Chapter 180 - 180 The familiar Harry is back.
Chapter 180: Chapter 180 The familiar Harry is back.
The sunlight outside the window is so bright that it is blinding, through the transparent glass to see the branches outside the window, has been poisonous sun sagging, bright green branches and leaves are about to be wilted by the sun.
The black lake in the distance is calm, without a ripple, as if entering a dream world, exceptionally silent.
In the classroom, apart from the rustling sound of quill and parchment, there was almost no extra sound, the young wizards were preparing for their final exams in the near future, even Ron, who was next to him, started to do a set of test questions under Hermione's supervision.
Harry, however, was unmotivated to study.
He held the quill in his hand, both hands resting on the parchment, which was soaked with hand sweat in the same spot, yet still not a single word had fallen from the paper.
His thoughts roamed out the window, rambling aimlessly about a jumble of things, and before he knew it, the lilting bell for the end of class was ringing.
Hermione gathered her books and prepared to go for another trip to the library to go over the history of magic. She also wanted to drag Harry and Ron over to prepare for their exams as well, but Harry excused himself from that, citing that he had a Quidditch practice in the evening.
Of course, he actually knew himself that this training had become optional, since Gryffindor had lost its chance to make the final round.
And Harry also knew that he really should seriously review ... well, or prep for the classes that he hadn't been listening to much this semester, or else he would definitely not get a desirable grade on his final exams, and it was possible that he wouldn't even be able to pass.
But the thought that Cedric was probably in the library right now helping Autumn Chang review for her third year exams didn't give him any desire to go to the library and study together.
Harry climbed the stairs aimlessly until he reached the Gryffindor common room on the eighth floor and came to a portrait of the fat lady who watched the door for the common room.
"Fennel muesli."
He uttered the password to the Fat Lady.
The Fat Lady looked at Harry and smiled at him.
"Oh, there's a little first year witch looking for you just now, come on in." She said cheerfully.
The portrait then swung open to reveal the hole into the common room.
"Oh, thanks." Harry responded with some surprise.
As the one responsible for causing the Gryffindor team to lose in several Quidditch matches, Harry had actually received quite a bit of criticism within Gryffindor this semester.
Coupled with the fact that his mind was tied to Autumn Chang and he hadn't been much of a fan of any of the other loyal admirers, he wasn't as popular as he had been before.
As a result, Harry didn't know what other first years would come over to him when it was this close to final exams.
In fact, Harry was sort of in authority.
The only first year wizards who were willing to seek him out at such a crucial time before the exams were basically the two who still maintained a loyal admiration mentality towards Harry, both of whom were Gryffindor wizards -
One was Colin Creevey who spent his days with a camera, always wanting to take pictures of Harry. Originally from a Muggle family, he had heard about Harry from the newspapers and books on the subject before he went to school, and had instantly transformed into a die-hard Harry fan.
Another admirer is Ginny. Unlike Colin Creevey, who didn't become a die-hard Harry fan until after school, she grew up hearing about Harry and has been Harry's little fan since the beginning.
Harry had always felt guilty about Ginny and Colin because he felt that he was just a perfectly ordinary little wizard who didn't deserve their admiration ...
Walking into the common room, Harry looked around and sure enough, he found a small redheaded witch anxiously circling the fireplace.
"Ginny?" He hesitated and opened his mouth to call out to Ginny, "The Fat Lady just said that a little first year witch was looking for me, and the person she was talking about was you, right?"
Ginny's anxious steps were interrupted by Harry's voice and she looked up fiercely, a look of relief in her eyes.
"Harry, you're finally back!" She said anxiously, "We need your help!"
"What happened?" Harry asked, a little surprised at Ginny's anxious look.
"Luna's missing, she hasn't been back all day!" Ginny's brow was filled with worry, "Last night was the last time I saw her, she told me that she was going to the Forbidden Forest to feed the Night Ti."
"Luna? Is that your new Ravenclaw friend?" Harry asked.
"Yes, the girl with the light blonde hair who looks mysterious." Ginny said, "I thought at the time that her wanting to go to the Forbidden Forest was just a joke because I'd never heard of such an animal as a Night Ti ..."
"It wasn't until I met Rolf Scamander just now that I realized that there really are animals like the Night Ti in the Forbidden Forest, and Luna is obviously familiar with them!"
"So what you're saying is that Luna is in danger in the Forbidden Forest?" Harry frowned.
"I think that would be the case." Ginny nodded, "I didn't see Luna all day today, and she didn't show up for the study session Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had together."
"Later, I specifically ran to the door of the Ravenclaw common room to find a few of her roommates and asked them if they had seen Luna, but they told me that Luna hadn't been back to her dormitory all night yesterday!"
"But isn't that the sort of thing ... that you should go to a professor for help with?" Harry hesitated for a moment, then said, "Are you not sure where Professor McGonagall's office is? I can take you there."
"I know where Professor McGonagall's office is, Harry!" Ginny exclaimed, "But none of the professors are inside the school today, not even a single adult faculty member!"
"How is this ... possible?" Harry's mouth dropped open in shock, "Would Professor McGonagall allow such a state of affairs inside the castle?"
"But it is what it is, and Professor McGonagall isn't in the castle." Ginny said.
"I just stumbled upon Nick, who was nearly headless, and he told me that Professor Dracula felt that he hadn't invited any of his colleagues here to his house in over a year since he'd been at Hogwarts, so on a sudden whim he's going to invite all the faculty and staff to his castle for dinner."
"And Professor Dracula said that anyone who didn't go was not giving him face, and in the end, even Professor McGonagall was forcibly taken inside his own home by him."
"That does seem like Professor Dracula's style ...," Harry cried, "Professor Dracula is so rich, his house must be so big that it wouldn't be much of a problem to fit all the professors at Hogwarts. "
"Harry, now is not the time to ponder just how big Professor Dracula's house is!" Ginny interrupted Harry and continued, "The problem right now is that Luna is in danger in the Forbidden Forest and we need your help!"
"But even if the Professor isn't here, we should get help from the Head of the Class." Harry said blankly, "Percy should be in the library, right? He'd surely be more than willing to manifest his Head Boy duties of protecting the underclassmen."
"No Harry, we don't need Percy, the person we need is you!" Ginny shook her head, "Actually I wasn't the first to realize Luna was missing, Scamander was the first ..."
"Scaramander has been close to Luna since he first transferred to Hogwarts, and after he found out that Luna was missing, he skipped his study sessions during the day and took a trip to the Forbidden Forest by himself first."
"Just now, Scamander told me that he had found where Luna was trapped, but it required specific magic to open it, so he asked me to come to you for help!"
Ginny pronounced the word 'we' emphatically.
She hadn't realized that Harry could be this slow, that he had spoken for so long and yet he hadn't been able to distinguish between the words "we" and "I" in his own mouth, not even a little bit of confusion.
"But I'm just a normal second year, Ginny, I'm not any more special than anyone else, and I don't know any specific magic." Harry said softly.
He'd been kind of self-conscious this whole time and didn't think for a second that anything Percy couldn't do could be done by him.
"Look, Ginny, I know you have a ... well, blind adoration for me, but it's true that I'm not the savior you all make me out to be, and I really didn't do anything the day Voldemort left ... "
Ginny looked at Harry who was obviously a bit self-absorbed, her heart was both angry at this object of her own adoration, and at the same time worried about Luna's current situation, coupled with the admiration for Harry that had long been suppressed in her heart ...
All the emotions condensed to a single point, and finally burst out completely-
"Don't you see what I mean, Harry?" She exclaimed as her gaze locked onto Harry's eyes, "You've been that most special of wizards, not because you're a savior, but because of who you are as a person!"
"I adore you not in any way just because of your accomplishments in chasing off Voldemort as a child, or your fame in the wizarding world, but because of your courageous character, your commitment!"
"Have you forgotten? In the last school year, even though you knew that Assistant Professor Chilo was a dangerous dark wizard, you still rushed into that dangerous forbidden area in order to protect the magic stone. You even dared to face the Mystic head-on and duel with that dark wizard that everyone feared!"
"Where did the fearless, courageous Harry go?" Ginny said somewhat hysterically, her face red and her eyes closed.
Harry stared blankly at the youngest Weasley girl in front of him, suddenly feeling like he had never really known her.
In Harry's impression, Ginny's cheeks would be red every time she saw herself, and she even became clumsy, often dropping things in her hands on the ground ... so he always felt that this was just a naive little girl.
But he had actually heard about Ginny's original character from Ron, Fred and George's mouths: she hadn't been that kind of naive, shy girl since she was a little girl, but rather, she had a lively, energetic personality and had her own opinions on everything she did.
Ginny only became such a submissive, shy, and naive character in front of Harry because she admired him.
Now, the emotional outburst of the young witch made Harry realize another side of her, and at the same time, reminded him of the side of himself he once had.
Harry's mind wandered and the emotions in his eyes gradually withdrew into his heart.
"I ..." he said softly, "I have Quidditch practice in a little while, and I came back this time to get my broom."
A look of extreme disappointment and extreme sadness came into Ginny's eyes at Harry's words.
"I know, Scamander and I will get Luna back." She said coldly, walking towards the door of the common room without looking back.
"Wait!" Harry suddenly called out to her.
"Anything else?" Ginny stopped in her tracks, but had absolutely no intention of turning back, "My time is precious right now, and Luna's situation gets a little more dangerous with every extra second of delay."
"I know." Harry said, "That's why I was going to say that I'm just about to grab my broom, it should be a little quicker to fly to the Forbidden Forest on a flying broom, right?"
He smiled easily, the confidence he had felt when he had simultaneously won the Quidditch Trophy, achieved first place in the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, and harvested the College Cup before the end of his first year returning to his turquoise-eyed boy once again.
Ginny covered her mouth incredulously and turned to look at the smiling Harry.
She knew that the Harry Potter she adored the most was back!
...
And so that afternoon, a tufted flying broom carried a clean youthful scent that beckoned as it sped across the bright sunlit blue sky.
"Ginny, where's Scamander waiting for us?" Harry asked aloud to Ginny, who was in front of him, as his hand gripped the front of his broom against the howling wind.
At this point, the two young wizards were flying through the sky at the same time in Harry's Wheel of Light 2000 at a rapid pace, in complete defiance of the rules of using a flying broom.
Harry sat on the back of the broom and reached his hand forward to hold the grip on the front of the broom, a position that nearly hugged the waist of Ginny, who was sitting in front of the broom.
Ginny was red in the face, her head almost hanging down inside her collar, completely oblivious to what questions Harry was asking.
"Ginny, you need to tell me where Scamander is waiting for us?" Harry just had to repeat it again, "I need to get my bearings or I'll fly to the wrong place and delay the rescue!"
Ginny finally heard Harry this time and looked up with her mind clouded.
"Ah, Scamander said he'd meet us at Hagrid's cottage." She said in a slightly shaky voice.
Harry nodded and adjusted the direction of his broom and flew in the direction of Hagrid's hut next to the Forbidden Forest.
After a burst of wind, Harry and Ginny landed in front of Hagrid's hut.
Hagrid, as the Hogwarts' hunting ground caretaker and key keeper, and apparently a part of the Hogwarts faculty, had likewise been brought by Dracula to attend a large gathering inside his own home, Dracula's Castle.
Yet at this very moment, there was another person standing inside Hagrid's hut rummaging through it.
"Oh no, someone actually came to Hagrid's place to steal something while he was away!" Harry angrily helped Ginny off of her broom before darting inside Hagrid's shack himself.
"Stop! What's in here belongs to Hagrid!" He kicked the door open with a bang and yelled at the inside of the shack.
However, when he saw the figure inside Hagrid's shanty, he froze on the spot.
"Scamander, why are you inside Hagrid's house?" Harry asked suspiciously as he looked at the young wizard inside the house, "And how did you get the key to Hagrid's shed?"
"Oh, there you are Harry." Rolf glanced up at Harry in the doorway and proceeded to rummage back and forth inside the house, "My grandfather was pretty close to Hagrid, so I got to know Hagrid when I was still a kid."
He didn't explain to Harry the reason why Newt and Hagrid were on okay terms.
In fact, Newt Scamander and Rupert Hagrid were both students who were expelled from Hogwarts, while at the same time both loved magical creatures, and both lived through that era of the Global Wizarding War, so the two had a lot in common, and easily became good friends.
"When I came to Hogwarts this time, I immediately came and applied for Hagrid's assistant." Rolf puffed out his chest proudly, "I'm a wizard who must become the best Magical Zoologist in the future, and being a Magical Zoologist's assistant has to start at a young age!"
"So Hagrid gave you the keys to the house?" Harry nodded in understanding, "Also, there's nothing too precious in Hagrid's house, it doesn't really matter if you leave the door unlocked."
However, after hearing Harry's comment about Hagrid's hut, Rolf suddenly looked up at him with a strange expression on his face.
"What's wrong, did I say something wrong?" Harry asked in surprise. He looked around and really didn't find anything valuable here.
"Well ... then do you know what this is?" Rolf asked as he picked up a large, dirty fur cushion from one of the chairs and spoke up.
"Isn't this the chair cushion that Hagrid usually sits on, what's so unusual about that?" Harry asked.
"That's true." Rolf nodded, "And do you know what material was used to weave this mat?"
"Uh ... isn't it wool?" Harry said.
"No, it's actually unicorn tail hair." Rolf uttered the answer, followed by a wicked grin.
Harry's eyes widened in shock.
He vaguely remembered seeing the price of unicorn tail hairs in one of the magical material stores when he had been shopping for potion materials in Diagon Alley -
Ten Galleons per bag!
If this is calculated like this, then wouldn't such a large cushion woven with unicorn tail hair that could fit Hagrid's butt cost ... many, many, many galleons?
Harry's eyes widened as he scrutinized the dirty cushion in Rolf's hand, completely unwilling to admit that it was made of unicorn tail hair.
"See what I mean now?" Rolf shrugged, "Hagrid is the Hunting Ground Warden of Hogwarts and manages such a great treasure trove as the Forbidden Forest. That's why a lot of insignificant things he has here possess extremely high value when taken out!"
"And what are you rummaging for?" After Harry's shock, he turned to give Rolf a suspicious look, "Sneaking away Hagrid's goodies while he's away?"
"I wouldn't be interested in this little bit of Hagrid's family fortune!" Rolf glanced at Harry with great pride, "I have a lot more magical creatures in my house than Hagrid could ever see!"
Rolf wasn't exaggerating at all.
Newt didn't just have a suitcase living with all those precious magical creatures, the Scamander's basement was likewise vastly expanded by the Uncanny Stretching Spell, with a huge number of magical creatures living in the expansive basement.
By comparison, the Forbidden Forest next to Hogwarts, even as large as it was, was little more than a monoclimate on the Scottish side.
However, Newt's basement and box were set up with weather spells for nearly every kind of climate, and also had most of the world's natural environments.
So Rolf was right, they had much stronger assets about magical animals at home than Hagrid had here!
"Since you're not interested, what are you rummaging around here for?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"Looking for a useful gadget that we'll need when we go to rescue Luna later." Rolf said to Harry, as he rummaged around.
"Found it, so Hagrid put it here!"
He fished out a long stick from a large box with a pincer-like metal device on one end.
"What's this thing? A weapon?" Harry looked at the strange looking stick, his eyes froze a bit, "Hmm ... I wonder if it's a matter of me not seeing enough to see what kills me with this thing."
"This thing is called snake fork pliers." Rolf explained, "A tool specifically used to deal with snakes, it may come in handy in a while."
Saying that, he gave Harry a curious look, "But that's not the main countermeasure, our main combatant is you!"
"Me?" Harry froze, "I'm just a second year wizard, you're not going to let Ginny trick you into believing I'm good, are you?"
"Ahem, I think it's important to note before we act, Scamander, that my first year's first place in Defense Against the Dark Arts is just ..."
"Who said you were called here because of your first place finish in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Ginny interrupted Harry out of the blue as she walked in carrying Harry's Light Wheel 2000.
She was still blushing a little, but after the experience of sharing a broom, she was finally not as shy when facing Harry as she had been before.
"Not for my Defense Against the Dark Arts grade?" Harry turned to Ginny, "Is it because of the specific magic you told me about earlier? But I don't know any extracurricular magic at all. ... Otherwise we'll call Hermione over, she might know."
"Harry, have you really forgotten what you're all capable of?" Ginny pouted helplessly, "Think again, what abilities have you shown at the dueling club?"
Harry's expression became even more blank.
Because of the punishment Dracula had given for walking out of class, he had often had to fight four duels in a row at dueling club meetings this semester.
While it was true that his practical skills had improved significantly, so many duels had also made him unable to tell what magic he had used.
"Harry, have you forgotten, that duel you had with Malfoy at the first dueling club!" Ginny finally couldn't help but remind Harry as she saw that he couldn't remember any more, "That was when Malfoy turned into a large snake and then you spoke a strange language that controlled the snake away from yourself."
Rolf added from the sidelines:
"Potter, from what Ginny has told me about this experience of yours, I can tentatively tell that you are a Snake Old Cave! We need your help."