over here!" Milim suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, waving frantically like she'd just found buried treasure.
"What is it now?" Rimuru and Hermione hurried over.
...
"Hey, kids."
"Good morning!" A plump witch greeted the gathered students with a warm smile.
"Good morning, Professor Sprout!" xN
"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, second-years. Everyone gather around," Professor Sprout said kindly—until her gaze snapped toward the doorway, where three pairs of eyes were peeking inside.
"You three, come out. What are you doing back there?" she asked, looking puzzled.
"Hermione????! Where have you been? Why are you only just getting here?" The one calling out was none other than Harry Potter.
"Uh—sorry, Professor Sprout, I'm late," Hermione blurted, realizing she'd been caught. Her fleeting thought of running away instantly died—if she ran now, they'd lose points for sure, and that would be a black mark on her record forever.
"Oh, it's fine," Professor Sprout said kindly. "Just be on time next time. Come in, we're just about to start."
"Bestie, what do we do?" Milim whispered.
"You two in the doorway! Don't just stand there—come in too!" Professor Sprout called again.
"…Guess we're doing this," Rimuru muttered, resigning himself as they walked in after Hermione.
"Who are they?" Harry whispered, his curiosity piqued.
"They're… um, friends I just made," Hermione said, already feeling a headache coming on.
"Hi! I'm Milim, and this is my bestie Rimuru!" Milim said cheerfully. "You're Harry Potter, right? I've heard so many stories about you!"
"H-Hello, Miss Milim, Miss Rimuru…" Harry said shyly, looking at the two beautiful girls in front of him.
'I want to cut him down,' Rimuru thought flatly. 'Why the fuck does everyone assume I'm a girl? Is being cute automatically feminine now?'
Rimuru shook his head and said, "Professor Sprout, we are transfer students. I'm Rimuru Tempest, and this is Milim Nava."
Sprout nodded kindly and gestured for them to join the class.
"Alright, class, settle down," Professor Sprout said, clapping her hands. "Today we'll be repotting mandrakes. Everyone has their earmuffs ready, yes?"
"Yes!" the students chorused.
"Hermione-chan, is that a mandrake?" Milim asked, pointing at the wriggling plants on the table with great interest.
"Yeah. The Mandrake Restorative Draught made from them can cure petrification—but take caution, their screams can also kill you," Hermione explained, slightly worried. "Though… I doubt you two have anything to worry about."
Professor Sprout began demonstrating how to safely repot the mandrakes. Milim, however, found the screaming little plant absolutely hilarious—she yanked it out of its pot, shoved it back in, then yanked it out again over and over until the poor thing practically stopped screaming altogether.
It wasn't until Professor Sprout hurried over to stop her that the abused mandrake was finally spared.
Of course, Milim searched for new targets next.
...
Luckily by the end of the class, Milim and Rimuru had managed to sit through the lesson without destroying anything—which was a small miracle in itself.
"Hermione-chan, your school lessons are so much fun!" Milim said, eyes sparkling with envy. "I kinda wanna stay here forever!"
"If you do, I bet a hundred crystals that Voldemort's gonna die a very miserable death," Rimuru said dryly. "Maybe, he will kill himself."
Hermione rolled her eyes. She didn't know about Voldemort's fate, but she'd bet ten thousand crystals that if Milim really stayed at Hogwarts, every teacher here would go insane within a month.
"Hello, ladies." A ghost floated past, then dramatically removed his head from his shoulders—it was a disturbing sight if you weren't used to it.
"Hello, Sir Nicholas," Hermione greeted casually. But then she caught Milim staring at him with way too much curiosity and suddenly felt a very bad premonition.
Nicholas froze under Milim's stare, feeling an inexplicable sense of danger.
Sure enough—Milim zipped forward, grabbed his head, and yanked it right off!
"This is so cool!" Milim's eyes sparkled as she spun the ghost's head around like a basketball.
"Ahhhh—no, no! Put it back! SSStop spinninggg!" Headless Nick's body flailed around blindly, bumping into everything.
"Milim! That is so rude!" Rimuru groaned.
"But bestie, it's so fun! I wanna take it home!" Milim pleaded, still holding the head.
"Take someone's head home?"
Rimuru and Hermione shared the exact same expression—pure, stunned disbelief.
In the end, Milim reluctantly gave the head back. Nicholas quickly reattached it, then bolted away as fast as a ghost could move. From that day forward, he stopped showing off his detachable head entirely.
Headless Nick: "The demons are real?!"
...
"Hermione-chan~ can we stay here a few more days?" Milim begged pitifully. "I promise I won't cause any trouble!"
"I somehow don't trust that promise…" Hermione muttered, rubbing her temple. Still, she couldn't bring herself to say no. "Fine—but you have to swear not to do anything too outrageous."
"Yay!" Milim jumped into the air, cheering.
"What a mess," Rimuru said, shaking his head. But seeing Milim so happy, he couldn't help but smile. Sometimes, that was all that really mattered.
And so, Milim and Rimuru began their short but chaotic school life at Hogwarts—where peace and quiet were about to become a thing of the past.
.
.
.