With no classes on Wednesday afternoon, Vincent fulfilled his promise to give Harry training methods.
Dumbbells come in various sizes, and the weights they can be used to support them also vary.
"First, do a frog jump around the castle, then do a hundred squats."
Ron stared in surprise as he strapped weights to his hands and feet. "You're taking these with you?"
"Yeah." Vincent stretched his arms and legs. "I need to train my endurance now. I'm going to lift a hundred dumbbells when I get back."
Harry immediately became respectful. "How long do we have to train?"
"Around this time next year, if I can keep it up every day."
"I—" Ron said with a pained expression, "I will definitely persevere."
Vincent adjusted the weights to make them more comfortable. "It's okay, I'll have Gu Gu wake you up every day."
Should I go and wake you up?
"Gu Gu is fine!" Harry didn't want his dorm door to be kicked open every day.
"Oh, and remember to make the windows bigger." Vincent pushed aside the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Kid, you've gone to exercise again?"
"Yes, madam."
She nodded slightly to Harry and Ron. "You two need to keep at it. I've never seen a little wizard work harder than Vincent."
"We will."
The two people following behind who were doing frog jumps initially thought it would be easy, until their legs started to feel sore and weak.
"Da da da—" Vincent had already left them far behind.
"No, I can't take it anymore." Ron's vision went black, and he almost collapsed to the ground.
Harry wasn't much better off. "His stamina is already so great, why is he carrying such a heavy load?"
"Because he wants to be stronger."
The two turned around at the same time and found Hermione hopping over.
"You--"
"You all need to understand one thing: there are no shortcuts to success." She jumped away.
"She's still annoying." Ron pouted. "We're just taking a break, we didn't say we were going to give up."
Harry wiped the sweat from his face. "She's right. I don't expect to be like Vincent. I just want to be better than Malfoy."
Mention Draco, and Ron instantly becomes incredibly enthusiastic.
"Go, Harry!"
Half an hour later, they both collapsed from exhaustion in front of the castle gate.
"You guys take a break." Vincent had already done a hundred squats and was now holding a dumbbell in each hand.
"How many have you made?"
"About thirty."
Even with their burdens lifted, Harry and Ron trembled as they gave a thumbs-up.
"98-99-100!" Hermione had finished her squats.
"Huff huff—what do I do next?"
"Could you help keep an eye on it?"
She sat down in front of the two of them. "I'll keep count. You can trust me."
Lavender and Parvati complete their daily exercise routines right under her nose.
Ron felt a chill run down his spine. "Then you'd better count accurately."
"Don't worry, I'm a professional."
Under Hermione's supervision, Vincent did another hundred push-ups before they were considered finished.
"I'll have Gu Gu come over at 7 a. m. tomorrow. Remember to leave a little gap."
"We will—we will remember," Harry replied listlessly.
Ron, exhausted and sprawled on the ground gazing at the sky, seemed somewhat unimpressed.
It's just a Gu Gu; a few dried fish and it'll probably stay there for ten minutes or so.
However, he was still too naive.
At 7 o'clock, Gu Gu did not appear at all.
Instead, a large flock of owls appeared.
"Gu Gu Gu coo—"
After waking up, Harry rubbed his eyes, put on his glasses, and then slapped his own face.
"This is actually true!"
Ron, who was woken up, slapped himself.
"I was too naive after all."
The little mouse, Scabbers, was shivering in his arms.
These creatures all had gleaming blue eyes, like owls that hadn't eaten in a long time, and might just swallow it whole.
Gu Gu disliked it for being dirty and missing a finger doesn't mean its little brothers didn't.
"Good boy, Scabbers." Ron patted its little body gently. "You are the most honored pet mouse at Hogwarts. They wouldn't dare to do anything to you."
His words of comfort worked, but Scabbers still didn't dare to crawl out of his arms.
"Oh, my Merlin Collector's Edition card!" Dean stretched out his hand and slapped Seamus across the face in the next bed.
Why did you hit me?
"I'm afraid of pain."
Seamus jumped onto his bed. "You're afraid of pain, aren't you?"
Harry and Ron could hardly bear to look at it.
They made sure to close the door before they got up to leave.
After washing up, I arrived at the castle gate, where Hermione was indeed already waiting.
Accompanying her were Lavender and Parvati, who were jogging around the castle.
Where is Vincent?
"Professor Dumbledore asked him to go to the Headmaster's Office first thing this morning last night."
"Oh."
Harry and Ron figured it must be something to do with Gwent.
Since they're going to be sold at a school, we have to make sure there are absolutely no problems.
And that is indeed the case in reality.
Dumbledore is repeatedly warning about safety issues.
"Professor, why don't you be the quality inspector?"
"Hmm—I trust you."
Vincent picked up a Fizzing Whizbees from the small dish. "Professor, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
"Etc--"
Dumbledore reached into the Sorting Hat and took out the Sorcerer's Stone. "I told Nicolas Flamel in detail what happened that day, and he thinks he must thank you in person."
"Really?" Vincent excitedly popped the candy into his mouth.
"There's no need to thank me, it's all what I should do!"
"No, no, no," Dumbledore to himself with a smirk.
"Nicolas Flamel entrusted it to me for safekeeping because Prophecy that the Sorcerer's Stone was in danger."
"Prophecy?" Vincent's expression stiffened. "Then he must have Prophecy Voldemort, right?"
"No, all Prophecy are vague, even if he spends hundreds of years studying them."
"Oh, so it wasn't a lie after all." He suddenly felt his body becoming a little lightheaded.
"Professor, I feel like I'm about to fly?"
"That's right." Dumbledore smiled and put a small candy into his mouth.
"This is Fizzing Whizbees with some powdered stinger from the Billywig."
Vincent lifted his feet off the ground and floated up little by little.
"Professor, will Mr. Flamel come to Hogwarts to see me?"
"No, you need to visit him in Devon during the Christmas holidays."
"Should I go by myself?"
Dumbledore slowly floated up as well. "Of course not. I wouldn't feel comfortable letting a first-year student go to this dangerous place alone."
"Is it dangerous?" Vincent pressed his hand against the ceiling. "Won't anyone die?"
"Of course not, but there are many defensive magical artifacts outside his house, and I can't guarantee that I can break in safely."
He almost floated to the floor and reached out his hand again, "Then how do we get across?"
Dumbledore glanced at the much larger Fawkes, "The Phoenix has a very special ability to move, which can ignore the limitations of the Anti-Apparition Jinx."
Vincent pressed the ceiling again. "Would you like to come with me?"
"Perhaps." Dumbledore mimicked him, reaching out and gently pressing the ceiling. "But I have other things to attend to."
If he could just meet Nicolas Flamel, the creator of the Sorcerer's Stone, then all his hard work in dealing with Quirrell would have been worthwhile.
It's definitely more comfortable to cling to the principal's powerful backer.
"Professor, how do we get down?"
"Ambrose, the owner of Honeydukes, said that this was an experimental product and the effects were not yet precisely controlled."