The Return to Hogwarts

“We’re discussing this,” Harry said. “Hermione thinks perhaps Professor Blaine wants to use this watch to remind me to cherish time—”

Ron chuckled, but Hermione's annoyed gaze made him hastily suppress his laughter. After tilting his head and thinking for a moment, his expression became much more serious.

"Generally speaking, when a young wizard comes of age, his parents or elders will give him a watch, and this watch will accompany the wizard throughout his life."

Ron noticed the confusion on Hermione and Harry's faces, so he shrugged and added...

"This is an old tradition in the wizarding world. Bill and Charlie received them from their parents when they came of age. Percy also has one, but he rarely wears it, perhaps because he doesn't really like it."

Parents and elders.

Harry was stunned for a moment, unsure of what to say.

“If you ask me—” Ron said thoughtfully, resting his chin on his hand, “it might be more appropriate for Sirius to deliver it to you. You know what I mean, after all, he is your godfather.”

Hermione hesitated for a moment, but didn't speak. If such a tradition truly existed in the magical world, then Ron was right.

Harry silently took his watch back from Hermione's hand. After thinking for a moment, he put it back on his wrist. In the soft candlelight, the golden light reflected from the case carried a mysterious aura. Harry frowned slightly.

"Isn't it too showy?"

“No—” Hermione raised her eyebrows and said decisively, “It looks great, and it suits you perfectly.”

Harry grinned, finally revealing a happy smile.

Chapter 385 The Watch Scandal

2023-07-21

For several days after receiving the watch, Harry was in a state of mental instability.

His keen intuition told him that the meaning behind Professor Blaine giving him the watch might not be as Ron claimed, but simply a tradition in the magical world, since this tradition was usually carried out by parents, elders, or guardians, and Professor Blaine was not among them.

Of course, compared to other professors, Professor Blaine has always been quite considerate of him, but this consideration will not cross any lines.

For example, Sirius Black would warn Snape to his face and even challenge him to a duel in the castle so that Snape would stop targeting him, but Professor Blaine would not do that. In fact, he was one of the faculty members who had the best relationship with Professor Snape.

He, Ron, and Hermione were among the young wizards who interacted with Professor Blaine the most, but Professor Blaine paid more attention to him than Hermione and Ron.

This is not because he is the famous Harry Potter, but because—of course, this is just speculation—Harry believes that he and Professor Blaine are both orphans, so they would have some emotional connection.

There must be some other meaning behind it.

This idea made Harry constantly try to figure out what was so unusual about the watch. Whenever he had a spare moment, his gaze would always fall on his left wrist, and he would unconsciously fiddle with the dial, almost as if he were in a trance.

Even in class, he couldn't control himself, which led to a series of 'accidents'.

For example, in Professor Flitwick's class, when he and Ron were practicing the Happy Charm face to face, he was attracted by the light reflected from the crystal dial, and his wrist subconsciously turned. Then, after a deafening roar, Ron was hung under the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, his face blackened and white smoke coming out of his mouth.

"Oh, I'm fine, really, I'm sure!"

Faced with uproarious laughter and Harry's remorseful gaze, Ron, who had been put down, assured Professor Flitwick with certainty, and so the incident was finally resolved with Harry losing five points.

In Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, they were learning how to turn a beautiful teacup into a turtle, while Harry casually flicked his wand, and the teapot in front of him exploded with a bang, injuring several young wizards at nearby tables.

"Seriously, Potter!"

Professor McGonagall pushed up her black-rimmed glasses, strode from the podium to Harry, and said sternly...

"When did you learn Mr. Finnigan's trick, Mr. Potter!"

Well, another five have left Gryffindor.

"Please, Harry!"

On Thursday afternoon, on the way to the Potions classroom basement, Hermione said worriedly,

"Forget about why Professor Blaine gave you the watch. If Professor Snape finds out, he won't just deduct five points!"

Harry wholeheartedly agreed with Hermione's advice; he really should put the matter aside.

However, not deliberately causing accidents in Potions class doesn't mean that bad things won't happen.

"Professor Snape!"

Harry was concentrating on brewing the potion according to the steps in the book when Malfoy suddenly raised his hand across a row of tables. Harry looked over and saw Malfoy grinning at him.

"What's wrong, Draco?"

Standing below the podium, Snape, whose gaze encompassed the entire dark basement, looked at Draco and asked lazily.

"Potter is trying to distract me from brewing potions, Professor. He's using that fake gold watch to reflect sunlight into my eyes, making it impossible for me to concentrate!"

"You bullshit!"

Harry flew into a rage, pointing at the tightly closed curtains and shouting.

There's absolutely no sunlight here!

"Oh, yes, yes--"

Snape walked over with a greasy smile, slowly lowering his gaze to Harry's gold watch. A sinister glint flashed in his dark eyes, but no one noticed.

"Is the famous Savior Mr. getting his hands on some new gadget to attract attention?"

Snape glanced disdainfully at the thickened potion in Harry's cauldron.

"Before explaining your despicable behavior, can you tell me what's in your cauldron? Goblin vomit?"

Harry did not refute Snape's words, because his experience over the past two years had taught him that no matter what he said, Snape would not give up humiliating him; on the contrary, it would only lead to more severe punishment.

To be honest, it had been a while since Sirius Black had been targeted like this in Potions class, ever since he fought with Snape.

Snape swung his wand sharply, and the potion Harry had painstakingly brewed for an hour vanished instantly. Harry glared at Snape, his face ashen, only to receive a dismissive remark.

“A pile of garbage, 0 points, Potter. You need to submit a 15-inch paper on the properties of the drug before the next class.”

Hermione frantically tried to signal to Harry, and Ron was kicking his ankles under the table, but Harry simply couldn't stand Malfoy's gloating smile.

"I did not take the light to pierce Malfoy's eyes, Professor Snape!"

“Ten points deducted, Potter—” Snape said coldly. “This is your punishment for lying.”

Rage was about to set Harry ablaze; thin blue veins popped out on the back of his hands. It took almost all of Harry's reason to resist the urge to slam the scalding cauldron onto Snape's head. But Snape clearly had no intention of letting him off so easily. He slowly leaned down until Harry could smell the complex mixture of scents emanating from Snape.

"Perhaps you think having a murderer as a backer at school gives you the right to disrespect professors, Potter, but if I find you flaunting your ridiculous [something] in this classroom again..."

"Sirius is not a murderer; he has been proven innocent!"

Harry was furious. He stood up abruptly, staring straight into Snape's eyes, ignoring the fact that Ron was about to pull his pants down!

A terrible light flashed in Snape's eyes, and he was about to say something, but Hermione suddenly spoke.

"Professor Snape—"

Hermione had clearly mustered all her courage to interrupt the impending outburst; she spoke in a trembling, soft voice,

“Harry—this watch was a gift from Professor Blaine as a reward, uh…last year, Harry discovered the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets—”

In that instant, Harry noticed that the cold light in Snape's eyes, which were so close to his, had vanished, replaced by a look of unexpected surprise. However, this too lasted only a short while before Snape straightened up, turned around, and left without a word.

For the next few hours, an extremely oppressive atmosphere filled the Potions classroom. Neville had miscalculated the dosage of the rotten blood herb, causing the cement-like substance in his cauldron to erupt like a volcano, affecting almost half of the students in the classroom.

This time, however, Malfoy didn't immediately mock Neville. He could tell that Professor Snape was probably not in a good mood, and indeed, Professor Snape was behaving unusually. In the past, Neville would have been destined to deal with slug slime and frog brains until the end of the term, but this time, he said nothing and simply waved his wand to clear away the solidified liquid.

“You must admit it, Harry—”

The school bell rang, and Harry didn't waste a second. He grabbed his schoolbag and rushed out of the basement with a livid face. Ron and Hermione hurriedly packed their things and caught up with Harry.

"If it weren't for you, Hermione—"

Ron said with lingering remorse,

"Harry and Neville are probably soaking in the jars where Snape stores potion ingredients right now."

“It was Professor Blaine’s name that worked—” Hermione said, staring at Harry’s profile.

“He didn’t pursue the matter because of Professor Blaine. I know you want to protect Sirius, but Harry, no matter what, you shouldn’t yell at a professor.”

"Who are you taking your anger out on, Harry?"

Sirius Black descended the steps opposite the entrance hall, smiling as he bid farewell to the sixth-year wizards from Ravenclaw. He then strode over, but as he approached the three of them, catching their scent and noticing them standing at the basement exit, Sirius's expression darkened. He narrowed his eyes at Harry, whose expression was somewhat unnatural, his voice laced with barely suppressed anger.

"What's wrong? That snotty-nosed brat is giving you trouble again?"

Chapter 386 Clarification

2023-07-22

"Oh, no, Sirius, I just—"

Harry's expression turned unnatural. He didn't want to tell Sirius the truth. The reason was simple: if he knew what Snape had said and done in Potions class, Sirius would definitely go after Snape. Harry would certainly like to see Snape suffer, but definitely not at the cost of Sirius being reprimanded by Professor Dumbledore.

"However, there was a slight problem with the sedative drug that Nawi was brewing—"

Harry showed Sirius the red marks on his arm from the splattered potion.

“I snapped at Neville.”

Sirius looked suspicious. He glanced at Hermione and Ron, but the two little ones avoided his gaze.

"Alright, I'll go find Snape and ask him—"

Sirius Black wasn't stupid. Seeing this situation, he knew exactly what was going on, and he probably guessed why Harry had lied to him.