The slacker professor at Hogwarts

Chapter 380 I have family now!

"you----"

"Why are you here?"

As Harry Potter was leaving the stage, he was alerted by Rita Skeeter, who was planning to interview them, and discovered the Dursleys in the audience.

He didn't know what he was feeling as he walked into the audience. Amid the cheers of some of the audience members around him, he awkwardly forced a smile and responded, then secretly squeezed into the crowd and finally came to the Dursleys.

Vernon's face flushed slightly, and he stammered, his voice lacking confidence, "We've always been family, haven't we?"

Harry was silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, a bright and cheerful laugh. "Of course!"

"Oh~" Aunt Penny looked like she was about to cry, "You are excellent, we are proud of you."

Dudley, who was rather straightforward, rolled his eyes. "Hey, can you guys stop getting sentimental? We just want to see what the magical world is like!"

"Okay~"

"All right!"

He shrank back under his parents' sharp, self-satisfied stares, shrugged, and said, "Well, Harry, you did look really cool fighting in the sky just now."

Harry chuckled, thought for a moment, and sat down beside them. "Actually, I'm more curious about how you managed to get here?"

Vernon then began to recount their excitement upon reading in the newspapers that Harry's relatives could come here.

Yes, they just wanted to see the magical world.

But the reason I waited so many days and specifically chose to come today is because of the match announced in the Duel Club Gazette, and Harry is playing today.

After all, he was the child she raised. Even if she didn't give him the same love as Dudley, the feelings between them were hard to explain.

It's very complicated.

Just then, the host's voice came from the stage.

"Quiet down!"

"Please be quiet!"

Professor Witsel, the host, used his booming voice spell to loudly proclaim to the audience the most important rules of the Triwizard Tournament, which were based on the "List of Tournament Spells".

This was necessary; the packed stands were filled with people who were participating in this match for the first time and were here for the first time.

Even though many people have seen reports about this list in various newspapers and magazines.

The host reiterated, as requested by the three principals, this new framework, which is distinct from the modern magic system.

It is collectively referred to as "three levels and three extra".

The three tiers are: War Magic, Combat Magic, and Life Magic.

The three additional categories are: magic for the future (currently mainly transfiguration and modern mysticism), black magic, and white magic (magic that erodes the soul and affects personality, divided into positive and negative effects).

The Three-Way Championship was organized based on these six categories.

Black magic and white magic, which are soul-corrupting spells, are strictly limited, mainly in the regulations during the competition.

These regulations will form a consensus among the Ministry of Magic staff and Aurors responsible for maintaining the event, as well as all participants, and will ultimately influence the formulation of laws by the Ministries of Magic in various countries.

The other four events extend from this to form the competition.

"War Magic - Quidditch Duels" Campus Team Tournament.

Battle Magic - The Goblet of Fire: Warriors Championship.

Life Magic—Family Showmatch.

Future-oriented magic: Transfiguration - Treasure Chest Scramble.

"I hereby announce the successful conclusion of the Quidditch Duels School Team Tournament! Registration is now open for the Family Exhibition Match and the Treasure Chest Scramble!"

As the tournament's influence grew, some politically astute individuals began to sense the waning of power within the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore gradually withdrew from the tournament to avoid touching on certain people's sensitive nerves.

In fact, he should have done so a long time ago; Grindelwald and Lockhart were too lazy to go on stage and give any speeches.

Their focus should be on exerting influence, such as the various actions they are planning to take to expand the global influence of the New Era Basin.

It's essential to make people feel that this is a natural trend of the times, rather than the guidance of three magic masters.

Lockhart had told the two bigwigs about this, and even if some conspiracy theorists were to say something, it should be the evil plot of the three magic schools, not the evil plot of the three headmasters.

That brings us to the point where the target cannot be selected.

The words may be rough, but the principle is sound. Old Deng, who liked to do things personally in many aspects, gradually began to let go and let some professors from the school take the lead, trying out this method of managing subordinates.

Professor Witsel, the host on stage, continued speaking loudly.

The treasure chest battle will be held in the form of a fairytale adventure training ground, where only transformation magic is allowed. Participants will compete in teams of 5...

Teams can be formed regardless of campus.

"Thanks to all the enthusiastic participants from all walks of life who provided prizes, making our prepared treasure chest even more abundant —"

Witsel flipped through the list, then suddenly exclaimed, "Merlin's pink plush shoes! The prizes include a memory stone used by the legendary wizard Nicolas Flamel to forge the Philosopher's Stone?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion erupted from the audience.

The crude naming methods, such as Philosopher's Stone, Memory Stone, and Elder Wand, are generally used for objects that are old or have ancient origins.

The memory stone is a byproduct of the wizarding history of the invention and research of the Pensieve technique. Simply put, it is a stone that stores silver threads of memory.

Of course, that's not the point; it's the Philosopher's Stone!

The Philosopher's Stone, also known as the Philosopher's Stone, is said to have the power to turn lead into gold and grant immortality. Wealth and longevity are arguably the foundation for satisfying all desires.

There are many legends about this magical item, but the only one known to have actually made it is the legendary wizard Nicolas Flamel, who lived to be six or seven hundred years old as a result!

His memories of creating the Philosopher's Stone!

Everyone seemed very excited.

On stage, Lockhart looked at Grindelwald with a strange expression. "You provided this?"

Why provide this? For fishing?

Grindelwald rolled his eyes. "Young man, don't always assume I'm the one to blame. Nicolas Flamel actually has a lot of memory stones and experimental manuals for making Philosopher's Stones!"

"A lot?" Lockhart asked in surprise. "I haven't seen any in the school library."

Hogwarts has an extremely rich collection of books, you could say it has everything, but I've never actually seen this before.

If it really existed, Voldemort would probably have started researching it long ago.

"That's a story from hundreds of years ago. Nicolas Flamel wasn't good at combat; he was more suited to alchemy, potions, and divination."

"Can you imagine a scholarly wizard who created the Philosopher's Stone that everyone desperately desires, and who also has a large but not very powerful family to manage? What kind of challenges will he face?"

"Especially when faced with the fear of death that some important figures are about to face due to illness, old age, or other reasons —"

Possessing a treasure is a crime!

Lockhart understands.

"For his own development and for the sake of the Flamel family, Nicolas Flamel had to make compromises at times throughout his long life spanning hundreds of years."

"It started with the Book of Abraham, which inspired him to invent the Philosopher's Stone, followed by the experimental manual, and finally, his memories."

Grindelwald wore a mocking smile. "Like I told you, a legend is a legend. If you're not a legend, you're not qualified to touch a legend. Even if they were personally taught by Nicolas Flamel, they still couldn't do it."

Lockhart wholeheartedly agreed, "Even though the simpler method of making Felix Felicis is taught in school courses, the entire wizarding world produces very little Felix Felicis, and there are very few people who can actually make it."

"I think you're right, the 'legend' explanation does indeed account for many magical phenomena." He pondered the information he knew and quickly came to an answer: "The most obvious proof is that none of Nicolas Flamel's descendants have been able to replicate the Philosopher's Stone."

"Yes," Grindelwald agreed readily. "None of Nicolas Flamel's relatives possess the ability to create Philosopher's Stones."

"Many ancient families have things like these memory stones and experiment manuals. They're probably just piled up in Gringotts' vaults and nobody cares about them. They're not particularly rare. But I reckon many pure-blood descendants don't even remember that their families have these things anymore."

"7

Grindelwald rarely showed any goodwill, saying, "My ancestors had a copy of Nicolas Flamel's handwritten experimental notes. If you're interested, I can bring it to you to see another day."

Lockhart was interested and agreed without any hesitation.

Then the two began to whisper about whether Voldemort would be tempted by it.

Obviously, those supposedly loyal pure-blood families wouldn't willingly offer this to the Dark Lord. Pure-bloods need the Dark Lord, but they don't need an immortal Dark Lord.

This thing is so attractive to Lao Fu —

It seems there's no doubt about it.

Hehe ~

"Gentlemen!"

"Quiet down!"

"Please be quiet!"

The host on stage deliberately gave everyone some time to discuss, and after feeling that it was about time, continued to explain the competition arrangements.

"I think I need to emphasize this again: the 'Treasure Chest Scramble' event only allows the use of Transfiguration!"

"The other event, the Family Showdown, only allows the use of everyday magic." For a detailed list of which spells can be used, please read the "Spell Usage List for the Event!"

"The family show competition is divided into two groups: the wizarding relatives group and the Muggle relatives group."

"Participants must invite a family member to join them in the competition; this can be a parent or a peer."

""

Before he could finish speaking, the audience erupted in noise again.

How can a Muggle participate in the most important and prestigious event in the entire wizarding world?

Oh~

Merlin's Dragonskin Leg Rings!

This is insane!

Some conservative wizards clearly couldn't accept this decision. Some were indignant, some cursed loudly, and some discussed it in groups of three or five. Obviously, such a move had crossed some of their bottom lines.

Barty, a shrewd and cunning politician, has already begun to show signs of leaning towards Lockhart, and is now expressing his dissatisfaction.

However, Old Tom looked rather strange as he listened to his rambling.

Old Barty quickly noticed this, frowning as he looked at the other person. "What's with that expression?"

Old Tom is the owner of the Leaky Cauldron. It would be impossible for him to run a bar at the only exit of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, and to stand firm against all sorts of people all year round, without having some kind of status.

In fact, Old Tom comes from the Abbot family, one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Pureblood Families, and is of a very high seniority. Given that everyone has some blood relation, he is a respected elder who is willing to give face to people from all families.

Old Tom smiled kindly and said, "Hannah from our family wrote home about this a while ago. She wants to bring her Muggle mother to the competition, which has thrilled her."

Ah, this—

What happened to your promise to stand firm?

What happened to the core interests of eternity?

Old Barty quickly realized something and abruptly turned his head to look around, searching for those familiar faces. Sure enough, many pure-blood family members seemed to support this matter.

It was at this moment that Old Barty suddenly realized that the eternally controversial issue of "wizards and Muggles" had long had a huge gap in the game between pure-blood wizards and Muggle wizards—a gap that had been wide open for half-bloods!

He suddenly realized a phenomenon that was quite counterintuitive.

Whether they are pro-Muggle members of the Order of the Phoenix or anti-Muggle members of the Death Eaters, it seems that very few families have intermarried with Muggles.

On the contrary, the pure-blood families that did not participate in the life-and-death struggle between these two sides, especially the twenty-eight holy pure-blood families, actually adapted to the changes of the times early on, resulting in a large number of marriages with Muggles.

There are so many half-blood wizards that Slytherin House at Hogwarts can no longer fill its student body based on the principle of "pure-blood and ambitious," and can only rely on "ambition."

"This match—"

He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, "A powerful, latent force is being awakened, a force that no one has paid much attention to before!"

Minister of Magic Fudge is half-human, as is Deputy Minister Umbridge. They also have several familiar colleagues who are also half-human.

These people have been living with their Muggle relatives for a long time!

So what has caused everyone to ignore this force?

Barty couldn't help but look at Dumbledore in the direction of the audience's main stage with a strange expression, and couldn't help but think of the ridiculously bad Muggle studies classes in various magic schools.

When the professors of "Muggle Studies" are talking about those outrageous and unrealistic things in class, can't these mixed-race kids from pure-blood families go home and ask them?

But no one brought it up.

There's been absolutely no news.

The absurdity of the "Muggle Studies Class" continues.

hiss~~

Think carefully!

"Harry!"

Aunt's voice was slightly distorted, carrying a kind of elder's pride that was unwilling to bow her head, and a barely suppressed humility that involuntarily showed through her anticipation. Her expression looked even stranger. "This family performance match—"

She met Harry's eyes, which resembled her sister's so much, and said in a hoarse, dry voice, "I—"

Vernon, standing to the side, watched the two of them with some trepidation. He knew how much his wife cared about the wizarding world, but he also knew that they didn't really have much right to ask Harry for this request.

Harry, clearly not a quick-witted child, looked at his aunt with a bewildered expression. "What's wrong?"

Aunt Penny's face instantly turned red.

Vernon patted her back gently, cleared his throat, and gestured for him to speak.

He started by casually asking, feigning nonchalance, "Harry, will you participate in this 'family performance'?"

"Yes!" Harry nodded. "I've already signed up."

To be honest, life magic is not his forte, and he would never have signed up for this competition if his only goal was to win.

But the young wizards of the Duel Club, who received in-depth guidance from Professor Lockhart, were all too aware of the importance of everyday magic.

It touches upon the core of fairy tale theory: magical life, magical existence.

Everyone knew how important magic was to them, and after repeated discussions, a consensus was quickly reached.

That is, if after graduation their wizarding lives rarely involve high-intensity competitive matches, and they don't become Aurors—combatants or healers in wizarding hospitals—which require extensive use of magic—

Therefore, the magic they will encounter most in their lives from now on will fall into the realm of everyday magic.

Like their professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, a master of dark magic creature defense and dark magic creature breeding, whose magical life was almost entirely filled with dark magic creatures.

Let magic fill every detail of life; this is the easiest and most relaxed way to live a magical life, and also the easiest way to experience the romance of magic.

The young wizards of the Duel Club would never give up.

Harry can't possibly miss this event, even though he's not that good at it.

only----

He looked at Vernon with some doubt. "Are you going to watch the game too? I can get you some of those tickets you mentioned. They were made by George and his team. You've met the brothers before."

Harry vividly remembers the scene of George and Fred driving their flying car to his house and taking Harry away, and Vernon roaring angrily at the window.

"Oh~"

"No, I mean, we do need some tickets, but—"

Vernon, meeting his wife Petunia's expectant gaze, finally gritted his teeth and asked, somewhat humbly, "Will you be bringing any of your Muggle relatives to the competition? Your Aunt Petunia has always—"

Harry paused for a moment, then finally realized what was happening.

He looked at the two people in front of him with a sense of absurdity, feeling that everything was so fantastical and bizarre.

If he remembered correctly, in order to keep him away from Hogwarts and the wizarding world, his Uncle Vernon braved the heavy rain and drove the whole family to a deserted island, intending to live in that wretched place.

If he remembered correctly, his uncle and aunt had both said that wizards were weirdos, freaks, and madmen, and their words and expressions were full of rejection.

And now, they're saying they want to participate in the wizarding competition?

ha?

Is he crazy, or is the world crazy?

Moreover————

Have they forgotten how they endured such a terrible childhood?

Even though I'm now trying to repair some of my family relationships, do they think that everything that happened in the past can be completely forgotten?

How dare they even make such a request?

"Harry, look?" Vernon looked at him cautiously.

Harry pursed his lips and shook his head, his attitude extremely firm. "I'm sorry, but I will be competing with my family, my current family, my godfather, Sirius Black!"

"He's someone who loves me very, very much!"

Cool Sirius Black, cool Sirius Black's wife, and Kreacher, the house-elf who's always chattering but knows how to take care of the little wizard and constantly comes up with new and delicious foods and snacks for children.

them----

In a very, very short time, she had completely become his family.

Because they really love him.

Care for him, cherish him, value him, and respect him.

Harry had never felt so wonderful and happy.

These moments of happiness are actually quite small. For example, when Harry first wore the socks that were specially bought for him, he truly realized how comfortable socks could be.

He wore Dudley's old socks throughout his childhood. The socks of this big fat man obviously couldn't fit, but he had long been used to it and had come to believe that socks were just like that.

Until he put on the socks that Sirius's wife had given him.

He was genuinely shocked at that moment, so shocked that he wanted to cry. For some reason, he hid under the covers and kept thinking about his parents, wondering if he would have been so happy from the beginning if they hadn't sacrificed themselves.

It's really wonderful.

Even if it's just a pair of socks.

Such touching moments occurred in every aspect and every detail of his interactions with these new family members.

That wasn't intentional.

That was a genuine acceptance from the bottom of my heart that he was my family, the child in my family who needed my care, and that's what I did.

That's what really moved him.

"terribly sorry!"

Harry puffed out his chest, smiling at Vernon and Petunia with a hint of pride in his expression. "I have family now!"

"I—" Vernon stared blankly at him, unsure of what to say, his heart filled with complex emotions.

Are you angry?

A little bit. After all, raising a child, even if you're not that dedicated, still involves a lot of effort.

Do you feel guilty?

There were also some reasons, after all, he knew they hadn't treated Harry very well, which led to Harry leaving the family altogether.

"Harry—" Penny covered her face, feeling uncomfortable.

"Don't be like that," Harry said with a smile, trying to comfort her. "You're my family too, I just—"

He looked towards Sirius in the distance, his eyes filled with happiness. "I just really care about them."

Dudley stared blankly at the scene, and for some reason suddenly felt that Harry seemed to have become an adult.

A person with a clear and extremely firm will.

He will loudly say no, he will stand up to protect everything he cares about, and clearly express his stance.

This feeling —

He suddenly felt a pang of envy.

I felt like Harry was glowing.

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