The days at Hogwarts

Experienced old people can judge the position of the moon and know that this silvery white disk also rises in the east and sets in the west, moving from one end of the mountain to the other. But the moon is still in the eastern sky, which means that tonight is still long.

A phoenix with bright fiery red feathers stood by the window.

Wearing a white cotton pajama robe decorated with blue star and moon patterns, and with a long white beard tied into a bun with a silk scarf, Dumbledore held a cup of steaming cocoa in his hand as he watched the dark shadows of the man and the beast fly farther and farther away until they disappeared completely into the night.

"It's not what I thought..." Dumbledore tapped his index finger on the porcelain cup, and the golden lines on his fingertips flashed by. "I thought he would at least torture him to extract a confession. It seems that he doesn't care much about Tom."

The phoenix standing on the window eaves tilted its head and looked at him, the feathers on its head trembling a few times: "Chirp?"

"Monitoring? Of course not. I just sensed that the contract was triggered but not broken, and it still exists." Dumbledore looked at it with a reproachful look, "Fawkes, am I such a harsh person in your eyes?"

Fox nodded: "Chirp!"

Dumbledore smiled, picked up the porcelain cup and took a sip: "Perhaps he behaves too maturely and grows up too fast. Sometimes we forget that he is only 13 years old... Fawkes, what was I like when I was 13?"

"Chirp."

"If it were me, I would have done something even more outrageous... After all, I grew up in my mother's lap surrounded by lies and secrets, hatred and loathing." Dumbledore's azure eyes reflected the night, appearing gray and somewhat dim.

"Chirp?"

"How do we tell the Ministry of Magic? Why should we tell the Ministry of Magic? This matter has nothing to do with Hogwarts."

……

Walking through the long corridor and arriving at the entrance to the portrait hole, Loren was lucky that the fat woman did not visit any other picture frames.

Waking up the fat woman who was sleeping with her head bowed, Loren said the password for tonight: "Light of Fairyland."

"Naughty little wizard, going out for a night stroll again!" The fat woman raised her head and rubbed her eyes, muttering with dissatisfaction on her face. Although she was dissatisfied, she still opened the cave door reluctantly.

Loren climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room.

The candlesticks on the surrounding walls had long been extinguished, leaving only the remaining firewood in the fireplace emitting a faint flame, illuminating a small circle in front of the fireplace.

Hearing the footsteps, the girl in the black shirt ran over quickly like a gust of wind.

"Loren!" Hermione's eyes sparkled and she threw herself into Loren's arms.

The girl's shirt was delicate and soft, and even softer than the fabric was the girl's body. It was so soft that Hermione could clearly feel the warmth coming from her body through the shirt, which was more comfortable than Crookshanks' cat fur.

The Room of Requirement, Wormtail, the Dementor's kiss...all seemed to be driven away by this hug. When you know that there is a girl waiting by the fireplace for you to come back, the whole world seems to settle down.

Loren couldn't help but smile, buried his head in the girl's neck and took a deep breath: "Mm, it still smells good."

Hermione sniffed as well and replied muffledly, "You still stink."

Loren immediately loosened his arms and quickly changed the subject: "How long have you been waiting?"

Hermione: "..."

All those complicated emotions disappeared at once, and Hermione was speechless: "I have been waiting since you left, and I have been waiting until now."

So Loren scratched his head and grinned.

Looking at this person, Hermione also pursed her lips and smiled.

How to deal with Wormtail, whether there were any traces left, whether to go find Dumbledore... Hermione had prepared a lot of questions, but the moment she saw him, she didn't want to ask anything.

Anyway, it's good to be back.

In the dim lounge, the girl's crisp voice broke the silence: "Would you like to eat something?"

"want!"

"I have some snacks in my pendant. Remember to take a shower after you finish eating. Wash yourself clean."

"Hmm? You dislike my smell?"

"Ah."

"No, I won't take a bath anymore. You'll stink to death!"

"..."

Chapter 305 Men's Dormitory and Women's Dormitory

When I said goodnight to Hermione, the fire in the fireplace had completely gone out, with only some residual warmth left deep in the ashes.

Loren gently pushed open the dormitory door and walked in, and was surprised to find that none of these night owls were asleep.

Neville was half lying on his bed, flipping through his thick diary. Harry, Ron and Seamus were sitting around a bed in their pajamas, gesturing with a hay wand, with donuts suspended in mid-air by a levitation spell and several Bibiduo strange-flavored beans spinning and shuttling around the licorice wand.

A faint blue flame floated beside Harry's bed, emitting a soft glow and warmth.

Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, several people looked over together, and Simo shouted in surprise: "Loren, you're back from your night out!"

Not knowing who he was thinking of, Harry's eyes showed a hint of envy: "Did you go on a night date with Hermione... That's great."

"..." Loren smiled helplessly, "If you say so, then so be it."

"Oh~" Several roommates made a booing sound at the same time.

There was no point in wasting time if he couldn't explain it clearly. Loren shook his head and walked to the closet to take off his shoes and change clothes. He took a towel and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Hurry up, Loren! Come out, we have something to tell you!" Simo's excited voice came from behind.

……

At about the same time, in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory.

In order not to disturb her roommate's sleep, Hermione pushed open the dormitory door quietly, tiptoed in, then turned around and carefully closed the door.

puff!

The small light on the dormitory wall suddenly lit up, and Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, wearing pink and blue pajamas, stood by the wall, looking at Hermione with intriguing eyes, with teasing smiles on their lips.

"Look, who's back?" asked Lavender Brown in a long voice.

Parvati Patil blinked mischievously: "It's Miss Know-It-All from the night date, Hermione Granger!"

Hearing the sound, even the two roommates who were originally lying on the four-poster bed pulled aside the curtains and looked at Hermione with curious eyes.

Hermione's cheeks began to feel hot. She didn't know why. She wasn't shy even when hugging Loren, but now she felt embarrassed when her roommate teased her.

She defended herself in a very unconvincing tone, "No, no, I didn't go out at night. I was in the common room the whole time. I even said hello to you when you returned to the dormitory, Patil."

"Really?" Parvati raised an eyebrow. "Then what are you doing in the lounge?"

Hermione was silent again, hesitating for a while, until Parvati pretended to tickle her, then she quickly said: "Wait for Loren..."

Several roommates immediately showed an expression of understanding and laughed jokingly: "Oh~"

Lavender's eyes sparkled with eagerness. She pushed aside Patil and came close to Hermione, asking curiously, "Did you kiss while the lights were off? How did it feel? Was it really comfortable?"

Without waiting for Hermione to answer, Lavender covered her cheeks with shyness and said in a sweet voice: "Oh... wait until everyone leaves, and have a tryst with your beloved lover in the empty common room, kissing wantonly, with his hands caressing your waist..."

It was unknown what scene she was thinking of, but Lavender, immersed in her fantasy, chuckled twice and shook Hermione's hand continuously.

Lavender's voice seemed to have magic, stubbornly drilling into Hermione's mind. She tried hard to restrain herself from thinking about it, but the embarrassing scene still appeared uncontrollably. Hermione even imagined the clear details.

The man's lips were soft and a little hot...

"No, no, I didn't!" Hermione shouted, her face flushed.

Lavender, who was immersed in fantasy, was awakened. She sighed in disappointment and complained: "Come on, Hermione, you are the first one in our dormitory to fall in love, and it's a boy like Loren Morgan. Tell us about it."

"Yes, yes!" Parvati joined in the fun, and the two of them affectionately held the girl who came home late.

Hermione, who was distracted, was taken to the bed in a daze. With a girlish mood mixed with shyness and joy, she answered her roommates' doubts and yearnings about love.

Four dare to ask, one dare to answer.

……

Shower room in the men's dormitory.

The towel couldn't dry his hair, so he used a [Whirlwind Clean] to roll up the airflow, wrapping his hair and slowly evaporating the water vapor. Loren washed carefully several times, and only after making sure that he smelled good and there was no lingering smell of Rafflesia left on his body did he put on his clothes and walked out.

Neville was still flipping through his diary, and the other three were still sitting on Harry's bed, opening another pack of liquorice wands.

Ron waved him over excitedly, "Loren, come and help me with the Quidditch tryouts."

Loren walked over and took one of the donuts they used to simulate the scoring ring. He took a bite and the sweet aroma of chocolate and icing sugar filled his nose. "Have you convinced Wood?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Wood said that the announcement will be released next Monday. Students in the third grade and above can sign up. The selection will start after Halloween."

Ron waved a licorice wand and said, "I think I can definitely get in. Harry and the others have training tomorrow, so I'll just rush in first."

He held the licorice wand in his right hand and took a donut from the box with his left hand. He gestured with his two hands: "Tomorrow I will perform a starfish upside down in front of the players, holding the broom handle with one hand and hooking one foot on the broom, and then block all the goals--"

"Use your strength to convince all the players to let me join the team!" The licorice wand flew into Ron's abyss mouth.

"That's amazing, star player Weasley!" Loren nodded sincerely, and suddenly changed the subject, "I'm talking about George and Fred."

Harry laughed so hard that his shoulders trembled. It took him a while to recover. Facing Ron's condemning eyes, he put on a serious expression and said, "The upside-down starfish is a goalkeeper's skill. Are you going to be the substitute goalkeeper?"

"Right!" Ron winked at them proudly. "I've thought about it. The other positions in the team are very stable. They all have good skills and they still have several years before graduation. I joined the team later. Although my skills will catch up with theirs, we won't be able to get used to each other and have a good understanding of each other. This means that, except for injuries, the substitutes will have to stay on the bench for several years and will hardly have a chance to play.

Ron paused for a few seconds and chuckled, "But Wood will graduate next year. Then I will take over his position directly. Maybe I can even take over the captain position."

Seamus' eyes widened and he exclaimed in surprise, "What a long-term plan! Even smarter than Ravenclaw!"

"That's right, I came to Gryffindor only because of the Weasley family tradition. In fact, according to my wisdom, it is also suitable to go to Ravenclaw, hehehe..."

Harry cracked some Every-Flavor Beans and watched the two people joking with a smile, but he didn't expose them.

Loren ate a donut and most of a bag of licorice wands. He stopped when he felt a little full, turned his head to look at Harry, and asked, "Have you started learning your Patronus Charm?"

"Ah?" Harry was a little surprised, swallowing the pepper-flavored jelly beans in his mouth and replied, "It started. I went to Professor Lupin during the day."

"Didn't you say you were going to open a club?"

"Well, the club is already being planned, but Professor Lupin said that my condition is not suitable for practicing with others, so I'm learning alone."

Loren remembered Harry's weakness to Dementors and nodded thoughtfully: "Then how does Professor Lupin teach?"

"Boggart, a Boggart will turn into a Dementor in front of me." Thinking of today's embarrassing situation, Harry's smile was a little forced, "But I didn't succeed once. The Patronus Charm only has a weak light, which can't resist the Dementor that the Boggart turned into."

Boggart... Loren thought the same thing. Looking at the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead, the scene of the Soul Stone absorbing the soul emerged in his mind.

If the soul really contains unparalleled magic, can this magic be controlled by wizards? The protection spell on Harry is the use of soul magic, but the price Lily paid seems a bit high, and it can't be considered control.

Also, does Lily's protective spell use her own soul magic or Harry's magic?

If it was Lily's magic, why did Harry have to spend time with the Dursleys every year to replenish his magic and maintain the protective spell?

The underlying principle of magic is that when a wizard dies, his magic also dies. The magic he cast during his lifetime will only continue to decay and will be difficult to replenish.

And Lily's protection spell can replenish magic power to maintain it, which is not in line with common sense.

Loren felt that the protection spell was more likely to have stimulated Harry's own soul magic. According to this idea, it made sense to maintain the protection spell.

Family love, as a kind of love, is one of the characteristics of the soul, just like wisdom and courage, and can trigger the magic of the soul. The protection spell that Lily cast back then used Harry's soul magic as the source and family love as the bond.

Loren's thinking was fruitless. As he solved one puzzle, more puzzles arose.

The magic contained in the soul is so powerful, why are the Dementors that absorb souls so weak?

The emotions and memories they absorbed seemed unable to be converted into magic power in time. Even if they absorbed the soul with the Dementor's Kiss, they were unable to use that power.

On the contrary, the Horcruxes that carry fragments of Voldemort's soul are more evil than each other. They are indestructible in themselves, and can use the desires and fears of others to strengthen themselves.

If we look at it this way, are there any similarities between Horcruxes and Dementors?

……

Although it wasn't the first time someone had looked at his scar with inquiring eyes, Harry still felt a little awkward. He scratched the hair on his forehead and asked curiously, "Haven't you already mastered the Patronus Charm? Why do you still care about this?"

Loren gathered his scattered thoughts, exhaled lightly and smiled, "I'm curious. I learned the Patronus Charm by myself, so I want to understand the professor's formal teaching. Also, I want to borrow Professor Lupin's Boggart to do some experiments."

"You're amazing. You can do it just by practicing. You're much better than me..."

Harry was a little depressed. Why were Dementors more annoying than Voldemort? At least when facing Voldemort, he felt that he could punch him hard in the nose. But when facing Dementors, he was helpless. He would faint as soon as they met and could do nothing.

Harry sighed: "Then you can come with me next week, I can ask you for some advice."

"I'm going too! I'm going too!" Ron had finished showing off by now, and came over and said in a complaining tone, "You didn't call me this time..."

"I called you! You were pestering Wood about Quidditch!"

"Is that so? Hehe... Alas, it's hard to have both Quidditch and Patronus..."

"I'm afraid you'll end up being unsuccessful in both."

"Hmm? Seamus, do you have the blood of the Howling Banshee in your family? How can you say such ugly words!"