Adam walked out of the 'Flourish and Blotts', And just like Lucius, he was also thinking about the conversation that had taken place just now. He didn't know if the things he said were actually the same as that of the movie. There were many changes in this world so he was not sure if Lucius had done something similar to the original story.
In the original story, Lucius managed to fool and control ministry of magic's opinion with his wealth and lying about the imperius curse after voldemort's fall. He told ministry that he was under the control of imperius curse so ministry could do nothing but let him leave with just monetary sanctions which were not that big of a deal to Malfoy family.
Adam didn't know if this world and the story were the same or not but he was sure from Lucius's approval of duel that he had said some points of truth in that conversation just now. So he didn't need to worry that much about this.
Now he only needed to think about how to win the duel, which probably would not be a problem with magic spells that he could buy from the shop.
Yes, Magical spells.
Adam had just noticed this when professor Flitwik was talking to Tom about Hermione's location.
Adam saw that there were new spells added in his system shop. He was surprised at first but then he noticed that all the spells that appeared in the shop were actually the spells that professor Flitwik and professor McGonagall used during demonstration.
Adam looked at the shop to see what spell could be used in duel right now and not surprisingly there were no spells that could directly harm the opponent. But there was still an option for him as he thought that he could still use levitation charm in creative ways to battle with Draco. He was sure that even Draco might not know that many spells useful for a duel.
Name: Adam
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age: 11
Magic Status: Active
Level: 3
Special points: 4700
Gold: 30
Tasks:
1.Visit Diagon Alley and explore 5 places/ shops. 1/5 completed.
Reward: 500 special points and 20 gold per shop.
2.Learn different types of magic. (permanent task)
Reward: Minimum 1000 special points and 100 gold per spell. (Rewards vary according to difficulty of the spell. Learning spells before entering hogwarts will give ten times the reward.)
3.Read books about magical mysteries. (permanent task)
Reward: Special points and gold according to difficulty and information level of books.
4. Protect Hermione Granger from Lucius Malfoy and convince her to go Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Reward: 5000 special points. 500 Gold.
5. Win the duel against Draco Malfoy.
Reward: 1000 Gold
Map (nearby secret space) : None.
Shop: Levitation Charm, 20 Gold.
Light spell, 10 Gold.
Basic Transfiguration, 500 gold.
Looking at his status screen, Adam was surprised. He had 2 new missions which were based on current events. But with this surprise, he noticed the prices of magic spells from his system shop. With these prices, he could not even buy all of these basic spells. Levitation spell and light spell were still affordable but they had limited use or no use in the duel.
As for Transfiguration spell, he was not even close to buying it with his current gold. Looking at the price, he understood why Professor McGonagall said that Transfiguration was the most difficult type of magic.
Adam already bought Levitation spell as he wanted to try and see how it felt to use magic but as soon as he bought it, he regretted it.
He suddenly remembered that he had a task to learn magic spells and and he could get Minimum 100 gold for each spell and he could even get ten times the reward if he learned it before going to Hogwarts. Levitation was really easy spell from what he knew about it so it was easy 1000 Gold that he had just lost. He could buy many things with 1000 Gold, he could even get Transfiguration spell.
Adam could only comfort himself by saying that at least he had not bought light spell which was even easier to learn than levitation charm.
As Adam was freed from his status window, he finally noticed that the girl that he was pulling around with her hand in his hand once again had tears in her eyes. Adam did not know why was she crying this time but he still felt bad about it.
Even though he checked his status and bought new spells, it had just been few seconds since he had left the book shop. So he was still outside the book shop, he didn't know where to go now as he had promised to meet with professor Flitwik at this place.
But when Adam saw how hard Hermione was trying to hold her tears back, he finally sighed and pulled her hand towards a shop which had sign hung outside it saying 'Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor'. He really wanted to find a place to take her to, so she could finally let go of her stuffed emotions.
Unlike the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor he knew from the original world, this one was quite different. It even had tables and chairs outside the shop for people to sit on.
Yeah, he had seen this Ice cream parlor in Wizarding world theme park but compared to that one, he really felt that this one was far more better.
Adam took Hermione to a table and let her sit on the chair. He didn't have any money with him right now so he was little worried but he still sat down in front of her on the table of two.
"Come on, Hermione. You don't have to cry just because of some people's words. They are not worth it." Adam didn't know how to comfort her right now so he said something after few seconds of silence. With his words, Hermione's eyes started to let out even more tears.
Adam even wondered how could someone cry so much.
Looking at her crying like this, even Adam felt flustered. He didn't have any experience of talking with girls. Even though Hermione was just 11 year old, she was still a girl that he had a crush on. So he was quite flustered.
Adam got up from his chair and walked beside Hermione and squatted beside her chair. She had been keeping her head low all the time so he was not sure how to talk to her.
Finally after thinking about something, he took out his handkerchief and once again put it forward towards Hermione's face to wipe her tears.
"Come on, don't cry. If you keep crying like this, even I might start crying. Tell me what happened, I am here to listen to you." Adam continued to try to coax this little girl in front of him. After a minute or so, Hermione finally calmed down a bit. Tears no longer trickled down from her eyes but she still maintained her silence.
Adam patiently waited for her to completely calm down. When Hermione finally stopped sobbing, she slowly looked at Adam and said something in very small voice. Adam could not even understand what she said so he asked again.
"I asked, how did you know my name?" Hermione asked again with clear voice.
Listening to her question, Adam was stunned.
'You've been crying for 5 minutes straight and now you ask this? Even after crying like this, you still want to act like typical Hermione?' Adam complained to himself in his heart but quickly introduced himself to her.
"Hello, I am Adam. Professor Flitwik came to my house, that's when I heard your name. I've been searching for you with professor Flitwik."
Hermione looked at him for few seconds then said,
"Hello, You already know but let me introduce myself. I am Hermione Granger." She paused for a second and continued in low voice which kept getting lower "Thank you for helping me. I thought I can come here by myself. But those people... they..."
Adam thought she might once again start crying so he quickly interrupted her, "You don't have to thank me. We are going to be classmates so it's normal for us to help each other. And don't worry about what those people said. Many Wizards look down on people like us who born in non-magical world. But don't worry, you'll soon learn magical spells. At that time, you can teach those people a lesson even without my help."
Listening to this, Hermione lowered her head and bit her lips, She nervously spoke, "I..don't want to... go... to... Hogwarts."
"Why!!!" Adam shouted hearing Hermione's words which startled her but he immediately controlled himself and asked again,
"Why? Is it because what those people said? Don't think about those people and their words. Not all wizards hate us or not all Wizards say anything against us in normal times. It was just that the one you met today was a bad apple in Wizarding world. He hates all the Wizards except for his family. You don't have to give up something just because people say bad things to you. They are not worth for you to waste so many of your precious tears."
Adam said these things so quickly that he was nearly out of his breath. Hermione just blankly looked at him. After thinking about what he had said, Hermione lowered her head and said, "But they said... I don't belong to this magical world. They said I will dirty their world... they..." Speaking to this point she could help but let out another round of tears. Adam didn't want to see her cry one more time so he quickly pulled her small hands into his hands and made her face himself.
"Hermione, you don't have to think about what those people said about you. You had always stayed together with your parents so you don't know about this world. People will say bad words at every corner of the world. It can be Magical world or our normal world, everywhere people are going to point at you, laugh at you and say bad words to you..." Adam had serious face as if he was recalling something that had happened in his life or maybe his previous life which made Hermione to listen to his every single word with all of her attention.
She was a girl who always listened everything carefully and thought about every word that people around her had said to her. Normally she learned many things because of this quality of her but many times she cried as she understood how people sometimes hated her and how her classmates thought she was annoying, even though all she had done was to help them.
It was the same thing right now when Lucius said those things. She thought she would still be hated even in this world where she thought she could prove herself. This dealt a terrible blow to her confidence. But now listening to Adam, she was starting to understand new things about the society that always tried to pull other people down. She could not understand everything with her age but this much was enough to relieve her of her emotional burden.
"...If you take their words seriously to your mind and heart , then you won't be able to move forward. It doesn't matter what entire world is thinking about you. All that you need to do is to believe yourself and have faith in your abilities. Who knows you better than yourself. You should know how unique you are, then why care what other people think about you. If you want to prove yourself to someone then why not just prove it to the people that care about you. Trust me, they won't really care if you got failure in your life at some point because they love you and know what you truly can do. No one else would be as much proud as them when you achieve success so always show what you truly can do to the people who care about you. Other people's opinion doesn't matter. Just like me, I never had any friends but I always knew what I can do which helps me keep moving forward towards the future." Adam took a deep breath and looked at Hermione who had fallen into deep thoughts and finally tightened his grip on her hands that rested quietly in his hands and said, "If you are still not sure about Hogwarts and this magical world then how about we explore it together to see if it suits us? You know I am also same as you. I am also new to this Magical world. I am also nervous about joining unknown world but I still want to give a chance to this world before giving up without trying. There is still 1 month for school to start, you can explore information about this world before deciding whether to join Hogwarts or not. And I will definitely help you if you are still nervous about exploring this world alone."
Adam could see that Hermione was conflicted right now so he did not miss this opportunity to make his mark in her life.
Even though she did not understand about the feelings, she would definitely keep these memories in her heart.
'How could I lose this opportunity!' Adam laughed sinisterly in his heart, while keeping kind smile on his face.
At this moment, there was someone who looked at them from the glass door of 'Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor' which was enchanted ; people outside could not see what was going on in the inside while people sitting inside could clearly see what was going on in the outside. This person who stood at the door had smile on his face. He was happy to see such a sensible and kind kid. He didn't know what was going on but right now, he really wished that this little kid could join his ravenclaw house.
Yes, standing at the door was Charms professor and Head of Ravenclaw house- Filius Flitwik.
He had already noticed Adam's arrival with tracking spell when he was asking Florean about Hermione's whereabouts.
"Will you... really... help... me?" Hermione looked at Adam with faint expectation and hope in her eyes. She was finally going to have someone who she could call as a friend. How could she not be excited? How could she not hope for him to be her first proper friend?
"Ofcourse, That's what friends should do, right?" Adam said while giving her his brightest smile. He wanted to make sure that today would be imprinted in her heart.
"Yes." Hermione replied while innocently smiling at him. She did not even notice that her hands were still being held by Adam. She was just drowned in her own happy thoughts of having first proper friend. Adam finally got up from his squatted position and pulled his chair beside her and kept chatting with her. Hermione also chatted with him but she was also embarassed to think about how she had cried like a little girl in front of him and how he had held her hands for so long.
"Should we go look for Professor Flitwik? He must be worried. He might be angry." Hermione was still Hermione after all. She was still more worried about what professor thought about her. It had been a while since they started chatting and joking together.
"He should be here soon. so Don't worry about him." Adam said as he got up from his chair and looked around to see if professor Flitwik was nearby. After not seeing anyone nearby, Adam thought of something and suddenly dropped on to his knee in proposing position.
"After changing currency we will still have nearly one and half hour left. So would you like to go on a date to explore this magical place with me, MY PRINCESS?" Adam said jokingly while holding out his hand for Hermione.
"I would love to, My dear knight." Hermione replied and put her hand gently on Adam's hand and gave a gentle smile getting perfectly into the role of princess.
After talking with her for a while just now, Adam had already gotten to know that Hermione was not just boring girl who only loved to read books, but rather interesting talkative girl who also liked to joke around. Maybe she just did not have good proper friend in the movies which completely changed her.
This made him like her even more. As a friend... Yes, as a friend...
Looking at Hermione's smiling face, Adam smiled mischievously and leaned his head forward and gently put his lips on back of her hand that was placed in his hand. She immediately turned red with embarrassment while Adam laughed at her reaction.
Just then Professor Flitwik walked out of the door holding two small bowls of ice cream. Looking at the scene in front of him, Professor Flitwik was stunned. He had gone to get ice cream for his two students so he didn't notice the scene just now.
Both Adam and Hermione were chatting happily so Flitwik just wasted some time talking to his acquaintance that he met in the parlor. Now when he came out with ice cream, he suddenly saw his student kneeling in proposing position and kissing other student on her hand. He was surprised but he was happy looking at this, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Adam and Miss Granger, I am really happy to see you both like this but it is too early for you. Now then enjoy this Ice cream and tell me what you guys were talking about." Professor Flitwik said while he just walked to the table ignoring Adam and Hermione's embarrassing position and put out two ice cream on their table.
Adam and Hermione who were busy doing their role play suddenly heard professor Flitwik's voice which made both of them separate immediately and become tomato-red in embarrassment.
Hermione hurriedly explained, "Professor! We were... We were just joking." She lowered her head in embarrassment. Adam could her ears turning red in embarrassment which looked really cute. He could not help but tease her.
"What?! We were joking?! I thought we... Hermione, You really broke my heart." Adam said and SADLY sat down on his chair to pick spoon to taste the ice cream. Professor Flitwik just looked at the scene in amusement.
Hermione was stunned, she subconsciously took a step towards Adam in worry and said "I... I really ...did not mean to... hurt you... I thought you were joking...I" Her voice kept getting lower and lower, she thought she would lose her newly made friend which caused her to panic even more.
Looking at her like this, both Adam and professor Flitwik started laughing loudly. Adam could see Hermione's stunned look turning into anger, he immediately apologized,
"Sorry, Hermione. We were just joking." He could not control his laughter when he said this which made Hermione even angrier.
She just snorted and sat down in her chair, picking her spoon to eat the ice cream. She saw that Adam was still grinning at her so she lightly kicked him under the table and ignored him to continue to eat her ice cream.
Professor Flitwik looked at this scene while feeling like a third wheel between them so he interrupted them, "Come on now, tell me what happened earlier. After that we will go to Gringotts, to get you some galleons to buy your school necessities."
Adam looked at slightly distracted Hermione and took initiative to speak,
"Professor, It's just that when we were in..."
Before he could complete his sentence Hermione interrupted him,
"Let me say it. I will speak."
She looked determined so Adam just gave her smile and focused on his ice cream, letting Hermione speak.
She took a deep breath and started explaining to Professor Flitwik about all things that Lucius Malfoy said to her in Flourish and Blotts.