Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 109 Testing, Interviewing, and Preparation

When Harry woke up on Sunday afternoon, the memory of the celebration party that had lasted from the previous night until the morning was suddenly flooding back.

Snacks, toys, magic fireworks...

In short, he became a hero of Gryffindor.

If winning the Quidditch Championship and the College Cup in previous years earned him respect, then since last night, that respect has turned into admiration.

"My God."

Harry sat up with a murmur and looked toward Ron's bed next to him, only to find that his lazybones friend had already gotten up and disappeared.

"Cough cough..."

"Papyrus Pack." (Books are put away)

"Scourgify." (to clean up)

Splash!

The sounds of textbooks, curtains, and clothes fluttering filled the entire dormitory. With the two spells taking effect, the chaotic Gryffindor fourth-year boys' dormitory, which had nowhere to stand, finally returned to normal.

Harry never imagined he would need the Invisibility Cloak to move around normally at Hogwarts. However, as he carefully made his way down the spiral staircase to the lower common room and noticed the younger lion cubs, led by the Creevey brothers, gathered together admiring Colin's recent "Burnet's Photographs," he was still grateful that his father had left him such a wonderful treasure.

squeak......

Harry gently pushed aside the portrait of the Fat Lady as he walked past the group of Potter fans who were having a team-building activity. But before he could even step out the door, he heard a playful voice coming from outside.

"Oh, hello there, my great hero~"

"Hermione? You can see through the Invisibility Cloak now?"

Instead of directly answering Harry's question, the little witch held up a stack of sandwiches wrapped in a napkin and replied:

"Breakfast and lunch are over, so I made you a meal and brought it out. Would you like to go for a walk somewhere where no one is around?"

Harry was so touched by Hermione's understanding that he was speechless for a long while before finally managing to utter a sentence:

"That's a great idea!"

......

After last night's champion selection, the portraits in the stairwell were engaged in a heated discussion. They huddled together, chattering away, with almost none willing to stay quietly in their frames. Hermione and Harry had no time to pay attention to these fellows; they quickly walked up the stairs and through the hallway, all the way to the lawn that stretched towards the lake.

Durmstrang's ship lay quietly on the surface of the Black Lake. With the breeze carrying the scent of water and earth, Harry ripped off his Invisibility Cloak and began to devour the sandwich Hermione had made for him.

Have you seen Ron?

"I saw it."

Hermione said:

“He’s been in the auditorium since breakfast and hasn’t left. You know, a lot of people want to hear your story from him.”

Harry smiled and moved closer to Hermione, saying:

Aren't you going to teach me a lesson?

"What lesson?"

"For example, the competition is not child's play, I was too reckless, I played too much last night, and so on."

"I don't want to be the first person to spoil your fun."

"I see..."

"But you should still write to Sirius and tell him that he is your godfather. You can't let him find out from the Daily Prophet that you have become a Gryffindor champion."

Hearing this, Harry laughed heartily, stuffing the last piece of sandwich into his mouth and saying:

"Haha, this is the Hermione Granger I know."

Whoosh!

A small ripple suddenly appeared on the calm lake surface, and Harry and Hermione, both academic high-achievers, instantly held their breath and fell silent. In the past four years, apart from Grindelwald, Harry and Hermione had practically never seen any other magical aquatic creatures.

(Grindylows are small, green-skinned water devils with oddly shaped horns. Those living in lakes throughout Britain and Ireland, for example, typically prey on fish and shrimp. When encountered, these grumpy creatures will attack both Muggles and wizards. It's worth noting that Grindylows' fingers are not soft tentacles; while they are strong enough to grasp, they are also easily broken. Clever wizards use this to their advantage to drive away or repel Grindylows.)

What could it be? A korgasmic monster? A mermaid? Or perhaps the giant squid Colin's brother mentioned?

The two, with the same question popping into their minds, quietly lowered their profiles. However, one minute, five minutes, and ten minutes passed, but the guy who had just caused a commotion on the lake never reappeared.

"Never mind, let's go for a walk instead."

Harry, his patience exhausted, said helplessly.

"it is good."

Hermione replied.

......

As evening approached, the two, whose feet were aching from the Lightness Charm, returned to the Gryffindor common room.

Thanks to the Tokrivies, most of the Gryffindor students had exhausted their energy during the day, and apart from Ron and three other seventh-year students who had to study for the NEWTs exams, there was no one else in the house.

"Harry! Hermione! You're back?"

Ron, who had been "harassed" by Harry fans for a long time, spoke in a hoarse voice. At that moment, he was writing something with great effort, looking like he was racking his brains.

"What are you doing?"

Hermione walked to the sofa before Harry and sat down to ask.

"Divination assignment!"

Ron said somewhat resentfully:

"Today was so busy I forgot to finish Professor Trelawney's monthly divination assignment. Let me see... Next week, my throat will hurt because Mars and Jupiter's orbits will coincide..."

"Your throat hurts because you talk too much, Ron."

"Whatever."

As Ron scribbled, he said to Hermione:

"You probably know what kind of person she is. I basically make up a bunch of unfortunate things about myself based on reality, and she loves to see this kind of thing."

"Oh! I forgot to write that too!"

Reminded by Ron, Harry slapped his forehead and then summoned his schoolbag to join the ranks of those frantically catching up on their homework.

"Accio Backpack!" (Backpack flies in)

"Come on, Ron, help me with my homework. You're better at it than I am!"

Harry's praise pleased Ron greatly. He put down his pen, turned a few pages of "Seeing the Future Through the Fog," and said:

"No problem! Let me see... Hmm, you're at risk of getting burned, not by a furnace, but by some kind of dangerous animal. You see, because Venus is currently in the zodiac."

"You're using Hagrid's Blasttail as a pretext, aren't you?"

"No, no, Hermione, I made the predictions through astrology, but I admit that it is indeed very dangerous."

Ron looked incredibly serious when he said this, and if Hermione hadn't experienced Professor Trelawney's abilities firsthand, she probably would have believed him.

"Well, and then... Mercury, Mercury, Harry, you'll have to go through a painful time, for something you want, something related to water... Just say you're enduring hardship to get the underwater treasure, use a metaphor to make it a little more ambiguous."

"You're a genius!"

Harry praised him, his quill pen moving even faster.

"Then in the third week, I looked at what I had just written to myself. Hmm, I wrote that I and someone very important to me would lose money, but you definitely wouldn't, so... hmm, you wrote that you won a fight with someone, but you were seriously injured."

"Okay! What about the stars?"

"The stars... let me see what Uranus and Neptune have to say."

"Oh no, you should finish writing the prophecy for the fourth week for me. I'll add the annotations myself later by referring to the stars."

“Okay, week four… In week four, we can take this topic a little further… Let’s say that due to carelessness and a moment of negligence, you left behind a major hidden danger that could affect your life.”

"Perfect!"

......

As Ron's prophecies grew increasingly tragic, Hermione finally couldn't stand it anymore and made an excuse to go back to her dormitory. Harry then spent more than an hour comparing each prophecy with the interpretation of the astrological movements. By the time he and Ron were ready to go to bed, Neville, Dean, and Seamus were already asleep.

"I think I can make money from this in the future."

Ron, still immersed in his "prophet" state, said with a grin.

"Ah, yes, at least Professor Berylauni is more reliable."

“Hey, I’m serious. Don’t you think this is a good opportunity? I can make up some interesting prophecies and sell them to people who want to hear nice things.”

Goodnight, Ron.

After saying that, Harry pulled the blanket over his head and ignored Ron.

Seeing his friend fall into a deep sleep, Ron sighed and lay down to sleep as well. In his dream, he saw himself become a famous prophet, making a fortune for his family and receiving commendation from the Ministry of Magic…

The following Monday, during Snape's Potions class, Harry was summoned by Ministry of Magic officials to an empty classroom upstairs.

Viktor Krum remained as somber as ever, standing quietly in the corner watching Fleur Delacour and Ludo Bagman converse.

"Ah, he's finally here, the youngest warrior of the three schools. Please come in, Harry, please come in quickly. Everything will be over soon and won't take you too long. After all, this is just a wand testing ceremony."

"Detection wand?"

Harry asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes, we must ensure that the warriors' wands are fully functional and in good working order. For all wizards, wands are the most important instruments, and you warriors will need them in all the projects to come. Oh, by the way, let me introduce you. This is Rita Skeeter. After Dumbledore and the experts come down in a little while, she will be giving you an interview on behalf of the Daily Prophet."

Harry turned around in the direction Ludo Bagman's outstretched hand and discovered that a witch in a red robe was hiding behind the portly photographer at the door.

Her hair was clearly styled meticulously, but those stiff, exaggerated curls were simply unappealing.

"Oh, Ludo, thank you for giving me this opportunity."

Rita Skeeter flicked her fat hand, which was covered in red nail polish, and then gave him an incredibly greasy wink. Harry was almost disgusted by the sight. Recalling that the report on the Quidditch World Cup after the tournament was also written by this woman, he immediately gave Rita Skeeter a negative impression rating.

Soon, Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxim, Crouch, and others arrived at the room. To Harry's surprise, the Ministry of Magic had even invited Mr. Ollivander to come for a wand test for a warrior.

"Warriors, we've kept you waiting."

Dumbledore, the last to sit down on the referee's bench, said:

"Please allow me to introduce you to Mr. Ollivander, who is currently the most renowned and experienced wand maker. He will personally oversee the inspection of your wands to ensure they are in excellent condition before the competition."