Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 199, Section 198: Two People at Odds

For the first time in many years, Hagrid's hut welcomed so many guests, and for the first time, he was so popular with the students—all hoping to get the biggest pumpkin from him.

The students were far more interested in building pumpkin warships than the professors had anticipated; they couldn't wait to sink other people's ships on the Black Lake.

Hagrid's pumpkins were almost not enough, and Professor McGonagall had to help enlarge some ordinary large pumpkins using magic.

So by noon on Halloween the next day, the shore of Black Lake was already filled with pumpkin boats of all shapes and sizes—the existence of magic allowed the students to freely unleash their imaginations, to the point that many pumpkins no longer looked like pumpkins at all.

At the request of their respective deans, the senior students would bring along a few junior students to their groups, and the giant pumpkins that had been enlarged by magic were large enough for so many people to move around inside.

"Yes! Kids! That's it! We need rams!!" Sirius shouted excitedly from the edge of his pumpkin boat. "Don't make them too sharp, make them blunt. Speed ​​is always the most important thing. Only with enough speed can we have the impact to capsize them!"

"Yes, Captain!!"

Fred and George responded loudly, their heads now even more crowded, each wearing a pirate hat in addition to a pair of bull horns.

Well, Harry wasn't surprised at all that Sirius could get along with the Weasley twins, after all, their mental ages were really close, and they were both lively, playful, and loved to play pranks—if the Weasley twins had been born a decade or so earlier, the original bandit quartet would probably have been a group of six.

Birds of a feather flock together!

Harry could hardly bear to watch his godfather's actions, and he was beginning to question whether agreeing to let Sirius come out and play today was the right decision.

“Stupid, vulgar,” Snape said slowly, standing beside Harry. “Very stupid. It’s obvious he hasn’t learned anything from his past experiences. If you think about it, Sirius’s brain is probably not even as good as a troll’s. At least a troll might learn from a failed hunt.”

"Can they really do that, sir?" Draco asked with some curiosity.

“Obviously not,” Snape glanced at his friend’s child. “Just as trolls can’t learn from their mistakes, so too can our Mr. Sirius—it’s far too difficult for him to do something so human.”

"What did you say?! Nose—Snape!!" Sirius, who was standing on the edge of the giant pumpkin boat, naturally heard Snape's completely undisguised voice and immediately jumped off the boat and rushed over.

Fortunately, Harry's presence prevented him from uttering the word; otherwise, Harry would probably have regretfully informed Fred and George that they needed to find another captain.

"Have your ears gone malfunctioned?" Unfazed, Snape met his challenge head-on, sneering, "I thought you were just as smart as a troll, but trolls have incredibly sensitive ears, while you—"

Sirius didn't finish his sentence, but he completely understood Snape's contemptuous smile.

"Can't you two just shut up for once?" Harry sighed deeply. "I don't understand—it's been so long, and you've fought so many times, why is it still so noisy when you meet?"

The students were already watching the spectacle.

Sirius Black has lived near the castle for so long that, although he hasn't told the students about what happened between him and Snape back then, everyone now knows that Harry's godfather, the dark hero of Gryffindor, Sirius Black, and Professor Snape were at odds.

To be honest, they were all used to the situation where Snape and Sirius would both be present at the same time, leading to arguments, and then they would skillfully watch the spectacle unfold.

It was so embarrassing... And Harry also discovered that this kind of fighting wasn't just Sirius provoking him one-sidedly. Snape, who was always very calm and aloof, would also provoke Sirius whenever he got the chance. And both of them were quite enthusiastic.

"That's probably because that stupid dog has never won before," Snape continued with a sneer. "It's precisely because he's never won that he's so resentful... What's there to say about a defeated opponent?"

"What did you say?! Snape!!" Sirius was so angry he was about to jump up and down. "Who hasn't won?! Who's the defeated one?!"

“Excessive anger only exposes your insecurity, you stupid dog,” Snape mocked. “Since the day you were released from prison, have you ever beaten me? Or have you abandoned all sense of shame for the Black family and are trying to fabricate a victory that doesn’t exist?”

"Aa ...

"Forget it, I have no interest in repeatedly defeating the same opponent," Snape said with a sarcastic smile. "Besides, unlike some unemployed people, as a professor at Hogwarts, I have proper work to do—here, Harry, this is some cold medicine that Madam Pomfrey and I brewed together. You asked for it a little too soon; she couldn't make it on her own."

"Thank you. I'm almost hesitant to go see Madam Pomfrey, after all, this is quite an unexpected extra workload." Harry took the small bag from Snape, glanced at the amount of potions inside, and then looked up to thank them. "Thank you for your help."

“She was indeed very angry, so I was the one who came to deliver the medicine, and I also had to supervise these little trolls as they drank it,” Snape said expressionlessly. “However, what angered Madam Pomfrey was not the urgent brewing of so much cold medicine, but that your activities would put the students at risk of catching a cold… You’d better not get sick lately.”

What does that mean? Does it mean Madam Pomfrey will also force me to drink some awful potion?
"...Shamans also possess healing spells," Harry thought to himself, then continued, "Anyway, thank you very much. Um... thank you, Snape. You truly are a Potions Master. Sirius's body is much healthier than when he was first released from prison."

“No need to be so polite,” Snape said with a smile, his gaze drifting almost imperceptibly over Sirius. “After all, I’m not like some irresponsible people. If you encounter any problems that are difficult to solve, you can always come to me for help… I promise you, I won’t let you down.”

These words were somewhat meaningful, and it didn't take much thought to see who Snape was implying was the irresponsible and disappointing person—Harry was completely speechless at the messy affairs between the older generation. Both Sirius and Snape were people he could actually trust now, but it was clear that Harry's trust in them did not mean that they trusted each other.

When Harry cast a worried glance at Sirius, he found his godfather, who usually lost his temper and became emotionally unstable when facing certain people, to be surprisingly calm.

"You're not scared, are you, Snape?" Even Sirius himself probably didn't realize that the mocking smile on his face was exactly the same as Snape's earlier sneer. "No wonder, after all, you're always like this, thinking you've won, thinking you're the victor—but in reality, Lily ultimately chose James instead of you. You lost completely, utterly—"

Whoosh! !

Before Sirius could finish speaking, a red light struck the spot where he had just been standing—Sirius was prepared; he had jumped aside the moment he uttered those words, and then—

"Ptooey!!" With a light, sharp sound, Sirius spat at Snape.

The white saliva drew an exquisite arc in mid-air, without any magical fluctuations or abnormalities, and landed straight on the hem of Snape's robe.

"..."

A silence.

Neither Snape nor the students watching from afar expected Sirius to do such a thing, and even more unbelievably—Snape didn't dodge.

They didn't dodge.

Whether it was due to slow reaction or other considerations, the end result was that the spit landed on Snape.

"Huh?" Even Sirius himself didn't expect to succeed. He turned to Harry and said, "I didn't break my promise to you, Harry. I didn't fight Snape with my wand."

Sirius Black felt incredibly accomplished, and he couldn't hide the smugness on his face.

"...You should stop your childish behavior." Seeing that Snape hadn't spoken yet, Harry could already smell the storm brewing. He took a deep breath and warned in advance, "There are so many students watching, don't force Professor McGonagall to take action."

“Of course not,” Snape said with a sudden, fake smile. “But if you don’t mind, as the price for these potions—I also need a pumpkin boat, Harry.”

As he spoke, Snape swiftly waved his wand and neatly cut off a section of the spittle-stained robe, then burned the cut-off fabric to ashes before the students' horrified eyes.

“…Don’t go too far,” Harry said after a few seconds of silence, meeting Snape’s gaze.

Snape's gaze became vacant again, as if his mind had been completely shut down. Harry already knew the name and effect of this spell: Occlumency. It could keep a wizard calm and prevent his thoughts and memories from being invaded, and it could also force him to calm down.

To be honest, Harry hadn't seen Snape with that expression for a long time since he saw Lily's spirit last year; he'd been in a good mood... until Sirius was released from prison.

"Ha, you think I'm afraid of you?" Sirius said eagerly, "Come on, old bat—it'll be funny to see you splashing around in the water. Maybe you can even wash your hair while you're at it. Do you need me to lend you a bottle of shampoo?"

Without answering, Snape merely glanced deeply at the trembling Weasley twins beside him before turning and leaving, flicking his robes.

The bloodshed was palpable... Harry smiled helplessly, but at least this Halloween was definitely going to be a lot of fun.

“Wait, Harry,” Fred leaned closer and asked timidly, “What did Snape mean by that look he gave me just now?”

“I swear it’s definitely not the ‘old bat’ word we taught Sirius to use—he won’t blame us, will he? Will he? Won’t he? Will he?”

After a moment of silence, Harry patted George's arm.

Enjoy today.

Without saying much, Harry left after uttering just one sentence, leaving the twins staring at each other in bewilderment.

"Harry... what does this mean?"

"Do we only have this much life left?"

....................................

【Waaaaaah!】

He blew a long horn and Hagrid laughed loudly.

"Hurry! Hurry! Push all your boats into the lake! The battle has begun!!"

"Remember this! No harmful spells! No direct attacks on your opponent! And no attacks after your opponent falls into the lake! You don't want to have a heart-to-heart talk with Professor McGonagall, do you?"

"Of course we don't want to!!"

Excitedly pushing their pumpkin boats into the Black Lake, the students responded enthusiastically to Hagrid's call. They were dressed in different peculiar costumes, which were peculiar in that they were all pirate outfits, but different in that they didn't look like what pirates should wear at all.

A very standard wizarding stereotype: a male wizard dressed as a woman, yet believing he is wearing normal Muggle clothing... Only the young wizards from Muggle families look somewhat like proper pirates, and they didn't offer any explanation for their classmates, instead trying hard to suppress their laughter.

There are quite a few malicious people.

Some students completely dyed their pumpkin boats black and carved fierce-looking skulls on them, while others made their pumpkin boats emit a blinding light... a really blinding white light, like looking directly at the sun at noon, making others afraid to look at them.

This is probably their plan: to dazzle others and gain an advantage in battle.

(End of this chapter)