novelhk Page 449
Page 449
So he had no choice but to bury his head in the sand, pretending not to hear Hermione's question and continuing to focus on enjoying the remaining half of his sandwich.
Just then, Harry and Ron appeared in everyone's sight.
As a prefect, Ron was asked by Professor McGonagall to help distribute today's class schedules. Now, only the Weasley twins, Hermione, and Ginny haven't received theirs yet.
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Ron leaned in.
A sly glint flashed in George's eyes as he teased, "We're discussing how much to give you and Harry as a wedding gift, since your wedding is just around the corner."
Fred took the money and laughed, "Is one nut enough? Or should we pool all our pocket money and give you a grand wedding?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other, completely baffled by what they had just heard.
They hadn't heard any rumors about the two getting engaged, so they were somewhat puzzled by George and Fred's teasing.
However, just now, Zhang Qiu brought the latest rumor:
On the girls' side, they've already fully unleashed their imaginations, adding classic breakup plots and a three-year promise to Harry and Ron's love story.
They also incorporated news reports from that time: in this version, Harry accidentally destroyed the Weasleys' flying car, leading to the Weasleys breaking off their engagement on the spot.
So he made a three-year pact with the Weasleys, determined to endure hardship and diligently train.
Ultimately, he transformed from a useless savior into a hero who defeated numerous opponents, winning third place in the Triwizard Tournament. This past summer, Harry finally stormed the Burrow and won back Ron Weasley's heart.
Listen to this, what a beautiful and inspiring story!
The story was told by the girls in such a fantastical way that it seemed to have really happened.
"Look at this awful schedule today!" Ron complained with a bitter face and a sigh. "Magical History, two Potions classes, Divination, and two Defense Against Magic classes... Professor Binns, Professor Snape, Professor Trelawney... all crammed into the same day! This is a nightmare!"
"Am I hearing things?" Fred joked. "Do the prefects at Hogwarts want to experience skipping class too?"
Ron glared at him irritably, then shoved the timetable under Fred's nose and said angrily, "Look at this! This is the worst Monday I've ever had! It's unbearable!"
He stared longingly at the twins and tentatively asked, "Do you have any quick-acting skipping-school candy? Give me some, let me see how it works?"
"Of course..." Fred grinned and extended his hand. "But, even brothers should keep clear accounts. Thank you for your patronage."
Ron's face fell immediately: "Where am I going to get so much money right now..."
Although Ron received an unprecedented amount of Galleons this year, he has already spent almost all of it.
First, he bought a brand-new flying broomstick—the latest model, the Eleven-Star Sweeper—and then he went on a spending spree on the train. But the twins had so many good things that he had to be careful with his money.
“You can join our drug trial team!” George seized the opportunity to shove a flyer into Ron’s hand and urged, “You can earn hundreds of gallons a year, and the work is easy and simple; you can make money while lying down.”
Ron was somewhat tempted. This line of work was indeed easy and lucrative, almost like a windfall.
If he works for a few years, he can save up a lot of Galleons by the time he graduates, and then he can live a life of leisure and idleness.
“Think about it, Ron,” Fred continued enthusiastically. “You’re in fifth grade now, and the pressure of exams is immense. Those exams are like a grinding wheel, grinding your noses so hard they might break the skin on the tip one day.”
George excitedly joined in: "You're absolutely right! Back in the day, half the class was practically on the verge of a breakdown because of the OWLs exams. Some were crying all the time, some were throwing tantrums all the time... Do you remember Patricia Stinson? She would faint all the time back then, which really startled us."
Fred seized the opportunity to promote his product again: "So, buy our product and you can easily get away from those annoying classes."
Ron was somewhat tempted, but still a little worried: "What about the OWL exam? We can't keep skipping it forever."
“Of course, we’ll attend the tutoring classes at our Knowledge Society,” Ginny suddenly chimed in. “This year, we plan to open the society’s tutoring classes to all young wizards, though it will be a paid program.”
A hint of smugness flashed in her eyes; this was the very plan she had strongly advocated, and Levin had already agreed to it.
As Hermione's good helper, she has been trying to find ways to increase the school's income.
“We have the strongest and second strongest academic geniuses in all of Hogwarts here.” She pointed to Levin, then to Hermione. “They are top students in every subject. Ask them anything you don’t understand, and we’ll make sure your weaknesses become your strengths.”
Of course, this is just a gimmick. Levin would never actually participate in a course of this level. Hermione is busy with her main work at the academy, so she only shows up occasionally.
Ron's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. Although he and Levin had fallen out, and his relationship with Hermione was also deteriorating...
But in order to skip a few more classes and pass the exam smoothly, changing one's attitude doesn't seem like a bad idea.
Astoria stood to the side, unable to resist rolling her eyes.
She had seen through their tricks long ago.
Ron becomes a drug test subject for the Weasley twins, then uses the money he earns to buy quick-fix skipping candy. Eventually, because he frequently skips classes and falls behind in his studies, he has to pay for tutoring at the Academy.
This is practically a perfect closed-loop industry chain!
Considering that Levin was the mastermind behind both the Weasley twins' business and the Erudite Society.
All I can say is that Levin is truly the root of all evil.
Just then, Harry suddenly asked Cho Chang, "Cho Chang, would you be a tutor?"
Zhang Qiu paused for a moment, then answered without hesitation, "Of course! In fact, I got an O in all twelve of my OWLs last semester."
This is a remarkable achievement. Many people earn a lot of O's on OWLs., and quite a few even obtain all twelve certifications.
But getting twelve Os is extremely rare.
Harry nodded slightly.
Without Ronnie's attention all summer, his simp instincts for Cho Chang began to stir again—even though she spent every day with Levin.
He even considered asking, "How much does one-on-one private tutoring cost?"
———————This is the dividing line between Harry and Ron——(Zhao Zhao Hao)——————
Harry wasn't always kept in the dark about the rumors circulating on campus about him and Ron.
On his way to the History of Magic class, when he heard the girls laughing excitedly at him and Ron for the third time, he finally realized something was wrong and got the truth from Hermione's stammering words.
This infuriated him, and he tried to refute the rumors multiple times, but without success.
One day, he and his roommate Seamus Finnigan had a falling out over an argument about whether a report about Voldemort was true or false.
During that argument, Seamus relentlessly accused Harry of spreading panic and rumors, while Harry insisted that Voldemort's return was a fact.
The argument between the two grew increasingly heated, eventually ending with Ron standing up for Harry and involving Seamus's mother.
But ever since then, Seamus has been insisting on changing dorm rooms, clearly unable to continue being Harry's roommate.
This incident made Harry realize that the reason people were so willing to fabricate stories about him was because they didn't want to believe that Voldemort had returned.
In this era filled with panic and unease, people are more willing to believe beautiful lies than to face the harsh reality.
Therefore, even though Harry repeatedly emphasized that Voldemort's return was real, he still couldn't change most people's minds.
Chapter 506 How did you manage to sleep during this phase?
In the days that followed, the rumors seemed to gradually subside, and people stopped openly discussing his "three-year agreement" with Ron.
But Harry knew very well that the whispers, prying eyes, and pointing fingers never truly disappeared each time he walked to the classroom. He could feel the strange atmosphere, as if he were a specimen being observed under a microscope.
What pained him most was that even among his fellow Gryffindor students, a large number of them looked at him with distrust.
Harry didn't know if it was because distance makes the heart grow fonder, or because he had more opportunities to interact with his classmates than the other three houses, or if Gryffindors were just like that—Harry even felt that Gryffindors distrusted him the most of the four houses.
Just like the time he had a fight with Seamus Finnigan, they had been roommates for five years, but five years of trust couldn't compare to a copy of the Daily Prophet.
However, there was one thing that made Harry feel relieved.
The observer sent by the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge, followed him like a shadow every day, constantly recording his every move in a notebook, but ultimately did not take any substantial action.
Although her presence was somewhat uncomfortable, it did not significantly affect the professors' regular teaching or Harry's daily studies.
It seems the Ministry of Magic's intervention is no match for Dumbledore. Harry thinks that Umbridge is just someone Fudge sent to annoy people.
Hermione witnessed all of this, and she was conflicted. She had learned from Levin that he was fully capable of preventing this from happening. If Jaina and Dumbledore joined forces, they could easily reverse the current public opinion.
However, for the sake of future plans, Levin chose to let 773 run rampant.
She had promised Levin that she would keep the secret, because she knew that if it were leaked, Levin's carefully planned scheme would be ruined.
However, whenever she saw Harry and Dumbledore being misunderstood by others, and saw Harry's increasingly lonely and melancholic figure, her heart couldn't help but ripple with emotion. She felt deeply sorry for Harry, after all, she had had similar experiences herself.
She had suffered similar treatment within Gryffindor since her first year, and the pain of being isolated and misunderstood was still fresh in her memory.
Fortunately, she met Levin, Harry, and Ron. The three of them were willing to extend a helping hand of friendship, making her feel a long-lost warmth and care.
As Padma explained to the new students, Gryffindor is the least tolerant house of "outcasts".
It seemed as if all the warmth had been exhausted in that scorching August, and the weather turned exceptionally cold in September. The sky was always overcast, with continuous drizzle.
This gloomy atmosphere seemed to resonate with Harry's state of mind.
Harry not only has to face alienation and exclusion from his classmates, but also increasingly heavy coursework.
This year they will face an important exam – OWLs, or Common Wizard Level Tests.
This exam covers twelve magical disciplines and is a crucial subject-specific challenge that fifth-year students must face. Only by passing this exam can they qualify to pursue further studies in that particular magical discipline, making its importance self-evident.
The NEWT exam, which the seventh-grade students take later, is equivalent to a professional certificate and is directly related to whether they can find a good job after graduation.
The first lesson of the new semester was History of Magic, which gave the fifth-grade wizards a real shock.
The course's professor, Mr. Binns, was a ghost who rarely spoke of anything other than teaching.
However, even the usually taciturn Professor Binns brought up the upcoming OWLs exam in class.
Professor Binns spoke for half an hour, panting, about the tragic fates of students who failed the history of magic exams throughout history. He specifically mentioned Gellert Grindelwald, the first Dark Lord, as a cautionary tale.
“Gellert Grindelwald was expelled from Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the age of sixteen for failing to obtain his History of Magic certificate,” Professor Binns rambled on. “From then on, he embarked on a path of crime and eventually became the Dark Lord. If you can obtain your certificates, perhaps you can avoid following in his footsteps.”
The students were stunned. It turned out that the "secret" to becoming the Dark Lord was simply failing the history of magic.
When Hermione mustered the courage to ask if there were any well-summarized notes on the History of Magic of OWLs, Professor Binns seemed even angrier.
"Every word I say in class is important! Every detail I mention is a potential test point!"
Professor Binns stared intently, emphasizing the importance of each lesson.
"..."
Since Professor Binns did not highlight the key points for everyone, the students had no choice but to concentrate fully and listen attentively to every word he said.
This kind of focused concentration is only possessed by those novice wizards who have just stepped into the gates of Hogwarts.
However, this enthusiasm did not last long.
Just fifteen minutes later, the students began to slump over their desks one by one.
Mr. Binns spoke with a wheezing, drawn-out tone, as if he possessed a kind of "sleep magic" that could make people drowsy within ten minutes.
This magic is almost unstoppable; even the most tenacious students have succumbed to it.