The days at Hogwarts

"Gold medal reporter Rita Skeeter reports... The current headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, was born in 1881 in Godric's Hollow, England. He studied at Gryffindor House of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1892 to 1899. In addition to Transfiguration, he is also well versed in the Dark Arts."

"Albus Dumbledore's family situation was very bad. When his sister Ariana was 6 years old, she was abused because she accidentally performed magic in front of three ordinary boys. The magic entered her brain and drove her crazy. His father Percival attacked those boys in revenge for his daughter and was sentenced to prison."

"Reporter Rita Skeeter interviewed his brother Aberforth. According to Aberforth, the young Dumbledore lacked care for his family, was obsessed with the study of dark magic, and obsessed with the pursuit of fame and honor. Every summer vacation, he would lock himself in the attic, count his awards, and communicate with the world's most famous magic masters."

"...Dumbledore defeated the first Dark Lord Grindelwald in 1945 and became famous in the wizarding world. As the chief of the Wizengamot, he is recognized as the greatest wizard of our time, but he has been hiding in Hogwarts since then. The castle rarely appears in public view."

"However, according to the investigation of journalist Rita Skeeter, Dumbledore once had close contacts with Grindelwald. According to the anonymous residents of Godric's Hollow, Grindelwald had been a guest at Dumbledore's house for a long time. Aberforth Dumbledore was very secretive about this and refused to talk about it. This makes us have to guess what other secrets are hidden in the story of Dumbledore and the Dark Lord..."

"Just before this, a horrific incident of a basilisk attacking a young wizard occurred at Hogwarts. The following is what reporter Rita Skeeter learned from a current Hogwarts student (name kept confidential): The school was filled with a terrifying atmosphere, and all the young wizards lived in fear and anxiety. No one knew who would be attacked next, because the basilisk would not let go even if it was a cat."

"According to rumors, the builder of the Chamber of Secrets was Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts. Prior to this, the Basilisk had been hiding in Hogwarts Castle for thousands of years, and no attacks had occurred during this period. Until Albus Dumbledore became the school's headmaster..."

"After an investigation over the Christmas holiday, the school finally captured the basilisk and presented the so-called truth to the Ministry of Magic... In fact, the Ministry of Magic investigators never saw the real body of the basilisk from beginning to end. There was only an old empty snake skin and the scales, flesh and bones of some unknown magical animal handed in by the school. Reporter Rita Skeeter consulted the magical animal expert, Newt Scamander, for this. He was vague about the relevant questions, claiming that it was difficult to answer and unwilling to give a clear answer."

"Reporter Rita Skeeter found the answer in his book. According to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by Newt Scamander, no basilisk has been found in England for hundreds of years. As an old friend of Dumbledore, it remains unknown whether Newt Scamander's ambiguous attitude indicates something..."

"According to relevant staff of the Ministry of Magic, the incident report submitted by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry mentioned signs of a You-Know-Who. According to Dumbledore, the attack by the Basilisk was planned and directed by a You-Know-Who, targeting half-blood wizards and Muggle-born wizards. However, there was a special existence among the victims, the pet cat raised by the staff of Hogwarts School, which obviously did not meet the above conditions."

"Reporter Rita Skeeter investigated the person directly involved in this case - Vincent Crabbe. The student has been transferred to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for treatment. According to the therapists at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Vincent Crabbe was controlled by a dark magic item and lost his memory of the case. He had no subjective intention to hurt anyone..."

"...According to insiders, the Hogwarts teaching reform led by Dumbledore is an attempt to completely break away from the supervision and management of the school board and the Ministry of Magic. Is Albus Dumbledore no longer satisfied with the power of a normal headmaster? Is he no longer satisfied with being just the chief wizard of the Wizengamot? Does he have ambitions for higher power..."

"Our special correspondent Rita Skeeter will continue to report to you..."

The text ends here, and under the printed line that divides the page is the reporter's name in italic cursive - Rita Skeeter.

"How dare she! How dare she!" Hermione slapped the newspaper, making the small table bang.

"These ugly words clearly reveal the sinister intentions behind Rita Skeeter. She tried to portray Dumbledore as a man with a tragic family situation and a lack of family affection since childhood, which led to his obsession with dark magic, and he was deep-minded and evil-hearted. She tried to portray Dumbledore as a dark wizard like the Dark Lord, implying that Dumbledore fabricated the truth for power and even manipulated the attack." Hermione was so angry that she was shaking all over.

Seamus and Dean's eyes widened, they held up the newspaper again and read it carefully word by word.

At first, they only read that Rita Skeeter was slandering Dumbledore. They only understood the written part and felt that something was wrong, but they did not expect that there was such a secret and sinister intention behind it.

Loren pulled Hermione to sit on the sofa next to him and said softly, "Don't worry, those who believe in Dumbledore will not change because of this report, and those who don't believe in Dumbledore are not worth our anger."

He sees things very clearly... Reports, slander, and the truth, none of these are important. What is important is the game of interests.

Don’t underestimate these clowns now. When Voldemort is really resurrected, these clowns will use good words to coax Dumbledore back.

Hermione was still furious, her fists clenched tightly.

After reading it again, Dean had a deeper understanding. He looked up in disbelief. "No matter what, Principal Dumbledore is the chief wizard of the Wizengamot and has connections with many powerful people. Why does this reporter have the guts to slander the principal?"

"Because someone is backing me up."

Loren sighed quietly, "Don't forget, Dumbledore is over a hundred years old, and his contemporaries are either dead or old. There are so many secrets, even Dumbledore's childhood stories have been uncovered. How can a young reporter find people from those days to interview? Most of them are probably found in the scrolls of the Ministry of Magic."

"Minister of Magic Fudge!" Hermione recalled what she saw and heard in the Chamber of Secrets that day.

"He respects and fears Headmaster Dumbledore, so he probably can't think of such a disgusting method. I think it was his toad followers who were instigating this." Loren said.

The description was so vivid that the image of that person immediately emerged in Hermione's mind: "Dolores Umbridge?"

Loren pointed to the report about Vincent Crabbe in the newspaper, and said with an inexplicable sarcasm: "Not only that, there may be some pure-blood families involved. Look, this is paving the way for him to exonerate himself."

"How can you get away with this?!" Seamus exclaimed, "If Colin and Justin weren't lucky, they would all be dead now!"

"What's impossible? The Death Eaters back then were able to escape trial..."

Chapter 236 Dream

The list of members of the Animagus teaching class and the distorted report in the Daily Prophet were like depth charges, causing huge waves in the young wizard community.

The auditorium was very noisy during dinner, and people from every college were discussing these two things at the long table.

"The Daily Prophet should have attacked this a long time ago. I guess Dumbledore planned all this because he wanted to become Minister of Magic. My father told me that they plan to push the Ministry of Magic to introduce a new Education Order. Just watch out, he will be kicked out of Hogwarts soon."

Marcus Flint spoke at the Slytherin table, "We should change a pure-blood headmaster. A decent headmaster would never allow mudbloods and other idiots to enter the school."

Draco, who was not far away, swallowed the beef with an expressionless face. In addition to disdain, he even found it a little ridiculous... If Marcus was really that courageous, he would not deliberately suppress the sound so that only a few people around could hear it.

Sitting on Draco's right was Goyle. The new semester had already started for a few months, and Goyle seemed to have adapted to the days without Crabbe. He found a new friend - Pike Selwyn, who was also from a pure-blood family, had poor grades, and also wanted to please Malfoy. He took over Crabbe's position with almost no obstacles.

But unlike Crabbe, he is a thin man, with a body shape that is barely normal, even thinner than his peers.

They formed a new Malfoy gang, and Draco was not opposed to it. He couldn't always be alone and behave differently. Occasionally, he would follow Goyle and Selwyn's wishes and say a few words about pure-blood supremacy, which would allow him to integrate into the Slytherin group.

"Remember Vincent? I heard some news about him." Theodore Nott suddenly came over to talk to them.

Theodore Nott is also from a pure-blood family. He and Draco have known each other since childhood and they maintain a friendly relationship. However, Nott does not need to please Malfoy, nor does he join their gang. Nott has good grades in potions and always keeps to himself. But when he mocks Muggles and half-blood wizards, he occasionally joins them.

"Tell me any news as soon as possible." Draco took the napkin and wiped his mouth nonchalantly.

"I secretly read the letters between my father and my uncle abroad. He works in Ilvermorny. The letters said that Ilvermorny received a special transfer application from a student named Pierre Crabbe." Nott said mysteriously.

Goyle didn't react and scratched his head stupidly: "Although his last name is also Crabbe, what does this have to do with Vincent?"

"Are you stupid?" Selwyn patted Goyle's shoulder, his tone a little excited, "Vincent must have changed his name."

No one would keep secret the news said at the dinner table. The person next to them would turn around and tell the next person, so the news spread very quickly.

After dinner, Loren returned to the Gryffindor common room and soon heard about this from Seamus.

"The Ministry of Magic acquitted him so easily?" Harry clenched his fists angrily. The anger in his heart made him feel inexplicably violent, making his mind a mess.

"In fact, it may not be easy." Loren muttered. Seeing that everyone around him looked at him in confusion, Loren explained.

"Remember the Malfoy family's donation to the Ministry of Magic? The Crabbe family must have paid a heavy price this time. They also paid money to bribe St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, donated a large sum of money to the hospital, and must have bribed the healer. They spent money to incite public opinion in the Daily Prophet, and the trial ended before the news was released, which means they also spent money to bribe the judges and recorders."

As Hermione listened to these unknown contents, she felt as if some barrier in her mind had been pierced, as if she had seen something deeper. It was incredible, and her mind became more open, and she had a different view on many things.

Seeing Hermione's eyes flickering and changing, Loren wanted to tell her more similar things. She had a good heart, but she couldn't assume that others were as good as she was. Correctly understanding the dark side of human hearts would help her find her own way.

"Despicable pure-blood rich man!" Seamus and Dean spat harshly.

Harry was so angry that he couldn't suppress his violent emotions and kicked hard at the sofa where Ron was sitting.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Ron poked his head out holding a newspaper. "Although I am a pure blood, our family is not rich, and Weasley is not Crabbe."

Loren frowned slightly, thinking Harry's behavior was a bit abnormal.

Harry reacted and let out a long breath, his tense nerves relaxing. "I'm sorry, Ron. I was just thinking about how we were almost killed by the basilisk that day, but Crabbe didn't punish us at all... I was so angry."

Loren's ear was suddenly flicked. He turned around in pain and looked at Hermione in shock: "Why did you hit me all of a sudden?"

Hermione snorted and turned her head away, ignoring him... It was nothing, she just couldn't help herself when she heard the basilisk.

"Hey, you started it first and you still think you're right?" Loren refused to give up and reached out to flick Hermione's ear.

Hermione grabbed his wrists and pressed his hands to the sides of his head. The two of them started to wrestle on the sofa and soon they were tangled up in the fabric.

It was simply unbearable to watch... Ron shook the newspaper in his hand and called out to the two of them in disgust: "Stop fighting, take a look at this first!"

Loren and Hermione blushed as they sat up, separated by a space between them, and sat upright. They were both wondering in their hearts, why did they start fighting for no apparent reason?

No matter what, it's his/her fault.

Loren coughed and said, "We've all read what's in the newspaper."

"Did you notice this?" Ron read to them, "Our special correspondent Rita Skeeter will continue to report to you!"

Loren and Hermione finally reacted and fell into deep thought.

Harry was a little slow, and asked in confusion: "Is there anything special about this sentence?"

"She's read the Ministry of Magic's files and reports. She must have interviewed all the residents of Godric's Hollow who could be interviewed. Where else can she dig up information for her continued reporting?" Ron stretched out the newspaper, and the paper rustled as it vibrated.

Harry's eyes widened in disbelief: "You mean--"

"Hogwarts," said Hermione calmly. "Only Hogwarts."

"Apart from the professors at the school, the four of us are the only ones who have come into contact with the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk. She might contact us and get information from us."

Loren's words made them alert, and the four of them found a place to discuss the matter about Rita Skeeter in detail.

"From this report, we can see that she is good at moving people with words. Look here,"

Loren pointed to the part that introduced Dumbledore's childhood experiences and family environment, and then pointed to the part where Dumbledore communicated with the famous magic master, and said softly, "Put two completely unrelated things together to make people mistakenly believe that there is a causal relationship between the two. Through weaving and splicing, readers mistake the partial truth they see for the whole truth, hide what they want to express behind the text, and guide readers to draw their own conclusions."

Loren concluded, "We'd better not talk to her because everything will be twisted into her own eye-catching report."

Harry was stunned, shocked that a report could have so many twists and turns.

"Guiding readers to draw their own conclusions feels more misleading than telling them directly..." Ron muttered quietly, his heart beating a little faster.

He had originally been somewhat pleased with himself for guessing Rita's actions, but now he was no longer pleased and felt a little excited. Through Loren's words, he seemed to see an advanced method of playing chess. In addition to guessing the opponent's moves, he could also guide the opponent to play according to his own ideas.

Hermione thought of many things, including the philosophy and social books that Monica had asked her to read. The guidance of public opinion, mass psychology, political power and...

Many things were vaguely floating in her mind. She was too young to sort them out, but many of the concepts that were once vague seemed to have concrete entities.

The world and society were like a big web, and Hermione felt like she had touched some of the intertwined nodes.

"Don't mention the news about the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk recently." Loren reminded, "Invisibility Cloak, Disillusionment Charm, or something else... This is a magical world. Maybe some magic can let her hear our conversation."

“Does it need to go to this extent?”

Harry asked hesitantly. Sirius would occasionally talk to him about the basilisk...but the three friends stared at him with oppressive eyes, and Harry finally nodded in agreement...

It was late at night, and Harry tossed and turned in his four-poster bed, unable to sleep, as what had happened today replayed over and over in his mind.

Harry discovered sadly that he seemed to have a pathetic barrier with his three friends and he could no longer keep up with their thoughts.

……

"You can't use the portkey, and you can't Apparate. Teleporting will leave traces."

"What should I do?"

"Fly over."

"Are you kidding me? Flying from England to America, across the Atlantic?"

"..."

The arguing beside him was a bit noisy. It took Harry some time to find his self-awareness from his fuzzy mind and realize that he was Harry, because the perspective in front of him was indeed a bit different from Harry Potter's usual perspective.

He seemed to be living on someone's chest, perhaps a baby in arms, and from this angle, looking up at the adults around him, these well-dressed people with pure-blood family crests embroidered on their collars seemed too tall.

Then there was a cloud of fog and mist that blocked the view... Because they were flying over the sea, this reason suddenly popped into Harry's mind.

His mind seemed to be filled with Neville's potion, a mess. He couldn't think actively, nor did he realize that he couldn't think actively. He looked at everything in front of him like a dream, and could only wait for thoughts to pop up in his mind.

The scenery changed, and they seemed to have arrived. It was a very high mountain, and they used a strange way to reach the top.

On the misty mountain, a magnificent castle appeared in outline, with two huge statues at the main entrance. On the stone platform at the feet of the statues were carved strange emblems.

There were four animals engraved on the badge in the top, bottom, left and right directions. The top one was a large bird with its wings spread, and on the left and right were a long-horned water snake and a goblin. The animal at the bottom looked like a rabbit, but Harry looked closely and found out it was a leopard.

Then, everything in front of my eyes went dark.

Harry didn't get the message, but he just understood that this was to avoid some powerful detection magic.

He didn't know how long it had been, but he suddenly heard a man's voice. The voice sounded timid and afraid, but also carried the joy of seeking credit.

"I made it! Master, I finally made it!"

Harry's eyes lit up. It was a closed room, dark except for the faint light of a lantern.

The short and fat man in front had a respectful posture, and his face could not be seen clearly. All that could be seen was a bottle of medicine being handed to him.

The perspective changed, and Harry felt like he was floating. He looked back following the perspective... Harry's heart was shaken, and he felt his stiff and dizzy brain suddenly turn around.

It's Crabbe!

His eyes were dull and everything made his eyeballs move slightly, as if they were controlled by something.

It was the Imperius Curse, Harry knew that automatically.

A hoarse, unpleasant voice squeezed out some joy, "Finally...finally it's done! My decision was right, Wormtail. Although you are a bad wizard, you are indeed a healthy servant and can still follow my instructions. This will allow me to have a simple, weak body in which I can live and wait for the repeated raw materials needed for true rebirth."

"Yes, Master, you saved Wormtail, and this is what I should do." The first voice said nervously, "According to your instructions, unicorn blood and basilisk venom were mixed into a potion."

The view zoomed in quickly, and Harry felt like he was floating into the potion bottle. The gurgling sound indicated that he was boiling violently...

After an unknown amount of time, the reaction stopped, and the first thing Harry saw was the ceiling. It was not until Wormtail picked him up and put him in a swaddle that Harry realized he had really become a baby.

From a wandering soul to a baby.

Wormtail's fear and timidity became more obvious. He trembled and said, "I have prepared some food in the bottle, Master. If you are hungry, I can feed you a little."

"Hmm." A shrill voice as cold as the wind came out of his throat.

Wormtail respectfully finished feeding the baby and put him down. After doing all this, he mustered up the courage to ask, "Master, may I ask how long we will stay here?"