Harry Potter and the Burnt Badger

"That's it, Severus, go back and recuperate, and help Moon find out what the spell is as soon as possible." Professor Dumbledore raised his hand, "I know you should be looking for the spell yourself. This is also very useful." Okay, if you two work together, the progress will be much faster."

Professor Snape frowned, "What about Quirrell? Headmaster, are you going to do some hard-to-get... means? With all due respect, I don't think you can persuade Quirrell to turn back."

"No, Severus, I have no such plan." A look of regret appeared on Professor Dumbledore's face. "I did think so before, but now, I think you are right. If the strange Luo is even willing to take such a big risk for Tom's order. I'm afraid he is no longer something I can persuade. With his character, if it is not voluntary, even if Tom coerces him, he will not do it. Something like this happened.”

He sighed softly and gently rubbed the table with his right hand. "Quirinas...poor kid, he has been cowardly for so many years, but it was in this situation that he finally discovered the courage in his heart."

Snape's brows twitched, "I have to say, it's a bit...ironic."

This was a bit offensive, but Dumbledore didn't take it seriously at all. Instead, he laughed, "Yes, it's a bit ironic. You're right, Severus."

"So what is your decision?" Snape asked calmly: "Since you are not trying to persuade him to 'change his evil ways,' then why don't you let me continue to stare at him."

"Oh, Severus, I don't think you've noticed -" Dumbledore tapped the Daily Prophet twice on the table "- the old man in front of you has already relaxed. Next, , I will go and see for myself what exactly Tom wants Quirinus to do at Hogwarts."

After getting the answer, Snape didn't say anything. No one could tell whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied with Dumbledore's arrangement, but he did not say anything more and turned around and left.

The poor Professor Quirinus Quirrell who was lying on the bed was completely unaware that his sacrifice had indeed succeeded in making Snape no longer monitor him. However, a pair of eyes that were wiser and more capable of seeing everything were already waiting. On the road ahead of him.

-

[Note 1] The Gauteng Spotted Lizard is the original content of this book. It is not a magical creature that exists in the original book. It is a giant lizard from South Africa and is highly venomous.

Chapter 70 The three painful heads

The subsequent effects of the Wizard's Chess competition gradually began to be revealed.

Although the Daily Prophet strongly occupied the breakfast reading time of the little wizards and wizards at Hogwarts on Monday morning, in any case, the Daily Prophet was only a temporary good, and the school newspaper was their long-term true love.Therefore, when everyone picked up the school newspaper again, they naturally saw reports on the awards in the wizard chess competition.

Although the Wizard Chess Club actually didn't spend much money, the rewards given were not luxurious. At most, the prizes for the champions were somewhat novel.But Moon and Nash carefully took a set of artistic photos of Batman and the silver wizard chess set, which attracted the attention of many young wizards.In addition, Ian provided Moon in advance to help publish the rule changes of the Wizard Chess Club in the school newspaper:

1. After joining the Wizard Chess Club, you can quit at any time.

2. Even if you don’t know how to play Wizard Chess, you can still join the Wizard Chess Club to learn.

Changes that may seem meaningless are actually earth-shaking changes.You know, in the past, most of the clubs at Hogwarts adopted a relatively "upper-level" route, only recruiting people with corresponding abilities or talents, and regardless of joining or withdrawing, they needed to be invited by someone within the club, and they also had to Write an application.Now that Ian has made such changes, it can almost be said that the club system has been completely turned upside down, from "a gathering place for elites" to "everyone can come in and play."

If it weren't for the school newspaper, Ian would never have made such a change, because if there was no similar publicity method, even if the rules were changed, there would be no way to attract the little wizards to join - how could they Did you know about the rules changes of the Wizard Chess Club?

But now that the school newspaper exists, and the last competition has demonstrated the school newspaper's propaganda ability within Hogwarts, Ian has this idea.He has actually had this idea for a long time, which can be seen from the rewards in the wizard chess competition.

What puzzled Ian was that he had finally convinced other key members of his club, but he heard rejection from Moon.

Yes, Moon is not optimistic about Ian's idea, because Ian obviously has not considered some things.It's just that the two of them don't have much friendship, and shallow communication is a taboo in interpersonal relationships, especially for a rebellious boy like Ian, who is sixteen or seventeen years old.So Moon just mentioned it briefly and said nothing more.

After Monday's school newspaper was published, Ian felt anxious the next day.

To be precise, it should be a mixed blessing.

The change in regulations did bring him many application letters from young wizards to join Hogwarts, but at the same time, he also received a lot of letters from owls—many graduated Hogwarts students were among these letters. Expressing dissatisfaction with him, he bluntly said that Ian was "destroying the Wizards Chess Club", "abandoning the heritage of the Wizards Chess Club without caring about it", and "smearing the pure blood of the Wizards Chess Club".

The point is, these people are all former members of the Wizard Chess Club and are Ian's seniors. Ian has no way to refute.

He sat on the bed in his dormitory and sighed sadly.At the moment, he is already being held in the middle of the fire. He can neither advance nor retreat.

How to do?

My head seemed to start to hurt.

…………

The same Slytherin dormitory, the same frown, and almost the same scene also played out on Gemma.

The difference is that Gemma only has a letter in her hand.

To be honest, if possible, Gemma would rather trade with Ian.For her, business matters are much easier to deal with than private matters.

If she handles official business wrongly, she will be criticized behind her back, or at worst, she will resign. Anyway, for her, it is not a day or two for others to poke their spines and talk about her.It's a private matter...

If you do it wrong, you will regret it for a long time.

Not only regret, Gemma also had to consider whether she would be willing to find another one if she missed this person.

The neat handwriting on the letter paper always makes me happy when I look at it. Even if the words written on it are quite boring, the corners of Gemma's mouth will raise unconsciously.However, today, the exact same handwriting on the letter made her feel deeply at a loss.

It's like there are two old-fashioned villains appearing in my head. One is muttering to the side, "You must listen to your heart and make brave choices." The other is yelling, "You have to take reality into account more." Factors, be rational and don’t be impulsive.”

Gemma really wanted to strangle these two villains to death and throw them into the black lake.

She sighed quietly, folded the letter, opened it, folded it, and opened it again.Envelopes, letter paper, wax, seals... these things had long been taken out and placed beside the bed, but she didn't even know how to write the first word of the reply.

Her head seemed to start to hurt a little.

…………

"Um……"

In the school newspaper office, Moon looked at Quirrell's position on the Marauder's Map, raised his hand and rubbed his brow.

Quirrell made a completely bad move. Of course, this was in Moon's view. After all, Quirrell obviously couldn't have known that Moon had a fully functional Marauder's Map in his hand.

The problem is that putting this bad move together with the previous bad move made Munn confused.

Quirrell's heart has been revealed, and he took advantage of the curse to temporarily stay in the school doctor's office, away from everyone's sight, and working behind the scenes - this is really a stupid idea. Moon doesn't even know who the ghost is. Only then could he come up with such a method. Why did Quirrell think that no one would be watching him after he was admitted to the school infirmary because of the curse?Didn't he realize that being inexplicably cursed with such a curse in Hogwarts would make people want to pay more attention to him?

As long as his brain is bigger than a walnut, he should be able to think of such a thing.

After all, he's a Ravenclaw, so he can't stretch his hips to such an extent, right?

He had to doubt Quirrell's motives and thoughts.

Maybe there are other chess moves waiting behind?

Quirrell remained motionless in the school doctor's office. Moon tapped his fingers on the table unconsciously a few times, and finally chose to give up.

It's not worth thinking about, because obviously it's something you can't just sit here and think about.He didn't think Quirrell was really that stupid, but he couldn't say that Quirrell was really that stupid. There was no point in thinking about it until more new clues were revealed.

Moon put away the Marauder's Map and casually opened the book at hand. He couldn't help but feel a dull pain in his head.

Chapter 71 Three Heads Gathering

There was a sudden knock on the door of the school newspaper office.

Moon put down the book curiously and walked towards the door.

Theoretically, no one should come to the school newspaper office at this time.

Opening the door, Ian stood at the door with a sad face. As soon as he saw Munn, he immediately said: "Moon, I should really listen to you... Hey, I'm in big trouble this time."

No need for him to continue, Munn also knew that the issue of restructuring the Wizard Chess Club's rules must have arisen. To be honest, Munn didn't have any good solutions at the moment. The deal was already done, and it was impossible to find a perfect solution.But now that Ian is here, he can't let others stand outside the door.There was no other way, Moon shrugged, let Ian walk sideways into the office, and then closed the door.

As soon as he walked into the office, Ian couldn't help but sigh, "What should I do, Moon? Is there any good way? I received a lot of letters today, and almost every letter accused me..."

Moon took him to his desk and sat down. Just as he was about to speak, someone knocked on the door of the school newspaper office again.

"Uh... just wait a minute."

With his head full of questions, Moon walked to the door again and opened it, only to find that it was Gemma who appeared in front of him. There was nothing surprising about Gemma's appearance here, but if Gemma's face turned out to be... He looked hesitant, which was very surprising.

The last time Moon saw Gemma looking so hesitant was the last time.

"Gemma? What are you..." Moon looked at Gemma in confusion. Gemma opened her mouth and was about to speak when she followed the open door and saw a sad-looking man sitting in the office leaning on his cheek. of Ian.

She quickly stopped the urge to speak and asked in a low voice, "Are you busy?"

"...It doesn't really count." Moon rubbed his hair and saw that Gemma seemed to have something to say. He hesitated for a moment and once again stepped aside to let the door open. "It's okay. Come in, Ian." There’s nothing to hide about the matter, so maybe you can give me some advice.”

Gemma nodded lightly, followed the instructions and walked into the school newspaper office, and then said hello to Ian.

Although they are both Slytherin students and of similar age, Ian and Gemma don't have much interaction with each other on weekdays. At most, they just nod to each other when they meet.In addition, Gemma had already calmed down her hesitant expression when she walked in, so Ian casually greeted her softly without saying anything more.

Moon closed the door and couldn't help complaining in his heart that if anyone came in again later, he would let these three people talk by themselves.

Fortunately, no one knocked on the door again until he sat back down and looked at Ian.

"So..." Ian did not shy away from Gemma next to him. Anyway, as Moon said, there is nothing to hide. "Moon, do you have any good ideas...?"

Moon answered very decisively, "No, when things have come to this point, there is no way to make things better for you, at least I can't think of it."

"Ah..." Ian lowered his head in despair, tapping his knees with his hands, "Now we are in big trouble."

Like a drowning person always trying to grab every life-saving straw he sees, Ian suddenly thought of Gemma next to him after knocking his knee twice, and quickly raised his head to look at her. Farley, I..."

He briefly told the whole story about his experience, and then looked at Gemma expectantly, "Do you think I have any other good ideas that I can use?"

Gemma answered more decisively than Moon, but she also gave her own opinion at the same time, "No, but I think, since you have already done this, you might as well do it to the end. Those people have left Hogwart anyway." Sorry, they don’t have any power to control you. They can only send two letters to accuse you at most, so just don’t worry about it.”

Ian grabbed his blond hair with his stubby fingers and fell into deep thought.

After a few seconds, he let out a breath - neither Moon nor Gemma knew why he was pulling his hair and holding his breath to think, but he did, and it seemed that he had really figured it out. "You're right, Farley, I really should do this. Now that I've done it, I'll do it to the end."

After saying his heroic words, his face fell down again in the next second, "But what to do after graduation... I have to work in the Ministry of Magic... Will they give me small shoes by then?" …”

Moon and Gemma looked at each other. What Ian said was indeed correct. If he really has to work at the Ministry of Magic in the future, then this issue is indeed worth thinking about.

But in this matter, Moon and Gemma were even less helpful.

"Forget it, no matter what, thank you for your help." Ian slumped and forced a smile, looking a bit naive. "I'll go back and grow my head for a while. I made it myself." You should suffer the sin yourself."

Moon and Gemma each nodded and watched Ian slowly walk out of the school newspaper office.

"He... is quite miserable." Gemma hesitated and gave her own evaluation.

Moon nodded, then turned his gaze to Gemma, "So, what's wrong with you?"

Gemma took a deep breath, then took out a letter from her pocket, hesitated for a moment, and finally handed it to Moon. "Can you please help me look at this? I... don't know how to reply to him. "

Moon was startled, then took the letter, opened it and started reading.

He was originally thinking about what kind of letter could make Gemma so hesitant. He also considered that it might be a letter from "that boy", but what confused Moon was that it turned out to be a love letter. .

love letter?

Moon raised his head and glanced at Gemma, wanting to tell her "Gemma, there's something wrong with you".

Before he could say anything, the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger.

How weird, why should I help a girl read the love letter another boy wrote to her? !

And also help her think of how to reply? !

Moon held his forehead with his hand, feeling that something was not quite right about what was going on - for those who didn't know this kind of plot, they would have thought that he was Gemma's licking dog or a third party had intervened.

But after reading the letter, Moon finally understood why Gemma asked him to help her figure out how to reply, and the strange feeling in her heart turned into doubt and confusion.

He looked at Gemma, blinked, and finally asked directly: "This boy..."

"He...is a Muggle?"

Chapter 72 New Prophecy

Wizards and Muggles cannot intermarry. This is a stereotype that has long since been swept into the trash heap of history.

But that doesn't mean that no one still abides by the old customs. It's like everyone knows that pure-blood wizards are no more noble than half-blood wizards and Muggle-born wizards, but there are still some people who stupidly uphold the "noble pride" of pure-bloods and think that pure-blood wizards are no more noble than half-blood wizards and Muggle-born wizards. Wizards born in melon are not worthy of learning magic.

This is exactly the problem Gemma faces: she comes from a pure-blood wizard family. Although it is not a famous family, it does have several generations of inheritance.At the same time, her parents are still loyal believers in pure-blood supremacy. Although they will not do anything dangerous because of pure-blood supremacy, if Gemma dares to find a Muggle - he even Neither of them was a Muggle-born wizard - if they came to fall in love, this couple would probably kick Gemma out directly.

This is just one of the reasons that makes Gemma confused.

The second reason is that Gemma has never been in love, or even had an affair with someone. For her, this is a very difficult thing.However, the boy was several years younger than her, and this sibling relationship made Gemma's already panicky thoughts suddenly become even more overwhelming.

There is a third and most important reason.

Gemma only met this boy once, and they were just pen pals for two years.They never talked much about family or life. Instead, they always wrote poems to each other and talked about waltzes, ballet and jazz.Now the boy directly sent a letter to Gemma asking if he could meet again. His words were obviously full of dating intentions, and the ambiguous emotions between the lines were self-evident.It should have been a good thing that the man was interested in his concubine. However, in Gemma's view, they were a wizard and a Muggle. Although they had some things in common, in real life, those things really didn't matter. Just a very, very small part.

There are many more places where the two of them are very different, and no one can guarantee whether they can overcome these differences and finally come together.

To put it bluntly, Gemma even felt that just confessing her identity as a wizard might cause a lot of trouble between the two of them.

Under Gemma's narration, Moon also came to understand more and more what Gemma's confusion was - a common problem that almost all teenagers who fall in love have: lack of confidence and worries about gains and losses.

This kind of lack of self-confidence does not mean "not confident in one's own conditions and feeling inferior", but refers to lack of confidence in feelings and self, not believing that one can grasp feelings and maintain good feelings, and even feels that one cannot even give in to feelings. The ability to let nature take its course is lacking.

But the embarrassing thing is that Moon can't solve this problem.

He can point out the problems with Gemma's ideas to Gemma, but that doesn't mean that after he points it out, Gemma will become more confident and stop worrying about gains and losses. Only Gemma can solve this problem herself, and not yet.

Frankly speaking, no matter how many reasons people have heard about this kind of problem in advance, they will not realize the mistake and correct it until they actually face the corresponding problem in the end - and there is no guarantee that they will not make it again in the future.

Moon told Gemma exactly what he thought, and Gemma listened very seriously, which made Moon very happy.

When you ask others for advice, act like you are asking others for advice, instead of being crazy and arrogant, constantly arguing, and not listening to the slightest objectionable words.This may sound like a common thing, but most people in the world cannot do it.