Chapter 35: Wishing You a Fun Day Tomorrow
Chapter 35: Wishing You a Fun Day Tomorrow
"What was that?"
Harry jolted upright, looking around for the source of the sound.
Filch was startled by his sudden alarm.
"What sound? Who are you talking to?"
Harry searched the corridor, his face puzzled when he heard Filch's question.
"Didn't you hear it? A voice said it was hungry and something about killing."
Filch initially looked suspicious and joined Harry in searching the corridor for a moment, but then he grew impatient.
"Are you trying to distract me so you can run away? Don't try to trick me, Potter! You and those two troublemakers are not in the same league! Now, immediately, come with me to the office!"
Filch didn't give Harry a chance to resist, practically dragging him by the collar to the office to write up a detention slip.
Almost-Headless Nick tried to help by distracting Filch, allowing Harry to escape.
When Filch returned hurriedly, it seemed Harry had seen something on his desk.
Caught between fear and nervousness, Filch still sentenced him to a week of cleaning the First Floor Corridor of the Castle.
Feeling extremely unlucky for the entire afternoon, Harry left Filch's office.
He thanked Nick for his help and, as a gesture of gratitude, promised to invite his friends to Nick's Deathday Party on Halloween.
However, even after returning to the Gryffindor common room, Harry's bad luck didn't let up.
Just as he climbed into the common room, he ran into Seamus practicing spells.
Seamus's "exquisite" technique somehow caused a Repelling Charm to explode, covering the already dirty Harry with a cloud of dust and making his hair stand on end.
Harry, flustered, scrambled into the Boys' Washroom to clean up, but when he came out, he slipped on a dirty piece of clothing, landing in a puddle of mud. He had to clean himself again.
Back in the dormitory, Harry recounted his misfortunes to Ron, who worriedly asked if he had been cursed and offered to give him a precious amulet to ward off bad luck.
But the moment Harry took the amulet, the string holding it broke, and a collection of dried herbs spilled all over the floor.
"There must be a very powerful dark wizard who cursed you!"
Ron exclaimed as he helped clean up the mess.
"You need to take this seriously, Harry. I've worn this amulet for five years without any problems. You should go to Professor Dumbledore or Professor Forrest and have them help you!"
Harry lay on his bed in a state of distress, forming a large "T" shape, but didn't react much to Ron's words. Instead, Neville, who was hiding under his blanket, suddenly trembled.
But no one noticed Neville's recent odd behavior, assuming he was just feeling under the weather and didn't want to talk.
Harry skipped dinner and lay in bed, feeling exhausted, his eyelids slowly drooping.
Suddenly, in the darkness, he felt something moving by his pillow.
Harry swallowed hard and nervously reached for his wand.
"Lumos!"
He saw a dark shape scurrying by his pillow, and Harry's pupils dilated in terror, his face contorting with fear.
"Ron! Your rat just pooped on my bed!!!"
The day before Halloween, the last class for the second-year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs was Sherlock's Dark Magic Defense class.
It had been nearly two months since Tom's trial, and no one had managed to defeat him.
Since then, although Tom no longer appeared in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, his legend continued to circulate among the second-year students.
Rumors about him spread wildly, with students claiming he was an invincible cat. The stories grew more and more exaggerated.
Eventually, one version even suggested that Tom was the pet of a powerful old witch, capable of magic and riding a broomstick, and that he only came to Professor Forrest's class to help out.
The second-year students had returned to their normal school life.
Sherlock had obtained several less dangerous Dark Magic Creatures from Hagrid through special channels, so students could observe them firsthand and learn how to deal with them.
Since the Halloween holiday was starting the next day, Sherlock could tell that the second-year students were not in the mood for studying.
So, he spent the class telling them the ancient tale of the great wizard Sun Wukong, who, along with his Muggle teacher and two foolish younger brothers, embarked on a quest to the West to seek treasure, encountering various Dark Magic Creatures along the way in a series of wondrous adventures.
The students were captivated, and even after the class ended, some still lingered to ask where the story came from, hoping to borrow the adventure book from the library.
Sherlock dismissed the curious students but still had to deal with a few who came to submit overdue assignments.
"Why did you wait until today to turn it in, Justin, when you could have completed it well?"
Sherlock asked the Hufflepuff student, Justin Finch-Fletchley, with a blank expression.
Justin flinched under his gaze.
"Sorry, Professor, I forgot."
"There won't be a next time. You can go now."
Justin let out a sigh of relief and bowed to Sherlock.
"Happy Halloween, Professor."
"Enjoy your holiday tomorrow."
As Justin left, Harry, who was next in line to submit his assignment, felt an involuntary shiver run down his spine upon hearing Sherlock's words.
Just as Harry was feeling puzzled, Sherlock's gaze turned to him.
"What's your reason for turning in your assignment late, Harry?"
Harry quickly explained.
"I got the castle floor dirty a few days ago, and Filch punished me by making me clean the corridors for a week. I didn't have enough time to write my assignments."
"That's a reasonable excuse."
He took the assignment from Harry and noticed Harry hesitating, staring at him. Curious, he asked, "Is there something else?"
"N-no, nothing. I'll go now, Professor."
"Alright, you can leave."
Harry turned and left the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. For some reason, he let out a long sigh of relief as if he had narrowly escaped an indescribable misfortune.
Ron and Hermione, who were waiting for Harry outside, looked at him curiously.
"Did Professor Forrest scold you?"
Harry shook his head. "No, he said it was a reasonable excuse."
"Then why the sigh?" Ron patted his shoulder excitedly. "Are you regretting going to the Deathday Party tomorrow? If so, we can skip it!"
Hermione, however, was enthusiastic about the banquet.
"That's not an option. Harry promised Nick, and we have to go."
Harry remained silent, watching Justin, who was walking away with his friends, laughing and chatting. For some reason, he was reminded of his unlucky afternoon.
(End of Chapter)
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