Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 342 Ron's Birthday

The Apparition lesson ended quickly, and no one except Hermione succeeded. This was the norm; even Dumbledore himself had never succeeded.

Tykroth was clearly used to this scene. He simply made a casual promise to see everyone again next Saturday, waved his wand to remove the wooden rings, and then left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall and the others.

"How did it go?" Ron found Harry as soon as he finished and rushed over, saying, "My legs were a little numb on the last time, but I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"That's just an illusion, Ron. Your shoes are too small," Hermione said, glancing at Ron's old shoes.

"Yes, Ron, you should buy a new pair. By the way, what size do you wear?" Lavender, who came with Hermione, naturally put her arm around Ron's and asked.

"Size 8," Ron said, looking somewhat dejected. "I really wanted to buy a new pair, but the Illusion Class used up all my savings..."

"How come I remember Harry borrowing it from you?" Hermione interjected.

These words made Ron's face instantly turn red, and he replied, embarrassed and annoyed, "That's..."

Harry listened to Ron's explanation while glancing in Malfoy's direction, only to find he was already gone. He patted Ron's arm and said, "Are you going to be gone a while? I'm heading back to my dorm."

"Back to the dorm? In such a hurry?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it's urgent..." he said, and then ran off. Ron gave Lavender a helpless look, then Lavender kissed him on the cheek, waved, and went to greet Hermione, who looked disgusted.

By the time Ron dashed out of the Great Hall, Harry was already quite far ahead. He had no choice but to speed up, finally catching up with Harry in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, only because Harry had been delayed there.

They climbed into the portrait's cave entrance one after the other. Ron, panting, asked, "Can you tell me what's the rush?"

"Go up..." Harry didn't answer, but urged Ron to hurry up. Hearing this, Ron sped up even more.

Upon reaching the common room, Harry ran straight to his dormitory, immediately opening his trunk and rummaging through it. Ron, arriving a little later, said impatiently, "Harry, what's wrong?"

"Malfoy had Crabbe on lookout duty, and he just got into a fight with Crabbe and Goyle. I'd like to know... Ha!" Harry said, pulling the Marauder's Map from the box.

He unfolded the map and tapped it with the tip of his cane.

"I solemnly swear that I will not do any good deeds!"

A map appeared on what was originally a blank piece of parchment, with many small black dots marked with names moving across it.

"Find me Malfoy, Ron."

Harry spread the map on the ground, and he and Ron lay down on it, carefully searching for Malfoy's name. About a minute later, they found it; Malfoy was in the Slytherin common room.

"I'm going to keep an eye on him, starting now!" Harry said resolutely. "I'm going to find out what he's up to! As soon as I see him leave, and Crabbe and Goyle are on lookout, I'll put on my Invisibility Cloak and go find him."

"Okay, but this is a huge undertaking..." Ron said dismissively. He was used to Harry doing these kinds of inexplicable things. He'd been like this since first year, and hadn't changed at all over the years.

For the next two weeks, Harry did this. He studied the Marauder's Map as much as possible, but he never found Malfoy in any suspicious places. Crabbe and Goyle, on the other hand, were behaving strangely; they were more active in the castle than usual, sometimes even lingering in the corridors for long periods without moving.

At times like these, Harry would search for Malfoy's name even more carefully, but it was never near Crabbe or Goyle, and sometimes it wasn't even on the map.

He guessed that perhaps Malfoy's name was mixed up with other names. This was quite common; after all, the Marauder's Map wouldn't remove names that Harry found annoying.

It wasn't that they hadn't considered the possibility that Malfoy had left the school, but while that might have been possible a few years ago, it was extremely difficult this year. With the castle's current tight security measures, even with the Marauder's Map, he couldn't possibly slip out of the school unnoticed.

Those secret passages were all sealed off, unless Malfoy knew of another one. But that was highly unlikely; Harry didn't believe that Hogwarts had any other undiscovered secret passages after his father's generation and the Weasley twins' exploration.

By the end of February, Harry was still making no progress, neither with Malfoy nor with Apparition. But there was a new change at Hogwarts: the school canceled its March trip to Hogsmeade.

"Oh my god! This isn't fair!" Ron exclaimed in despair upon seeing the notification. "It's my birthday! I've been looking forward to it all this time!"

"This is not surprising. I expected it after Katie's accident," Harry said casually while looking at the Marauder's Map.

"That's right, Katie is still at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Sicknesses, and haven't you read the Daily Prophet? There have been more disappearances and attacks lately." Hermione was holding a book, one hand on the book and the other on the necklace at her chest.

In truth, Ron was aware of this, but when it actually happened, he couldn't help feeling disappointed. After all, this trip to Hogsmeade, which was supposed to take place, was on his birthday.

This has never happened before.

Happy birthday, Ron!

On the morning of March 1st, Harry tossed a gift onto Ron's bed as he woke up, where it landed amidst a pile of small gifts.

"Thank you, Harry." Ron looked at the gifts on and around his bed and replied happily, then started unwrapping them.

The first gift was, of course, from Harry, and he was even happier after seeing what Harry had given him.

"Fantastic! Quidditch goalie gloves! Thank you, Harry!"

"No problem..." Harry replied casually, but his attention was still on the Marauder's Map he had just opened. He was still trying to find Malfoy's name among the densely packed names.

Ron didn't reply; his attention was entirely focused on the gifts. He excitedly unwrapped the beautifully wrapped presents, occasionally letting out a gasp of delight.

This year's gift was especially good compared to previous years, after all, it was his seventeenth birthday, which meant that the wizard had come of age.

"Look, Harry! Look what Mom and Dad gave me!" Ron said, holding up a heavy gold watch. The watch was very beautiful, with strange symbols engraved on the edge of the dial and little stars on the hands.

"A bumper harvest! A bumper harvest! I wish I could be a baby again next year..."

(End of this chapter)