Ryze sized up the little girl standing in front of him.
The good news was that she wasn't a "Black Hermione." Otherwise, he suspected he would have felt awkward about it for a long time.
After all, the young Emma Watson from back then had left a very deep impression on him.
It could even be said that because the movie version of Hermione was so stunning from the very beginning, there were countless fans who regretted that Harry Potter didn't end up with Hermione in the end.
Of course, the Hermione standing before him now wasn't bad either.
From Ryze's perspective, her facial structure and features were quite decent, and her skin was clear and smooth—without the small freckles that were strangely so highly praised in the West.
She simply hadn't grown fully into her features yet. Combined with her pair of prominent white buck teeth, she looked somewhat immature.
However, her eyes were very lively.
Ryze could clearly perceive her inner thoughts through the subtle changes in her gaze.
The metaphor of a little squirrel was actually quite fitting for the current Hermione.
"Hello, Miss Granger. I am Reyes White," Ryze introduced himself politely before asking, as if he knew nothing, why she had followed Neville into this compartment.
"Oh, I was helping Neville look for his toad earlier," Hermione replied. "While searching, I discovered that this little fairy named Ailey doesn't seem to appear in any of the books I've read. Even some upper-year students from Ravenclaw and Slytherin didn't know what it was."
She leaned forward slightly, curiosity shining in her eyes.
"So I became rather curious. If you don't mind, could you tell me what kind of magical creature it is?"
At this moment, Hermione's tone was not exactly pleasant.
Even though she was technically asking a question, there was a faintly overbearing aura in her voice.
"Actually, I'm not entirely sure about Ailey's origins either," Ryze said calmly. "But according to Professor McGonagall, Ailey might be a magical creature my father discovered in some ancient magical ruins and left behind for me."
"Professor Babbling, who teaches Ancient Runes, believes it might be a magical creature born from the manifestation of certain ancient runic magic. She says it seems to possess a certain level of intelligence."
As Ryze spoke, Neville's expression gradually became uneasy.
Hermione, however, clearly didn't notice why Ryze had specifically mentioned that Professor McGonagall told him these things rather than his father.
Instead, she pressed him further.
"You mean Professor McGonagall, the one who teaches Transfiguration? And Professor Babbling, the Ancient Runes professor whose class we can only take as an elective starting in the third year?"
She stared at Ryze intently.
"Are you already in contact with both of those professors?"
"I've only met Professor McGonagall twice," Ryze replied casually. "After that, I wrote a few letters to her to ask whether I could bring Ailey to Hogwarts."
He paused briefly.
"But I have indeed met Professor Babbling quite a few times over the past month. She's been coming to see me every few days to study the runes on Ailey's head. She even gave me several introductory books on Ancient Runes and told me I absolutely must choose her class in the third year."
For someone like Hermione—who pursued perfection and constantly wanted to prove herself—Ryze only needed a few sentences to make the little girl feel somewhat awkward.
"So you mean… you've already started studying third-year material?" Hermione asked slowly.
"I've only built a small foundation," Ryze said modestly. "It's nothing special."
Hearing this, Hermione's expression relaxed slightly.
She immediately began explaining the extent of her own studies with a hint of pride.
"No one in my family knows anything about magic," Hermione said. "So when I received my admission letter, my whole family was incredibly surprised."
"But I was also extremely happy. From what I've read, Hogwarts is the best magical school in the world."
She lifted her chin slightly.
"So during the entire summer vacation, I memorized all of the textbooks and practiced several simple spells."
She looked at Ryze expectantly.
"I think that should be enough to keep up with the pace of learning at Hogwarts… right?"
Ryze noticed Neville's eyes immediately fill with panic.
Clearly, Neville had probably not even previewed the textbooks seriously—let alone memorized all of them.
"I think your progress is already ahead of many people," Ryze said honestly.
"In fact, among the students of our year, you might be the only one who memorized every book before school even started."
That single sentence made Hermione's expression brighten with pride.
Then she spoke again in a tone that sounded modest, though the slightly overbearing aura still remained.
"Actually, memorizing the books isn't anything impressive," she said. "If you just read them a few more times, anyone could do it."
"I'm sure I'm not the only one capable of something like that."
She glanced at Ryze and Neville.
"Besides, both of you grew up in wizarding families. You must know much more about magic than someone like me."
Neville had completely fallen silent.
He didn't dare to speak at all.
Ryze blinked.
"I'm actually not so sure about that," he said calmly. "In fact, I only learned about Hogwarts and the wizarding world at the end of July this year."
Hermione froze.
"Your family never mentioned Hogwarts to you?"
Ryze shook his head.
"From the day I was born until July of this year, I lived in the Thomas Orphanage."
The compartment fell silent.
"It wasn't until I received my Hogwarts admission letter and wrote to Professor McGonagall that things changed," he continued.
"She spent several days investigating my background. Only then did I learn that my father was a wizard, though he disappeared before I was born."
"My mother probably passed away shortly after giving birth to me."
He shrugged lightly.
"Fortunately, a few relatives from my father's side are still alive in the wizarding world."
Hermione's previously confident expression immediately collapsed.
With a magical creature as rare as Ailey…
Elegant clothes…
And most importantly, a handsome and gentle appearance…
Based purely on appearance, Hermione had never imagined that Ryze was actually an orphan.
She quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know any of that," Hermione said hurriedly. "After seeing Ailey, I assumed you were someone who grew up in a wizarding family like Neville."
"It's fine. I'm used to it," Ryze replied with a gentle wave of his hand, smiling kindly at the embarrassed girl.
"I'm currently living with my cousin's family. They've treated me very well and taught me quite a lot during the past month."
He smiled slightly.
"But I'm not as amazing as you—memorizing every textbook before school starts."
Hermione had completely lost her earlier confidence.
In truth, precisely because her entire family consisted of ordinary Muggles, she had always felt somewhat insecure about attending Hogwarts alone.
She had been afraid of being looked down upon by students from wizarding families.
That was why she had deliberately adopted such a strong and confident posture earlier.
But now she had met Ryze.
A missing father.
A deceased mother.
An orphanage childhood.
And only recently reunited with relatives.
Compared to that, her earlier behavior suddenly felt terribly embarrassing.
She nodded awkwardly.
"Um… if you ever run into problems with your studies, you can come ask me," she said quietly.
"As long as I know the answer, I'll definitely help you."
"You're quite a kind person, Granger," Ryze said with a warm smile.
Hermione nodded hastily, her face slightly red.
Then she quickly found an excuse and left the compartment.
After Hermione disappeared down the corridor, Ryze noticed that Neville—who was sitting across from him—looked as though he might start crying again.
"I'm sorry," Neville said miserably. "Did I do something wrong again? If I had known, I shouldn't have brought her here."
He squeezed Trevor unconsciously, causing the poor toad to croak in protest.
"You don't need to apologize," Ryze said with a reassuring smile.
"That's simply my past. I've never felt ashamed of it, and I've never tried to hide it either."
He pushed two small cakes across the table—one toward Neville and the other toward Trevor.
"Besides," Ryze added lightly, "I learned how to use my identity to gain sympathy from others when I was six years old."
He leaned back slightly.
"After all, when you grow up in an orphanage, the most important thing is making sure you have enough to eat."
If you want, I can also help you:
Improve the dialogue to sound more "Harry Potter–style" natural
Reduce AI translation stiffness
Keep future chapters consistent in tone and characterization.
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