The Return to Hogwarts

“You all know he stepped down from his position as an Auror, and Dad said he’s very vigilant. I guess he probably sees Hogwarts as Azkaban and thinks it’s not safe here!”

"But it's impossible for someone to break into Hogwarts without anyone noticing, right?"

Hermione said dismissively.

"Not always,"

Harry grinned.

"Sirius had done it before, and Peter Pettigrew also did it; he infiltrated the school for over two years before being discovered."

Mentioning Peter Pettigrew, the Weasley children involuntarily shuddered. This despicable fellow had been lurking in Hogwarts for over two years, but had stayed in their home for twelve years in Animagus form. Every time the family talked about this, Mr. Weasley's face turned ashen, while their mother, Mrs. Weasley, looked like she was having trouble breathing.

“But why doesn’t he get himself a lamp?” Ginny muttered.

“Even darkness can’t fool his eyes—” Fred said with a hint of respect, “Apart from Professor Blaine, Moody is the most capable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in years!”

“That’s absolutely awesome!” George added.

Harry didn't like this argument; he was more emotionally inclined towards Remus and Sirius than Professor Moody. Hermione, however, asked with great interest,

"what happened?"

"Absolutely amazing--"

Fred and George exchanged a meaningful glance. Fred then jumped onto a corner platform, turned around, and raised an eyebrow at Hermione.

"He's far beyond your imagination; he's a true master at combating dark magic!"

“We have his class tomorrow—” Harry suddenly remembered this and asked with great interest, “Is Professor Moody’s class more interesting than Professor Blaine’s gym class?”

Before tonight, Harry wouldn't have used the word "funny" to describe Professor Blaine's gym class; he would have used "useful."

“That’s a different matter, Harry!” George said dismissively.

"Professor Blaine said he would examine Professor Moody's teaching to see if it met his standards. If not, he would expel Professor Moody from Hogwarts. He's probably been preparing for this physical education class these past few days. Perhaps he'll be in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom tomorrow—"

Ginny said abruptly.

"When did this happen?" Fred and George looked at their little sister in astonishment. "How do you know?"

“It was on the first day of school, after they had their duel in the foyer—” Ginny glanced at Harry and said, “I was hiding behind a pillar outside the door, and Professor McGonagall didn’t see me, but I overheard their conversation.”

No one wanted to see this happen. After all, Professor Moody was invited by Professor Dumbledore, and he was also a good friend of Mr. Weasley.

Harry felt even more guilty. After all, Professor Moody had only intervened to punish Malfoy for his sneak attack that day, and if he were to be expelled from Hogwarts by Professor Blaine for it, Harry felt he would also bear some responsibility, even though Malfoy was the culprit.

With this worry in mind, Harry returned to his Gryffindor common room.

Perhaps the revelry of the past few days had exhausted most of the people's energy. Although it was still early for the lively young wizards of Gryffindor, the common room, which was filled with comfortable chairs and sofas, was almost empty. In the dimly lit common room, only the smoldering flames in the fireplace occasionally burst out with a few crackling sounds.

After tonight's lessons, even the diligent Hermione didn't have the extra energy to study. She picked up Crookshanks, who had popped out from under the sofa, waved to Harry, and yawned as she headed towards the girls' dormitory.

After saying goodbye to Fred and George, Harry and Neville returned to their dormitory.

Unsurprisingly, Ron and the others were not asleep. He, Seamus, and Dean were playing chess on a soft mat on the floor.

"General!"

Ron shouted excitedly, and at the same time, the knight on the chessboard jumped in front of the king on the opposite side, swung his spear and sent the king flying, making Dean sigh.

"Oh, you're back?"

Ron looked up, about to call Seamus onto the field, when he suddenly saw Harry and Neville walking in. Catching a glimpse of their expressions, Ron raised an eyebrow and said with a grin,

"What's wrong? Did the smell of those dung balls finally drive you two crazy?"

"Didn't Professor Blaine tell Hermione before that there would be changes to this course?"

Dean, who had lost another game, stood up, wiggled his hips, and asked curiously,

"Professor Blaine increased the dosage of the dung bomb?"

"Oh, you missed the exciting part!"

Harry was trying to figure out how to say it without provoking Ron, but Neville spoke first, excitedly addressing the remaining three in the dormitory.

"Professor Blaine has officially begun teaching us magic, dueling magic!"

"what?!"

Seamus and Dean shouted in unison. Seamus, no longer caring about tidying up the pieces that had suffered a defeat all night, jumped up and grabbed Neville's arm with Dean.

"What happened, Neville? Tell us quickly!"

So Neville recounted every detail of tonight's lesson, from Professor Blaine's analysis of the three subcategories of dueling magic to the unbelievably magical teaching methods, leaving nothing out.

Even Harry was surprised that Neville, who was usually so forgetful, could remember so clearly what Professor Blaine had said in class.

"So, Harry—"

Ron, who had stood frozen for a long time as if struck by lightning, finally reacted. His cheeks puffed up in surprise as he looked at Harry and asked softly,

"Is this true? Professor Blaine really teaches you dueling magic, I mean dueling magic?"

Harry nodded, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"They're just some basic spells that can be used in duels. Ron, you can learn those in Charms class too, but Professor Blaine has advanced our pace—"

"Learn magic in Professor Blaine's mental world!"

Simo frowned in annoyance, then sat back down on his bed, sulking.

"Damn it, what have we missed?!"

“You tell me—” Dean said, tearing at his hair in regret, “Is it possible for Professor Blaine to accept our apology and let us return to the course?”

Ron paused for a moment, then looked at Harry with the same hopeful expression.

Harry and Neville exchanged a glance and fell silent.

The chessboard and pieces lay scattered on the blanket, and no one bothered to tidy them up. The few people in the dormitory were all in bed, but the usual conversations that would begin tonight were absent. No one spoke; the dimly lit dormitory room after the lights were turned off was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere, which even the bright moonlight filtering through the window couldn't dispel.

Harry quietly raised his head and looked at Ron's bed, only to find Ron facing the wall, completely covered by the blanket, as if he had already fallen asleep.

But Harry knew Ron; he knew Ron was faking being asleep.

Who could have predicted things would turn out this way?

Harry, equally filled with sorrow, put his head back on the pillow, staring at the ceiling dappled with light and shadow, and gradually, his consciousness began to drift away.

Chapter 517 Moody's Lesson

2023-10-05

Fortunately, perhaps to make up for the terrible weather in the days before school started, the sky over Hogwarts Castle was clear and cloudless during the first week of school. Today was no exception. As the golden morning sun shone on Harry's face, Harry, who had been sleeping soundly all night, rubbed his eyes, yawned, and sat up in bed.

The dormitory was empty, which startled Harry. He frantically searched for his glasses by his pillow, and the first thing he did after regaining his vision was to grab his watch. After checking the time, Harry's tense expression relaxed. After spending ten minutes washing up and changing his clothes, Harry found "The Dark Arts: A Guide to Self-Defense" among a pile of books and stuffed it into his bag.

On school mornings, apart from a few lucky ones who don't have classes in the morning, there aren't many people loitering in the common room. Harry didn't see Neville and Seamus here, guessing they were probably having breakfast in the Great Hall.

As expected, Harry found his classmates in the Great Hall, and Hermione was there too, engrossed in a book with a worn cover. Harry glanced at it and knew that Hermione was in the book about magical constructs that Professor Blaine had given her, which he had seen many times before.

"I saw you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't wake you—"

Ron saw Harry walk into the Great Hall from the foyer, waved to him, and said with a grin.

“Yeah--” Harry pulled out the chair next to Hermione and expertly popped a lemon meringue into his mouth. “I’m really exhausted.”

Ron turned his head away and joined the others in discussing Professor Blaine's dueling theory from his lessons. Harry, meanwhile, surveyed the Great Hall. Unsurprisingly, almost every young wizard at every long table was discussing their dueling lessons. Even at the faculty table, Professor McGonagall called Angelina over to inquire about the situation, while the other professors, including Professor Dumbledore, listened intently.

Harry turned his gaze to the Slytherin table, where Malfoy was sitting there smugly describing the situation to Crabbe, Goyle, and the students who hadn't participated in the course. This made Harry angry. If it weren't for Malfoy causing trouble, Professor Blaine wouldn't have wanted to examine Professor Moody, or even threatened to make him leave.

However, concerns about Professor Moody outweighed concerns about Ron.

As Harry ate, he subtly observed Ron's strange expression, and the more he looked, the more he felt that something was off about Ron.

Hermione--

Harry called out softly.

"Um--"

Hermione's gaze remained fixed on the book, and she responded only with a rising nasal tone.

“I think something’s off with Ron—”

Hermione finally looked up from her book. She glanced at Ron a few times, then faced Harry, blinked her long eyelashes, and waited quietly for an explanation.

Harry lowered his voice and recounted the events in as concise and clear a language as possible.

"Didn't you see, Hermione—"

Harry whispered,

“Last night, after Ron learned the latest news about PE class, he looked so dejected, just like last year when he thought Scabbers had died at Rikk Hill's hands. But look, now he seems to have completely forgotten about it, acting as if nothing happened.”

Hermione did not show any surprise or worry. In fact, she was very calm, her clear brown eyes showing no ripples.

"Isn't that natural?"

Hermione glanced again at Ron, who had turned his head away, and calmly spoke to Harry.

“Ron is avoiding the topic; he’s afraid we’ll see that he regrets dropping out of Professor Blaine’s class—though, in fact, it’s quite obvious—”

Harry opened his mouth, but said nothing.