The Painful Scar

Gryffindor Common Room

After the revelry, the place was a complete mess.

Harry sat alone on the sofa by the fireplace, waiting for Ron.

He decided to confront Ron. He simply couldn't stand this cold war anymore.

In William's words: This is called passive-aggressive behavior.

Harry only now realized that Ron was a master of passive-aggressive behavior. Or rather, he particularly enjoyed using passive-aggressive behavior.

In first grade, he isolated Hermione and talked badly about her behind her back, which Hermione overheard.

Then, Hermione spent the whole Halloween afternoon crying in the bathroom and encountered Troll.

Akali's Mystery Shop sells Malfoy items at her secret shop, and he accuses the twins. Then, he agrees to a duel with Malfoy and goes for a nighttime stroll.

As a result, he was chased by Filch and ran into Fluffy.

In third grade, because of Crookshanks and Scabbers, he ignored Hermione. As it turned out, Crookshanks had noticed Scabbers ' unusual behavior.

Now, because of the Champion...

Harry sighed and looked up at the clock on the wall.

It's this late, and Ron still hasn't returned. In fact... he hasn't come back since Bagman told him to stay.

Naturally, they also missed the evening celebration.

Harry was about to go out when he heard a creaking sound at the door.

The Fat Lady turned aside, and Ron crawled in through the portrait hole.

His wounds had almost healed, but his face was very pale and his hair was covered in dust.

He froze when he saw Harry.

"Where have you been?" Harry jumped up and asked eagerly. "I've been waiting for you!"

Ron didn't speak, and after a moment, he mumbled, "A walk."

He was still wearing a tattered robe, as if he were frozen.

Harry quickly said, "Come and sit down, it's warm here by the fireplace!"

Ron walked to the fireplace, slumped into the chair furthest from Harry, and didn't dare look at him.

"Ron, I want to talk to you," Harry said, mustering his courage.

"We need to rethink our relationship; I don't want it to continue like this."

Otherwise, we'll drift further and further apart, and we'll never be able to go back to the way things were...

"I'm sorry," Ron murmured, looking at his toes.

"What?" Harry thought he had misheard.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you." Ron said, bowing his head, "I shouldn't have believed that woman Skeeter's report."

I was so stupid back then.

"You finally figured it out?" Harry said irritably. "That took a long time."

"Good, I understand. Let's forget about it and start over, okay?"

Ron nodded, looking sadly at his robes.

After a while, he said in a muffled voice, "This is the worst feeling I've ever had in my life."

When I faced the fire dragon, my mind went completely blank.

He gazed at the fire and murmured, "I shouldn't have become Champion... I regret it."

"The other two projects can't be that dangerous, absolutely not," Harry reassured him.

That was all he could say; what else could he say but... something even more difficult was yet to come?!

"Thank you, Harry, I feel much better." Ron looked around and said, "What's going on here? So much trash?"

"The academy held a celebration to celebrate Hermione's first place. And George too..."

Harry suddenly stopped talking, realizing he had said the wrong thing again, and glanced cautiously at Ron.

Ron's expression indeed became somewhat strained upon hearing the celebration. He forced an awkward smile:

"That's definitely something to celebrate, Hermione and George both got pretty good scores..."

"Yes," Harry chimed in.

"Hermione, is she back in her dorm yet? I haven't congratulated her." Ron asked casually.

"She seems to have gone out halfway through the celebration and hasn't come back yet..." Harry shook his head.

The portrait of the Fat Lady was suddenly pushed aside, and a familiar female voice came from behind.

The girl seemed to be saying goodbye to someone, but the farewell lasted for several minutes, during which bursts of laughter could be heard before it finally ended.

Harry and Ron turned to look at the doorway and soon saw Hermione walk in.

Her face was flushed, and she couldn't hide her smile.

"Hey, you two haven't gone back to the dorm yet?"

Hermione was quite surprised to see people still in the lounge at this hour.

There are hardly any people around at other times.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked curiously. "Back so late, did you go for a night stroll?"

"Nothing much, I always come back around this time."

Hermione sat down on the sofa. Her smile faded, and she stared at Ron, her tone gradually becoming as stern as Professor McGonagall's:

"Ron, I was just about to tell you, but I haven't had the chance... about that Dark Magic from today."

"I didn't know Dark Magic wasn't allowed in the competition." Ron clearly didn't want to bring it up; he said impatiently, "Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have used it!"

"It's not a matter of knowing or not knowing! You used it once in your second year, and that almost killed Malfoy." Hermione shook her head.

"That's Dark Magic taught by that You-Know-Who, twice already! You should learn your lesson! Never use his magic again!"

"I know! I told you today was just an accident!"

Ron leaned back on the sofa, irritated, and said, "I'm going to see the principal first thing tomorrow morning and tell him I'm not participating in the rest of the competition."

"Once the Goblet of Fire selects Champion, it's like signing a contract; they have to participate in the rest of the tournament," Hermione said irritably.

"It's not like you can just say you won't participate and then refuse."

Seeing Ron and Hermione arguing again, Harry felt a terrible headache coming on.

I should have known better than to wait here tonight.

He rubbed his forehead. There were two scars there, one left by Voldemort and the other by Tom.

In an instant, the scar Tom had left behind suddenly began to throb with intense pain, ten times more intense than before.

He covered his face with his hands. The scars still burned and ached as if they were about to explode, bringing tears to his eyes.

"Harry! Harry!" Ron seemed terrified. "Are you alright?"

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked anxiously.

Harry rolled around on the sofa in pain, yelling incessantly.

His shouts startled many students, and a number of them rushed over from their dormitories.

Seeing Harry lying on the sofa groaning, with Ron right beside him... many people thought he had attacked Harry.

This is entirely possible.

Because Ron's reputation isn't very good right now. Everyone thinks he's secretly learning Dark Magic.

"Was he attacked by Weasley?" a terrified voice said. "Should we call for help?"

"He needs to go to the hospital!" another wizard exclaimed, bewildered. "He looks like he's having a rabies attack."

"Nonsense, this is clearly epilepsy!"

Hermione rolled up her sleeve, revealing a Safety Watch, and hurriedly said:

"I called William! He just brought me back, he shouldn't have gone far!"

Nicolas invented Two-Way Mirror -like Sound Transmission Conch that could not see people's faces but could make long-distance calls.

William also incorporated this alchemical technique into the Safety Watch.

William hadn't gone far; he hadn't even left the Gryffindor Tower when he heard Hermione's call.

Two minutes later, William pushed aside the portrait of the Fat Lady and entered the Gryffindor Common Room.

The crowd parted to make way for him, and he walked over to Harry.

Harry was still screaming in pain.

William tapped him with his wand, then took out Calming Draught and painkiller and poured them into his mouth.

Although it still hurt, Harry gradually calmed down.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, his face covered in sweat, and exclaimed in horror:

"William, I see Tom!"

William's expression gradually turned serious. He nodded and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to see Professor Dumbledore."

"Everyone, you can all leave now." He then looked up and said, "Go back to sleep."

"William, do you need me to come with you?" Hermione asked softly.

"No need, it's late, you've been tired all afternoon, go home and get some sleep." William patted her head.

He waved his wand and conjured a stretcher for Harry.

Harry sat on the stretcher and floated toward the door.

The two quickly arrived at the Headmaster's Office, Harry got off the stretcher.

Harry covered his head, looked at the stone beast at the door, and asked worriedly, "William, do you know the password to the Headmaster's Office?"

"I know," William said softly. "The headmaster usually uses his favorite snacks as passwords, like... Cockroach Clusters!"

The monster suddenly came to life and jumped to one side.

Harry was stunned.

"Cockroach Clusters?" he exclaimed in surprise. "People actually eat this stuff..."

"Dumbledore's tastes have always been quite unique," William shrugged.

The two passed through a gap in the wall and climbed the spiral stone staircase; the door closed behind them.

The stairs slowly ascended automatically, leading the two to a Winky oak door with a brass knocker.

William knocked on the door, and when no one answered, he pushed the door open and went inside.

The portraits of the principals in the offices are all empty; those old principals who pretended to be asleep during the day are all gone.

Clearly, they also have a vibrant nightlife.

Dumbledore didn't seem to be in the room, but there was a stone basin on his table.

"Fawkes, is Professor Dumbledore inside?" William looked at a shelf next to the table.

Fawkes was busy preening his tail feathers, his rear end sticking out, and had no time to pay attention to William.

William walked over, bent his finger, and flicked it hard on the rear end.

And you know what? This little thing... is quite bouncy, it even has some waves.

Fawkes was furious, and seemed about to spit a mouthful of hot saliva at William.

William took out its favorite snacks and handed them over.

Fawkes exhaled, but ultimately did not exhale the flame.

Harry stared at the stone basin, looking at the silvery vapor inside, and asked, "What is this?"

"This? It's called the Pensieve." William approached and looked down at the Pensieve.

He could see a Ministry of Magic interrogation room, where an interrogation seemed to be taking place.

It doesn't seem to be anything private.

For example, his private past with Grindelwald...

Since it's not a matter of the principal's privacy, that makes things easier.

William said, "Let's go, your matter is more urgent. Let's go inside to find Dumbledore."

His head touched the Pensieve, and he was the first to crawl inside.

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