Chapter 820: Chapter 709: The Battle of Diagon Alley
"Hermione, do you think Kael has a grudge against Harry?"
Outside a door near the basement utility room, Ron listened to the continuous screams coming from inside, and asked with lingering fear.
He had always been curious about how Harry learned Occlumency. Seizing the rare opportunity, Ron naturally wouldn’t miss out and came here with Hermione right after breakfast.
The scene left him stunned.
This isn’t special training... it’s pure beating!
Harry kept getting knocked from left to right by a Fantastic Beast with six legs, looking like a living Bludger, and it couldn’t be more miserable.
Next to him, Hermione nodded with a similar sense of lingering fear.
She had hesitated about joining Harry for special training.
Recently, the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes no longer needed help, and her parents had gradually gotten used to life in Diagon Alley. Sometimes, she couldn’t even find them when visiting.
Since there wasn’t much going on, she thought of learning another Charm during this month. After all, others said Occlumency was important. Even if she didn’t have to worry about Voldemort invading her mind, it couldn’t hurt to learn it.
But now seeing Harry’s ordeal, she suddenly hesitated.
Hermione couldn’t imagine getting thrashed back and forth by a Wampus Cat. Comparatively, she preferred a more systematic approach... Though slower, it was much safer.
"Ah!"
Harry’s scream echoed again from the room. After two minutes of persistence, his thoughts were still seen through by the Wampus Cat, and a thick tail struck his thigh solidly.
Outside the door, Ron and Hermione gasped simultaneously, feeling pain just by watching.
Hermione felt a bit guilty.
"Forget it, let’s go," she said.
"Okay." Ron nodded decisively.
Now he understood why Sirius and the others never came here.
If you don’t see it, you won’t feel bad, and Harry can grasp Occlumency faster.
Oh, how adults are clever.
They quietly closed the door... and it instantly felt much better.
When they returned upstairs, Mrs. Weasley was passing through the living room with a laundry basket.
"There you are..." she said, "Arthur just delivered the mail, and I think it’s your O.W.L. results."
"The results are out?" Hermione jumped up and darted next to Mrs. Weasley.
"Here, take it." Mrs. Weasley handed over three envelopes from the basket.
Hermione quickly found the one with her name, tore open the envelope, and unfolded the parchment.
Her expression turned disappointed immediately.
"Didn’t you do well?" Ron asked curiously, peeking over.
The series of ’O’s made him a bit dizzy.
"Nine ’Outstanding’s, one ’Exceeds Expectations’... it’s Defence Against the Dark Arts." Ron looked at her half-jokingly, half-exasperated, "And you’re feeling disappointed, really?"
"But Kael got all ’Outstanding’s back then," Hermione said.
"Can you use a normal person as a reference?" Ron raised his voice, unable to understand Hermione’s self-made troubles.
"Honestly, if I could get one ’Outstanding’, just one, I’d jump with joy."
Ron opened his envelope.
No surprise, there wasn’t a single ’Outstanding’, but fortunately, there were seven ’Acceptable’s.
"That’s nice," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile, ruffling Ron’s hair, "Passing seven O.W.L.s is better than I expected."
Truth be told, compared to Ron’s past results, this was a significant improvement.
So far, Mrs. Weasley no longer hopes for any ’O’s from Ron; just maintaining this level would suffice for earning seven certificates after graduation.
"And Harry’s." Ron looked at the last envelope in his hand, "Should we give it to him?"
"Do you want to go?" Hermione countered.
Ron shook his head decisively. Not out of concern for Harry, but because he feared that Fantastic Beast might get used to beating and would give him a thrashing too.
"Perhaps we should wait for Harry to open it himself tonight?"
"Sure!"
They quickly agreed, with Ron placing Harry’s results in his room.
"By the way, where’s Kael?" Hermione looked around, realizing she hadn’t seen Kael all morning.
"He went to the Ministry of Magic with Arthur in the morning," Mrs. Weasley said.
"He’s already at the Ministry?"
"Yes, I advised Kael to rest a bit longer, but he insisted there was no need," Mrs. Weasley said. "Did you need something from him?"
"I had some Magic Text questions I couldn’t understand and needed to ask him," Hermione said.
"Then you’ll have to wait until evening," Mrs. Weasley said, "He’ll be back here for dinner, and he’ll stay over for the holidays."
"I see," Hermione said, "Mrs. Weasley, let me help with the laundry then."
"No need to wash, a simple magic will do. I’m just preparing to hang them out to dry. This house is great, but it doesn’t get much sunlight."
Time quickly moved to the evening. Mrs. Weasley prepared a big pot of stewed beef, serving it at the table by the time people finished work at the Ministry of Magic.
Hermione also brought a hefty Magic Text Books, ready to ask Kael a few questions after dinner.
