"I hate Apparating."
Harry sat down in the armchair with a depressed look on his face. He reached out and took out the Daily Prophet from under his buttocks and sighed softly, "I didn't expect it to be more difficult to master than expected."
Even though the three of them had received guidance from Lupin and Sirius during the holidays, they still didn't make much faster progress in learning Apparition than the other students, which made Harry worry whether he would be able to master Apparition before the end of the semester.
"At least your progress is much faster than mine. I just split into two pieces!"
Ron was still traumatized by the experience of splitting up just now. Among the three of them, Hermione was the fastest learner and could already Apparate, but she was not able to use it skillfully yet.
"You should concentrate on learning Apparition, and your progress will be much faster." Hermione felt that the main reason why Harry and Ron were slow in learning was that they did not put all their energy into learning Apparition, which made their progress much slower than Hermione's.
"Not everyone is like you. Apparition is really hard." Harry noticed something was wrong with Hermione and raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Look at this."
Hermione handed the Defense Express magazine in her hand to Harry, who was stunned when he saw the contents inside.
Ron also hurried over, also a little surprised.
The "Defense Express" actually clearly pointed out that the mysterious man and the Death Eaters completely hated Albert, and seemed to be planning to attack those friends who had attended Albert's wedding, in an attempt to find Albert who was in hiding and kill him.
However, this conspiracy seems to have never succeeded. The Weasley brothers hid themselves, Diggory and Truman also escaped successfully, and cooperated with the Ministry of Magic to successfully arrest a group of dark wizards, causing heavy losses to Voldemort's minions.
At the end of the article, Sirius Black did not forget to remind Albert’s friends who were on good terms with him to remain vigilant and avoid being innocently affected.
"This is obviously true."
Hermione tapped the article on the magazine with her fingers and analyzed it to Harry and Ron: "Sirius published this incident to alert others and to deter the Death Eaters from continuing to target others."
"Albert is really good at attracting hatred," Harry muttered.
"Luo Luo, your letter!"
Lavender appeared out of nowhere and suddenly squeezed between Ron and Harry. She put her arms around Ron's neck and put her lips close to his.
"Hey, Harry, everyone wants to know when you will have the next DA meeting." Parvati pretended not to notice her friend's actions and greeted Harry with a smile.
"Wait a minute, Lavender, I have to read the contents of the letter first." Ron was quite helpless, but Lavender had already kissed him, completely blocking his mouth.
Hermione bent down to pick up the envelope that had fallen on the ground, then turned her head to Harry who was standing and said, "There's an empty table over there, shall we sit over there?"
"Oh, okay." Harry nodded.
"Your Apparition just now was amazing. I think it won't be long before you master it." Parvati was about to say hello to Hermione, but was surprised to find that she had opened the letter from Wes and was reading its contents with Harry.
"We've been exposed to Apparition before, so it's normal that we learn faster than everyone else!" Hermione handed the letter to Harry and explained to Parvati why she was able to master Apparition so quickly.
“Faster?” Parvati muttered. “This is more than faster.”
"Ahem, I suggest you concentrate on studying and try to master it within this semester. It may come in handy someday." Hermione quickly exchanged glances with Harry and stuffed the letter back.
"What's in the letter?" Ron couldn't help asking after breaking free from Lavender.
"Fred and George are planning to hide for a while, and they want to ask you for a small favor." Hermione handed the envelope to Ron and said, "They said they have prepared a generous reward for you."
"You peeked at Luo Luo's letter." Lavender looked at the opened envelope and was very surprised at Harry and Hermione's behavior.
"These aren't personal letters. The ones with marks on them are mostly addressed to Harry." Ron glanced at the special symbol on the envelope and explained to the clingy Lavender.
To be honest, Ron was a little annoyed by the clingy woman in front of him. She was wrapped around him like an octopus, making him feel suffocated.
"What do you mean it's not a personal letter?" Lavender asked with a frown.
"There are some things you'd better not know." Ron couldn't help but frowned. "Knowing too much will not do you any good. On the contrary, it may cause you to be targeted by the Death Eaters and lose your life."
"Then why does she know that?" Lavender pointed at Hermione and asked sharply, startling everyone around them.
"Oh, that's because it's too late for some things. Ron and Hermione have been dragged into this because of me, and they will definitely be involved in the wizarding war next." Harry interrupted awkwardly, "So, Ron is actually doing this for your own good, so that you won't be targeted by the Death Eaters one day and have your memory searched or tortured by Veritaserum."
Hearing what Harry said, Lavender and Parvati were stunned for a moment. Although the Second Wizarding War had already begun, it was still very far away for the students living in Hogwarts.
Some students who were eavesdropping nearby also opened their eyes wide, extremely surprised to hear Harry say such a thing.
"You know, Voldemort wants to kill me, and I can't hide in Hogwarts forever. Think about Albert, Voldemort wanted to kill him, and it affected his friends." After Harry finished speaking, he called Hermione and Ron to leave, leaving behind some people who were stunned at hearing the name "Voldemort".
"Harry, you shouldn't use that name casually." Hermione looked at Harry reproachfully, as if he had made a fatal mistake.
"But even if I use honorifics, it can't change the fact that Voldemort wants to kill me." Harry shrugged helplessly.
"You know that's not what I'm talking about. There's a reason why the You-Know-Who's name has become a taboo. That guy put a curse on his own name. Once you use it, the Death Eaters will use the magic to come to you." Hermione warned sternly. She noticed that Harry had a bad habit of calling the You-Know-Who by his name.
"You have to admit that this is a pretty cool move." Ron couldn't help but complain, "Even a ruthless person like Anderson never directly calls him by that name."
"Okay, I'll try to change it." Harry changed the subject and looked at Ron. "What are you going to do?"
"Just accept it. What else can I do? If you have Galleons, you'd be a fool not to make some money."
Ron was quite satisfied with Fred and George's proposal. This was the first time he experienced what it felt like to make easy money. It was simply amazing.
"Be careful not to get caught by Filch." Hermione frowned and reminded, "Don't forget that you are a prefect. If you are caught, you will definitely be severely detained."
"As long as we don't get caught by Filch," Ron said, not caring about Filch at all. "Don't forget, that guy is a Squib. We can easily hide from his eyes by using the Disillusionment Charm."
"As long as you are happy." Hermione was too lazy to care about it. She turned to Harry and said, "Professor Slughorn is having a party recently. Do you plan to attend?"
"when?"
Harry had never cared about slug parties before, but now he had to take some time to pay attention to these annoying things.
"This Friday," Hermione said without hesitation.
"Hermione, can you help me think of other topics? I feel like I can't keep talking any longer." Harry asked Hermione for help. After spending some time with her, he found that Professor Slughorn was a little difficult to deal with. "Maybe I should seriously consider using Albert's method."
"But will that really work?" Hermione expressed her doubt.
"We don't have any better options, do we?"
Although the method provided by Albert is a bit cruel, it is better than just standing there and doing nothing.
"Perhaps, you can try to talk to Professor Slughorn about the Wizarding War first, so that he can be mentally prepared. And doesn't Albert want to invite him to be a potions consultant? You can try to start with this." Hermione racked her brains to think of a solution for Harry.
"That's one way, but I can't expect everyone to be Dumbledore." Harry really didn't expect Professor Slughorn to consider the overall situation, otherwise he would have handed the memory to Dumbledore long ago instead of making it an assignment for him.
"We can always find a way, and you have the Felicia Ralph potion." Ron didn't think Harry would fail.
"Felix Felicis isn't a panacea, but Ron is right. Everyone has their own weaknesses, and Professor Slughorn is no exception. He can always find a way." Hermione also had confidence in Harry. "Don't forget, Dumbledore gave you this task because he must have believed that you could accomplish it."
"You always have more confidence than me." Harry said self-deprecatingly.
Ever since following Dumbledore to learn Voldemort's secrets, Harry has thought about a lot of things and realized the burden on his shoulders that needs to be acknowledged.
If the Horcruxes are not completely destroyed, it will be impossible to completely destroy Voldemort.
In fact, he understood very well why Albert only caused trouble for the Death Eaters and never confronted Voldemort head-on.
Because if Voldemort cannot be killed, there is no point in targeting him. Continuing to weaken the power around Voldemort is more of a preparation for targeting the mysterious man in the future.
At this moment, Lavender caught up from behind and directly entangled Ron, as if she wanted to say something to him.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and tacitly left each other space to communicate alone.
"By the way, Luo Luo's birthday is coming soon. What birthday present are you planning to give him?" Harry asked casually.
"Don't use that tone, it sounds disgusting." Hermione pouted and asked, "What do you think of "The Origin of Quidditch"? "
"Very good, then I will also give Luo Luo a gift related to Quidditch." Harry thought for a moment and quickly chose the most suitable gift for Luo Luo at the moment: Quidditch goalkeeper gloves.
The two of them decided on Ron's birthday present.
"We might need to get help, though," Harry said. "I think we'd better not make it too public in case someone messes up the mail."
"Go find Ginny, or Hagrid if that doesn't work," Hermione suggested. "I'll find time to talk to Ginny tomorrow."
The next day, Harry got up early, left the dormitory early and went to the common room to wait for someone. After seeing Ginny coming down from the girls' dormitory, he hurriedly walked up to her and greeted her.
"Hi, Ginny."
"Harry, what's wrong?"
Ginny was surprised that Harry actually approached her.
"Did Hermione tell you about that?" Harry asked tentatively.
"What thing?" Ginny was a little confused, obviously not understanding what Harry meant.
"Oh, then you don't mind if I waste a few minutes of your time. I want to ask you a favor." Harry pointed to the corner of the common room, indicating that he hoped to talk alone.
"Oh, no problem."
Ginny followed Harry over there to chat alone, leaving behind a group of envious female companions.
"Well," Harry said straight to the point, "Hermione and I were planning to buy Ron a birthday present, but our current situation really doesn't suit us to show up and reduce the possibility of being targeted by the Death Eaters."
"So, you want me to help you with your owl mail order." Ginny asked with a complicated expression. She originally thought that Harry wanted to talk to her about something, but this was it
"Yes, we hope you can help with the shopping." Harry looked at Ginny expectantly.
"Okay." Ginny nodded in agreement.
"Thank you very much. Here is the list of items that need to be mailed and the cost."
As he spoke, Harry took out a note and handed it to Ginny, along with a small purse containing Galleons for the purchase of "The Origins of Quidditch" and Quidditch goalkeeper gloves.
"By the way, remember to keep this a secret for me and don't let Ron know about it." Harry walked away gratefully.
"I will."
Ginny glanced at the note Harry had given her and stuffed it into her pocket along with the purse.
"What does Harry want you to do?" Dean asked out of nowhere.
"Are you curious?" Ginny raised her eyebrows slightly.
"I'm just asking casually."
"Harry asked me to buy something for him." Ginny did not hide it. "They are being targeted by the Death Eaters. If I buy it myself, I might get into trouble, so he asked me to help buy some things."
"Buying things, but Death Eaters really will..." Before Dean could finish his words, he heard Hermione's voice.
"Ginny, I have something to ask of you."
"Oh, Harry just came to see me." Ginny took out a note from her pocket and showed it to Hermione, "He asked me to buy something for him."
"Oh, then I'll trouble you with this. Remember to keep it a secret from Ron." Hermione returned the note to Ginny, said hello to Dean, and walked away.
"Here, now you should believe it."
Ginny handed the note Harry gave to Andy and said impatiently.
"I did not mean that."
Looking at the contents of the parchment, Dean felt a little embarrassed, because just like Ginny said, Harry just wanted to ask her to buy something for Ron.
"I'm just a little worried...whether this will be dangerous for you." Dean awkwardly changed the subject.
"That's nothing, and..." Ginny said proudly, "My family has always been fighting against You-Know-Who, always standing on Dumbledore's side, and always supporting Harry..."
"But you're still a minor. Those are too dangerous for you." Dean said a little uneasily.
"Are you scared?" Ginny raised her eyebrows slightly.
"No, I'm just... afraid you'd get hurt." Dean chose his words carefully.
"I'm not afraid."
Ginny flipped her hair and turned away.