Chapter 179 - 179 Consider the adventure of knitting
Chapter 179: Chapter 179 Consider the adventure of knitting
Ravenclaw's Dean, Professor Freeway, was not an avid Quidditch fan like Gryffindor's Dean, Professor McGonagall, and wouldn't make the move of buying the ball finder a new broom as a gift.
As a result, the flying broom that Autumn Chang used was still the Comet 260, which was the most common on the team and was not known to be many years old, while Harry's broom was the Lightwheel 2000, which was only just one generation behind the newest model, the Lightwheel 2001.
The speed difference between these two brooms was as huge as a sports car and a tractor!
On top of that, Autumn Chang's flying talent was obviously not as good as Harry's, who had inherited excellent genes, so even though she had gone to school one year earlier than Harry, her flying skills were still a bit inferior to his.
With the combination of the two conditions, Harry could even surpass Autumn Chang later and catch the golden flying thief that represented victory first!
But Harry hesitated.
He saw the hope for victory in the eyes of Autumn Chang beside him, and knew that Autumn Chang also wanted to catch the golden thief.
Most of the young wizards of Ravenclaw Academy, because of the academy's qualities, only emphasized on their studies and thus neglected to cultivate other aspects of their lives, so they didn't pay much attention to the Quidditch team.
Because of this, the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was basically recognized as the weakest of the four houses.
It was not often that Autumn Chang, as Ravenclaw's ball finder, would come across a moment where she was so close to victory.
Harry was caught in a moment of indecision, as if there were two little men in his mind dueling with their wands raised -
One villain thought that Harry should leave no stone unturned and fly forward to catch the golden flyer and win the match for Gryffindor.
Gryffindor, the reigning champions, couldn't afford to lose again.
They were already struggling to get the title after the huge gap of one hundred and ninety points that had been opened up against Hufflepuff.
If they lose this match with Ravenclaw again, Gryffindor is afraid that they can announce in advance that they have no chance with this year's championship. ...
But another villain had a different opinion:
It thought that Harry should give up the Golden Snitch to Autumn Chang and use it to please her.
While his mind was torn, Harry was in reality still flying shoulder to shoulder with Autumn Chang, and the distance between him and the Golden Pegasus was also getting closer and closer.
The former villain seemed to gradually gain the upper hand in the duel, using all sorts of magic spells to beat the latter villain into submission.
Harry's flying speed gradually accelerated, slowly leaving the Autumn-Chang beside him behind.
The wind whistled in his ears, and the excited voice of the commentator, Lee Jordan, reached him faintly-
"We can see that Harry, Gryffindor's ball finder, has begun to pick up speed, his broom is fast and his flying skills are much more ... beautiful! Harry has left Autumn Chang behind and is getting closer and closer to the Golden Flyer!"
"Sure enough, the youngest ball finder in history was just out of form on the last match, and he's finally playing to his true strength in the final moments of this one!"
"Great, he's close to the Golden Flyer, he's reaching, he's ..."
Lee Jordan's shouts came to a screeching halt.
The duel between the two villains in Harry's mind continued, the former villain who was trying to get Harry to grab the Golden Flyer had gotten the upper hand and cornered the latter villain in the dueling arena ...
"Swish!"
The villain who had no way back suddenly raised his wand and a blinding green light struck the previous villain!
The duel was over.
Harry's outstretched hand staggered against the golden flyer, catching a handful of cold air high in the air.
In the next moment, Autumn Chang's showy figure swept past Harry and grabbed the golden flying thief he had missed.
"Duuuuuuuuuuuuu-"
The whistle blew!
On the commentator's stand, Lee Jordan stared at Harry in the sky in a daze, not even able to think of announcing the result of this match.
"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall's face was equally not looking too good, but she dutifully reminded, "It's time to announce the result of the match!"
"The final winner is ... Ravenclaw!"
Lee Jordan forced himself to hold back the puzzlement in his heart and woodenly announced the final winner of the match.
In front of Gryffindor's ring goal, Wood looked at Harry high in the air in shock and muttered:
"What the hell is going on here ..."
No one wanted to believe that an extremely talented Quidditch player such as Harry, the youngest ball finder at Hogwarts, would make a mistake that almost only a beginner Quidditch player would make -
Nearly a foot late, but letting go of the Running Golden Flyer!
High in the air, only as high as the two people were standing, Autumn Chang flew up to Harry on her Comet 260.
"Harry, did you just let the Golden Flyer get away on purpose?" She still had a puzzled expression on her face, "At your level, you shouldn't have failed to catch the Golden Flyer this time."
"Our Ravenclaw team isn't a strong team, but we won't need a victory won by another team letting go!" Autumn-Chang said with a serious expression.
She had just subconsciously grabbed the Golden Flying Thief that Harry had missed, but after reacting, she immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly flew over to inquire about the truth of the matter.
"I didn't let go, I was careless in this match." Harry's face changed for a moment and gently shook his head at Autumn Chang, "You're thinking too much, Autumn."
"Is that so?" Autumn-Chang was still a little skeptical.
But Harry didn't dare pay her any more attention for fear of accidentally spilling the beans on the matter, so he hurriedly turned and flew off the pitch.
He didn't know what face he should use to face his teammates again, so he just flew off the Quidditch pitch on his broomstick.
Since then, Harry's mental state, which had been pretty much adjusted, had gone back to the way it was, even worse than before ...
...
"That savior you chose is not in the best of academic shape these days."
In the Headmaster's office, Dracula fiddled with his clean and dry detachment hat and said casually to Dumbledore.
"Yeah, I heard about that, and he's not just in bad academic shape for his Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Dumbledore spread his hands at Dracula, "A lot of professors have reacted to me about it, especially Professor McGonagall."
"Professor McGonagall seems to be very unhappy with Harry's recent performance, he lost two Quidditch matches in a row, costing Gryffindor the chance to win this year's Quidditch Cup ... not to mention that Harry's performance in Transfiguration class wasn't too good either."
"Professor Dracula, since you're here in my office, I'm sure you've learned the reason for Harry's poor form this time around?" He asked with a smile as he poured Dracula a glass of red wine.
"What else could it be because of, of course it's all that boring adolescent angst amongst the young wizards." Dracula smiled tantalizingly, "Apparently Potter has recently taken a liking to another young witch, but that one doesn't like him, so he's feeling sad."
Dracula had noticed Harry's abnormality as early as last semester, when this school year had just begun, Harry had struck up a conversation with Autumn Chang still using the excuse of asking about what was taught in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
For this reason, De Goulart had deliberately gone to surprise Harry.
He came out of nowhere to ask Harry why he didn't just come to the office to see his professor if he wanted to know what the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was about.
It just didn't occur to Dracula that Harry, who had been at peace with himself all semester, had turned into an adolescent mood that he couldn't get out of after Christmas, and that it was even affecting his classes and Quidditch matches because of it.
"I didn't realize it was because of that." Dumbledore sipped his tea and sighed deeply, "It's good to be young, at least you can still be hurt by your feelings."
It was as if a bygone summer had surfaced in his blue eyes, only to dissipate in a flash.
"So what are you going to do, at this rate this savior you've chosen is going to delay your education for a long time." Dracula gave Dumbledore a surprised look and asked casually, "Just let him adjust and recover on his own?"
"Professor Dracula, as the children's elders, we are not just teachers who tutor them in their studies, but we should be the parents of all the young wizards at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said with a smile, "It is our duty to guide the children who are in a lost path to the right path."
"That sounds reasonable, but don't I know you yet?" Dracula bristled, instantly recognizing the calculations Dumbledore was making, "I see that you simply value Potter as a person and want me to step in and help him."
"Wouldn't you have said something else just as sensible if another young wizard had emotional problems?"
"I've already thought about it for you, you'd probably say something like this - young wizards will have to be independent one day, they can't rely on their parents, teachers, or elders for everything, and when they meet this kind of emotional problem they need to be allowed to come out of it with their own perseverance."
Dracula squinted at Dumbledore.
"Ahem ...," Dumbledore's expression was a little embarrassed and he coughed dryly, "Professor Dracula, you don't really need to speculate on me with such great malice. Although I do pay a little more attention to Harry, I'm not so much as to leave the other young wizards alone ..."
"Who knows?" Dracula shrugged, "Anyway, you always have your own reasoning anyway, a set of words to fool people."
"Better not talk about that, why don't we discuss how to guide Harry out of this adolescent angst." Dumbledore silently changed the topic.
"You don't need to ask me that kind of question, I've never understood the boring emotional problems you wizards have." Dracula said, "Of course, if you want me to help cast a soul snatching spell on the object of Harry's affections I can do it for you."
After a brief thought, he added, "Getting Professor Snape to concoct a few vials of LSD should be quite effective as well."
"Ahem ..."
Dumbledore just drank a mouthful of tea, and when he heard Dracula's solution he suddenly choked on the tea and coughed violently.
"Professor Dracula, cough ... this kind of method that goes against the law is something we refuse to use." He coughed while persuading Dracula, "What we have to do is to guide Harry to the right path, not have to let him get what he wants ...cough."
Dumbledore picked up his wand and used a coughing spell on his own throat, the succession of coughs then stopped.
"Never use these unnatural methods, it will lead Harry astray." He explained repeatedly, fearing that Dracula would take it upon himself to help Harry with a soul-stealing spell or a mesmerizer.
"Remember? Tom Riddle's mother was the one who seduced a muggle with an ecstasy, which gave birth to Voldemort, who couldn't allow any emotion in his heart."
"So what do you mean?" Dracula frowned.
He always had the feeling that whatever he was going to do was a bit of a pain in the ass, nowhere near as simple and dry as the mesmerizer and the Soul Snatcher spell, which would have been a quick fix to the problem that was plaguing Harry.
Of course, it was impossible to say whether or not this would cause anyone else to be bothered by it ...
"Professor Dracula, what I actually meant was to shift Harry's focus away from the emotional aspect." Dumbledore seemed to have already had his mind made up, and immediately told Dracula a detailed set of plans-
"Harry is a standard Gryffindor, and all young Gryffindor wizards have one trait in common: a thirst for adventure."
"During the adventure, the countless new things and the crisis that may come at any time will inspire the adventurer to concentrate one hundred percent, and he or she must pay full attention in order to cope with all the difficulties."
"That being the case, why don't we address this characteristic by making an adventure program for Harry that has no danger beyond his ability, but is nevertheless very exciting? Would having such an adventure take his focus away from his feelings for a while?"
Dumbledore spoke from the character of the young wizard in Gryffindor, explaining his plan in a logical manner.
Listening to the old principal's narration, Dracula gently sipped the red wine in his goblet and looked at him with a wry smile.
"If I'm not mistaken, this idea of yours has been going on for quite a while, hasn't it?" He asked, "Maybe even without this whole Harry for love thing, you would have asked me to help you implement the idea."
"Why do you say that?" Dumbledore was stunned for a moment and turned to Dracula curiously, "I don't think I've mentioned the idea before, have I?"
"It's true that you haven't mentioned it in front of me, if that's the only idea." Dracula laughed softly, "But I do know at least one thing, and that is that you've been trying to bring Potter up."
"When he was a first year, you arranged for various professors to design many levels in the restricted area that protects the magic stone. These levels were as good as a joke, and I remember them quite well."
"The second level set up a Devil's Web designed to prevent young wizards from falling, and the Devil's Web was something you learned in first year Herbology; the third level was designed specifically for Potter, the ball finder, to catch the key with a flying broom; and later on, there was Wizard's Chess, which Wesley excelled at, and Brainstorming, which Granger excelled at... . it's clearly laid out for them to work on their individual skills."
Speaking of this, Dracula glanced at Dumbledore, "Even when I wanted to set up some interesting levels, you wouldn't let me set up ones that were too difficult ... By the end of the day it was specifically set up so that Potter and the remnants of Voldemort would come face to face in a confrontation."
"You really went to a lot of trouble to design last school year, Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore couldn't help but smile at what Dracula had said.
"So I made it so obvious?" He said cheerfully, "Fortunately, several other professors arranged the levels from back to front, unlike you who appreciated all the levels ... otherwise with their intelligence, how could they not see it?"
"So tell me, what kind of workout are you going to put Potter through in second year?" Dracula drained his glass of red wine and pushed the empty glass in front of Dumbledore.
"I'm not going to lie, I really haven't gotten around to setting up any other adventure grounds this year." Dumbledore refilled Dracula's glass while saying, helplessly.
"Compared to the thrill of last school year, this school year has been a bit tame inside the castle, and I wasn't able to find the right entry point for Harry to join in an adventure quite naturally."
Dracula reached over and took his goblet back, giving Dumbledore a somewhat odd look.
"Are you sure last school year was thrilling?" The corner of his mouth twitched, "Any way I look at it, I think you were playing with the remnants of Voldemort's soul and the whole school year followed your script."
"You can't say that, Professor Dracula you never follow my script." Dumbledore shook his head with emotion.
"That's why I want to inquire today, this Professor Dracula who is not in the script, can you arrange some suitable adventures for Harry, so that he can get rid of his emotional problems and at the same time exercise to improve his abilities?"
"Heh, what suitable adventure could I find for him?" Dracula shook his head.
He lifted the once again filled glass up and shook it gently.
Looking at his reflection in the glass, Dracula suddenly thought of those rewarding experiences he had before Christmas and thought of an interesting wizard.
"Wait, this school year doesn't seem to be uneventful all year long ..."
...
Time crept into June, and exam week at Hogwarts was just around the corner.
In the various classrooms of the teaching area, the young wizards quietly flipped through their books, reviewing what they had learned during the school year.
None of the professors were present today, and every class was turned into a self-study session for the young wizards to do a final review before their exams.
Harry still wasn't in too good of shape, he hadn't completely gotten over the blowback of Autumn Chang and Cedric starting a relationship.
Plus there was a Quidditch match in a couple of days, the last one before exams, which would decide the team that would end up in the final.
But Gryffindor had lost their chance of making the finals early-
Unless they could open a three-hundred-point gap with Slytherin in the last game before the exams, it would be impossible for Gryffindor, who was temporarily in fourth place, to overtake both the third-ranked Ravenclaw and the second-ranked Slytherin and gain a ticket to the final.
At the mention of Quidditch, Harry wasn't as excited as he once was, but instead was filled with despondency.
He was equally unmotivated to review, and just looked out the window aimlessly.