days at Hogwarts

Chapter 577 Do you discriminate against Dementors?
The footsteps of one big and one small stepped on the soft grass, making a slight rustling sound.

"This is a very normal thing. Liveliness brings happiness, but being suddenly alone away from the crowd will make the excited heart feel lonely, so we need relatives and friends... This is the magic of love." Dumbledore chuckled.

Harry pursed his lips, was silent for a while, and whispered: "I always thought you were avoiding too much contact with me, sir. You know, Voldemort might be able to see what I saw and hear what I heard."

"I don't deny it, I did it..."

Dumbledore admitted it frankly, almost without hesitation. "I believe that it won't be long before Voldemort will try to force his way into your brain, manipulate and mislead your thoughts, and use you to monitor me and the actions of the Order of the Phoenix. I told Molly and Sirius not to mention the Order of the Phoenix too much in front of you. Later, Loren told me that they had a big fight over this matter... Loren also advised me more than once that maybe I should trust you more instead of treating you as a child who has not grown up."

Harry heard a hint of fatigue in the headmaster's voice. He looked up at the old headmaster, his voice suddenly raised, his expression firm: "I will work hard to learn the brain block technique!"

"Relax, Harry..." Dumbledore smiled and rubbed his hair. After his hand was wet with sweat, he calmly put his hand back on his shoulder. "Magic is very magical. Until today, no wizard can say that he has understood its mysteries, but we can gain some experience from it..."

"Some people are naturally good at certain magic, like Mr. Finnigan; some people are always repelled by certain magic, such as the difficulty for evil dark wizards to master the Patronus Charm. Similarly, it is very inhumane to ask people with cheerful personalities and rich emotions to isolate themselves from others and close their minds."

Harry thought of his Disarming Charm and opened his mouth, thinking that this was probably a case of giving up something to gain something, and sighed dejectedly, "No wonder Professor Snape said that my brain is so empty that it can even accommodate Buckbeak flying around in it..."

"Interesting metaphor." Dumbledore praised with a smile.

"But what about Voldemort?" Harry knocked his head in annoyance. "Am I just going to let him look through my mind, like turning the pages of a book that I can't resist..."

"Not all books can be read at will, such as the large books in the restricted area, such as..." Dumbledore looked up at the two people walking in front of him, as if he remembered something, shook his head and smiled, "You can also arm your mind and fight back appropriately, so that Voldemort dare not read them at will, or let him only see the content you want to show."

"Fake Memory Charm?" Harry's eyes lit up. Compared to the invisible and intangible brain occlumency, false memory seemed more direct.

"Hmm..." Dumbledore patted his shoulder and did not give a direct answer. "If you tell me, Voldemort might hear it. It will be difficult to deal with him if he is on guard. Just think about it yourself."

"Yeah!" Harry nodded heavily with a happy expression.

The salted egg yolk-like sunset sank into the hills, leaving only an endless stretch of orange-yellow clouds. The Quidditch team members were playing in front, and Ron's angry shouts could be heard from time to time, and more often than not, there was the twins' excited laughter, so Ron, who became more and more angry, began to chase and beat them.

"It's been two weeks since school started. Are you adapting to fifth grade life?"

Harry frowned and said bitterly, "There are more classes, more homework, and less Quidditch practice time... These are all fine. The most troublesome thing is that Umbridge. She doesn't act like a professor at all. She just makes us read books by ourselves in class and doesn't teach us any magic."

"The school year before exams is always busy. As for Professor Umbridge, it's my fault..."

Dumbledore paused, as if hesitating about something. "Many students have indeed passed the stage of learning only from books. A proper professor should teach students how to use spells and correct them in time when they make mistakes... So, I would like to ask you for help."

"What?" Harry didn't understand what he meant and thought it was a bit strange.

"You are indeed excellent in Defense Against the Dark Arts. You are able to break free from Crouch's Imperius Curse and summon a physical Patronus. You have extensive experience in fighting against dark wizards, which are qualities that many seventh-year graduates do not possess."

Harry finally understood and opened his mouth in surprise: "You mean..."

"I want you to reopen the Duel Club..."

Dumbledore patted him on the shoulder gently. "Those students who have been deceived by the Ministry of Magic need to learn how to protect themselves, how to resist the Death Eaters, and even resist Voldemort. According to the arrangements in previous years, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor should be responsible for this, but Umbridge obviously won't do this, and Minerva, Severus, and Filius all have their own work to do."

"Why me?" Harry couldn't help asking, "I mean, why not Loren and Hermione? They are much better than me, good enough, excellent in grades, proficient in magic and dueling, and have been assistant teachers of the Dueling Club... Look at me, the newspapers say that I am a reckless boy who wants to attract attention, with an empty head and nonsense..."

"You need to be confident, Harry." Dumbledore advised patiently, "In the past few years, your experiences have been more exciting than Lockhart's novels. You saved the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort, opened the Chamber of Secrets and killed the Basilisk, and became a warrior to win the Goblet of Fire. Many people are willing to listen to you."

Harry looked up at him and said nothing.

He looked up at the team members in front of him, and then at Loren and Hermione at the front of the path. His eyebrows drooped and his mind felt messy. He wanted to refute Dumbledore's words, but didn't know where to start.

He had noticed long ago that those adventures that sounded wonderful were actually carried out under the supervision of the principal. It was unclear whether they accomplished those feats themselves or were guided by the principal and professors...

"headmaster……"

"Ok?"

"You know what's going on, right?"

Harry muttered quietly, "These things sound amazing, but they were all based on luck. I didn't know what I was doing half of the time. It wasn't planned at all. I just acted on my feelings. Every time I was able to escape death, it wasn't because I was so good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was able to escape by luck because I always got help in time... When I was guarding the Philosopher's Stone, it was Loren who showed up in time. I defeated the basilisk because Fawkes showed up with the Sword of Gryffindor in time..."

"..."

Dumbledore did not refute. He recalled the arrangements of the past few years, wondering what had gone wrong that allowed Harry to see the flaw and become suspicious.

"Compared to those thrilling experiences at school, Loren and Hermione's adventures are more exciting, the pyramid secret passages, the underground waterways of New York..." Harry frowned, his face full of confusion, "I must admit that they are more suitable for this job."

"I feel there is one more thing I need to explain to you... Harry, you may have wondered why I didn't choose you as a prefect?"

Harry was stunned for a moment, and he opened and closed his lips twice, neither admitting nor denying. As an adolescent boy, his jealous thoughts of his friend were bluntly exposed, which made him feel more or less embarrassed.

"You never need anyone..."

Dumbledore looked down at Harry, his blue eyes staring into his green eyes, his expression serious and earnest, "You are capable enough to be a prefect, a Quidditch captain, and a student mentor in the Dueling Club. I believe this more than anyone else... I will only give you the last duty. I think you already have enough responsibilities on your shoulders."

Harry raised his eyes blankly, his throat suddenly blocked. Those things kept hitting the soft part of his heart, sour and astringent, like grievance, or happiness, or a mess of things mixed together, and he couldn't tell what it was.

Dumbledore smiled casually: "Of course there is another reason. If it was Loren, he would definitely find it troublesome and reject me without hesitation." "So I'm just a backup?" Harry's eyes twitched, and he suppressed all his melancholy and grievances, leaving him at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"That's not entirely true. If you are in charge of this matter, your good friends will definitely give you help and advice, and they will get involved."

"!!"

Harry's eyes widened.

Not far ahead, George and Fred, who were avoiding their brother's suicide attack, ran over in a hurry. When they saw Dumbledore, their eyes lit up immediately. They smiled and pushed Harry aside. One of them held the old headmaster's hand and said in a polite manner, "Principal Dumbledore, one of our applications was rejected by Professor McGonagall. We want to explain it to you in person."

"What application?"

"It's a very interesting social practice. We have some independently developed magic candies that we have tested on ourselves. They are absolutely safe and the efficacy meets the requirements. But we are not sure whether the effect is stable, so we want to ask the students to help test it..."

"Magic candy?" Dumbledore blinked, seeming to be very interested. "Is it the same as Mr. Ambrosio Flume's product?"

"Yeah, yeah, just like Honeydukes."

"Can you give me a taste?"

George and Fred took a deep breath: "Well..."

The remaining sunset shone on Dumbledore's cheeks, and the carved wrinkles and long beard were golden. At least at this moment, he seemed to be just an ordinary, kind and amiable old man.

……

Saturday evening.

Gryffindor common room.

Three dream diaries of divination were placed on the small round table. Loren and Ron stared at the blank pages, lost in thought. Only Harry was absent-minded. He looked at the two, then at Hermione who was reviewing first-year knowledge next to him, not knowing how to start.

Someone was secretly plotting this idea, but the idea of ​​adapting fables and writing diaries was leaked. Several students in the Divination class were using the same story, so the risk of being exposed was greatly increased. They were afraid that if Professor Trelawney randomly checked the homework that day, he would find that several students had the same dream...

When they have no other choice, they can only make up stories on their own.

Loren held the feather pen, thought for a moment, dipped it in ink and began to record.

Dreaming diary, September 9.

I dreamed of a strange man who always liked to wear a brown-black hat and a red-and-green striped sweater. His right hand had a sharp metal claw, and he was extremely malnourished and skinny, with scars on his face and body from burns.

His father was a Death Eater who was unfortunately imprisoned in the deepest cell of Azkaban. He fell in love with a Dementor and gave birth to Freddy. As a result, Freddy's soul had the dual evil of a wizard and a Dementor. He inherited the essence of those demons and committed all kinds of evil. He was eventually killed by an Auror with a fire curse...

Years later, he appears in people's dreams and kills with extreme cruelty.

……

Loren adapted it with gusto.

Ron, who was lying on the side with his head poked out, was also fascinated by the scene. When he saw something scary, he would look away, but would quickly look back again, watching the subsequent developments with fear and curiosity.

"Can a wizard and a Dementor have a baby? How come I've never heard of it?"

"Wizards and giants have children, wizards and veela have children, so why can't they have children with Dementors? Do you discriminate against Dementors?" Loren looked at him with his chin raised.

"No..." Ron frowned and looked embarrassed. "But who would fall in love with a Dementor? I've never heard of it. Could it be that Dementors can brew love potions?"

"So this is something that would only happen if the Death Eaters were imprisoned in Azkaban. It's a special environment. And what if the wizards fed the Death Eaters love potions?"

"No, what on earth does he like about Dementors?"

"Love is always blind."

"..."

Harry, who was standing next to him, didn't quite understand what he said, but he was deeply shocked. Even Hermione couldn't help but put down the book in her hand, leaned over and read his dream diary word by word. Finally, she fell silent and began to doubt herself.

Shouldn't they reveal their methods to Seamus? Not only did they not do their homework properly, but the things they made up became more and more outrageous and even worse than the original fables!
"that……"

Harry came back to his senses from the shock and muttered something under his breath. He found that the three were still discussing whether Dementors and wizards could get married. He couldn't help but raise his voice: "Can you help me reopen the dueling club!"

"?"

Facing the inquiring eyes of the three people, Harry's courage that had just been mustered up was deflated again. He drooped his shoulders and explained, "Dumbledore talked to me this afternoon and said that we can't let Umbridge just ask us to study. We need someone to teach us spells and practice them. The other professors are very busy, so he hopes that I...will reopen the Dueling Club with you guys."

Loren blinked. "Dumbledore... Army?"

(End of this chapter)