In Lucius’s view, the Magical Recording Stones were practically tailor-made for spreading Hermione’s fame.

All he had to do was place one in the center of Diagon Alley and loop the recorded footage.

No one would doubt that Hermione had defeated Voldemort.

So Lucius planned to install one in every major wizarding gathering place.

But let’s set that aside for now and return our focus to the Great Hall at Hogwarts.

After finishing Witch Weekly, Arthur handed it to Hermione beside him, teasing,

"Here you go—the real Savior of the Wizarding World?"

Hermione shot him a coy glare.

Fresh from her coming-of-age, that single gesture carried a hint of allure.

Arthur nearly stared himself silly.

Hermione took the magazine from him, but after flipping through barely half of it, she couldn’t keep going.

The pages were filled entirely with praise for her—it made her feel unbearably embarrassed.

She set the magazine aside and asked,

"Cousin, are you really planning to force Fudge out and have Professor Dumbledore take his place?"

Arthur swallowed his breakfast and nodded.

"Mhm. Fudge stepping down is basically inevitable. Even without my little push this time, he wouldn’t have stayed in that position much longer anyway."

"He’s accomplished almost nothing over the years, and his derelictions of duty are piling up."

Hermione nodded in agreement.

Indeed—especially over the past two years—the wizarding world had faced one major crisis after another.

And not a single one had truly been resolved under Fudge’s leadership.

Sirius Black’s escape had unearthed a wrongful conviction from over a decade ago, only for the real culprit—Peter Pettigrew—to escape yet again.

Worse still, the Dementors had nearly attacked Hogwarts students afterward.

Then there was the Quidditch World Cup riot, where Death Eaters terrorized the campsite—Fudge and the Ministry merely showed up afterward to clean up the mess.

And last year’s thefts from both the Ministry and Gringotts...

Well. That one was her cousin’s doing. Best not bring it up.

On top of all that, this year’s Triwizard Tournament—despite the death of the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation—had been allowed to continue.

Which ultimately gave Voldemort the chance to revive and nearly rise again.

So many disastrous decisions. So much incompetence.

A large portion of the wizarding world had long been dissatisfied with Cornelius Fudge.

Arthur had simply tossed a spark onto a massive pile of already-dry kindling—lighting a fire bright enough for everyone to see.

He continued,

"That said, who actually becomes the next Minister is still up in the air. Dumbledore didn’t explicitly agree to it last night."

Hermione thought about it and realized he was right.

Which meant the wizarding world was probably in for a period of turbulence.

But that had nothing to do with her. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Tomorrow morning, she would be boarding the train home with her cousin—returning to the Muggle world.

For now, she intended to fully enjoy the joy of winning the Triwizard Tournament—and the happiness Arthur had given her.

...

The next morning arrived in the blink of an eye.

As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, the students officially began their journey home.

As for the banquet the night before—there wasn’t much to say.

It was just like any other celebration.

Except that Hermione, the star of the evening, had been utterly exhausted.

From start to finish, the smile never left her face.

Familiar faces and complete strangers alike came to congratulate her one after another.

By the end of the night, she’d barely eaten anything—and was completely drained.

The young witch even felt that spending an entire day running experiments with her cousin would have been less tiring than attending that banquet.

She still hadn’t recovered.

So now, she’d turned into her cat Animagus form and was curled up in Arthur’s arms, sleeping soundly.

Even with Hermione in cat form, Arthur’s train compartment still housed five people:

Arthur, Ranni, Penelope, Luna—and Fleur.

Yes.

Fleur was there too.

She had graduated from Beauxbatons this year.

Already harboring feelings—or perhaps outright affection—for Arthur, she chose to stay in Britain.

As for what she planned to do next, she hadn’t quite decided.

All she knew was that she was sticking with Arthur.

The witch from the land of romance was open and proactive when it came to love.

If she liked a man, she made sure he knew.

Staying in Britain. Following Arthur around.

Her intentions couldn’t have been clearer.

Arthur’s attitude was simple: if she wanted to follow him, let her.

It cost him nothing.

And besides, having more beautiful women around was pleasant for the eyes and good for the mood.

When the train arrived, Arthur looked at Fleur—who still hadn’t decided where she was going.

In the end, he decided to let her stay at his place for the time being.

(Fleur: It’s not that I didn’t know where to go—I was waiting for the man I like to take me in. Teehee.)

After all, she’d crossed countries and left home to follow him.

Leaving her to fend for herself would be downright heartless.

Hermione had no objections whatsoever.

Thanks to Fleur’s excellent social skills, the two had gotten along quite well—even as competitors in the Triwizard Tournament.

In Hermione’s eyes, letting a friendly classmate stay over for a while was no big deal.

Of course, Hermione wasn’t blind.

She knew Fleur was clearly coveting her cousin.

But if Ranni—the official fiancée—wasn’t panicking, why should she?

The young witch had already made her peace with such matters.

Because no matter how many "sisters" there might be in the future, she would always be the most special one in Arthur’s eyes.

After all, no one else could be his cousin, his treasure, and his little kitty all at once.

What’s more—she’d already gotten the first bite.

She was even ahead of Ranni, the rightful queen.

That alone secured her a unique place in Arthur’s heart.

With that confidence, Hermione was completely unbothered.

Thinking back to the "experiments" she’d conducted with Arthur the night before, she unconsciously licked her lips.

Maybe tonight... we could do some more experiments.

Outside the station, Mr. and Mrs. Granger were waiting nearby.

When they saw Fleur standing beside Arthur, despite never having met her before, the same thought surfaced in both their minds:

Did our daughter... use magic to completely remodel her face?

In reality, Hermione was still in her cat form, curled up in Arthur’s arms.

But since the Grangers didn’t know about Hermione’s Animagus ability, the misunderstanding was understandable.

They approached Fleur cautiously and called out,

"Hermione?"

Hermione lifted her head from Arthur’s arms, utterly confused.

Why were her parents calling her name toward Fleur?

Arthur immediately realized what had happened.

He raised the little cat in his arms and said,

"Uncle, Aunt—Hermione’s right here."

Seeing that their daughter had merely turned into a cat—rather than undergone a complete magical makeover—the Grangers breathed a sigh of relief.

Then immediately froze.

Wait.

Isn’t turning into a cat even worse?!

Mrs. Granger asked in disbelief,

"Hermione... why are you a cat?"

Hermione was just about to answer when Arthur covered her mouth.

"This isn’t the place to talk," he said. "Let’s go home first."

The station was full of Muggles.

If someone noticed a cat speaking, Arthur would have to spend time erasing memories.

He led everyone to a quiet corner and Apparated straight back to the Grangers’ home.

Once inside, Hermione jumped down from Arthur’s arms and shifted back into human form.

Seeing their daughter restored, the Grangers finally relaxed.

Mrs. Granger asked,

"What kind of magic was that?"

Hermione explained,

"Animagus magic. A witch can transform into an animal that reflects their personality."

Mrs. Granger marveled,

"That really is incredible."

Hermione tilted her head.

"More importantly—why did you think Fleur was me?"

She pointed at Fleur beside her.

The Grangers exchanged an awkward glance.

They couldn’t very well admit they thought their daughter had magically had cosmetic surgery.

That would be even more awkward.

"Oh—so your classmate is named Fleur!" Mrs. Granger quickly changed the subject.

"Welcome to our home! Why haven’t we heard you mention Fleur before, Hermione?"

The deflection was obvious to everyone present.

But Fleur was a guest, and Hermione couldn’t very well leave her hanging.

She temporarily set aside her doubts and introduced her properly.

"This is Fleur Delacour. It’s normal you haven’t heard of her—we only met this term."

Hermione briefly explained how she and Fleur had met.

After listening, Mrs. Granger asked curiously,

"And this Triwizard Tournament—what kind of competition is that?"

Hermione blinked.

She didn’t answer.

Instead, she turned her head toward Arthur and asked quietly,

"...Cousin?"

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