Granger family home.
It seemed that before Hermione went to find Sheeran, she must have just cleaned the house.
Therefore, both the living room and the kitchen appeared exceptionally clean.
The slight afternoon sunlight filtered through the window screens, spreading into the house and illuminating the room brightly.
“Sit wherever you want, I’ll go get the cake.”
“Thank you.”
Hermione carried two plates out from the kitchen, each with a large piece of cake on it.
Obviously, they had been prepared long ago.
After all, from the time she entered the kitchen until she came out, it was not even a minute.
“Hurry and try it.”
Hermione handed a spoon to Sheeran with an expectant look on her face.
Sheeran did not rush to eat, but stared at the irregularly shaped cake on the plate for a moment.
“Wh— What’s wrong?”
Hermione was a bit nervous, thinking to herself that he wouldn’t figure something out, would he?
“It’s nothing.”
Sheeran smiled and shook his head.
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
He scooped a piece of cake with a spoon, put it into his mouth, savored it carefully, and nodded in praise.
“The taste is really good.”
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
Sheeran immediately followed up by saying, “However… was this cake made by you, Hermione?”
“How did you know?”
Hermione opened her eyes wide in some surprise.
Was it really made too ugly after all?
“The taste isn’t that sweet.”
“I know you don’t like overly sweet desserts, so I specially reduced the sweetness for this one.”
“Does that mean it was specially made for me?”
Sheeran was very happy.
The young girl was a little shy, turned her head away, and stubbornly said, “I just made it casually yesterday when I was helping my mother make a cake, just for practice.”
She said a great deal, but simply did not deny it.
“Alright, hurry and eat, there are many fillings inside.”
“Alright, you eat too.”
The two of them chatted while eating, and time passed very quickly.
The sunlight that was originally on the living room floor had already moved onto the wall.
Thinking that she was about to go to Hogwarts for school, even though she had just eaten sweets, Hermione’s mood became somewhat gloomy.
She held the spoon with her fingers, unconsciously tracing patterns on the plate, and deliberated before speaking.
“Sheeran, I… I’m going to school soon, to a very far place.”
“After this, we might rarely see each other.”
Speaking up to this point, Hermione’s voice suddenly raised a lot, as if bolstering her own courage as she said, “However, as soon as the holidays arrive, I’ll come back to see you.”
When she spoke the last syllable, Hermione’s voice had become almost inaudible.
They could have originally gone to the same school, been classmates for several more years, played together during holidays, studied together, and eaten small cakes together like this on a quiet afternoon…
But now, all of this was disrupted by the acceptance letter from Hogwarts.
When receiving this news, Mr.
and Mrs.
Granger were all shocked.
However, the difference was that Mr.
and Mrs.
Granger were surprised that their daughter actually had the potential to become a witch.
As for Hermione, she was saddened that she was going to part ways with Sheeran.
She even once had the thought of not going to Hogwarts, but in the end, under her parents’ excitement, she suppressed this thought.
“I won’t forget you.
We’ll see each other again during the holidays, we’ll always be good friends.”
Hermione always heard such words.
Before every holiday in elementary school, many classmates would say this.
But most of the time, once the holidays arrived, the classmates seemed to have disappeared.
After the holidays ended, many relationships changed quietly.
Good friends like her and Sheeran maintaining it for so many years were quite rare.
“It’s alright, Hermione.
I think we’ll definitely see each other again soon.”
“Yes, yes, Christmas is coming soon.”
Hermione felt that he was comforting her, and felt guilty because she kept things hidden from her good friend, which even made her feel somewhat self-blaming.
[Guilt!
Guilt!
Guilt!
Guilt Value + 26]
This rises too?
Sheeran’s expression became somewhat strange.
However, he did not plan to tell Hermione directly that he would go to Hogwarts together with her.
From Hermione’s perspective, he did not know she would go to Hogwarts.
She probably also received a warning from Professor McGonagall not to reveal matters about Hogwarts to others.
Furthermore, there were only a few days left until September 1st, so it would be fine to give her a surprise then.
By the time the two finished eating the cake, it was almost evening.
“Goodbye, Hermione.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
Today was a surprisingly clear day.
London’s thick fog this year seemed to be pushed aside by a giant hand, revealing the long-unseen sky.
The thin setting sun burst forth from between the white clouds, falling like fine gauze onto the two of them.
The street was quiet, with only the occasional sound of insects chirping.
“Sheeran, don’t forget me.”
Hermione choked out.
“Rest assured.
Goodbye, Hermione.”
Sheeran reached out his hand wanting to shake hands to say goodbye, but Hermione suddenly hugged him, performing a cheek-kiss greeting with tear-stained cheeks.
This made him feel somewhat at a loss.
“Goodbye, Sheeran.
Goodbye.”
“Don’t cry, Hermione.
We’ll see each other again soon.”
Sheeran hugged her, gently patted her back with one hand, and comforted her for quite a while before the two reluctantly parted ways.
Even though Sheeran had already left, Hermione still stood at the doorway, gazing at his retreating figure for a long time.
After she left, Sheeran would probably always be alone, right?
He was so kind, would someone bully him, would he go hungry?
Hermione looked at Sheeran’s thin retreating figure, feeling even more guilty.
Right at this moment, Sheeran suddenly turned around, smiling and waving at her.
Although he did not say anything, Hermione knew his meaning was to let her not be sad.
[Could guilt actually spread?
Guilt Value + 40]
Looking at the prompt box in front of him, Sheeran couldn’t help but fall silent.
“Hermione, I really didn’t mean to…”
Although somewhat surprised, Sheeran still silently calculated in his heart the accumulated guilt value.
217, enough to redeem a trait entry.
Currently available entries for redemption were three: [Spell Inspiration], [Vanishing], [Hand of Alchemy].
[Vanishing], although cheaper, had effects leaning toward stealth properties, making its cost-performance ratio not high for him at present.
[Spell Inspiration] and [Hand of Alchemy] were both good entries, and he was interested in both of them.
But as far as the present was concerned, it was only enough to redeem one.
Sheeran weighed it for a while in his heart.
[Hand of Alchemy] was also good, but he currently lacked alchemy materials, and could not use it immediately after redeeming this entry.
[Spell Inspiration] was different; he currently had a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 in his hands, and could use it immediately.
Furthermore, the frequency of spell usage was also higher than alchemy.
Thinking of this, the answer was already ready to come out.
Sheeran did not hesitate, and decisively chose [Spell Inspiration].
[Congratulations on unlocking Spell Inspiration]
[Spell Inspiration: Level 1 (1/100)]
[Description: Little dummy, can you understand these spells?]
[Effect: During the process of learning spells, it is easier to burst with inspiration.]
After the entry was unlocked, Sheeran suddenly felt a burst of clarity in his brain.
His perception of the surrounding world became much sharper.
He had a premonition that going to learn spells with this feeling would definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort.
This made him eager to try.
Go back and study spells right now!