The days at Hogwarts

Harry's eyebrows were knitted together, looking very uncomfortable. He looked at Ron eagerly——

Quickly ask about the reasoning process, quick about the process!

"Oh!" Ron clapped his hands and suddenly realized, "It turns out that you mentioned me and messy friendships earlier on purpose. It turned out to be a hint of this!"

Harry's eyebrows drooped and he looked at the three people expressionlessly, his eyes blank.

I'm tired and want to sink you all into the lake without pulling you up.

"What do you think, Ron?" Hermione sipped her butterbeer.

"There's nothing simpler than this!" Ron said proudly, "Don't forget there is coral stone, then I can also be in the limelight!"

"This is good for us, but be careful of unexpected situations..." Hermione glanced at Loren unconsciously, and there was a circle of hop foam on the edge of his lips. She paused before continuing, "You have bought gilly grass. ?"

"I bought it, it's quite expensive."

Harry came back to his senses and said: "The storage method is very special. Ron and I both thought he was cheating, so we used the bargaining method taught by Loren to negotiate with him and almost got kicked out."

Loren put his chin on the table and his head was empty: "I didn't grasp the essence."

"..."

The conversation became lighter during the rest of the time. They lay lazily on the tavern table, and things like the Goblet of Fire and mermaids were put aside for the time being...

In the evening, the streets of Hogsmeade were already lit with sporadic lights. The four of them left the tavern together and walked through the cold and damp paths back to school.

The road was muddy with water from melted ice and snow, and every step he took would leave mud spots on his trouser legs and clothes.

It has not snowed heavily for several days. Occasionally we will see sleet, and more often it will be fine rain. The rain is not heavy, falling one by one, but it falls frequently, always in the middle of the night and early in the morning.

The weather is getting warmer, and the Black Lake is slowly beginning to thaw. Durmstrang's big ship is still parked on the lake. The mast is straight, but it looks like the remains of a sunken ship that has been salvaged. The gunwale is shining with a dim, foggy light. ,

"Look, it's Krum!"

Following Ron's line of sight, he saw Krum walking from the cabin to the deck. Wearing only a pair of swimming trunks, he nimbly climbed to the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived into the water with a splash.

The black head was floating in the middle of the lake, swimming very fast.

Ron shuddered in sympathy: "Hey, it's January now, it must be terribly cold!"

"He must be practicing for the second project." Harry said solemnly, "I wonder how he will solve the problem of breathing underwater..."

"Think about yourself." Loren made a fist with his right hand and covered his mouth with a yawn. "Although you can breathe underwater, your swimming skills are definitely not as good as his."

"That's right, you have to practice as well!" Hermione nodded.

"Well, I'll try my best."

……

Sunday, prefects' washroom.

Colorful mist floated in the room, and a dense and thick layer of foam was spread on the hot water of the pool. Harry suddenly emerged from the water, wiped the foam from his face, and exhaled comfortably and melancholy.

"This swimming speed is definitely not as fast as Krum, and there is no mermaid to lead the way for me during the competition..." Harry leaned against the edge of the pool and lamented, "What should I do..."

"Maybe I can help you." Myrtle crossed her legs and sat on a dragon head, blinking at him from behind her thick lenses.

"Are you familiar with the underwater terrain?"

"Oh, I sometimes go to the lake." Myrtle spread her hands. "Sometimes I have no choice. Someone flushes my toilet when I am not prepared..."

"..."

Harry restrained himself from thinking about that scene and silently mourned for the ghost girl for a few seconds, "Thank you very much."

"This is what a friend should do. You're welcome. Just come to my bathroom and visit me from time to time."

"Well, I'll try my best, but please close your eyes now..." Harry climbed up to dry himself and put on his clothes again, "Now, I have to go to Professor Snape to learn Occlumency... Goodbye , Myrtle.”

"Farewell," said Myrtle sadly.

……

Walking through the dark underground corridor, Harry came to the door of Dean Slytherin's office with light steps, but before he could knock on the door, he heard a familiar voice coming from inside.

"We need to talk."

It was Headmaster Karkaroff of Durmstrang, his voice restless.

"I'll talk to you tonight, Igor," Snape said calmly.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip away. Severus, you've been avoiding me lately..."

"...Don't understand what all the fuss is about, Igor."

"Severus, you can't pretend this didn't happen!" Karkaroff's voice sounded hoarse and frightened, as if he was afraid of being heard. "It's become more and more obvious over the past few months... …I’m very worried right now, I can’t deny it…”

"Then run away." Snape's voice was very impatient. "Run away. I will excuse you, but I want to stay in Hogwarts."

"Severus—"

Just when Karkaroff was still struggling, Snape suddenly raised his voice: "Come in, Potter."

Harry's heart skipped a few beats, he quickly stopped his random thoughts and opened the wooden door with a normal expression.

"Good afternoon, Professor."

When he saw Karkaroff standing aside, he showed just the right amount of surprise, "Principal Karkaroff? Oh, nice to see you."

Karkaroff looked at him deeply, then looked at Snape, his goatee with curls at the end trembled a few times, snorted at them and strode out of the office.

Harry stepped sideways to make way for the passage, a series of questions popping up in his mind.

When did he and Snape start calling each other by their Christian names?

What did he want to talk about, what did the two of them have to talk about?

Why is Karkaroff so worried?

Chapter 484 Who cares about the second project?

"You practice swimming in the bathtub?" Ron said incredulously. "How can you improve? Can you tell what kind of bath liquid is used in the prefect's bathroom with just one sip?"

"Keep your voice down!" Harry said angrily, "I don't want to practice in the black lake. There's still ice on it!"

"Krum can do it." Loren's voice was light and airy.

Hermione turned around and glared at them all: "Listen carefully!"

In Charms Class, the four of them were sitting alone at a table at the back of the classroom.

Professor Flitwick's lecture echoed in the classroom: "The spell we are going to practice today is exactly the opposite of the summoning spell, the banishing spell!"

"In order to prevent things from flying around in the classroom and causing teaching accidents, I have prepared a lot of soft mats for each of you to use for practice." Professor Flitwick's proud mustache twitched slightly, "In this way, even if you If you go astray, you won't hurt anyone..."

Loren listened to Professor Flitwick's arrangements and felt that the plan was very good, but the plan could not keep up with the changes.

The little wizards were completely misguided. Not long after they officially started practicing, some of them began to make unplanned things fly around the room - such as Professor Flitwick.

"Forget about swimming for now, okay?" Harry said in a low voice. At this time, Professor Flitwick flew past them helplessly and landed on the big bookcase at the back. "I want to tell you about Snape and Karkaroff. Things..."

In order to prevent anyone from getting hurt, Professor Flitwick, who was flying around in the air, tried his best to control other flying tables, chairs, benches and little wizards. Whether it was flying in the sky or letting others fly in the sky, the students were all having fun, so no one paid attention to what they were saying.

Harry spent the next half hour detailing what he had heard outside Snape's office.

"Snape and Karkaroff have shady secrets?" Ron's eyes shone with excitement. He waved his wand and cast a banishing spell on the cushion. The cushion flew into the air, lost control and knocked off Lavender's head. Hat, "Hmm... It sounds like they are old friends, or very close old friends, don't you think so?"

"I'm not sure what secrets they have, but Karkaroff looks flustered." Harry waved his wand casually, and his soft cushion slid down against the table. "Judging from their conversation, there was something The thing is becoming more and more obvious, and it is something that scares Karkaroff and wants to run away..."

Loren raised his eyebrows, and at the same time controlled several soft cushions that had fallen out of control to fly up, and flew back staggeringly.

"Run away?" Ron's eyes widened. His second cushion spun and flew high into the sky, knocking the chandelier flying. "Harry...except for that person, I can't think of anything else that would scare him." He ran away!"

"You mean..." Hermione waved her wand casually, and the cushion landed accurately in the box, "But Karkaroff himself is a Death Eater. He has no reason to be afraid of his master, and why would he want to go with Si Nap said this?"

"Maybe it's Professor Moody." Harry said suddenly, "I heard some news. Professor Moody always stared at Karkaroff, and even searched Durmstrang's cabin and Snape's cabin. office!"

Loren controlled the soft cushion to rotate slowly, and some doubts arose in his heart.

Isn't Dumbledore ready to reveal Moody's identity yet...

Ron said happily: "Is Professor Moody really not afraid that Snape will put medicine in his bottle?"

Harry couldn't help laughing after hearing this, and cast a spell on the cushion, causing it to stagger into the box: "No matter what, I'd better think about swimming first."

Loren and Hermione looked at each other, still thinking about the drug.

If you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem impossible.

……

Wednesday, February 2nd.

The snow in the field has completely melted. Whenever the little wizards approach the windows of the classroom or lounge, they are always attracted by the wide lake. The large iron-gray cold lake surface, the dark and cold bottom is as far away as the moon. and.

Hagrid completely abandoned his cute little squid, and explained the knowledge about unicorns like a competent Care of Magical Creatures professor. The teaching equipment was changed from an adult unicorn to two unicorn cubs.

Two fluffy little guys with pure golden hair and black eyes looked timidly at the students around them.

The little witches were almost crazy with joy, but they clenched their teeth tightly for fear of scaring them with laughter.

Hagrid introduced to the whole class at the top of his lungs: "Unicorn cubs are easier to get close to than adults. They turn silver when they are about two years old, and develop horns when they are about four years old. They will not turn pure white until they reach adulthood. I was about seven years old at the time...

“When they were young, they were more gullible and less averse to boys... Come here, come closer.

"If you are willing, you can pat them and give them a few pieces of these sugar cubes..."

Loren looked at the sugar cubes in the tin box.

Hey, it's actually produced by Honeydukes, and there are hazelnuts, peanuts and almonds in the candy...

He first fed himself one, then grabbed two more and put them in the palm of his hand, bringing them to the unicorn cub's mouth.

The unicorn cub blinked at him with eyes as black as black gems, stretched out its pink tongue and licked it up, silly, tilting its head to nuzzle him from time to time.

The little witches' starry eyes were shining brightly, and they couldn't resist their impulse and took out their own snacks and candies to feed them.

While everyone gathered around the unicorn cub, Hagrid walked aside and asked in a low voice: "The competition is in one day, Harry, how are you preparing?"

"Uh, not bad." Harry replied a little guilty.

"Don't be nervous, Harry." Hagrid patted his shoulder with a heavy hand, causing his knees to bend. "I have always believed that as long as you want to do something, there is nothing you can't do... You It’s going to win, I know it, I can feel it!”

One more day, one more day...

Harry felt time slipping away, as if someone had enchanted the clocks to make them move faster.

……

The day before the game, the Gryffindor common room.

Loren was fiddling with the hair that was removed from the little unicorn yesterday with great interest, and jotting down something in his notebook from time to time.

Hermione was reading a large history book with her chin on her hands, but her eyes were always looking to the side.

Why doesn't this person do his astronomy homework?

From time to time, a little wizard would pass by and say "Come on" to Harry, who responded feebly.

"I know what I should do." Harry lay down listlessly on "Twenty Swimming Tips". "If I want to pursue swimming speed, I should use gillyweed. If I have enough time, I will use The red coral stone swims slowly.”

"But, the faster you complete the task, the higher your score will be." Ron whispered, "Don't you want to become the Warrior Champion?"

Ron was even more uneasy than Harry. He also wanted to be part of the competition and be in the limelight, and he would never allow anyone to hold him back.

"I……"

Harry admitted that he was moved.

"Come on Harry, no one wants you to become the champion more than us." Fred's voice suddenly came, "Then we can save enough money to open a store faster."

"Oh, do you two have anything to do with us?" Ron asked.

"We want to ask you where Ginny is?" George held his shoulders and shook him back and forth. "Professor McGonagall called her over, and also called Cho Chang, Gabrielle from Beauxbatons, and Boot from Ilvermorny. …”

"What, Ginny?!"

Ron was struck by lightning.

……

"It's a bet, it's a bet! Action is worse than a heartbeat! Come on, don't be shy, everyone!"

"The second match of the Goblet of Fire Tournament is about to begin..."