That day, Leonard was in the greenhouse studying the eyes of a Chomping Cabbage.
This small greenhouse had been specially prepared for him by Professor Sprout for researching Blood Grapes. It was basically his personal lab.
Sometimes Leonard used this place to work on things that were not too easy for other people to notice.
He wanted to know whether these eyes had anything in common with Basilisk eyes, whether there were any shared traits between them. If he could thoroughly understand Basilisk eyes, then maybe he could use plant modification to strengthen the Chomping Cabbage's eyes as well.
It was a huge project. Leonard still had no real progress at all when it came to Basilisk eyes. He had gotten a little somewhere with the Chomping Cabbage, but only a little, nowhere near enough to apply in practice.
Leonard was fiddling with the Chomping Cabbage's eye, carefully observing the changes in the flow of magic within it, when suddenly a Blood Grape root at his feet nudged his leg. At the same time, he heard footsteps behind him.
Someone was coming.
The Chomping Cabbage's eyes immediately closed. Leonard calmly flipped open the cabbage leaves and pretended to be checking its growth.
"Leonard." Hermione tapped him on the shoulder nervously. "Are you busy?"
Leonard turned and looked at Hermione, one brow lifting slightly.
She had clearly put something on her face. From the smell, probably a beauty potion meant to lighten the freckles on her cheeks.
Her usually over-fluffy, unruly wavy hair had been tied up in a high ponytail, making her look more lively and youthful. Even her slightly oversized front teeth had been reduced quite a bit.
Leonard's instincts immediately told him trouble had arrived.
Hermione had very obviously made an effort with her appearance.
This visitor had not come with good intentions.
She still could not compare to the kind of girls who were naturally beautiful, but it had to be admitted that she looked much more pleasant than usual. Even so, she was still quite a way from being what Leonard would call pretty.
As a deeply committed face-con himself, Leonard felt absolutely nothing.
If anything, he suddenly kind of missed Claudia.
"What is it?" Leonard set down the pot holding the Chomping Cabbage. "Or do you have something you want to ask me?"
"Um..." Hermione fidgeted a little, silently cheering herself on. "I came to thank you."
"Thank me..." Leonard brushed the dirt from his hands. "No need. We're classmates. The person you should really be thanking is Professor Raymons. He's the one who dealt with the Basilisk. Otherwise we'd all have been finished."
"But without you, we wouldn't have been able to get out of the Chamber of Secrets." Blushing, Hermione took out a box of chocolates and held it out to him. "This is my thank-you gift. Please accept it."
Leonard stared at the chocolates for a moment, confirmed there were no suspicious traces of magic on them, and then took the box.
"Thank you for the thought, but I don't like chocolate," Leonard said tactfully.
Clever Hermione understood what he meant right away. She bit her lip, then finally let out a small, relieved sigh.
"Sorry for troubling you." Hermione twisted the hem of her clothes with her fingers. "I know I'm not pretty enough."
"Yes, that's true." Leonard nodded.
Hermione really was not that pretty. If she had looked like the movie version, he might have considered it a little. But an ordinary-looking genius girl was still just an ordinary-looking genius girl.
Hermione jerked her head up and stared at him in disbelief.
Was that answer really necessary? Couldn't he soften it even a little?
Leonard looked at her seriously and said, "I speak bluntly, so forgive me. But I don't think looks are of much use to you. Your intelligence and talent are your real treasures."
"Is... is that so?" Hermione's cheeks flushed when she heard how unexpectedly pleasant that sounded.
So Leonard could speak like a normal human being after all.
"Don't misunderstand. I'm only stating the facts." Calm as ever, Leonard had no interest in flirting with girls. He was simply telling the truth. "Were you brewing Polyjuice Potion in that bathroom earlier?"
At his line about stating the facts, Hermione almost had veins popping on her forehead. But the moment she heard the second half, her face went pale.
"Please don't tell the professors!" Hermione pleaded.
Polyjuice Potion was a difficult potion recorded in Moste Potente Potions. The problem was that the book was in the Restricted Section, and students were not allowed to read it without permission.
If the professors found out, she would definitely be punished.
"I'm obviously not going to tell the professors. But I am curious. What were you brewing Polyjuice Potion for?" Leonard asked.
He really was curious.
After all, in the original story, Hermione brewed Polyjuice Potion to test Draco Malfoy because she was trying to figure out who the Heir of Slytherin was.
But now Draco Malfoy had already died long ago, and the Chamber of Secrets incident had never become public knowledge. So why was Hermione brewing something as time-consuming and troublesome as Polyjuice Potion when there was no major need for it?
"Um... it was just a little... academic research." Hermione looked deeply embarrassed, stammering as she answered.
There was no way she could admit that she had only wanted to study it because she heard Polyjuice Potion could change a person's appearance.
How could she ever say something like that out loud?
She only felt that her appearance had a tiny flaw. Really, only a tiny flaw. So she wanted to try seeing what it felt like to be beautiful.
She had even prepared the hair already. It belonged to Ginny Weasley, the prettiest girl in their House.
"I'm sorry if this touches on your privacy." Leonard shrugged, having no interest in digging into a young girl's secrets. "But where did you get those ingredients?"
Snape had not shown any signs of being especially irritable lately, which was not how he would look if something had been stolen from him. So clearly Hermione had not gotten the ingredients from Snape the way she had in the original story.
Which raised the question. Where had she gotten something like Boomslang skin?
"Oh, that? I bought it from the Weasleys," Hermione said. "I mean the fourth-year Weasley twins. They've been selling some fairly rare ingredients."
"So it was them..." Leonard nodded in understanding.
George and Fred really were natural-born businessmen. They had already figured out how to make money as middlemen this quickly.
Leonard did not mind. He was not petty enough to begrudge them that little bit of profit, and he did not care if they used his channels to make money.
Of course, that was on the condition that it did not interfere with proper business. The main reason Leonard had given them access to his channels in the first place was to make use of their flexible thinking and creativity in helping him produce certain items.
He would have to go ask them later how the modified flying robes were coming along.
He could not let them take the money without doing the work.