Harry Potter, the Unluckiest Kid Around

Madam Pomfrey poured a large mouthful of Potions into Draco Malfoy's mouth and watched him fall into a deep sleep.

"All right, he should be fine. It's only a minor injury."

Madam Pomfrey addressed the professors beside her. Dumbledore nodded and thanked her for her efforts, then motioned for the three people behind him to follow him out.

Harry was terribly anxious.

He hadn't expected this incident to bring the Headmaster here.

A simple classroom accident wasn't enough to make Dumbledore show up in person—not even if the injured student was a child from the Malfoy Family. Dumbledore was so busy that even when he went to the bathroom, he spent the time reading.

Of course, whether he was reading books on Dark Wizards or white magic, or professional books like How to Knit a Sweater Quickly and The Eighteen Trendiest Knitting Techniques, was something outsiders didn't know.

The reason he had come was simple.

It was because of Harry Potter.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape followed behind him. Hagrid was a little timid and brought up the rear. He was even more anxious than Harry.

Dumbledore led the three professors out of the hospital wing. The impressive entourage made Harry, who was waiting outside, even more frightened. His stomach felt unwell, and he thought he might throw up.

He wanted to say something, but Dumbledore gently cut him off. "Don't worry, Harry. Come with me."

He led two Heads of House, one professor, and one celebrity student to the Headmaster's Office, then turned around.

No one spoke.

The atmosphere was oppressive. Harry swallowed and tried to speak again, but then he heard a loud sound, like someone blowing their nose.

He turned and saw Hagrid beginning to cry.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster. I let you down."

Hagrid's sobs were so loud they were almost frightening.

Snape furrowed his brows, wanting to cast a spell on the half-Giant to make him quiet.

Professor McGonagall comforted Hagrid.

Hagrid interrupted the words Dumbledore had prepared, but Dumbledore wasn't angry. He gently soothed Hagrid again, then asked whether Hagrid could bring him some Rock Cakes.

Apparently, the cakes weren't called Rock Cakes, but Hagrid didn't argue. He went out, sobbing, leaving the four of them behind.

Before Hagrid left, Dumbledore seemed to remember something and called out loudly, "Don't drink too much, Professor Hagrid. You're a professor now."

Hagrid answered with a loud sound, though it sounded like he was blowing his nose again.

After Hagrid had left, Dumbledore let out a long breath.

He looked relieved.

He stood before them. Harry took the opportunity to glance at everyone's faces. Professor McGonagall was expressionless, making it impossible to tell how she felt. Dumbledore looked kind and didn't seem to think he was dealing with anything serious. Only Professor Snape had noticed Harry's gaze, and he gave him a sinister, despicable smile.

Harry lowered his head again.

His heart was in turmoil.

"It's lovely weather, just right for holding class outdoors."

Dumbledore spoke lightly, with no hint of reproach. He glanced at Harry, then at Snape. "Severus, you tell me."

"He injured three Slytherin students: Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe.

"He pointed his wand at his classmates, Headmaster. Hogwarts prohibits private duels.

"He broke the school rules."

Snape's voice was stiff.

At the mention of it, Snape's expression turned sour. It was hard to tell whether he was upset because Harry had injured the three of them, or because the three of them hadn't been able to beat Harry Potter.

There were three of them!

They'd been knocked to the ground in a three-on-one fight. Snape was ashamed of them.

Where was Slytherin's glory?

Dumbledore perched on the edge of the desk, looking relaxed. He didn't think it was a big deal, either. From his days as a student, through his time teaching at Hogwarts, and even after becoming Headmaster, the young wizards had never stopped dueling.

Even he had dueled at school.

Snape and McGonagall had, too.

They were young wizards. A little fighting was nothing to worry about.

Professor McGonagall remained expressionless, but it was clear she was protective of her own. She spoke up first, saying Harry Potter should be punished: Gryffindor would lose fifty points, he would spend one night in the Forbidden Forest, and he would apologize to the three Slytherin students.

Snape didn't interrupt.

He respected Professor McGonagall.

Besides, her proposed punishment was more severe than he'd expected.

He hadn't intended to punish Harry so harshly.

Back when he was a student, he'd dueled plenty of people with wands. Apart from that loathsome little gang led by Harry Potter's father, James Potter, Snape had won more often than he'd lost.

Professor McGonagall's punishment was much harsher than what he'd wanted.

He'd only meant to take fifty points from Gryffindor.

But since she'd said it, Snape had no reason to object. That brat was due for a punishment!

At that, Dumbledore made the final decision.

"All right, Professor Snape. What do you think of Professor McGonagall's suggestion?"

Snape nodded. Dumbledore gestured for him and Harry to spend a little time alone together. As Snape turned, he glanced at Harry Potter, his gaze lingering briefly on his eyes before moving away.

Only two people remained in the Headmaster's Office.

Harry Potter and Dumbledore.

As Dumbledore approached, Harry hurried to apologize. "I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't mean to do that..."

Dumbledore interrupted him.

"It's all right, Harry. This isn't a big deal.

"I didn't call you here because of that, Harry. From the perspective of a duel, you did very well. From the Headmaster's perspective, well, you did all right, too."

Dumbledore's sudden change in attitude made Harry's eyes widen. He didn't understand what was going on. After all, even Hogwarts, A History didn't go into detail about students fighting at school. Besides, even if it had, Harry wouldn't have read it.

Harry didn't read books outside of class.

Maybe Hermione would know if he asked her.

Dumbledore hadn't called Harry in to accuse him of knocking down three people, or to praise him for beating three students.

The Headmaster didn't care either way. He took out several toffees, handed some to Harry, and gestured for him to relax.

Dumbledore had always been clearheaded—at least when it came to Harry.

Dueling skills were only useful against Death Eaters.

But if Dumbledore was right, Tom Riddle wouldn't have his Death Eaters kill Harry Potter.

He would kill Harry himself.

That was because of Tom Riddle's pride.

Tom's personality was flawed in many ways: he was conceited, arrogant, and left himself no way out.

Likewise, he needed to kill Harry Potter himself, to preserve his authority and defeat the Prophecy.

Many Death Eaters followed him because he was undefeated, because his magic was powerful!

He couldn't be defeated twice by one young wizard.

Failing twice against the same young wizard would deal a fatal blow to his reputation!

He could fail to defeat Dumbledore. After all, Dumbledore was one of the greatest wizards alive, and there was no shame in being unable to kill him. But he couldn't fail to kill a young wizard. If he couldn't kill one, it wouldn't just be humiliating. People would start to wonder whether the Dark Lord was already doomed, whether the Prophecy had come true and he was about to die.

So Dumbledore needed to cultivate Harry's courage, not his dueling skills.

From what had happened in the first and second years, Dumbledore could tell Harry wasn't a genius. He was a courageous Gryffindor, and that was all.

There weren't many years left for him to grow. Give the boy a few years, and he still wouldn't reach the level of his father, James Potter.

Let alone the magical ability of Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, or Snape.

There was no point in learning dueling techniques.

James Potter couldn't stop Tom Riddle's Avada Kedavra. Neither could Snape. Even if Professor McGonagall faced Tom Riddle alone, the result would be no different. When Voldemort killed, he used only one spell: Avada Kedavra.

It wasn't that he couldn't use other magic.

On the contrary, he had created many kinds of Dark Magic. It was just that his enemies didn't deserve to see him use such varied methods.

Only when he faced a top wizard of Dumbledore's caliber would he use other magic. After all, he was also a Potions Master, a master of charms, a master of Transfiguration, and a master of Legilimency...

He was widely acknowledged as the most powerful Dark Lord of his time.

His reputation had been built on corpses and blood.

In fact, as Dumbledore investigated over the past few days, he had become more and more certain that if Tom were still alive, his student's achievements in achieving immortality through Dark Magic far surpassed his own.

Tom Riddle had broken new ground in Dark Magic.

Dumbledore knew that he might surpass his student in some other areas, but when it came to achieving immortality through Dark Magic, his student had surpassed him. That meant that unless Harry surpassed his era in other forms of magic, no amount of dueling skills would help him.

He wouldn't be able to defeat Voldemort.

No amount of dueling skill could bridge the vast gap in their strength.

Dumbledore held out a hand, inviting Harry closer. Harry felt that Dumbledore was staring intently at the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

Suddenly, Harry felt the scar on his forehead hurt!

The pain was like being burned, and it reached deep into his bones!

Harry gritted his teeth, but the pain still made his vision go black.

"Professor..."

He couldn't help saying it. He saw Dumbledore approaching, then his vision went black. A wave of intense pain came out of nowhere, triggering Harry's self-preservation instinct.

He fainted.

The last thing he saw was the Headmaster waving his wand, though he had no idea what Dumbledore was doing.

By the time he woke up, it was already dark.

He was still in the Headmaster's Office. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, reading a book. Harry was floating in the air.

"Professor."

Harry spoke. When Dumbledore realized he was awake, he smiled.

"Did you sleep well, Harry?"

He asked. Harry nodded. Dumbledore didn't wave his wand, but Harry gently floated down on his own.

The Headmaster was dismissing him.

"Go and get something to eat, Harry. Your good friends, Hermione and Ron, have been pacing outside for ages. They're both worried about you.

"They've been out there all afternoon."

Dumbledore said. Harry had no idea what had happened. He went out and saw Ron and Hermione sitting in the corridor. They didn't know the password, so they couldn't get into the Headmaster's Office.

When they saw Harry come out, they were overjoyed!

"It's so good to see you're all right."

Hermione rushed over and hugged Harry. Ron stood to the side, grinning foolishly. A while later, Ron, Harry, and Hermione left the corridor. Ron was beside himself with excitement, chattering nonstop.

"That was amazing, Harry. You were absolutely brilliant!"

He mimicked Harry waving his wand and said admiringly, "You've got no idea what happened after you left. Those Slytherins were all scared out of their minds. They all said you..."

Ron gestured wildly as he brought to life everything that had happened after Harry left. Seeing his good friend so excited finally lifted Harry's spirits a little.

Hermione couldn't get a word in. After quite a while, she finally asked Harry what punishment Dumbledore had given him.

At the mention of it, Harry's expression changed again, and his face fell.

"I've been punished with a night in the Forbidden Forest again. At least Hagrid will be there."

Harry said. The other two fell silent.

The Forbidden Forest?

That was way too harsh!