Rowena Might Have Left Behind a Ghost / Love Has Both Broad and Narrow Definitions ...

Tonks received a reply soon after sending his letter, and it was from Podmore himself.

In the letter, the sender said he would be visiting Hogwarts the following weekend; and after receiving the reply, Harry hurriedly asked Nearly Headless Nick to inform Patrick of the exact time.

And so, a few days later, on the weekend, the ghost of an ancestor who had been dead for hundreds of years, and a wizard who was suspected to be a descendant of his kind, finally met at Hogwarts.

Harry didn't gossip too much about the reunion of ghosts and human descendants; he simply provided them with a private classroom so they could talk alone.

However, after Harry arranged the meeting between the two Podmore, he unexpectedly encountered Ravenclaw's ghost in the corridor.

"Lady Grey? Is there something you need to see me about?" Harry asked curiously.

"Ah, yes..." Helena's ghost seemed hesitant to speak, "I want to talk to you about the girl beside you, the Ravenclaw's Diadem on her head..."

"I see. You've come for the Ravenclaw's Diadem. This way, please."

After learning Helena's purpose, Harry politely led her into another classroom.

Perfect timing! He'd actually been waiting for an opportunity to talk to the other person about this.

Chapter 332 It's also possible that Rowena left behind a spirit.

Logically speaking, these ghosts residing at Hogwarts were actually the main targets Harry wanted to settle scores with.

But the reason he hadn't taken the initiative to do it was because he was waiting for the ghosts to bring it up themselves.

This was also a suggestion that the spirit of Andros had given him.

The concept of a karmic debt is essentially a bond between people at the soul level. Whether it is formed actively or passively, and to what extent the psychological expectations of the spirits are met, all these factors will affect the final strength of the karmic debt.

Like Myrtle, although she didn't ask Harry for help, because she was just a child when she died, her own emotions were relatively pure; therefore, even unintentionally, the debt of life she incurred with Harry was quite strong, and could even help Harry escape the pursuit of Voldemort's soul fragments.

However, if it were a ghost who had already reached adulthood when they died, they would still retain the complex thoughts of an adult. If Harry were to rush to help them fulfill their last wishes, they might not be genuinely grateful.

Since ancient times, true feelings have been fleeting, while tactics have always won people's hearts... The adult world, whether it's life or death, is far more complex than that of children.

"That Ravenclaw's Diadem ... I'd like to know, where did you find it?" Helena asked Harry first after they entered an empty classroom.

"It was in the Room of Requirement," Harry replied readily. "When I found it, Voldemort had already turned it into Horcrux ..."

"What?! You mean Horcrux?" Helena suddenly screamed without warning. "That person... no, that despicable bastard, how dare he do such a thing?!"

She had no doubt about the truthfulness of Harry's words; after all, no one would be so careless as to joke about Horcrux.

"Lady Grey, please calm down," Harry said softly. "I've used some methods to remove the fragment of Voldemort's soul; it's no longer Horcrux."

"You... you're telling the truth?" Helena asked incredulously.

"Of course it's true," Harry nodded seriously. "Think about it, if it were still Horcrux, how could I possibly give it to Luna Lovegood to use?"

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Helena thanked Harry profusely, her voice growing weaker and more choked with emotion. "That man... I was bewitched by him, which led him to defile the Ravenclaw's Diadem. Looking back now, I was so foolish."

"Voldemort's charisma was indeed quite remarkable when he was young. Your being swayed by him is simply a temporary mishap; there's no need to worry too much," Harry said softly, then shifted to a more direct tone. "Lady Grey, did you come to me today hoping I would return the Ravenclaw's Diadem?"

"If you're willing," Helena nodded quickly, "It is, after all, my mother's keepsake, and of course I hope to get it back..."

"I'm sorry, Lady Grey, but if you want me to hand over the Ravenclaw's Diadem, I have no choice but to refuse." Harry shook his head coldly. "I found this Ravenclaw's Diadem, and the process of removing the soul fragments was incredibly dangerous, so it's now my spoils. Even if the Grey Lady came back to life and asked me for it herself, I would still refuse!"

"If... she could really be brought back to life, then perhaps I wouldn't need this Ravenclaw's Diadem..." Helena murmured to herself in a mournful voice.

"Grey Lady, what do you mean by that?"

Harry sensed something else in her words; this Ravenclaw ghost didn't seem to simply want the Ravenclaw's Diadem from him.

"I don't actually need this Ravenclaw's Diadem. After all, I'm already a ghost; even if I got it, I wouldn't be able to use it," Helena explained sadly. "What I really want is to see my mother one more time, but I know that's impossible..."

"Years ago, I stole the Ravenclaw's Diadem out of greed, thinking my mother would never forgive me. But even when she was seriously ill, she was still searching for me... Unfortunately, I died in Albania and never got to see her one last time. That's why I thought that if I could return the lost Ravenclaw's Diadem to my mother's grave, it would be some kind of atonement."

"That's a very touching gesture," Harry nodded slightly to her in understanding, then continued, "Lady Grey, I'm curious, have you ever visited your mother's grave before?"

"Of course I've been there. It's on the banks of a great river in Scotland, my mother's hometown." Helena nodded gently at first, then shook her head sadly. "But... I couldn't feel my mother's presence there at all; all I felt was endless sorrow."

"Well, Lady Grey, I've suddenly had a different idea that you might find quite interesting." After a moment's thought, Harry looked intently at Helena's ghost and said, "I believe that your mother, Rowena the Grey Lady, must have left at least one spirit somewhere, somewhere unknown. If we can find it, I can arrange a direct conversation between you and your mother."

"This... is what you're saying true?" Helena's dark eyes suddenly lit up. "You can really let me see my mother again... and talk to her directly?!"

For Helena, Harry's suggestion was definitely more interesting than the Ravenclaw's Diadem, after all, the Ravenclaw's Diadem was just an inanimate object used to express grief, while her mother's spirit could be communicated with directly.

She was certainly familiar with spirits, so she knew that what Harry was looking for was not a spirit like the portraits of the Founders of the four houses in the school, which could only make a few simple expressions, but a spirit that truly preserved the consciousness of his mother!

But... would a mother really leave behind such a spirit?

"I've seen Salazar Slytherin's spirit before; it was attached to a statue in the Chamber of Secrets before he left the school." Seeing Helena's hesitation, Harry explained, "As Founders of a house on par with Slytherin, I don't think the other three were incapable of passing down their spirits. Besides, given the Grey Lady's intelligence, even without her Ravenclaw's Diadem, I don't think she wouldn't have left herself some contingency plan after her death."

According to Helena, Rowena Ravenclaw was seriously ill at the time, so he sent people to the Albanian Forest to find Helena. However, the success of the mission was uncertain. Was the ailing Rowena just supposed to wait idly?

As a renowned wise woman, she should have been able to foresee the situation where she would die first, while her daughter still had not returned.

Therefore, if she desperately wanted to see Helena, the best way was to leave behind a spirit that could communicate with her!

Chapter 333 The emotion of love can be divided into broad and narrow senses.

"My mother's spirit... Yes! My mother was the most intelligent witch in the world at that time, how could she not have foreseen my fate?!"

After carefully considering Harry's suggestion, Helena lit up with joy. "Mr. Granger... no, Harry, I humbly beg you, you must help me find my mother's spirit!"

She pleaded with Harry with overwhelming excitement, completely abandoning her original reserve and dignity, and kept circling around Harry.

"It is an honor to be trusted by you, and I am happy to accept this commission." Harry smiled and nodded, but also made some points clear upfront, "However, Lady Grey, I must reiterate my previous position... I can only concede to returning the main body of the Ravenclaw's Diadem, but the important gem on it can only be used by Luna Lovegood from now on!"

"Luna Lovegood Lovegood ..." Helena murmured the name, then suddenly asked Harry curiously, "If I may be so bold as to ask, is your feeling for Miss Lovegood love?"

"Love?" Harry was taken aback. "Why would you suddenly ask that?"

"I was just curious..." Helena's voice seemed to carry a hint of sadness. "Before coming to you, I actually went to see that girl, but she said that the Ravenclaw's Diadem was something you gave her, and she had no right to decide whether to return it. She also told me that you would definitely keep the Ravenclaw's Diadem for her... at least keep the jewel."

"I see..." Harry chuckled upon hearing this. "Luna Lovegood really does understand me as well as ever~"

"That's why I'm curious, is the feeling between you and her really what you call love? If it is, then why is it so different from my understanding of love?" Helena asked in a trembling voice. "I'm terrified of love. Bloody Baron of Slytherin, he kept saying he loved me, but in the end, because I rejected him, because he was jealous of my freedom, he cruelly murdered me... He still has my blood on him!"

As she spoke, Helena lifted her cloak, revealing to Harry the dark knife wound on her white breast.

"I see..." Harry finally understood the entanglement between Bloody Baron and Helena.

When Rowena was seriously ill, she wanted to see her daughter, so she sent Helena's suitor, Bloody Baron of Slytherin, to the Albanian Forest to search for her.

However, Bloody Baron was a hot-tempered fellow. He lost his mind because of unrequited love and stabbed Helena, causing her to die.

So, Bloody Baron's cause of death must be...

"After killing me, Bloody Baron, realizing his mistake, was filled with remorse. So he picked up the weapon that had taken my life and committed suicide. For the next few centuries, he wore shackles to atone for his sins... but he deserved it!"

By the end, Helena was filled with resentment.

"In that case, he really deserved it." Harry picked up where Helena left off, then patiently explained, "Lady Grey, love has many meanings. But broadly speaking, we can divide it into a wide sense and a narrow sense. And Bloody Baron's love for you was the narrowest of the narrow senses—a strong possessiveness born of unrequited love. 'If I can't have it, no one else can,' or 'I love you so much, why don't you love me back?' It was with these kinds of mind-blowing feelings that he committed an unforgivable sin against you."

"But in fact, love should be a beautiful emotion, a willingness to give to others. You asked me if my feelings for Luna Lovegood are love, and I can say very clearly, in a broad sense, yes. I care about her and don't want her to be hurt in any way; I'm even willing to take on many things for her. But in a narrow sense, my love for Luna Lovegood still hasn't reached the level of romantic love, because the person I've chosen to love is Hermione Granger, and that's an absolutely undeniable fact!"

"This..."

At that moment, Helena sensed Harry's incredibly genuine emotions, emotions so powerful that even ghosts would be moved!

So she quickly got up and bowed respectfully to Harry.

"Mr. Granger, thank you so much for enlightening me. I feel that your understanding of love is even comparable to my mother's."

"Lady Grey, you flatter me." Harry smiled and waved his hand. "The Grey Lady is an absolute sage, while I am probably just a bit temperamental."

Harry and Helena got along very well during the conversation, and while Harry successfully kept the Ravenclaw's Diadem, he also received two requests from Helena as a ghost.

Helena's desire to see her mother again and to finally let go of the matter of the Bloody Baron are clearly two of her obsessions, and for Harry, they are absolutely two major concerns as well.

"Hey, when did you guys get here?"

After seeing Helena's ghost away, Harry was surprised to find that Hermione and Luna Lovegood had also arrived in the corridor.

"We just got here, hee hee~" Hermione replied, her eyes crinkling into crescents as she whistled leisurely, looking quite pleased with herself.

Luna Lovegood, on the other hand, remained completely expressionless.

But before Harry could even process what was happening, Nearly Headless Nick floated out from another classroom.

"Haha! Mr. Granger, it's all settled. The person you found has been confirmed to be Patrick's descendant. The two of them were chatting happily at first, but then..."

"And then?" Harry raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

Patrick asked me to tell you that he is very grateful for your help and that you will be a lifelong friend of his and the Headless Hunt. However, he is in a bad mood right now, so he will not say goodbye in time and will express his gratitude to you formally at another time.

Nearly Headless Nick explained the reason, but a wicked smile immediately appeared on his face, "Patrick's last words were, 'I never imagined my descendant would be such an old, ugly, and unmarried fellow,' haha, he was so angry he almost threw his head right in the other guy's face!"

"That...I can understand." Harry nodded in feigned agreement.

Judging from appearance alone, Sturgis Podmore is indeed a rather unremarkable and average-looking wizard. Moreover, he is already thirty-six years old and still unmarried, so it is only natural that Patrick, his ancestor, would be both anxious and disgusted.

"Alright, Nearly Headless Nick, why are you making up stories about me here too? That inexplicable Patrick, he's actually urging me to get married... Honestly, things like that aren't as easy as he makes them out to be!"

At this moment, Sturgis Podmore, who had been scolded by his ancestor hundreds of years ago, also pushed open the classroom door. Judging from his distressed expression, everyone present knew that his conversation with his ancestor had not been pleasant.

However, when he saw Harry, his previous dejected expression vanished, and he rushed over, excitedly grabbing Harry's hand.

"Haha! The famous Harry Potter... no, I mean Granger, it's so great to meet you!"

"It's an honor to meet my parents' former comrades-in-arms as well," Harry replied with a smile, then offered Sturgis some advice, "Mr. Podmore, I think Captain Patrick's teachings to you are actually just a beautiful wish from our ancestors, driven by love. You really don't need to be so conflicted; you can just agree and let things take their course."

"After agreeing... let things take their course? Yes, how come I didn't think of that? I let him berate me for so long for nothing! Mr. Granger, your suggestion is truly brilliant!"

Upon hearing Harry's words, Sturgis 'Podmore eyes lit up, and he hurriedly thanked Harry profusely.

"Uh... Mr. Granger, is this really a good idea?" Nearly Headless Nick asked, half-laughing, half-crying. "You're practically teaching Podmore to fool ghosts, and even his own ancestors!"

"That's called humbly accepting criticism but never learning from it!" Hermione retorted with a grin, taking Harry's arm in the process. "He used to use this trick on my parents all the time, and it worked quite well. As Harry put it, sometimes you need to be a little clever to handle your parents' 'love'."

"Uh... were you quite unhappy when you found out I often lied to Mom and Dad?"

Harry looked suspiciously at the academically gifted girl smiling beside him, sensing that she seemed inexplicably cheerful today.

Hmm... did he just drink some soda?

Chapter 334 The Britain Wizarding World Has Completely Changed

In mid-December, the persistent torrential rain finally stopped.

At the same time, the undercurrents that had been surging throughout the Britain Wizarding World also came to an end.

Lucius Malfoy won a resounding victory, Dumbledore's plans completely failed...

Harry wasn't surprised by the result; he hadn't paid much attention to it until Luna Lovegood happened to notice something amiss.

The flaw came from her father's magazine, "The Quibbler," in which Luna Lovegood discovered numerous problems in recent issues.

The content of the article is off; some parts seem like hastily written to meet deadlines... It's just like an author who can't finish updating before the deadline!

Most importantly, after she finally convinced Hermione to subscribe to a trial issue of the magazine, her father Xenophilius, said he didn't have any extra magazines on hand, and it wasn't until a few days later that he mailed the new magazine over.

Even though it should have been the same edition of the magazine, Luna Lovegood found many obvious printing differences.

After some investigation and comparison, Luna Lovegood finally realized that the magazines she had received earlier were not extras, but rather that Xenophilius had only printed one copy for her!

After that, Luna Lovegood kept writing letters to press her father for answers, and he finally told her the truth.

The magazine "The Quibbler" was shut down, the Ministry of Ministry of Magic seized all the equipment and manuscripts, and Xenophilius had been completely unemployed for half a month.

Not wanting Luna Lovegood to worry, he had been having his magazines made privately by himself. When Luna Lovegood suddenly asked him for a second copy, and he didn't have a copy of Xenophilius on hand, he obviously couldn't make an exact replica.

Upon receiving this news, Harry was filled with remorse.

His worst fears came true: Xenophilius and the Quibbler were clearly in trouble because they published his exposés.

However, Luna Lovegood didn't seem particularly sad.

"The fact that my dad's magazine was shut down shows that those nasty guys are really afraid of his power, which is a good thing. And I believe you will win in the end, and my dad's magazine will definitely be able to restart, and it will be even better than before."

As Luna Lovegood looked intently into Harry's eyes, her face filled with unwavering trust.

"Yes, I promise!"