A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived at the Great Hall and saw Cedric, Ron, and Hermione also having lunch. They exchanged a glance and sat down opposite them in unison.

“Uh…hi, hello,” Harry said, and Cedric put down his fork and smiled at them.

Harry was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say, especially since the person in front of him had danced at least seven dances with Cho at the Christmas ball, leaving him with no chance to get a chance.

He mumbled something, which Cedric didn't hear clearly, and looked at Harry with a puzzled expression.

“I, cough cough—I mean, Ron has something to say to Collins.”

This time it was Ron's turn to stammer. "What—me? Oh, it's me..." He glared at Harry, just as Collins put down his knife and fork and looked over at them, his authoritative gaze shifting between Harry and Ron.

Ron looked at Collins, his face flushed. Collins' thick eyebrows and short brown hair made him look particularly sharp. He remembered his clumsy performance in front of Fleur and muttered under his breath, "Thank you..."

"You haven't figured out what to say yet?" Collins asked him.

“I mean—thank you for reminding me, you know, at the ball…you were wearing a blue dress and came over to tell me the clue, though I didn’t quite hear you, but I felt it was necessary, cough cough, to say thank you…” Ron said breathlessly, with Harry chiming in, “Yeah, that’s right.”

Ron's ears were still red when Collins and the others left.

"Aren't you only allergic to Fleurs?" Harry asked, trying to stifle Hermione's laughter and steer the conversation toward a more serious topic.

“I don’t know… my mind goes completely blank when her dark eyes are fixed on me,” Ron said pessimistically. “First Fleur, then Collins, am I going to have some kind of mental problem?”

“Yes, he’s still quite ill, but it only flares up when he’s around pretty girls,” Hermione pointed out sharply.

Harry felt Ron had embarrassed him, so he moved his plate closer to him—Ron was about to spill the beef and pumpkin pie filling from his plate onto his—and whispered to them what had happened the night before in the Old Runes professor's office.

After waking up, his memories returned, and Harry emphasized the strangely effective magic book.

“That book should stay in the restricted section…” Ron commented, tossing the pie onto the plate.

“No, the professor said he got his inspiration from Dementors. To be honest, I think his area of ​​research is very strange,” Harry said, expressing his thoughts.

“Any field of study that is studied to a high degree will seem strange to outsiders,” Hermione said matter-of-factly.

Harry thought about it seriously, but he didn't know much about the other professors' lives outside the classroom. In his imagination, Professor Flitwick might enjoy opera and afternoon tea; he might use spells to make the little teacups and teapots move, and perhaps even utter a witty remark or two (like the enchanted servants he'd seen in movies); Professor McGonagall might spend all her free time dealing with heavy school affairs; Snape might gut the long-horned toad when he had nothing else to do; and Trelawney's first thing in the morning was to hold her crystal ball and decide what to wear...

Professor Hyp might spend his time reading, studying runes, and playing cards with Varen, right? As for Professor Moody, Harry might have imagined him taking off his wooden leg and oiling it, just like Harry cared for his own Firebolt, but now Harry only feels pity—perhaps in the past few months, every time Professor Moody returned to his office, he would hop and jump onto the bed like a puppet, and then Barty Crouch Jr. would sneak in and go through his memories.

The fact that Barty Crouch Jr. was able to fool Dumbledore at least shows that his disguise skills were superb, and he was likely skilled in Occlumency.

Just then, three Vagabond warriors walked past them, chattering away. Harry heard a familiar word, but he thought it was his imagination until he and Ron looked around and saw Lee Jordan waving at the three Vagabond warriors. The Weasley twins furtively took out a stack of parchment and handed it to the warrior named "Branz Ego"—whose hair was shaved on the sides, leaving a horrifying pointed top.

Harry was impressed by him because he could transform into an eagle and his fight with the white-eyed eagle in the first project was spectacular.

"How did they get to hang out together?" Ron asked incredulously.

“Looks like Li Jordan acted as the middleman,” Harry said thoughtfully, looking over there. Li Jordan was patting his chest, his distinctive voice drifting over from afar, “…Don’t worry, he’s absolutely reliable…”

"Fred and George wouldn't be targeting the people of Vagado, would they? If it causes an international conflict, they'll be in big trouble..." Hermione said worriedly.

“Fred and George know what they’re doing; at most, they’ll just sell their new products or something… I guess?” Ron’s tone became uncertain.

Soon, Fred and George left, while Lee Jordan was still chatting and laughing with the three from Vagado. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurriedly stood up and intercepted the twins in the foyer.

"Oh, hello, I didn't see you." Fred was surprised.

"What were you doing just now?" Ron asked directly.

"It's nothing, just introducing Li to his new friend," George replied evasively, tilting his head slightly towards the auditorium.

“I saw it,” Ron said. “You handed them something, not a prank, but a stack of parchment, probably some documents…”

Fred and George looked at each other in bewilderment.

“If you revealed any secrets that caused Hogwarts to lose the tournament…” Ron deliberately made it sound serious, watching with satisfaction as his two brothers’ expressions turned serious.

“You’re really meddling. It seems becoming a warrior has given you a lot of confidence,” Fred said.

"Are you preparing for next year, Ronnie? Do you want to be a prefect?" George teased.

Ron blushed and said angrily, "I don't want to be a prefect—"

“But our little brother has a point this time,” Fred said.

"It was probably just a lucky guess."

Ron's face was almost as red as his hair when Harry interrupted, "So, what were you thinking about just now?"

Fred and George exchanged a glance. "Listen, it's simple. Lee Jordan has become friends with a student from Vargadu, and you know, he's got a good look..." Harry couldn't help but chuckle. Fred continued, "Vargadu School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is different from ours in many ways. They excel at transfiguration, alchemy, astronomy, and hand gestures..."

“Yeah, they also have all sorts of alchemical gadgets going on there. The principles aren’t hard, but the ideas are really interesting, like all kinds of amulets… like Dumbledore said, it’s all about communication,” George said with a shrug.

“They contacted us a couple of days ago, just before Christmas, saying they wanted to learn about Black Lake… It’s not exactly confidential information; I bet at least a hundred books in the library mention it, though it will take some time to find,” Fred said.

George blinked and added, "Unless they're too stupid to think of asking Mrs. Pince, her presence is actually quite strong, stronger than that whipping rope in front of the restricted section."

Chapter 425 Alastor Moody

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances.

"So," Ron said hopefully, "you just grabbed something from the library and tried to fool them?"

Fred said sternly, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we are still very trustworthy. However, our understanding of the Black Lake is limited. Going too deep will get us chased out by mermaids with spears, and their tamed pets aren't very friendly either—"

“It’s Grindelwald,” George explained, noticing Harry’s puzzled look.

“Red Hat, Kaba, Ghostface Grass… we don’t dare go too deep, worried we’ll get beaten up by the mermaids. But we’ll draw a map of Black Lake sooner or later; it’s one of our plans, to finish it before graduation,” Fred said.

George looked at him strangely. "When did we come up with this plan?"

“Just now, while we were talking. Want to join?” Fred asked.

“Sounds not bad,” George said with a smile, looking at the three dumbfounded people. “Harry, your father’s men have already done it all, so there’s no point in repeating it. We might as well try something different. Anyway, we’re in sixth grade this year, so we’re bound to leave something behind.”

The twins left, and before they did, George reminded them, "By the way, Harry, if you go to the school hospital now, there'll be a surprise waiting for you."

The three stared at their retreating figures, lost in thought.

“We should get a map, even a torn one,” Ron suddenly said. “It will definitely save us a lot of trouble.”

“We can do it ourselves,” Harry said without hesitation, even though it was still a long way off until February.

Hermione counted on her fingers, "Besides us, including Cedric's group and Vargadu, half the teams already know about the second project. It's hard to say about the other three schools—"

“Perhaps Durmstrang should also be included,” Ron said sarcastically.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up.

“Sorry, I wasn’t clear—I mean, Karkaroff will definitely try to cheat,” Ron added. “I have faith in him.”

Harry couldn't help but laugh.

“We’d better go to the school hospital and see what surprise Fred mentioned…” he suggested. As they arrived at the school hospital and turned the corner, they vaguely heard more than one familiar voice.

"Professor Haip?"

"Sirius?" Harry said in surprise.

They quickened their pace and saw that the door to the intensive care unit was open. Sirius Black was standing opposite the door, leaning against a table, fiddling with his wand, his eyes fiercely fixed in one direction.

Then, Moody's gruff voice came from inside, "If you want to fight, you'd better go outside! I don't have a wand, and I'm missing an eye..."

“Your eyes are soaking in eye drops, Professor Moody. Who told you to complain about them not working properly as soon as you woke up?” Felix said gently.

“I’m telling the truth! And my wooden leg, it’s almost half an inch shorter, that despicable man must have done it!” Moody said angrily, which was related to his recent treatment with Felix.

Felix sighed. The examination hadn't gone smoothly because the patient kept subconsciously resisting. So he couldn't help but try the techniques he'd learned from the Dementors, which resulted in Moody looking quite frustrated after the treatment. His way of expressing 'frustration' was to indiscriminately lash out at people.

Felix looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing in the doorway and waved to them.

They entered the room and were surprised to find it bustling with activity. Opposite Sirius, Snape, dressed in a black robe, stood like a black vampire, coldly confronting Sirius, their eyes filled with contempt.

Snape's hands were hidden in his sleeves, and Harry guessed from his posture that he was holding his wand.

This also clears up a mystery: Harry doesn't think Sirius would clash with Professor Hagrid. If he remembers correctly, in Hagrid's hut in his third year, Sirius revealed that he was easily captured by the professor, and he seemed quite unwilling at the time.

Besides these people, there were two other people in the room: Mrs. Pomfrey and, surprisingly, Neville.

Neville was trying his best to shrink himself into the chair, which wasn't easy, as he had grown at least half a foot taller than last year, almost as tall as Ron. When Harry walked over, he looked miserable and said in a nearly whispered voice, "I just wanted to come and bring a bouquet of flowers, like yesterday... but then Professor Moody woke up, then Madam Pomfrey called Professor Hyp, and a little while later Mr. Black suddenly appeared, saying he had something important to discuss. Halfway through, Professor Snape also came over."

"Very good," Harry thought. Neville had accurately reconstructed the order in which the people in the room were, and he could even imagine the general sequence of events.

He glanced around. Professor Hyp was wearing an unusual white coat—was he imitating a Muggle doctor? Madam Pomfrey stood not far from him, a tablet in her hand, scribbling rapidly. Harry continued looking, then his gaze was suddenly stung as he looked over the large, conspicuous glass beside the bed—Moody's Evil Eye was submerged in blue liquid, occasionally twitching as if in a trance.

Ron made a sound of disgust.

“Harry.” Sirius walked over and gave him a tight hug. He whispered, “I got word from Hagrid that Moody is injured, so I came to check on him—”

"Where did the problem lie?" Harry asked quietly.

Sirius Black gave Snape a disdainful sneer. Snape, as if he hadn't seen it, said slowly, "I have the Headmaster's authorization that if Mr. Alastor Moody still wishes to complete this year's teaching duties, then... out of concern for my colleague, I will temporarily cover a few classes while he is recovering from his illness."

Sirius immediately looked at Moody and said with a grin, "Alastor, I suggest you hide for a while..."

He suddenly realized that he had touched a taboo of Mad-Eye Moody and was about to unleash a volcanic eruption of rage. He quickly stopped himself, but it was too late.

Harry swore he'd never seen Moody's face contorted like that; every cut on his face seemed to have grown miraculously larger, twitching grotesquely. Moody roared, "Ha! You think I'm too ashamed to show my face? After being manipulated like a puppet by Voldemort and a Death Eater for months? What do you think I'd do? Hide like a coward and whine? I'm telling you, dream on!"

Sirius's face suddenly turned as pale as paper.

Moody's only eye was wide open, staring intently at Sirius. Harry even thought that Moody's eye was more terrifying than the fake eye in the bottle, and even his empty eye socket was nothing compared to the rage it was radiating.

He pointed to the empty bed next to him, "Do you know what the first thing Barty did after he woke up? He went to the Ministry of Magic and turned himself in! He wanted to tell everything and atone for the mistakes he had made!"

He pointed to his mangled nose, spitting as he roared, "I keep my promise to Dumbledore, and not only that, guess what?" He looked at the dejected Sirius, "I'm going to tell everyone what happened to me, but the students won't be enough..."

He said with a sinister look on his face, "I'm going to tell everyone that Voldemort is still alive, or at least not completely dead."

Dumbledore's heavy voice came from outside the door, "Alastor..."

Chapter 426 Slughorn's Reputation

Dumbledore looked around, taking in everyone's expressions. He looked somewhat tired, but still smiled and said, "Alastor, two Aurors from the Ministry of Magic have come to ask some questions, so I brought them with me."

A tall man darted in. Felix glanced at Kingsley, whose face was serious, followed by Tonks, who had changed her hairstyle today to short, red hair, with clumps standing up haphazardly, making her quite conspicuous. When Felix looked over, she waved enthusiastically.

From Tonks' open pocket, half of a thin, blue glass tube peeked out; that must be the newly released super bubble solution from 'Future World'...

Moody grinned at his two uninvited guests, a chilling smile on his face. "Scrinker sent you?"

"Mrs. Burns asked me to give you my regards, Alastor. We all care about you. Oh, and by the way, I've become a full-fledged Auror!" Tonks said excitedly.

Sirius's eyes darted around, and Moody said in a hoarse voice, "Hopefully they didn't go easy on the stealth and tracking class."