The Return to Hogwarts

After entering the wizarding world, Harry learned that his parents had left him a fortune, which was stored in Gringotts' underground vault.

This money was more than enough for him to live comfortably at Hogwarts for seven years, but it was still a bit far from enough for him to squander it freely. Harry could certainly use the money to buy himself a bunch of Muggle clothes like sneakers and sportswear that he had longed for in his childhood, but now he felt there was no need for that.

Professor Blaine's tedious physical education classes weren't entirely useless. After at least two weeks, Harry had begun to get used to waking up early, instead of crawling downstairs like on the first day.

After taking care of his hygiene in the dormitory's washroom, Harry was fully awake. Today's schedule was very slow. After exercising and having breakfast, he planned to go back to his dormitory to catch up on sleep. He wanted to set off for Hogsmeade before ten o'clock. Thanks to Sirius Black, he could now go there openly without having to take the secret passage behind the hunchbacked witch.

Lunch will also be at Hogsmeade, followed by shopping at Bee Duke's Candy Shop to stock up on some candy, and at Zonco's Joke Shop to get some dung balls—Harry doesn't like them, but Malfoy's prank last time made him feel that they were indispensable.

Hermione will probably ask to visit the Literary Quarter. Her quills, ink, notebooks, and the like are always the things the young wizards go through the fastest. These things will probably take up their entire afternoon. Before five o'clock, they need to get back to Hogwarts, have dinner, and return to the common room to work on the planetary charts for astronomy class while continuing to complain about Professor Blaine's physical education class.

When Harry walked out of the bathroom and returned to his dark dormitory, the scene before him stunned him, and then he fell into a brief silence.

Dean and Seamus made it clear last night that they would be withdrawing from Professor Blaine's physical education class. Once they withdraw, there will be no turning back, as Professor Blaine told them on the very first day.

Ron didn't make a statement last night, but now, he has made his choice through his actions.

Harry and Ron's beds were next to each other, and Ron must have heard him get up, but he just covered his head with the blanket and lay motionless on the bed.

Even through the blankets, Harry could sense the guilt emanating from Ron.

"them--"

Neville, who was slowly getting out of bed, obviously realized something. He looked at the other three beds that were still, then turned his gaze to Harry, whose face was slightly sullen, and opened his mouth.

From the day they entered Hogwarts, Harry and Ron were almost inseparable. They were from the same house, lived in the same dormitory, and took the same courses. He spent far more time with Ron than with Hermione. Hermione always spent a lot of time in the library, and after the start of her third year, she took more courses than Harry and Ron. So, starting this year, Hermione spent far less time with them than last year.

"Hurry, Neville—"

Harry felt a tightness in his chest, but he didn't wake Ron, who was pretending to be asleep. Harry himself couldn't guarantee he could hold on any longer.

“Being late will be considered as giving up by Professor Blaine.”

When Harry and Neville jogged side by side to the Quidditch stick, most of the people had already gathered. When the Gryffindor students saw that only Harry and Neville were coming, they immediately realized what had happened.

"What an idiot!"

Having managed to neatly style her hair, Ginny looked just like a little lion, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws. It was rare for her to speak without stuttering in front of Harry; she huffed and puffed, "..."

"If it weren't for Professor Blaine, we would all be dead in the secret chamber!"

“It’s no big deal, Ginny—”

"Professor Blaine won't mind this," Ha said casually. "Maybe I'll give up in a couple of days too."

Before he and Neville arrived, there were Ginny, Hermione, and that second-year Ravenclaw girl. Now Harry knew her name was Luna Lovegood. The girl was a bit odd and not very likeable, but she never seemed to care and continued to dress herself up with those strange things every day and say things that were hard to understand—the three girls were chatting.

Harry assumed Hermione would react with anger like Ginny, and indeed, Hermione did look furious. Her lips were tightly pressed together, her delicate eyebrows were raised high, and her eyes seemed to be questioning him. But in the end, Hermione only moved her lips but said nothing, her face ashen as if she hadn't spoken all night.

"Your friend made the wrong decision--"

Luna stretched out her hand and waved it in the air—she did this often, and had her own explanation for it, but no one could understand her.

"He shouldn't give up on this interesting class."

interesting?!

To be honest, this judgment is not shared by others, including Ginny and Hermione. They also do not find the course interesting, but have persisted until now for various reasons.

To the young wizards, this was probably the most boring class ever. At least they could sleep and pass the time in Professor Binns's class!

"Hey, Potter!"

Malfoy always had a keen sense of spotting the bad things happening around Harry; he would crane his neck from a dozen feet away, a wicked grin on his face.

"Your freckled friend dumped you, didn't she? Ha, look at your pathetic face!"

"Get out of my way, Malfoy!"

Before Harry could even speak, Hermione and Ginny, to everyone's astonishment, simultaneously 'roared'!

Chapter 376 Sirius's View

2023-07-12

Amosta has been arriving at the playground two minutes before six o'clock every day, and today was no exception. By the time he got close to the golf club, the young wizards had already lined up according to their respective houses, waiting for his arrival.

The morning air was chilly, but Amostella detected a strong smell of gunpowder in it. He raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the sullen groups. He caught a hint of schadenfreude in Draco's eyes, and instinctively glanced at the back of Gryffindor, where Harry and the others were deliberately avoiding his eye contact. When he noticed Ron's absence, he roughly understood the source of the conflict.

To be honest, Amosta was somewhat disappointed.

In terms of talent, the Weasley children were all above average among the young wizards at Hogwarts. Even Ron, who was relatively mediocre, was still above average. At least, his talent was no less than that of Neville Longbottom in the same house. However, Ron's character was not as stoic as Neville's.

However, according to an old saying from a previous life, everyone has their own destiny, and it cannot be forced.

This is actually a very cruel thing. The young wizards in front of us probably don't realize that a decision they make without thinking could cause them, who are as close as brothers, to go their separate ways in the future.

Just like Harry, Hermione, and Ron, both Hermione and Harry, who is burdened with the destiny of 'saving the world,' are the kind of children whose personal strengths are very outstanding, while Ron is relatively mediocre. If no new bond is formed between the three of them, then in the future, gradually drifting apart is almost the inevitable outcome they will face.

Like Sirius Black and his friends, their friendship was undoubtedly admirable, but in the end, only Sirius Black and Harry's father Remus were able to maintain a close relationship after graduation. After graduation, they clearly preferred to be alone. If it weren't for Peter's situation, they might have had less and less contact and eventually become just ordinary friends.

Professor Blaine had clearly noticed Ron's absence, and Harry looked at him with worry and unease.

A few seconds of slight reflection took Amosta a moment. Facing those still-youthful faces, Amosta smiled freely.

"What are you waiting for, everyone? Let's begin!"

At the beginning of Professor Blaine's morning practice, no one could complete it smoothly. In fact, very few young wizards could even persist for half of it. Most of them were completely exhausted after a few laps and could only stagger to complete the rest of the journey.

After two weeks of perseverance, although their performance was still unsatisfactory, at least now they can help each other walk back to the castle after completing twenty laps around the track in the morning.

Perhaps to accommodate them, the school moved up the start time for breakfast. As Harry passed through the foyer, the Great Hall was already filled with the aroma of food, but he had little appetite. He went straight up the stairs in the foyer, and Hermione made the same choice.

Harry stole a glance at Hermione, whose face was frosty, and cautiously probed...

“Uh, Hermione--”

However, his probing was like stirring up a hornet's nest; Hermione snorted heavily, and her intense gaze made Harry feel a little ashamed to lift his head.

“Tell Weasley!” Hermione’s loud voice caused the still-sleeping portraits on the wall to grunt in dissatisfaction. “Don’t expect me to forgive him. He can forget about ever copying my homework again!”

Harry could only respond with a wry smile.

The scene in the dormitory was not much different from when they left; it was still gloomy. Ron, Seamus, and Dean were still huddled in their blankets. Although they had been awake for a while earlier, it seemed that the three of them had really fallen asleep again.

Actually, Ron's decision to give up wasn't something Harry was really upset about. Just like when they were taking elective courses before, Hermione was also unhappy that they had given up many seemingly important courses. It's just that Ron should have given them a heads-up beforehand.

It's foreseeable that Hermione and Ron will be in a cold war again for a while, just like before because of Scabbers.

How long will this last?

Harry wasn't really in the mood for cleaning. With this question in mind, he plopped down on his bed and quickly fell asleep.

When the sun was high in the sky and laughter filled the castle, Harry finally got out of bed. By then, he was all alone in the dormitory; the others who had slept in earlier were already up.

Harry glanced at the time displayed on the alarm clock on his desk, jumped up with a whoosh, and after a flurry of activity, he cleaned up and went downstairs. He found Ron playing chess with Seamus in the common room, and the two hurriedly left the common room and ran downstairs. As soon as they reached the foyer, they saw Sirius Black waving to them from the bottom of the steps outside the castle.

"Let's walk and chat--"

Sirius Black was off work today, so he changed into a casual leather jacket and tied his hair back with a rope, looking like the lead singer of a Muggle band.

Sirius Black could tell that Harry and Ron both had something to say, so he put his arm around the two boys' shoulders and smiled happily.

"Hermione is still waiting for us in Hogsmeade!"

Ron's expression immediately turned unnatural; clearly, while Harry was catching up on sleep, he had already encountered Hermione.

Harry immediately asked the question he wanted to ask.

What do you think, Sirius?

Harry's question was abrupt and seemingly unrelated, but he was certain Sirius understood. He couldn't detect any surprise or astonishment on Sirius's face. However, Sirius didn't answer immediately. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and looked at Ron regretfully, saying...

“Without a doubt, Ron, you made a rash decision.”

Harry knew that Sirius was trying to save Ron's face; he actually wanted to use the word 'mistake' rather than 'reckless'.

"So!"

Harry had to walk long distances to keep up with Sirius's pace, and he asked curiously.

"Do you think Professor Blaine's Muggle physical education classes are meaningful? But I don't understand. Aren't there wizards in Hogwarts? What use is it for a wizard to run faster or longer?"

Harry's question made Ron's face light up, and his expression immediately brightened.

"That's it!"

Ron nodded in agreement.

“We’re wizards, aren’t we? Quidditch is the sport we should be playing. Of course, Seamus and I have discussed this. Professor Blaine may want to train our skills, but he should teach us some powerful magic, like the tricks he used to take down Greyback’s werewolves, or, like in Defense Against the Dark Arts, teach us some ways to deal with dark creatures.”

It took them a while to get through the gates guarded by Filch, and only after they stepped onto the tree-lined path leading to Hogsmeade did Sirius speak again.

“I haven’t known Amosta as long as you have, Harry and Ron, but I think I know Amosta Blaine a little better than you do. First of all, I want to tell you that he is definitely not a wizard who would waste his time on meaningless things—”

Sirius said with certainty,

"There's one more thing I need to tell you: in my thirty-odd years of life, I've seen many wizards of extraordinary skill, but none of them can compare to Dumbledore or Voldemort—"

Sirius glanced at Harry and Ron, who were listening intently to him.

"I once thought that there might never be another person in this world who could rival Dumbledore and Voldemort. Voldemort was evil, but his strength was justified. As for Amosta Blaine, after witnessing his abilities, I am absolutely certain that his strength is on par with those two."

So, do you understand what I mean?

A wise and powerful wizard possesses a perspective far superior to that of ordinary wizards. Perhaps only Dumbledore could see through his actions, while we cannot. But one thing is certain: Amosta is definitely not simply wasting your energy.