Chapter 40: The Exam Approaches
Chapter 40: The Exam Approaches
Liam stepped out of the forest and checked his watch by the moonlight, surprised to find that it was already past midnight. He hurriedly made his way back to the castle.
As he passed Hagrid's hut, he noticed the lights were out, indicating that Hagrid had finally managed to recover somewhat from the loss of the dragon and was now asleep.
Entering the castle's main doors, Liam's nerves were on high alert. He cast an immature Disillusionment Charm on himself and carefully navigated around several grand staircases, using smaller, less-traveled staircases to make his way back to Gryffindor Tower.
To his surprise, he didn't encounter any patrolling teachers until he reached the Fat Lady's portrait.
Liam marveled at his luck. After returning to the dormitory, he quickly washed up and climbed into bed, falling asleep in the dark.
The next morning, Liam sat at the Gryffindor long table in the Great Hall with dark circles under his eyes. Clearly, being able to stay up all night at 20 didn't mean the same at 11. He resolved to return earlier next time he went out at night.
The noise level around him seemed louder than usual during breakfast, and Liam overheard the name Harry Potter mentioned several times.
"What happened?" Liam asked Percy, who was sitting next to him.
"You don't look well, no wonder you don't know. Last night, my brother Ron and Harry lost 100 points in one go. It's quite disappointing", Percy replied, shaking his head.
Liam was puzzled. There was no way Malfoy had ratted them out this time. How did Harry and the others lose so many points? He decided to find out from Harry himself.
However, Harry and Ron were avoiding everyone during class. It wasn't until the afternoon, after classes had ended, that Liam found them in an empty classroom. Hermione was already there, scolding Harry and Ron relentlessly.
Liam sat on the side, listening to Hermione's reprimands, and finally understood how Harry and Ron had been caught.
After parting ways in the entrance hall, Harry and Ron went straight to Hagrid's hut to pick up the dragon in a wooden box. They made it to the Astronomy Tower without any trouble. According to the timeline, they had returned to the castle with the dragon just as Liam was still playing cat and mouse with Peeves.
No wonder Liam didn't see them when he reached the entrance hall later; they were already upstairs.
However, after sending the dragon away, the overly excited duo forgot to bring the Invisibility Cloak. As they strolled through the castle, they were easily caught by Filch.
That explained why Liam hadn't encountered any patrolling teachers on his way back. Filch had already taken Harry and Ron to Professor Mcgonagall, leaving the corridors empty.
After Hermione finished her scolding, she turned to Liam and said, "You were just lucky. Don't be so reckless next time. If Peeves had summoned a patrolling professor last night, we would have lost 150 points instead of 100."
Liam had thought the uproar over Harry and Ron losing points would die down quickly, but it only got worse.
Harry, once one of the most popular figures in the school, had suddenly become a target of everyone's criticism. Even students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, who had hoped to see Slytherin lose the House Cup, were not kind to him. People pointed and whispered about him wherever he went, and they didn't bother to lower their voices when insulting him. On the other hand, whenever he passed by the Slytherins, they would clap, whistle, and cheer, "Thanks, Potter, you did us a big favor!"
Ron was also suffering because now, apart from his brother, no one was willing to talk to him anymore.
Liam believed this situation was a form of bullying, which was absolutely terrible. However, he couldn't change the house's hostile attitude toward Harry.
In Liam's view, this was purely due to the envy caused by Harry's previous fame, compounded by the Gryffindor students' emotional nature, which made the house atmosphere very toxic.
For Liam, who had a mental age of nearly 30, seeing a group of kids bully another kid always made him want to intervene, especially since this kind of bullying went against his moral principles.
So during the evening study group, he proposed to the other students that they should give Harry a chance to correct his mistakes. After all, as Gryffindor students, losing points was a common occurrence. If they treated Harry this way today because of the points lost, who would they treat this way tomorrow?
Furthermore, at this time, Gryffindor students shouldn't be fighting among themselves, giving other houses a reason to mock them.
His words had some effect. Although the students still wouldn't talk to Harry, they at least stopped insulting him in front of him.
Additionally, Liam and Hermione worked hard to answer questions in every class, trying to make up for the lost points.
However, Harry still seemed upset. He was now in Liam's study group, sitting in a corner where no one could see him, quietly reviewing late into the night. He kept working hard to memorize complex potion recipes, spells, and the dates of significant magical inventions and Goblin Rebellions.
One day, Liam and Hermione were quizzing each other in the library on various topics, while Ron quietly memorized a star map. After all, the exam was only a week away.
Harry suddenly walked in and told them that he had overheard Quirrell likely surrendering to Snape, hearing Quirrell's voice giving in to the dark forces.
Ron said, "This means the path to the Philosopher's Stone is now clear for Snape. After all, he's a professor and has applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position multiple times. This suggests he probably has enough ways to handle that three-headed Fluffy. What should we do now?"
"Tell Headmaster Dumbledore", Liam said, rubbing his forehead. "After all, Dumbledore placed the Philosopher's Stone in the school, and he's the greatest White Wizard, with the power to combat any evil forces eyeing the Philosopher's Stone."
Hermione added, "If we act alone again, Harry, you might get expelled."
But Harry still opposed telling Dumbledore about the issue. He believed the cowardly Quirrell wouldn't stand up for them. ("If Quirrell is the one behind it, he definitely won't testify", Liam muttered, but the others ignored him.) Everyone knew they had a grudge against Snape, and without solid evidence, they couldn't make Snape confess.
Most importantly, Harry felt that students shouldn't know about the Philosopher's Stone and Fluffy. If they told Dumbledore, it would be hard to explain how they knew.
Indeed, this was a child's way of thinking, not understanding the gravity of the situation. Dumbledore probably already knew what they had been up to at night. However, to avoid disrupting Dumbledore's plan to cultivate brave heroes, Liam didn't point this out and let Harry do as he wished.
(End of Chapter)
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