The Sorting Hat shouted loudly, "Gryffindor!" The table on the left side of the hall burst into applause and cheers to welcome the new transfer student.

Hermione was especially excited and clapped her hands until they hurt. She could finally go to school with Harry! The last time they met, Harry didn't say his last name, and Hermione only found out yesterday that he was actually a Potter, the child of Lily and James Potter. She was shocked beyond words. The Dark Prince was actually from the Potter family? But this was even better, she said Harry wasn't a bad person after all.

Harry took off the Sorting Hat and walked towards the Gryffindor table. He had secretly contacted his father and asked him to let him attend Hogwarts. To Harry's surprise, the Dark Lord gladly agreed to give him a long vacation and even said that Hogwarts was a good place and Harry should enjoy his precious student life.

Dumbledore and Lily at the teacher's table were quite pleased, but the Dark Arts Defense Against the Professor, Sirius Black, looked indifferent. He turned his head away from the boy to avoid any impulsive behavior. Snape looked disgusted, as if he had swallowed a fly - the Dark Lord must have made a mistake that his beloved Dark Prince was still a Potter, a stupid and noisy lion. It would be best if he didn't let Potter meet him in the Potions class. If Potter dared to blow up the cauldron like Longbottom did, he would definitely empty the Gryffindor's hourglass, in revenge for his deep hatred with James. But he saw Lily clapping with excitement. Ah, he couldn't take revenge too obviously, or Lily would definitely be angry.

Harry sat down next to Hermione and was warmly welcomed by his Gryffindor classmates.

"I remember last time, when I left, you said you didn't want to see me again because we would be enemies if we met again. I didn't expect our reunion to be like this?" Later, when the crowd dispersed, Hermione seized the opportunity to lower her voice and said to him, with a slightly victorious look. "And the book you borrowed from me, I finally found the opportunity to return it to you~"

"Indeed... I'm also very happy to see you again." Harry looked much more relaxed than when they first met.

"Dumbledore said our schedules are the same, so we can take classes together. He said since I knew you before, maybe you'll feel comfortable with this arrangement?" Hermione was quite enthusiastic. Harry had saved her from the Dark Lord's castle last time, and now it was her turn to show her gratitude. "The way to Hogwarts is a bit difficult for new students, but I can show you the way~ If you need help with anything else, you can ask me, I'm very happy to help~"

Harry understood that Hermione and Dumbledore's actions were mainly out of goodwill, and he could even guess with his eyes closed that Dumbledore must have asked Hermione to keep an eye on him and report any suspicious behavior. Harry didn't mind though, as he didn't have any evil plans. He just wanted to study hard.

"Classes at Hogwarts don't cover these topics, Harry. You need to delete these paragraphs, this section, this one, and these points in this other section," Hermione carefully read through Harry's essay and responsibly helped him revise it. Since Harry's identity was a secret, writing about topics that were too outrageous, sophisticated, or related to dark magic would clearly raise suspicion. "Just the remaining parts are enough to get you the best grade."

"Thanks," Harry took his homework back and looked at it again. "Hogwarts doesn't cover any of these? That's a shame."

"They don't teach dark magic, and we're only in our third year, aren't we? The teaching pace at Hogwarts is normal. If you think it's too shallow, it must be because your home tutor pushed you too hard," Hermione was not surprised at all. Harry's teacher was a you-know-who. He was said to be a genius and very domineering. How could he not force Harry to study faster than others? She patted Harry's shoulder sympathetically, "You must have gone through a lot."

"Not really, he's been pretty good to me," Harry really felt that way. And many times, it was he who pushed himself too hard. He found that studying could divert his attention and being obsessed with academics could help him avoid thinking about things that made him suffer.

"Oh, and...can you explain to me these points you wrote in your essay? I haven't read about them in any books yet." Hermione's eyes were filled with a thirst for knowledge. She loved discussing academics with Harry. And Harry patiently answered her questions.

A few days after Harry started attending classes, all the professors at Hogwarts found that this transfer student had an excellent theoretical level. Including Snape, who was bent on revenge, stared at Harry's cauldron the whole time in an attempt to find a flaw, but he couldn't find any mistakes in the perfect potion. He had to give up and turn his head to deduct twenty points from Neville. After a few classes on potions, even Snape had to admit that Harry was indeed worthy of being Lily's child and inheriting her talent in potion-making. Voldemort had indeed taught him well. It's better not to deduct points, so this kid wouldn't blow pillow talk with Voldemort and cause trouble for him.

However, in all the practical classes where a wand was required, Harry's performance was very different from his theoretical level. Many times his wand didn't react at all, often accompanied by a puff of smoke, or even being used as a stand for his toad, Neville.

When Hermione asked him in surprise about his poor wand skills, Harry just shrugged and secretly told her, "This wand isn't really mine, Professor Dumbledore hasn't given it back to me." What Harry didn't say was that he was actually pretty good at wandless magic. Even without a wand, he could still easily complete tasks in class. But he didn't want to show off. If Professor Dumbledore found out that he could still be a threat without a wand, Harry might not be able to stay at Hogwarts anymore, even if the headmaster didn't turn him over to the Ministry of Magic. He would not be allowed to freely enter and exit with the students. Harry understood the headmaster's concerns, after all, with his identity, he knew better than anyone what he had done.

Meanwhile, rumors were spreading among the students. Was the theoretical expert Harry actually a squib?

The wizarding world, where the Dark Lord was reigning supreme, was not so friendly to squibs, especially among Slytherins. After class one day, Hermione stayed in the classroom to ask the professor questions, while Harry walked out into the corridor and was immediately blocked by a few Slytherin classmates. The lead boy had finely groomed blond hair, which immediately reminded Harry of Lucius Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy, with his head held high, pointed his wand at Harry and sneered, "Hey, isn't this the little squib who hangs out with the mudblood all day?" This kid had been wanting to pick a fight with him for a long time, and he had finally caught Harry alone. "I heard you don't talk to anyone else, only to the mudblood. Maybe even your fellow Gryffindors think you're a useless squib?"

The so-called duel didn't really start with the right procedure. Malfoy threw a "Tarantallegra" as soon as he finished speaking, which Harry deftly dodged. Malfoy then cast a "Densaugeo", which was also shunned by Harry. To be honest, Harry's combat experience was far stronger than that of a pampered young man like Malfoy. Even without magic, dodging spells had become instinctual for him, so Malfoy couldn't easily hit him.

"Is it really impressive to dodge curses? Muggles can do it too." Draco Malfoy shouted angrily as he saw two spells miss their target. He didn't want to lose face in front of the other Slytherins. If he couldn't even handle a Muggle-born wizard without a wand, how could he walk around Hogwarts with his head held high? So he thought carefully before casting his third spell: "Serpensortia!" You'll dodge, and the snake will chase. Hey hey.

A large black snake – well, actually a small one, much smaller than a Nagini – was summoned and began to approach. Harry and the snake stared at each other. Harry didn't want to reveal that he could perform wandless magic or speak Parseltongue, but he didn't want to be bitten by the snake either. If so, he would probably be mocked by Nagini for the rest of his life.

So Harry worked his magic secretly and created an invisible soundproof barrier between him and Malfoy. Now he could talk to the snake without any worries. "Listen, go back. Go chase after Malfoy." Harry calmly negotiated with the snake.

The small black snake replied, "Ah, okay." Then it turned around and bared its teeth at Malfoy.

Harry saw Malfoy's panicked expression and realized he was saying something. So he removed the soundproof barrier, and the noise from the other side of the corridor filled the air. "… u chase me? Go bite him!" Malfoy shouted.

"Snakes can't understand English, can they?" Harry commented innocently on Malfoy's ridiculous behavior of speaking English to the snake.

As a result, the snake disappeared again. The commotion in the corridor had also attracted some attention. More students, including Hermione, who had just finished asking her question and left the classroom, gathered around.

"Malfoy, you're going too far." Hermione knew Harry couldn't use magic, so she stood in front of him.

"Oh, Mudblood is here to protect the dumb squib? Why don't you both go back to your Muggle world? We don't welcome you in the wizarding world!" Malfoy sneered.

Then Hermione slapped him in front of a large group of Slytherin students. Malfoy was horrified and covered his face, feeling humiliated. More Gryffindor students arrived, and Malfoy realized he couldn't win this fight. So he decided to leave. As he ran away, he shouted, "No wonder you're Muggles. You're really good at fighting in Muggle ways. I have to go wash my face. It's dirty!"

Hermione drew her wand and cast a precise and beautiful impediment curse that tripped him up. "There you go, wizarding world manners. Satisfied?" Although it was not right to use magic in the corridor, she was truly angry at such pure-blood prejudice. In this magical world, the war never ended, and the debate on blood purity never ceased. People like her, no matter how talented, hardworking, and outstanding they were, even if she had worked hard enough to become the top student in Hogwarts, even if she had surpassed many older students, she would still be insulted and mocked by many, simply because of her innate blood status. But she clearly belonged to the magical world, and she loved magic! Hermione was just so angry.

Hermione's Gryffindor classmates were all opposed to blood prejudice and thought Hermione did a great job. Especially her good friends, Ron and Neville, led the enthusiastic applause.

"I'm going to tell my dad, you're doomed!" Malfoy got up and ran away, his voice echoing in the corridor.

"Harry, can I ask you a question?" Hermione closed the door of the empty classroom, turned around seriously, and cast a silencing spell with her wand.

"Sure."

"Why... don't you hate Muggle-borns?" Hermione hit the nail on the head.

"Why should I hate? Aren't you also a Muggle-born?"

"That's ridiculous. Look at how Malfoy treats those he calls mudbloods, that's the attitude of a Death Eater in training, isn't it? Of course, I'm not saying you're a Death Eater in training... but it's obvious we all know your identity. Harry... your recent performance... to be honest, even though I didn't think you were a bad person, your behavior has completely exceeded my expectations. Every day we spend together, sometimes I forget that you're the Dark Prince." Hermione was trying to choose her words carefully, expressing her doubts without offending him. "Isn't the core idea of this war is pureblood supremacy and hatred of Muggle-borns? Aren't those Death Eaters, those Slytherins, all thinking like this? Aren't you the person closest to the Dark Lord? Why is your attitude so normal instead?"

Harry was silent for a moment. "Can I not answer that?" This was a dangerous question, and answering it carelessly could reveal the secret of the Dark Lord.

"Okay..." Hermione was a little disappointed, but understanding, she didn't pursue the matter any further.

"I can only say that I really don't hate Muggle-borns." Harry thought for a moment and said seriously, "And I sincerely consider you a friend."