Harvey gently held Hermione's shoulder to comfort the frightened, crying little girl, deliberately changing the subject to distract her.
"The journey was a bit terrifying, but we were lucky enough to end up at Kamar-Taj."
"Here, we can not only practice the spells from the Hogwarts textbooks, but we can also learn even more advanced magic!"
"It's a blessing in disguise. Didn't you want to learn portal magic? You can learn it here."
"Mmph..." Hermione sniffled, wiping her reddened nose, and shyly let go of Harvey's shoulder.
"What did you just say?"
Harvey: "..."
Great. It turned out Hermione hadn't heard a single word he'd said.
He had no choice but to repeat himself.
"This is Kamar-Taj, the sanctuary for the mystic arts..."
Harvey, like a rambling, kindly old man, told her everything he knew about Kamar-Taj.
"Oh..." Hermione just leaned half-lying against the headboard, her eyes glazed as she muttered, "I want my mom. I want to go home..."
"About that..." Harvey hesitated.
He was worried that if he opened his own portal again, they'd end up back in space.
Mastering portal magic was a necessity.
At the very least, he needed to master the sling ring before they could leave.
But seeing Hermione looking so soulless, Harvey was torn.
"How about this."
As if making a decision, Harvey took a deep breath, prayed silently, and pulled out The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2.
According to the theory inside.
[When using the Memory Charm, precise control over magic output is required. The caster must move the wand in a sweeping motion from their right side toward the target...]
Harvey read a few lines and decided he was ready.
He whipped out his wand without hesitation and pointed it at the emo Hermione—
"Obliviate!"
What Harvey failed to notice was that on the very next page of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2, there was a warning printed in large red letters.
[Warning: Underage wizards must be supervised by a professor when learning the Memory Charm!]
[Failure to control the charm may result in severe side effects such as chronic forgetfulness, cognitive impairment, or brain death...]
But it was too late to stop now.
A pale blue light shot from the tip of his wand, striking Hermione squarely between the eyes.
Harvey was just starting to feel smug—thinking magic wasn't so hard after all—when he noticed Hermione's gaze had gone completely blank.
"Something... something seems wrong?"
Harvey's heart skipped a beat. Had he messed up?
He shouldn't have; he had followed every step in the book exactly.
Even the magic output was...
Wait!
The book didn't give an exact measurement for the magic output required for the Memory Charm.
He had just gone with his gut.
Could it be...?
Harvey's face went pale with anxiety as he gently shook Hermione's shoulder and called out tentatively, "Hermione? Little piggy? Your mom's calling you home for dinner!"
Hermione remained vacant, her body as stiff as a board.
"I'm screwed, I'm screwed, I'm screwed!"
Realizing he had committed a catastrophic blunder, Harvey frantically flipped through the textbook.
He was searching for a remedy.
That was when he finally saw the warning on the second page.
"Damn it! Why didn't they put the warning before the spell?"
"The Hogwarts textbooks are flawed!"
"This is so irresponsible! It's going to get someone killed!"
In his state of panic, Harvey considered swallowing his pride to go beg the Ancient One for help.
Suddenly, Hermione moved, breaking into a "prank successful" grin as she pointed at Harvey and laughed.
"Haha!"
"Harvey, you big dummy! You actually tried to practice a spell on me? Luckily the charm didn't work. If I had forgotten important memories, I would have killed you!"
The little girl's fierce look actually made Harvey want to laugh from relief.
Harvey said faintly, "Little piggy, you're celebrating too early. Are you sure you haven't forgotten any important memories?"
"Do you remember exactly what happened the moment we arrived in this world?"
Hermione's triumphant smile slowly faded as she searched through her mind.
"Aaaah! Aaaah! Aaaah!" Hermione started screaming in frustration.
"I actually forgot what happened when we got here! I only remember it being an absolutely horrible experience..."
Hearing this, Harvey felt quite smug.
He had followed the instructions perfectly; there was no way he could fail.
But seeing the little girl freaking out and getting worked up, Harvey didn't want her dwelling on the idea of going home again.
So he decisively said, "We finally made it here, and we have to go back by tonight. We need to split up and get moving."
"You go to the meditation room and practice magic with The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1. I'm going to the library to borrow some books."
"I want to try and study portal magic..."
"Wait!" Hermione suddenly grabbed the edge of Harvey's shirt. "I'm going to the library too!"
Harvey looked at her suspiciously, noticing she couldn't even look him in the eye. It finally clicked. "Don't tell me you're afraid to be alone?"
Having her thoughts exposed, Hermione's face darkened.
Even though she was indeed a little scared, she maintained a haughty front and said, "You're far too unreliable, you big dummy! I have to keep an eye on you at all times!"
"Whatever. Let's go to the library together then," Harvey said dismissively.
But as they stepped out of the courtyard, Harvey realized he had no idea where he was going!
"Uh... where do you think libraries are usually built?"
Looking at the labyrinth of courtyards, temples, and towers that made up Kamar-Taj, Harvey asked a soul-searching question.
Hermione, equally stumped, looked toward the distant Mount Everest range with confusion in her eyes.
As she looked, a wave of inexplicable anger rose in her. She "wham" landed a punch on Harvey's shoulder.
"You useless dummy! Can't you just find someone to ask for directions?"
"Ow!" Rubbing his sore shoulder, Harvey was speechless at being her target.
Whose bad side did he get on?
"Why are you so violent? Don't you know a witch is supposed to be elegant from a young age..."
Thud!
Hermione landed another punch without a word.
Harvey behaved himself after that.
Rubbing his shoulder as he walked ahead to find someone for directions, Harvey muttered to himself.
He had to find a way to curb Hermione's violent tendencies, otherwise, how would he survive her in the future?
After walking about a hundred meters, they passed a courtyard with a plaque written in Sanskrit that translated to "Training Ground."
"Shall we check it out?" Harvey asked for Hermione's opinion.
Hermione didn't answer; she looked a bit intimidated and just gave Harvey a shove forward.
"Let's check it out then!"
Harvey, believing he had the Ancient One's backing and god-tier connections, led the little girl into the training ground without fear.