"That's not the same thing."
Hermione looked at Andy and said hesitantly, "Everyone, including me, is the same, we all care about what the onlookers think and are trying to fit in with the group."
"But you're different."
"Like last school year, when we had a bit of a falling out with Ron. He's a friend you've known since childhood, right? But I felt ... like you didn't take it to heart."
Hermione said, while still carefully sizing up Andy, afraid she might say something wrong and hurt Andy's feelings.
Andy was silent for a moment at her words.
"It might be because we are pursuing different things!"
Andy said, looking at the starry sky above his head, "The other people in school learnt magic to get a decent job after graduation."
Hermione looked at Andy, she didn't see anything wrong with that.
Study, graduate, work, get married, have children, and die.
This was the life everyone had to go through.
"I'm different!"
Andy's tone was a bit low, "I want to continue to walk along the path of magic, learn all the magic, explore the extreme of magic, and use magic to obtain eternal life."
"Or even ... become a god!"
This was the first time Andy revealed his true inner thoughts to others.
After saying that, Andy took a deep breath, and his heart was suddenly filled with relief for a few rare moments.
"Become a god? You are crazy ... are you serious?" Hermione looked at Andy with a shocked face.
As if the little witch knew Andy for the first time, she carefully looked at Andy from top to bottom several times.
"I made up my mind a long time ago."
Andy said seriously, "I don't know if I'll succeed, but this is my dream, and it's worth spending my whole life chasing it."
Hermione wanted to dispel this unrealistic idea of Andy's, she had to lay out the facts and reason, "Even Dumbledore couldn't do it, and the Big Four who founded Hogwarts were only... and only a little more powerful wizards."
Andy didn't answer directly, but suddenly asked, "Hermione, why do you want to study at Hogwarts?"
"Me?"
Hermione froze for a moment, but quickly said, "Of course I'm here to learn magic. It's the fabled magic, and when I was very young, I fantasised that I could be a witch."
"You have no idea how happy I was when I got the letter from Hogwarts."
Andy looked at Hermione and said in a calm tone, "And then? Graduate from Hogwarts and get a job?"
Hermione froze at that.
Andy continued, "Muggle technology is actually amazing, and what magic can do, technology can do, sometimes even better."
"If it's just about getting a job, the wizarding world isn't really that different from the muggle world."
"I don't want my life in the future to be like those muggles who can see their end at a glance."
"Go to school, graduate, work, get married, have children, and then quietly wait for death to come."
Hermione listened quietly, Andy's words had struck a chord in her.
She had left her parents and family, the familiar world, and came to Hogwarts alone to go to school to learn magic and see all the wonders of the magic world.
But what if ...
If the future of being in the wizarding world was to graduate, get a job, and live out her life in peace and quiet.
Then what had she come to the wizarding world for?
These things could be done just the same in the Muggle world.
Away from her parents, away from the familiar world, and into a completely strange, isolated magic world.
She even had to hide and not be able to cast magic in front of muggles.
"Hermione, are you willing to accept that?" Andy asked.
Hermione bit her lower lip and didn't say anything.
When she thought about it, she did feel a little bit unwilling.
Andy smiled and continued, "I'm not willing either, that's why I want to do something different."
Andy looked at the night sky.
"Dumbledore, Voldemort, and even the Big Four who founded Hogwarts, they may only be slightly more powerful wizards, and there is still an unreachable distance compared to the gods."
Andy said in a calm tone, "Perhaps my thoughts are somewhat unrealistic in nature. But this is my choice, and I also believe I can do it."
"Compared to a life that you can see the end of at a glance, I prefer to fight for myself once."
"No one stands in the sky from the beginning, not even God. But this insufferable gap between the Throne of Heaven is about to come to an end. From now on, I will try to stand at the top."
Andy was being Chuunibyou (middle-grade syndrome) for once.
But he didn't feel ashamed, after all, Andy was at the age of being in middle school right now, so it was normal to say something like that, right?
"You..."
Hermione looked at the Andy before her eyes, somewhat strange, yet somewhat familiar.
She felt as if the distance between her and Andy was closer.
"Why are you telling me this?" Hermione asked softly.
"Because you can understand me."
Andy said seriously, "With your intelligence, you can actually live a good life in both the wizarding and muggle communities."
"I assume you chose to enter the wizarding world out of a desire for magic too, right?"
Hermione nodded, it was for this reason that she had chosen to study at Hogwarts.
"The real magic world is actually not as wonderful as you think."
Andy said, "The magic world is closed and backward, but it also thinks highly of itself, and it's rotten from the roots. The current magic world has no future."
"Our era should be considered the last glory of the magic world. With the speed of development of the Muggle world, in a few decades at most, the magic world will be compressed to the point where there will be no space to live."
Think about the era of cameras all over the place in his previous life.
At that time, would there really be room for wizards to survive?
Perhaps by that time, the only outcome for wizards would be to lie on a Muggle lab bench.
"You want to change the wizarding world?" Hermione exclaimed.
"Of course not."
Andy propped himself up and sat up, and said somewhat helplessly, "Didn't I say so! I want to become a god by walking on the path of magic."
"As for changing the magic world ..."
"If I succeed one day, by that time, if I want to change the magic world, it will be just a matter of a thought."
Hermione went completely quiet at those words.
Her heart was unsettled.
Just like what Andy said, she could actually understand Andy.
There were some things that she might have overlooked in the past, or maybe they were deliberately overlooked. But facts are facts, it's not that if you ignore it, it doesn't exist.
Andy had a good point.
She had travelled away from her family to attend Hogwarts because she yearned for magic. Was it all about getting a job in the wizarding world?
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