Lingering Fear

A large hall with double doors to the right of the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts.

Besides serving as a restaurant, it is also the venue for all sorts of special events, such as entrance ceremonies and welcome parties.

In the middle of the hall were four long tables, with another table for the teachers as the seat of honor.

The ceiling was enchanted, constantly changing throughout the day, looking just like the real sky.

Most professors are present at lunchtime.

So other students should also focus more on eating, instead of craning their necks like ostriches to look at their own food!

Harry, who had grabbed some food from Ginny in the Great Hall and was hiding in a room, was still shaken.

He thought that after so many rumors about him, the students at Hogwarts would have gotten used to it by now.

Not to mention that while on a date with Ginny, he deliberately leaked the news of the Triwizard Tournament —through Nicholas, whom he met by chance.

Even so, Harry was still stared at with intense gazes by almost everyone in the Great Hall.

Even Professor McGonagall and her colleagues were no exception.

Dumbledore has been having lunch in the Headmaster's Office recently, also made an appearance in full regalia, staring intently at Harry with his X-ray-like eyes that could see right through people.

Professor Snape looked at Harry, then at Ginny with red hair, and his eyes were filled with tears of emotion.

He nonchalantly accepted Lupin's handkerchief, which he hated most, to wipe his tears.

Hagrid also cried his heart out. Yes, Hagrid also abandoned Arasped, whom he had hidden in the house, and dressed up for the occasion.

It seems that within a morning, all the teachers and students knew that Harry was in a relationship.

And they all regarded this as a major event.

It seems that compared to dating Harry, the Triwizard Tournament being held next school year is not a big deal at all.

To make matters worse, Ron had a sour look on his face, staring at anyone who dared to offer their blessings to Harry and Ginny.

Fortunately, Percy, Fred, and George are not like Ron.

"Congratulations on becoming part of our family." Percy warmly shook Harry's hand, as if Harry and Ginny were getting married.

"Congratulations, Harry."

"But if you—you should understand—don't treat Ginny well, that's what will happen," Fred and George said, half congratulating and half threatening.

Then Harry grabbed Ginny and ran away amidst enthusiastic congratulations. On the way, they ran into Draco others, who had just finished training and were covered in mud and icy snow.

Filch grumbled and cursed, but clearly, he didn't dare to use this excuse to put the Slytherin in solitary confinement.

After settling down in an empty room, Harry was relieved that there weren't many people in the common room at that time—everyone else was in class, and there were only first and second-year students.

First graders, like Ginny and her classmates, don't have classes.

In their second year, Harry and his classmates had their Herbology canceled.

If there are too many people around, he doesn't know if he or Ginny will have the courage to face their feelings for each other.

However, he also began to wonder why the news spread so quickly when everyone else was in class.

Is the Triwizard Tournament unimportant?

"Although I don't know where you heard this news, the Triwizard Tournament hasn't been held for almost a century, so very few people know about it—not everyone is as familiar with 'Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History' as Hermione is."

"And you didn't even mention the most important aspect of the Triwizard Tournament —fame and Galleons."

"Each school has only one Champion, and the chosen one is often the best wizard in that school."

"There's usually a substantial cash reward for winning the championship—based on past records, it should be around two thousand Galleons," Ginny whispered, leaning on Harry's shoulder.

She noticed the confusion on Harry's face.

"When did you find out?" Harry asked, stroking Ginny's hair.

"Fred and George told me this on Friday, the 27th of last month."

"They were so excited, saying they finally had startup funding," Ginny, tilting her head.

The warm breath from her mouth as she spoke made Harry's ears, and even his heart, tingle a little.

However, Harry still keenly spotted the blind spot. "What? I've found a good way to get Ron to stop worrying about our relationship for now."

"When did we start needing Ron's permission for what we're doing?" Ginny murmured, burying her face in Harry's chest.

Harry cleared his throat. "You know, we only found out about the Triwizard Tournament from Hagrid at the beginning of this month, which was the Tuesday before last, at 9 p. m., after we finished training."

"November 27th to December 1st, that's a total of 4 days."

"Ron also met Fred, and they even hung out together many times on weekends."

"But—" Harry hadn't finished speaking when Ginny, who was in his arms, suddenly raised her head.

"But Fred and the others didn't say anything!"

"Ron will definitely be furious, and then he won't care about us anymore," Ginny blinked.

Sure enough, in the afternoon Charms Class, before class, it was mentioned that Ginny had known about the Triwizard Tournament for a long time.

Ron quickly put Harry's "betrayal" out of his mind, but Harry thought it might be related to Ginny not being there.

Thinking about this, Harry felt an urge, an urge to go to first year with Ginny.

He suddenly realized that five years later, when he graduated, Ginny would still have to stay at Hogwarts alone for another year.

If anyone—you know, Michael had a crush on Ginny.

After falling in love, Harry suddenly remembered how Michael treated Ginny.

I was also confused and temporarily forgot that Michael and he were in the same grade.

Just as Harry was thinking of the hundredth way to warn Michael, and Ron was muttering complaints about how bad Fred and George were to him, the school bell rang.

"Alright, I hope you'll shift your attention from Harry Potter's face to your Standard Book of Spells, Level Two. We've already reviewed the Dancing Charm, learned the Engorgement Charm, and the Freezing Charm. In this lesson, we'll learn the most difficult spell of the year, and one you'll use most often in your lives— the General Counter-Spell." Professor Flitwick stood on a stack of books.

"Michael, does Harry's face reflect the content of this lesson? You answer—the effect of the Freezing Charm we learned in the last lesson!" Professor Flitwick shrieked.

"A universal spell—huh? Freezing Charm? A freezing Freezing Charm is a spell that can freeze a target and stop its movement," Michael stammered.

"Very good, but that doesn't mean you can skip class. The Freezing Charm spell Immoulus (freezes everything) comes from the Latin word 'immobilis', meaning 'immobile'. You may have read in books that this spell can only be used on animals, but if you are skilled enough, you can also disable items with special functions, such as Muggle burglar alarms." Professor Flitwick nodded approvingly.