Hermione was walking slowly down the corridor towards Gryffindor Tower. Heels clattered loudly on the floor, a bag of books pulled down the shoulder. Everything is as usual. Only my soul was restless.
The year started abominably. Last year's Three-Wise tournament brought not only victory to Hogwarts, but also the death of Cedric Diggory. Then Harry, in a semi-deranged state after a tantrum in the director's office, sat on his bed and did not react to any stimuli. He stopped talking to Ron, didn't see Malfoy at close range, didn't notice the others at all. The only person he had a relationship with was Hermione.
Leaving for the holidays, Harry was like a zombie - just as quiet and silent. Hermione tried to cheer him up, wrote letters, sent funny postcards and was very sorry that she could not visit him. At first, Harry answered the letters sluggishly, but by the middle of the holidays he cheered up a little. Frightened by his appearance and the Dursleys' behavior, they decided not to notice the guy out of harm's way and regularly fed him. They didn't bother him with work either, and Harry, in an attempt to overcome depression, leaned on his studies.
Sitting in his room, he re-read the textbooks for the previous courses, and after buying textbooks for the fifth year, he began to read them as well. Hedwig made regular cargo flights. Everything that the owl could not steal was sent by regular mail - Hermione regularly sent books and notes. Also, on the advice of his girlfriend, he signed up for the fencing section. At first, he went there as if to hard labor, but gradually got involved and began to train with gloomy bitterness - the loads helped to sleep without dreams.
The coach, who was a retired military man, only shook his head, seeing such zeal, and showed more and more new techniques. At first, after looking at the skinny teenager, he gave him a sword, but after a couple of days he replaced it with an estok - a long straight narrow sword. Oddly enough, Harry liked the sword very much, he felt that it was his weapon. He bought himself a training weapon and decided that he would continue studying at Hogwarts.
Meeting Harry on the train, Hermione was amazed at the changes that had happened to him. Good nutrition and sports did a miracle: he stretched out and swelled in the shoulders, his muscles became even stronger, his hair grew a little longer, and Harry tied it in a small ponytail. But the biggest changes took place not outside, but inside: if earlier there was a mixture of naivety, stubbornness, rage and belief in the fact that good is just around the corner, now there is nothing left of it. Steve Barnes, who taught Harry how to handle a sword, managed to pull the guy out of depression, exhausting classes helped to gradually establish communication with the withdrawn teenager. Finding out that the guy witnessed the murder and blamed himself for it, he dragged him to his friend, a psychologist. He was gradually able to explain that what happened was not Harry's fault, and to go with bare hands to the gun (Harry said that he witnessed a gang fight) is not only life-threatening, but also simply stupid, and the hero complex is harmful to the health of not only the hero, but also others, and before something to do it, you need to think about how to do it and what it will lead to.
On the train, Harry and Hermione locked themselves in a compartment and just kept silent all the way. Ron and Draco Malfoy were knocking on their door, looking for them, but the friends only smiled at each other in silence. Hermione looked into the gloomy eyes of her best friend and thought that they were like emeralds - just as cold.
Entering the Great Hall, they sat down at the table in silence, paying no attention to anyone. The school year has begun.
