Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 326 Helplessness and Bitterness

Harry didn't return to Professor Slughorn's party; instead, he went straight back to his dormitory and slept soundly, his mind preoccupied. The next day, he returned to the Burrow with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.

This was all planned long ago; after all, the Burrow had a more lived-in feel than the Blake House. Besides, its security measures were trustworthy.

Harry loved the Burrow's environment, as did Hermione, but Ron wasn't so sure. He'd barely returned when Mrs. Weasley dragged him to the kitchen to help, where he had to prepare a huge pile of Brussels sprouts.

It was a hassle; Mrs. Weasley disliked anyone using magic in the house, so he had to do it one by one with a knife.

Fortunately, Harry decided to help him.

"What did you hear last night?" Hermione came over while we were dealing with it, holding a cup of tea to warm her hands, and taking sips every now and then.

This scene aroused envy in the two men, but there was nothing they could do; it was a privilege reserved for girls.

Harry sighed and recounted what he had overheard the previous night to the two of them. He hadn't had a chance to tell them along the way because they had come via the temporary Floo Network, which had been keeping him waiting.

"Snape said he'd help him? He really said he'd help him?" Ron grasped the key point and frowned as he spoke.

"Yes," Harry said. "He said he promised Malfoy's mother and made an unbreakable vow..."

"An unbreakable oath? That's impossible!" Ron stared in disbelief. "This is nothing like Snape!"

"I'm sure I didn't mishear, but what does this mean?"

"An unbreakable oath cannot be broken, and to break it is to die." Hermione took a sip of hot tea and said softly, "Ron is right this time. This is certainly not something Snape would do."

"However, we can also conclude from this that what Malfoy is doing is very important to the Dark Lord."

"Yes, and he already has a plan, but we don't know what it is. He hasn't even told Snape..." Ron interrupted Harry before he could finish, "Are you going to tell Dumbledore about this?"

"Of course," Harry nodded immediately. "If I see him, you know, he's never around school, and I don't know if he'll even come today."

"Dumbledore won't come," Hermione said. "But Lupin and Sirius will."

"Telling them won't change anything," Harry said. "I'll tell him when I see Dumbledore, when he's giving me my next lesson..."

They chatted slowly like this, and gradually more people entered the kitchen. The twins, Ginny, Bill, and Fleur—dinner was ready by the time Mr. Weasley, Lupin, and Sirius came in.

At this point, Harry finally found an opportunity to tell Mr. Weasley, Lupin, and Sirius about his situation, but their reactions were not what he had expected.

They all looked extremely calm.

"Are you curious, Harry?" Sirius asked with a smile.

"Yes, how come..." Harry looked at Sirius in confusion, only to hear Sirius say, "Because we already knew these things."

"What!" Harry exclaimed in shock. "How did you know?"

"Snape said it," Mr. Weasley interjected, "at a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Him? How could he? He's not..."

"Dumbledore trusts him, Harry," Lupin said calmly. "And we all have to admit, Snape did tell us a lot of information."

"It's hard to admit, but he did do some good things," Sirius said, frowning. "Harry, believe me, I hate Snape more than you do, and I wish he were really working for Voldemort so I could teach him a lesson... But unfortunately, he didn't give me that chance."

"And what about Malfoy?" Harry then asked.

"Malfoy? Ha..." Sirius chuckled and fell silent. Mr. Weasley explained to Harry, "You probably don't know... Well, they wouldn't tell the public something like this..."

"Malfoy Manor is now the Death Eaters' stronghold, Harry."

"What!" Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all stunned. "Then why not go...?"

"Because we can't," Mr. Weasley sighed. "You don't understand, Harry. We don't have the ability to break through there, neither the Ministry of Magic nor the Order of the Phoenix..."

"Furthermore, they have concealed the location of the manor."

At this point, Sirius sighed and said, "Harry, there are many things you don't know in school. In fact, it's not that we don't want to catch those guys quickly, but that we're powerless to do so."

Looking at the three men, whose expressions were not good, Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness. He was unaware of these things, and he hadn't expected the situation to become so dire.

Suddenly, he understood why Dumbledore had been absent from school all semester: he must have been dealing with those troublesome matters...

"Hey, don't make that face, it's not that serious yet." Sirius made a face and said with a smile, "Although we can't break into their headquarters, haven't you noticed that there are far fewer attacks outside now?" As he spoke, he winked at Lupin next to him.

"Don't you think so, Moon Face?"

"Ah...yes," Lupin said. "Bigfoot is right, it's just a stalemate, which is good for us..."

Afterwards, Lupin and Sirius talked for a long time, continuing until they left after dinner. It had to be said, it worked; at least when they left, Harry's face no longer held a pessimistic expression.

But only he himself knows what he is really thinking.

Harry slept with Ron again that night, and when they woke up the next day, their bedside was piled high with gifts, mostly the same as in previous years, except for one from Kreacher that made Harry very angry.

The Black family's house-elves never liked him, so they gave him a box of live maggots. When Harry opened the box, they exploded all over the room and even landed on the love scarf Lavender had given Ron.

"You really shouldn't have opened that box." Ron said, shaking the maggots off his scarf as he helped Harry clean up the mess, his tone tinged with reproach.

He still cherished the gift from Lavender.

Looking at the smug smile on Ron's face, Harry had a feeling that they were serious.

Thinking of this, a pang of sadness welled up in my heart:

It seems I'm the only one still single...

(End of this chapter)