From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

With a wave of the magic wand, the cup transformed into an adorable hamster.

"Yes, so cute!"

Eva began happily feeding it peanuts, and the little hamster paused for a moment before starting to eat them.

-

“You should go and invite a girl to dance, Robinette.”

When the music started, Mr. Lennon patted William on the shoulder with a cheerful smile and urged him on.

The banquet wasn't just about eating and drinking; there was dancing involved…

...

Let's just eat, why are we dancing?

"Sorry... I'm not very good at dancing..."

"That's not something a gentleman should say—how can you not know how to dance!"

Mr. Lennon shook his head. "Eva!"

He called out to his daughter, then looked at William.

"You're not planning to wait for a lady to invite you, are you? Robinson—that's not something a gentleman should do..."

...

I've never danced before.

"It's just dancing, you should quickly master this normal social activity... Show some enthusiasm for learning!"

Mr. Lennon was still happily fanning the flames from the sidelines before smilingly inviting his wife onto the dance floor.

'Don't step on anyone, and don't let others step on you...'

With these thoughts in mind, William quickly and discreetly cast a spell on his feet, then walked over to invite the seemingly nonchalant Miss Eva—if he didn't know that balls were considered normal social gatherings, he would have wondered if he had saved Monsieur Lennon's life in a past life…

'three…'

Thanks to the agility he had honed through magical combat training, William frantically avoided stepping on his partner, but this was already the third time his dance partner had nearly stepped on him…

There's nothing you can do; that's just how it is for people who know absolutely nothing.

Having finally endured the song, William was about to take his leave and run away when Miss Eva across from him got excited again.

"Sorry... I didn't perform very well... Could you sing another song, Mr. Robin?"

...

So, he took another solid kick.

-

Just as William was racking his brains over the topics of conversation for the year, Albania welcomed a special visitor.

"Today, go here and here..."

Bertha Joggins held the memory ball, carefully recording her journey.

Why do I always forget this and that...?

She couldn't understand it, but fortunately, she came from a good family and was able to find a job at both the Daily Prophet and the Ministry of Magic—and her current boss, Ludo Bagman, was a very nice person who wouldn't mind those small mistakes.

"After enjoying this holiday, I'll have to get busy with the Three Kingdoms Tournament...that's going to be a big event..."

"However, the incident with Sirius Black last year really caused a huge uproar... Minister Fudge actually foresaw that there would be problems at Hogwarts... really..."

"And that damn little dwarf... he's just..."

Even during the holidays, she still thought about all the messy work in the department—no wonder, just like her classmates said, she just liked to care about those strange things.

"The sheep is lost?"

"A dozen or so?"

"Did it run into the woods?"

At the farmhouse where she was staying, the owner anxiously explained to her why he couldn't provide dinner on time, and then prepared to call someone to go find the sheep.

Can I help you?

She called out to the shopkeeper.

With the power of magic, she was confident that she could easily find the lost lambs.

'If no one sees it, no one will know I used magic. I'm not some clueless Bertha!'

She thought proudly.

Chapter 369 The Temptation of Apples

"What?"

In the dim jungle, Bertha made a sound like a sheep bleating.

The glowing light from her wand illuminated the dark earth, making her completely oblivious to the darkness that was gradually encroaching from all around.

Bertha the brainless, Bertha the busybody, Bertha the lost—despite these titles, she still lives a healthy life, entirely thanks to the survival skills she has honed over the years.

Surviving for ten days or half a month in a forest where it's easy to get lost isn't a big problem for her.

The questions are—'How long have I been lost? When did I start getting lost? Approximately how far into the forest have I wandered?'

Such a problem arose, but Bertha quickly ignored it, unaware that she had become far more forgetful than before.

'Let's find our way when it's light...'

She muttered something, then waved her wand, moved the trees aside, and used magic to transform the soil in the clearing into dry yellow earth, which she then reinforced. Only then did she take out the tent from her bag, unfold it, and set it up with the help of magic.

Ever since her amnesia became more pronounced, this kind of tent has become her go-to item for vacations—whether she's traveling alone or in a group, she always manages to lose herself. After she couldn't solve the problem of losing herself, she adopted a more effective solution, and the experience was quite good.

"The tent is nice too..."

She muttered something to herself, then crawled inside.

The Magic Tent is as excellent as ever, complete with a bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom.

After looking around, Bertha cried out in despair, "Oh no, I forgot to put in the food!"

After about five minutes of frustration, she began packing up the tent, carrying it back on her back, and then moving the trees back.

Theoretically, she should now be able to find food in the forest thanks to her excellent hunting and gathering skills—but a bloody lesson has taught her that if she does, she will most likely lose her tent and then have to squeeze into a tree and compete with monkeys for a place to sleep…

So Bertha, carrying her tent, set off again, and five minutes later, she got an unfortunate rabbit.

Ten minutes later, a snake that had misjudged its place in the food chain also joined the spoils.

Fifteen minutes later, Bertha found a bunch of mushrooms. She began to examine her potion—'Looks like they're not poisonous, and I brought some dung stones, so I can have some mushroom soup.'

It's good that I remembered to bring manure stones this time, because it means that I can add fruits I've seen before and mushrooms that grow very randomly to the recipe.

But the misfortune of one wild boar saved the rest of the creatures from disaster.

That should be enough…

She began to reset the camp, set up tents, and started using the tent kitchen to cook the creatures that had gotten lost with her.

'Merlin's beard, I brought salt, but I didn't bring spices…'

But it's nothing, she's used to it...

'I'll find a relatively tall tree tomorrow morning—if I get lost for a few more days, I should be able to find my way out…'

"Hello…"

A hoarse voice suddenly rang in her ears. She turned around and looked around before finally fixing her questioning gaze on a snake.

Instinctively, the kitchen knife in her hand flew over.

Then she began to feel for the location of the wand.

"Hello…"

The knife bounced off, a hoarse sound rang out, and her hand gripping the wand suddenly loosened—'This snake looks…so strange?'

"Hello, you are?"

She subconsciously asked a question she shouldn't have.

This stupid question startled Tom Riddle.

He has deceived countless people—professors, classmates, customers when he was a shop assistant, followers, and staff of the Ministry of Magic.

Even at his weakest, he still managed to bewitch Quirrell into becoming his servant, but he had never seen... anyone like this, someone he could talk to.

He had even planned how to comfort the other person and calm them down from their shock...

Since abandoning Quirrell and fleeing to this forest, he has been humbly relying on possessing small animals to survive. He constantly thinks about rising again and using the net woven from language to capture another victim like Quirrell.

Last time, he was just a hair's breadth away from success—the Philosopher's Stone almost slipped through his fingers. If it weren't for the magic left behind by that foolish woman still working, he would have succeeded!

'Another new, incredibly stupid guy…'

Tom raised his head, looking at his prey. "I am...I am someone who can help you..."

"Help me?"

Bertha laughed, her curiosity growing, which made her forget just how ridiculous the scene before her was—a snake claiming it could help her!

"You, will help me?"

She laughed out loud as if she had heard a funny joke.

Yes, to help you.

The snake looked into her eyes, its appearance utterly comical, but its tone was unusually serious: "You are the one who is ridiculed for liking to help others, and you are also the one who is ridiculed for not achieving the desired effect in helping others."

"It's just that I occasionally forget some trivial things, but I get relentlessly mocked by those guys who have nothing better to do all day long... Even though they don't care about anything, don't care about anything, and are even indifferent to these wrong things, they can still laugh at you with a clear conscience!"

"What did you do wrong? You just like helping others. What right or reason do they have to laugh at you?"

The strange snake spoke with a slight hissing sound, but its words struck Bertha's heart directly.

"I...I'll mess it up..."