The days at Hogwarts

"Oh, this can't be Harry Potter!"

He saw Harry in the crowd as soon as he entered Hogwarts. He had originally intended to use the savior to increase his popularity.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Make way," Lockhart walked down the stage, put his arm around Harry and led him back to the front, "Young Harry walked into Flourish and Blotts today just to buy a copy of my autobiography!"

"And I am willing to give him a complete set of my books for free!"

"But he doesn't know that he will get something more valuable soon..."

"That's right! Ladies and gentlemen! I am extremely happy and proud to announce that this September, I will become the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

When Harry came to his senses, he had received a complete set of Lockhart's books, signed collector's editions, which were worth a lot of money.

Hermione's face wrinkled tightly. "I suddenly have a bad feeling about the Defense Against the Dark Arts class next semester."

"How can you be so--hiss--"

Loren, a loyal supporter of Lockhart, was about to speak righteously, but was stopped by Hermione's powerful fist.

"Don't act weird!"

"Oh~"

In the end, he failed to gain favor with Lockhart, and was pulled by Hermione to the bookshelf to choose extracurricular books.

Just as Hermione was flipping through a book called "Ancient Runes for Beginners", Ron came up to Loren and pursed his lips twice, motioning him to follow him quietly.

"Loren, I want to borrow some money from you." Ron whispered.

Loren glanced at Mrs. Weasley and felt strange: "Aren't all the expensive books bought by your mother? You just got your pocket money, why are you borrowing money now?"

Ron was a little embarrassed: "I want to buy Ginny a new crucible, a brass scale, and protective gloves..."

He spoke in a lower voice, feeling that he was not a man at all. But facing Loren's gaze, he continued to finish his words bit by bit: "Ginny is a girl, she can't use old things like us. We brothers pooled some money to buy new things for Ginny."

He knew the embarrassment of having to use a second-hand magic wand, a second-hand cauldron balance, or even an old telescope for Wednesday night stargazing.

Even if others don't notice it, that emotion is like a seed that will grow bigger and bigger in the heart. The old traces of these things will become invisible shackles, making people hesitant and...

"Harry gave all the signed books he got for free to Ginny. We want to buy her a new Transfiguration textbook, but we're short of money." Ron's face turned red, and he mustered up a lot of courage to borrow money from Loren.

Loren looked at him, then at George and Fred who were chattering over there, and at Arthur who had just come back from the bar and was choosing second-hand books with them. No matter what the Weasley family's financial situation was, at least the Weasleys had taught them to be kind people.

"How much is the difference?" He didn't say anything like it was free, as that would only embarrass Ron even more.

"13 Silver Sickles!" Ron's red face lit up.

Loren, who had no change, lent him 1 Galleon. Ron took the money and ran towards Ginny happily.

Everything was fine until they walked out of the bookstore, when a man in a dark, exquisite suit, a fox fur collar with two coiled snakes hanging from his outer robe, and long platinum hair stopped them.

"It's so sad that a pure-blood wizard family has fallen to this point. It's a disgrace to the wizarding family." Lucius looked at the group of people, his eyes wandering over the cauldron that Ginny was holding, which contained her complete set of new books.

Arthur, who was standing at the back, came to the front and stood between Lucius and the children: "That's enough Lucius, don't cause any trouble?"

"Trouble, what kind of trouble? Will it make you so angry that you ask the Ministry of Magic to search Malfoy Manor?" Lucius sneered.

Draco, who was standing behind him, looked at Lucius. His father's behavior today was a little abnormal.

"Look at you," Lucius picked up the Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration from the cauldron, "poor, rude, vulgar, and even associating with Muggles."

After turning the book around in his hands, he threw it back with contempt, making a soft thud. "Here, little girl, take your book. This is the best thing your family can give you."

This was a gift his sons had managed to scrape together for their daughter. Arthur's eyes suddenly turned red, and he rushed towards Lucius, pushing him out of the shop and onto the street.

"Hit him in the eyes!" George and Fred raised their hands excitedly, eager to join in.

Loren looked at Ginny who was so frightened that she stood there. He reached into the cauldron and put the books in order. He patted her shoulder and said softly, "These are gifts from your brothers. Don't let them gather dust."

No one noticed that when he withdrew his hand, his originally loose sleeves became tighter, as if something was stuffed in them.

On the street, Lucius quickly broke free from Arthur's control. He picked up his cane and seemed to feel that it was very embarrassing to do this in public. He said a few harsh words and pulled Draco away.

"Bah!" Arthur looked at the Malfoy father and son going away, "Malfoy is just like this, bad and weak. If he fights with me, I can still look up to him."

After discovering the situation, Molly no longer had the heart to wait in line for an autograph. She rushed out with red eyes, turned Arthur back and forth with her hands, and carefully checked Arthur's whole body. She was relieved when she found no injuries.

She slapped Arthur's clothes vigorously with her hands, knocking off circles of dust, and complained: "Look at the example you set for the children, fighting in public..."

"You made me lose even my autograph." He slapped her hands one after another, as if he was angry.

Anyone could see that Molly loved her husband very much.

Arthur looked at Molly's face and his anger disappeared immediately. He grinned and turned into the honest, steady and temperless red-haired Arthur Weasley again.

He turned and smiled at the children: "Are you scared? Haha, Malfoy is actually like this. If you are tougher than him, he will become cowardly."

"Dad, you're awesome!" George and Freyr surrounded Arthur, and they all walked towards the Leaky Cauldron laughing and started their return journey.

Arthur reached out and pulled Lauren and Hermione to the front. "I met Mr. and Mrs. Bates and Mr. and Mrs. Granger at the bar. They were very interesting. I really want to invite them to the Burrow if I have the chance."

"They are good parents, and you are good children, good children..."

Loren felt something in his pocket. He touched it and found it was round and hard. It was a gold galleon.

He looked up and saw Arthur winking at him. "Hey, I really want to see what your cars look like. I got a scrapped car and modified it myself and it can run. But it just feels different from yours. You know, Muggle cars can run by themselves without magic..."

George and Fred must have inherited something from Arthur. They are both chatterboxes and like to delve into things...

When they returned to the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, Bates and the Grangers were talking and laughing loudly with Hagrid. They even didn't want to leave. They said goodbye to the drunk Hagrid reluctantly, saying goodbye three or four times before turning back.

The Weasleys were going to go through the fireplace, while Loren and his family had to drive home. Arthur wanted to follow them to see their car, but when he saw Molly's sullen face, he gave up the idea.

"Goodbye, Hagrid!" Bates said loudly after drinking.

"Goodbye!" Hagrid's voice became even louder, so loud that the whole bar could hear it.

"Hagrid! I'll give you the medicine you want when school starts. The medicine prepared by Snape is more effective!" Loren yelled at Hagrid, hoping that he would remember it after he sobered up.

After walking out of the bar and feeling the cold wind outside, Bates and Wendell finally sobered up a little and realized that they couldn't drive after drinking.

Hermione held Monica's hand and skipped to the front seat. Monica sat in the driver's seat and Hermione sat in the passenger seat.

Loren was dumbfounded.

Who would understand? Being squeezed in the back row with two drunk guys was a double torture for both body and mind.

Chapter 158 A Glimpse into the World

Back in the Hampstead suburban garden, Bates and Wendell went to rest.

In the Granger family's children's study, Hermione slammed a large book on the table: "I finally know what happened in Azkaban that day!"

"The Daily Prophet's bound volumes... the latest edition?" Loren read out the name of the large book.

"I found it at Flourish and Blotts. It reports what happened in Azkaban."

Hermione quickly turned the book to the last few pages: "Look here, Fenrir Greyback and three other werewolves attacked Azkaban and were repelled by the Aurors. Except for Fenrir Greyback, the other two were arrested on the spot."

"Greyback is a ferocious werewolf who not only attacks people during the full moon, but also enjoys doing so when he is conscious. Around 1965, an attack resulted in the death of two Muggle children. Greyback was brought to the Ministry of Magic for questioning. Due to the insufficiency and lack of maintenance of the werewolf register, the Ministry of Magic did not know that Greyback was a werewolf."

"Greyback disguised himself as a Muggle tramp, escaped trial, and took revenge on Lyall Lupin, an expert on non-human paranormal phenomena who nearly exposed him, with serious consequences."

"During the First Wizarding War, he gathered an army of werewolves and committed many serious crimes. He disappeared after the Dark Lord was defeated. This is his first appearance since then."

"We have reason to believe that it is due to the dereliction of duty and negligence of the previous Ministry of Magic officials that Greyback has been able to remain at large. Under the leadership of the current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge -"

What's written at the end... Hermione realized something was wrong as she read on, and she quickly glanced at the back, and it was all meaningless eulogy.

She simply stopped reading and slapped her hands on the newspaper, saying with certainty: "They must be trying to rescue a prisoner!"

"It's not hard to see from the report that Greyback is a cold-blooded criminal. Who is worthy of him taking the risk of breaking into Azkaban?" Loren tilted his head and looked at the report, unable to find any useful clues.

He couldn't remember anything about this part of the plot, so he was still quite concerned.

"Perhaps someone else hired them," Hermione turned a few pages. "Dolores Umbridge, Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, drafted the Anti-Werewolf Act. The bill is under review and is scheduled to come into effect in 1993."

Hermione frowned. "This will push both neutral and friendly groups among werewolves to the margins of society, and will only make werewolves more dangerous. Dumbledore will not allow such a bill to pass."

Although she is still young, the little witch has already demonstrated extraordinary political sensitivity.

"This review should not be a Wizengamot review. Werewolves have a bad reputation to begin with. Now that this incident has happened, officials at the Ministry of Magic don't want to be accused of dereliction of duty like the last time. The bill is likely to pass."

Loren had some impression of this incident. Lupin could have barely gotten by, but the implementation of the "Anti-Werewolf Act" made him completely unable to make a living, and he was picked up by Dumbledore to be the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Then Hogwarts had the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor it had seen in years.

"Fortunately, Grandpa Bates's werewolf disease has been cured. No, fortunately, he is not a wizard. He does not have to survive in the wizarding world."

Listening to Loren's words of relief, Hermione thought quietly. Grandpa Bates was kind and lucky, but what about the innocent and unfortunate werewolves in the wizarding world who were infected? What should they do?

Why doesn't anyone listen to their situation and think about them?

She asked softly, "Loren, can your method of curing werewolf disease be promoted?"

"The materials needed for the ritual are not cheap, and no one will pay for it. Besides, only Dumbledore can perform the human-recovery spell. If he treats everyone one by one, Dumbledore won't have to do anything else." Loren shook his head.

"There's no cure for this disease. By the time the last one is cured, the first one might relapse and start all over again. The most important thing is that Nico is gone. The magic of the Philosopher's Stone is no longer infinite. There's no way to cure werewolves indefinitely."

This was something he discovered recently by accident. In the past, when he held the Philosopher's Stone, he could feel Nico's will hidden in it. Shortly after Flamel's upgrade, that will dissipated.

According to Flamel, the magic power will gradually dissipate, and the Philosopher's Stone will eventually turn into an ordinary stone. Therefore, over the long years, no Philosopher's Stone has been passed down.

"The final version of the wolfsbane potion has been finalized, but few werewolves can afford it."

Hermione's fingers unconsciously traced the letters of the "Anti-Werewolf Act", circle after circle.

It turns out that the magic world is not only full of wonderful miracles, and wizards do not just need to explore the mysteries of magic. For the first time, Hermione witnessed the cruelty of the magic world and the cruelty of wizard society.

This is even more bloody and cruel than modern Muggle society. Because the social structure is simple and the division of labor is clear, any bill is heavy and clearly targeted.

Those people were beaten so badly that they had no power to fight back. No one would sympathize with them because they were not even human beings.

Hermione's bright eyes dimmed, her thoughts written all over her face.

Loren didn't intend to persuade her. This was the light in Hermione's heart. She sympathized with the weak, was willing to speak out against injustice, and wanted to make the world a better place.

Some people say she is nosy, some think she is unrealistic, some think she is a saint, but -

This is wonderful Hermione.

……

When Loren returned home, he saw Bates lying on the sofa, snoring loudly.

Although it wasn't very cold now, Loren still took a blanket and covered Bates's stomach to be on the safe side.

Bates felt the movement on his body, opened his eyes vaguely, and hummed: "Loren...the eight-eyed spider that Hagrid mentioned is really cute. Can you raise one for me to see?"

Loren:…

He moved the blanket upwards and whispered, "There's a chance. Go to sleep and you'll be able to see it when you fall asleep."

"Hey, wizards' pets are so magical." Bates fell asleep again in a daze.

Loren went upstairs in silence, wondering if he should keep Bates away from Hagrid next time.

I locked the bedroom door from the inside and drew up the curtains, plunging the room into darkness. I turned on only the table lamp, took out the things in my sleeves, and placed them on the table.

A crystal blue light shone from his eyes, illuminating the diary with a rich black color. He had seen this black color on Harry's scar and on the back of Quirrell's head.

Loren looked at the diary quietly, recalling the feeling of attacking and defending with Hermione's memory, and building a defense in his mind. He recalled his recent state of mind and thought that he had no emotions that could be provoked, so he carefully reached out and opened the diary.

It was a normal-sized 16A notebook with a faded date on the black cover, indicating that it was from 50 years ago. There were no marks on the paper, which had turned yellow due to the passage of time and even had some traces of dried water.

On the first page, the ink was blurred and wrote: TM Riddle. After the ink was wetted by water, it blurred into a shadow, and the word Tom in front was no longer clear. At this time, Tom was still a student at Hogwarts, and Voldemort was not yet called Voldemort.

Turning the pages further, there was nothing but a blank page, except for the back cover of the last page, which had the name of a newsagent in Vauxhall Road, London printed on it.

If you want to be safe, you should seal the notebook at this time and hand it over to Professor Dumbledore after school starts.

But he was a Gryffindor after all, and the conversation with Hermione about the werewolf issue just now made Loren not so calm. Moreover, this was the first time he faced Voldemort and could communicate normally.

Driven by some special impulse, he maintained the brain occlusion in his mind, took out a pen from the pen holder in front of the table, and wrote in his diary:

"With your intelligence, you can't fail to see that wizards are not capable of ruling Muggle society for long. Fear and slaughter are not the answer for the wizarding world. What do you think of the future of wizarding society?"

After writing this sentence, the crystal blue in Loren's eyes suddenly brightened, and a cool breath went straight from his eyes to his mind.

In an instant, Loren woke up and was shocked. Just now, without a sound, he was aroused by Voldemort. The diary linked the emotions left over from his discussion with Hermione with his memories of Voldemort, and prompted him to express his thoughts on paper.

Fortunately, even though he was very shocked, with the help of the cool air in his mind, he remained calm and was not bewitched again.

The ink on the diary was quickly absorbed by the paper, and even the mark made by the pen tip became smooth. A line of words appeared on the diary:

'It's an honor to speak to you, Loren_'