Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 90 Harry: Snape is trying to get me killed!

Today is a rare beautiful day. The dark blue of the clouds has been washed away by the clear sunlight, revealing a cotton-white hue. The sun, hidden behind the clouds, emits a slightly dazzling light.

Sunlight streamed through the windows into the Charms classroom, making Professor Flitwick's white beard gleam.

Professor Flitwick stood on a pile of thick books, barely supporting the lectern, but this did not diminish his enthusiasm as he spoke.

"The unlocking spell is a classic magic spell. Around the 17th century, the wizard Elden Eisrickle learned this spell from an old African wizard and brought it back to England. Thus, 'Open the Alaho' replaced the historically significant 'Open Sesame' as the classic unlocking spell."

The young wizards chattered amongst themselves, excited about their journey to mysterious and backward lands to bring back spells that would change the magical world.

"I also want to study abroad in Africa after graduation." Simo leaned on the desk, as if he was about to set off.

"They say they don't ride brooms, but something called a flying carpet." Harry's knowledge of Quidditch came from the book "The Wonderful Quidditch Ball."

"If only I could discover a legendary spell like this Escrigel, they would put my name in textbooks and draw it on Chocolate Frog pictures." Ron looked up, already imagining that scene.

As long as his mind isn't on the chessboard, he's still a childish, attention-seeking eleven-year-old.

Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. "If you'd done even a little research, you wouldn't have said something like 'imagine being like Aescrirc.'"

Professor Flitwick's voice rang out at the opportune moment, "Of course, Esrickle became a notorious thief as a result and was sentenced to more than ten years in prison..."

Ron shut his mouth; he didn't want to become a master thief.

"The unlocking spell indirectly contributed to the invention and popularity of the locking spell. As corresponding incantations, we will learn both of these spells simultaneously..."

After discussing the interesting parts, Professor Flitwick began to recount the dry and tedious history, impact, and related regulations of the curse.

The young wizards hated this part of the content the most. They would be more accepting if Professor Binns taught it, because they could sleep in the History of Magic class, but not in the Charms class.

Professor Flitwick began reciting a long string of theoretical knowledge, and the people below began to lose focus.

Some people stared unfocused at Professor Flitwick as he lectured. Others stared at the book "Standard Spells: Elementary" on the table, trying to decipher the name of author Miranda Gossack.

Only a few junior wizards who were close to Professor Flitwick were forced to listen attentively to the lecture.

To the right of the podium, Loren and his group sat idly, folding book corners and drawing random shapes on parchment. Only Hermione diligently took notes, referring to her pre-reading materials.

Loren's mind was filled with the magical runes that isolated space. His little hand unconsciously curled the corner of the book into a roll, then smoothed it out. After repeating this several times, he finally managed to tear off the corner of that page.

Looking around and finding no one paying attention, he put the torn piece of paper back in its place, captioned "【Restored to Original Condition】".

Turn the page and look around. Loren nodded in satisfaction. Very good, just like new.

Nearby, Harry was talking to Ron about the Quidditch tournament, specifically the Gryffindor team's next match against the Hufflepuff team.

"If we win this match, our score will surpass Slytherin's, and we'll win the House Cup," Harry said, suppressing his excitement.

"This is the first time in seven years!" Ron exclaimed in amazement.

"Um."

Loren joked, "Harry Potter, the youngest Seeker in history, helped Gryffindor lift the trophy in his first year. Every year when young wizards enroll, your name will be known, and Hermione will read a special section about you in 'Hogwarts: A History of the School.'"

Such praise made Harry a little embarrassed, and an uncontrollable smile crept onto his lips.

His mood improved a lot, and after returning to school for the next academic year, he had nightmares for two consecutive nights.

At first, his parents disappeared in a sudden flash of green light, accompanied by a loud, eerie laugh. Afterwards, there seemed to be some images of a castle made of trees, but he couldn't recall the specifics.

This afternoon I had no classes and the weather was great, making it a perfect day for the team to train.

After finishing his meal, Harry hadn't even had a chance to rest in the common room for long before Wood dragged him off to training.

People go there happily and smiling, but return exhausted in the evening.

The twins and Harry returned together, supporting each other.

It's rare to see such energetic twins so exhausted. Their hair was soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to their scalps, and their faces were pale; they looked utterly disheveled. The three of them lay sprawled on the soft chairs for a long time, not wanting to move a single finger.

People gathered around, asking all sorts of questions about what had happened.

The three of them were too exhausted to answer their questions and it took them a while to recover.

"This is killing me, I don't think I've ever been this tired in two years of Quidditch combined," George complained weakly.

"Me too, Wood is obsessed with winning the championship, he's turning into a training maniac," Fred chimed in.

Harry was a bit younger than them and was somewhat malnourished before coming to Hogwarts. After half a day of intense exercise, his voice was even weaker. "Although I'm very tired, I support Wood. Only in this way can we defeat Slytherin in the House Cup Championship."

"Yes, at the cost of our lives," George groaned.

"Let's go, George, it's time for us to take a shower."

The two stood up unsteadily and walked away, supporting each other.

Harry, with Ron's help, managed to wash up relatively steadily.

Loren clicked his tongue. "Young Harry, even if you're last in Quidditch, you'll still get tons of points at the end of the term to make you champion."

Hermione couldn't stand Loren's antics and slapped his arm.

The grueling training continued, causing immense suffering for the twins, but Harry thoroughly enjoyed it.

On Friday morning in Potions class, Snape seemed to recall that he hadn't lost any points before the holidays, and in the first Potions class of the new school year, he deducted 20 points from Gryffindor, equivalent to a month's worth of points in the past.

The reasons are: Neville's potion was pink, Eloise Midgen's potion was purplish, and Harry and Ron at the next table didn't remind them when they made a mistake.

After class, a group of Gryffindors walked along the corridor by the courtyard.

"Damn it! This old bat is trying to maintain Slytherin's House Cup by deducting points from Gryffindor." If Snape were in front of Ron right now, he would definitely spit on Snape's greasy hair.

Loren breathed in the slightly damp air and, seeing Snape's angry expression, guessed that Dumbledore had teased Snape, who was now being suspected by Harry of stealing the Philosopher's Stone, and Snape's anger had implicated Gryffindor.

Neville kept his head down, his mood as bad as the gloomy, overcast weather outside.

Gryffindor lost points again because of him. He was the reason Snape used most often to deduct points, and his friends also lost points because of him. The gloomy sky made Neville feel a little suffocated.

The snow hadn't melted yet, and the cold wind was howling outside the castle.

"That's why we have to win against them!" Harry shouted, his fighting spirit ignited, determined to use the House Cup to deliver a punch to the Slytherin bastards' faces.

As if in response to Harry's words, a heavy rain began to fall outside. British weather is always so unpredictable; just two days ago it was sunny and bright.

Loren gazed at the heavy rain. "Someone's training is going to fall through."

Surprisingly, Harry was dragged away by the twins at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

George and Fred each say one line:

"Let's go, our Seeker."

"Wood said that training shouldn't stop even on rainy days."

The two cried out in unison, "Poor Quidditch player!"

The three disappeared from Loren's sight.

At noon, the three reappeared at the long table in the restaurant, completely soaked.

The twins looked exhausted, expressionlessly stuffing bread and chops into their mouths. Under the table, the hem of their magic robes left a trail of watermarks on the floor.

Harry was the same, only he didn't look as dejected and was eating actively. He was happy to train on rainy days, which helped him win the game.

In addition, Harry also discovered that after each training session, when he was exhausted, he always slept soundly and did not have nightmares.

Hermione strongly objected to this behavior, her eyebrows furrowing as she scolded the group, "You'll catch a cold! Can't you wait until the rain stops before training?"

The little witch took out her wand to clean their wet clothes, and Loren followed suit by pulling out his wand as well.

The twins waved away their offer of help, and their voices sounded a bit more energetic:

"Don't waste your time."

"We're going to the stadium later."

"What?"

Hermione cried out in alarm. She simply couldn't accept this physically damaging training method. "Whether you can win the competition like this is unknown, but if you catch a cold, you'll definitely get a scolding from Madam Pomfrey!"

"Don't worry, kind Hermione."

"We can't wait to try the energy booster!"

After eating, the twins regained their energy and were even in the mood to joke.

The stimulant is a medicine that can treat common colds. After drinking it, the wizard's ears will usually emit white smoke like a train boiler for the next few hours, which is very attractive to twins.

Wizards and Muggles have very different views on health, which stems from the fact that wizards can easily treat diseases that seem difficult for Muggles.

After finishing their meal, Harry and the twins didn't even go back to the common room. Instead, they ran towards the Quidditch pitch in the pouring rain.

Rainwater left a trail of wet streaks in the corridor; if Filch saw them, he'd want to hang them up and beat them.

Hermione watched the three figures walk away and said regretfully, "I just remembered I forgot to tell them about a really useful waterproof spell."

Loren patted the little witch on the shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry, this is Hogwarts."

This is Hogwarts, so catching a cold isn't a big deal.

Harry, who was happy to train, would come home in the evening and sit in front of the fireplace, staring blankly at the flames, lost in thought.

Harry's friends noticed his unusual behavior and gathered around him.

Ron asked, "What's wrong? You look terrible."

"Don't talk to me yet." Harry needed to calm himself down.

Afterwards, Harry told the others that Snape had maliciously become the referee for the next Quidditch match.

Hermione and Ron immediately recalled the Quidditch match when Snape cast a curse on Harry, and Harry would have fallen off the broom if Hermione hadn't set his robes on fire in time.

This time, Snape became the referee, allowing him to cast curses on Harry at closer range.

"He wants to use his position as referee to murder you!" Hermione deduced this horrifying conclusion in an instant.

Loren looked at him strangely, unsure whether to laugh or not. "Perhaps this time you can set his robe on fire in front of the entire school."

"That would be so cool." Ron was led astray by Loren and began to imagine that scene.

"Don't joke around!" Hermione slapped Loren on the back. What kind of time is this?

She turned to Harry and said, "Don't participate in the competition."

Ron said, "Just say you're sick."

Hermione came up with a more specific suggestion: "Pretend to break your leg."

Loren also offered advice, "I can really break your leg, quickly, without any pain."

Hermione looked at Loren, her brown eyes scanning his face, unable to tell whether he was teasing her or genuinely advising her.

Harry rejected these suggestions. "I can't do that. There's no backup Seeker in the team. If I quit, Gryffindor won't be able to play."

"Sigh~"

Apart from Loren, the others sighed together, worrying about how to deal with Snape.

Just then, Neville stumbled into the lounge, his legs pressed tightly together.

Several familiar young wizards noticed this and assumed that Neville had fallen into some kind of magical trap or drunk some kind of potion.

There were magical traps set up in some parts of the castle, and young wizards would occasionally fall for them. As for the potions, they were probably Snape's punishment.

Everyone laughed, wondering how Neville managed to hop and skip all the way up the Gryffindor Tower like a rabbit.

Recognizing that he had been subjected to a leg-binding curse, Loren took out his wand and broke the spell.

Neville's legs snapped apart, and he stood up shakily, frantically wiping the tears streaming from his eyes and nose with both hands. He tried desperately not to cry.

"What happened?" Loren helped him sit down in front of the group and asked.

Upon hearing this question, the mockery he had endured along the way and the hardship of climbing the tower all melted into a deep sense of grievance that burst forth from his heart. Neville could no longer hold back his tears and cried out, "It's Malfoy... Malfoy and his two 'U'bans, Crabbe and..."

Neville's words were fragmented and somewhat incoherent, "They said they've been looking for someone to practice that spell..."

Before he could finish speaking, the others, recalling Neville's earlier demeanor, already knew what was to come.

"That's outrageous!" Hermione's face turned red with anger. She urged Neville, "Go find Professor McGonagall and tell them on us."

Ron and Harry agreed with the idea.

Neville shook his head, choking back tears, and said, "I don't want to cause trouble..."

Several people tried to persuade him, hoping he would muster the courage to teach Malfoy and his henchmen a lesson.

"I don't have the courage. I'm not worthy to be a Gryffindor. I don't have the courage..." Neville kept repeating this sentence.

(End of this chapter)