Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 241 A Name That Shouldn't Appear

“Don’t be too nervous, Neville. Didn’t Professor McGonagall say that Professor Trelawney often scares freshmen with terrible prophecies, but in reality, nothing happens to them?”

After class, a group of people surrounded Neville to comfort him.

Clearly, after giving up on Harry, Professor Trelawney couldn't abandon the tradition she had upheld for many years, so Neville became her new target.

Poor Neville was so frightened that he turned pale and could barely walk.

“To be honest, divination classes are a complete waste of time,” Hermione reassured Neville. “They’re completely baseless and just nonsense. They’re nowhere near as good as numerology, which is a subject with real clues.”

“Don’t say that, Hermione.” Harry mustered his courage and stepped forward. “Sirion’s prophecy was quite accurate.”

"Are you sure?" Hermione turned and glanced at him.

"Don't think I don't know your little tricks. Those prophecies are all your own doing."

“What about Sirius?” Harry looked at her. “Although I hate to admit it, Black is indeed my godfather. Surely we didn’t put on an act for him too.”

Hermione remained silent.

"I'm sorry, Harry, that's not what I meant..."

“You don’t need to apologize, Hermione,” Harry said, sounding a little downcast. “Black should be the one apologizing.”

To Siren's astonishment, after this incident, Harry and Hermione's relationship suddenly improved, and even Ron stopped being hostile towards her.

“As long as she doesn’t let that cat get near Scabbers again,” Ron said.

"The days without that cat are absolutely wonderful. You should really build it a nest near the Forbidden Forest."

Hermione ignored him; she had many more important things to do than argue with Ron.

……

The Easter holiday that followed the next day was not easy.

They thought they already had enough homework last year, but they didn't expect to have a few more classes in the third grade.

It's only the first day of the holiday, and Neville Longbottom seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and he's not the only one like that.

Besides doing his homework, Harry also had to spend several hours every day practicing Quidditch and endlessly discussing tactics with Wood.

He had fire bolts, what need did he have for tactics? But Wood insisted on doing it this way, so much so that Harry had to stay in the common room until late at night to barely finish his homework for the day.

Fortunately, Hermione was always with him.

Moreover, Hermione was always the last to leave the common room and the first to arrive at the library the next morning. After a few days, she developed dark circles under her eyes like Lupin, and her temper became increasingly irritable, sometimes becoming hysterical over the smallest things.

Speaking of Lupin, Harry suddenly realized that it seemed like he hadn't had any special training with the Patronus Charm in a long time.

The main reason is that Dementors have been getting closer to the castle recently, and are now mostly in Hogsmeade Village. In addition, Lupin seems to be very busy lately, so the matter has been put on hold.

“If your special training is over, remember to let me know,” Xiren said, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Maybe Professor Lupin can send me that useless Boggart.”

Harry chuckled twice but didn't say anything.

He hasn't fully mastered the Guardian Charm yet, so the special training certainly won't end there.

The two chatted for a while longer, when suddenly Xilun asked casually:
"By the way, have you looked at the Marauder's Map lately? Have you seen Sirius?"

"No... well, I mean, I'm too busy to even look at a map."

Harry spread butter on his bread as he spoke, “I have to get up at 6:30 every day to practice Quidditch with Wood and the others. I do my homework in the morning and afternoon, then practice in the evening, discuss tactics, practice again, and then continue doing homework until 1 a.m.” Harry’s voice sounded weak. “I don’t have time to care about Sirius Black right now.”

Just then, Wood appeared excitedly with a broom in hand.

Harry turned pale, stopped eating, and, taking advantage of the fact that he wasn't being discovered, hunched over and left the Great Hall through a side door.

Although he enjoys Quidditch, he also understands what is more important.

Wood is in seventh grade, and it's said that there's no homework in seventh grade; all you have to do is prepare for the upcoming NEWT exam.

But he's only in third grade. If he hasn't finished his homework by the time school starts, he'll definitely be punished.

If a professor deliberately sabotages the competition by confining him on the day of the match, that would be even more troublesome.

It's not impossible; for example, a Potions professor could definitely do it.

As for Siron, he devoted himself entirely to his paper for "Transfiguration Today".

He had asked Garrick before, and a few days ago his grandfather wrote back, offering him a lot of useful advice... about the material for the cane.

Many wizards know that willow and fir wands are helpful for transfiguration, and this "common knowledge" can also serve as evidence for a paper.

Everyone was busy with their own things, and no one chose to go home for the Easter holiday, but Hogwarts Castle was quieter than usual.

……

That morning, as usual, Xilun got up early, planning to have breakfast first and then go to the library to finish the paper.

As he passed the common room, he noticed Harry sitting in an armchair, lost in thought.

"Harry?" Siren asked in surprise, "It's not even eight o'clock yet, did you finish training so soon today?"

Harry was momentarily dazed before noticing Siron, who had just come downstairs.

“Training…no, I didn’t train,” Harry said.

He rubbed his eyes and suddenly asked, "Sirlen, you said you've used Marauder's Map, right?"

“That’s right, what’s wrong?” Xilun nodded.

“Well…” Harry hesitated for a moment before asking, “If someone is already dead, will their name appear on the map?”

“Of course not.” Xiren stopped in his tracks. “What did you see?”

“No, it’s nothing, I must have just been seeing things.” Harry shook his head and said, “Before training today, I was going to look at the map, but I saw a very special name on it. This person died more than ten years ago.”

"Where did you see it? What was that person's name?" Siren asked.

“In the Gryffindor common room,” Harry said, unfolding a parchment, “but it disappeared quickly.”

Xilun walked over and took a look, his gaze landing on the dormitory.

It was still very early, and most people hadn't gotten up yet. All the names in the dormitory were crammed together, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

"I think I need to go see Professor Lupin; the map he gave me is broken, but I swear I didn't do anything."

Harry put away the Marauder's Map and hurriedly left the common room, heading towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts office.

……

(End of this chapter)