Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying

Chapter 1021 Troubles

"boom!"

With a whooshing sound, the window was slammed shut. Neville let out a long sigh of relief, his legs buckling and nearly causing him to fall.

The two waited a while longer, and when they thought that Wade had almost returned to the dormitory, they sneaked out of their hiding place like two frightened goblins and ran silently toward the Gryffindor Tower.

Harry could still picture Wade talking to Madam Pomfrey in his mind—

Unlike the gentle, quiet boy who was occasionally amused when he was with them, Wade just now looked like a deep pool, and even the surrounding air seemed to have become denser.

He stood tall with his brows slightly furrowed, and when he talked about helping to get potions, his confident tone, as if nothing could stump him, even reminded Harry of Dumbledore.

This unfamiliar feeling gave Harry a subtle jolt, and he even felt a sense of distance—as if his friend had already matured into a grown-up, making him only able to watch his back but no longer able to put his arm around him.

While Harry was deep in thought, Neville remained silent for some reason. The torches on the stone wall flickered with an inextinguishable light, their light leaping slightly with the hollow sound of their footsteps.

It wasn't until Harry stood before the portrait of the Fat Lady, gave the command, and watched the entrance open that Neville seemed to snap out of his daze.

He couldn't help but tug at Harry's sleeve, lower his voice, and ask the question that had been swirling in his mind:
"Harry, do you think... that baby... could it be Wade's?"

Harry jolted at the words, his movement of crawling into the doorway abruptly changed, and his forehead slammed hard against the hard stone wall at the edge of the opening with a "thud".

"Ow!"

Harry cried out in pain, his eyes widening in shock as he turned to Neville and exclaimed, "Neville! What...what are you thinking?!"

Neville blinked blankly. "No...isn't that right? I thought it would be like that! It also explains Wade's strange behavior a while ago..."

—So you think Wade was busy before because he had a mysterious girlfriend who was pregnant, and now that the baby has been born, he has time to attend classes and participate in activities, is that right?

Harry thought helplessly, then waved his hand and said, "That's not how it is at all. Didn't you hear what they were saying?"

“No,” Neville answered honestly, then asked curiously, “What did they say?”

"You two! Are you coming in or not?!" Before Harry could answer, the fat lady snapped impatiently, "If you're going to chat, go somewhere else. Don't make me stand guard for you!"

She crossed her arms and tapped the ground in the portrait with her toes, looking as if she wanted to grab the two men by the collar and throw them in.

Harry and Neville shrank back and hurriedly squeezed through the doorway.

Seeing that no one else was in the common room, Harry lowered his voice and said, "I heard a word—'become a baby'."

Neville: "—Become?"

“That’s right!” Harry nodded firmly. “So the child we saw, he should be like the one I saw six months ago, under a spell that reverted his body to a child’s state!”

Neville then realized, and said embarrassedly, "Oh, I see... I was thinking that if Wade really had a child, it might cause some trouble..."

His voice trailed off as he spoke, belatedly realizing that something was amiss.

“He turned into a baby…” Neville swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he asked, “Was it a shrinking potion… or time magic?”

“I guess it’s time magic,” Harry said in a low voice. “Because I also heard them say ‘messy time.’”

“Really?!” Neville shuddered, horrified. “I’ve never heard of anything like this before! Why is it that… this terrible magic seems to be becoming more common now?” “Yes,” Harry murmured, “Why?”

He rubbed his forehead, feeling like he'd heard something like... someone had been turned into a baby by time magic, and someone else had been killed because of it... Where did he hear that again?

……

In the warm dormitory, Ron, dressed in his pajamas, was absentmindedly playing Wizard Chess with Dean Thomas.

Hearing the door open, he immediately turned around, his gaze sweeping over Harry and Neville's faces—

Harry frowned, looking preoccupied; Neville's face was also grim, and for some reason, it seemed to carry a hint of fear.

Ron's heart sank. Disappointment, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed his earlier cautious anticipation.

Immediately afterwards, a familiar wave of frustration washed over me—

[It's definitely not going to work! They probably think I don't meet their standards. Hermione probably listed a whole bunch of my flaws, Michael shook his head and said no, Fred and George will have something to laugh at me about tomorrow, and this joke might even reach Slytherin...]

Imagine that while having breakfast in the Great Hall, Malfoy and his friends would make a point of coming over and loudly proclaiming to the whole school:
“Look who this is… Ron Weasley, the overconfident one! Should I say you’re courageous, or utterly lacking in self-awareness?”

With a "boom," anger surged from his heart, burning Ron's cheeks.

“It’s your turn, Ron!” Dean urged.

Ron glanced at the chessboard haphazardly, not thinking at all, and casually nudged his knight.

"Oh my god, your chess skills are absolutely terrible!" The knight brandished his sword and roared, "Charge! I'm going to charge straight ahead!"

"Come on, you hot-tempered guy," Dean muttered, casually devouring the knight.

Ron's queen began shouting at her master again: "Surrender! Really! Otherwise, I will be so ashamed and angry that I will take my own life!"

Ron suddenly reached out and shoved all the chess pieces aside with a "whoosh," angrily saying, "I'm not playing anymore, it's no fun!"

Dean wasn't angry. He shrugged and said while tidying up the chess pieces, "Okay, if you don't want to continue... Seriously, Ron, you played a complete mess tonight."

Ron stood by the table, frozen for a few seconds, wanting to apologize for his attitude but not knowing what to say.

……

The night was deep and quiet, and the dormitory was completely still.

Ron stared at the curtain above him with his eyes open.

Dean and Seamus were already breathing evenly, and Neville was even snoring softly.

Only Harry was still tossing and turning in bed, the wooden bed occasionally creaking softly.

Ron remained motionless, pretending that he was asleep too, pretending that he didn't actually care...

But the intermittent sounds reminded him that he wasn't the only one who felt sad about it.

(End of this chapter)