I'm excited to introduce my new work, Harry Potter: Returns from Pirates of the Caribbean!
I hope you'll give it a chance, check it out, and enjoy the story. Thank you so much for your continued support! ❤️
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Entering June, the atmosphere in the castle became tense and excited once more. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the holidays.
Harry did not take the complex world of adults inside the Headmaster's office to heart.
He certainly understood the logic of politics; after all, during his time at Malfoy Manor, Mr. Septimus had practically taught him hand-in-hand how to shine on the political stage... but it was precisely for this reason that he actually felt quite resistant to these complex matters.
It had to be said, perhaps this was the adverse effect of the Malfoy family's cram-school style of education on him.
However, Harry was indeed quite grateful to Mr. Malfoy. Although he was technically just Cassandra's follower, the Malfoy family had never truly treated him as a servant.
People always realize the well-intentions of their elders only after they grow up. It was only after confirming Cassandra's feelings that Harry understood why Mr. Septimus had groomed him so intensively, practically exhausting family resources to cultivate him.
During the summer holidays last year, he had returned to Malfoy Manor and chatted with Mr. Septimus for quite a long time.
Although Mr. Septimus always looked askance at him whenever they met—nose in the air and eyes looking elsewhere—he was ultimately willing to have a good talk with him, incidentally admonishing him that "The British Ministry of Magic can only be the British people's Ministry of Magic."
Harry didn't quite grasp the essence of Mr. Septimus's words at the time, but he swallowed the phrase whole and kept it in mind.
However, when leaving the Headmaster's office, he recounted exactly what had just happened to Cassandra.
Cassandra looked somewhat impatient, though Harry didn't know if it was just an illusion, but he felt she was actually quite happy?
On the day of the task, the Gryffindor breakfast table was bustling with noise.
The post owls arrived, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius.
It was just a piece of parchment folded in two, bearing a muddy paw print, but Harry liked it very much.
"Oh, it seems your dog godfather likes marking his territory," Cassandra said with disdain, sitting beside him. "But I feel like he hasn't grown up yet. I really don't know which of you two is the child."
"He's your godfather too," Harry responded without looking up.
Cassandra gave a light hmph, but said nothing more.
"So," she said again, "are you ready? After all, your plan..."
Speaking to this point, Cassandra stopped herself.
"It's alright," Harry shrugged. "Being informed means being prepared. It's better than being suddenly sent to the destination without any mental preparation, isn't it?"
Cassandra didn't speak.
After a while, she took a pendant from her neck and handed it to Harry.
"Put it on." Her tone brooked no argument.
"What is this?"
Harry reached out and took the pendant; it felt extremely smooth and still carried her body warmth.
"It's quite warm," he commented sharply.
Cassandra's small face visibly flushed with a layer of red cloud. She turned her head away, pretending to watch the professors at the High Table, saying nothing.
Seeing her silence, Harry knew he had made a slip of the tongue and made her shy, so he put the pendant around his neck.
"Not bad, not cold at all," he said deliberately, doubling down on the mistake.
As a result, Cassandra's foot appeared on top of Harry's foot.
The sole of that small leather shoe was quite hard, causing Harry to grimace in pain.
"That was for your loose mouth," Cassandra said with a cold expression. "If you don't want it, I can sew it shut with needle and thread, stitch by stitch!"
"Oh." Harry obediently made a sound, then cheekily added, "I didn't know you could do needlework..."
"Hmph." Cassandra glared at him, stood up, and returned to the Slytherin table.
A moment later, Poppy walked over.
"Harry~" Poppy sat beside him, smiling. "How is it? Are you nervous?"
"My name isn't Nervous," Harry replied smoothly. "Actually, I wasn't very nervous, but now that you asked, I suddenly feel a bit nervous."
"Eh?" Poppy gave a start. "Really? Are you really nervous? Why can't I feel it..."
"Feel for yourself if you don't believe me." Harry pointed to his arm. "I'm shaking with nerves right now."
Poppy obediently touched Harry's arm, only to find it perfectly steady. "You're lying to me!" She naively pinched Harry's arm lightly. "Why didn't I feel you shaking?"
"Because after seeing you, I'm not nervous anymore," Harry grinned.
Poppy: "..."
"You're getting worse and worse!" She hmphed, then looked around furtively, whispering to Harry, "I've found out exactly what magical creature Newt lent to Dumbledore..."
"Leave it as a surprise for me, Poppy." Harry shook his head. "Otherwise, it's unfair to the other two champions."
"Ha, actually Madame Maxime and that detestable Karkaroff already know!" Poppy lowered her voice. "It doesn't count as cheating if you know too!"
"Don't worry, Poppy," Harry whispered. "They are them, and I am me. Do you have no confidence in me?"
Poppy pouted, but respected Harry's thoughts.
"Then I wish you safety," she said. "I hope you can smoothly..."
She stopped halfway.
Poppy was, of course, aware of Harry and the others' plan, but with so many people around, walls having ears, it wasn't convenient to say much, so she could only speak in riddles.
She had no doubt Harry could win the final championship, but regarding walking into Voldemort's trap... Poppy felt a bit panicked.
"Of course." Harry patted Poppy's shoulder.
Just then, the hooting of owls came from outside.
Hedwig flew in and dropped a stack of newspapers onto the table.
Poppy picked up a newspaper, took one look, and pfft—sprayed a mouthful of coffee all over it.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"See for yourself." Poppy handed the newspaper to Harry. "Veratia might not be able to make it today..."
Harry took the newspaper, glanced at the photo on it, and promptly sprayed his pumpkin juice all over the newspaper as well.
It was a photo of Veratia, wearing that diadem on her head. The headline was in capital, bold letters: "THE EMPRESS CROWNED TODAY."
Of course, this title was purely a gimmick, merely to attract attention.
The content below stated that in the new round of voting, Veratia had won by a landslide, elected as the Minister of the Greater German Ministry of Magic.
"This..." Harry looked up at Poppy, then at the newspaper, feeling it was all a bit unreal.
Holy crap, how was she the Minister's secretary this time last year, and now successfully ascended to Minister of Magic?
This triple jump was a bit too fast...
He really couldn't forget the scene of Veratia at seventeen during the World Cup, standing like a minion...
"I'm not surprised," Poppy said, wiping her mouth. "After all, that Vinda Rosier looked like a puppet of the Grindelwald family... Veratia probably stopped pretending and couldn't be bothered to manipulate things from behind the scenes anymore..."
Harry could tell that was Veratia's front person, but he never expected Veratia to be so impatient to take office.
Was there some emergency?
"What?" Hermione craned her neck to ask. "Rita Skeeter again?"
"Er... see for yourself." Harry handed the soggy newspaper to Hermione.
Hermione didn't mind; after taking the newspaper and looking at it once, she let out a pfft.
Fortunately, she hadn't been drinking water, so she didn't spray all over the paper.
"No!" Hermione immediately stood up. "I have to write a letter quickly to congratulate Veratia on becoming the Minister of the Greater German Ministry of Magic..."
Before finishing her sentence, Hermione grabbed her schoolbag and dashed out of the Great Hall.
"Hey!" Ron shouted from behind. "The History of Magic exam starts in ten minutes! Merlin's socks, you're such an impatient person..."
After speaking, Ron turned to Harry. "Seriously, mate, I really envy you not having to take exams..."
He was extremely relaxed now. After learning that the person yesterday wasn't Professor Snape, he had become incredibly laid back.
However, Ron also noted the name Nymphadora Tonks in his heart, planning to give this woman a piece of his mind the next time he saw her.
"Envious?" Harry looked at Ron with dead eyes. "Exchanged for fighting a dragon."
Ron shuddered upon hearing this. He shook his head rapidly. "Forget it, I'd rather face Professor Snape directly than fight a dragon."
"Face him doing what?" Harry asked.
"I'd rather say to his face, 'Hey, Snape, you old bat, you need to wash your hair!' than go fight a dragon," Ron said with full immersion.
"Oh? Is that so?"
A greasy voice sounded from behind. Ron turned around and saw Snape's gloomy face.
Who would have thought that instead of being scared, Ron stood up and drew his wand.
"Stop pretending." Ron pointed his wand at Snape. "I know it's you. This trick won't work on me a second time!"
Harry facepalmed.
Students around them also turned their heads to look at Ron—for his courage.
Many covered their mouths to stop themselves from making noise.
Snape clearly hadn't expected Ron to be this brave; he was stunned.
In Gryffindor... no, in Hogwarts, there was actually a small animal not afraid of him?!
No, had this little Gryffindor lion taken some Elixir to Induce Euphoria? Or some strange potion?
"Exposed, aren't you? Aha!" Seeing "Snape's" reaction, Ron felt even more confirmed. "Let me see what you're made of... Stupefy!"
Snape flicked his robes, and the spell vanished without a trace.
Immediately after, Ron's wand spun through the air and flew into Snape's hand.
Snape's eyes became deep and pitch-black. He glared coldly at Ron, a bloodthirsty curve rising at the corner of his mouth.
"Very good, very good... Weasley. Assaulting a professor in the Great Hall. Gryffindor will lose fifty points because of you... Once your exams are over, come to my office for detention!"
The reason he didn't say it now was that he hadn't yet thought of how to punish Ron.
With that, he flicked his robes and billowed away.
Even if Ron was dense, he realized what had happened.
He let out a whimper and turned to look at Harry.
"Am I done for? Harry?"
"Let's look at it from another angle." Harry said with schadenfreude. "At least you performed very bravely and spiritedly in front of him. You didn't lose face! You are a true Gryffindor!"
This was entirely from the heart. After all, Harry felt that no matter how brave he was, he wouldn't dare bare his fangs and brandish his claws at Snape to his face like that.
"Weasley is our King!" Seamus shouted loudly. "He never regards the 'Old Bat' with any respect!"
He said the words "Old Bat" in an extremely faint voice to avoid being detected by Snape.
Ron buried his face in his hands; he felt he was truly done for.
"Don't worry, at least no one will blame you for losing points for Gryffindor." Harry patted Ron's shoulder. "To provoke Professor Snape to his face like that, I think your name will be passed down in Gryffindor forever..."
"Yes, even after many years pass, you won't be forgotten," Fred leaned over and said sincerely to Ron.
"Even in the darkest of days, people will sing your name," George poked his head in from the other side.
"The world shall call you—"
The twins looked at each other and said in unison: "The King of Gryffindor!"
At this moment, the entire Great Hall burst into applause.
Not for anything else, but for Ron's courage in daring to challenge the Old Bat.
There was even a new student who stood up, reached over several people, and extended his hand to Ron, wanting to shake it.
It was Dennis, Colin Creevey's brother, also a social butterfly.
"You're amazing, Ron!" Dennis praised loudly. "You've done what so many people wouldn't dare to do. You are a true Gryffindor!"
"A true Gryffindor!" The Hufflepuff students chimed in, expressing their highest respect for Ron loudly.
"The King of Gryffindor!" The Ravenclaw students were also jeering.
The Slytherin students didn't speak, but the look in their eyes when regarding Ron was clearly full of respect.
This guy was too badass.
Ron was just about to say something when he saw Professor McGonagall walking towards them along the Gryffindor table.
He accidentally spilled scrambled eggs on himself, thinking McGonagall was coming to give him trouble.
"Potter, the champions are to congregate in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.
"Doesn't the task start tonight?" Harry asked curiously.
"I am aware, Potter," Professor McGonagall said. "The champions' families have been invited to watch the final task, you may meet with them."
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