I am Harry Potter's Cousin, Big D

Around half past eleven at night, Harry suddenly sat up in bed and whispered to Ron, who was sleeping in the bunk next to him. "Ron, are Dean and Seamus asleep?" Not everyone was like Dudley, who had a room to himself. Harry lived in a four-person dormitory in Gryffindor.

Harry had gotten into another argument with Malfoy during flying class that day, even chasing him on his broomstick. The two had chased each other in the air for most of the afternoon without a clear winner, and in the end, their duel had been cut short by Madam Hooch. At the end of class, Malfoy had viciously 'challenged' Harry to a duel at midnight in the Trophy Room. Because the agreed time was in the middle of the night, they had gone to bed early as soon as they finished dinner, just missing Hermione's return to the common room. Harry wasn't clear about Hermione's situation in Gryffindor; she hadn't even told Dudley about the bullying, so Harry naturally knew even less. As for what he observed himself... you couldn't expect a straight man like Harry to notice these subtle social details. Moreover, his mind was currently full of Malfoy, or rather, to be precise, how to use his boots to kick Malfoy's backside hard.

The two boys quietly put on their clothes and groped their way out of the dormitory in the dark, trying to get out of the common room by the moonlight filtering through the windows. However, Ron accidentally bumped into the table by the fireplace, making a loud noise.

"Who's there?" A voice suddenly cut through the silence, startling both of them. They thought some strange thing had appeared and almost hugged each other in fright. It wasn't until the two of them finally recovered that they discovered it was Hermione.

"Hermione? Why are you here?" Harry asked, bewildered.

Because of what had happened earlier that evening, Hermione didn't really want to go back to the dormitory. Cormac's words had given her a chilling reminder. She didn't know who in the dormitory had done what happened that morning, but someone definitely had. She had originally planned to lie on the sofa in the common room and read a book, but perhaps she was too tired from playing in the Forbidden Forest during the day. In short, Hermione had fallen asleep leaning on the sofa, feeling groggy and disoriented when she woke up.

"Where are you going?" After waking up, Hermione didn't answer Harry first but asked in return. She could claim she fell asleep because she was reading too late, but what were Harry and Ron doing, getting up so late? Using the moonlight outside the window, she looked them up and down and found that they weren't wearing pajamas.

"Are you going out at night?" Hermione's voice was full of surprise. "I can't believe it, you actually want to go out in the middle of the night?"

"Shh, keep your voice down!" Ron quickly urged, afraid that Hermione would wake up the others.

Hermione ignored Ron and stared at Harry. "Don't you know that doing this will make Gryffindor lose points? Do you still want to give the House Cup to Slytherin?" Her tone sharpened. "I can't let you do this." Hermione stopped the two of them, blocking their way out of the common room with her arms spread. Even though she felt isolated, she was still trying to protect the interests of her house, even if no one else seemed to care. "You are breaking school rules!"

If it were anyone else, Harry would definitely ignore them. The problem was that this was Hermione. He had a good relationship with Hermione, and Hedwig had been given to him by Hermione and Dudley together. He also knew that Dudley and Hermione were very close, so close that it made him a little uncomfortable. He's my brother, Harry thought, a familiar possessiveness stirring within him. Of course, it was only a little uncomfortable. Should he break the appointment with Malfoy? It seemed it wasn't impossible. Malfoy could be beaten up any time. So he wavered.

However, Ron's attitude at this time was unusually firm. He retorted without showing any weakness. "Didn't you also break the school rules? Don't think I don't know, I saw you skipping class this afternoon with my own eyes."

As soon as these words were spoken, Hermione was instantly speechless, and all the words she had been holding back were stuck in her throat. It was indeed true that she had skipped class that afternoon. Although she could explain that even if she was discovered, she could make up the lost points, you couldn't be too double-standard. You couldn't say, "I can do it, but you can't," right? That wasn't very convincing. Dudley had told her that if you wanted others to believe you, you must lead by example.

"Have nothing to say? Then get out of the way and go back to sleep." Seeing that Hermione didn't answer, Ron thought he had stumped her and pulled Harry to go out.

"Wait..." Hermione's voice came again. "I'll go with you."

"What?" Harry felt as if he had misheard. What was going on? What was wrong with Hermione, who usually feared breaking even a small school rule and losing points? Skipping class with Dudley in the afternoon and now going out at night with them? However, because Harry's grades were average, he hadn't been an exchange student at Oxford Bridge Primary like Dudley, so he didn't know that this wasn't the first time Hermione had been taken to skip class by Dudley.

"I said I'll go with you." Hermione sighed and took out her wand. "Dudley is right, as long as you don't get caught, it doesn't count as breaking the school rules." Seeing that the two of them didn't react, she urged, "Let's go, the later it is, the greater the risk of being caught."

Ron and Harry exchanged glances.

"Let's be clear, you can follow us, but I won't take care of you when we're out. If you get caught, don't give us up."

Hermione retorted angrily, "I know more spells than you! Just take care of yourself."

The Trophy Room was located on the third floor of Hogwarts Castle, a certain distance from Gryffindor, but overall it was much closer than Slytherin in the basement. The most important things to watch out for when going out at night were the caretaker, Filch—a hunched-over, gloomy old man who was particularly strict with young wizards—and Peeves, a poltergeist who could appear at any time and loved to play annoying tricks.

Hermione also lived up to her words. The number of spells she knew was not on the same level as Harry and Ron. If it weren't for Hermione casting a simple little spell midway to avoid the caretaker Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris's detection, perhaps Harry and Ron would have been caught shortly after leaving the common room.

Safely avoiding Mrs. Norris, the three walked briskly along the corridor. The moonlight streamed in from the high windows, lying on the ground like silver bricks. Arriving on the third floor, they tiptoed and pushed open the door of the Trophy Room. It was quiet inside, and there was no one there.

"It seems we're early," Ron said, walking in first. "When Malfoy and the others come, I'll make fun of him." The three of them found a place to rest in the Trophy Room and waited quietly for Malfoy and his cronies.

Time passed by minute by minute. It was still quiet all around. Let alone Malfoy, there wasn't even a mouse. After an unknown amount of time, Ron finally showed an impatient expression, scratched his hair hard, and said regretfully, "Damn, I knew this would happen. Malfoy and the others won't come. Slytherins are all cowards. I should have thought of it earlier."

"Harry, we've been tricked."

Just as Ron finished speaking, the door of the Trophy Room was pushed open again.

"Who said I was a coward?"

(End of Chapter)

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