Chương 27: Chapter 28 : Hogwarts Express IV

"I..." The tips of Hermione's ears turned pink from embarrassment as she recalled their previous encounter. For a fraction of a second, she looked genuinely flustered, but she quickly regained her composure. Hermione straightened her robes, lifted her chin, and looked at him with as much dignity as an eleven-year-old girl could muster.

"My name is Hermione Granger!" she declared, a bit louder than she might have intended.

"Not Miss Whatever."

"Of course," Tyson agreed with a solemn nod.

"Miss Granger." Hermione looked relieved he didn't continue with the nickname. The smile returned to Tyson's face as he continued.

"Though I was beginning to wonder whether you'd decided how you were planning to pay the rent." She blinked.

"... Rent?"

"For using my body as your personal space back on the platform." Tyson tilted his head thoughtfully.

"You spent a surprising amount of time lying on top of me. My back still feels a bit sore." Harry closed his eyes for a moment. He already knew exactly where this conversation was going. Ron, meanwhile, looked between Tyson and Hermione with growing interest, sensing entertainment. Neville, on the other hand, looked completely lost. Hermione stared at Tyson in absolute disbelief.

"I did not—" She stopped herself, realizing halfway through the sentence that she'd walked straight into the trap.

"I mean… I did fall on you," she corrected quickly, "but it wasn't intentional. It was..." Her eyes flicked toward the others, who were now all watching the exchange. The realization that she suddenly had an audience sent another wave of warmth rushing to her cheeks.

"It was an accident," she finished, sounding far less confident than she'd intended.

"I… I was just a bit stunned after almost running into you." Tyson watched her struggle for another second before deciding he'd extracted enough amusement from the situation. At this rate, the poor girl looked ready to die of embarrassment. He raised both hands in surrender.

"Relax," he said with an easy grin.

"I'm only messing with you." Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, though she still shot him an indignant glare.

"That was too much for a joke." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"My apologies," Tyson replied, before swiftly changing the subject. He nodded toward Neville.

"Anyway, I was just about to try helping him find Trevor with a charm." Hermione's attention shifted so quickly it was almost impressive.

"Really?" she asked, all traces of embarrassment forgotten.

"There's actually a charm for finding lost things?"

"According to Miranda Goshawk," Tyson replied, "there seems to be a charm for just about everything." He twirled his wand between his fingers.

"If you're looking for something that's merely misplaced rather than genuinely lost, Accio is usually your best bet."

"Accio..." Hermione repeated under her breath. Her eyes narrowed in confusion as she searched through her memory.

"That's odd." She looked back up at Tyson.

"I've memorised all of our first-year textbooks, and I'm certain there's no such charm mentioned in any of them."

"That's because Accio is a fourth-year charm," Tyson said as nonchalantly as he could. He usually wasn't petty enough to flex in front of an eleven-year-old, but Hermione's not-so-subtle boast about memorising all the first-year textbooks had struck a nerve. He had to make it clear who the chosen one was here. The expression of utter disbelief that appeared on Hermione's face was so satisfying that Tyson almost wanted to list his wandless accomplishments as well.

But he feared her fragile heart wouldn't be able to take it. Silence settled over the compartment. Even Ron's eyes widened.

"Hold on, you've been studying fourth-year spells already?" He looked at Tyson as though he'd suddenly grown another head.

"That's absolutely mental!" He might not know about wandless magic, but he was very familiar with Hogwarts thanks to his siblings. He knew the weight of learning charms beyond one's year. Tyson gave a small shrug.

"It's nothing extraordinary." He really thought so. Voldemort could juggle objects with his mind when he was eleven, while Tyson still hadn't succeeded at wandless Accio—something he'd been practicing for years. Sometimes he wondered if it really was because of a superior bloodline.

"A fourth-year charm?" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, snapping out of her stupor.

"How did you even learn it? Where did you get the textbook?"

"Flourish and Blotts, obviously," Tyson answered simply. Hermione stared at him.

"And they just… sold it to you? Like that?" Tyson looked at her like she had just asked the dumbest question possible, which she did.

"It's a commercial bookstore, Miss Granger. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't." Hermione opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again before closing it once more. After several seconds of this, she reluctantly admitted, "... I suppose you're right." She looked back at him, still clearly unconvinced.

"But why buy it in the first place? Aren't first-year textbooks already enough?"

"Simple," he said.

"Charms sounded very interesting and useful. I was curious about the ones taught in higher years, so I bought all the textbooks from first to fourth year. Does that answer your question?" Hermione blinked slowly, processing that.

"You bought up to fourth-year textbooks… just because you were curious?"

"Knowledge rarely hurts, you know," Tyson said matter-of-factly.

"It absolutely can," Ron cut in with complete seriousness.

"Last year Fred convinced George to read one of Percy's essays. George said it gave him a headache for two days." Tyson facepalmed while Harry let out an amused chuckle. Hermione ignored the interruption entirely. Her attention remained fixed on Tyson, and the longer she thought about it, the more complex her expression became.

"That still doesn't explain how you managed to learn a fourth-year charm," she said at last.

"Magical Theory says intent and will both develop gradually through age and practice. Younger students aren't expected to possess enough of either to cast advanced charms consistently. That's one of the reasons the curriculum is divided by year." Tyson's smile faded into a thoughtful expression. That… was actually a very good question.