Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 22: Harry's Acceptance of Reality and Professor Quirrell's Abnormality
"I have to say, your two...brilliant ideas...are indeed beyond my imagination." Harry gritted his teeth when he said the word "brilliant ideas". "You went to the Forbidden Forest the night before last just for this?"

"Oh, speaking of that, we haven't thanked you yet, Harry," Fred said, hugging Harry affectionately.

"Of course we won't forget them, especially those who helped us." George also said with a smile, "Thanks to you for attracting the attention of old man Filch, otherwise we might have been caught."

"Wait, George, I have a slight objection here. I think even if Harry didn't help, we wouldn't be caught - if things don't work out we can throw dung bombs to distract Filch."

"Come on, Fred, we don't have many dung bombs left. We have to use them sparingly."

"That's true. Good things are always used up quickly."

The dung bomb is a prank prop used in the magic world. It leaves a pool of something that smells like... dung but is not dung. The smell is long-lasting and penetrates deep into the skin.

But that wasn't the point, Harry didn't want to hear the twins exchange stories about thrifty shenanigans.

"So your way of thanking me is to make a bunch of glowing horns and sell them?" Harry said with empty eyes: "I don't want this way of thanking you at all."

Not only do they not want it, if a goblin in Azeroth made a pair of horns that would flash, change colors, and emit fireworks, the tauren would definitely challenge him to an honor duel - wait, would such horns sell very well?

Yes, will it?

Well... at least it won't be circulated openly. It will probably only appear on the black market as contraband.

Harry didn't dare to think about it any further. After all, the hobbies of Azeroth adventurers have always been unique.

Just like this↓
"No, no, Harry, I'm actually thanking you for the share!" Fred's face became serious for once. "You can see how popular this thing is. To be honest, even little Ronnie can't get this share from us."

Ron made a noise of protest, but no one paid any attention to him.

"That's right," George nodded. "We know you may not be short of money, Harry, but money is something you can never have too little of. Who knows when you might need it?"

Sighing, Harry…he couldn't deny this.

When he was still young in the world of Azeroth, almost when he left Thunder Bluff to go out and experience adventure, Harry had experienced countless times what it meant for an adventurer to be stumped by a copper coin.

This certainly added a lot of different colors to his adventures, and allowed Harry to participate in events that could affect the fate of Azeroth by chance, but to be honest, Harry really didn't miss those winter days when he couldn't stay in an inn because he had no money and could only spend the night in the barn.

To be fair, the share offered by the twins was indeed quite high, a price that the goblins would never offer - even when a few people were talking, Fred and George had to turn around and respond to those who wanted to place an order.

Plus considerations for future organizational matters...

"Okay," Harry said helplessly, "but I also have a request - that is, you must never sell this kind of glowing horns again. You can only sell horns that look like horns. Damn it, what am I talking about."

"Oh no! Harry! That would cost a lot less money!!", the twins exclaimed, "Everyone wants that super cool horn!"

"Absolutely not!" Harry put an end to the twins' fantasies and said seriously, "This is my bottom line. I would rather make less money than tolerate the existence of that kind of... inexplicable thing!"

Harry is actually also a traditional Tauren, but he is considered to be a relatively open-minded one among the traditional ones. He has devoted his life to reconciling the conflicts between the real traditional Tauren in the tribe and the clans of Cain... After all, the teacher who led Harry on the path of shamanism was named Magatha Grimtotem.

To put it simply, this Magatha Grimtotem is the clan leader of those traditional Tauren whom Harry needs to reconcile the most.

Fortunately, he did a good job and was considered Magasa's beloved disciple, and nothing had gone wrong over the years.

"Oh my god! Harry, you are so serious that you are just like Professor McGonagall," the twins lamented, but finally agreed, "Okay, then we have a deal - have a good meal!"

The twins were about to leave with laughter. They had to explain the changes in the merchandise status to those like-minded customers, hoping to gain their understanding.

"Wait, Fred, George," Ron stopped his two brothers, "I think we need to talk."

Ron now looks like a little adult. It is unclear who he is imitating. He looks very serious.

"...We need to talk?" Fred and George looked at each other and tried to hold back their laughter. "You know what? Little Ronnie, your imitation of dad is nothing like him."

"Don't call me that!" Ron said angrily, then suddenly laughed, "Dad and Mom... they probably don't want to know that you sneaked into the Forbidden Forest on the first day of school? And you relied on Harry to cover for you."

"So?" Fred raised his eyebrows.

"Give me a pair of horns and I'll be a minotaur too." Ron was so proud that he stretched out his hand and said confidently, "Otherwise I'll write a letter to tell Mom!"

Take advantage! !
But unfortunately, Ron forgot the most important point when controlling others - that is to grasp the situation.

The next moment, Ron was pulled up from his chair by Fred and George on his left and right.

"What are you doing! Let me go! Hey! Harry! Neville! Hermione! Save me!!"

The smug look on his face just now disappeared completely, and Ron kicked his legs in panic, trying to struggle free from the restraints of his two brothers. Unfortunately, for Fred and George, who were already in the third grade, Ron's struggle was almost ineffective.

"I think there's something we need to talk about with our brother," George said to Harry, holding Ron's arm.

"Oh, go ahead," Harry nodded kindly, "I don't have classes tonight, you can talk as long as you want... just don't be too harsh."

"Harry?!!!" Ron didn't even bother to struggle. He stared at his friend with wide eyes, his voice full of disbelief, "You can't do this!! Aren't we friends?!"

"Blackmail is wrong, Ron," Hermione said with a smile on her face. "Right, especially when the person you're blackmailing is your brother," Harry had already started to butter his bread, he couldn't bear to see Ron's departure.

It is embarrassing.

Ron was taken away like this. When he returned to the dining table, his face was red, his clothes were a little messy, and he looked very embarrassed.

"Hey! You guys are so mean!" Ron complained as he sat back in his seat, "You didn't even give me a hand."

"After all, they are your brothers, Ron," Neville whispered, "They won't really hurt you."

"And you got what you wanted, didn't you?" Hermione looked curiously at Ron's forehead, where a pair of horns stood proudly. "How did they do that? I mean - it doesn't look like something a student could make."

"I'd rather they really hurt me," Ron sighed heavily and muttered, "Who knows? They are really talented in pranks. They always come up with a lot of weird things. They are mysterious throughout the holiday. I don't know what they do in the room every day."

Harry stared at the horns on Ron's head, thinking about how to destroy this glowing version without hurting Ron... If it doesn't work, he can remove the latter restriction as appropriate.

"Hey! Harry, you can't do this." Ron was extremely perceptive at this time. He quickly covered his horn and said, "Fred has already removed its luminous function. Now it can't even spray ribbons. You have no idea how cunning Fred and George are. You actually need to add those ribbons yourself. If you buy them from them, they will charge you."

Harry looked away.

"That's great," Neville said with envy, but then he noticed Harry's eyes were on him, and he said quickly, "I mean it's great that it can't glow or spray ribbons - can you sell me one too? Ron, I want to be a minotaur, too."

This is the desire to survive.

"Sure, I should be able to give you a good price... Harry Potter exclusive certification or something," Ron was happy to help.

A storm is about to blow over Hogwarts, called the Minotaur Storm, and Harry has already seen the embryonic form of this storm brewing, but he can't stop it.

I hope Professor McGonagall won't be mad.

What Harry didn't know was that even though he had strictly asked Fred and George not to sell their original colorful and glowing version of the horn, you know, the more something is forbidden, the more people will pursue it.

Unbeknownst to Harry, the colorful horns had secretly become a favorite item among the students, even the Slytherins - even the Slytherins!

It's just that no one would make those two horns glow in front of Harry.

Once again, Harry deeply felt Professor McGonagall's helplessness. After all... he really couldn't control what others did behind his back.

..............................

As a rich adventure site and an ancient castle with a thousand-year history, Hogwarts has too many places to explore. In particular, most of the people who have lived here for thousands of years are energetic students, who have left more mysteries for the castle.

Normally, even if a student stayed here for seven years, it would be impossible for him to explore all the secrets of the castle. Even Dumbledore, who had been the headmaster for so many years, did not say that he fully understood the castle.

Harry was very satisfied with this. The adventurous spirit in his youth had been rekindled. In the week after he entered school, every class was full of novelty, allowing Harry to fully experience the joy of being a wizard. After class, he would wander around the castle, looking for and discovering those unknown secrets.

But now, Harry had to take back what he had said a few days ago - the professors at Hogwarts were all truly talented and knowledgeable.

I'm talking about the Defense Against the Dark Arts course!
Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry has seen the textbooks of this course. This course is mainly designed to teach young wizards how to deal with various dangerous situations in the wizarding world, such as dangerous dark magic creatures in the wild or spells from dark wizards.

No matter how you think about it, this course should be full of fun. To deal with dark magic creatures and dark wizards with real weapons, how can you do without actual combat?

But Harry was wrong.

Throughout the whole class, Harry's biggest feeling was that he was smoked, just like a piece of bacon - in order to see the professor's demonstration clearly, he even picked a seat in the first row.

But throughout the entire class, Professor Quirrell not only did not perform any magic demonstrations - he did not even show off his skills like Professor McGonagall did to attract students' attention. He just read the textbook obediently throughout the entire class.

The professor looked like he had been soaking in garlic paste for several days. The excessive garlic smell almost made Harry faint. According to him, he was harassed by a Romanian vampire during his vacation and was afraid that the vampire would come to him again, so he took this countermeasure.

"...I even think he might not be your match, Harry," Ron whispered.

"I don't know, but you guys go first," Harry rubbed his sore eyes, "Don't wait for me, I have some questions I need to consult the professor."

"Aha! Studying secretly again? And you're not allowed to audit the class!" After leaving these words, Hermione stormed away.

Although Ron and Neville wanted to wait for Harry to join them, they were sternly rejected by Harry. In the end, Harry and Professor Quirrell were the only two people left in the classroom.

Professor Quirrell stood behind his desk, and Harry sat in the front row of the classroom.

"From the perspective of the astral world, the light of your soul... is very dim, professor." Staring at Professor Quirrell, Harry said softly, "It's like a candle in the cold wind, swaying, as if it will go out at any time."

This was exactly why Harry wanted to send Hermione and the others away in advance and not let them wait, no matter how mediocre Professor Quirrell's performance was or how pungent the smell of garlic was.

As a shaman, Harry likes to observe everything around him from a detached perspective and perceive the spirits of all things - this is a kind of astral perspective.

The so-called astral realm is an outer area higher than the real world. It wraps around the real world like a layer of icing and is also connected to the unknown world. Only shamans who are proficient in soul magic and highly skilled wizards can travel in the astral realm, and use this borderless area to travel to faraway places or even to another world. They can also observe the real world through the bizarre astral realm and study the fantastic creatures that live in the astral realm themselves.

(End of this chapter)