Grindelwald's Pride! (First Update)

Harry suddenly felt very awkward, and he became somewhat restless.

"So that's how it is..." Harry said with a hint of remorse, "Actually, back then... well, back then I was thinking that it would be great if the Board of Governors could keep an eye on Miss Malfoy. She always said I was lazy and arrogant, and I thought she was really annoying back then..."

Verathea in the portrait almost burst out laughing. She couldn't help but say, "Yes, yes, you're letting the Board of Governors control the daughter of the most powerful person on the Board of Governors. You really have a wild imagination, Harry."

"Yes, I was so naive back then," Harry said with a sigh.

That's how he connected the dots.

No wonder... why Cassandra was so angry when she thanked Gareth and even stomped on his foot.

Harry was confused at the time, but now he understands what's going on.

"Actually, if you put it that way, Cassandra is... kind of nice." Harry tried to find a suitable adjective. "You know, back when we were outside Flourish and Blotts, Cassandra mocked me for coming to buy secondhand robes again..."

Then he choked up.

"And then?" Veratia asked with interest.

"Ah, I didn't really pay attention. I was just curious if she was here to sell secondhand robes, so I asked her, 'Do you have any you've worn here?'"

Harry scratched his head and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"You're something else... I've never heard you mention this before..." Veratia said, unable to suppress a laugh.

"There's not much to say. I thought she was angry and turned away," Harry said, shrugging.

"You should be angry, after all, what you said was quite offensive," Veratia said with a smile.

Harry raised an eyebrow and said, "Ha, you guessed wrong. She wasn't actually angry. She even sent me two of her old Slytherin robes by owl this afternoon..."

"What did you say?!" Verathea's voice rose.

"Uh—I mean, she gave me two old robes..." Harry tentatively looked at Veratia, who was furious.

Verathea glanced at Harry and snorted, "So you wore it?"

"I wore it, but I asked Professor Weasley to alter it into a Gryffindor style..." Harry said guiltily.

"You'd wear it just because she gave it to you?" Veratia glanced at him.

"You know what happened back then," Harry said somewhat embarrassedly. He didn't know why he felt guilty, but he instinctively explained, "I was all alone in the Magical World, with no family or friends..."

Verathea's heart softened.

"Sorry, Harry."

"Oh, it's nothing," Harry waved his hand and said to Verathea, "But this time we really have to go to the Malfoy family. Whether we can find the Basilisk Fang depends on Cassandra's grand-nephew."

"Okay." Veratia smiled and nodded. "I'll be waiting for your good news in the Map Chamber."

"After you get out, you'll have to go with me to find Cassandra, and help me rescue Pabbie," Harry said with a smile. "Oh, and it seems we can't find any news about Ominis and Sebastian either. I still have to go to Azkaban..."

"Don't worry, they won't be in Azkaban," Verathea said. "I'll come with you after I come out of Slytherin's Study, we'll go together."

Veratia deliberately emphasized "we".

Harry didn't understand and just nodded.

He spent the night in the Map Chamber, chatting with Veratia.

He didn't leave until the next morning.

After Harry left, Headmaster Fitzgerald and the others returned to the picture frame.

"You really are something," Headmaster Fitzgerald said to Veratia, "Waiting in the Map Chamber for a hundred years—and when I came back I heard that Potter was going to find Cassandra? Or did you tell him?"

"I don't understand what you young people are thinking either," Luke Wood said from the side. "Love is selfish. If I were you, I wouldn't tell Potter so easily that Cassandra is still trapped in the Time Vortex —at least not so soon."

"Grindelwald's pride wouldn't allow her to do that." Veratia raised her head, as proud as a white swan.

"Good heavens, you're so indecisive," Luke Wood said helplessly. "If I were you, I'd definitely wait until I'm in a relationship with that little Potter before telling him—or I wouldn't tell him at all."

"No wonder your offspring are all Dark Wizard." Porkham rolled his eyes and uttered a particularly hurtful remark.

Luke Wood roared and leaped into Professor Porkham's portrait.

"Charles! Charles!" Headmaster Fitzgerald quickly grabbed him, "He's telling the truth!"

"Because he was telling the truth!" Professor Rackham pounded his chest in grief and indignation. "Merlin, what did I do wrong? Why are there no good people among my descendants?"

"Because if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too," Professor Porkham whistled.

Professor Rackham turned red.

Professor Rackham broke down.

"But speaking of which," Professor Porkham asked again, "That Potter is of average talent, and his personality is a bit... hard to explain. Why do you like him so much, even going so far as to Soul Separation disguise yourself as a picture frame, freezing your body in time, just to see him?"

"Why do I like it?" Veratia murmured. Actually, she... didn't know why she felt this way.

She was initially drawn to Harry because she immediately noticed the Ancient Magic heritage Harry possessed.

It is important to know that there are very few inheritors of Ancient Magic. Usually, an inheritor of Ancient Magic will never meet another inheritor of Ancient Magic in the world until their death.

But she felt very lucky to have met one at Hogwarts —who happened to be in the same year as her.

What interests her even more is that, in most cases, Ancient Magic inheritors are Squib or Muggle before the age of fifteen, and have no spellcasting ability—but Harry is different. Harry had ample magic power before the age of fifteen, completely breaking the norm.

Later, she discovered Ancient Charm belonging to the Grindelwald family's collection on Harry.

At first, I got close to Harry simply to figure out why things were the way they were.

But in the process of getting to know Harry, Veratia was also moved by Harry's qualities—his purity, keenness, strength, courage, integrity, and loyalty made this sixteen-year-old boy shine like a star in the night.

She didn't know when she came to accept Harry; perhaps it was through their daily interactions that she was gradually drawn to him.

"Love has no reason, Charles," Headmaster Fitzgerald said softly.

Professor Rackham rolled his eyes and chose to remain silent.

Ah, the restless days of youth...

Harry had no idea what was happening in the Map Chamber. As he yawned and walked up the stairs, the sun was already slowly rising in the east.

In high-latitude regions, the days always arrive earlier in summer. Harry glanced at his watch; it was not yet four o'clock.

He walked back to his dorm room, turned over and lay on his bed, still thinking about Cassandra.

Harry is actually a little regretful now; he wish he had discovered Cassandra's good intentions sooner.

Perhaps... my school life back then was much more interesting than it actually was?

As the holiday approached, the students began to become less focused.

Ultimately, their final exam results will only make them sad for a short while; not everyone values grades as much as Hermione does.

Just scribble a couple of lines on the test paper, and you'll have done justice to the few Galleon your parents spent.

It should be said that wizarding families do not place particular importance on their children's academic performance.

After all, the Wizarding World has a small population and a relatively stable ecosystem, so there's not much of a "tiger parenting" mentality.

Furthermore, Hogwarts' intentional or unintentional tacit approval of the emergence of "happy education" has resulted in the academic level of Hogwarts graduates being rather disappointing.

only...

If it were peacetime, that would be fine.

However, in times of war, a wizard who cannot even use Charms properly will find it difficult to survive.

That's how cruel it is for people who don't have much talent. You deceive the Charms, thinking it'll work for a while—but in battle, the Charms will deceive you too.

That's right, just showing it off to keep up with the learning progress is enough, why make it effective?

Harry was well aware of the shortcomings of Hogwarts' education system, but he didn't know where to begin to improve it.

Professor Dumbledore may be a good man, but when it comes to being Headmaster...

From the school's perspective, Headmaster Black was more competent, since students who didn't study really got punished.

He planned to find a suitable time to talk to the Headmaster about this matter.

Soon, the holiday was approaching.

Before the holiday, there's one last thing to do—the House Cup.

Before Harry enrolled, Slytherin had won the House Cup for six consecutive years—because they had a biased headmaster who was always finding fault with other houses, deducting points while heavily boosting Slytherin's. If this year is included, then Slytherin has won for seven consecutive years.

Slytherin, already unpopular due to the constant stream of Death Eater and their wicked elders, became even less welcome by the other houses.

At the House Cup ceremony, the entire Great Hall was decorated in the classic Slytherin silver and green, which was rather eccentric.

From Gryffindor to Hufflepuff, and from Hufflepuff to Ravenclaw, everyone wore long faces—because Slytherin had once again won the House Cup this term.

The reason everyone was depressed was not because their own house didn't win the House Cup, but because Slytherin won.

This is fucking unacceptable.

While one's own failure is certainly disheartening, the enemy's success is the most unacceptable.

The Slytherin weren't particularly cheerful, as some were still preoccupied with the disappearance of Miss Merope.

A short while later, Dumbledore took the chair.

After he finished his speech, he loudly announced the House Points, with Hufflepuff at the bottom with 352 points, Gryffindor in third place with 398 points, Ravenclaw in second place with 426 points, and Slytherin in a commanding lead with 472 points.

The Slytherin House students then began to cheer, shouting excitedly.

Unsurprisingly, Dumbledore began his micromanagement.

He first recounted the outstanding performances of Neville, Seamus, Hermione, and Ron, and then emphasized Harry's excellence, giving Gryffindor a full two hundred points.

The Slytherin ' excitement vanished abruptly, as if they had seen a pile of dead rats.

If someone were standing outside the Great Hall right now, they might think something extraordinary had happened.

The cheers at the Gryffindor table grew louder and louder, but surprisingly, the cheers from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seemed even louder Gryffindor.

While one's own defeat is certainly not pleasant, seeing that the enemy also failed is indeed something to celebrate.

Many people rushed forward, wanting to shake hands with Harry and the others— Neville was so surprised that his face turned pale, and he was immediately overwhelmed by the crowd that pushed forward to hug him.

"That means," Dumbledore had to shout to drown out the thunderous cheers, "That we need to make some minor changes to the decor here."

He clapped his hands, and instantly the green hanging ribbons turned bright red, and the silver ones turned gold; the giant Slytherin snake disappeared, replaced by a majestic Gryffindor lion.

Snape was shaking hands with Professor McGonagall, forcing an awkward smile.

Harry looked up at Snape, Snape seemed to sense something and turned his gaze to Harry as well.

Then, Snape looked at her with disgust, as if she had swallowed a fly, and immediately turned her head away.

Harry almost laughed, but then thought better of it and held back.

The holiday arrived as scheduled, and Harry had already made plans for it.

During this holiday, he had many things to do, such as visiting Gringotts, the Malfoy family, the Weasley family, and searching for Venom in Knockturn Alley... In short, he had a lot to do.

He planned to do it one thing at a time, starting with going back to the Dursley family.

Although I don't really like my uncle's family, there should at least be a place for them to rest.

The House Elf of Hogwarts were very hardworking; before they left Hogwarts, they had already helped them pack their wardrobes and trunks and put them on their cars.

Before boarding the Hogwarts Express, Harry went to Pabbie's side.

He searched around and finally found Pabbie by the Black Lake.

Her nose was submerged in the water, and bubbles were rising to the surface.

"Pabbie?" Harry asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

Pabbie looked up and said, "I'm gurgling."

After saying that, she put her nose back in the water.

"Glug glug, glug glug..."

Harry wiped the sweat from his brow and asked her, "I'm going home—want to come with me?"

Pabbie looked up, as if he were re-evaluating a boy with a bleak future.

"You're taking the Unicorn back to the Muggle world?"