days at Hogwarts

Chapter 639: Centaur Astrology
"Purple Velvet is so cute, I want to have one too!"

"What? It eats spiders! I want to keep it even more!"

"..."

"How can you move the knight with this move? The chariot will run over him!"

"Alas... Now we are behind. Look, we are in checkmate, right?"

"I don't want to play, I don't want to play, I just want to watch - why are you hitting people?"

"Prefect, help! Prefect!"

"..."

Loren's return to the noisy common room did not attract much attention. After all, Gryffindor was always lively and the spirit of George and Fred lived on.

Still in the old seat near the window, Hermione, Harry and Ron, the three of them sat around the small round table. Hermione buried her head, pursed her lips, and carefully examined the Half-Blood Prince's old textbooks. The other two were discussing the Quidditch weekend selection.

"I plan to gather everyone at the stadium this weekend to compete in skills and confirm the starting lineup. Twenty students have signed up for Quidditch tryouts. These are chasers, these are beaters, and there are four seekers."

"Wait, what do you mean, do I have to participate in the selection too?"

"This may be a little hard for you to accept, Harry—"

"Don't be silly, Ron. I've been a seeker since first year, and you've been watching me play for five years..."

"Listen, Harry, I'm the captain of the team now, and I have to ensure fairness. You should know that some very good teams in the past were ruined because the captain always let familiar faces play and let his friends join the team."

"Then why don't you choose a new goalkeeper?"

"Well..."

"Is this your view of fairness and justice?"

"Listen to me, Harry, the captain is the backbone of a team..."

Loren sat down happily beside her, picked up the snacks on the table, listened with great interest, and even wanted to pull the little witch to stir up trouble, but unfortunately Hermione was doing research and was so focused that she had no time to be distracted.

Hermione had already read through the old textbook twice, taking notes, annotations, and even the little curses.

Something doesn't look right.

From the simple steps of the Living Hell Decoction in the front to the complicated and tedious Eternal Potion in the back, the notes gave more effective annotations, which were definitely not at the level of ordinary students. Several spells invented by himself also became more and more profound and complicated, from the inverted golden bell to the invisible god, from the small evil curse to the black magic...

The last spell feels familiar?

Hermione had a rough guess in her mind. She quietly extended her wand and pointed it at the old textbook that was already damaged in battle:
"【Urgently show up】"

"[Prototype Appearance]"

"[Hidden Handwriting]"

After a series of spells, the old textbook remained the same as before, without any unusual signs.

Hermione pondered for a few seconds and stretched out her wand again:

"[Clean up and make new]"

"【Restored to original condition】"

The old textbook lay quietly on the table, without any reaction.

Loren noticed the movements of the little witch beside him, put his arm around her shoulders, leaned over to her ear and whispered, "Don't try, Miss Know-It-All. This is Professor Snape's Horcrux, specially given to Harry."

Hermione's body stiffened for a moment, and she immediately pushed the old textbook back in front of Harry. She turned her head to look at Loren, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

"Professor Snape asked me to do this. Headmaster Dumbledore should also know about this."

"This is a Horcrux..." The little witch lowered her voice.

"Perhaps they think Harry should just be exposed to more Horcruxes."

"..."

Hermione's impression of Horcruxes still remains on a few things of Voldemort.

I've heard Loren talk about Riddle's diary and the Gaunt family ring. The former can read memories silently, and the latter is an extremely evil curse. I've seen the Ravenclaw crown from afar and have come into close contact with the Hufflepuff gold cup. Lastly, the Slytherin locket can unconsciously affect people's emotions and make them irritable.

It's basically not a good thing.

Of course, Professor Snape is not as evil as Voldemort. I was not affected much by reading such old textbooks. I learned a lot of practical knowledge of potions and spells, but I couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling in my heart.

Harry didn't know what the old textbooks really looked like, but he was happy to believe the comments on them.

In the next few Potions classes this week, every time Harry saw the Half-Blood Prince object to the steps of the author Libasho Pollack, he followed the Half-Blood Prince's suggestions and received praise and extra points from Slughorn in every class.

Harry just felt relieved.

Potions class had never been so wonderful.

……

Friday, 5pm.

Sixth-year students were walking through the corridors in groups, chattering about the Defense Against the Dark Arts class that had just ended. Professor Bagshot had asked them to practice doubles, with one person casting the curse and the other defending, and neither of them was allowed to make any sound.

Everything was fine at the beginning, but when one of the students accidentally cast a repelling spell or a binding spell, the situation subtly changed. Most people were no longer willing to practice peacefully, but lowered their voices and chanted the spell secretly, trying to give their sparring classmates a little surprise.

The other party also secretly cast the armor spell, and after the class, many students had bruises on their bodies.

Loren was explaining some tips on silent casting to Hermione. When he passed classroom 11, he saw fifth-year students inside, also chattering. They were having the first divination class of the semester, and their teacher was the centaur Firenze.

The classroom was rearranged using magic. The floor was covered with soft moss and grass, trees stood with lush branches and leaves, and soft starlight poured down from the ceiling like a stream.

The students sat on the ground with their backs against rocks and tree trunks, their arms around their knees, staring blankly at the bonfire in front of them. White smoke rose up with a strange fragrance, the scent of sage and mallow.

The handsome centaur with white-blond hair crouched down on all fours and said calmly:

"The smoke from burning sage can drive away mosquitoes and plague, the smoke from sweet mallow can calm people's mood, and the centaurs light bonfires to get warmth and roast food..."

"Whether it's a burn or a drowning... the stars won't show these insignificant injuries and individual insignificant accidents. Compared with the vast universe, these things are insignificant."

"Sometimes, the centaurs would also think, are the grand things on the other side of the distant universe really related to us, the tiny ones?"

"No one has the answer, so it would be foolish to put too much faith in such things."

"If the paths of the planets and the brightness of the stars are telling us something, it's probably a real disaster or misfortune."

(End of this chapter)