Map Chamber, Reunion (Third Update, 4,000 Words)

Harry stayed in the Hospital Wing for three days before Madam Pomfrey released him.

Many people came to visit him during this time, but Madam Pomfrey sternly forbade them all.

Seamus and Ron woke up that afternoon, spent three days in the Hospital Wing, and were discharged with Harry.

Without his two friends by his side, life would be absolutely terrible.

Back in the common room, Harry was given a hero's welcome.

"Potter is our Lion King!"

This was the Weasley twins egging them on, with Fred shouting the loudest.

Every boy and girl longs for stories of heroes.

Moreover, in a house like Gryffindor where courage is paramount, Harry single-handedly thwarted Professor Quirrell's plot, which is something the Gryffindor themselves admire.

Perhaps it was Dumbledore's intention, because the person who spread the news did not reveal Voldemort's existence, but only mentioned Professor Quirrell's part.

But that's enough to drive people crazy, after all, he's a professor!

A first-year student, with the help of his friends, overcomes a series of challenges set by the professors, and finally confronts Professor Quirrell alone, successfully thwarting his plot...

He truly deserves to be called the Savior!

Not only Gryffindor students, but also some Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were in the Common Room.

Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff, along with his classmates, gave Harry a warm round of applause.

"Harry! Well done!"

Harry was not blinded by the praise coming from all sides, nor did he become complacent.

He stretched out his hands, signaling everyone to stop.

When the students around him looked at him in confusion, wondering what he was going to do, Harry began to speak.

"Thank you for your support, classmates. But I didn't make it to the end by myself. I also have some friends who supported and helped me. It was they who helped me get to the end."

The students watched Harry quietly and expectantly.

"First up is Hermione Granger!" Harry beckoned to Hermione, who walked up to him.

"If Hermione hadn't found a way to get past Cerberus and used Charms to play the harp to hypnotize that horrible three-headed dog, we probably wouldn't have even made it past the first door—"

Upon hearing Harry's introduction, the students cheered loudly for Hermione's name.

"Granger! Granger!"

"Hermione! I knew you were good!" That was Lavender's shout.

Hermione's face was flushed, and her big front teeth were almost showing as she laughed like a happy beaver.

After everyone had cheered for a while, Harry grabbed Neville, who was trying to slip away, pulled him in front of him, hooked his arm around Neville's shoulder and put his arm around his neck, and said to everyone, "And there's our Neville Longbottom! He discovered the weakness of the Devil's Snare, which is why we were able to get through the first challenge!"

"Longbottom! Longbottom!" Everyone cheered loudly, and a tidal wave of applause resounded throughout the lounge.

Neville pursed his lips, his eyes red-rimmed, as he looked around at his classmates who were genuinely cheering for him.

God knows, he lived under pressure from his parents since he was a child, and they even thought he was Squib who couldn't do magic.

And can someone like him... also receive applause from everyone?

"Neville, did you see that?" Harry shouted. "You're the best!"

"Neville is the best!" Ron shouted, clapping from behind.

"Neville is the best!" the students cheered, and the atmosphere became even more enthusiastic.

"Thank you, thank you, Harry!" Neville couldn't hold back any longer. He turned around and hugged Harry tightly, tears streaming down his face.

Harry coughed twice, then deliberately struggled, yelling, "Okay, good heavens Neville, if you squeeze any harder you'll bring back all the food I ate last night!"

Neville quickly let go of him, and seeing Harry wink at him, he finally stopped crying and started smiling.

"And there's our Seamus Finnegan!" Harry pulled an excited Seamus aside and said to everyone, "Seamus used Charms to break the Devil's Snare and bravely stepped up at the crucial moment to win us a key victory!"

"Finnegan! Finnegan!" The crowd clapped and cheered.

Seamus waved his hands animatedly, then drew his wand and shouted, "Does anyone want to see my Charms to break the Devil's Snare?"

"Oh God, I beg you, Seamus, please don't—"

The surrounding classmates said in unison.

Everyone laughed good-naturedly, and Seamus tucked his wand away; he had only been joking.

As the applause gradually subsided, Harry finally pulled Ron aside.

"What I'm saying is, Ron Weasley! You are the greatest chess player I've ever seen—you used yourself as a piece, fought on the board, and at crucial moments, you even stood up alongside Seamus to give us a chance to win that terrible game of Wizard Chess —I must say, Ron, you are the bravest man I've ever seen, a true Gryffindor!"

"Weasley! Weasley! Weasley!"

Everyone cheered wildly. Ron had used himself as a chess piece to fight on the chessboard, and even decided to sacrifice himself at the crucial moment. This in itself was an extremely noble courage!

If he's not a real Gryffindor, then who is?!

"Ronnie little darling, Ronnie little darling, oh! oh!" The twins wiggled their butts playfully, like Veela at Quidditch match, showing no sign of shame.

"This is my brother! My youngest brother!" Percy shouted to the cheering crowd, his face beaming with pride and happiness.

Such cheers were a scene Ron, who was always neglected at home, could only see in his dreams.

And the Mirror of Erised.

Now, it has become a reality.

He snapped out of his daze, turned around, and hugged Harry tightly.

"Harry, is this true?"

"Of course it's true," Harry replied with a smile, patting Ron on the back and whispering, "Alright, let's celebrate together!"

Ron released Harry and nodded heavily.

He was not only happy to have achieved his dream, but also genuinely happy to have a good friend like Harry.

Among the surrounding crowd, the loudest shouts did not Gryffindor.

It is Hufflepuff.

The Hufflepuff Badger really admire Harry's humble nature and his unwavering loyalty to his friends.

This is extremely valuable and perfectly in line with the characteristics of Hufflepuff House.

Therefore, they cheered for the Savior from the bottom of their hearts.

"Alright, everyone!" Harry called out, "Let's raise a glass to celebrate the bravery of our friends!"

"Yay! Let's celebrate!" the students cheered.

The welcoming party lasted from morning until evening, with Ron and Seamus repeatedly recounting their journey and what they had heard from Dumbledore.

Even as the meeting ended, the attendees were still reluctant to leave.

This is the adventure of the Savior and his friends at Hogwarts, and I'm so close to them...

Cedric clearly wanted to say something to Harry two or three times while drinking Butterbeer, but he hesitated and ultimately chose to remain silent.

Harry didn't notice Cedric's odd behavior; he was simply celebrating happily with his classmates.

He was naturally delighted, for now he could use Ancient Magic, which meant that the Map Chamber was open to him.

When the meeting ended, he and Ron and the others went to the Great Hall to have a meal.

Hagrid was already waiting there. When he saw Harry come over, Hagrid went up to him, sat down next to Harry, and started to sob while holding his hand.

"It's all—my—fool's—fault!" He covered his face with his hands and cried. "I told that bastard how to subdue Fluffy! I told him! He knew everything except this... and I just had to tell him! You almost died! All because of a dragon egg! I'll never drink again... I should be kicked out and be Muggle for life!"

Harry knew his friend's frankness; this friend was Legilimency Master who couldn't keep any secrets, so it wasn't his fault.

"Hagrid." Harry gently hugged Hagrid and whispered, "It's not your fault. That man is the most cruel and cunning Dark Wizard of this century. Even if you didn't tell him, he would have found out eventually."

"But you almost lost your life..." Hagrid sobbed, picked up a rag from the table, blew his nose hard, making a loud noise.

"I'm fine now, aren't I? And that person's plot has been thwarted." Harry said, then whispered in Hagrid's ear, "I even received a lot of gifts for it—and my classmates celebrated with me. I really enjoy this feeling."

"Really?" Hagrid smiled through his tears, wiping them away. "I almost forgot, I also brought you a gift—"

"Really?" Harry asked with interest.

"Of course, take a look." Hagrid pulled out a beautifully bound book from his pocket.

Harry took it, gently opened it, and found it filled with animated photos of wizards.

It was his father, and his mother, every page, every single one of them, smiling and waving at him.

Hagrid chimed in, "I'll send an owl to your parents' old classmates to ask for their photos... I know you don't have any... Do you like that?"

"Thank you, Hagrid." Harry reached out and gently stroked the photo album. "I love this gift, I love it..."

This was the first time he had ever seen so many photos of his parents...

Hagrid didn't disturb Harry and quietly said goodbye to him.

Harry sat there, flipping through his parents' photo album, reluctant to close it for a long time.

He didn't close the photo album until Ron reminded him that the food had been served, and carefully tucked it into his pocket.

He plans to carefully preserve this photo album.

When he returned to the Gryffindor Common Room that evening, he carefully placed the photo album in the safest place in his suitcase.

"Harry, it's already ten o'clock, aren't you going to sleep yet?" Ron asked with a yawn, having just finished a game of Wizard Chess with Seamus.

Since becoming a chess piece in the game, Seamus has also become addicted to playing Wizard Chess.

"I'm thinking of going for a walk, I'm not sleepy yet," Harry said to Ron. "You go to sleep first, I'll be back in a bit."

"You probably didn't eat enough tonight, did you? I don't remember you eating much," Ron said, lying on the bed. "If you want to go to the Hogwarts Kitchen, you should go to the Hufflepuff Common Room in the basement. The doorknob is a pear; you have to scratch it for the doorknob to appear..."

"Okay, Ron, I got it." Harry nodded.

"I'm going to sleep now, goodnight," Ron said, turning over and quickly drifting off to sleep.

Young people have it so good; they can fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Harry tiptoed out and cast an Disillusionment Charm on himself.

Now that we have obtained the power of the Philosopher's Stone, we should go and take a look at the Map Chamber underground.

His feelings were complicated; he was excited and expectant, but also afraid of finding nothing after opening the Map Chamber.

What I fear even more is receiving bad news.

He made his way to the underground of Hogwarts Castle, and this time, with the help of the Philosopher's Stone, he indeed saw the Ancient Magic fluctuations in front of the Map Chamber.

It was a clump of black and white fluffy material, constantly churning and making indescribable sounds.

He walked up to the churning, boiling magical energy, and used his wand to lift the energy, drawing an archway shape from left to right.

Guided by Ancient Magic, the wave obediently transformed into an archway, in the center of which a water-like curtain rippled.

Looking through the water curtain, the door that had been blocking the Map Chamber had disappeared.

This is the wonder of Ancient Magic.

Those with this talent can see places hidden by Ancient Magic —while those without it, no matter how hard they try, will find no clues.

Harry passed through the water curtain, and as he expected, the door to the Map Chamber had disappeared.

He can now enter the Map Chamber!

Even though a hundred years have passed, the Map Chamber remains exactly the same as it was a century ago.

Right in front of the door is Veratia's book.

He looked up and gazed in the direction of the portrait.

From left to right, four huge portraits are arranged in sequence.

Harry still has a deep memory of these portraits. On the far left is Headmaster Fitzgerald; the second from the left is Professor Rackham Charles Lukewood; the third is Professor Porkham Percival Burkham; and the rightmost portrait is empty.

But when Harry looked at the portrait on the far right, he noticed that there was an extra person in it.

He was looking at the portrait, and the person in the portrait was also gazing at him tenderly.

"Harry..."

When the girl saw Harry, she was the first to greet him, her beautiful smile as dazzling as her hair.

It's Veratia, Verathea Grindelwald.

"Veratia?!"

Harry stood there, stunned.

He never imagined that the girl he had been thinking about and longing for had actually become a portrait, hanging in the Map Chamber.

"Long time no see," the girl said gently.