Chapter 628: Hogsmeade Weekend Trip
Chapter 628: Hogsmeade Weekend Trip (Monthly Vote Request!)
Slughorn had clearly made a misjudgment. Felix thought as he handed the mead to Snape, whose expression was stiff.
During the First Wizarding War, Slughorn must have been deeply impressed by the inter-house friendship between Severus and Lily, given the special circumstances. It’s no wonder; professors are often well-informed, but they usually only know the surface details, rarely delving into the deeper conflicts and emotional entanglements among students.
Moreover, seeing Harry use an old textbook in class—Harry wasn’t short of money—Slughorn, who valued Harry, would have noticed that the textbook once belonged to Snape if he paid a bit more attention.
"Here, Harry... Oh, I forgot, you haven’t come of age yet." Felix pulled back his hand.
"Oh, don’t be too strict, Felix. A little won’t hurt." Slughorn winked.
He seemed to realize that the relationship between Snape and Harry wasn’t as he thought, so he deftly changed the subject, patting Harry on the shoulder. "I’ve kept you here too long. You should go find your friends. Yes... here, Harry." He then picked up a goblet from a tray held by a passing house-elf and handed it to Harry haphazardly.
Harry just wanted to leave the uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible. He thanked Slughorn and hurried away. Only when he felt the sharp gaze on the back of his head shift did he breathe a sigh of relief. Professor Slughorn’s lively voice faded into the background.
"... Amelia Bones, she did a great job. Back in the day..."
"Harry?" a familiar voice called out.
"Neville, what are you doing here?" Harry said, surprised. Neville was hiding behind a wide golden curtain, with a string of twinkling fairy lights above his head, casting a rainbow of colors on his face.
"I, I came to rest for a bit", Neville said cautiously.
Harry followed his gaze and saw the Greengrass sisters, dressed in beautiful emerald green robes, surrounded by a small group of people like stars around the moon. He asked, puzzled, "What did they do to you?"
"They... talked to me", Neville stammered, his face still showing signs of lingering fear.
"Just because of that?"
"Of course—no, it’s more than that. Blaise Zabini, Marcus Belby, even Malfoy!" Neville said, looking shocked. "Their behavior was strange, as if they were different people." He suddenly looked up, seemingly frightened by his own words.
Harry understood.
"Do you think they were under the Imperius Curse, or maybe someone used Polyjuice Potion to replace them?" he asked softly.
Neville studied Harry’s face carefully. "You know the reason, don’t you?"
"That’s just the social etiquette they follow", Harry said nonchalantly.
The two of them fell silent. Neville glanced at Harry’s goblet and asked, "Where did you get your juice?"
"Professor Slughorn gave it to me", Harry said vaguely. He finished the sweet, cloying juice, feeling it stick in his throat. He pulled out his wand and turned the goblet into a small stool, sitting down on it. Neville stared at Harry’s stool.
"Need a hand?" Harry asked.
"Thank you so much", Neville said quickly.
So the two of them hid behind the curtain, sitting on the small stools and chatting happily. Harry tried a few times and successfully used the Silencing Charm to get a plate of beef pasties from the table.
"Want some?" Harry asked, picking up a pasty.
"Thank goodness, I’m starving", Neville said, beaming.
They ate ravenously, watching the others in the room. When the singing from the ceiling faded, they emerged from behind the curtain.
"Oh, my gosh!" Hermione suddenly appeared, almost bumping into them. "Where did you two come from?" She stared at the suspicious grease marks on their chins—Neville still held an empty plate—and glanced over their shoulders at the golden curtain behind Harry and Neville.
"Never mind", Harry said, burping and subtly pushing the small stools back behind the curtain. "Is the party over?"
"I guess so..." Hermione said, turning her head.
At that moment, Professor Slughorn walked to the center, beaming. "I hope everyone enjoyed tonight. I can assure you, this won’t be the last..." People started to leave, and Felix and Snape walked into the corridor, whispering.
"What’s hidden in Classroom Seven?" Snape asked bluntly.
Felix raised an eyebrow.
"It was suddenly closed this year, and the temporary room next door has poor acoustics. I’ve heard the students complain", Snape said. "And... Professor Baddock has shown interest as well."
He said a few words and then turned to leave.
Was that a warning? Felix wondered. From what he knew, Snape had been keeping a low profile since the start of the term. It seemed that after Voldemort's downfall, he had no interest in dealing with Harry and Dumbledore anymore.
Mid-October arrived, and the school finally posted the announcement for the first Hogsmeade weekend.
That morning, Harry woke up early. The sky outside was dark, and the wind was howling. He stared at the curtains of his four-poster bed for a long time, unable to fall back asleep. He decided to pull out the Advanced Potion-Making book from under his bed to pass the time.
Since the highly unpleasant mini-party, Harry had refused to bring this embarrassing textbook to Potions class. For two weeks, he and Ron shared a book until Ron's owl, Pig, brought the new textbook back from Flourish and Blotts.
After that, the Advanced Potion-Making book was put away—more accurately, under the bed.
Hermione's words saved its fate. She was cramming Runic Script symbols into a book about ghosts at the time. "Objectively, this book is actually quite good, and it has a lot of Professor Hup's notes."
Harry thought to himself that he ended up with the book because he was the only one who could barely make out Snape's messy, chaotic notes. During the O.W.L. exams last year, he had been responsible for sorting out the useful notes. By the time the new term started, its value had significantly diminished.
Harry opened the book to a page near the back and stared at the spell written in the blank space—Sectumsempra, with the simple note "for enemies" below it. In fact, there was more. Below it, two different handwriting styles provided annotations in neat, small letters.
One annotation was about the spell itself: "Cutting curse, fast casting speed, silent; with a bit of practice, it can sever a person's head, and it works better on stone and metal. The counter-curse is Vulnera Sanentur, repeated three times (as acknowledged by the spell's inventor)."
This was the part that had made Harry hesitate.
Below Professor Hup's commentary, Hermione's evaluation followed (it was clear she was annoyed at the time): "Terrible advice, are all boys at that age obsessed with violence? And I'm certain this is an illegal spell..."
Harry smiled silently. He could easily imagine the mood Hermione was in when she wrote that. However, while he wasn't sure why the professor would think of severing heads—Harry found that idea quite terrifying—it was undoubtedly a stark warning.
Professor Hup also left rather unconventional comments on other handwritten spells—
Nail-Growth Charm (a minor curse, good for comedic effect); Levicorpus (make sure your opponent is wearing pants, or not, depending on how much you hate them); Muffliato (essential for the Library, with Hermione's annotation: "Got you, professor!"); and Langlock (which sticks the tongue to the roof of the mouth, useful for practicing non-verbal spellcasting).
Harry stared at the description of Langlock, and his thoughts drifted elsewhere. Would this spell be useful for practicing animagus transformations? Sirius had once given them a particularly unreliable suggestion: using the Stunning Spell and Petrification Charm to prevent accidentally swallowing (or chewing) Mandrake leaves while sleeping. Harry thought that if they added the Langlock spell, they wouldn't have to worry day or night...
Harry shook his head vigorously. That was definitely a terrible idea.
The animagus training was scheduled for after Halloween. Including himself, Ron, and Hermione, about a dozen students met the requirements. They had nearly a month to study the theory, and then they would begin their first attempts during the Christmas break, minimizing the inconvenience of not being able to speak.
In the morning, students lined up in a long queue, passing through Filch's inspection under the envious gazes of the younger wizards, heading to Hogsmeade.
"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked at the oak front door.
"Still fiddling with her Book of Runes. She can't wait to fill it up", Harry said, looking around.
"Alright, looks like it's just the two of us today", Ron sighed, but he quickly perked up. "Shall we go to Zonko's first? Then to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and Honeydukes for some new Quills, and finally, a drink at the Three Broomsticks..."
"Um, actually—" Harry looked at Ron awkwardly.
"Hey, Harry!" Ginny appeared behind them, cheerfully patting Harry's shoulder. "Let's go."
Ron’s eyes widened in disbelief as he shouted, “You’re coming with us?”
Ginny arched her pretty eyebrow, stepped forward, and linked her arm with Harry’s, glaring at Ron. Harry felt extremely awkward, wanting to quietly pull his arm away, but Ginny refused to let go.
“I think,” she stared straight at Ron, “it’s time to show what a good older brother looks like.”
Ron was speechless.
“Are you coming or not?” Filch glared at them, barking in a harsh tone.
“Let’s go!” Ginny turned her head, her hair flaring like fire for a moment as she dragged Harry away. Harry had never felt this way before: the walk from the school to Hogsmeade seemed so long, and he felt no joy from the date. Although Ginny was right beside him, the occasional heavy breathing behind him reminded him that Ron was still close by.
“Where should we go first?” Ginny said cheerfully.
“Um… how about Zonko’s?” Harry racked his brain.
“Then what?”
“I think… we could go to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes,” Harry said slowly. “We might run into them.”
“Great idea! And then?”
“…We could buy some quills at Honeydukes and finish with a drink at the Three Broomsticks. How does that sound?” Ron suddenly chimed in, his voice sullen.
“Oh, that’s terrible,” Ginny said disdainfully.
They split up at the entrance to Hogsmeade—though Ron was reluctant, Ginny glared at him until he gave in. “Who dates with their little sister’s big brother tagging along?” Ron grumbled as he shuffled away.
Harry and Ginny arrived at Zonko’s, but it was already boarded up.
“Oh, no,” Harry said as they turned toward Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He suddenly called out and led Ginny down a side street.
“What’s wrong?” Ginny peeked behind her.
“It’s Professor Slughorn,” Harry said nervously. Ginny giggled in his ear, making Harry feel ticklish and completely forgetting about Ron. Let Ron freeze in the cold—“How about we get a cup of tea at Madam Puddifoot's?” Harry asked, mustering his courage.
It was the well-known spot for Hogwarts couples to go on dates.
Ginny looked at him, her eyes twinkling like stars.
“What’s wrong?” Harry said, feeling puzzled and his face heating up. He wasn’t sure if his hidden thoughts had been discovered.
Ginny laughed so hard she nearly fell over. “Sure,” she said, straightening up and smoothing her messy hair.
The tea shop was already filled with people. As they entered, everyone stared at them intensely. In a corner, two younger girls pouted, one with a prominent chin and long black hair chattering away to her friend.
“Don’t mind them,” Ginny said haughtily, pulling Harry further in. But after circling the smoky room, they couldn’t find an empty table. The two younger girls, who had been about to leave, now sat back down, crossing their arms in unison and frowning at Ginny.
“That’s Romilda Vane. She’s been discussing how to slip you a love potion in the club,” Ginny said, anxiously scanning the room for a free table.
“What?” Harry was shocked.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. Some of the ideas are quite interesting,” Ginny said casually, then her eyes lit up. “There! Let’s go there!”
Harry was skeptical. It was clear that Ginny had been present and not only hadn’t stopped them but had even participated, or at least heard some of the “interesting ideas.” This made him furious, and then he realized something crucial: a club? What club?
A dark shadow fell over Harry’s mind. Perhaps he should find a chance to talk to the Creevey brothers about the club’s management. For safety’s sake, this couldn’t wait any longer…
They found a window seat where two people were just getting up. One was an elegant old woman with a refined face, who gracefully buttoned her coat and handed a gift box to Daphne Greengrass.
Harry saw the same refined smile on Daphne’s face, which made him uneasy.
“…Please pass it on to him.”
Daphne nodded, and the two of them left Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, parting ways.
Meanwhile, Ron aimlessly wandered the streets of Hogsmeade, sucking on a licorice wand, his mind full of complaints. Then, he saw an old woman in tattered gray clothes pass by. Ron glanced at her, not paying much attention, but the clumsy figure following her caught his eye.
“Hey! Ton—” Ron called out excitedly.
Suddenly, a wand pressed against his back.
“Say another word, and I’ll kill you.”
(End of Chapter)
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