Chapter 319: Three Broomsticks

Screaming Shack.

John, Titus, Ryan, and Ethan were sitting properly in a circle on the soft carpet in the middle.

October in the Scottish Highlands was already chilly, but there was the convenient Insulation Spell, a everyday magic.

No fireplace was needed; it could keep the whole room warm as spring.

To avoid accusations of favoring romance over friendship, John firmly refused Hermione's invitation.

Following the brothers, they came to the Secret Base.

And Hermione would naturally not force John to abandon his friends.

So—

"So, do you understand? Arithmetic Divination makes intangible probabilities tangible through numerical calculations."

"Trelawney's shamanic divination is far more reliable."

Hermione stood before the four with arms crossed, tapping the blackboard with her wand, and spoke seriously to them.

John and the others all broke into a sweat, their heads feeling twice as big.

No way—how did a perfectly good holiday turn into a math tutoring class?

The reason naturally traces back to yesterday when John refused Hermione's invitation.

Although Hermione forgave his refusal after beating him up.

But she also didn't want to go to Hogsmeade alone; after a month of intense study, she didn't want to spend her rare holiday stuck in the library.

So she simply went with John and the others to the Screaming Shack.

However, with Hermione's addition, the brothers' gathering instantly turned into a math tutoring bureau.

It wasn't that they were eager to bring Hermione along.

Rather, they wanted to get on good terms with Hermione (Senior), after all, she's the girlfriend of their close friend.

Maybe someday she'll become their sister-in-law.

Among close brothers, it's understood that whoever marries first becomes the sister-in-law, and the others become second sister-in-law or sister-in-law (dog head).

But they didn't expect that, with a girl added who felt inhibited, they'd have nothing to do.

And then it turned into Hermione's math tutoring class.

Hermione seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit.

Perhaps because she had been teaching John various knowledge for years, she had grown to love the sense of accomplishment from teaching others.

Because John learned quickly, she soon had nothing left to teach him, and Harry and Ron both disliked listening to her nagging or teaching them.

So she hadn't felt that feeling for over two years.

Although the four of them were probably only listening obediently due to some pressure.

But she still greatly enjoyed this feeling, this feeling of standing at the podium imparting knowledge.

"Hermione (Senior)!"

At this moment, Ethan raised his hand.

"Ethan, speak."

Hermione, affecting a teacherly air, pushed up her nonexistent glasses and said.

"Can this Arithmetical Divination predict the future like the Crystal Divination in Divination Class?"

"No, the future cannot be precisely calculated."

Hermione said very firmly.

She also didn't forget to add a couple of digs: "Even Crystal Divination can't predict the future; the divination you learned with John is just fooling kids, utterly useless."

She still looked down on divination.

At this point John also raised his hand: "Teacher! I feel your lesson content is seriously biased!"

Upon hearing this, Hermione glared at John fiercely.

She won't praise, she'll just sabotage!

John instantly shrank his neck.

Hermione tapped the blackboard again, and magical power directly traced a mathematical formula on it.

"You guys, solve this problem."

"Ahhh..." the four all cried out in unison.

"What's with the whining? Finish up and I'll treat you to Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks." Hermione said dissatisfiedly.

"Great!" The four instantly changed their tune and cheered loudly in unison.

Not taking advantage of a good deal would be foolish.

The four immediately gathered around the small round table in the middle, pulling out paper and pen from somewhere, and collaborated, each contributing a sentence to solve the problem.

For a moment, the atmosphere was quite heated.

Although this scene drifted a bit from what the few had imagined for their holiday.

But it didn't seem too bad.

Because, for them, it would just be idly chatting, bragging, playing cards, and doing random things here.

Occasionally participating in such a passive, organized, recreational activity, one could still earn rewards after putting in effort.

It felt not bad.

Soon they collaborated and solved the problem.

"Teacher! We've solved it!"

The four immediately pushed forward their draft papers; Hermione, seeing their eager attitude, nodded in satisfaction.

Then she picked up the draft paper to look at it.

"......"

Hermione's originally smiling expression gradually turned into a "subway old man's phone".

"You all... I... forget it... let's go to the Three Broomsticks..."

Even a genius like Hermione, after hearing several people's heated answers, was still left speechless by their math level.

She couldn't help wondering whether Hogwarts really needed to popularize math knowledge like Muggle schools...

"Great!"

Several people immediately cheered and rushed out of the Screaming Shack.

They trudged through the snow, squeaking with each step, running toward Hogsmeade Village.

Hermione let out a helpless sigh, silently following behind everyone like an elder; perhaps the fulfillment of teaching isn't about teaching all sorts of demons and monsters...

The current state of Hogsmeade Village also seems not good.

This village, composed entirely of wizards, although being near Hogwarts, received Dumbledore's protection.

But some shops still closed due to the rampant Death Eaters.

Moreover, wanted posters of the Death Eaters are posted everywhere.

The atmosphere carries a faint sense of desolation.

Of course, when Hogwarts students are all on holiday and come to play, there is still some liveliness.

For example, the entrance to the Three Broomsticks and the Honey Candy Duke are places where students gather.

They stopped by the Honey Duke to buy some candies, then went together to the Three Broomsticks Bar.

Since it's a bar, it naturally sells alcohol.

For underage students, many drinks here are prohibited.

So what the students mostly drink is butterbeer.

Soon John and the others arrived together at the Three Broomsticks Bar.

Inside the bar, students sat in small groups, while some regular customers were chatting amiably with Mrs. Rosmerta.

John immediately noticed Professor Slughorn.

He too came to Hogsmeade to relax today, and at this moment he was chatting with Harry inside the bar.

"Harry, you've refused me several times already; if you don't come again, I'll just cancel that club."

Professor Slughorn was currently holding a butterbeer, smiling as he swayed the cup and said to Harry:

"Um... sorry, professor, I've indeed been busy lately, so..."

"Oh, you're busy going out with a little girl?"

Before Harry could finish his excuse, Professor Slughorn chuckled and teased:

Because at this moment Ginny was sitting beside Harry.

As for Ron, who had been sitting opposite Harry and Ginny for a long time, fuming, he was completely ignored by him.