Back at Hogwarts

In the dead of night, in the Hogwarts Headmaster's office, the portraits of past headmasters hanging on the wall had fallen asleep. Suddenly, two figures, one old and one young, appeared out of nowhere, and the warm yellow light in the office gradually brightened.

"You go back first, I'll take care of it for now." Dumbledore took off his hat, which no longer fit properly, and casually placed it on the table with the top facing up.

"Goodbye, Headmaster!" Loren couldn't wait to take a good shower; he had been cooped up in Albania for the past few days.

Nagini was fast asleep in his hat, his head resting on the jewels. Fawkes leaned in for a peek, then immediately became wary and yelled at Dumbledore, "Squeak!"

It's as if it's talking about you, this fickle person.

As Dumbledore dodged Fawkes's pecks, he preened its feathers and chuckled soothingly, "Alright, alright..."

He gave Fawkes some snacks and spent some time calming him down. Dumbledore slowly took a somewhat old-looking white-covered book from the shelf, opened it, and saw a portrait on each page.

After turning countless pages, I stopped at a portrait of a person with a full head of silver hair and a thin physique.

Dumbledore waited a while, and the portrait gradually came to life, began to show color, and slowly, the portrait moved.

"Albus?"

"Nicol."

After a brief conversation, Dumbledore recounted his experiences in Albania and asked Nicol if there was any way to save the Blood Cursed Beastman.

"I am powerless, but the Sorcerer's Stone might be able to..."

In Nicol's account, the effects of the Sorcerer's Stone vary from person to person.

"In my hands, I can turn lead into gold and concoct Elixir to Induce Euphoria, but Loren might have other options."

"Judging from his demands, it might be biotransformation, turning snakes back into humans, and fixing Werewolf in human form."

Nicol's voice, amplified by magic, emanated from the book, like an old man telling an ethereal legend, "Unveiling the mysteries of life is not a smooth road..."

Magical Creatures seem to have no reproductive barriers. Before this, many wizards conceived strange creatures for various purposes, leading to many disasters.

The most famous of them all is the Herpo the Foul, who bred the Basilisk by using toads to hatch male eggs.

Some people are driven by curiosity, some by profit, and some by ill intentions; the content in many Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks is artificially created by wizards.

Until 1965, when Newt Scamander's "Prohibition on the Feeding of Fantastic Beasts for Experimental Purposes" was passed, this ban effectively curbed the prevalence of creating new, untamable animals within Britain.

The Ministry of Magic 'Aurors devoted considerable effort to investigating and prosecuting several wizards who illegally bred dangerous creatures. In the following years, other countries' Ministry of Magic also issued similar bans.

This is only transmutation on Fantastic Beasts; Loren will be involved with human bodies, and anyone who hears about such behavior will think Loren is a dark wizard.

If Loren were to embark on the path of biotransformation, even if the outside world were unaware of the Sorcerer's Stone, the mere act of biotransformation itself would be enough to draw the attention of all sorts of people, from the Ministry of Magic to dark wizards.

"When he found the snake in the Albania forest, he had already pulled it out of the abyss of despair," Nicol said, referring to the prerequisites for using the Sorcerer's Stone.

"Cough cough cough."

His voice sounded weak. "Perhaps we don't need to rush to destroy the Sorcerer's Stone. After you finish what you need to do, let Loren try it out with my Sorcerer's Stone."

Dumbledore sat in his chair, looking at the portrait in the book. "Are you ready for death?"

Upon hearing this question, Nicol's aged face broke into a smile. "Albus, you already know that death is not the end, but a greater adventure."

"I still have some medicine in stock. Once I've taken care of some things, I'll go back to Paris with Perenelle."

"In the summer, there will be a performance of the opera ' Faust ' in Paris. I'll leave after I see that performance."

"I won't say goodbye then."

"Cough cough cough, goodbye."

Upon hearing the word "goodbye," Dumbledore's wrinkles smoothed out, and he smiled. "Goodbye, and have a pleasant journey."

After he finished speaking, Nicol's portrait gradually faded and remained motionless.

Loren carried his small suitcase and ran towards the Gryffindor common room.

Returning to Hogwarts, the dusty stone pillars, the polished armor, and the moving staircases all gave Loren a sense of familiarity and security, like coming home.

At least there won't be any dark wizards robbing people here, except for Voldemort.

In the Gryffindor Common Room.

The four Weasley family wizards were playing chess around the table, the Twins and Percy (three against Ron) and Ron (one).

The Twins were able to hold off Ron's offensive, but after believing Percy's words a few times, they collapsed completely.

On the chessboard, the knight on horseback walked and cursed, "Are you two trolls? Why do you listen to others?"

Percy blushed slightly, looked away, and pretended not to hear.

He saw Loren coming in from outside and his eyes lit up. "Look, Loren's back!"

George and Fred also looked up, and taking advantage of Ron's inattention, overturned the chessboard, each letting out a joyful shout:

"Our the Chosen One, Loren, has returned!"

"We don't have to play chess with Ron anymore!"

Finally, the two raised their hands and shouted in unison, "Long live Loren!"

It's clear that the group really suffered under Ron's torment during the days Loren was away.

The Twins ran around the table to Loren, Fred took his small suitcase, and George pulled Loren in front of Ron and pressed him into a seat. "It's all up to you!"

Loren tried to struggle, "I haven't taken a shower yet."

"We'll wash later. We agreed that if we beat Ron tonight, he'll never ask us to play chess again."

"But I can't beat Ron at Wizard's Chess either," Loren said.

Ron raised his chin, looking extremely smug. "I can beat you at Gomoku too."

When Loren first taught Ron how to Gomoku, he almost lost because he was just going through the motions. After being exposed to Go, Ron reviewed his earlier games and was confident that he had already surpassed Loren.

So arrogant?

Loren looked at the other Weasley and asked, "Did you break his head while I was away?"

George, recalling the events of the past few days, said, "I'd love to smash his head in."

Fred nodded in agreement. "But he really does seem pretty good."

After Loren taught Ron how to play Go, he has been playing against himself for the past few days. Ron does have a talent for Go, and he has improved a lot in both calculation ability and strategy.

Once you understand one thing, you understand everything. When playing other games, Ron naturally incorporates the thinking of Go, thinking several steps ahead for each move. He can also analyze the overall situation of the game, and if one game is deadlocked, he can open up another battlefield.

Sometimes, before a stalemate even begins, Ron can foresee the situation and plant a seed of conflict elsewhere.

Their moves were wildly unpredictable, Twins couldn't keep up at all, so they brought in Percy, but they lost even faster.

If Ron's chess skills were previously purely based on talent, now, with Loren's help, he seems to have found a way to explore a path that can take him further.

"Let's play Gomoku then. I'm going to take a shower first." Loren didn't refuse; he wanted to see if Ron had gotten too cocky.

Loren carefully washed and groomed himself; if he could, he would have liked to soak for several hours. When he came out, Ron was playing Gomoku with three other people.

"Down here," Percy pointed to a spot.

"You're still the Prefect."

"We'll lose if we go there."

Although George and Fred had learned their lesson and stopped listening to slander, they ultimately failed.

Ron couldn't suppress a smile, but he pretended to be calm. "Let's have Loren do it instead."

Loren was itching to give him a little shock for his arrogant attitude.

The rules of Gomoku in a Row) are not entirely complete. Formal Gomoku tournaments usually include forbidden moves to ensure both players start on equal footing. Without forbidden moves, there are multiple guaranteed winning openings.

For example, the Huayue opening. Loren used this move to dominate elementary, middle, and high school, never encountering an opponent from childhood to adulthood. Now, it's time to teach this Ron a lesson.

In the opening moves, neither side thought much; one attacked, and the other blocked.

As more and more pieces appeared on the chessboard, Ron's relaxed expression gradually disappeared.

As a result, Ron couldn't gain the initiative from the very beginning. The more pieces he made, the clearer the board became.

Finally, Ron could no longer hold back and was defeated by a one-finger-four-three attack, ending the battle.

"Heh, is that all?" Loren said casually, mimicking Ron's nonchalant manner.

Ron's face turned pale upon hearing this.

The Twins cheered, "Finally, we don't have to play chess with Ron anymore!"

Ron ignored the cheers of the others, staring wide-eyed at the chessboard, and said incredulously, "How is this possible?"

He went through each move in his mind, recalling it bit by bit, and gradually realized that Loren's strategy from the very beginning was very clear.

"That kind of start..."

Ron didn't wallow in the disappointment of losing; his eyes grew brighter. His fingers moved across the board, placing several pieces that mirrored Loren's opening moves.

He laid out the opening moves again and again, constantly deducing, and in a short while, Ron seemed to be about to figure out the opening pattern of Flower Moon.

Loren's mind was no longer on the chessboard. After returning from the forest and taking a bath, he felt an empty stomach.

Loren's first instinct was to go to the Kitchen to find something to eat, but going to the Kitchen would mean running into Winky, and the thought of the last time made Loren uncomfortable.

Watching the playful Twins, Ron engrossed in the chessboard, the fire in the fireplace illuminated Loren's eyes.

"It's the last day of the year, let's do something special."

The Twins stopped and looked at Loren expectantly.

"Want to embark on a thrilling adventure?"

"How about a night tour? Let's go to the Forbidden Forest!"

Hearing this, Loren shook his head violently. "I just started the engine, and you two floored the gas pedal. If we're talking about breaking school rules, you two are the real experts."

"How about roasting the meat over the fireplace?"

George and Fred were somewhat disappointed, but they were also very interested in the roast meat, and they went to the Kitchen to get the food without any trouble.

Percy hesitated for a moment, but did not stop the Twins.

Soon, the Twins used Levitation Charm to bring various kinds of meat into the lounge. Spells were not allowed in the hallway, but since they were George and Fred, they were the ones who brought the meat.

The House-elf chopped the beef, lamb, and pork into small pieces, which the young wizards then used Transfiguration forks to skewer and roast in the fireplace. Their grilling skills weren't great, but the fat still emitted an enticing aroma as it heated up in the flames.

Ron toasted the bread until it was burnt, but he forced himself to eat it and said it was delicious.

The Twins laughed so hard they wanted to bake two more slices of black bread for Ron...

Their laughter turned into strange tunes, the lyrics of their songs changed again and again, and in the end they simply repeated "Happy New Year, Happy New Year".

Many Gryffindor who stayed in the Castle for the holiday also came out of their dormitories and joined in.

This feast was far less lavish than Christmas, lacking elaborate decorations and even the food wasn't as delicious. But on the last day of 1991, the fire in the fireplace of the Gryffindor Common Room burned in everyone's hearts.

Many years later, they still remember that warm feeling.

The next morning, while having breakfast, Loren received a letter from Hermione.

Mr. Morgan:

I hope everything is well with you when you receive this letter. Happy New Year!

I still can't understand why you forgot to write to me. Hānhan would appear at the window every morning on time. He was such a responsible postman. You probably don't know that Hānhan's favorite food is white mice.

My whole family loves Hānhan. My father always tries to talk to owls; he somehow thinks they can talk. My mother tries to get Hanhan to Hānhan so she can hear the owl's call in Shakespeare's Macbeth when it announces King Duncan's death, but I don't think Shakespeare wrote about a Spectacled Owl.

During the holidays, our family went camping in Dean Forest, Hānhan seemed to really enjoy it. The mist, like clouds, concealed the trees and the campsite. When the campfire lit up, it looked like the sun was shining through the clouds. I really wish you could see this scene too; perhaps it would be even better in summer, as it's a bit too cold now.

How was Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays? Hopefully, you didn't spill jam on the chairs in the common room.

Please give my regards to Ron, and I look forward to your reply.

Hermione Granger

It was an ordinary letter, containing a simple complaint about Loren's behavior, recounting amusing anecdotes from home, and ending with a casual greeting.

Loren sensed something extraordinary within this ordinariness.

Dear Hermione:

Greetings! Happy New Year!

When I received the letter, I fed Hānhan the cheese and bread I was eating, and it seemed to enjoy it.

The Christmas feast at Hogwarts was incredibly lavish, with hundreds of roasted turkeys, and flames leaping from the Christmas as you left, with candles hanging like stars on its branches...

Dumbledore and I went to the forests of Albania, where we witnessed a dazzling light. I'll tell you the details when you get back...

I think you might want to greet Fluffy a bit more, but don't worry, everything's fine.

Sincere greetings

Loren Morgan

After writing the letter to Hermione, Loren also wrote a letter to Grandpa Bates, using the Hogwarts owl.

I greeted Grandpa Bates, asking how his New Year was and where he was on his journey. I ended by inquiring if I could have his roast lamb when I went back home for summer vacation.

Several days later, Loren walked through Hogwarts Castle again, enjoying the atmosphere.

As I walked along the road, I received frozen fruit from the Hufflepuff wizards one after another—all sorts of Frozen Apple, Frozen Yellow Peach ...

Loren felt that if he ate all that frozen fruit by himself, he would probably get a good scolding from Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing, so for the sake of a pleasant holiday experience, he shared it with a few close friends.

In the lounge, Ron sat engrossed in his own world, surrounded by three chessboards: Wizard's Chess, Gomoku, and Go.

Loren placed the fruit beside him and sighed.

Ron is probably bored because Harry isn't here. He'll probably come out of the chessboard when Harry comes back.

At the same time, they hope that Harry's return to school will facilitate Nagini's redemption and allow him to heal Grandpa Bates as soon as possible.