Chapter 526: New Term
Chapter 526: New Term (Request for Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
After spending the night at the Weasley Family's home, the next afternoon, Liam and the others lined up by the Fire Pit in the kitchen of The Burrow, preparing to return to Hogwarts. This was far more comfortable than crowding into King's Cross Station with a group of people and spending a whole day on the train.
Only Mrs. Weasley saw them off, as Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, Percy, Bill, and Fleur all had to go to work. Mrs. Weasley teared up as she said goodbye. Ginny stepped forward, hugging her and gently patting her back to comfort her. "Don't cry, Mum..."
Mrs. Weasley then hugged each of them in turn, and Liam felt her embrace was particularly tight. He understood why Mrs. Weasley was so emotional: in these war times, it was indeed worrying to be separated from her children for so long, especially with news of people going missing.
"I've always been like this, Mrs. Weasley", Harry said, comforting her as he hugged her for the longest time. "I prefer a quiet life, you know."
Hearing this, Mrs. Weasley smiled through her tears and stepped back. "Take care, all of you..."
When it was Liam's turn, he bowed to Mrs. Weasley and shouted, "Hogwarts!" He was then enveloped in flames and began to spin rapidly, passing through many fireplaces before slowing down and stopping squarely in Professor Mcgonagall's fireplace.
"Good afternoon, Professor Mcgonagall", Liam said, drawing his wand and waving it to make the ash in the fireplace and on the carpet disappear.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Liang. That Non-Verbal Spell was impressive. I'm glad to see you haven't forgotten your homework over the holiday." Professor Mcgonagall seemed more relaxed after the Christmas break. Liam stepped out of the fireplace and straightened his robes. Hermione then appeared in the fireplace, stepped out, and used a Non-Verbal Spell to clear the soot, before she and Liam left Professor Mcgonagall's office, heading towards Gryffindor Tower.
"Hey, Liam, I finally caught up with you", Neville said, waving a piece of parchment at Liam as they climbed the tower, their feet stepping on the light that filtered through the corridor. "Professor Dumbledore asked me to give this note to you. By the way, the password to the Common Room is Temperance."
Liam took the folded parchment and thanked Neville before opening it. The message was simple: Dumbledore wanted Liam to visit his office the next afternoon to discuss some matters.
"What does the Headmaster want this time? Didn't the issue with teaching magic to the students get resolved last time?" Back in the Common Room, Liam showed the note to Hermione, who found it strange that Dumbledore was calling on Liam again.
"I guess he has some task for me", Liam mused. "After what happened at the Ministry of Magic at the end of last term, you don't think Dumbledore still considers me on the same level as ordinary young wizards, do you? Given the severe shortage of personnel in the Order of the Phoenix, the Headmaster definitely wants to use every bit of available strength. He wouldn't let someone with my skills just idle around."
"Really, the Christmas break just ended—" Hermione complained a little, and Liam noticed her expression was similar to Mrs. Weasley's when the Ministry of Magic made Mr. Weasley work overtime yesterday. At that moment, the door opened, and Harry walked in with Ginny, sitting down on the couch opposite Liam and Hermione.
"Where's Ron?" Liam asked the two in front of him. Ginny pouted. "He went to find Lavender as soon as he got back. They're probably on a date somewhere."
"I can understand that", Liam nodded. That was how it usually went when people first started dating. Later, he learned from Harry that Dumbledore was giving him a lesson the next evening. It seemed Dumbledore was taking advantage of his rare day in the School to handle all his pending tasks at once.
On the morning of the new term, the sixth-year students received a surprise. When they were getting ready for breakfast, they noticed a large notice pinned to the Common Room bulletin board. It announced that Apparition Lessons were about to begin.
Anyone who had turned seventeen or would turn seventeen by August 31st could sign up for a twelve-week course taught by a Ministry of Magic Apparition Instructor. The tuition was twelve Galleons, and a space was left at the bottom for those interested to sign their names.
Liam and Hermione had already learned how to Apparate during their trip to China, but they still signed up. It was like even if you were a very good driver, you still needed to get a driver's license to legally drive on the road.
Throughout the day, many sixth-year students gathered to discuss Apparition. Harry, who had experienced Apparition with Dumbledore, was surrounded by several curious classmates asking him all sorts of questions. Many were very excited about the prospect, and some were even overly enthusiastic.
For example, Seamus, caught up in the idea of how cool he would look once he mastered this magic, waved his wand a bit too enthusiastically during Charms class when casting the Fountain of Water spell. Instead of a gentle stream, he produced a gushing water dragon that shot to the ceiling, splashing back down and hitting Professor Flitwick in the face.
After Professor Flitwick dried himself off, Seamus earned himself a detention. He had to copy the sentence, "I am a wizard, not a baboon who waves a stick around."
This incident showed that in Britain, people often called someone a baboon to describe them as foolish. Liam thought that the author of a novel he had read in his past life was indeed observant, but unfortunately, the author hadn't finished the book before he was transported here. Now, he could only hope that in the future, the Multiverse General Store would connect to a world where he could finish reading the book.
After dinner, with these thoughts in mind, Liam arrived at the Headmaster's Office. This time, the door opened before he could knock. The room was set up exactly as it had been the last time, and Dumbledore was looking at the Pensieve on his desk. When he noticed Liam, the Headmaster looked up and greeted him. "I'm sorry to call you here again, but I have a very important matter to discuss with you."
"I am happy to help in any way I can", Liam nodded slightly. "However, my main strength lies in Alchemy. In a real fight, I would only be a liability."
"Rest assured, it's not time for you to go to the front lines", Dumbledore smiled. "Your contributions in the background, creating various magical items, are far more valuable than fighting. The Order of the Phoenix has no shortage of Champions who can face Death Eaters in battle, but only you can provide the support everyone needs to have a better chance of coming back alive. The help I need from you is in Alchemy."
"I am honored", Liam said. "Can you tell me what you need me to do?"
Dumbledore sat there, thinking for a moment, then whispered something. Liam's eyes widened instantly.
(End of Chapter)
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