Luna's Birthday Is Just Around the Corner / Harry Is Actually "Fixing" a Computer

"Uh... sorry, it's getting late."

Harry scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. Luna Lovegood was sketching out a transmutation circle, which was already more than halfway complete, meaning she must have arrived quite some time ago.

"It's alright," Luna Lovegood replied nonchalantly. "By the way, I met with the Grey Lady before I came here. She told me that if a ghost is possessed, but the control isn't too strong, it doesn't necessarily have to be broken with magic. Striking it with a blunt object works just as well. I think you should be better at that."

"Uh... what you said makes a lot of sense~" Harry twitched his lips helplessly, but at the same time he was a little puzzled, "But why would the Grey Lady tell you this?"

"I asked her myself," Luna Lovegood said calmly. "She said yesterday that every student can ask her a question once, and we are no exception. I originally wanted to ask about druids, but then I thought, I should probably deal with the ghosts first."

"Luna Lovegood... thank you~" Harry looked gratefully at the girl's retreating figure, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He always felt that he was the one protecting Luna Lovegood, but in reality, she had been silently supporting him all along.

Transmutation circle, Space Ring, Prophecy guidance... Luna Lovegood had long since become an indispensable part of his life.

And he had completely grown accustomed to having her in his life.

"Alright, all done~" With the last stroke completed, Luna Lovegood let out a long sigh of relief and placed the Sorcerer's Stone on the alchemy table.

She was so focused that her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, but she didn't have time to wipe them away.

Seeing this, Harry instinctively took out a tissue and gently wiped her face.

However, the moment their fingertips lightly touched each other's skin, their eyes met, and they both froze...

Chapter 389 Luna Lovegood's birthday is also approaching.

"Luna Lovegood, I..."

The sudden contact made Harry's hand tremble slightly. He couldn't continue, yet he forgot to pull away, and he had absolutely no idea what to say at that moment.

In fact, although he knew he would definitely be traveling with the girl in front of him, Harry always maintained a proper sense of propriety.

He had to devote himself entirely to his relationship with Hermione, so even though he knew about the many entanglements between him and Luna Lovegood in his previous life's 'past,' he still had to...

Okay, I can't make this up anymore.

He simply didn't know how to handle these situations and was worried that a moment of carelessness would hurt everyone, so he had been intentionally avoiding them.

But today, when he inadvertently took a closer look at Luna Lovegood, he found it really hard to look away.

The girl before him had completely grown into the image he had first seen in the Mirror of Erised, from head to toe, every smile and frown was exactly the same.

Especially those sapphire-blue eyes; they seemed to speak volumes, silently telling their stories and drawing the listener in to explore everything about the person before them.

"What's wrong?" Luna Lovegood blinked in confusion, pulling Harry back to reality.

"Uh... it's nothing~" Harry awkwardly withdrew his hand, barely concealing the unease on his face, and pretended to be nonchalant as he began to organize the materials needed for alchemy.

"Do those feathers have any other use?" Luna Lovegood asked curiously, seeing the Abraxan feathers Harry had separated.

"They're for gifts," Harry explained softly. "After all... that holiday is coming up soon, and I want to make one for Hermione. And you absolutely have to keep it a secret, okay?"

Valentine's Day this year is still very important for Harry.

Although he and Hermione had a complicated relationship for a long time, they officially became a couple on Valentine's Day last year.

Now that it's their first anniversary, Harry naturally wants to prepare a nice gift for Hermione, something exquisite that she also needs.

"A gift... Harry, I actually have something I'd like to ask you." Luna Lovegood's tone suddenly became hesitant, yet also pleading. "Could you give me a gift too? My birthday is coming up soon..."

"A gift?" Harry paused for a moment, then suddenly slapped his forehead, laughing apologetically at Luna Lovegood, "Hey, this isn't a request, it's totally my oversight! I've known you for so long and I didn't even know your birthday! That's so wrong of me. The gift is no problem at all, Luna Lovegood, what's your birthday?"

"The day before that holiday."

Luna Lovegood's tone... well, how should I put it, seemed a little aggrieved.

"Uh..." Harry's expression turned a little awkward at this moment.

February 13th...

Last year around this time, I was so busy processing Mandrake and brewing resurrection potions that I was eager to confess my feelings to Hermione. I even interrogated Severus Snape once, so I really didn't have time for Luna Lovegood at all.

"You really don't need to worry about it. I just suddenly thought of it." Seeing Harry's conflicted expression, Luna Lovegood calmly shook her head and said, "Actually... I haven't celebrated my birthday since I was nine."

Nine years old, that's... Harry's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this.

Luna Lovegood lost her mother when she was nine years old...

"I used to look forward to it every year. My mom would always prepare my birthday presents, but then she passed away. I was happy with my dad too, but he didn't really care about this. Of course, I didn't really care either. This time it's just..."

Luna Lovegood kept explaining herself, but her speech became faster and faster while her voice grew softer and softer.

Her cautious demeanor truly broke Harry's heart.

The more unusual the attitude, the more they insist on not caring, the more they actually expect.

"It's my fault," Harry apologized to Luna Lovegood, feeling guilty. "We've known each other for so long, but I haven't really gotten to know you properly. I'm so sorry. Don't worry about the gift; I'll do my best to make it perfect. And for every birthday of yours from now on, I'll..."

"It doesn't have to be every birthday, just this one." Luna Lovegood shook her head slightly, but a hint of complaint, rarely seen on her face, suddenly appeared. "I just suddenly thought of it, maybe I was influenced by something... Lady Grey met her mother, and you have to prepare a gift for Hermione. Before that, you even gave that Weasley a Firebolt."

"Huh?" Harry's face fell upon hearing this. "Luna Lovegood, you can bring up the other two things, but what's with the Firebolt? Ginny Weasley's broom was bought with money borrowed from me by the twins, it wasn't a gift I gave her."

"But everyone says so, the Weasley family definitely couldn't afford Firebolt. Ginny Weasley thanked you like that in the hallway that day... so you must have bought the Firebolt for her!" Luna Lovegood, unusually serious, continued to berate Harry.

But then she suddenly smiled and said, "It's a joke. How was it? Did you find it funny?"

"Uh..." Harry's lips twitched involuntarily.

Whether it's funny or not is another matter, but what Harry is struggling with now is... he actually started to feel guilty after seeing Luna Lovegood's deliberately reproachful look!

Oh my god, this is definitely not a good sign!

"Did he fail? Looks like it wasn't funny after all." Seeing Harry's expression, Luna Lovegood, who felt she had failed at being funny, couldn't help but look sullen.

"Actually, it's not that it's not funny..." Harry quickly changed his tune to comfort her, then after thinking for a moment, he tentatively asked Luna Lovegood, "Luna Lovegood, do you want to hear the truth?"

"Of course," Luna Lovegood replied quite seriously.

"That time you deliberately got angry wasn't really funny, but... that disappointed little expression you just made was actually quite amusing~" Harry suddenly grinned and winked at Luna Lovegood playfully.

"Are you... are you making fun of me?" Luna Lovegood frowned slightly, then pouted in dissatisfaction, looking like a wronged little dumpling.

"Ha, I wouldn't dare!" Harry quickly begged for mercy upon seeing this, then piled all the feathers he had collected into the center of the transmutation circle, and even pretended to pick up the Sorcerer's Stone.

"That's all for now, I need to get down to business~"

Using the Sorcerer's Stone and a transmutation circle to shatter the feather, Harry then tried to begin condensing the wind element within it... Harry was in a good mood as he did this.

After that little incident, he felt that Luna Lovegood had become more down-to-earth, more real, and more approachable.

So... how did they get along before?

"Luna Lovegood, are you curious?" Harry asked softly, thinking of this, "About those... past events that clearly happened, but which I no longer remember."

"I'm curious, but I don't yearn for it," Luna Lovegood replied calmly.

"Uh... yeah, there's really nothing to aspire to." Harry's expression froze for a moment, and his voice unconsciously became a little hoarse.

Luna Lovegood's ending was too tragic, and I only brought her pain; there's really nothing to aspire to...

"Based on my current life, I can roughly deduce that I was quite happy during that 'past'."

"Luna Lovegood?" Harry's hand trembled slightly. He turned sharply to look at Luna Lovegood, only to find her staring intently at him as well.

"As for now... I don't know what the future holds, but I'm very happy with my life right now, really." Luna Lovegood looked earnestly into Harry's eyes. "Now, I have more people who care about me than ever before, so I'm really happy."

"Is that so? That's good~" Harry chuckled softly, feeling as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart.

He shrugged casually and asked in a relaxed manner, "Since you're in a good mood, would you mind telling me what kind of gift you'd like?"

Well... to be honest, this is a really risky question.

If you were asking your girlfriend, she'd probably already be in serious trouble by now, because you ruined all the romance she was hoping for.

But Luna Lovegood was different; she would respond very seriously to every question Harry asked.

"It needs to be practical, but also unique and clever. Most importantly... it has to be something you made yourself!"

Chapter 390 Harry was actually 'fixing' the computer

The first time I extracted wind element and crafted alchemical items... well, that's not entirely accurate.

According to the Spirit of Rowena, the elements obtained from the Sorcerer's Stone are not pure elements, and Harry is currently unable to construct an object entirely from elements. Therefore, his so-called alchemy is actually more similar to enchanting.

This means using the effect of the Sorcerer's Stone to attach wind elements to certain items, thereby increasing the power of the wind element to the items.

He created three items in total during this enchanting alchemy session.

The first item is a rope loop imbued with the power of the wind element, inspired by Professor Binns' story, specifically designed to bind ghosts.

The second item was a short, sharp dagger, which was made for interrogation... and could also solve the problem of another ghost.

Finally, and most importantly, is the item used to break the mind control of the Greengrass ghost...

"As expected, you'll definitely be able to make a brick!"

Looking at the square, cyan brick on the alchemy table, which clearly showed signs of wind element fluctuations, Luna Lovegood showed no surprise, as if it were the natural thing to be.

"Uh... I just did it on a whim~"

Harry hesitated awkwardly for a moment. To be honest, he had actually considered the choice of blunt weapons carefully at first... such as more imposing weapons like hammers and clubs.

But after considering all the blunt weapons among the eighteen types of weapons, Harry ultimately realized with dismay that with his current alchemy skills, which were only barely enough for enchanting, those things were all too difficult for him.

Square bricks are relatively simple, and most importantly, the raw materials are easy to find; he always has some in stock in his ring.

"Oh well, since I've already made it, I'll just have to make do with it." Harry shrugged self-deprecatingly, accepting the fact that he had turned himself into a 'Wind Brick'.

However... after he held the 'weapon' in his hand and swung it around a few times, a pleasant sense of familiarity welled up within him.

Look at this brick, it's so strong and sturdy, and it feels so comfortable to hold!

It was already early February, Harry had no time to waste. So, the day after he forged the Wind Brick, he gathered everyone from the Detective Society in his office.

This naturally includes Astoria Greengrass Greengrass, the client in this case.

Upon hearing that her father might recover, the little girl's eyes are now filled with anticipation.

"Miss Greengrass, I need to make this clear beforehand. Because your father has been mentally controlled, our method of awakening him might be quite intense." Harry gave the Slytherin House girl a heads-up. "Originally, I shouldn't have called you here, but I felt that as your client, you should have the right to know what we've been through during the investigation."

"Hmm... I understand, and I'm always very grateful for everyone's help," Astoria Greengrass said obediently.

"Okay, then whatever happens next, I hope you can stay calm."

After giving Astoria Greengrass his instructions, Harry opened the briefcase, used the water elemental sphere to envelop the petrified ghost, and pulled the stiff Greengrass out of the briefcase.

After that, he took out the Wind Rope Loop and tightly bound Greengrass to the center of the room.

"That way we don't have to worry about him running away." After confirming that everything was alright, Harry gave the petrified ghost Mandrake Restorative Draught that he had prepared in advance.

As the potion was ingested, Greengrass's ghostly body quickly began to struggle slightly, and he gradually began to utter indistinct whimpers.

"Heh... heh..."

At the same time, Harry had already raised the blunt weapon in his hand high!

One, two, three -- let's go!

With a powerful downward slam, the head of the Ghost of Greengrass was knocked downwards uncontrollably, and Astoria Greengrass, who was watching from the sidelines, immediately showed a surprised and distressed expression.

"How could he... how could he be so ruthless? And how could he..."

The second half of Astoria Greengrass's thought was... how come he's so skilled at it?

"Uh... I already told you not to come~" Will hesitated for a moment when he saw this, and quietly grabbed the girl's wrist, worried that she might lose control and rush up to stop him.

Speaking of which... Harry is very skilled at using bricks, isn't that obvious?

The brick was Harry's signature weapon, the Hogwarts God of War of War. In Harry's hands, it swung at Voldemort and Malfoy, its power terrifying and formidable.

Back in his first-year Flying Class, Harry, wielding a brick in one hand and Ron's broken wand in the other, single-handedly routed the Slytherin, leaving them utterly helpless.

Afterwards, everyone probably forgot about Ron's old wand, so old that even the core was frayed, but they would definitely remember that brick!

A direct, top-down slam... That's the same brick-falling technique Harry used when he knocked Malfoy down!