Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 110 Dumbledore understands the difference between detail and summary.

Hermione hugged Loren tightly, burying her head in his shoulder, her voice muffled, repeatedly murmuring, "Loren, Loren..."

She had so much to say to him, about her experiences along the way, about her thoughts when she faced Voldemort…

In the end, they all become a name in my heart.

Out of the corner of his eye, Loren saw the black spirit disappear and Harry lying unconscious beside him. He gently patted Hermione's back and said, "We need to check on Harry first."

Hermione looked up, startled awake from her reverie, her face flushed. "Oh, right, and Ron too!"

The two rushed to check on Harry, but as soon as they knelt down, they both lost consciousness and collapsed to the side.

Dumbledore emerged from the end of the corridor, with Fawkes the Phoenix perched on his shoulder, and the unconscious Ron floating behind him.

"Squeak!" Fox angrily denounced the act of sneaking up on the little wizard.

Dumbledore blushed, his old face hidden by his beard. "Their emotions and magic are unstable; a good night's sleep would be better."

"squeak!"

"Out of control? How is this out of control? The Philosopher's Stone was saved, and they have all grown remarkably, even beyond expectations."

"squeak!"

"You're right. How am I going to explain this to Loren? He seems to have seen through my plan."

"squeak!"

"A lie? How can you call it a lie?"

……

It's hot, so hot, my whole body feels like it's on fire.

Loren kicked off the covers and woke up abruptly from his hospital bed.

He was burning up, with a surge of powerful magic coursing through his body, causing his temperature to rise continuously.

He quickly gripped the wand in his hand, and the wand, like a block of ice, calmed the surging magic. The cool sensation slowly soothed the burning heat.

Loren sensed the magic within his body and realized that it seemed to have awakened again, even more fiercely than last time.

Once his body returned to normal, he looked around. Harry and Ron lay beside him, both radiating magical light, indicating they had also undergone an awakening.

The three hospital beds were separated by a high-hanging white linen curtain, making this a large ward. A small cabinet at the foot of the bed was filled with fresh flowers and various snacks.

The little card in the bouquet read: To the great Gryffindor warrior.

Outside the window, the golden sunset cast a sacred glow, bathing the entire ward in golden light.

Loren poured himself a glass of water to moisten his dry, sore throat before slowly sorting through his memories of the time before he fell into a coma.

He initially saw a flame outside Snape's office, but was engulfed by it and teleported behind Harry. He saw Harry exchanging beams with Voldemort and about to lose, so without thinking, he rushed in.

With a dashing sword strike, Hermione defeated Quirrell. Then, what happened next? He hugged Hermione, checked on Harry, and then fainted.

Suddenly, the curtain next to him was pulled open, and on the other side of the curtain, Hermione was lying on the hospital bed looking at him.

It turned out that Hermione's hospital bed was separated from his by a curtain.

The little witch seemed to remember something; two blushes quickly rose on her cheeks, and her lips moved slightly, but her voice was weak.

Loren could only see Hermione's lips moving, but he couldn't hear any sound, so he simply got out of bed and went closer. "How are you feeling?"

Hermione, like a startled squirrel, quickly shrank under the covers to hide her burning cheeks and forehead, her voice coming through the blankets, "I'm fine."

Before Loren could do anything, Harry and Ron behind him woke up one after the other.

Ron blinked, taking in his surroundings. Finally, his gaze focused on his three friends, and his face lit up with excitement. "Hey! Harry, Loren, Hermione!"

"Hahahaha!" Ron laughed incessantly, then buried his face in the pillow and cried out, "I thought I was going to die."

His last memory was that every part of his body was in pain, he couldn't hear or see anything, and then his head became increasingly dizzy until he lost consciousness.

Loren was unsure what had happened. Hermione and Harry remained silent as the three waited for Ron to calm down.

"In fact, I think you've played the most brilliant game of chess at Hogwarts in many years," Dumbledore said, walking in from the doorway and looking at them kindly.

"Headmaster Dumbledore!"

"Headmaster Dumbledore!"

Harry and Hermione cried out, and their hearts only settled when they saw Dumbledore. Ron also slowly looked up.

"Good afternoon, heroes of Gryffindor."

Dumbledore wore a wide, red wizard's robe embroidered with various golden patterns, exuding mystery and elegance. Yet, his loose, snow-white hair and beard, reflecting a soft glow in the setting sun, also made him appear approachable and kind.

He looked at the mountain of candy piled up at the foot of his bed and said enviously, "I suppose these were all gifts from your admirers."

"Admirers?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"The Philosopher's Stone was originally a secret, but the secret of courage should be celebrated. Therefore, the entire school knows about your courageous actions."

Dumbledore smiled at them. "As far as I know, your friends George and Fred were going to give each of you a toilet seat, but unfortunately, Ms. Pomfrey confiscated them."

"Oh!" All four of them felt a chill run down their spines; they believed that George and Fred were capable of such a thing.

"Headmaster, what happened to the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry asked, having passed out and unsure of the outcome.

"Looks like I couldn't distract you." Dumbledore seemed disappointed that he couldn't fool them.

He waved behind him, and a bench bounced over. Dumbledore sat between Loren and Harry's sickbeds.

"Alright, let's talk about the Philosopher's Stone. Thanks to you all, Professor Quirrell couldn't take it. Severus arrived just in time to find you all unconscious in the corridor."

"Snape!" Harry exclaimed.

Loren wore an expression of anticipation as he reached out and opened a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, eating as he listened.

Dumbledore found it amusing too, and he said with a smile, "Yes, Professor Snape."

Hermione said apologetically, "We all misunderstood Professor Snape. We thought he was the one who wanted to take the Philosopher's Stone."

Harry and Ron were still clearly struggling to accept this fact. Harry asked, "But Hermione and Ron saw with their own eyes that Snape cursed me during the Quidditch match, trying to kill me."

"Well, I think Professor Quirrell wanted to kill you, and Severus was casting a counter-spell to protect you," Dumbledore said.

Hermione recalled the scene: she sneaked under the stands and set Snape's robes on fire...

Her eyes lit up. "I remember now, Professor Quirrell was sitting right behind Professor Snape, and his view was blocked by Professor Snape putting out the fire."

"But, but," Harry said, looking bewildered, "but didn't Professor Snape hate me?"

"He's a professor at Hogwarts, and professors have a duty to protect every student at Hogwarts. As for your dislike of him, perhaps it's due to a feud between him and your parents."

Dumbledore's eyes were glued to the snacks in Loren's hand. "Severus and your parents were classmates. There's a complicated history between them, and only they can explain it clearly. His relationship with your father is a bit like your relationship with Malfoy."

That should give Harry a general idea.

"In sixth grade, Snape found himself in a dangerous situation, and your father James saved him. Thus, Severus incurred your father's 'life debt.'"

"After your parents were tragically murdered, he could never repay this 'debt of life.' Therefore, he can only protect you, and he will protect you with his own life."

Loren looked at Dumbledore and stuffed a handful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans into his mouth: "Crunch, crunch."

You know how to be detailed and concise, not mentioning anything about Snape and Lily.

Snape owed Harry's father a life debt, but his willingness to protect Harry was probably more out of guilt towards Lily.

Harry fell into deep thought.

At this moment, Hermione looked at Dumbledore, her eyes also filled with doubt, "Professor, after using the sword, I felt something different about my body."

"Oh, this is a precious legacy left to students by Gryffindor. The Gryffindor sword gives a gift to every student it recognizes. I don't know what that gift is either."

At this point, Dumbledore winked at Hermione again, "After all, even I didn't receive a gift from Gryffindor. It's probably related to magic; you'll have to discover that for yourself later."

"The sword of Gryffindor!" Ron exclaimed. He didn't know what happened next, but he was very envious of the gift of the sword.

Dumbledore looked at them and said, "In addition, the rest of you have also awakened your magic to varying degrees, which will be of great benefit to your future growth."

"Of course, I don't encourage you to do such dangerous things again. If any special circumstances arise in the future, please report to the professor as soon as possible."

Loren rolled his eyes. Of course you'd encourage me. How else would you have gotten me there if you hadn't encouraged me?

He had only been exchanging blows with Voldemort for a while, then tossed the sword to Hermione. He didn't believe that Dumbledore was the one who had knocked him unconscious.

Speaking of this, he had a question: "Headmaster Dumbledore, why didn't Voldemort use any advanced magic from beginning to end?"

If Voldemort had used the Killing Curse, he didn't believe things would have become so complicated.

"Because he was merely an evil remnant soul, and this body belonged to Quirrell, though Quirrell willingly revealed all of him. But a spell is the result of a wizard's life, magic, and soul working together. Voldemort couldn't control Quirrell's body to use profound magic; he could only use crude magic to ram into him."

Loren understood. No wonder Dumbledore was confident in letting them face Voldemort; it turned out the opponent had been silenced.

"Sir, what about the Philosopher's Stone? Was it returned to Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked, remembering how the Philosopher's Stone had helped them withstand Voldemort's attack.

"You actually know Nico?" Dumbledore feigned surprise. "Yes, but after Nico has dealt with some matters, he will embark on another great adventure—death. The Philosopher's Stone will also go where it belongs."

This idea sounded like it would destroy the Philosopher's Stone, and Harry and his friends thought so too.

"Death!" Ron exclaimed. He had almost experienced that, and he found the choice unbelievable.

"I know this may seem incredible to young people like you. But for others, death is simply like going to bed after a long day. And for those who are perfectly lucid, death is just another great adventure."

"You know, the Philosopher's Stone isn't really that wonderful. With it, you can have as much wealth as you want, or as long a life as you want! These are the two things that humans desire most, but the problem is, humans just happen to choose the things that are least beneficial to them."

Loren looked up and met Dumbledore's gentle gaze. He felt that Dumbledore must have said those words specifically to him.

The group fell silent. In the quiet ward, the only sound was Loren crunching on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

Hermione felt this was very impolite, so she reached out and tugged at Loren's sleeve to remind him to be mindful of his behavior.

Loren glanced at Hermione, a knowing look on his face. He reached out and opened another bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, handing it to Hermione. "You have some too."

What the hell are you talking about?!

Is that what I meant?

Hermione was so angry she laughed. Why did this person always manage to do something she never expected?

But seeing Dumbledore watching, she could only awkwardly accept the snacks and give him an apologetic smile.

Just as the girl was pondering whether to defend Loren to Dumbledore, Loren handed Dumbledore a bag of snacks.

Hermione watched as her greatest wizard, in her eyes, cheerfully accepted a box of cockroaches and happily began to eat them.

At that moment, a certain filter shattered in her heart.

Soon, Ron also joined the snack-eating craze.

Only Harry was still thinking, reviewing his memories.

“Sir,” Harry said, “I’ve been thinking, even though the Philosopher’s Stone is gone, Voldemort, I mean, the Man of Darkness.”

He turned to look at Ron, who usually wouldn't let him call him by that name.

Dumbledore interrupted him, "Just call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the correct name for things. Fear of a name will only strengthen the fear of the thing itself."

Harry was relieved. "Yes, sir, Voldemort might try to resurrect himself in another way, right? I mean, he didn't disappear, did he?"

Dumbledore slowed his pace as he ate the pile of cockroaches. He sighed heavily. "Yes, he hasn't disappeared. He's still hiding somewhere, perhaps looking for someone willing to offer their body. He's not truly alive, so he can't be killed. He's inhuman, ruthless to his enemies, and just as cold-blooded to his followers."

"There's one more thing."

Harry hesitated for a moment, after all, Hagrid was always evasive and unwilling to reveal much to him. "I want to know the truth. Voldemort said he killed my mother because she desperately tried to stop him from killing me. But then again, why did he want to kill me?"

"It's because of Professor Trelawney's irresponsible prediction," Loren thought to himself.

Dumbledore sighed heavily again. "I can't tell you, not today, not now, but one day you will find out. Harry, wait until you're older. You may not want to hear it, but when you're ready, you'll know."

He told Harry that Quirrell would be hurt if he met him because his mother used a profound ancient magic with love.

It left a mark on Harry, not a scar, not a visible mark, but an invisible talisman, right there on Harry.

Voldemort would suffer unbearable pain if he came into contact with this amulet.

(End of this chapter)