Shura Field

Time flies, and it seems like only yesterday that we arrived at the eve of the Second Task competition.

Since communicating with Harry on a spiritual level, Cassandra seems to have shed her usual arrogant demeanor. She not only mocks Harry less often, but has even become a bit gentler.

Draco was horrified by his great-aunt's transformation.

At the same time, I also felt a deep admiration for Harry.

That's awesome, Harry.

Harry didn't feel proud that he could manage such a woman so well. Just like some time ago, after Harry told Veratia about Cassandra's changes, Veratia told him a famous quote from a Lady named "Eileen Chang".

That makes a lot of sense.

At least after Harry verified it, he felt that what she said was indeed correct.

"So, have you thought about it?" Hermione asked casually, flipping through a spellbook in the Great Hall. "What's your most precious possession? I think it might help with your Second Task, Harry— "

"There's nothing to think about, right?" Harry scratched his head and said, "The Second Task is simply to get my most precious thing back from the Merpeople. I believe the Merpeople are very understanding, and as long as I communicate with them, they will definitely return it to me."

"Why?" Hermione asked, frowning. "Putting aside the fact that the Merpeople are the test subjects of the Second Task, they don't seem to have any good feelings towards humans who invade their territory."

"Oh," Harry said. "Don't worry, Hermione —I've dealt with them, and they're actually quite nice and easy to talk to—if they do disagree, I'll give them a reason they can't refuse."

"Really?" Hermione shrugged, not taking it to heart.

Anyway, Harry was confident, and she felt that believing in Harry's abilities was enough.

"Or we could ask my two older brothers for some prank items," Ron suddenly interjected. "If we want to get something back from the Merpeople, I think an equal exchange is better. The prank items they invented would definitely be welcomed by the Merpeople."

"Oh, Ronnie little darling," the Twins ' voices suddenly came from behind them. "We're so happy to receive your praise—we really thought you didn't like what we made at all."

The three turned around and Twins with their arms around each other's shoulders, giving them a mischievous smile.

"What are you two doing here?" Ron asked. "Weren't you testing some new gadget?"

"They're looking for you," George said. "Professor McGonagall wants to see you, Ron. And you, Hermione."

,,

"What for?" Hermione asked, looking quite surprised, completely unprepared for Professor McGonagall to contact her.

"We're going to take you to her office," Fred said.

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, Harry shrugged, indicating that he had no idea what Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to them about.

Hogwarts doesn't forbid romance, so the two of them—well—

"We'll meet you in the Common Room, Harry," Hermione said to Harry, getting up and leaving with Ron. They both looked very nervous. "Don't worry, I don't think it can be anything bad, after all, Professor McGonagall is our Headmistress."

Harry thought to himself, "It's precisely because she's our Headmistress that you two need to be careful of this old-fashioned lady. If any Gryffindor member dares to be the first to speak out, they will surely suffer the most severe punishment from this selfless old lady."

Not long after Ron and Hermione left, Veratia appeared in the Great Hall.

She sat down quietly next to Harry, resting one hand on the table, and gazed tenderly at Harry as he looked at his notes.

It took Harry quite a while to notice Veratia's arrival.

"Hey, Veratia?" Harry closed his notebook, smiled, and asked, "When did you arrive?"

"When you just turned to the spell 'Sectumsempra,'" Veratia said gently, "That must be a very powerful Dark Arts —where did you find this notebook?"

"Professor Snape's Christmas present," Harry said. "It should be his old school notebooks. Take a look."

I never imagined the old professor had such a hobby. This book is supposed to be about Half-Blood Prince? Good heavens, he really has his ways.

Isn't that right?

Veratia covered her lips and smiled very ladylike.

"Yes, everyone goes through a period like that when they're young. So, what did you think about at that age?"

As she said this, Veratia suddenly leaned closer.

The two were very close; Harry could even feel Veratia's breathing.

Those beautiful violet eyes shone brightly, like the most perfect purple gemstones in the world.

"Well, I..." Harry thought for a moment and said, "I should say that everything I had in mind back then seemed to have been perfectly resolved. You see— the Ashwinder Party, Luke Wood, and that Goblin —what was his name again? The one we defeated in the end—the one that could turn into Fire Dragon."

"Runcorn," Veratia reminded her with a slight smile.

"Oh yes." Harry nodded. "Runcorn, we accomplished something many people can't do in their entire lives."

Actually, I think our youth wasn't just about being immature and eccentric, and we have no regrets.

"You're talking like you're seventy or eighty years old." Veratia reached out and brushed the white feathers off Harry's clothes. "What about Cassandra? And Pabbie?"

"Cass's probably sleeping in her dorm. Pabbie's coming over soon," Harry said, scratching his head. "She said she'd bring me some freshly baked sweets, the kind she learned to make from Tina's brother-in-law—you know, that old Muggle."

"Jacob Kowalski," Veratia said, uttering the Muggle's name.

"Oh, I think that's his name," Harry said. "If I remember correctly, he was America? He even owned a bakery in America, right?"

"Yes," Veratia said gently, then asked, "By the way, where are your inseparable Ron and Hermione? I haven't seen them either."

"Professor McGonagall wants to see them about something," Harry said. "It doesn't sound like good news. I just saw the Twins looking rather smug. Are they going to criticize them?"

Veratia's pupils contracted slightly after hearing Harry say that Professor McGonagall was looking for Hermione and Ron.

However, she concealed it well, only patting Harry gently.

"The Second Task is about to begin," Veratia said to him. "Are you ready? Oh, I forgot to ask, do you know what your most precious treasure is?"

"It's definitely you!" Harry answered almost without hesitation, his survival instincts kicking in.

That little expression looked incredibly sincere.

But Harry suddenly changed the subject, saying to Veratia, "But—if it weren't you in the lake, I hope you can understand, Veratia."

"Why?" Veratia was satisfied with Harry's answer, but still wanted to hear what Harry had to say.

"After all, you're a high-ranking official in the Greater German Ministry of Magic. If we put you in the lake—" Harry scratched his head in the air, "It would have a significant diplomatic impact. Besides, who do you think could knock you out and throw you into the Black Lake so quietly?"

This answer is not bad; at least Veratia doesn't object.

"Hmm—" Veratia nodded, "I'm very satisfied with this reason—"

After saying that, she leaned forward and gave Harry a light kiss on the cheek.

The people around were stunned.

No, you two were doing this in the Great Hall!

This is a sacred Great Hall!

But considering the other party's status, he suppressed his resentment.

Okay, the male lead is Hogwarts Champion, while the female lead is the former Queen of Slytherin, and now the Head of Department of a certain Greater German Ministry of Magic— something we can't afford to mess with.

"Have something to eat," Veratia said to him. "You have a competition tomorrow—well, eat something tonight, and eat more tomorrow morning too."

"I just finished eating," Harry said dryly. "I had Meiji for dinner, it was pretty good—but I think I should lose weight, you see, my abs are almost gone."

As he spoke, he grabbed Veratia's hand and stuffed it into his clothes.

"Hmph." Veratia tried it and nodded, saying, "You really should eat less, or rather—you should exercise, my dear Mr. Potter."

"Indeed," Harry nodded in agreement.

A short while later, Cassandra and Pabbie entered the Great Hall one after the other.

Cassandra was clearly still half asleep, while Pabbie was holding a basket filled with a dazzling array of baked goods.

"Try this!" Pabbie happily placed the basket on the table, picked up a cookie, and said to Veratia, "Veratia, try this. It's a raisin shortbread recipe that Jacob and I learned to make— Muggle always have great ideas when it comes to food, don't they?"

Veratia did not refuse Pabbie's kindness. She also knew that Pabbie was different from Cassandra and would never dare to give her Canary Cream Biscuit.

It really tasted delicious, she chewed, giving Pabbie a positive smile.

"Right?" Pabbie picked up a piece and handed it to Cassandra. "Cass, you should try one too."

Cassandra also did not refuse Pabbie, and after eating a piece, she gave Pabbie high praise.

Not being sarcastic is the highest form of affirmation.

"Harry, Harry, you should have some too." Pabbie handed Harry another piece.

Veratia wanted to say something, but in the end she said, "Eat less, Harry, your abs are almost gone—"

"Really?" Pabbie exclaimed, "That won't do! You'd better not eat it—"

After saying that, she snatched the grape shortbread that Harry was already holding back, giving Harry no room to object at all.

Okay...

Harry thought to himself, "If I can't have it, I can't have it. After all, the Queen has spoken."

"How's it going?" Pabbie didn't forget to ask Harry, "How's your preparation going? The Second Task —although I have a lot of confidence in you, I still want to ask about your preparation."

"Yes," Cassandra asked seemingly casually, "Do you know the final answer? It's your treasure."

"Preparations are going alright," Harry shrugged, replying non-stickily, "But I still don't know what we're supposed to retrieve from the Black Lake. I think—well, probably Firebolt? After all, it's a precious treasure—it's unlikely to be a person, right?"

You know what, this "nothing to do" answer, while not satisfying everyone, successfully garnered no objections from anyone.

"You'd better think it over," Pabbie said. "I've heard that getting brooms wet affects their performance, or maybe they'll provide a protective cover, right?"

"I think so too." For some reason, Harry felt a cold sweat running down the back of his head.

That night, Harry was so engrossed in listening to the three women's witty banter that his brain was constantly overclocking, barely managing to understand what they were saying.

It was very late when Harry got back to his dorm. Harry was too tired to watch anything else; the night had exhausted him.

The next morning, I was woken up by Seamus again.

"Get up and eat something, Harry," Seamus patted him on the shoulder. "We're going to swim in the Black Lake later, you can't skip Sickle, what if you get a cramp?"

Harry responded and went to the Great Hall.

He ate his breakfast absentmindedly until Hermione came over anxiously.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed anxiously, "Ron has been captured! You need to rescue Ron!"

What remarkable words! They immediately stunned the entire crowd in the Great Hall.

no?

What did you say?

Harry is going to the lake to rescue Ron?

The students, of course, know the second competition event, which Mr. Bagman just announced: the warriors will rescue their most precious treasure from the lake.

This is roughly what the students are thinking now—

"Miss Grindelwald is definitely Harry's most precious treasure, isn't she?"

"Miss Malfoy is no less beautiful; she's the white moonlight in his heart."

"Miss Sweeting is actually quite cute, just as good as these two girls."

"If we're talking about Harry's hobbies, then Firebolt definitely deserves the title!"

"Holy crap, Ron Weasley? What the hell?"

Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's classmates stared at Harry in shock, wondering why it was Ron and not the three girls.

During their long stay at Hogwarts, even if they weren't gossiping, they still saw three girls dancing with Harry at the Christmas Ball.

It should be said that all three girls were very attractive, especially the one who looked the most mature and beautiful, even more beautiful than Phoebe, who had Veela blood. They almost thought that in the Second Task, Harry, the Hogwarts Champion, would be rescuing this most beautiful woman.

Who would have thought that this Ron Weasley was?

No, um—

This is Britain, so perhaps it's normal?

But the students at Hogwarts didn't think anything of it; after all, friendship is the most precious treasure, isn't it?