The days at Hogwarts

"It's time to practice the Patronus Charm! We're going to try memory magic this morning." Hermione stood up suddenly, her face serious, and dragged Loren to the courtyard at the back to cast the Patronus.

……

"Before we begin, let's confirm it again." Loren stood straight, staring into Hermione's eyes nervously, "Legitimate Memory will not cause harm to people, and will not produce any irreversible effects."

After practicing the Patronus Charm, they were ready to start practicing Legilimency and Occlumency. But Loren always felt sorry for Hermione, afraid of having any impact on her or causing any harm.

Hermione, who was sitting in front of Loren, sighed and said helplessly, "You have repeated it three times. I am the one receiving the spell. Why are you more nervous than me?"

A lot of time has been wasted, and it would be impolite to delay any further. Loren coughed and said, "Then, Legilimency."

He gently raised the elbow of his right hand that was holding the wand. In fact, Legilimency did not have high requirements for the trajectory of the wand and the casting gestures, and even the requirements for the spell were not high.

It is more like a spell that comes from the soul, using the eyes as a medium to probe into another person's soul. A wizard who masters this spell can cast it unconsciously without leaving any trace.

Hermione was unconsciously attracted by the crystal blue in Loren's eyes. Following the dots of blue in them, her consciousness seemed to be in a high mountain somewhere, surrounded by endless wilderness.

Memories surged in her heart, and every scene she had experienced seemed to emerge.

Loren felt a long-lasting void, composed of countless images and sounds, which was Hermione's memory.

Before she could check, this mysterious state was broken. They both woke up and realized that they were in the living room, one sitting on the sofa and the other standing in front of her.

Chapter 142 Dumbledore's Visit

"Occlumency!" Loren exclaimed. "You learned it so quickly?"

He saw that Harry had been studying for a year but still couldn't master it, so he thought Occlumency was difficult, but Hermione got it right the first time.

Hiss, is it that Harry is too simple-minded?

"No." Hermione explained helplessly, "Your Legilimency was unsuccessful. The spell was interrupted halfway through."

In order to let Loren learn Legilimency as quickly as possible, she had no intention of resisting. Instead, she cooperated very well and took the initiative to immerse herself in that state to make it easier for Loren to check her memory.

Loren rolled up his sleeves and said, "Then let's continue."

In the morning, he practiced the Patronus Charm and Memory Magic, and in the afternoon, he reviewed the content of the previous school year. Under Hermione's supervision, Loren spent a painful yet fulfilling day.

As the sun sets, Bates, who has just returned from handling the property rights procedures, sends Hermione to the door and once again asks her to stay: "Are you really not going to have dinner at our house?"

"No, no, I have to have dinner with my parents." Hermione waved her hands in panic and refused, with a faint blush on her cheeks, which was not obvious under the afterglow of the setting sun.

She had mutton noodles in the morning and what Loren called "mutton soup rice pudding" for lunch. She was so full both times that she couldn't eat like that for dinner anymore.

Hermione, Hermione, you can't be like this again.

The girl shook her head and quickly returned to her home.

Bates watched Hermione's back disappear with a smile, closed the door, looked at Loren lying on the sofa like a dead fish, and sighed dejectedly.

……

boom!

Boom!

There was a knock on the door, and Loren woke up from his sleep, his head still fuzzy. He opened his eyes with difficulty and vaguely recognized the hands on the alarm clock on the windowsill: 7:30.

"Grandpa Bates, if the house wasn't on fire, let me sleep a little longer." Loren shouted weakly.

"Loren! It's me, Hermione! Get up and practice the Patronus Charm!" Hermione's clear voice came from outside the door.

"Ah!" Loren groaned weakly and sat up from the bed.

What a nightmare! It was waiting for me downstairs yesterday, and today it raided my bedroom directly.

He shook his head, got out of bed, dragged his soulless body to the door, opened it, and saw Hermione standing in front of the door.

"This is too early! If I remember correctly, Wendell and Monica should still be having breakfast at this time." Loren strongly condemned this behavior that prevented him from sleeping.

"Yes, I eat breakfast faster than them." Hermione took out the schedule again, compared the text on it, and began to arrange today's study plan, "Your progress on the Patronus Charm is a bit slow, we should spend more time on it, and then..."

Loren's vision began to go dark again. He passed Hermione and walked downstairs. He looked around and didn't see Grandpa Bates. He asked in confusion, "Where's Grandpa Bates?"

"We will review Transfiguration and Potions this afternoon—"

Hearing the question, Hermione stopped her arrangements, looked up and replied, "Grandpa Bates said he has to deal with the bank and funds today."

Let me take care of you...

Hermione didn't say the rest of the sentence.

Miserable, today is another day of being dominated and tortured by Hermione... Loren felt secretly heartbroken, and his vision kept going dark.

Listening to Hermione's tight and strict study plan, he mechanically washed and brushed his teeth, lit the stove, made a simple breakfast of baked beans in tomato sauce with canned beans, fried bacon, eggs and bread slices.

He divided it into two portions, one large and one small, and put them on a plate. He handed the smaller portion to Hermione and started eating.

"I, I..." Hermione held the plate. The tempting aroma of the food kept drilling into her nose, making her mouth, stomach and brain keep shouting. The words of rejection came to her lips but she couldn't say no.

She silently ordered an extra breakfast and once again ate until her belly was bloated.

Hermione, Hermione, you can't do this tomorrow...

On the sofa in the living room, Hermione sat upright, looking straight into Loren's eyes, her mind immersed in the charming blue color.

Some invisible bond connects the two people together, and the content of the memory is transmitted through the bond.

Suddenly, Hermione's sitting posture relaxed, as if the invisible bond pulling her was broken.

"How about it, how much did you see this time?" Hermione asked curiously. She was very interested in how Legilimency worked.

Loren frowned and said uncertainly: "I seemed to see you as a child, but there were only a few fleeting images."

Yesterday, the video was disconnected before I even started viewing it, but today I can already see scattered images. Even if Voldemort came, I have to praise Loren for his talent in becoming a master of Legilimency, which is very suitable for playing with people's hearts.

But Loren and Hermione were not satisfied. Hermione said with a serious expression: "It still failed. It can't even reach the first stage."

"From the information you summarized, the subsequent stage of Legilimency is to search for the content you need from the other party's memory, to find out the other party's emotions, and even to read the other party's thoughts like mind reading."

Loren was amazed at Hermione's ability to memorize information, and suddenly an idea came to his mind: "You recite the information, and I read your memory. In this way, can I also recite the information?"

"Don't dream." Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Go on, let's practice hard. Once you master Legilimency, I will start practicing Occlumency."

In the morning, they studied the Patronus Charm and Memory Magic, and in the afternoon, they continued to review the content of the previous school year. According to Hermione's plan, they would spend a week reviewing, and would have to review from time to time afterwards.

Although Loren did not accept Hermione's method of recitation and review, and slacked off in his own way, he still kept up with the progress.

Once again, the golden afterglow of the sunset covered everything in sight with a coat of glittering golden light. Under Bates' scolding, Loren had to send Hermione back to the Granger house.

At first, both of them felt that since the distance was so short, there was no need to be polite and they didn't need to care about false politeness.

But when we actually set out on this trail together, it seemed like it might be a good idea.

They were silent. They had already talked a lot during the whole day of study. Bathed in such light, both of them enjoyed this short path, enjoying the quiet time without exchanging magic or talking about spells.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at Granger's door.

Loren looked up, thinking he should say something, but no words seemed to matter. Finally, he smiled brightly: "The sunset is nice today."

"Yes, it's beautiful." Hermione also smiled.

Life would be better without that strict study plan, Loren walked back humming a little tune.

As the sky gradually darkened, he walked through the empty streets and returned to his home.

Turning around, he saw Dumbledore standing in front of the mailbox in front of the door.

Dumbledore, wearing a white gauze robe and with a beard that was more neatly combed than his hair, was standing in front of the mailbox waiting for him.

Loren's face showed surprise, "Principal Dumbledore!"

"The sunset is beautiful today, and the moon will be beautiful too, isn't it?" Dumbledore said with a smile.

Ignoring the sarcasm in this sentence, Loren calculated that tonight was the night of the full moon and he was almost busy.

He quickly opened the door, led the person in, and as soon as he entered the living room, he shouted, "Grandpa Bates, the Headmaster Dumbledore I told you about is here!"

After a lively round of introductions and greetings, the three of them sat down on the sofa in the living room.

"Grandpa Bates, Headmaster Dumbledore is here to treat werewolf disease."

Loren introduced with excitement, speaking several times faster than usual, "A simple magic ritual will prevent you from transforming again for the next few years."

Bates had always thought that, at the age of nearly 80, he no longer cared whether the disease could be cured, but when hope really appeared before him, his heart was still filled with nervousness and excitement.

He sat upright on the sofa, rubbing his knees with his hands, forcing a forced smile on his face, "Yes, really?"

Loren felt amused when he saw Grandpa Bates like this. He lowered his head to pour tea for the two old men and left the situation to Dumbledore to control.

"Yes, don't be nervous, just use a simple magic ritual, and we already have successful cases." Dumbledore had a kind smile on his face.

"Before that, we need to relax." Dumbledore said in a gentle tone.

"Oh, relax, relax, I know." Bates's hands were still rubbing on his knees.

"Let's chat." Dumbledore looked into Bates' eyes with sincerity. "I heard that you met an interesting wizard during your travels. How about we talk about that?"

Talking about the familiar topic, Bates was no longer so nervous, and his voice became cheerful: "Haha, at that time I was..."

Loren, who had been studying Legilimency intensively these past two days, sensed a strange fluctuation, which was transmitted from Dumbledore to Grandpa Bates and then quickly transmitted back to Dumbledore.

"...He also taught me how to smile more charmingly. Hahahaha, you wizards are all different from what I thought--"

Bates' voice gradually became softer and his tone became slower, then he closed his eyes, fell headfirst onto the sofa, and fell into a deep sleep.

"It's just a little trick of the old wizard, a little guidance of the soul, not even a Stunning Spell." Dumbledore winked at Loren, "But you can rest assured, his memory has not been lost or tampered with."

Loren grinned.

Dumbledore brought the materials needed for the ritual, and Bates was not troubled by Nagini. When the full moon emerged from the clouds, they quickly completed the ritual and the human form restoration spell.

Loren placed the unconscious Bates on the sofa and returned to the courtyard to watch the moon with Dumbledore.

The courtyard was still bare, and the white moonlight sprinkled directly on the soil, revealing a different scenery.

The two sat on the stone bench, feeling the cool evening breeze of the midsummer night, which brought the fragrance of grass and trees from afar, passed by them, and blew away.

"Do you want to go next door to see Hermione and her parents? It's very close. Hermione will definitely be happy about your home visit." Loren said happily, swinging his legs.

The matter that had been weighing on him since the beginning had finally come to an end, and he felt more relaxed than ever before.

Dumbledore shook his head: "Don't worry, I believe there will be many opportunities to meet in the future. Besides, as the headmaster, I still have a lot of things to do."

Loren didn't believe it: "Isn't Hogwarts supported by Vice Principal McGonagall? What are you going to do?"

Dumbledore laughed for a long time. "It was Minerva who proposed the independent jurisdiction of Hogwarts. At the board meeting, she mercilessly picked out the ideas of some dark wizards and Death Eaters. The Ministry of Magic also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to gain benefits. Various forces fanned the flames and launched a major investigation."

"The Ministry of Magic began to search for prohibited items, mainly dark magic items. Hogwarts Castle and pure-blood families were all included in the search. Even a family like the Malfoys could not avoid it. Draco's father spent a lot of favors to buy some time to transfer the prohibited items."

"Minerva has secured a compromise between the Ministry of Magic and the Board of Directors. If there are no problems with Hogwarts, and some of the people on the Board of Directors are not so clean, then Hogwarts' autonomy will be extremely legitimate."

"In order to prepare for the surprise inspection by the Ministry of Magic, I cannot leave Hogwarts Castle for too long." Although he said so, Dumbledore did not look nervous at all. "Although there are many secrets hidden in the castle, I don't think they can find out anything. It's just that Minerva doesn't want any surprises."

"You see, a simple matter has become complicated because of interests. Hogwarts wants independence, the board of directors wants more authority, and the Ministry of Magic wants more power."

Dumbledore sighed, patted Loren on the shoulder, and gave him an encouragement, "Minerva will be a very successful headmaster in the future."

I'm just a first-grade student, why are you telling me so much detail... Loren was confused but didn't ask.

Loren did not take up the topic of power and interests, but asked his magic mirror instead: "Principal, have you asked me about the unicorn horn? What did Hagrid say? Is there any hope?"

Dumbledore shook his head: "Unicorns regard their horns as very important, just like human heads. No one wants their heads to be used as materials."

"I also asked Hagrid, and he told me to advise you not to take their horns unless you want to be hated by the unicorn tribe."

Loren was a little discouraged. It seemed he had to think of other ways.

"but--"

Dumbledore's turn of events gave him hope again. "You can go to the Muggle Windsor Castle to inquire."

"Muggles? How do Muggles have anything to do with unicorns?" Loren asked.

"If you live long enough, you will naturally know some secret information, and Muggles are not weak creatures."

Loren wanted to ask for more details, but Dumbledore said no more. He stood up, smoothed his robes, and winked at Loren: "Seeing how well you and Miss Granger are doing, I believe you will learn the Patronus Charm soon."

"I have to go back. See you when school starts."

After saying that, the figure disappeared with a "bang".

Chapter 143: No Comments on the Sun and the World