"Oh, of course we know that," Harry muttered sarcastically, pulling his head out from beneath the pillow. "I think about it every day... Hmm, what's Snape made of? Why, naturally! Nuclei, molecules, protons..."
"Well, I knew everything up to atoms," Hermione said, then had the pleasure of seeing Potter's jaw drop. "Perhaps I wasn't reading my textbooks carefully enough... or maybe I just had terrible books."
"You're like him too..." Harry whispered in horror.
Hermione found herself doubting once more that Richard was someone who didn't belong to this Earth.
Perhaps he really is just a genius, she thought. Well, why not? Wealthy families have their own schools—I'm sure the education there is better. Besides, Richie said he was taught at home by private tutors. Oh, how embarrassing... and here I was inventing all sorts of ridiculous theories.
"Are you ready to hear the rest?" Richard asked.
"No!" Harry exclaimed.
"Yes, of course." Hermione fixed Richard with an attentive gaze.
"NO!" Potter repeated more loudly. "Hello? Can anybody hear me? You know, the boy with glasses and two broken legs lying in the hospital bed?"
"Harry, don't interrupt. We're protecting you from a homicidal house-elf, remember?"
Hermione's stern look made Potter swallow the rest of his protest. Wearing the expression of a man marching to the gallows, he waved a hand and said,
"Oh, fine. As if I'm against having company. Go on, Richie."
"Thank you, Harry," Grosvenor replied, barely suppressing a smile. "Now then. Protons and neutrons are made of quarks held together by gluons. Those sixty-nine kilograms of Snape are really the gluon springs binding together seven hundred grams of Snape's quarks."
"Snape's quarks!" Harry burst out laughing, but quickly fell silent beneath Hermione's withering glare.
Richard continued,
"Everything that exists today—absolutely all matter—is made from these particles alone. Neutrinos are produced in the Sun. As for the others—those lovely, strange charm quarks, muons, and taus—they existed as ordinary matter only during the birth of the universe. Bosons determine how matter interacts with itself. They're like messengers, darting between fermions and telling them how to behave toward one another."
"Wow!" Hermione pulled a notebook from her enchanted handbag and began scribbling furiously.
"The gluon is responsible for the strong interaction. Like glue, it binds quarks together inside protons and neutrons."
Richard waited for Hermione to finish writing.
"The photon carries the electromagnetic interaction. That's radio waves, light, radiation, and the force that makes molecules repel one another."
Once again, Grosvenor paused briefly. Fast as Hermione wrote, she still needed a little time.
"The W boson and the Z boson carry the weak interaction—they're responsible for radioactive decay and thermonuclear reactions. But the particle that ties everything else together is the Higgs boson! One particle to rule them all!"
"What do you mean?" Harry froze like a statue.
"I think..." Richie lowered his voice to a mysterious whisper, instantly capturing even more of Harry's and Hermione's attention. "I believe the Higgs boson is magic! It's the key to controlling matter, energy, space... OF COURSE! Why didn't I realise it sooner?! It's obvious! Magic lets you do everything that would be possible if you learned to control the Higgs boson!"
"Satan grab Hitler by the thigh..." Harry muttered under his breath. Turning to Hermione, he whispered, "He scares me when he's like this. It's terrifying remembering what happened the last time Richie acted this way..."
Potter's words did not escape Grosvenor's notice. He remembered perfectly well that the last time he'd been seized by this sort of manic inspiration had been in front of the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell had died that day, and Richard had no desire whatsoever to bring that up in front of Hermione. So he decided to change the subject.
Looking at Potter, he asked,
"Hermione, what do you think Harry always carries with him? Something compact... inconspicuous..."
"His pants?" Granger guessed.
"Not quite..." Richard drawled.
"Oi!" Harry protested. "I do wear pants! Not unicorn wool ones," he added sarcastically, "but I do wear them."
Hermione studied Potter thoughtfully. Her face suddenly lit up.
"His glasses."
"Oh, the glasses!" Grosvenor exclaimed, delighted.
"My glasses?" Potter frowned.
"Yes, your glasses." Richard nodded. "Thank you, Hermione."
"I'm not giving you my glasses." Harry clutched the frames protectively with both hands. "I can't see properly without them."
"And you won't have to, Harry. I—"
Richard never got to finish. Footsteps sounded in the corridor, followed by Snape's soft, silky voice.
"Where would you like me to put him, Poppy?"
"On the bed next to Potter," the healer replied.
Harry smirked and remarked with mock solemnity,
"Well, here come sixty-nine kilograms of gluons."
Richard and Hermione both struggled to suppress their smiles.
The owners of the voices entered the room: Severus Snape and Poppy Pomfrey. The Potions professor was levitating Ron Weasley, who had his eyes squeezed shut as though bracing for a blow.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for insulting a member of staff, Mr. Potter!"
With an expert flick of his wand, Snape lowered Weasley onto the bed beside Harry's. Realizing the danger had passed, Ron beamed.
"Harry! Richie! I caught the Snitch! We beat Slytherin!"
"And how did you end up in the Hospital Wing, Ron?" Hermione asked dryly.
"Chasing the Snitch. Broke my arm," Ron replied with a dismissive wave. "But I caught it!"
"Congratulations, Ron!" Harry said, genuinely pleased for his friend.
The students' cheerful conversation was cut short by Snape. His sharp, gimlet-like gaze settled on Richard and Hermione.
"You two. With me. To the Great Hall. At once."
"Professor Snape," Hermione addressed him with impeccable politeness, "why the Great Hall?"
"Move!"
Richard and Hermione had little choice but to follow the professor.
"Sir, even so," Richard tried again, "why the Great Hall?"
"Mr. Grosvenor," Snape replied contemptuously, "an intruder has entered the school—Sirius Black. He slashed the Fat Lady's portrait guarding the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. Tonight, every student except those confined to the Hospital Wing will be sleeping in the Great Hall."
Hermione leaned toward Richard's ear and whispered,
"Black really has gone completely round the bend."
Quiet though she was, Professor Snape still heard her. Apparently, his hearing was as sharp as everything else about him.
"I couldn't agree more, Miss Granger," he said.
(End of Chapter)
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