A Certain Scientific Harry Potter 36

"You'll need two shots today, another in a week, and the final one on the twenty-first day. After that, you shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"Thank you..."

After being jabbed twice, Snape offered a word of thanks, a rare occurrence for him.

Harry busied himself with disposing of the medical waste in front of him, sternly listing the precautions to take after the vaccination, while Snape simply stared at him, nodding blankly.

He looks so much like her, he thought. He and Lily.

At first, Snape had thought that Harry only shared his mother's eyes, while the rest of his appearance and personality were exactly like his bastard father.

Yet, as they spent more time together, Snape discovered that Harry possessed a talent for Potions that even surpassed Lily's.

Whenever Harry focused on brewing a potion like he was doing now, Snape was always reminded of that incredibly confident girl in his Potions class.

Even though the boy insisted on calling it some incomprehensible "science," Snape remained convinced that it was Lily's talent, passed down to her child.

"Alright, the wound is treated. Now... let's talk about something else." Once everything was tidied up, Harry's expression grew serious. "Professor, are you aware that a pure-blood family sent a House-elf to infiltrate Hogwarts to secretly retaliate against me and Hermione?"

"Who dares?!!"

Unlike his usual sharp, thunderous reprimands, a surge of powerful magic rippled through Snape, and in an instant, the small staff room was filled with killing intent!

Snape was furious!

He was indeed gloomy and caustic, always wearing an expression that suggested everyone owed him money, but in reality, Snape—whose emotions were usually so cold they barely fluctuated—rarely lost his temper.

But this time, when Snape heard that someone intended to harm Harry, he was truly enraged!

How dare someone attempt to hurt Lily's son?

For the current Snape, this was the one thing he absolutely could not tolerate!!

Under normal circumstances, Snape wouldn't have exposed his emotions so openly... not if Harry were still the naive child from the original story who couldn't tell the difference between good and bad.

But things were different now. Snape had witnessed Harry's many intellectual battles with Dumbledore and knew that Harry likely understood quite a bit about the history between him and Lily.

In front of a Harry who was far too shrewd to be a mere child, he no longer needed to put on a facade.

The hatred he felt because of Harry's father, and the love he felt because of Harry's mother—he could show both emotions to Harry without reservation!

This happened to align perfectly with Harry's needs; he didn't want Snape to continue wearing the skin of a villain to secretly play the hero, as he had seen in the movies.

Living like that would be so exhausting~

Snape could openly dislike Harry, and Harry wouldn't care at all, as long as he was willing to lend a hand when needed.

"Please, don't be so angry," Harry said, waving his hand to soothe Snape's rage. "The people from that pure-blood family are scoundrels, but that House-elf is actually quite decent. That's why I hope you can help me find him; I want to thank him in person."

Harry had never been a saint. If someone like Malfoy provoked him, he wouldn't hesitate to smash a brick over their head.

But toward the House-elf who had "kidnapped" Hermione, he felt mostly gratitude.

Hermione had been taken for nearly an entire afternoon. The elf had countless ways to make Harry regret his life, yet he had chosen to give up, risking punishment from his master.

Furthermore, the elf had used the unique magic of his kind to bring Hermione to Harry's side at the very last second!

Every one of these points was worth Harry's deepest gratitude.

That was why Harry wanted to resolve this matter completely. He hoped to meet the House-elf and find a way to ensure the creature wouldn't be abused or punished by his masters after the mission...

Of course, the main reason was to confirm which family had sent him!

This was the real reason Harry had come to Snape for help. In the current Hogwarts, the only person who would help him unconditionally while also having the standing to speak to the pure-blood families was this young and capable Head of Slytherin!

(p.s. Actually, Snape's bite wound is a severe Category III exposure. Besides the rabies vaccine, he should also receive an injection of immunoglobulin, but the administration of immunoglobulin is complex and would take up too many words, so it has been omitted here.)

"I will handle this matter for you. As long as the culprit is still operating within Hogwarts, they won't be able to escape my grasp!"

Snape agreed to Harry's request without a second thought.

He gave his word with absolute certainty, his tone filled with an unshakable confidence.

"After finding the House-elf, I'll also need to trouble you to have a word with the pure-blood family behind him and warn them to stop harassing me and Hermione!"

Mentioning this, Harry's tone grew increasingly indignant.

"I reported the clues regarding that House-elf to Headmaster Dumbledore a long time ago, but for some reason, he never took action, which ultimately led to Hermione being kidnapped for an entire afternoon! Although the outcome was the best-case scenario, I don't want to rely on him to solve this anymore, so I have to leave it to you."

Truth be told, from Dumbledore's perspective, Harry could come up with a hundred reasons for the man to remain still, each one supposedly for Harry's own good.

But Harry wouldn't accept a single one of them!

This incident had sounded a loud alarm in Harry's heart, making him realize once again... for him and Hermione, Hogwarts was far more dangerous than the outside world!

After all, whether the outside world was dangerous or not was up to Harry; he could do whatever he wanted without much restraint.

But at Hogwarts, whether he and Hermione were in danger was decided by others.

In the eyes of some, the "danger" within Hogwarts was entirely controllable, and Harry was expected to be a good boy and follow the rules.

Therefore, given that he couldn't drop out and he certainly wasn't a "good boy," Harry had to prepare for the worst.

For instance... slowly molding Professor Snape, who perhaps belongs to Dumbledore's camp, into his own shape~

"Is that so... I understand. No matter what that pure-blood family's surname is, they will never come to trouble you again!" Snape pondered for a moment before finally giving a prompt reply.

He was certain that Harry would not lie about such a matter, and as a result, a bit of resentment grew in his heart... toward that pure-blood family, and naturally, toward Dumbledore as well.

"Do you have any other requests?" Perhaps feeling that Harry's situation was truly 'rather miserable,' Snape asked a perfunctory follow-up question.

"Hmm, let me see, other requests, huh..."

With that, Harry raised an eyebrow.

Consequently, Snape suddenly felt a hint of regret.

In his eyes at this moment, the face of this little brat Harry clearly spelled out the words, 'I am going to push my luck'~

"You know that mirror in the abandoned classroom on the fifth floor, right? I'm quite interested in it. Could you help me find a secret place to hide it away?"

"You mean the Mirror of Erised?" Snape froze upon hearing this, then warned with a cold face, "Granger, I must remind you that while you might see your heart's desire in that mirror, it is merely a desire! Everything in the mirror is an illusion and will never become real..."

"Professor Snape, do you know why I came to you for help instead of asking Headmaster Dumbledore directly?" Harry shook his head noncommittally, even deliberately squeezing out a look of grievance, "I had assumed you wouldn't lecture me the way he does..."

"This..."

Snape's expression faltered, and he immediately realized that he had been blinded by concern.

Given this kid's shrewdness, since he had already seen the Mirror of Erised, he must have long since figured out the mirror's effects and drawbacks, so what was there for him to worry about?

Besides, it had been a long time since he had seen her face...

"I will help you hide that thing properly." Snape appeared very reluctant, and the words seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth...

But his heart was quite honest~

However, he had guessed wrong.

Including the Dumbledore of the original work later on, they all guessed wrong.

Harry needed the Mirror of Erised not because he hoped to see his late parents often, as they thought, but to improve his own strength!

Ever since he had looked into that mirror last time, some unknown memory fragments had appeared in Harry's mind. These memories had once caused his spirit to be extremely withered, even severely hindering the performance of his Obscurus when facing the Troll.

But after the matter ended and Harry's spirit fully recovered, he discovered that his overall strength had improved by more than one level!!

He felt his mental power had become more powerful, and his ears were sharper than before, able to listen to the sound of magic flowing more clearly.

The speed at which he cast spells became faster, and the effects of the spells became more perfect; even the power of the Obscurus had received a near-qualitative improvement!

All of this was the result of his mental power breaking and then standing tall after being impacted by the memory fragments.

That was why Harry thought that if he looked into that mirror a few more times, perhaps his strength would become even greater.

Moreover, that mirror was clearly trying to reveal something to him.

Harry had only seen the silhouette of a blonde girl that day, and he believed there must be a follow-up to what was inside the mirror.

And that person in the mirror might be quite important to him!

As for the other reason...

Well, Harry was actually quite curious: if he moved the Mirror of Erised away in advance, how would Dumbledore set up his final challenge?

I'm so looking forward to Dumbledore's reaction~

Will he openly ask for it back, or will he let the mirror be taken away and act as if nothing happened?

In Harry's view, Dumbledore's subsequent performance might inadvertently reveal the true location of the Sorcerer's Stone!

Having reached a general consensus with Snape, Harry's life returned to peace, but the school suddenly became lively.

Because a multi-player sport that is highly popular at Hogwarts, and indeed the entire wizarding world, was about to be held...

Harry was talking about Quidditch.

The weather in early November was very cold, but the bitter cold could not stop the students' enthusiasm for Quidditch, especially on the day of the match between Gryffindor House and Slytherin House. The entire Hogwarts could be said to have turned out in full force, with almost all teachers and students going to the stadium to watch the game.

Harry was no exception, of course. Although he had absolutely no interest in Quidditch, he couldn't resist Hermione wanting to see it, so he could only follow along.

The match day was on a Saturday, which somewhat reminded him of the stories of schools insisting on holding sports meets on weekends, and companies insisting on team-building during holidays... Thinking about it, he actually felt a bit nostalgic~

On the large field, Madam Hooch took her place as the referee first, followed by the participating players from Gryffindor House and Slytherin House, who entered the field one after another, standing at daggers drawn on either side of Madam Hooch.

I must add here that unless it is the special situation from the original work, first-year students are not allowed to join the Quidditch house teams, and the players currently competing were all students from the second year and above.

Therefore, except for the Weasley Brothers whom he knew through Ron, Harry didn't recognize a single other player on either side.

As for which of the Weasley twins was Fred and which was George, Harry still hadn't been able to tell them apart completely~

"Listen, I want a fair and honest game from all of you! Now, mount your broomsticks!"

After Madam Hooch's brief pre-match instructions, she signaled that the match would begin in three seconds.

With a crisp whistle, the brooms across the field rose into the sky simultaneously!

Quidditch had begun!

(p.s. Phew, the ten chapters for the first day are finished. Tomorrow will still be a ten-chapter explosion. Whether it's a carnival or just me having fun, I'm happy that it's published.

As for today's plot, I'm actually quite glad it was released all at once, because if it had been released in parts like before, I might have felt depressed for several days in a row. The overall tone is a bit stifling because the theme of this section is 'reconciliation'—the convergence of thoughts between the protagonist and Hermione, the protagonist's formal contact with Snape, and the trouble caused to the protagonist by the 'big parent' Dumbledore due to his assumptions, etc. Only when these things erupt all at once can the protagonist have a profound growth, not just in strength, but more importantly, in thought.)

Perhaps it's my own twisted sense of humor, but the protagonists I create are never perfect. This is because I often want to showcase the most authentic state of a protagonist's personality within a specific environment, and most importantly, the leap in their thinking after experiencing different events.

Take Harry, for example. After the experiences he's had, expecting him to be indifferent to these school matters and act as a well-liked, eloquent, and obedient student is simply unrealistic. Relying on the fact that he won't be "humanely destroyed" to cause chaos and get expelled is, in his eyes, the only "righteous path" there is.

In reality, this so-called expulsion is merely a metaphor for the protagonist's pursuits; what he truly seeks remains the freedom and equality he has always insisted upon.

It's just that after this latest outburst, he certainly won't be pinning any more hopes on Dumbledore having a sudden change of heart. His style of conduct will naturally undergo a shift, and most importantly, his relationship with Hermione... hehehe, that's all for now~)

Chapter 68: The Eyes Are Also a Sudden Mutation

"Yay, this is amazing! A real Quidditch match—I've always wanted to see one!"

Beside Harry, Hermione kept cheering and shouting in excitement... honestly, he had absolutely no idea why Hermione, who wasn't exactly known for her athletic prowess, was so worked up.

"Did you know, Harry? In a Quidditch match, the most eye-catching thing is the Golden Snitch! As long as you catch it, you get 150 points instantly, and the match ends right then and there!"

Not only was she clapping and cheering, but she also kept rattling on, explaining the Quidditch rules she had read in books to Harry.

Watching Hermione like this, Harry kept a smile on his face, while inwardly thinking helplessly about what method he could use to temporarily seal that overly excited little mouth of hers.

"But these rules are so strange. If the point gap is over 150, then the trailing side catching the Golden Snitch would still mean losing the match... but a Quaffle only scores ten points per goal. Would a real match ever see such a huge point difference?" Watching the scores rise alternately on the field, Hermione frowned in confusion.

"Leading by more than fifteen goals in a match is actually quite easy," Harry said indifferently after a quick glance at the situation on the field. "You just have to take out the opposing Keeper."