Chapter 660: Connections
Chapter 660: Connections (Requesting Monthly Votes!)
When Harry returned to the common room, most of the students had already left. He saw Ron and Hermione still there and walked over. Ron was staring at a box on his lap, looking shocked. Just as Harry was about to speak, Hermione slammed her book on the table, making a loud noise.
"Ron—what’s wrong, Hermione?"
"Terrible! I’ve never felt like this before, as if I’m completely out of control." Hermione said irritably. Harry looked at Ron, hoping for a clue.
"Transfiguration", Ron muttered, sounding unhappy.
"Right", Hermione said to Harry, but she didn’t elaborate. Instead, she took out her wand and pointed it at herself. "Watch—my rational side tells me I can’t do it because I haven’t figured out the principle, but..."
Harry stared at her. For a few seconds, he thought Hermione was joking, but he slowly opened his mouth in amazement.
Hermione’s face began to change. It wasn’t a dramatic transformation, but every detail was subtly altered. Her facial features became softer, her eyebrows smoother, and the tiny imperfections on her cheeks disappeared. In short, it was a perfect demonstration of the knowledge they had and hadn’t learned in Transfiguration class.
Hermione bared her teeth at him, and Harry noticed that her slightly prominent front teeth had shrunk, making her entire face look much more pleasant, almost like a different person.
"Wow", Harry exclaimed. "Your transfiguration skills are getting really impressive."
Hermione sighed. "That’s the problem. I don’t know how I did it."
Harry was stunned for a moment until Ron mumbled, "Animagus." Then it clicked for him.
"So obvious?" he asked, surprised.
According to Sirius, mastering the Animagus transformation could significantly enhance one’s transfiguration abilities.
"It’s not entirely due to the Animagus transformation. I had a good foundation", Hermione explained thoughtfully. "If I cast spells separately, like changing my eyebrows, teeth, or hair, I can do it well. But when I try to combine them, I run into issues. Now, I’ve solved that problem."
"That’s great, isn’t it? You’ve improved", Harry said.
"No, because a new problem has emerged", Hermione said, frowning. "I don’t understand how I did it. In fact, during training today, I kept having these... intuitions, urging me to do things I wasn’t sure about."
"Sounds scary", Harry said dryly. He remembered feeling something similar earlier, but his experience was more dramatic—he had blown up a part of the Forbidden Forest. "What do you plan to do?"
He recalled Professor Bagshot’s words. Even if Professor Bagshot wanted to teach Hermione, they probably wouldn’t get along.
"Of course, I’ll read more. I’ll go through all the Transfiguration books I’ve read before and study them again", Hermione said. "Exactly!" She looked at Harry with determination, her expression reminiscent of the many times she had confidently presented answers.
"Leave her alone, Harry. She’s just making things harder for herself", Ron said.
"Not true!" Hermione raised her eyebrows and stood up, looking down at him. "I’ve already finished the Transfiguration textbooks from first to fourth year. I can tell you, I had a lot of new insights just now! Harry, I suggest you do the same." With that, she picked up her books and walked away.
Harry watched her, muttering to himself, "Do you think Hermione really understands the principles behind the magic she can do?" Was this the secret to her effortless control over her magic?
He looked at Ron, who lowered his head, his face returning to a look of amazement. Harry stared at the object in the box on Ron’s lap, wrapped in colorful tissue paper, which seemed to be some kind of knitted item.
"I’ve been meaning to ask, what is that?"
"Oh, nothing", Ron said flatly, but Harry was sure he wanted him to ask. "It’s a gift from Fred and George Weasley. They actually remembered my birthday, which surprised me."
Harry leaned in and saw that the box contained a pair of gloves, with the fingertips particularly thick, wrapped in red yarn, and looking like frog webbing.
It was very much in character for Fred and George Weasley.
Harry imagined Ron walking around with frog webbed gloves and felt a bit amused. However, when Ron took the gloves out of the tissue paper, Harry realized he was wrong.
The birthday gift was even more impressive than he had imagined. The ten fingertips of the gloves were each adorned with a tiny head. Ron put the gloves on, stared at them for a few seconds, and then showed them to Harry. Harry’s eyes were drawn to the only odd one out: on the thumb of the left hand, the tiny head had black hair, not red.
"Is that me?" Harry asked, surprised. He stared at it for a long time but couldn’t see any resemblance, only guessing based on the color.
"Exactly", Ron wiggled his left thumb, and the little figure on his glove seemed to dance, swaying from side to side. "This is Ginny." He then gestured with his right thumb, and Harry could only recognize a hint of Ginny from the long hair of the little figure.
He examined the other fingers, vaguely making out the shadows of the Weasley family members.
Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie, Percy... Harry felt a mix of gratitude and envy. He greedily wished this were his own gift, but the fact that Fred and George Weasley had included him made his heart warm.
"Check this out! Fred and George added a new feature." Ron bent his left thumb, which represented Harry, and a voice suddenly screeched:
"Snape, Snape, Severus Snape, the greasy bat."
Harry jumped, nervously looking around. The voice sounded almost exactly like his own. For a moment, he thought he had spoken, but after the initial shock, he realized it was one of Fred and George's pranks. Harry couldn't help but laugh.
"How about that?" Ron grinned at him, clearly satisfied with the effect.
"I think you should show Snape", Harry said coolly.
"Uh—" Ron pouted, deciding not to take the bait. "Look at Ginny—Fred and George didn't tell me exactly what it was, just to let me try it out when I got back, but knowing them—" He bent his right thumb.
A new voice appeared—
"I love broomsticks! I love Harry Potter!"
A voice that sounded almost exactly like Ginny's echoed through the common room, filled with excitement.
Harry and Ron stared at each other, wide-eyed. "Oh", Ron whispered, clearly caught off guard. He cleared his throat, "Let's try Fred and George again, it probably won't be anything good, but it fits—"
He raised his eyebrows and gave Harry a double middle finger.
The little figures on the two fingers tipped their hats, and this time the voice sounded the most like the real thing: "Fred (George) sends his greetings, wishing you a pleasant life." Harry could almost imagine the twins standing in front of him, grinning mischievously.
"How about it, mate? It's not me giving you the middle finger, I guess this is how Fred and George see themselves", Ron said cautiously, but Harry was genuinely impressed. "Brilliant."
The next morning, in the Great Hall, Hermione's backpack was even more swollen. She suddenly asked, "By the way, Harry— I haven't asked you yet, how was Professor Dumbledore's class? Any new developments?"
"Met a lot of his old classmates", Harry mumbled, pressing a Mandrake leaf under his tongue and sipping pumpkin porridge. He was already quite adept at this routine.
At that moment, the Creevey brothers passed by, greeting them warmly before circling around to sit with their friends.
"Like Aberforth Dumbledore, who entered Hogwarts the same year as Dumbledore—personally, I think he's a fanatical admirer of the Headmaster", Harry's gaze followed the Creevey brothers until they sat down, then he continued, "And Nicolas Flamel, Bathilda Bagshot, Adelaide Wolflyn—"
"Who's Adelaide Wolflyn?" Ron interrupted, carefully chewing his food with one side of his mouth.
"Adelaide Wolflyn, an expert in magical theory", Hermione quickly explained. "What else, Harry?"
Harry hesitated for a moment. "And Dumbledore's brother."
Ron choked, quickly covering his mouth. After a while, he whispered, "The owner of the Hog's Head?" He widened his eyes, trying to think. "Tell me more, Harry, I'm curious, did they look alike when they were at school?"
Harry thought for a moment and nodded. "I think they did."
"Imagine a little scruffy Dumbledore", Ron said happily, looking at the staff table.
"Actually", Harry couldn't help but explain, "you could tell them apart at first glance. They had very different personalities. Aberforth—Dumbledore's brother—didn't like studying much and always had a challenging look on his face. If it weren't for Dumbledore, he would have gotten into a lot of trouble..."
"But from what we've seen, their relationship doesn't seem very good", Hermione said softly.
"Yeah", Harry agreed, also looking at the long table. Dumbledore was talking to Hagrid, with Professor Hup and Professor Bagshot listening intently. He changed the subject. "Hermione, I was wondering, have you ever tried to fully unleash your magical power, like, blowing up a part of the Forbidden Forest..."
“Dumbledore, he’s definitely a tough one,” Hagrid whispered, his voice low and gruff. “I found it this morning when I was patrolling the Forbidden Forest. A large section was devastated, and I can’t imagine what creature could have done this. Even giants couldn’t cause such damage. It must be some Dark Wizard with ulterior motives…”
Felix and Grindelwald, who had been listening intently, exchanged thoughtful glances.
“Hogwarts has upgraded its defense systems. Any intruder would be noticed immediately,” Felix said softly.
“Exactly,” Dumbledore agreed. “I’ll handle this,” he glanced at Grindelwald, “It might be a professor practicing magic in private. I’ll warn him.”
“Oh, I thought—” Hagrid shook his head. “You should have seen it, it’s even worse than I described. The centaurs are very worried; it’s close to their territory.” His eyes shifted to Felix, and he paused, looking shrewd.
“It wasn’t me,” Felix said immediately.
“Of course, how could it be…” Hagrid mumbled, though his expression suggested he wasn’t entirely convinced. “Use your head, Hagrid,” Felix said pointedly, “We’ve known each other for over a decade.”
Grindelwald leisurely turned a page of the Who Decides Ancient Runes magazine.
Hagrid hesitated, “Since you say so… I did remember something. Actually, it was something Professor Kettleburn mentioned when I visited him recently. He settled in Hogsmeade after retiring, and I occasionally drop by for advice. You know, with the closure of the Seven Classroom, Scamander…”
“I know.”
Felix interrupted. Silvanus Kettleburn was Hagrid’s predecessor as the Care of Magical Creatures professor.
“He took you into the Forbidden Forest a few times during your time here,” Hagrid suddenly stumbled, “Ahem, during your years as a student. Kettleburn thought you might pursue a career in magical creatures, but you were only interested in certain aspects, like how manticore skin resists spells, and where to buy clothing made from such material.”
“Just out of curiosity,” Felix replied dryly.
“It seems Kettleburn took it seriously. After that, he immediately moved the manticores to a more remote area,” Hagrid gruffly said, “It took a lot of effort.”
“Everyone has unrealistic fantasies when they’re young. At least I don’t need it now.”
“True, I remember Kettleburn once said his greatest hope was to retire safely,” Hagrid sighed, “Alas, he only achieved part of his wish.” He muttered, “He lost a hand and a leg…”
Dumbledore kindly asked, “Is Silvanus managing well with his prosthetics? I sent him a full set of enchanted wooden limbs when he retired, but I heard he developed a habit of visiting the fire dragon protection zone soon after.”
Felix turned his head to the side and asked Professor Slughorn, who seemed a bit uncomfortable sitting next to Grindelwald, “Professor Slughorn, I’m planning a dinner party and will be inviting several Potion Masters. You are undoubtedly the best. Do you have any plans recently?”
Slughorn delicately wiped his mouth with a velvet handkerchief.
“Oh, oh, I’ve been quite busy, my boy… But,” he quickly added, “Since you’ve invited me, I’ll definitely make time. Can you tell me who else you’ve invited?”
“Let me see… Severus, Damocles, Dorothea—” “Dorothea Bohame?” Slughorn exclaimed in surprise, “You managed to invite her?”
“Yes, I believe so. And the president and some members of the Extraordinary Potionists Association, a few people from St. Mungo’s Magical Medical Association, and some Ministry of Magic officials…” Felix said slowly, “I’m considering whether to invite the Alchemy Association, but it doesn’t seem very relevant. And some foreign Potion Masters…”
“Are you sure? I mean, do you know so many people?” Slughorn’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“Well, not very well, but I have connections at the local Ministry of Magic who can send out invitations on my behalf. And I’m confident in the results I can offer,” Felix said casually.
Slughorn was lost in thought for a moment, then said dreamily, “I’m starting to get curious about your dinner party.”
Dumbledore, who had been quietly chatting with Hagrid, looked up, a slight smile on his lips, as if he had just made an excellent shot in a game of Gobstones.
“I hate Ancient Runes,” Grindelwald muttered, scowling at the magazine in his hands.
(End of Chapter)
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