Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 421 Trust
"The tension between Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic is already quite high," Hermione whispered to Harry as the banquet ended.

Harry nodded.

A clattering sound of tables and chairs echoed around, clearly indicating that Dumbledore had dismissed the entire school, as everyone stood up to leave the Great Hall.

Hermione jumped up, looking very panicked.

“Ron, we should go and give directions to the first-year students!” Hermione said.

"Oh dear, I almost forgot!" Ron said, clearly having completely forgotten his duties as a prefect. "Hey! Hey! Hey! You lot! Little ones!"

"Ron!" Hermione roared in displeasure.

“Hey, what’s wrong? They’re just like that, they’re so young,” Ron said.

“I know, but you can’t call them little ones! First-year students!” Hermione shouted sternly toward the table. “This way!”

A group of freshmen walked shyly through the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, each trying to stay at the back and not daring to show their faces.

They did look very young, and Harry was certain he hadn't looked this young when he first arrived. He grinned at them.

A blond boy next to Euan Abercrombie seemed terrified. He nudged Euan with his elbow and whispered something in his ear. Euan Abercrombie also looked very scared, but still whispered a few words of comfort.

These two young wizards seemed to have forged a deep friendship even before the Sorting Ceremony, just like he and Tyella had back then—

Just like him and Tierra...

Harry felt the smile on his face gradually lose its warmth.

"See you later," Harry said wearily to Ron and Hermione, then walked alone out of the Great Hall, trying to ignore the stares, whispers, and pointing fingers of the people around him.

He walked straight through the crowded hallway without looking to either side, hurried up the marble staircase, took two hidden shortcuts, and quickly left most people behind.

Harry reached the end of the corridor leading to the Gryffindor common room and stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, only then realizing that he didn't know what the new password was.

"Hmm..." He looked up at the plump lady with a worried expression. The plump lady smoothed out the wrinkles on her pink satin dress and looked at him sternly.

"Without the password, you can't pass," she said arrogantly.

“Harry, I know!” someone said breathlessly behind him. Harry turned around and saw Neville slowly running towards him. “Guess what it is? I actually remembered it this time—”

Neville waved the stunted little cactus he'd shown them on the train: "Mibu Mibu!"

“That’s right,” said the fat lady, and her portrait suddenly opened like a door to them, revealing a round hole in the wall through which Harry and Neville crawled.

The Gryffindor common room looked as pleasant as ever; it was a circular room in the tower filled with worn-out, flimsy armchairs and wobbly old tables.

A roaring fire crackled in the fireplace, where several people were discussing something.

Harry quietly leaned over to listen—

“I think Dumbledore’s presentation is really interesting!” one girl said. “Yeah, at least it won’t be any more boring than Professor Binns’s History of Magic class,” another girl said, her expression suggesting she was really looking forward to Dumbledore’s new History of Magic class. “And I can’t wait to see Fat Amy make a fool of herself! That idiot can’t even speak properly, making her perform? Humph, the scene is going to be hilarious!”

Harry secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the two girls weren't talking about him.

He should have been relieved after the trial declared him innocent and even the Daily Prophet stopped reporting on him. But recently, for some reason, he has been feeling inexplicably irritable. Wherever he goes, he feels like people are talking about him behind his back, and he always has the urge to find someone to yell at or fight.

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself down and prepared to return to his dormitory, with Neville following behind him.

As soon as you enter the dormitory, right in front of the door is Tiera's bed.

The other four beds in the dormitory were piled with large and small pieces of luggage. Seamus, who had returned to the dormitory early, had already packed his luggage and was carefully pasting a poster of the Kenmare Red Falcons Quidditch team on the wall. Neville, who was following behind Harry, also bypassed Harry, who was standing blankly at the door, and came to his own bed, opened his suitcase and began to unpack. Only Tyella's bed was empty, without even a blanket, and a thin layer of dust had accumulated on the bare bed board.

Harry walked somewhat unconsciously to Tyella's bedside and gently sat down—

Harry sat on Tyella's bed for a while, and just as he was about to get up, Simon Finnigan, who seemed to have finally finished putting up his poster, ran over to Harry, patted him hard on the shoulder, and said:
"Don't worry, Harry, we all believe in you!"

“Um… thank you, Seamus…” Harry said, somewhat bewildered, seemingly completely unprepared for the comfort he received from Seamus.

“I don’t think many people besides Slytherin don’t believe you,” Seamus continued. “Even my mother said the Daily Prophet’s stories are too far-fetched.”

“Thank you…” Harry said again, seemingly in a better mood.

“My grandma said it’s all nonsense too.” Neville said in a shrill voice, his voice sounding strange as he seemed to be going through puberty. “She said it’s the Daily Prophet that’s declining, not Dumbledore. She’s stopped subscribing to the magazine. We believe you, Harry.”

Neville stated simply, "Moreover, my grandmother is very supportive of Hogwarts' educational reforms. In her words, Hogwarts should have been reformed long ago."

“Thank you, Neville,” Harry said sincerely.

This seemed to cheer Harry up a lot. He got up from Tyella's bed and prepared to start packing his things.

Three Little Wizards—

After Ron returned, the atmosphere among the four young wizards seemed to ease considerably. They began to chat about their experiences during the summer holidays. Harry also felt less tired and told the others in the dormitory about his encounter with Dementors, Dumbledore's verbal battle with Wizengamot, and the evidence that the Tyrell prophecy had come true.

Ron used his prefectural authority to secretly bring a bottle of red wine from the basement kitchen and poured a few glasses for everyone.

"Homage to Tierra!"

After a few rounds of drinks, Simon, his face flushed, raised his glass and said, "He is a great prophet."

"Homage to Tierra!"

Harry, Ron, and Neville also raised their glasses.

I'm so sorry, it's a bit late.

I've been a bit busy lately because I'm moving dorms, so I might randomly skip an update one day before the 26th. Please look forward to it!



(End of this chapter)