Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 34 Dumbledore is back

On Wednesday, first-year Gryffindor students have two classes this morning: Herbology and Charms.

Herbalism was considered a labor class, and after a morning of it, the first-year students were all listless and didn't have much energy to eat.

"Hermione, could you please stop forcing us to cast spells the way you want during class?" Ron said casually, poking at his steak with his fork.

After the night out, the group's relationship improved, and they became much more open with each other, able to speak frankly and directly.

Hermione tossed her hair and turned to Ron: "But you have to admit, my method works!"

"Loren can still cast spells even without following your method, can't he?" Ron said matter-of-factly.

Loren, who was trying to stuff a croissant the size of an adult's fist into his mouth, turned to Ron and yelled, "Waaah, waaah!"

Ron looked completely bewildered: "What is he talking about?"

"Sigh~" Hermione sighed, looking at him with disbelief. This guy was hopeless. "He said he practiced like this at first, and then he could cast spells however he wanted once he got used to it."

Loren nodded in agreement, his mouth practically watering.

Hermione couldn't take it anymore and slapped him on the back of the head, knocking the bread out of his mouth: "Eat your food properly!"

Ron couldn't stand it anymore, so he turned to Harry: "Harry, do you guys have training this afternoon?"

"Sigh," Harry sighed, "life's tough. Are you coming to watch?"

"No, thank you." Ron shook his head. "I'm not a Quidditch player. I can use this time to do my homework, and I won't have to rush to finish it with you on the weekend."

Those words stung, and Harry felt the buckwheat bread in his mouth turn bitter. Quidditch practice was three times a week, taking up a lot of his free time, and his homework would pile up until the weekend.

"Why can't Quidditch players have less homework?" Harry thought it was unfair.

Loren had already finished the bread: "What are you dreaming of? Playing and not having to do homework? You're dreaming!"

Someone is studying even in their dreams; it's so painful, sob sob.

Just then, the skylight in the dining room suddenly opened, and many owls flew in. Hedwig struggled to throw a flying broomstick in front of Harry, then stood beside him angrily, pecking at the fruit in front of him.

"A flying broom?" Hermione stared at the object. Luckily, it was clean and tidy, and its design was quite ornate. Otherwise, if a real broom appeared on the dining table, she wouldn't be able to eat.

"Professor McGonagall must have bought it for me, but why so fast? I thought it wouldn't arrive until after Halloween." Harry was a little puzzled; the delivery speed was too fast.

"This isn't an ordinary flying broom!" Ron ignored Harry's question and gently stroked the smooth broom handle. "Harry! This is a Nimbus 2000, the fastest broom currently available!"

"I've changed my mind, Harry. I'm going to watch your training this afternoon. Please, I beg you, lend me your Nimbus 2000 for half an hour."

"Ten minutes is fine too!"

"Three minutes is fine too!"

The group watched as Ron made a fool of himself, acting like he was seeing a girl he liked, talking to himself the whole time.

Loren wished he could record this scene so he could laugh at him from graduation onwards, for the rest of his life.

Harry looked toward the main table, trying to express his gratitude to Professor McGonagall, but she wasn't there. Harry realized he hadn't seen Dumbledore for several days.

Harry thought he'd thank Professor McGonagall another time.

……

Judging by the time, Peter Pettigrew's trial should be over by now, and Dumbledore should have returned by now. Loren decided to try his luck in the headmaster's office.

Arriving at the stone statue on the third floor, Loren began to try:

"Lemon Snowball Candy!"

no response.

"Licorice Magic Wand!"

no response.

"A pile of cockroaches!"

The monster statue leaped aside, and the wall behind it split in two, revealing a spiral staircase.

That's it? Loren smiled smugly. "The principal's office? No problem at all."

As they reached the door via the spiral staircase, Loren pushed it open and went inside. Dumbledore had already noticed Loren and wasn't surprised.

"I knew you'd be coming, Loren." Dumbledore greeted him like an old friend, taking the candy from a bag on the table. He had bought it last week but had rushed off to take care of some things and hadn't had a chance to eat it yet.

"Professor McGonagall told me that you came looking for me after I left." Dumbledore opened a box of hazelnut chocolates and handed it to Loren.

Loren picked up a hazelnut, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. The nutty aroma of the hazelnut mixed with the sweetness of the chocolate seemed to seep into his heart through his mouth, along with the scattered coconut flakes. No wonder it was certified by Dumbledore.

Loren said while chewing, "I need the principal's help with something."

Loren began to tell the story of Grandpa Bates, saying that he wanted to buy the wolfsbane potion and borrow the Philosopher's Stone to help Grandpa Bates get better.

"To be able to uphold a responsibility for decades, even one that doesn't belong to you, Mr. Bates is a great man." Dumbledore was also somewhat moved.

"Also, I'm glad you told me this." Even though it was after Peter Pettigrew's trial.

Dumbledore looked at the child in front of him. He was caring for his family and daring to put his ideas into practice. He had already shown some shrewdness, but Dumbledore believed that this was a good child.

After a moment of contemplation, Dumbledore said, "I can bring up the matter of the Wolfsbane Potion with Snape, but ultimately you will have to persuade Professor Snape yourself."

"As for the Philosopher's Stone, I don't know if it can cure werewolves. If it can, it would be a great benefit to the magic world."

"I will write to ask Nico."

Loren was somewhat disappointed; he still needed to work on improving Snape's favorability, thankfully he'd been reading the book all along. However, if Dumbledore had brought it up, the chances of Snape refusing were slim.

"Alright," Loren began, "Harry's a bit obsessed with the Mirror of Erised; he misses his mom and dad terribly."

"Has it affected your normal life?" Dumbledore asked, his tone not particularly urgent.

"Fortunately, it only caused us to miss half a day of Quidditch training. After we advised them against it, they now only go to check on us occasionally in the evenings, but the frequency is a bit too high."

"I think this problem will get better after he reunites with his real family." Dumbledore relaxed, much better than he had expected. Indeed, friendship is a good medicine for growth and healing trauma.

He was born into a pure-blood family twenty years ago, and should have been a Slytherin, but ended up as a Gryffindor. He was willing to risk his life for his friends, and with him by Harry's side, Harry should have been able to grow up healthier.

Dumbledore started munching on chocolates, while Loren had already eaten more than half a box. The two began a silent competition to see who could eat the last piece of chocolate.

Even though it wasn't said aloud, Loren believed that Dumbledore shared this understanding with him.

On the other side, Harry saw Sirius Black standing next to Professor McGonagall on the Quidditch pitch. Sirius was a thin man with a dark coat and bright eyes.

(End of this chapter)