Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 412 What's so good about that little Deng?
Clearly, Hermione didn't think Anne was holding back; on the contrary, she believed her dueling skills had improved significantly.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to fight Annie so evenly.

She even fantasized that with her talent, she might be able to rival Papiyas and Cassandra in a while.

The reason is simple: Professor Slughorn paid special attention to her duel.

As Anne and Hermione put down their wands, Professor Slughorn asked, "My dear, may I ask you your name?"

“Hermione Granger, sir.” Hermione was a little excited, her face flushed.

Professor Slughorn immediately became alert. He thought of a name, a very famous name.

“Granger? Granger? Are you related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, the founder of the Extraordinary Pharmacists Association?”

Hermione denied it without the slightest hesitation: "No, it shouldn't be, sir... I'm a Muggle."

But Slughorn didn't show any disappointment. On the contrary, he smiled and looked at Hermione and then at Harry sitting next to her.

He remembered the person Harry had mentioned on the train.

"Oh, right! 'I have a best friend who's also Muggle-born, and she's the best student in the whole year!' I'm pretty sure that's the friend you're talking about, Harry?"

“Yes, sir,” Harry said.

“Very good, very good. Add a well-deserved twenty points to Miss Granger of Gryffindor,” Slughorn said kindly.

The Slytherin students immediately wilted like frostbitten eggplants, especially Draco. He and Blaise were picking at their nails, pouting and whispering something, while giving Ron a smirk.

Hermione turned to Harry with a smug look on her face and whispered, "You really told him I was the best in the whole year? Oh, Harry!"

“Come on, what’s so great about that?” Ron said in a low voice, sounding a little annoyed. “You’re the best student in the whole grade—and if he asked me, I would have said the same thing!”

“Hey,” Harry quickly said, “Don’t be jealous, Ron. I just mentioned it casually, I didn’t mean anything by it—”

Hermione smiled and reached out to ruffle Ron's hair, but then made a shushing gesture so they could hear Slughorn.

Ron finally broke into a smile.

Harry sighed.

Poor Tom.jpg...

Forget it, he's my buddy, he's my buddy...

"Sir, I'm sure you know my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy, don't you?"

Harry looked up and saw Slughorn walking past the Slytherin table.

“I knew him,” Professor Slughorn said, glancing at Draco. “I was saddened to hear he died, but it was to be expected, considering his advanced age and the fact that he had draconian smallpox…”

However, he changed the subject.

“I also know your great-aunt… or rather, your great-great-aunt, she is the witch worth mentioning… In addition, your great-grandfather Ignis Malfoy and your great-great-grandfather Septimus Malfoy were both outstanding figures of their time.”

Draco seemed pleased, but he failed to grasp Professor Slughorn's implied meaning.

That meant that your grandfather was too incompetent and didn't deserve to compete with his father, aunt, and grandfather, or even be compared to them.

Your father won't do it either.

“That idiot,” Ron said in a strained voice, laughing gleefully.

When get out of class ended, Harry suddenly saw someone waiting for him at the door.

It was Abercrombie, a second-year student. He was very happy to see Harry and jumped around waving to him.

“They all told me you were taking Defense Against the Dark Arts class,” Abercrombie said. “So I came here—by the way, Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to pass on a message to you. He said he’d be waiting for you in the Headmaster’s office and had something to say to you—he also said he likes sour popcorn.”

“I understand.” Harry smiled and patted Abercrombie on the shoulder, watching the young man skip away.

Suddenly, Harry realized that his mindset seemed to have changed a little.

Young people, huh? Haha!
“I need to go to the principal’s office,” he said to Ron and the others. “You guys go to the auditorium for dinner; I probably won’t be back for dinner.”

"Are you going to stay in Professor Dumbledore's office and drink maple syrup?" Ron made a not-so-small, dry joke.

“Then I can only wish you a day spent crammed into Professor Snape’s office like a Flobber caterpillar,” Harry said in return.

“But I still don’t understand,” Ron said, scratching his face. “Sour popping candy? Doesn’t he like sweets? Why would he say he likes this sour stuff? You know, even my mom, who loves sour things, can’t quite handle this kind of sour candy.”

“Who knows?” Harry shrugged.

After saying goodbye to a few friends, Harry hurried through the long corridor. Suddenly, he saw Professor Trelawney turn the corner, washing a dirty deck of cards, reading the numbers on the cards and talking to himself. Harry quickly slipped behind a statue.

He really didn't want to see Professor Trelawney; what if she was staring at him and saying something weird?
It wasn't that he was afraid of the prophecies, but rather that he found them extremely ominous.

"Two of Spades: Conflict;" Professor Trelawney muttered as she walked past Harry's hiding place. "Seven of Spades: Ominous sign; Ten of Spades: Violence; Jack of Spades: A dark-haired young man, likely upset and unwilling to be interrogated—"

She stopped and stood on the other side of the statue where Harry was hiding.

“Oh, this is definitely not right,” she said, annoyed. Harry heard her walking away as she enthusiastically reshuffled the cards, leaving only the smell of sherry behind her.

Harry waited until he was sure she was far away before he quickly left the statue and walked all the way to the place in the eighth-floor corridor where the gargoyle stone beast was placed.

“Sour Pop Candy,” Harry said.

The dripping stone beast jumped aside, and the wall behind it split in two, revealing a movable spiral staircase behind it.

"Actually, you don't need to say the password, Mr. Potter," it said obsequiously.

Harry still didn't quite understand how a stone statue could make such an expression.

He stepped up the stairs, ascending higher and higher as they spiraled, until he finally arrived at the door to Dumbledore's office with its brass door knocker.

Harry knocked on the door. "Come in."

It was Dumbledore's voice.

"Good evening, Professor," Harry said as he walked into the headmaster's office.

"Ah, good evening, Harry. Sit down," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I imagine you've had a pleasant first week of school."

“Yes, Professor, thank you,” Harry said.

"Would you like some sour popping candy?" Dumbledore pulled a bunch of colorful little candies from the drawer. "These candies are all different flavors, there's strawberry, lemon, raspberry, cranberry, and so on..."

"No, thank you." Harry waved his hand politely in response.

He didn't have any particular fondness for sour or sweet things, unlike Dumbledore who couldn't live without sugar.

"Then I'll have two first." Dumbledore chuckled and picked up a piece of candy, putting it in his mouth.

While Dumbledore was eating candy, Harry sat down in the chair and looked around the office.

The round office looked the same as always: the long-legged tables were decorated with many exquisite silverwares, which spun around and emitted small puffs of smoke.

The portraits of the old headmasters, both men and women, were all dozing off in their respective frames, while Dumbledore's magnificent phoenix, Fawkes, stood on a branch behind the door, watching Harry expectantly.

Harry knew that the colorful bird wasn't looking at him, but at his and Vivi's phoenix.

No wonder that lecherous bird looked expectant... expectant of its Fiona.

Dumbledore finished his candy, smacked his lips, and then said to Harry, "Harry, please forgive me for calling you here so hastily. Professor Slughorn has found me. He asked me whether the curse on the position of Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has been lifted. He doesn't want his old bones to suddenly fall into this position."

Finally, Dumbledore added, "Of course, it's not that I'm urging you, but I do have a responsibility to the professors at the school."

Harry: ...

What you're saying is just you pressuring me.
But this was indeed something that urgently needed to be addressed, so he nodded and said, "Don't worry, Professor, I'll call Vivi right now and ask when she'll be free to come over."

After saying that, he took out a crystal ball.

He did know why Dumbledore didn't call Vivi himself; the reason was simply that he was a little embarrassed.

After all, he wasn't very familiar with Vivi, and Vivi had quite a few opinions about Dumbledore, that old... old professor.

Of course, Harry understands Vivi; if it were him, he would have already dismantled Dumbledore's old bones.

The call connected, and the person who answered was a woman Harry didn't recognize.

“Hello, Mr. Potter,” she said.

"Do...do I know you?" Harry asked tentatively.

“I am Miss Grindelwald’s new secretary, Anastasia Rozier,” Anastasia said, bowing slightly. “Miss Grindelwald has given me special attention in introducing you.”

“I understand,” Harry nodded. “Miss Rosier, where is Vivi?”

“She’s in a meeting,” Anastasia said. “Should I ask her to come over?”

“No need,” Harry said. “Just tell her when she’s done with her meeting. It’s nothing important.”

“Okay,” Anastasia said.

After hanging up the phone, Harry and Dumbledore looked at each other.

“It seems Vivi has changed her secretary.” Harry was making conversation a bit. “If nothing unexpected happens, Miss Farley has probably already returned to the British Ministry of Magic.”

"Speaking of which, I remember Miss Farley became Sirius's girlfriend, right?" Dumbledore's eyes lit up at this—Harry could tell it was the gleam of gossip.

No, you're such an old man, why are you being so gossipy?
“Yes.” Harry yawned. “That was a year ago… oh, last Christmas.”

"When do they plan to get married?" Dumbledore asked curiously. "Sirius is not young anymore, and... well, now that he's Minister for Magic, he really should be thinking about marriage."

"We're tentatively planning to get married this Christmas, if all goes well," Harry said with a smile. "About a few days before Christmas, when everyone at Hogwarts is on holiday, so we can have time to attend the wedding."

“Good timing.” Dumbledore laughed heartily. “Looks like I’ll be able to attend his wedding. I wonder if there will be any of my favorite dishes at the banquet.”

“Of course it’s a good time. Vivi had an Eastern wizard calculate this auspicious day, saying it’s suitable for marriage… I don’t know what that means.” Harry shrugged. “If you ask me, Vivi is a really good woman.”

Dumbledore coughed twice and looked at Harry with some confusion.

Why are you praising your girlfriend right from zero frames?
It's like everyone knows you have a great girlfriend.

Just then, Harry's phone suddenly rang.

He answered the phone, and Vivi's image appeared above the crystal ball.

“Harry.” She smiled. “What made you think of calling me?”

“You’ve probably forgotten, we also promised Professor Dumbledore we’d help Hogwarts remove the curse from the Defense Against the Dark Arts class,” Harry said, rubbing his forehead. “Besides, Professor Slughorn wants to meet you, remember? He’s one of the next three freshmen; he was a sophomore when you enrolled…”

“I seem to remember you, Slytherin, right?” Vivi smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll be going to England later, probably after dinner… By the way, have you met my new secretary Anna? She’s Ms. Rozier’s grandniece.”

Hearing this, Harry shook his head.

“I thought she was Ms. Rozier’s granddaughter,” he said.

“How could that be?” Vivi chuckled. “You know how much Ms. Rozier likes Gail… never mind, let’s not talk about that.”

“Yes,” Harry sighed as well. “Sometimes I really want to ask Mrs. Rosier what is so good about that little Gail that she’s been infatuated with him for so many years.”

"Pah!" Vivi suddenly exploded, "I want to ask Gellert the same question! What's so great about Dumbledore anyway!"

Harry didn't have time to mute himself. He coughed twice and reminded Vivi, "You... let's change the subject, dear sister. I'm in the headmaster's office right now."

(End of this chapter)