"Employee benefits?"

Hermione asked curiously in a low voice.

Taking advantage of Lockhart leading the way and turning a corner, she nudged Ellena's shoe.

"Yeah, just a blind date..." Ellena replied casually, "It's good to focus on work, but don't stay single for too long. Especially with an excellent young wizard like Professor Lockhart, we can't just stand by and watch him sacrifice his personal happiness for his career, right?"

"Blind...date?"

Hermione blinked. This was another completely new word.

It had to be said that since meeting Ellena, the speed of Hermione's personal vocabulary update had skyrocketed.

They both came from the Muggle world, but Ellena always seemed to know a lot of strange words, and these words were things that adults wouldn't tell them. Perhaps that was the advantage she had mentioned before...outside of her "comfort zone."

"It's actually a special form of dating, the kind between adults."

Ellena surveyed the surroundings, mentally sorting out the things she wanted to discuss later, and explained casually.

"Usually it's a double-blind date, a special date starting with friendship, but the goal is marriage. You know what that is, right? Like our parents, exchanging rings in a church, making promises and kissing, and then giving bir—"

"T-These details don't need to be so specific!"

Hermione's ears were a little hot, and she reached out and pinched Ellena's arm in embarrassment and annoyance.

Speaking of which, last year in the dormitory...

When that sly white-haired furball tricked her into joining the "History of Magic" revision, wasn't that exactly what she said—Hermione subconsciously recalled the vows she heard in the church last summer when she accompanied her parents to her father's friend's wedding. The overlap was almost ninety-nine percent!

As a child who grew up in an orphanage run by the church, Ellena definitely knew what the original scene of those words was!

Most importantly, her first kiss was taken by this guy—

But, there shouldn't be children, right?

"What's wrong? Does our cute little Hermione have a secret crush on someone?"

Ellena raised her eyebrows, leaned close to Hermione's ear, and blew a mischievous breath, asking curiously.

"Don't be shy, just tell me—I'll help you with ideas and guarantee success...of course, if he's a渣男 (scumbag), I'll protect you too. This is also considered an employee benefit of the Major Arcana. As a probationary member, I can apply for some in advance for you."

"N-No way—I'm only thirteen years old! What are you thinking!"

Hermione's peripheral vision was filled with Ellena's exquisite face, which she both loved and hated, and she felt a sudden panic in her heart.

According to what was recorded in the books, Veelas only attract males, so can they still bewitch girls after transforming into succubi?!

Moreover...

Perhaps others didn't know, but after spending so much time with her, she really understood this white-haired furball's eyes.

Even though Ellena looked innocent and cute, Hermione still saw a hint of well-hidden coldness in those lake-blue eyes.

Although Hermione didn't know how Ellena planned to come up with ideas, she had no doubt about the final result—Professor Gilderoy Lockhart might have some dark history, but if Ellena could make him fear, then her methods were definitely no less than those so-called dark wizards.

If Dumbledore was the greatest white wizard, and Grindelwald was the most powerful dark wizard.

Then, Ellena might be in the gray area between the two, or...

They turned another corner, passed through the passage behind a rather ugly and cute giant gargoyle, and finally stopped in front of a half-open, shimmering oak door with a griffin-shaped brass knocker, in a beautiful square room behind the door.

Two old wizards were already sitting in their usual positions, waiting for their arrival with interest.

Hermione looked up, watching Ellena walk into the room with a light step, as if she were coming home, and a complex emotion flashed in her heart.

"Miss Granger, you will eventually discover that Ellena possesses power far beyond her peers—and is destined to surpass us old folks. That is only natural. But you, and the children your age, are the same. Therefore, I hope you can accompany Ellena as much as possible as she grows, pull her back when she goes astray, and support her when she needs help..."

This was the opening statement of Professor Dumbledore's individual guidance of Hermione's magic last semester.

However, compared to the runes that Grindelwald taught Hannah, Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to intend to directly give her magic.

Apart from some basic guidance on magical techniques and control, Hermione spent most of her time in the Headmaster's office reading books, all kinds of books, and occasionally listening to Professor Dumbledore tell her stories of outstanding students in the past, nothing more.

And now, Hermione finally understood some of Professor Dumbledore's previous anxieties and expectations.

"Is there a problem? Miss Kaslana, Professor Lockhart... um, and... Miss Granger?"

Just then, Professor Dumbledore's voice rang out in the room.

The old wizard's expression was a little puzzled, and his eyes warily scrutinized the three visitors in the room, trying to guess their intentions.

"Well, I'm not the protagonist today—"

Ellena shrugged and pushed Hermione to the center of the room, saying in her ear.

"Now it's your turn, probationary Justice. These are the follow-up consequences of the requests you made."

Hermione and Lockhart's reaction reminded her that perhaps some things should be resolved. After all, it was no longer the stage where they needed to rely on threats to maintain stability—this was a good opportunity to completely turn the page and settle some things.

Ellena looked around at the portraits of past headmasters on the surrounding walls and tilted her head towards Professor Dumbledore.

"If possible, perhaps... we need a relatively private space?"

As she spoke, she walked around the sitting room and approached Dumbledore.

Amidst the old man's helpless wry smile, Ellena placed her hands on the edge and skillfully sat on the outer side of the desk.

The chairs and sofas in the Headmaster's office were a little too short. After a long period of trial and selection, Ellena finally found the most suitable "Empress Exclusive Throne" for her speeches and discussions—the wide, smooth mahogany desk of Professor Dumbledore.

Following Ellena's suggestion, the male and female wizards who were originally pretending to be asleep instantly woke up.

"Oh, Dumbledore, this is against the rules—"

"Are you doubting us? Little girl!"

"Protest! Dumbledore, I'll teach you how to make this child respect her elders!"

Since Ellena appeared in the Headmaster's office, similar small black room situations had often occurred.

Although theoretically, according to the rules, the current headmaster had the right to draw the curtains when necessary—after all, everyone had some privacy, even the Headmaster of Hogwarts was no exception—but that had to be decided by the headmaster, not by an inexperienced little witch bossing around here.

Even though Dumbledore had patiently explained it many times before, he still couldn't quell the discontent of the past headmasters.

After all, Ellena would even actively add fuel to the fire when facing some old wizards, especially old people like Phineas.

"Anyway, they won't get mad enough to die, and they can't crawl out of the paintings to hit me."

Ellena explained, "Arguing is a good thing, consider it as caring for empty-nest elders and preventing Alzheimer's disease."

Therefore, every time she "visited" the Headmaster's office, she would argue with the portraits on the wall at least nine out of ten times.

Undoubtedly, this time would be no exception.

"Times have changed, understand? Now we are the rules."

"How could I doubt you? After all, whatever you say goes, the future of the wizarding world is all in your mouth."

"Come on, come on, Headmaster Black. Why don't you perform that again? Yes, yes, that's the one about respecting elders—"

Ellena swayed her tender white legs, leisurely surveying the former headmasters on the wall who were arguing in a mess, and calmly怼 (retorted) back one by one.

Anyway, if she caused trouble, Professor Dumbledore would be responsible for cleaning up the mess later, and besides, this wasn't her own room.

Since Professor Dumbledore didn't plan to impose a blanket silence, then she would liven up the atmosphere, let Professor Dumbledore see how cute, gentle, considerate, and restrained she usually was, and also comply with the old Dark Lord's agreement.

After all, most adjectives in human society are usually products of comparison.

Whirr—

Dumbledore waved his wand, and the heavy curtains spread out from both ends of the picture frames, covering the portraits in the office.

In the beginning, there were still some faint voices coming from behind the curtain.

But soon they gradually quieted down, and the noisy Headmaster's office returned to calm.

Only the stunned "probationary Justice" and the other Major Arcana members who were already accustomed to it were left.

"Actually, what I wanted to say is...this doesn't have any effect, and it's not necessary—"

Dumbledore sighed rather helplessly, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with some distress, and sincerely explained to Ellena.

"Unlike other portraits in the wizarding world, all the portraits of past headmasters in the Headmaster's office have sworn an oath that they will always assist and obey the ideas of the current headmaster, and contribute their respective wisdom and strength as much as possible...Most importantly, even if there is a handover between the old and the new, they will not reveal the secrets of the former to the latter—unless that information is actively left behind by the former Headmaster of Hogwarts."

"Yeah, I know, but it's quieter this way. And it's not easy to be distracted."

Ellena happily swayed her two short legs, staring at Lockhart standing at the door and Hermione in the reception area.

"Now there are no outsiders, dear 'Hanged Man', you can ask Mr. 'Hanged Man' those questions. It's a good opportunity to solve all the historical problems today, so that there will be no worries, as well as future hidden dangers."

"You agree, right, Mr. 'Tower', Mr. 'Hierophant'?"

Ellena took out her wand and played with it in her hand, her eyes falling on the old Dark Lord at the other end of the room.

At the same time, Grindelwald also took out his wand and gently tapped it in the room.

An invisible magical ripple enveloped the Headmaster's office.

"Those...questions?" Lockhart frowned, looking at Hermione with a solemn expression.

"Oh, yes." Hermione looked at the Major Arcana members in the room and said cautiously, "Oh—sorry, this question might be a little offensive and abrupt—I just wanted to ask, Professor Lockhart, those adventure experiences you mentioned in your books—"

"You want to know what I actually did, and why I'm here, right?"

Gilderoy Lockhart replied quickly, taking a deep breath, "Yes...almost all of those are fake. The adventure experiences in each book came from others. I found out about their stories, and then used the Memory Charm to claim those deeds as my own. Even though the Tianming Group (Destiny Group) later helped clean up the mess, the fact is undeniable. I am actually a dishonorable, vain person—"

Hermione's eyes instantly lost their luster, and she looked at her former idol with great disappointment.

In front of Professor Dumbledore, Lockhart naturally didn't need to be modest—as expected, everything was as Ellena said.

"—The Tianming Group (Destiny Group) took the initiative to find me. They proposed that if I helped, in exchange, I could be exempt from the judgment of 'Justice'."

Lockhart said very frankly, as if he had unloaded some burden, with a somewhat relaxed expression.

He turned his head, looked at the girl sitting on the Headmaster's desk, and smiled dejectedly.

"But now 'Justice' is coming, right."

Hermione's heart sank suddenly.

However, before she could speak, Ellena raised a finger and shook it, smiling softly.

"You guessed wrong. The 'Hanged Man' himself is Justice—"

She turned to look at the Headmaster of Hogwarts behind her, suddenly changing the subject somewhat abruptly, "I know, Professor Dumbledore, you never agree with the idea of atonement through meritorious service, but you also believe in the good side of human nature in those who 'stray and return'. So is it possible to make some clearer commitments, rather than observing and waiting for others' words and deeds to change in an ambiguous way?"

Dumbledore didn't speak, but looked at Ellena thoughtfully, his eyes somewhat surprised.

"Eh? What do you mean..." Lockhart looked at Ellena with some confusion.

"It's very simple, I plan to cure your heart disease, dear Mr. 'Hanged Man'—"

Ellena clapped her hands, paused for a few seconds, and glanced at Dumbledore, who didn't say anything, before continuing to explain.

"Admittedly, we cannot change the past, but we can add some details, change the way 'history' is described in the present through different angles, methods, and some smarter and more complex ways...ultimately achieving the goal of gifting you a completely new life."

"However, this is a Pandora's Box, and I need to get authorization first."

Ellena turned her head and looked quietly at Dumbledore.

"You know what I mean, Professor."

———

———

Hooray!