The days at Hogwarts

"Wait a minute, I regret a move!"

……

The lounge was in chaos, so noisy that it hurt people's ears. But no one left, they shouted at the top of their lungs, adding their own words to the deafening noise.

"Stretch out your hand and get spanked!"

Loren shouted gleefully to Hermione.

They were playing a very childish game. One person stretched out his hand in front of him, and the other person slapped it. If he was hit, he lost and continued to be beaten. If he pulled his hand away, he won, and the person on the other side would start to be beaten.

It should be noted that the hit that passes the center line is a fake hit, and it is useless to dodge it. You can only win if you dodge the hit that passes the center line.

As soon as Hermione stretched out her hand, Loren slapped her hard.

"what--"

Hermione screamed, angry and laughing, and she couldn't stop smiling.

They sat cross-legged on a single sofa, knees touching, able to feel each other's body warmth.

The little witch's shoulder-length hair was draped messily behind her, and she laughed so hard that her body trembled from time to time. She didn't look like a know-it-all at all.

"Keep getting beaten!" Loren urged.

Hermione wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes and slowly stretched out her hand. She anticipated that the man was going to attack again, so she suddenly retracted her hand.

The plan failed, and Loren's hands remained raised in place, motionless.

She could only reach out her hand again, and this time Loren pounced.

Snapped!

"You've gone too far. You attacked me by surprise again—" Hermione tried her best to sound aggrieved, but she couldn't stop the laughter in her words.

"Stop pretending to be pitiful and put your hands up to get spanked!"

Loren showed no mercy. After taking so many beatings from this girl, it was finally time for the offense and defense to turn around.

Hermione curled her lips in dissatisfaction. According to her analysis, her enhanced body's reaction speed was faster than this person's. She would definitely have the advantage in this game that tested reaction speed.

I didn't expect that this is not a game that tests reaction speed at all, but a game that tests psychological game. The key is to guess when the opponent will really attack and when to fake attack.

The slight reaction advantage was of little use, but the cunning Loren could always guess what she was thinking.

Snapped!

The palm of her hand was slapped again, and her snow-white hand turned red.

“Hahahaha, you still want to be beaten!” Loren laughed wildly, “Hurry up and stretch it out.”

Her hand only hurt a little, but the humiliation was too strong to bear. Hermione buried her head, put her hands behind her back, and said in a muffled voice: "You are too cunning, I don't want to play with you!"

"Hehehe——" Loren couldn't help laughing. The two of them were squeezed on a single sofa, facing each other with their heads buried. It was useless for the girl to deceive herself.

"If you don't want to play, then don't play. Just take your beating." Loren also lowered his head, pressed his forehead against Hermione's, and reached out to grab her hand.

Hermione laughed and put her hands under her arms, trying to push him away with her head.

Loren pried her arms apart, but Hermione hid her hands in her thighs again, refusing to let him succeed.

Just then, a wet and disheveled figure came in from outside the lounge.

His hair was soaked by the rain and stuck to his scalp. His clothes were wrinkled and even dripping water onto the floor.

Neville's appearance shocked the young wizards in the common room, and the deafening noise stopped for a moment.

Hermione couldn't control her head for a moment and fell into Loren's arms. She quickly sat up with a red face, looked around, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she made sure that no one noticed her embarrassment.

Several members of the Animagus teaching class, led by Percy, gathered around and asked impatiently, "Did it succeed? Did it succeed?"

"Neville, what's your Animagus?"

"Can you show us?"

This was a long-awaited stormy night, and they all knew the next steps for Professor McGonagall to take Neville to perform the Animagus ritual. Although the chance of success was not high, they still had a glimmer of hope.

Neville took two steps back and stammered, "Failed. Professor McGonagall said I still need to gain experience."

"I, I'm going to change my clothes!" Neville went upstairs in a panic.

Several young wizards in the class looked at each other and did not ask any more questions. They believed that it would be better to leave Neville alone to calm down at this time.

After a moment of silence, the crackling sound of exploding cards continued in the lounge, and the noisy and playful sounds began again.

Hermione retracted her gaze and asked worriedly, "Will Neville be okay?"

"It's okay, Neville is stronger than most people." Loren seized the opportunity and slapped the back of her hand, feeling relieved all of a sudden.

Hermione gritted her teeth in anger, stood up and pushed him onto the sofa...

In the dormitory upstairs, Neville, who had just changed his clothes, stared at the mirror for a while and began to pack his suitcase to go home.

He had a lot of stuff to take home, so it would be best to start packing in advance so he could use the remaining days to think about what he had forgotten.

Animagus was a daring attempt, just like when Uncle Argyle grabbed his ankles and hung him down from the rooftop window when he was 8 years old. It was just an attempt.

For Neville, failure has always been a constant in his life over the past decade, and success is only a minority. He has become accustomed to such failures.

It's like falling from the roof of a building.

Unharmed and full of resilience.

……

The storm comes and goes quickly.

The next morning, when Loren opened his eyes, the sound of wind and rain that had been roaring all night had stopped without him noticing.

I got out of bed, pushed open the window barefoot, and the sky that was covered by thick clouds had become clear.

A cool breeze blew in my face, and I took a deep breath of the fresh air with moist water vapor. The bright skylight made me feel refreshed, as if all the dust accumulated in my lungs was exhaled.

Wash, change clothes, and go out.

I met my prefect Percy in the dormitory corridor, and we walked out together, chatting from time to time.

Loren asked, "Have you signed up for Professor McGonagall's internship? Or do you insist on working for the Ministry of Magic after graduation and are not interested in the potion business?"

"I've signed up for a two-week internship, and will use the rest of the time to travel to Egypt with my family." Percy sucked his teeth, feeling that the atmosphere of the conversation was not right, as if Loren was acting like his elder.

He paused for a moment and decided to take the initiative: "You are about to enter the third grade. During the holiday, review the basic knowledge learned in the first two years. It will be very useful later. If you have any ideas about the class leader, you should start preparing..."

Loren responded in a disjointed manner, and the two of them walked out of the corridor and went down the stairs along the handrail.

"Besides," Percy's tone suddenly became cheerful, winking at him, "confirm your relationship as early as possible. When senior year gets busy, you won't have enough time for a relationship."

"Huh? Why did the topic suddenly change?"

Loren looked down following Percy's gaze, and saw a beautiful figure sitting quietly on the sofa, holding a book in her hands. He didn't know the title of the book. The girl was looking up at him with a bright smile in her eyes.

Classes have been suspended, and the little wizards no longer wear uniform magic robes. Many of them have changed into clothes they wear at home.

Hermione wore a dark green short-sleeved top, like the leaves of the evergreen trees in the Forbidden Forest, with a lotus collar pattern, revealing a small section of her white wrists. Below was a pair of black wide-leg pants, and the girl's body was full of vigorous vitality.

Ignoring Percy, Loren walked briskly downstairs and came to the girl: "Say good morning to me now!"

"Good morning." Hermione put the book into the whale pendant around her neck.

"Well, good morning too Hermione."

Loren nodded with satisfaction. "What are your plans for today? Do you still need to practice illusion? Do you still need to go to the Forbidden Forest?"

"Yeah." Hermione smiled maliciously, "It's almost holiday time, we have to catch up, otherwise we won't be able to Apparate and it will be inconvenient to beat you at home."

No more pretending!

Loren's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? What are you talking about?"

The two chattered as they walked towards the auditorium to have breakfast.

They arrived too early, and there were few people in the hall, only less than ten little wizards sitting scattered at the long tables of the four colleges. There were many professors in the guest of honor seats, including the deans of the four colleges and Dumbledore, who occasionally greeted the little wizards passing by.

Seeing Professor Flitwick finish breakfast and leave the hall, Hermione took a few bites of the sandwich in her hand and pushed the plate with two fried eggs left in front of Loren: "I leave it to you, don't waste food."

Hermione took out a tissue and wiped her mouth, then left in a hurry.

Ten minutes had passed since breakfast. Loren stood up and walked slowly toward the hallway, ready to go fishing in Black Lake.

I'm free anyway, of course, the most important thing is that the water level rises and it's good for fishing.

Passing by the corridor next to the courtyard, the plants in the yard look even greener and more eye-catching after the rain.

The snail with the shell attached to the other snail's back shell and slowly moved forward along the branches and leaves of the bush. Drops of water accidentally fell on the snail shells, scaring the two snails into shrinking into their shells at the same time. It took them a long time to recover and stick their heads out to continue crawling forward.

Loren couldn't help but squat down to watch carefully, and from time to time he put leaves in front of the snails to create roadblocks for them, or brought a puddle of water to force the snails to change direction. For a while, he was so excited that he was fascinated.

"A scenery full of vitality is more moving, isn't it, Loren?" Dumbledore appeared beside him at some point and looked at him tenderly.

Loren raised his head helplessly and sighed, "Principal Dumbledore, I have a grudge against Sirius Black, not you."

A smile appeared on Dumbledore's lips.

“Even if you are a capitalist reformist wizard who advocates equality for all and opposes the power of dark wizards, you have not actually tried to change the privileged status of pure-blood aristocrats, or the discrimination against Muggles by wizards. You have also never attacked the breeding ground for dark forces, such as Knockturn Alley, the Ministry of Magic, and the interest groups of the Hogwarts Board of Directors.

But considering your psychological trauma, I still understand your approach to maintaining stability. So, Headmaster Dumbledore, if you have something to say, just speak directly. There is no need to beat around the bush to find a topic. We are not outsiders. "

Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, then he laughed easily. He laughed for a long time before he stopped to stroke his tangled beard.

Although Loren was blaming him, saying this bluntly meant that he still trusted his old principal and was willing to be close to him.

If he became respectful, polite, modest and cautious, Dumbledore would be uneasy.

"Never striving for power and putting it into practice is already my greatest contribution to the world." Dumbledore shook his head. "These are exactly what I hope you can do in the future."

He began to talk about business: "Regarding the treatment plan for the Longbottoms, I have communicated with some therapists and scholars who have studied the soul.

The Longbottoms have had their souls messed up by the Unforgivable Curse. Their consciousness and memories are all in a mess. Sorting out their consciousness is like finding the ends of a room full of wool. It is very difficult and dangerous. "

Loren looked at the snail that was trapped in the waterline and was bumping around headlessly. "Professor, I recommend you read some books on Muggle psychology. Although I don't understand the soul, I know that human consciousness is a wonderful thing, even more magical than magic. The confusion of the Longbottom couple's consciousness is not caused by the Unforgivable Curse, but the consciousness blurred perception and mind in order to resist unbearable pain."

"Their souls are not broken or collapsed dilapidated buildings, but twisted and lush jungles. We don't need to rebuild them brick by brick, we just need to raise a beam of light in the darkness to guide the way."

"What a new piece of knowledge." Dumbledore exclaimed, "Can you be more specific?"

"I can use Bloody Mary's hand mirror to open a path to the depths of their consciousness, allowing Neville to go deep into the bottom of his consciousness, use family affection to resist the pain in his memories, and awaken their minds from the inside out."

Loren ran his fingers across, breaking the water line in front of the snail. "Of course, this is dangerous, and there's no guarantee it will work."

"It will definitely succeed." Dumbledore's eyes became brighter, "Love is the greatest magic..."

The two snails swayed their tentacles and moved forward along the road that suddenly appeared, slowly and steadily.

……

A week later, a lively end-of-year banquet brought the school year to a close.

The banquet was arranged before the final exam results were released, which allowed the little wizard to enjoy the banquet in peace.

Except for a few like Hermione, most young wizards thought this arrangement was reasonable.

The red and gold decorations representing Gryffindor in the Great Hall were completely renewed to celebrate their winning of the House Cup for two consecutive years. On the wall behind the guest of honor seats, a huge banner with a Gryffindor lion was hung, looking majestic.

Chapter 260 Return to St. Mungo's

"Before the banquet begins, let us applaud Professor Sprout, Professor Snape, and Madam Pomfrey. The Mandrake juice they prepared successfully cured all the petrified victims..."

Dumbledore's words drew thunderous applause.

Colin and Justin pushed open the door and appeared in front of the people, triggering another round of cheers.

When they returned to the long tables of their respective colleges, the surrounding young wizards gathered around them and chattered. Among them, Ernie MacMillan's voice was the loudest:

"What does a living basilisk look like?"

"How does it feel to be petrified?"

"Were you conscious when you were lying in the hospital? Could you hear other people talking?"

"Are you hungry, thirsty, or bored?"

"To be honest, I'm a little envious," Ron said, picking up the chicken drumstick in front of him. "No classes and no final exams, this is actually pretty good, isn't it?"

Loren swallowed the baked snail in his mouth and said quietly, "I can help you stay in the school clinic for a year. Do you want to try it next school year?"

Ron, with a chicken drumstick in his mouth, shook his head wildly.