The days at Hogwarts

Having failed to knock it out of the line, Seamus shook his head in disappointment and raised his head to continue Harry's topic: "Malfoy's father did come in later. He used the excuse of visiting a friend, visiting Snape."

"It must be a conspiracy!" Harry said loudly.

Ron's turn was over. He stood up to relax his numb calves and knees. "I think so too. Hufflepuff was taking classes with Slytherin at the time. Rolf said that Malfoy was called away by his father in the middle of the class."

He looked around and asked, "Where are Loren and Hermione? Where did they go?"

"Professor Flitwick called them over. It seems to be some club business." Harry replied.

……

When Loren and Hermione walked out of Professor Flitwick's office, Hermione was still a little dizzy.

She confirmed to Loren in disbelief: "Professor Flitwick...he, I...I mean, he really asked us to be the head of the new department of the Charms Club?"

"Yes." Loren looked at Hermione's mouth slightly opened in surprise, and nodded helplessly. Hermione would be flattered as long as it involved recognition and praise from the professor.

"You still refuse!?" Hermione looked at him straight.

"It's not a rejection," Loren explained, "it's about considering it."

"But...we...Professor Flitwick..." Hermione stammered. To her, professors were all respected teachers, and if she could help a professor, she should just agree to it. Loren's refusal was simply unbelievable.

Loren pulled the still confused Hermione and walked slowly: "Not only does Professor Flitwick's club need a junior leader, Professor McGonagall should also need one. I think you might want to be the leader of the Transfiguration Club."

He realized this after hearing Professor Flitwick's invitation. Each club would definitely be divided into senior and junior sections, and both sections would require student representatives. However, due to the resurrection potion experiment and laziness, he might not have time to do the complicated club work.

Hermione's eyes lit up when she heard this. Although she was Professor Flitwick's most proud student and thought Professor Flitwick was very good, if she had to choose, she would choose Professor McGonagall.

Thinking that she would be the junior head of the Transfiguration Club and would always be able to get close to Professor McGonagall and discuss Transfiguration knowledge, Hermione suddenly began to look forward to the opening of the club.

Imagining the future and the compliments Professor McGonagall might say when they talked, she lowered her head to look at her toes, and occasionally let out a silly 'hehehehe' laugh.

When they reached the corner of the stairs, an unexpected figure was standing there, waiting for them.

Draco walked up to the two of them, looked at Loren, then looked at Hermione beside him. He was silent for a while, hesitating about how to start.

Hermione understood immediately. She patted Loren's arm and said, "I'll wait for you in the common room."

He turned around and walked away quickly.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was not as hostile to Muggles as before, he still felt guilty when facing Hermione. He said to Lauren, "I have something to tell you."

Loren's heart moved, and he remembered Lucius's visit. He nodded and said, "Let's find an empty classroom."

……

Lucius didn't sleep the whole night after receiving Draco's letter last night. Every time he closed his eyes, Voldemort's face appeared in his mind.

His snake-like vicious eyes stared at her. Even though she was trying to maintain her brain occlumency with all her heart and soul, she still felt that she was being seen through. All the memories in her mind were churned out, and all her thoughts and emotions could not be hidden in front of the Dark Lord.

Fortunately, the Dark Lord enjoyed the fear of others, and for servants like them, the more fear, the more it pleased Voldemort.

But this time it was different. Voldemort asked again and again: "Lucius, where is my diary?"

"Lucius, where's the diary?"

"Where's the diary?"

Lucius was startled by his own fantasy, and relaxed a little after recognizing his surroundings. He looked around and thought that the lighting in the office of the Potions Professor and Slytherin Headmaster was still too dim.

Compared to the haggard Lucius, Snape seemed full of energy, his eyes suppressing the brilliance that was about to overflow at any time.

"Did you bring the things?" Snape spoke slowly, with an irrefutable sense of oppression.

Lucius became more alert. He squinted his eyes slightly and observed his former colleague quietly under the cover of the dim light.

Although Snape showed his talent for potions ten years ago, his mind was pitifully simple, even stupid. It was this stupidity that made Snape closer to the Dark Lord than Lucius and at the core of the Death Eaters.

But ever since the Dark Lord's accident, he couldn't understand Snape. First, he got help from Dumbledore and was freed from the torture of Dementors. He even entered Hogwarts as a professor and became the head of Slytherin. He was simply the whitest of the Death Eaters.

With his talent, the magic potion business grew bigger and bigger, and their market share was the largest in the world. The American Magic Council hated them, but they had no way to deal with them.

It was just that Crabbe, that idiot, messed up and made things complicated. The power of the school board was restricted and they could not take the initiative to visit the school. Now they could only wait for the weekend to exchange raw materials and potions. The contact person was also replaced by him.

"This batch of raw materials and rewards are all here. As you wish, I will exchange all the Galleons for the materials you want."

Putting a box-shaped space equipment on the table and handing it over, Lucius asked casually, "What do you need so many two-horned beast horns and two-eared grass for? Are you planning to develop some new medicine?"

"It has nothing to do with you," Snape said with a sarcastic smile, "On the contrary, Mr. Malfoy came to visit unexpectedly. What's the matter?"

Lucius's expression changed, his mind was racing. He wanted to talk to Snape about the Dark Lord, Dumbledore, and even Crabbe.

But he couldn't be sure which side Snape was on. If he guessed wrong, he might be doomed.

After a fierce struggle in his heart, he finally couldn't make up his mind and just said quietly: "Pay more attention to your students, some of them can't hold back."

"Also," Lucius took out another box and looked at him seriously and sincerely, "This one is from me personally. Please, take good care of Draco for me."

After saying that, Lucius stood up and walked out of the office without looking back.

Only Snape was left sitting behind the desk, his face sunk into the shadows and his expression could not be seen clearly.

Chapter 169 Lockhart's Lecture

Draco Malfoy kept looking at the door, worried that someone would break into the classroom or someone would pass by the door and hear their conversation.

His father Lucius Malfoy's advice to him was still ringing in his ears. For the first time, Draco realized the true meaning of the sentence: only follow interests and do everything for the continuation of the family.

After class yesterday, he did not follow the crowd to the auditorium for dinner, but immediately returned to the dormitory and wrote a long letter to Lucius, describing in detail the encounter with Crabbe in the locker room, as well as his speculations about Crabbe's magical talent and temperament changes.

Lucius did not sleep all night after receiving the letter. He went straight to Hogwarts this morning and asked Draco about the details of Crabbe's changes.

His temperament and talents had changed. Lucius originally thought that a dark wizard had sneaked into the school pretending to be Crabbe. But he still had a desire for Quidditch, which proved that Crabbe was not himself. So Lucius guessed that he was affected by dark magic items.

Considering what the centaurs said and Crabbe's act of hiring werewolves to break into Azkaban during the holidays, this matter must be related to the Dark Lord.

After Draco learned of his father's guess, he thought of telling Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape about it and letting Dumbledore deal with the Dark Lord.

But Lucius rejected this proposal. With an expression that Draco could not understand, he warned: "Don't treat Crabbe as a follower anymore. Give him some benefits appropriately and let him know that you firmly support the glory of pure-bloods."

"At the same time, give Harry Potter some help and some warnings to make him aware that the school is in danger. For the rest, you don't need to do anything."

……

"Crabbe is controlled by a strange thing, which may be related to the Dark Lord." Draco's voice trembled slightly, not only because of fear, but also because of the complicated emotions about his father's words.

In the end, he did not remind Harry, but found Loren and told him everything. As for why, he could not tell, maybe he hated that Potter, or maybe he did not want Loren and his Muggle friends to be implicated in this matter...

"Controlled...The Dark Lord..." In the abandoned classroom, Loren sat opposite Draco with a solemn expression.

The first thing he thought of was the diary. In the original book, it was the diary that manipulated Ginny to open the Chamber of Secrets, release the basilisk, and set off a series of turmoil. But he saw the diary being burned by the cursed fire with his own eyes, so it was impossible for it to reappear.

As for the other Horcruxes, the ring is still sealed in Gaunt's house, Slytherin's locket is in Black's house, and Hufflepuff's gold cup is in Gringotts' vault. It is impossible for them to enter Hogwarts to cause trouble.

Eliminating all the impossible answers, the only thing left is Voldemort's main soul! After possessing Quirrell and being defeated last year, he came back again.

He quickly realized that it was probably the last sentence in the diary that made Voldemort have other thoughts and take the initiative to enter the school.

"Is there any other news you can tell me?" Loren asked, his tone was gentle and calm, not bringing any psychological pressure to people. It was like a simple question, you can answer it, but it doesn't matter if you don't say it.

Draco struggled internally for a while, thinking about Crabbe's vicious eyes and thinking that as Harry's friend, Loren had never targeted him.

He opened his mouth and said in a hoarse voice, "During the summer vacation, a werewolf attacked Azkaban. Although the matter was suppressed, some well-informed families and dark wizards knew that the mastermind behind this was the Crabbe family."

"Crabbe's magical talent has improved, and his temperament has changed a bit, but he still retains some of his original qualities."

Loren listened quietly and looked at him encouragingly.

Draco shook his head and said nothing more, but reminded: "Be careful of pure bloods, you and your Muggle friends are all like that."

After that, Draco stood up and left. He had already decided to stay away from Loren for a while, and showed a tendency to support pure blood and discriminate against Muggles.

In the abandoned classroom, Loren's fingers slid along the scratches on the wooden table. The uneven wood grain was transformed into a wonderful touch under the perception of his fingers, which continued to spread with his thoughts.

Flamel said that the cursed fire entangled the spiritual light that sprang out of the diary, and it could only convey one sentence. Which sentence did the diary convey that made Voldemort eager to enter Hogwarts, or was it the destruction of the diary that made Voldemort unable to sit still?

Did Voldemort notice that he didn't? What was his attitude towards him?

He actually had a vague urge to talk to Voldemort, wanting to know the truth about gods, immortality, and sages.

But it was just an impulse. Talking to Voldemort was like sending yourself out. You wouldn't know when you would be sold out. Following the white-robed wizard Dumbledore was the right path.

Shaking all the messy thoughts out of his head, Loren walked out of the abandoned classroom to meet up with Hermione.

In the next few days, Loren always wanted to talk to Dumbledore, but every time he went to the headmaster's office, he came up empty-handed. He also didn't see Dumbledore eating in the auditorium. It was as if he had disappeared.

In the second week of school, due to the teaching reform, everyone had less homework and more free time, so the atmosphere became much more lively. When Lee Jordan, who was the most well-informed, announced the club's reconstruction and expansion, and received the approval of several top students in the academy, the atmosphere reached its peak.

The Transfiguration Club at Hogwarts was once the main source of content for Transfiguration Today.

A simple idea was exchanged with classmates and corrected by the professor of Transfiguration, and finally turned into a theoretically sound and well-argued article. A large number of strange ideas were born from the Transfiguration Club, and accumulated to form an influence that cannot be ignored.

Graduates with experience in the Transfiguration Club on their resumes may even get a letter of recommendation from a professor of Transfiguration. Even if the position they apply for has nothing to do with Transfiguration, the reviewer will still pay attention to the applicant because of the outstanding learning ability, practical ability, and influence of the club reflected in the resume.

The same is true for the value of the Spells Club and the Potions Club, so the discussion surrounding the club's restart and expansion has been ongoing.

But before the announcements for these clubs were sent out, another club appeared first. In the Gryffindor common room, everyone gathered in front of the notice board.

"Professional club!" Lee Jordan was still excited when he read this. "Famous best-selling author, adventurer——"

He felt a familiar feeling from reading these words. He skipped the long list of prefixes and went straight to the second paragraph. It was exactly as he thought: "The knowledgeable Professor Gilderoy Lockhart will hold a career topic lecture this Friday to answer questions for confused students who are about to leave school and face society."

"…a detailed explanation of the inside story of one hundred and eighty-three professions. Those who perform well will receive a letter of recommendation written by Gilderoy Lockhart."

The senior students had expressions on their faces as if they had eaten something unclean. They felt disgusted but wanted to go.

After the greenhouse incident spread, even though Lockhart widely spread his polished "truth", he could only tell stories and perform stage plays in class, and never demonstrated any spells, which made most young wizards realize that he was a fool.

But it must be said that Lockhart's long list of identities is quite intimidating, and society recognizes his Order of Merlin, so Lockhart's letter of recommendation is indeed very tempting to graduates.

On Friday at noon, when Loren and Hermione finished lunch and walked out of the hall, George and Fred caught them together. Without saying a word, they pushed them towards the classroom where Lockhart was giving a lecture.

"Eh, no, you're only in the fourth grade. What does Lockhart's career seminar have to do with you?" Loren asked loudly.

Hermione also turned her head, waiting for the twins' explanation in confusion.

"Lockhart's letter of recommendation will help us get a loan at Gringotts."

"And you can get us his letter of recommendation."

The twins spoke one by one, smiling as they asked the two for help. They did not slow down at all and pushed the two along the way quickly.

Lockhart's social status was very useful, even the goblins in Gringotts recognized him. With Lockhart's letter of recommendation, or even with him as a guarantor, the twins could easily borrow money from Gringotts to open a joke shop.

But the two of them did not have a good reputation at Hogwarts, and it was difficult to trick Lockhart into giving them a letter of recommendation, so they set their sights on the good students Hermione and Loren.

Loren asked curiously, "What do you want to borrow money for?"

The twins looked at each other and said in unison: "Start a business!"

Hermione looked at them strangely, but Loren immediately understood what the twins were planning.

"We are not playing a prank this time. If you help us get a letter of recommendation, we can count you as shareholders."

"Don't ask us what business we started. We won't tell you. Even my parents don't know."

In fact, George and Fred kind of hope that the two will join. Hermione and Loren's academic performance is first and second in the grade. If the two can participate in product development, it will definitely be of great help.

Hermione looked blank, Loren smiled and shook his head: "We can help you get a letter of recommendation, but we don't need any shares."

The group chatted and laughed as they arrived at the classroom. There were already many people waiting there, not only senior students who were about to start working, but also some junior students who came to join in the fun.

For some unknown reason, Lockhart asked Professor Flitwick to cast a temporary traceless extension spell in the classroom, which was large enough to accommodate all the students attending the lecture and did not seem crowded at all.

The two professors were sitting in the front discussing something. Lockhart seemed to be showing off his popularity to Professor Flitwick. From a distance, Loren could even feel Professor Flitwick's helplessness.

"Here!" Lee Jordan stood up and greeted them from a distance.

Ron and Harry, Ginny and Luna were sitting nearby. George and Fred even used coercion and bribery to bring Percy and Penelope. Even Cedric from the next door college was sitting next to them. The main idea was to cast a wide net and catch more fish.

Harry and Ron had a happy week. The professors were still busy and no one remembered the Whomping Willow and the car. Their punishments had not yet come.

From the initial anxiety, I became happy every day. The courses became much easier. Apart from Lockhart and Snape, there was nothing to worry about.

After hearing that the twins needed help, the two took the lecture as a pastime and happily agreed.

Lockhart stood up and walked to the front facing the students in the audience: "Ladies and gentlemen, all promising Hogwarts students. Welcome to the first lecture of my first club."

The voice added a loud voice spell, not sure if it was him picking up some knowledge or if it was the help of Professor Flitwick.

"As an internationally renowned figure, best-selling author, famous adventurer, recipient of the Order of Merlin, third-class medal, honorary member of the Anti-Dark Arts League, and five-time winner of the Most Charming Smile Award from Wizard Weekly. The textbooks you are currently using for Defense Against the Dark Arts, such as Breaking with the Female Ghost, Traveling with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Traveling with Trolls, Traveling on the Same Ship with Vampires, Wandering with Werewolves, and A Year with the Tibetan Yeti, are just a few insignificant passages from my long adventure..."

The young wizards in the audience frowned, which was not good. That was it. No matter what the topic was, no matter what the content was, Lockhart could always bring it back to his honor and then highlight his excellence by citing classics.

Some junior wizards wanted to leave on the spot, but fortunately Lockhart had anticipated this kind of scenario and slowly began to talk about professions.