The cold wind howled, and heavy snow flew wildly.
Chen Yu sat alone in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, looking at the falling snow outside the window, waiting for it to depart on time.
"Merry Christmas, Hermione."
Hermione's voice came from beside him. Chen Yu turned around and saw Hermione walking into the train compartment with her suitcase.
"Merry Christmas, Hermione."
Chen Yu took the suitcase from Hermione's hand, easily placed it on the luggage rack, and then asked, "How was your Christmas holiday?"
"Don't even get me started. I wish I had stayed at Hogwarts. I didn't expect my aunt to visit this year, and she brought her daughter, boasting that her daughter got into Eton College. She said the school has beautiful scenery, a superior environment, and many graduates get into world-renowned universities every year."
"That's indeed quite bad."
Chen Yu thought only Chinese relatives would act like this, but he didn't expect it to be the same abroad.
It seems relatives all over the world are the same.
"What happened next?"
"Next? There was no 'next'. I told them I attended Hogwarts School, and they just said 'Oh', clearly not understanding the significance of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in all of Europe! I couldn't exactly use my wand to perform a spell in front of them during the holidays, could I? But it's alright, my parents weren't envious of my aunt's daughter getting into Eton College at all, and they didn't say anything to me after they left. What about you? How did you spend your holiday?"
Seeing Hermione ask about him.
Chen Yu scratched his head, thought for a moment, and said, "Me? I spent the entire holiday learning new magic, there's nothing much to say."
"Oh my! You spent the entire holiday learning magic? How did you get around the Trace?"
"Just studying the theoretical knowledge of new magic, without practicing with a wand, isn't that enough?"
"I think you should be in Ravenclaw more than I should. I just read some extracurricular books about magic for leisure, and my roommates already call me a 'bookworm' who only reads. You're actually diligently studying spells during Christmas? That's too hardworking!"
Hermione found it incredible. She believed Chen Yu's explanation and felt that the title of Gryffindor's bookworm shouldn't be on her, but rather on Chen Yu.
She wasn't so diligent as to still be studying hard during Christmas, and then she asked, "So, have you finished all your holiday homework? Merlin's beard, Professor Snape actually assigned a sixteen-inch long essay for the Christmas holiday. He's absolutely wicked!"
Chen Yu, who was tidying the wrinkles on his clothes, suddenly froze.
Homework? What homework? Was there homework to do during Christmas?
Chen Yu thought about his past two weeks; he was either at Kamar-Taj learning new magic, or watching Tony design new armor, or playing base-building in the Serenitea Pot.
Homework had long been thrown to the back of his mind.
Could this be the price of gaining power?
Seeing Chen Yu freeze and his expression change dramatically, Hermione also paused for a moment, then quickly reacted: "Merlin's beard! Chen Yu, you didn't forget to do your homework, did you! Which one did you forget? Is it Professor Snape's essay, or Professor Binns's magical history transcription, or Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration Class reflection, Professor Pomona's Herbology classification, or the Astronomy Class's stargazing observations?"
With each assignment Hermione rattled off, Chen Yu's body grew stiffer.
By the time Hermione finished listing all the assignments, Chen Yu was as motionless as if he had been hit by a Petrification spell.
"If I said... all of them... Hermione, would you believe me?"
After hearing him, Hermione patted Chen Yu on the shoulder and then sympathetically comforted him, "You're finished, Chen Yu. Homework is due tomorrow. Even if I let you copy mine, you don't have enough time to write it now. Besides, Snape strictly forbids plagiarism for essay assignments; he'll scrutinize every word and try every way to deduct Gryffindor House points!"
"No! I think I still have a chance!"
The Hogwarts Express slowly started moving. Chen Yu immediately jumped up from his seat, rushed out of the compartment, and hurried to find the Weasley Brothers to buy self-answering quills.
Fortunately, there's always a way. When he found Fred and George, they still had two brand new self-answering quills and two used ones.
Chen Yu quickly bought all the self-answering quills the Weasley Brothers had, adding his own, making a total of five.
Returning to the compartment, he pulled out a stack of parchment from his suitcase, activated Merlin's Ring to make his brain incredibly active, and then, with five-line operation, began to furiously write his assignments.
Five self-answering quills were operating at high speed, as if controlled by five invisible people, simultaneously writing assignments for five different subjects.
The Hogwarts Express roared through the snow, passing through layers of fields and forests, finally arriving at the Black Lake of Hogwarts.
By then, it was already getting dark.
Chen Yu had finally caught up on his homework.
Good thing he had knowledge in his head, otherwise this would have been trouble.
As soon as he stood up to get off the train, he felt his vision blur; this wasn't anemia, but a symptom of overworking his brain.
He quickly turned off Merlin's Ring, pulled out a Senzu Bean from his system backpack, intending to reset his state, but then thought better of it, deciding not to waste a Senzu Bean on catching up on homework, and put it back.
This feeling of weakness reminded him of the last time he rushed homework like this, which was back in college.
At that time, he was interning and researching outside, and after returning, he had to write research reports, practical explanations, and even his advisor was pressuring him for the initial draft of his graduation thesis.
Everything came at once back then, which was incredibly stressful.
It was truly one computer, one night light, one night, one miracle.
Hermione was also stunned watching from the side.
She had personally watched how Chen Yu's assignments were quickly written by magically controlling five self-answering quills.
She simply couldn't learn this kind of stable magical output operation.
Not to mention Hermione, even the aunt pushing the snack trolley on the Hogwarts Express, seeing Chen Yu so diligently catching up on his homework, didn't dare to make a sound in front of him and went directly to the next carriage.
Chen Yu put the finished parchments into his suitcase, stretched his stiff neck and wrists, and let out a long sigh.
He finally finished his homework.
This time, returning to Hogwarts, the first-year Little Wizards did not take boats to Hogwarts Castle, but were led by older students along another path into Hogwarts Castle.
"I told you, Chen Yu. I read in 'Hogwarts: A History' that our first boat ride through Hogwarts was to commemorate the route the founders of Hogwarts took when they discovered the castle, to experience the hardships they faced when searching for a site to establish the school. The book said it's a tradition, to make new students remember the efforts of the four house founders and the history of creating Hogwarts School, so every year, new students must take the Black Lake route."
"And Professor Dumbledore's strange words at the first feast, I looked through many books and found that the four words 'nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak' when translated into Latin and combined form one sentence: May Merlin bless you!"
Hermione walked and told Chen Yu about the knowledge she gained from reading during the holidays.
Chen Yu did not deny Hermione's statement but proposed another hypothesis: "I think Professor Dumbledore should be speaking in opposites. You see, Ravenclaw corresponds to wisdom, Gryffindor to courage, Slytherin to cunning ambition and pure-blood, and Hufflepuff to integrity and kindness. Aren't these words—'wisdom, courage, pure-blood, kindness'—in some way the opposite of 'nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak'? Is there some kind of correspondence with the houses?"
"Of course, Professor Dumbledore might also mean that Hufflepuff is stupid; Ravenclaw cries easily; Slytherin are all useless; and Gryffindor are mischievous troublemakers."
Hermione listened to Chen Yu's explanation and shook her head: "I think the Professor is a learned person, he wouldn't say that."
"Hmph~ Who knows? Anyway, Harry always thought Professor Dumbledore was crazy, like a strange old man; I think so too. There's an adjective in the East, 'old mischievous child,' which seems very fitting for Professor Dumbledore. Alright, Hogwarts Castle is here."