Chapter 31: Progress
Reading through the list of books required for this year, Pro's mouth twitched as he counted the number of times Lockhart showed up on it.
"Charming, Gilderoy Lockhart. Pro, is that not the man who steals others' achievements that you kept telling me about? You even said your father was secretly investigating his case," Hermione stared at Pro with eyes full of curiosity as she clutched her book list.
"Yes it is, Hermione," Pro replied with a chuckle.
"What?! And this Lockhart will become our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? How could this possible? A genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by a dodger as pathetically dim witted as an aging potion!" Hermione exclaimed as she gently folded up her book list with a tiny frown on her face.
"Well, you should have learned a bit more about that genius wizard after last year's adventure," Pro stated as he stared at Hermione with a smile.
"You mean-," Hermione went silent for a couple of moments before taking a deep breathe and continuing, "Stop, stop, stop! I don't want to think about this anymore. Pro, why must you perceive clearly that which others overlook? Can't you just be ... less logical?"
"Less logical? How can I be less logical when I'm next to a highly logical person like you, Hermione," Pro chuckled as he gave Hermione's cheeks a pinch.
Hermione pouted as she slapped Pro's paw away, "Right. It's almost time for us to go get our supplies. Auntie Beatrice said she would drive us over."
Hopping off the couch, Hermione picked up her book list and begin to walk towards the exit of the tent. Pro happily chuckled and vaulted over the couch, swiftly catching up to Hermione. He then silently grasped Hermione's hand in his hand.
Hermione glanced over at him as a small smile arose on her face. She let her hand stay in his hand and the two walked into the house.
"Ohhh~ Who's mommy's cute baby darling? Yes, that's right! Little Sarah is mommy's cute baby darling~"
Mommy Beatrice's indulgent voice came from the living room couch. Glancing over, Pro saw his mother playing with the cute Sarah as usual. Pro then felt the hand in his grasp slip away as Hermione cheerfully bounced towards Sarah who had completely attracted her attention, leaving the lonely Pro behind.
"Oh! Hermione darling, is it time already? Auntie Beatrice almost lost track of time while playing with my baby darling Sarah," mommy Beatrice said with a gentle voice before turning towards Pro, "My precious darling Pro, would you mind getting the baby bag and papoose for little Sarah? Mommy will put little Sarah in the car first."
"Alright, mother," Pro agreed and went to grab the bag on the kitchen counter.
Checking and making sure the baby supplies such as milk bottle and diapers were all ready, Pro then went over to the closet to summon the papoose, a bag for carrying a baby, from the closet.
After getting everything, Pro left the house and walked towards the car. Mommy Beatrice had already buckled the cute Sarah into her car seat and Hermione had already seated herself in the middle. A book on how to take care of children had appeared in her hand at an unknown time, and she was now applying what she learned on the cutie next to her.
Hopping into the car, Pro buckled his seat belt and shut the car door. Glancing out the window, he saw his mother bumbling her way back towards the car after checking that the house door was locked.
"Alright, off we go then~ Mommy heard that you two will be meeting the famous Harry Potter. Mommy also wants to see how this savior friend of yours look like," mommy Beatrice said in a cheerful voice as she started the car and drove off.
With a smile, Pro turned his attention towards the cute Sarah nearby. He reached out his hand and gave the cutie's soft cheek a couple of pokes, causing her to look over with her big, round eyes and making some cute baby noises with her tiny, open mouth.
Hermione was also cutely glancing back and forth between her book and Sarah. Although it has been a while since she's been with Sarah already, Hermione was still so careful and treated Sarah like a little, fragile treasure. Pro was sure she had already memorized the book she was reading, yet she was still reading it.
Even with all these distractions, Pro was surprised how fast Hermione's progress in her studies was. Although she held back from wantonly practicing underage magic, the limited times she used to affirm her theories from reading was enough for her to master a lot of spells. A true genius, unlike Pro.
Playing with innocent Sarah and Hermione, it didn't take long for the group to arrive at their destination. After parking the car, mommy Beatrice strapped baby Sarah onto her body, and the group then set off for Diagon Alley.
"Alright, you two. Let's go exchange for some galleons first. Hermione darling, are you sure you don't want Auntie Beatrice to purchase your supplies for you as well?"
"Thank you Auntie Beatrice, but I will be fine. My parents have given me more than the necessary allowance for school supplies. I've already imposed on you all summer, I shouldn't also require you to pay for me to go to school," Hermione replied with a smile.
"No, no, no. Hermione darling, don't say that. It was wonderful to have you over. Auntie Beatrice was very happy with your company and can only do this much to repay you. If you really need it, just tell Auntie Beatrice, and Auntie Beatrice will help," mommy Beatrice confidently stated as she led the group into Gringotts.
After exchanging for their respective galleons, the group headed outside. Sweeping his eyes around, Pro didn't see Harry anywhere. It seems the timing was a bit off.
"Guess Harry is not here yet?" Pro muttered as he looked towards Knockturn Alley and waited.
"Oh! I see Ron and the Weasleys!" Hermione exclaimed as she pointed in another direction, "They seem to be panicking?"
Glancing over, Pro saw a group of redheads frantically dashing around as if they were trying to find someone. Focusing his attention back on Knockturn Alley, it didn't take long for Pro to see Harry being ushered out of it by Hagrid.
"Looks like Harry is here," Pro said and waved in Harry's direction.
"Harry! Harry! Over here!" Hermione hollered as she waved her hand as well.
It didn't take long for Harry and Hagrid to make their way over.
"Hello Harry, hello Hagrid," Pro greeted.
Hermione tilted her head a bit as she looked at Harry's glasses, "What happened to your glasses? Hello, Hagrid. Oh, it's wonderful to see you two again. Are you coming into Gringotts, Harry?"
Harry grumbled a reply, "As soon as I've found the Weasleys."
"Yeh won't have long ter wait," Hagrid's gruff voice came from above.
As expected, the group of redheads made their way over and the two groups united. The Weasleys livened up the mood as Mrs. Weasley fretted over Harry and thanked Hagrid, who eventually had to escape.
Mr. Weasley also greeted Pro's mother enthusiastically to her confusion. As Hermione's parents and Pro's father didn't come, she was the only that knew more about the Muggle world. Mr. Weasley also talked about how he got along with Joseph in the Ministry of Magic, and consulted with him a lot because of Joseph's Muggle knowledge.
Honestly, Pro could tell that mommy Beatrice was a bit uncomfortable with Mr. Weasley's enthusiasm. Fortunately, she was saved when Mrs. Weasley joined the conversation and held back her excited husband. Then, the attention of the two mothers were turned towards the cute little Sarah.
Meanwhile, Pro was listening to Harry drone on about the Malfoys he saw in Knockturn Alley. The bored Mr. Weasley, that was left out by the two mothers, also butted into the conversation. It didn't take long for Pro to re-enter Gringotts, but this time, he simply waited on the side with his mother and Hermione as the other group went to get their money.
"Um ... that Mr. Weasley ... is a bit ... enthusiastic isn't he? Did he not take Muggle studies at Hogwarts? I've known that wizards had always been behind times when it came to the Muggle world, but that man is on another level," mommy Beatrice muttered as she comforted herself by playing with little Sarah.
"Well, I guess he's like that mother. Still, I haven't' heard father mention about dealing with him at work, that's something new," Pro replied with a chuckle.
"Well ... Joseph doesn't like talking about little things like that. You know your daddy, he rarely mentions work at home unless it's some happy news like a raise or if he got some achievement," mommy Beatrice replied with a giggle.
Pro chuckled and glanced over at the silent Hermione, "Hermione, what's wrong? Why are you so quiet?"
Hermione furrowed her brows as she replied, "I'm thinking ... about what Harry said."
"What about it?"
"I don't know ... I just feel that the Malfoys is up to something. I just hope my feeling is wrong," Hermione mumbled.
Blinking his eyes, Pro looked at Hermione up and down before asking in a joking tone, "Who's this? What did you do to my Hermione? Since when did my Hermione base her logic on feelings?"
Hermione glared at Pro and reached out to give his waist a pinch, "I'm being serious! And it's not logic based on feelings, it's feelings based on logic. After examining their speech and conduct, my logic tells me that there's something wrong, but I don't know what."
Pro laughed as he gave Hermione's head a couple of pets, "Well, if you don't know, then don't worry so much. You'll eventually find out in due time once more clues come out."
Hermione who was enjoying Pro's pets stiffened for a moment before she glanced at Pro with serious eyes, "You ... know something don't you?"
Pro silently smiled back and didn't answer.
Hermione's head bowed down sadly as as she said in a soft voice, "Why can't you just tell me?"
Pro sighed a bit before he whispered back, "It's because I don't know the exact details, and I don't want to ruin a certain someone's plans."
"Someone's plan ... is it someone powerful?" Hermione mumbled before she looked at Pro with eyes filled with worry and her hands reached out to grasp his hand, "How could he do this ... to put his students in danger like this?"
"Um ... I'm not certain if it's his plan completely," Pro mumbled.
"Not his ... then who else is there?"
"You-know-who."
The two fell silent as Hermione bit her lips. Her eyes locked with Pro and could feel his helplessness.
Pro sighed a bit as stroked her head and comforted, "Don't worry ... I'll try, but no guarantees."
"No- you can't ..." Hermione stuttered before she stopped and bit her lips as her inward moral compass swerved back and forth.
After a moment of silence, she finally whispered, "Will it be dangerous?"
"It'll be more dangerous if I don't try," Pro responded, "Dangerous for everyone, including you."
Hermione gripped Pro's hands tightly and was about to reply, but was interrupted.
"What is dangerous? What are you two whispering about?" mommy Beatrice butted into the conversation as her eyes fiercely glared at the two of them, "You two aren't thinking of doing something dangerous or breaking the rules right?"
"No, mother. Everything is fine. We were just talking about how dangerous the forbidden forest is, and discussing how to convince others to never go in," Pro smoothly dropped a lie.
Mommy Beatrice turned her eyes over to Hermione and Hermione weakly nodded back with a straight face.
"Well!" mommy Beatrice glanced back and forth between the two with a strange gaze before continuing, "I hope you two don't do anything dangerous. My precious Pro, I don't want you ending up like your daddy during his schooldays, a constant troublemaker ..."
Mommy Beatrice rambled on, and it wasn't until the Weasleys returned with Harry that she stopped. After agreeing to meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour, the group split up. Pro, Hermione, Harry, and Ron strolled off to purchase their supplies.
Hermione was fairly silent for once along the way, attracting the attention of Harry and Ron, but she assured them nothing was wrong. She only kept peeking at Pro from time to time and Pro knew she was worried.
As the meeting time approached, the group headed towards the book store. Glancing at the worried Hermione, Pro secretly held her hand and lagged behind a bit. He then whispered to her, "If you want to help, then help me pay attention to a black book. Malfoy may slip it into one of the Weasley's book bags, most likely the youngest one's."
Hermione stared at Pro with her eyes widened a bit in shock. She then squeezed his hand and nodded firmly, eyes sharpened in determination.
"Blimey. Pro, Hermione, what are you two doing back there? Comon, we don't want to be late or my mum will never stop talking about it," Ron hollered.
"Coming!" Pro hollered back.
Pro then smiled at Hermione, whose eyes were already sweeping around, and led her forward. It was time to make some small changes and hope it won't result in horrible consequences.
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