Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying!

“But Hermione—” Padma asked, puzzled, “won’t that make things more complicated for you?”

Hermione looked at her incredulously: "That's how you learn!"

The two girls looked at each other, and after a moment, they tacitly skipped over the topic.

When Padma finished her homework, only Neville was still chewing on her pen, continuing her efforts. She stuffed the parchment into her bag and walked briskly around the partition wall—to prevent those practicing spells from disturbing the students doing their homework, Vader had recently added a sky-blue partition wall to the Umbrella House, dividing the room into two sections in a 1:3 ratio, with a silencing charm added in between.

Moving to the other side, there were two rows of targets in the classroom, most of them quite worn out, beyond repair even with restoration spells, but that didn't stop them from using them. At the far end, an entire wall was covered in mirrors; Vader explained that this made it easy for them to correct their movements at any time.

Michael repeatedly set the target ablaze with Flame of Fire, then extinguished it with Water of Clarity. Theo tormented his target with Shatter and Restore. Hermione cast a Dancing Charm on a spider, causing its long, thin legs to dance wildly in the air.

Ryan said to a gray mouse that was peeking out in front of him, "Petrify them all!"

The mouse's body suddenly stiffened, with only its tail twitching slightly. A moment later, it darted out and, with a "bang," turned into a small twig in mid-air.

"The Petrification Spell: When drawing a circle, use your wrist as the center, and make quick and sharp turns."

Vader waved his wand, and the branch floated in the air. He tapped it again with the tip of his wand, and the branch turned back into a mouse.

"All petrified!"

Wade demonstrated once, and suddenly the rat's paws and tail pressed tightly against its body, as hard as a wooden board, and its dark eyes seemed to reveal terror.

It landed on the ground with a "thud," just like a stone.

Wade released the spell, letting Ryan continue practicing, then walked over to Padma and asked, "Do you want to learn the Slide Flat first, or practice other spells?"

“Um—” Padma stuck out her tongue, looking embarrassed, “Actually—even my healing spells only work sometimes—”

She waited for Wade to give her a "this is a big problem" look, but he simply tapped the target next to him with his wand, and the wooden target immediately split in the middle.

Vader said, "Let's start with the Restoration Charm. Let me see your skill level first."

Padma's arm trembled slightly as she raised her wand.

She suddenly realized that she might have made the best decision she had made since enrolling in school.

She will definitely learn a lot here!

"—Restored to its original condition!"

Chapter 33 Secret

The weather has been getting colder lately, but the atmosphere at school has quietly become more lively—because the Quidditch season has begun.

Michael is a die-hard Quidditch fan; he even watched the Quidditch World Cup live last year—a match that lasted five days and five nights. Michael recounted seven times how Scotland narrowly missed victory and how Canada narrowly won the championship.

Thanks to his eloquent explanations, even Wade was familiar with many famous teams, such as the Heidelberg Hounds of Germany, the Vlata Eagles of Bulgaria, the Fitchburg Flying Sparrows of the United States, and the now-defunct Chadli Cannons, among others. He also knew various Quidditch moves, such as the Eagles' Head formation and the Plenton Backspin.

But despite Michael's extensive knowledge of Quidditch's various difficult moves and his brilliant performances on the field, the moment he gets on his broomstick, it's like he's stepped on a landmine. He's tense and cautious, moving only slightly faster than a running pony, and never climbing more than ten meters.

Wade always suspected that even in their second year, when they could bring flying brooms into school, Michael would still have to climb the stairs back to his dorm—because the Ravenclaw Tower was several times the height of ten meters.

Because Michael can't help but talk about Quidditch, and the topics he discusses are things that Wade neither understands nor is interested in, he's recently started avoiding Michael—maybe only will Michael be able to act a little normal after the Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff match is over.

Hermione has been busier lately, with several Quidditch books now on her desk—Harry is about to participate in his first ever Quidditch match and is so nervous he can't eat. Their relationship has started to improve, and Hermione's way of showing concern for her friend is by trying to find ways to help him through books.

Wade thought Michael could talk to Hermione more; one loved to talk, and the other loved to listen—they were a perfect match. Unfortunately, the two houses didn't have completely synchronized schedules, so most of the time Wade was the one forced to listen to the "Quidditch match recap broadcasts." But recently, Padma had joined the conversation, and while she and Michael were engrossed in their chatter, Wade finally got a moment of peace and quiet.

Hogwarts Castle is a vast complex, making it incredibly easy to find a secluded corner. Wade found an empty classroom on the sixth floor near the library. Climbing out the window, he discovered a small platform – a secret spot he'd recently found. The platform was hidden and sheltered from the wind by taller buildings, ensuring it wouldn't be seen from any windows, and offered a great view – overlooking the Quidditch pitch and the Forbidden Forest in the distance.

Several tiny figures flitted and danced above the Quidditch pitch, looking like busy bees from a distance. Judging from the fleeting glimpse of gold and red, it must be the Gryffindor team practicing.

Speaking of which, Hermione told me something at the Umbrella House yesterday—Recently, Gryffindor team captain Wood got angry in the common room because he had previously demanded that the entire house keep Harry Potter's joining the team a secret, wanting to use it as a secret weapon, but now it seems everyone in the school knows. Wood is convinced someone leaked the information and keeps a sharp eye on the lion cubs every day, trying to find the "spy," which has made several girls cry—because they were dating guys from other houses.

But actually, it's obvious. The Gryffindor team practices three times a week, never resting no matter how bad the weather. Whenever this happens, Harry Potter suddenly disappears, only to reappear exhausted after practice. After a few repetitions, anyone would guess he'd been exceptionally added to the Gryffindor team. Besides, they fly so high; surely one or two sharp-eyed students would recognize him.

Wade stared at the distant field for a while. The flying figures looked chaotic, and he couldn't make out any formations like "figure-eight" or "eagle head attack." He shook his head, wondering if it was his own poor judgment or the players' lack of skill.

Alchemy is much more interesting in comparison.

With a wave of his wand, several small blue fireballs appeared out of thin air, radiating warmth. Vader took out a copy of "On the Diversity of Species" that he had borrowed from the library from his bag, then turned a stone pillar on the platform into a cushion, and sat down against the wall to read.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard footsteps. Wade didn't pay attention at first, but after reading two lines of text, his heart skipped a beat.

A faint smell of garlic wafted through the air.

Before his brain could even process it, Vader subconsciously canceled his fire magic and polymorph, silently and swiftly standing up behind the protruding brick wall.

"What are you looking at……"

A shrill voice was speaking, soft but with a gloomy and irritable quality, as if it were whispering right next to his ear.

Wade almost thought he'd seen him before, that the words were spoken to him. Thankfully, just as he hesitated, another timid voice spoke up—

“It’s Harry Potter, Master,” the voice said. “He’s training with his teammates at the Quidditch pitch.”

Wade immediately realized that it was Quirrell and his Voldemort—they were right next to him, separated by only a wall!

He held his breath and subconsciously shrank back, not daring to breathe too loudly.

"—Harry Potter?" Voldemort muttered the name resentfully, whispering, "Yes, the boy who survived... the savior of the wizarding world... he stepped over my corpse to become a big star when I was just a shadowy ghost, didn't he? I bet Dumbledore had high hopes for him!"

Quirrell probably felt the same way as Wade; he cowered and dared not speak.

“Kill him, Quirrell,” Voldemort commanded coldly. “Kill him while he’s the center of attention!”

“But, but Master—with Dumbledore around, I can’t do anything—didn’t you say we must never attract Dumbledore’s attention—” Quirrell stammered, sounding terrified.

"Are you questioning me, Quirrell? You dare disobey my orders?!"

Voldemort did something, and Quirrell immediately let out a painful groan.

“No—I dare not—I obey—I obey—Master, I will obey any of your orders—Spare me—” Quirrell hissed and begged, rolling on the ground.

But Voldemort did not stop immediately. After the torture continued for a while, Voldemort "mercifully" let him go.

"Use your brain, you idiot," Voldemort said in a malicious voice. "He's going to play Quidditch...flying fifty meters in the air...even if he falls off his broom, no one will suspect you, you coward who can't even speak properly. They'll just think it's because you're not good enough—what's so strange about a brat who hasn't even mastered a few spells dying from a fall?"

“Yes—yes—I understand—I will do it—” Quirrell lay on the ground, tears streaming down his face, trembling as he spoke.

After a long while, Vader heard the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor get up from the ground, rustle as he straightened his clothes, probably wiped away his tears, and then dragged himself away with heavy steps.

Only then did Wade let out a long sigh of relief, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

Chapter 34 Professor Murray

“Boom—boom—boom—”

His heart was pounding, his soaked clothes clung to his body, and the cold wind chilled him to the bone.

This was the closest Wade had come to death since his rebirth.

Don't be fooled by how easily first-year Harry Potter deals with the charlatan version of Voldemort in the story, as if it were a game; that's because he's protected by magic left by his mother. If it were Wade now, even if he knew ten times more spells than Harry Potter, he'd likely be dead if Voldemort discovered him.

Reborn, Vader is not too afraid of death. He can accept dying for a great purpose or to protect his loved ones, but he cannot accept dying for such a ridiculous reason—being silenced for overhearing the villain's secret, dying silently like cannon fodder.

Worried about running into Quirrell again after leaving here, Wade hid on this secluded platform for a long time and unknowingly fell asleep against the wall. When he suddenly woke up, he realized that it was almost dawn and the sky was still very dark.

The Quidditch pitch was deserted. In the vast campus, only a silver-haired adult wizard was strolling by the Black Lake—probably a professor, but not Dumbledore, because Dumbledore had a long white beard.

Wade didn't get a good look at the man's face, but he didn't care, as long as it wasn't Quirrell. He stood up, leaning against the wall, feeling dizzy and unsteady, his body swaying involuntarily, almost losing his balance.

broken.

Wade thought to himself, reaching up to touch his forehead—it didn't feel particularly hot, because his palms were also incredibly hot. With each breath, the heat scorched his nostrils, giving Wade the illusion that if there were an egg next to him, he could cook it with his own heat.

Wade climbed through the window into the empty classroom and dragged his weary body toward the school infirmary. Most of the portraits in the corridor were asleep, but a young red-haired wizard was idly leaning against a frame, lost in thought. When he saw Wade, his eyes lit up, and he asked curiously, "What's wrong? Are you sick?"

Why don't you go back to the lounge at night?

"Mrs. Pomfrey is probably still in bed! Should I wake her up for you?"

"Haha, just kidding! There's no portrait of me in her bedroom."

Why aren't you saying anything? Talk to me! I'm so bored being awake all by myself.

Vader had no energy to pay attention to him, but the red-haired wizard persistently followed him through several picture frames, chattering on and on. He didn't seem embarrassed at all for not getting a response, which showed that he must be an incurable chatterbox.

The red-haired wizard reluctantly gave up after searching a long corridor without finding any portraits. He called out from afar, "With your personality, you probably don't have many friends, right? Come find me again when you're better! I can chat with you!"

Wade's head was throbbing with fever, and he almost wanted to pry open his skull. The wizard's rambling was even more annoying and distracted him. By the time Wade noticed another set of footsteps in the corridor besides his own, the sound was already very close to him!

—It's almost just around the corner!!!

Wade froze instantly.

He instinctively tried to dodge, but his sluggish body didn't have time to react.

"thumping!"

Footsteps approaching...

"thumping!"

The world seemed to shrink before my eyes, my vision became blurry, but my hearing remained sharp.

"thumping!"

A figure appeared from around the corner.

"What's wrong, child?" someone asked him.

But Wade's mind seemed to be like a rusty gear, and he didn't answer for a long time.