Harry: Can't Sleep, Absolutely Can't Sleep

Fortunately, this wasn't the first time Loren and Hermione had experienced a Prophecy event. After repeated reminders from the experienced Prophecy witness Albus Dumbledore, the two now deeply understood that the best way to deal with a Prophecy was to ignore it.

Once the Centaur had completely disappeared, Loren and Hermione continued on to the location where they had buried the Secret Potion last time.

"Should we tell Headmaster Dumbledore about the Centaur's Prophecy?" Hermione asked.

"If you ask me, Headmaster Dumbledore has fairly close ties with the Centaur tribe, so we shouldn't need to relay the message. However..." Loren hesitated for a moment, "Just to be on the safe side, I'll go talk to Professor Dumbledore tomorrow."

"I agree."

Putting the Prophecy aside for the time being, the two strolled slowly into the Forbidden Forest.

The moonlight was dim, and the small animals with normal routines had mostly gone to rest. Nocturnal animals such as owls and owls were nowhere to be seen. The Forbidden Forest in early spring was quiet, with only the sound of two people talking.

"How are the Divination Class and Professor Trelawney doing lately?"

"I've almost finished learning palmistry, and soon I'll start teaching crystal ball Divination."

"Judging from your reaction to palm reading, it's just more useless knowledge..."

"Nonsense!" Loren looked at her seriously. "I think palmistry is very useful knowledge!"

"..."

Hermione didn't want to keep asking where it was useful; out of understanding for Loren, she felt that asking further would only lead to some inappropriate answers.

Hermione clutched the Crystal Vial containing the Secret Potion as she checked the location of the tree trunks along the way, finally stopping under a beech tree with an "X" shaped scorch mark.

The Secret Potion that was buried last time is just three steps away from the beech tree, due east.

Loren located the spot, and with a combination of Levitation Charm Transfiguration, he dug out two old Crystal Vial covered in mud in less than a minute.

Inside the transparent Crystal Vial, the Secret Potion had become cloudy and unclear, its color a dirty, earthy yellow. The Death's-head Hawkmoth Chrysalis was reduced to an empty shell the size of a fingernail, and the hair and Mandrake Leaf had completely dissolved into the liquid, their shapes no longer discernible.

"There's a slight Magic Power reaction..." Loren examined the two small bottles with great interest. "I wonder what they smell like? Do they smell bad?"

Hermione buried her Secret Potion, got up, and heard the second half of Loren's sentence, falling into silence.

The murky state, the terrible color, and the dirty liquid—it's obvious this half-finished Potions would taste awful and be poisonous; the kind that would land you in the Hospital Wing and keep you out of school for a week.

Why would anyone want to try it?

Hermione couldn't understand it.

To prevent him from doing anything truly bizarre, Hermione snatched the Crystal Vial, tapped it lightly with her wand, and a bright yellow flame rose from the ground. The Crystal Vial, thrown into the intense heat, crackled crisply, leaving behind a twisted crystal a few minutes later.

The molten crystal liquid pooled together and spread on the ground to cool, resembling a thin sheet of crystal rather than a crystal stone.

Loren stared straight at her, his expression serious. "As the saying goes, 'If there is fire in the forest, I will be in jail'... You actually set fire to the forest, you have no sense of fire prevention at all."

"There is no such strange proverb in England."

Hermione remained expressionless, pulling him by the hand and leading him back.

"Is the proverb the point? The point is that you have no fire safety awareness..." Loren said with a pained expression. "Don't think that I will let you off just because you held my hand. I am a fair and upright person."

"..."

"Do you know how many small animals live in the forest? Do you know how many animals' homes a forest fire can destroy?... No, you don't know, you only care about yourself!"

"..."

"Arsonist, repent and admit your wrongdoing!"

"Bang!"

The forest returned to tranquility.

Loren and Hermione left the group together and returned together. The other young wizards didn't think much of it, assuming they had buried the Secret Potion together again.

Opportunities for open nighttime strolls were few and far between. On the way back to their dorm, Loren pulled Hermione to sit in the courtyard for a while, played with the silly spiral staircase for a bit, and then sat in the Gryffindor Common Room for a while.

They leaned back on a single sofa, chatting idly, but it was hard to say what they talked about—maybe the firewood in the fireplace, or maybe the candlelight on the candlestick; in any case, there was no recollection.

Sometimes, several minutes would pass without anyone speaking; just the two of them leaning against each other felt very reassuring.

By the time the wall clock struck the hour, the two said goodnight to each other and went upstairs, but they couldn't remember what they had said. Time just slipped away.

Back in the dorm, the others were still awake.

Harry and Ron were so excited about successfully planting the Secret Potion that they couldn't sleep. They pulled Neville aside to talk about the Animagus, Seamus, though he had given up on the magic, listened with great interest.

Hearing his voice as he returned, all four of them turned to look at him.

"Staying up all night again?"

As Loren greeted them, he went to the wardrobe to change his clothes. "Remember to get up early tomorrow. When the sun rises, you need to recite the incantation into your heart."

Neville nodded. "Loren is right, if you fail, you have to start all over again."

Harry and Ron were taken aback. Although they didn't know the exact time, it was definitely past midnight.

Having to get up early before sunrise after staying up all night sounds like torture.

"No, I don't want to suck on Mandrake Leaf for another month!" Ron wailed in pain, hurriedly returning to his bed and lying down flat.

"I don't want to either." Harry then went back to his bed and lay down.

Seamus blinked as he looked at the suddenly deserted dormitory.

After washing up, Loren crawled into bed and covered himself with the blanket. He saw Harry in the next bed with his eyes closed, his eyebrows furrowed, and his lightning bolt-shaped scar somewhat Transfiguration.

He hesitated for a moment, then called out softly, "Harry, Harry..."

Harry looked over instantly, his eyes wide open.

"I have a secret to tell you."

Harry immediately became interested and looked at Loren expectantly, his eyes sparkling.

"Hermione and I ran into Firenze in the Forbidden Forest, and he said..."

Harry waited with great curiosity for what would happen next, but the next moment he saw Loren turn over, his breathing quickly becoming calm and even, and that was the end of it.

"..."

Harry's expression became complicated. He realized that he had probably fallen for a trap. Loren had told him all this to keep him awake.

Even if you wake Loren up now, he'll just pretend to be confused.

Harry tried to reason with himself, but could only sigh helplessly. The Centaur's Prophecy felt like Hedwig's feathers brushing against him, making him restless and unable to sleep.

The Centaur Prophecy and the Animagus ritual lingered in Harry's mind. After an unknown amount of time, the exhaustion of his biological instincts allowed Harry to slowly drift off to sleep.

One o'clock in the morning.

Harry suddenly opened his eyes:

Could it be that Voldemort is plotting something again?

Two years ago, Professor Quirrell did the same thing; the Centaur's Prophecy was closely related to Voldemort. Is this Prophecy also related to Voldemort?

Should I try to dream about Voldemort myself? Maybe I'll get some clues and be able to thwart Voldemort's plot in time!

But Headmaster Dumbledore said the link was two-way; at the same time he saw Voldemort, Voldemort could also see him.

Forget it, let's just listen to Headmaster Dumbledore.

Anyway, the Centaur have already made their Prophecy.

Sleep well, I need to get up early tomorrow to complete the Animagus ritual.

Harry shook his dizzy head, gathered his chaotic thoughts, and forced himself to close his eyes.

Three o'clock in the morning.

Harry woke up again with a start, his eyes wide open like saucers.

What exactly did the Centaur say?!

The next morning.

"Loren, Loren!"

"Get up and begin the Animagus Ritual!"

"Loren!"

Loren groggily opened his eyes and saw Harry with heavy dark circles under his eyes, his face showing both excitement and exhaustion.

"..." A rare sense of guilt rose in Loren's heart, and he went through the motions of performing an Animagus ritual.

Harry had finished the ceremony early, immediately asked, "What did the Centaur say?"

Loren looked at Harry cautiously. "Have you ever considered that I was just playing a trick on you, that there were no Centaur and no Prophecy at all?"

Harry took a deep breath, his expression becoming increasingly tense, and looked around for his wand.

"I'm not lying to you, I'm not lying to you..." Loren quickly said, to prevent a tragedy from happening in the dormitory in the early morning, Loren relayed the Centaur's Prophecy to Harry, "..."

"Beware of the darkness... what does that mean?" Harry looked at Loren blankly.

Loren shrugged. "I don't know either. That's how the Centaur ' Prophecy goes. I'm planning to ask Professor Dumbledore after class."

"I'll go with you!"

"..." Loren glanced at his dark circles and paused for a moment. "Are you really okay? Do you want to go back to your dorm and catch up on some sleep?"

"If you hadn't deliberately teased me, would I have had a sleepless night?" Harry asked with a resentful look in his eyes.

Loren had no choice but to agree to his request, and the two agreed to go to the Headmaster's office together after the second period.

The other people in the dormitory had already gotten up. Ron and Neville were woken up by Harry to complete the Animagus ritual, while Seamus was startled awake by the sound of the others chanting spells.

In the morning, I vaguely heard a low chanting sound in my ear. There were four of them, and the sound echoed in the room, making it impossible for anyone to fall asleep peacefully.

In the corridor on the Third Floor of the Castle, Loren, Hermione, and Harry followed behind the white-bearded headmaster, talking and looking out the window.

The weather was neither good nor bad. On the path leading to the Edge of the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid walked lightly toward the Wooden House, carrying a tin bucket in one hand. The others knew that the tin bucket contained Fire Crabs and Fire Salamander, Hagrid would use when teaching the other grades.

"... Beware of the darkness?" Dumbledore repeated several times.

"Yes, Professor, that's what Firenze said." Hermione nodded, then pressed, "What does that mean? Is it related to Voldemort?"

"I think perhaps we can explain it with knowledge of Astronomy ..." Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "January is when we are closest to the sun. Because of the gravitational revolution, we will gradually move away from the sun and then slowly move closer to it again."

Loren and the other two were taken aback; this was not quite the magical Prophecy they had imagined.

"The Centaur ' Prophecy are different from the Sybil's. They don't always see bad things... Harvests, joy, sunshine, and abundant rain are what Centaur astronomy usually shows," Dumbledore said calmly. "I'll talk to the Centaur elders. If it really concerns him, I'll go to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as soon as the holidays start, um... and have a chat with him."

The three of them, including Loren, exchanged glances; they all knew who the principal was referring to.

"By the way, Loren, have you received any replies recently?" Dumbledore suddenly turned around and asked.

Loren shook his head.

"It seems those two Muggle books I put there scared him..." Dumbledore laughed. "That's the brilliance of thought and soul, sometimes more dazzling than magic."

Hermione looked at Loren with a puzzled expression. A reply? Whose reply?

Loren gave her a look, indicating that they would talk about it when they got back.

The group strolled down the corridor until Dumbledore stopped beside the One-Eyed Witch Statue, at which point Loren and Hermione's expressions turned somewhat strange.

Dumbledore circled the statue. "I'm planning to rebuild a Secret Passages, but both the entrance and exit need to be modified. Do you have any suggestions?"

Loren stared at the Witch's one eye, lost in thought. The Secret Passages's exit had once been located in Honeydukes, and he couldn't help but feel that it was Dumbledore's doing.

Hermione had previously violated school rules by using this Secret Passages, felt a little guilty. After a brief silence, she decisively said goodbye.

"Excuse me, Principal, I need to go and ask Professor Bubage some questions, so I'll be leaving now."

"Principal, I'll go with her."

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Dumbledore smiled gently.

"Professor, why do you want to restore the Secret Passages?" Harry looked at Dumbledore, puzzled. "Wouldn't it be safer to shut Secret Passages off?"

"Safety doesn't mean everything..." Dumbledore said softly. "Many years ago, Remus hid his identity through the Secret Passages under the Whomping Willow ... Your father and his friends forged friendships through these Secret Passages ... Loren and Hermione deepened their bond through the Secret Passages in their second year..."

"Harry, Hogwarts will be welcoming many more people, and these Secret Passages will create wonderful interactions between them."

"It was like a collision of magic."

Harry nodded, seemingly understanding, "How about putting the exit at Zog's Joke Shop?"

"A bold idea, I think it's a good idea."

Mount Greylock, Massachusetts, United States, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Professor Gunt Tom Gaunt, who had just finished his second-year Defence Against the Dark Arts course on Horned Serpent, sat at his desk, looking at the stack of Gilderoy Lockhart's legendary adventure stories piled on it with a complicated expression.

As for the other two Muggle books, their nauseatingly preachy tone was almost overflowing, and he had no intention of even looking at them.

Dumbledore is using the same trick he did decades ago, attempting to demonstrate his erudition and magnanimity, and incidentally, to educate others.