Hana Lisa's Smile

Madam Pomfrey hurried over and said, "You should have come straight to me. Well, now you'll have to spend the night in the Hospital Wing."

Oren said helplessly, "Lockhart didn't give him a chance to refuse."

"Stop taking pictures."

Colin was shoved into a stumble by Ron.

Inside the Hospital Wing.

Oren said, "A broken bone means the bones are gone, so that means it isn't broken anymore. The logic checks out."

"Everyone makes mistakes, right?" Hermione said weakly.

"Why are you still defending him?" Ron said unhappily.

Oren said, "Harry, get some rest. It's time for Dumbledore's private little class, so I need to slip away."

The trio...

Dumbledore wasn't in the Headmaster's Office, so Oren decided to turn the tables and sat in the headmaster's chair, idly flipping through Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks from first through seventh year.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, why are you only just back? Please, have a seat!" Oren gestured for the headmaster to sit across from him.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, picked Oren up by the collar, and swapped seats with him.

"Sigh... Colin was petrified. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Do you have any clues, child?"

Oren thought for a moment and said, "Hagrid's roosters have been dropping dead in the middle of the night. Does Lockhart acting out scenes in every class count? Something felt off, so I gave Hagrid money to keep buying roosters without limit."

Dumbledore's mouth twitched. "I forgot to mention this: the chicken corpses are piled nearly five feet high at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Make Hagrid stop!"

"All right. You're the headmaster, so you call the shots."

Dumbledore...

"Child, what are you doing with a full set of Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks?"

"I had no choice, Headmaster. Lockhart tortures my eyes with skits every day, so I can only torture you with textbooks. It's been two and a half years, and I haven't had a single normal Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Dumbledore...

After making a guest appearance as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and sending Oren away, Dumbledore murmured, "Roosters..."

At the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, the twins grabbed Oren and ran with him to their secret base.

"Phew..." Fred said, "Oren, we need a little favor."

George said, "Ginny's been feeling down lately. We want you to make a teddy bear for her. Little girls all like those."

"Just that?" Oren asked in confusion. "Why were you being so mysterious about it?"

Fred said, "We weren't being mysterious."

George said, "Filch got pushed over the edge after Peeves hit him with a Dungbomb. He's looking everywhere for an excuse to hassle us."

Oren...

"All right. I can make a toy with simple interactions, but I can't sew a stuffed animal."

"I feel like you're making things difficult for me, Fat Tiger. At most, I can make you a rag sack stuffed with cotton."

George rolled his eyes and pulled out a teddy bear plushie. "You don't need to sew it. Just modify it."

"Come on, you should've said so earlier." Oren began modifying it. A small job like this didn't even need Spider Soul; Transfiguration was enough.

Fred picked up the bear and said, "Come on, little bear, say hello."

Instead of the bear waving as expected, its plush little paw swung out and slapped Fred across the face.

The three of them...

Oren said, "How about I modify it again?"

"Modify it!" the twins said in unison. "We'll supervise you!"

The twins happily ran off with the bear, while Oren sighed. "Sigh... Time's up. I have to go to Snape's Office again."

The next morning, in the second-floor bathroom, Harry knocked on the door. A burst of frantic commotion came from inside.

"Phew..." Hermione opened the door and said, "Oh, it's you. You scared us."

Harry's mouth twitched. "I really didn't expect you to be brewing Polyjuice Potion in here."

"Sigh..." Oren stirred the potion lifelessly. "Different time, same toilet."

"Ron and Oren, you're here too?"

Oren said, "Could we not be? Hermione specifically got up early to block my way and make me help brew Polyjuice Potion with her."

Harry nodded and asked, "Where's Ron?"

"Him?" Oren rolled his eyes. "He's mainly here for moral support."

Ron said, "I may not know how to brew potions, but I can still help make things worse."

Oren said, "We're brewing medicine, not porridge. You should take a break. Moral support is plenty."

Ron...

Hermione said, "You're learning potions from Snape, so asking you to help couldn't possibly go wrong."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Oren asked again, "There are several ingredients that can't be found in the student potion cabinet. What are you planning to do?"

Hermione said, "I'm going to distract Snape during class and take the ingredients while I have the chance."

Outlaw Hermione has issued you a quest: Potion Cabinet Errand.

Oren leaned back in shock.

"I never expected you to be that kind of person. I... I give you a thumbs-up in return."

"Good luck, then. I'm not going to class. Dumbledore and Snape have both gone mad these past few days. They practically want to tie me to their belts."

"But I think your plan is a little out there. There's a very good chance we'll meet again in Snape's Office."

The trio...

"All right, you just need to brew this for eighty-one days. I have to report to the Headmaster's Office."

Oren left with a lifeless expression. He had only climbed one flight of stairs when he ran into Peeves.

"I have news for you. The school is going to hold a Dueling Club, and Malfoy seems to be preparing to deal with you."

Oren nodded. "Let me know if you hear anything else. Here's a big box of Dungbombs—four hundred of them. Take them."

"That many?" Peeves gave an evil grin.

"Peeves, you know things have been tense lately. We'd better not trade too often."

Peeves nodded and slunk away furtively.

Oren swaggered out of the Headmaster's Office after finishing that day's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson early. He even took the opportunity to ask some questions about Dark magic. Oren believed in grabbing with both hands and making both hands strong.

Dumbledore's explanations left Oren completely speechless. He had even thought of a headline for the Daily Prophet: Shocking! The Biggest Black Sesame Rice Ball of the Century Is Actually the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

With a sigh, he rushed nonstop toward Snape's Office.

Oren said, "Yo, you guys are all here. I told you we might meet again here."

The trio...

"So, did your plan fail?"

"It succeeded, but not completely," Harry said gloomily. "Snape caught me using Filibuster Fireworks to blow up Goyle's cauldron."

Hermione nervously glanced at the office door and said to Oren, "Quick, help me hide this." She handed him a bag of potion ingredients.

Oren's mouth twitched violently. They actually wanted him to help hide stolen goods. That was terribly unprofessional.

"So how is the old bat planning to deal with you?"

Harry said miserably, "A week of detention."

Oren asked, "Then where's Snape?"

Ron said, "He went to discuss who gets the right to give Harry detention with Lockhart. I really hope they both lose."

"Let's hope so," Harry sighed. "But I'd rather go to Lockhart."

Hermione said, "Stop talking. I can hear footsteps."

Snape swept into the room like a giant bat skimming the ground. He placed three large buckets of slugs in front of the trio. He didn't even give them tools; they could only dig through them with their hands. Even Oren, watching from the side, couldn't help thinking, Damn! Ruthless!

After using a potion to turn Mr. Potter into Miss Potter, Snape stared directly at Harry.

Harry said, "Um... Professor Snape?"

Snape seemed to snap out of a dream and dumped Harry's bucket of slugs into Ron and Hermione's buckets.

Ron and Hermione stared at Harley in disbelief, their eyes saying, Seriously, mate? What the...

Click. The flash drew everyone's attention.

Holding a camera, Oren said, "Harry, what kind of look is that? I'm not Colin. I'm just recording a wonderful moment."

Harry...

Snape glared at Oren. The meaning was obvious: send me a copy of the photo.

"Something feels missing." Oren looked at the camera and muttered, "What is it? Right, art!"

Oren pulled out a drawing board and paints from his pocket. After lifting the Shrinking Charm, a small painting stall took shape.

"Harry, smile."

Harry thought, I don't want to smile. I just want to scream.

"Finished!" Oren put his hands on his hips and admired his masterpiece.

Snape said, "Can you make it more detailed?"

"You say paint, and I paint? What do you take me for?" Oren said irritably.

Snape didn't argue back. Instead, he turned toward the potion cabinet, grabbed a whole pile of ingredients without even looking, and shoved them into Oren's arms.

Oren...

"Professor Snape, you really do have a good eye. Come on, let's get Harry changed first."

With a flick of Snape's wand, Harry's robes turned into a princess dress.

"Very good. Come on, Harry, smile. You've seen Mona Lisa's Smile, right? Fine, if you can't smile, forget it." Oren waved his brush as he said, "Stop tormenting Harry, Professor Snape. It's all right if he can't smile. I'll paint from imagination."

Hermione and Ron quietly shifted their chairs away, instinctively wanting to get farther from Harry.

Oren truly delivered when money was involved. The oil painting was detailed down to every hair and pore, and he even made some minor adjustments with built-in beautification.

"This is fucking art!" Oren said, tossing down his brush.

Snape snatched the drawing board and studied it. Even as the leader of the Slytherin snakes, he couldn't find a single flaw. He nodded and carried the painting into his bedroom.

Hermione whispered, "I wanted to ask last time, Oren. When did you learn to paint? How did I not know?"

Oren rolled his eyes at the little witch and didn't answer. Of course the system had given it to him. Besides painting, he could even drive a combine harvester. Too bad he was a wizard; he probably would never use that skill in this life.

Ron glanced at Snape's bedroom door and whispered, "How about we steal that painting back?"

A hint of life returned to Harry's dead-fish eyes.

Oren said, "Don't even think about it. Steal it back? Unless Dumbledore comes personally, you'd just be delivering yourselves to him."

Harry's heart completely died.

"Harry, don't worry," Oren comforted him. "That's Snape's private collection now. No one else will see it."

Harry tugged at his reddening hair and looked at Oren resentfully, his eyes saying that Oren had sold his brother out for a few bottles of potions.

Understanding the look, Oren said, "Don't worry, Harry, I didn't sell you cheap. Those are good goods money can't buy."

"Besides, no one but Snape will know. I got the potions, Snape got the painting. This is a win-win."

Harry...

That was only what he said to Harry. This was a magic school; he would make a copy of the painting later. A win-win meant Oren won twice.

After sitting back at his desk, Snape kept staring at Harry. As for Oren? He already found the female version of Sirius Black, who looked three parts like that stupid dog, irritating enough to look at.