The End of Second Year

Hermione subtly slowed her pace, letting Harry and Ron go ahead while she and Loren walked side by side behind.

"So, you can't ride the Hogwarts Express home with me again?" Hermione nudged him with her elbow.

"I think it's all Headmaster Dumbledore's fault," Loren said righteously.

Fortunately, Professor Flitwick allowed me to stay during my break and spend a day or two completing the Apparition assessment.

Hermione snorted twice, her eyes sparkling. "St Mungo's's? So this is another secret that can't be told?"

"I should say it's for treating Neville's parents. Remember Bloody Mary's Hand Mirror? Maybe it can help."

Loren looked at the two people in front of him. Ron seemed to have said something to tease Harry, which made Harry want to cover his mouth. The two started fighting in the corridor.

Remembering the Lomberton ' ordeal, Hermione put aside her joking thoughts and sighed sadly, "Neville would be so happy if the Lumbard couple could get better."

Perhaps Neville could be less burdened and more free to chase and fight with people, just like the two people running away in front of him.

In late May, the feeling of summer intensifies, and the bluebells bloom even more profusely, their bright blue-purple flowers dazzling under the sunlight.

Loren didn't tell Neville about treating the Lumbard couple; he didn't want to give them unrealistic hopes.

Neville still points his wand at his heart and chants spells every day at sunrise and sunset, but he never hears a second heartbeat.

With final exams approaching, Harry and Ron became more diligent, even bringing their A History of Magic textbooks with them when playing Wizard's Chess.

Hermione started acting mysteriously again, often running to the Edge of the Forbidden Forest, and returning covered in the scent of Gillyweed essence.

Loren had a vague idea of what she was doing, but he didn't say it outright.

Over the past two weeks, he has refined his idea of adding Rafflesia and Leopard-skin flower to the Wolfsbane Potion. Snape's theory has verified that the idea is feasible. The concentrated extracts of these flowers need to be fermented for a month, so experimental verification is not yet possible.

Loren didn't want to spend time studying and was feeling rather idle.

Reading newspapers, storybooks, joke books... time just slips away little by little like that.

With only three days left until their first exam, Professor McGonagall announced some news at breakfast.

"I have good news to share with everyone," she said, and the Great Hall, instead of becoming quiet, erupted in noise.

"The final exams are canceled!" George and Fred shouted happily.

"The banquet will be held tonight, and the holiday will begin tomorrow!" a boy at the Hufflepuff table shouted excitedly.

After the noise subsided, Professor McGonagall said, "Professor Sprout told me that the Mandrake is finally ready to be harvested. Tonight, we will be able to awaken those petrified people. I hereby announce that this terrible year will come to a perfect end."

Everyone burst into loud cheers, Great Hall was filled with joy, even easing the anxiety of the end of the semester.

Loren, holding a dinner knife, asked thoughtfully, "Do you think they'll need to take their final exams if they wake up now?"

Ron didn't even have time to swallow the bacon in his mouth before his eyes widened. "You're too cruel, Loren!"

A smile appeared on Hermione's lips.

Harry slapped the table excitedly. "Great! Poor Colin is finally waking up. Merlin is my witness, I'd give him a hundred autographed photos even if he asked me for them."

"Autographed photo?"

Snape appeared beside them at some point and said with a faint sneer, "The famous Potter is giving out autographed photos again. Should I tell everyone to line up for you?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, inwardly cursing their bad luck. Harry, having already dealt with Snape, silently lowered his head and remained silent.

Loren sensed the air around him was a bit tense, so he came out with a smile to ease the tension, "Professor, what brings you here?"

Seeing Harry bury his head, Snape felt there was no point in making things difficult for him any further, so he turned his gaze to Loren: "Come to my office after breakfast. You can learn something about the process of preparing Mandrake into a potion."

"Yes, Professor." Loren nodded obediently.

"Also," he raised his voice slightly and chuckled, "The medicine will be delivered to the Hospital Wing at eleven o'clock. If anyone wants to hand out autographed photos, they can prepare in advance."

With that, Snape tossed the back of his robe and left without looking back.

Ron watched his retreating figure and scratched his head. "Am I still half asleep? I feel like Old Bat's last words were a reminder that we can go to the Hospital Wing and wait for Colin to wake up."

"Maybe it really is asking me to prepare an autographed photo." Harry took a sip of milk from his glass, preferring to believe the lame joke was the truth.

"Are you going to the Hospital Wing? I have something else to do this morning, so I can't go," Hermione asked, turning her head to them.

Harry nodded without much hesitation and said, "Colin got injured while going to the Hospital Wing to see me. He'll be very happy to see me as soon as he wakes up."

"Oh no—" Ron frowned. "I don't want to go to the Hospital Wing. I'd rather go back to the lounge and study. Maybe I can do an extra question on the exam."

Harry looked hopefully at his other friend. "Loren, what about you?"

Loren shook his head. "You should go by yourself. I'm not familiar with Colin. After I finish watching the preparation process of the Mandrake, I'll go back to the lounge."

Harry sighed sullenly, his face contorted with distress. "Well, looks like I'm all alone."

As Loren leisurely made his way to Snape's office after breakfast, Professor Sprout brought over the harvested Mandrake. The Mandrake, cut along with the stems, lay quietly on the table, still covered with bits of dirt.

"Good morning, Professor Snape, Professor Sprout," Loren said, moving closer to greet them one by one.

Snape gave a curt "hmm," and Professor Sprout nodded in acknowledgment.

Professor Sprout looked around the bottles and jars in his office and couldn't help but rub his arms. "Then I'll head back now, Severus. I must say, it's so cold here; not a ray of sunlight gets in."

Snape showed no reaction, simply stating, "A dark and cold environment is conducive to the preservation of medicinal herbs."

"I couldn't stand it..." Sprout muttered as he walked away.

The sound of the door closing made Loren and Snape feel inexplicably more at ease.

Snape led Loren toward the storeroom inside the room. "The Mandrake's ability to remove petrification comes from its unique Magic Power. Unlike those complicated Potions, we only need to maximize its Magic Power."

The worktable was already prepared with the other necessary materials, mostly pure substances: dew glistening in the moonlight, the first snow of last year, and clear, transparent crystals...

Snape lit the furnace and melted the crystal in the crucible, slowly adding the other substances, "Many Potions use this approach—simple, pure, but very effective."

"... Bezoar antidote and Wormwood Essence essence are essentially the same..." Snape's movements were very calm, even revealing a kind of craftsmanship-like beauty, as if he was not brewing Potions, but some kind of work of art.

"The design concept of the Resurrection Potion is the same: using Two-horned Beast, Bifurcated Grass, and the Sorcerer's Stone as the base, adding other auxiliary ingredients, and maximizing the replacement Magic Power to the fullest extent, so as to—" Snape said emphatically, "Conquer death!"

Loren pursed his lips, ultimately deciding not to shatter Snape's illusions. According to Flamel, no matter how correct Snape's reasoning might be, he couldn't fully comprehend death; the Resurrection Potion was merely a mirage.

The potion brewing didn't take long, less than half an hour. If it weren't for explaining it to Loren, it would have been even faster.

After leaving the underground office, Loren delivered the medicine to the Hospital Wing along the way.

The entourage at the bedside was impressive; both the principal and Deputy Headmaster were present. Dumbledore stood solemnly by the bedside, his eyes unreadable, while Professor McGonagall stood beside Madam Pomfrey, watching her dispense the medicine.

Harry stood there dumbfounded. He was a little surprised to see Loren arrive, but when he realized what was happening, a look of joy flashed across his face. He quickly winked at Loren, signaling him to stay with him.

"?"

Loren looked blank. After greeting the professors, he prepared to leave.

"Loren! Loren! Stay with me!"

Harry shouted in a low voice, his eyebrows, eyes, and nose twisted together, and his mouth was slightly crooked.

Loren frowned, looked around, and muttered to himself in a voice Harry could hear, "Strange, it sounds like someone called me."

Harry watched Loren walk away with a look of utter despair. If it weren't for the smile on Professor McGonagall's lips, he would have almost thought he had mistakenly put on the Invisibility Cloak.

Gryffindor Common Room.

"Loren! You've betrayed our friendship!"

Harry plopped down angrily, making the sofa wobble and preventing Loren from concentrating on his joke book.

"Hmm—" Loren hesitated for a moment, "I can pick it up."

Harry was so angry that he grabbed the joke book from him, wanting to teach him a lesson.

"Stop fooling around, stop fooling around." Loren chuckled, putting down his book and asking seriously, "How's the situation at the Hospital Wing? Do they still have final exams?"

Ron looked over curiously.

"Of course not, they've been petrified for too long, they need to be observed in the Hospital Wing for another week."

Harry poured a glass of tea from the table. "Colin woke up yelling for a camera, saying he'd taken pictures of monsters. We had to explain for ages before he finally understood. After that, he started yelling for a camera again, actually asking for my autograph. Justin apologized to me, saying he shouldn't have doubted that I was the Heir of Slytherin."

Harry downed a glass in one gulp and took a breath. "Then it was none of my business. Dumbledore said he would take responsibility for the attacks on Colin and Justin and that he would visit their parents during the holidays to discuss how to make amends."

Ron asked, puzzled, "How can this be Dumbledore's responsibility? He didn't know Voldemort would get involved with Crabbe."

"That's what I think too," Harry nodded.

"That's strange..."

Loren remained calm as he picked up the joke book again, but his gaze was distant, as if he were looking beyond the pages rather than at the jokes in the book.

June 1st.

Loren sat in the Transfiguration Classroom, head down, answering questions intently. The quill pen, inlaid with silver wire, left neat handwriting on the paper, neater than any assignment he had done in the past year.

The Transfiguration exam mainly tests knowledge of the Vanishing Spell. The curriculum reform in the second year removed some content, and the exam format was also adjusted, making the overall difficulty lower and requiring young wizards to better grasp the connections between knowledge points.

The exams for other subjects are similar, except for Potions Master.

Removing some teaching content actually made Snape pay more attention to details, wanting to test the potion's formula, preparation method, and preservation method in every possible way.

As expected, the Herbology exam focused on Mandrake. Professor Sprout set the questions on its growth cycle, the habits of each stage, and its medicinal value after maturity. A large part of the exam paper was about Mandrake.

The practical exams at the second-year level posed no challenge for Loren and the others. Whether it was turning a rabbit into a furry slipper or using Freezing Charm to condense an exquisitely shaped sculpture in a water tank, they easily earned full marks from the professor.

The difficulty of the Potions Master practical exam lies in enduring Snape's cold gaze, rather than brewing the Swelling Solution.

As in previous years, the last subject was the A History of Magic exam. When Professor Binns ' ghost told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, all the young wizards in the classroom cheered.

The young wizards eagerly rushed out of the Entrance Hall, across the grass, and ran back and forth by the lake. Within minutes, the mischievous boys were battling the Giant Squid's tentacles, splashing water and eliciting screams from the girls.

Hermione pulled Loren to a quiet spot to sit down and let out a long sigh of relief, "I feel so much lighter now. I was always worried that I would neglect my studies and fail the exam."

Loren discreetly observed her expression, thought for a moment, and said, "Yes, the questions are all very simple, except for Professor Flitwick's paper, which is a bit novel. You have to use Counter-charms on the paper to see the other half of the questions."

Pretending not to notice the little Witch's increasingly frozen expression, he sighed dramatically, "There must be a lot of people who haven't noticed yet. Tsk tsk, someone's going to be in trouble."

Hermione turned her head stiffly and stammered, "R-really? I... I didn't notice either!"

"I knew it wouldn't be that simple..." The little Witch's voice was breaking down.

Haha! Just kidding!

"Loren Morgan!"

"Hey, let go! Let go now!"

After a brief struggle, Hermione propped herself up with her hands, looked up at the tree above her, and smiled happily.

Loren couldn't help but look at her exposed arms, which were as white and delicate as jade, with slender bones. "How can you be so strong?"

What are you muttering about?

"Nothing."

"Hmph, I've told you so many times, you're not allowed to tease me anymore."

"I didn't agree."

Hermione didn't want to talk to this person.

The weather was a bit muggy, but a cool breeze blowing in from the Black Lake made the two of them close their eyes.

"Don't you think the clouds over there are a bit thick?"

It's going to rain.