Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying

Wade hesitated: "...Omar?"

"Yeah, that's what I named it."

Filch happily introduced the other crabs: "This is Rhett, Peg, Ruby, Stella and Thomas."

"Meow--" Mrs. Loris made a coquettish sound.

"Of course, of course, the most important thing to me is Mrs. Norris," Filch said hurriedly, and reached out to touch the cat's stretched back.

Wade was silent for a moment, decided not to comment on it, and asked, "Why is Mrs. Norris so thin? Is she sick or..."

"…just old." Filch picked up the cat and said sadly, "She's just like me, too old and her appetite has become poor."

"Meow——" Mrs. Norris called softly.

"Of course, even at her age, Mrs. Norris is still as smart and capable as ever, better than many humans."

Filch touched the cat's ears and chin skillfully, then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked up and asked, "By the way, Wade, do you want some flowers?"

"...Flowers?" Vader said.

"Yes."

Filch placed the cat on a chair, stood up and walked to the inner room, which Wade guessed might be his bedroom.

After a while, Filch came out with a few pots of flowers. The colorful flowers were in full bloom, making the narrow cottage look like an oil painting.

"You've been helping me fix crabs a lot during this time, and I don't have much to repay you for that...Recently, Professor Lockhart got a large batch of flowers from somewhere, and as a reward for my help in sorting them out, he agreed to let me keep a few pots for myself."

Filch placed the flower pot on the table in front of Wade and said, "You can take it...you can use it to decorate the house."

"Thank you." Wade didn't refuse him and said with a smile: "I'll put it in the umbrella house. Padma and Michael will definitely like it."

"Well……"

Hearing these two familiar names that had been reported before, Filch hesitated and said:

"Tell your friends not to go outside the school recently, especially those who are not yet in their third year... There are rumors that a few guys who look like dark wizards appeared in Hogsmeade a few days ago."

Wade's expression became slightly serious: "When?"

"Just two days ago... Friday or Saturday, someone said they saw two sneaky guys. There were also a few people wearing black cloaks who looked very dangerous."

Filch tried to recall the few words he heard in the pub. At the time, he thought that this matter had nothing to do with him and didn't pay much attention to it.

Finally he said, "If you want to know, I'll go and ask around."

Vader looked at him for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.

"No need...it would be bad if it put you in any danger."

He paused, then added: "Even if there are dark wizards, they can't enter Hogwarts... I will remind everyone not to run around."

Filch nodded in agreement. "That's right. If you follow the school rules, you won't make mistakes and there won't be any danger. Dumbledore is at Hogwarts. Even... even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can't hurt you."

Filch did not like Dumbledore's overly lenient management style, but he never doubted the headmaster's ability.

Chapter 224 Valentine’s Day

Wade had become accustomed to the illogical trust that everyone at Hogwarts had in the headmaster's abilities.

After being influenced for a long time, he couldn't help but think -

In the original plot, after Voldemort was resurrected, Fudge and others still dared to jump like that. Was it because they also believed that Voldemort would eventually be dealt with by Dumbledore, so they did whatever it took to get some benefits for themselves?

After this thought flashed through his mind, Wade smiled at himself again.

In fact, the reason is not important. There are some people in this world who, even if they are in high positions, are actually stupid, bad, short-sighted, and can only see their own petty gains.

……

After saying goodbye to Filch, Wade put several pots of flowers in the umbrella house. He turned an unused old pen holder into a watering can and watered the flowers.

Theo saw it and liked it very much. He and Ryan built a few racks by themselves so that the plants could grow smoothly, and they also separated some fermented dragon manure to fertilize them.

As soon as Michael entered the room, he was also attracted by the fragrance. He stood by and admired it for a while before he remembered to ask, "Where did the flowers come from?"

"Wade brought it." Theo said, raising his hand to wipe his forehead, and a mud mark suddenly appeared on his face.

Michael smiled maliciously, pointed to the side of his face and said, "Hey, there's something dirty here."

"is it?"

Theo had no doubts and wiped it twice, turning himself into a clown face.

Ryan on the opposite side saw it but didn't remind anyone. He was trying to hold back his laughter so much that his shoulders were shaking.

"Is it clean?" Theo asked cluelessly.

"Yeah, it's clean."

Michael held back his laughter and nodded, then he moved back to his seat, covered his face with a book and chuckled a few times, then turned to look at Wade.

"That girl?"

"Huh?" Wade was confused.

"Stop pretending." Michael nudged him with his elbow and winked, "Tomorrow is Valentine's Day—and you got flowers!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Wade shrugged. "This is a thank-you gift from Filch - I helped him fix the cleaning crab."

"...Filch?" Michael was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "I remember the things you made before didn't seem to be that easily damaged?"

Vader smiled but said nothing.

Michael understood - although everyone hated the mean administrator, some students thought that if they established a good relationship with him, they would be able to play pranks or go out at night without any hindrance in the future.

But Filch was a stubborn person. Gifts and even gold had no appeal to him, and the smile of a pretty girl was no different from that of a Bowtruckle in his eyes.

He would never give students a break for this, and it seemed that his only pleasure was to make things difficult for them.

But Vader broke this consensus.

And it was Filch who asked him for help, which was much better than for them to please the difficult administrator.

Michael gave a silent thumbs-up.

Wade thought, even if he said that he really wanted to help Filch, it would be unbelievable to others, right?

But Filch was a Squib, and so were Wade's parents. Putting himself in their shoes, he would naturally think about how difficult it would be for a person without magic to gain a foothold in such a magic school.

Moreover, Filch was already in his sixties or seventies, and he was still conscientiously doing all kinds of odd jobs. For wizards, it was just a small problem that could be solved by waving a wand, but he had to work very hard to complete it, and some children often deliberately made trouble for him.

So even if there was nothing in return, Vader wanted to help him.

……

The next day was Valentine's Day, but to most twelve-year-olds, it was no different from any other holiday.

They still have to go to class, and at most during lunch, the variety of chocolates will become richer than usual.

But as soon as they entered the auditorium, a shocking scene caught everyone's sight.

Heart-shaped confetti fell from the ceiling like snowflakes, the surrounding walls were covered with pink flowers, and several long tables were almost surrounded by flowers.

The surrounding candles were wrapped with mistletoe, and the light from the candles had turned pink. The bright color filled the field of vision and even made people feel a little sick.

A girl with a sensitive nose kept sneezing and finally had to run away from the auditorium.

But in the teaching booth, the man who had arranged all this seemed not to notice anything. He clapped his hands happily in his pink robe.

"My dear colleagues, students, and my lovely fans—"

Lockhart blinked in the girls' direction and was satisfied to hear a muffled scream.

"Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you like the surprise I prepared for you--"

The Weasley twins pretended to vomit in unison.

"——Of course, there's more! I also invited the friendly little Cupid with the greeting card!"

Lockhart waved his wand joyfully, and the door suddenly opened. A group of dwarves with gloomy faces and golden wings on their backs walked in.

They walked along the aisle between the long tables, playing the harp and singing tender love songs in hoarse voices.

Almost everyone showed an expression of patience.

"I suddenly don't feel that hungry anymore. I'll leave first."

Wade put down his fork, patted Michael on the shoulder, and stood up and left the table.

"Wait, I want to go too."

Michael grabbed a sandwich and saw Padma still staring at Professor Lockhart in front of him. He suddenly felt unhappy and reached out to pull her arm.

"Let's go, Padma."

The girl reluctantly stood up from the table and walked out with them, saying as she walked:

"Although the song sung by the dwarf is quite unpleasant, Professor Lockhart really prepared it with all his heart, didn't he? Those flowers are really nice. Valentine's Day at Hogwarts has never been so romantic..."

Michael looked at her expressionlessly and asked, "Who are you? Are you Hermione who drank the Polyjuice Potion?"

Padma burst out laughing and said, "Oh my god, Michael, you look so cute when you're jealous!"

"I'm not jealous!" Michael said stubbornly, "I'm just stating my opinion."

"Okay, okay. Sorry, I just thought pink would be a good day today."

Padma kindly took his arm, and as their bodies were close, Michael's dissatisfaction quickly disappeared.

Vader silently rolled his eyes and moved a little further away from them.

As they were leaving, they heard Lockhart's voice -

"They'll be hanging around the school delivering Valentine's Day cards for you!... Why don't you ask Professor Snape to teach you how to make a love potion? Or learn how to enchant people from Professor Flitwick... That wily old dog!"

Chapter 225 Arrest

Some students burst into laughter, and Michael couldn't help but be shocked -