You Don't Understand What a Friend Is

Chapter 34: You Don't Understand What Friends Are

Charles finally settled the processing fee for the explosive potion with Snape. At the same time, he obtained a rough price list for raw materials that could be found in the Forbidden Forest, which would make collecting materials much easier.

He went to the kitchens to eat something. Not long after he left, he ran into someone who looked annoyed.

On the corridor on the first basement level, amidst the flickering candlelight, Malfoy blocked Charles's path with a cold sneer. Crabbe and Goyle were grinning maliciously, their fists clenched.

Malfoy said to Charles viciously, "Now there are three of us and only one of you. If you beg for mercy now, I'll consider letting you go."

Charles burst out laughing. The scene reminded him of two brats from his previous life fighting over the last empty table at a late-night snack stall. When the more than twenty workers at the other five tables, who were eating roast duck noodles, surrounded them, and someone suggested dragging them to the construction site to be buried alive, one of them was so scared he cried uncontrollably.

"Three people?" Charles said, shaking his head. "I don't see three people. I see one person, and another person."

Malfoy was a little dizzy from his wordplay and asked with a frown, "What's the difference?"

Charles smiled and asked him, "Malfoy, do you have friends?"

Malfoy said disdainfully, "Crabbe and Goyle are my friends."

Charles smiled and shook his head, looking at Malfoy with pity, which made Malfoy very uncomfortable.

"You've never had friends," Charles said confidently. "Because you have no friends around you, you don't know what it's like to have friends, so you mistakenly think your followers are your friends."

"Malfoy, when you're troubled, do you confide in them? Do you secretly tell them which girl you secretly like? When one of them is unhappy, do you proactively ask why and help them solve it? When you encounter something fun, do you share it with them?"

"Crabbe, Goyle, do you really consider Malfoy a friend? Do you share happy things with Malfoy? Do you willingly do things for him, or do you have even a shred of hesitation or disgust in your hearts? If you heard he was fighting with older students, would you rush to help him without a second thought?"

"Malfoy, I can hear in Gryffindor how you treat Crabbe and Goyle. Every day, you either curse them or brag in front of them. If they don't flatter you promptly after you finish boasting, you'll give them a cold shoulder or even curse them."

"Let alone friends, do you even treat them as equals, as fellow Slytherin students? In your eyes, the only difference between them and house-elves is probably their skin color and height."

"Malfoy, if one day you fell into the water and were about to die, but there were piranhas in the water, and if someone went in to save you, their toes would be eaten by the piranhas. Do you think Crabbe and Goyle would jump into the water to save you then?"

After Charles finished speaking, he looked at Malfoy sympathetically. The boy was quite pitiful, especially when he turned to look at Crabbe and Goyle, who turned away, not daring to meet his gaze. That made him even more pitiful.

Many pitiful people who had never experienced friendship, like them, mistook followers for friends. At the same time, they projected their own experiences onto others, mistaking other people's friends for followers. They believed that mutual help between friends was like licking each other's feet. It was truly a case of seeing what one expected to see.

Charles ignored them and left the first basement level to continue his work organizing spells and potions with Professor Quirrell for the day.

"Did something upset you just now?" Voldemort's ability to read people was surprisingly good.

"It's nothing," Charles shook his head. "I just ran into Peeves."

Today, Voldemort was not pacing around but sitting behind his desk reading a book.

Charles curiously glanced at the cover of the book and felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

"Professor Quirrell," he asked curiously, "what is that book, Breaking Up with Female Ghosts, about?"

Voldemort replied, "It's a biography of Gilderoy Lockhart. It mentions many useful methods for dealing with danger."

This time, Charles was shocked. He had seen Gilderoy Lockhart's books in bookstores. The covers were exquisite and beautiful. He hadn't bought them because the author was a fraud, but he never expected the Dark Lord to consider them useful.

However, it made sense. The author of the book was fake, but the experiences of the victims were absolutely real, just with a bit of artistic embellishment.

"Smith," Voldemort suddenly said, "you'll make a mistake next month too."

"Huh?!" Charles was stunned. "I'm a good student!"

Voldemort ignored him and continued, "I need someone to organize the methods for dealing with various dangers mentioned in the book. Start this work after you finish organizing the dark curses."

A month later, on the second day after this detention ended, Charles was punished with another month of detention for stepping into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with his left foot first.

Charles didn't know what would happen in the future. He thought of something and asked Voldemort, "Professor, do you know how to use the Disillusionment Charm and the Silencing Charm?"

Voldemort asked him with some surprise, "You want to learn?"

Charles nodded. The Disillusionment Charm for invisibility, and the Silencing Charm to muffle footsteps. With both combined, one could quietly move behind an enemy and cast any spell they wanted at their kidneys.

Voldemort thought he just wanted to sneak out at night without being caught by Filch. Without thinking further, he picked up his wand and said, "These two charms are very simple. The Disillusionment Charm is used like this..."

Under his spell, a stack of homework from some unknown year on the desk disappeared.

Charles watched closely and immediately took out his wand to try it on the book on his own desk. The result was a 75% transparency effect.

Voldemort was somewhat surprised. Was this guy learning spells so quickly?

That night, Charles didn't organize many dark curses. He barely mastered the Disillusionment Charm and the Silencing Charm and could go back when it was time.

Before leaving, he suddenly remembered something: "Professor Quirrell, I might not be able to come on Saturday and Sunday nights. I have to go to the Centaurs."

Voldemort said nonchalantly, "Then take all of these with you. I remember you have a Bag of Holding. You can find time to do it there."

Charles thanked him with a smile and then packed the books and even the desk into the Bag of Holding and took them away.

After Charles left, Voldemort chuckled.

In his opinion, with him around, Charles wouldn't dare to look at these restricted books. When no one was supervising him, he would definitely be curious and flip through them randomly.

As long as Charles became interested in the dark curses in the books, his goal would be achieved.

Meanwhile, Charles pondered in the bathtub of the Room of Requirement's bathroom. Voldemort being so agreeable must mean he had ulterior motives. If he wasn't trying to trick him, he was up to no good. There must be some conspiracy behind it.

However, this problem wasn't urgent. The immediate priority was to master the second spell the old man gave him at the Centaurs'. That Eastern spell was quite cool to use.

Always feeling sleepy.