Chapter 149: Why choose when you can have it all!
"Everyone, I must say this here—Happy Valentine's Day!!"
Lockhart's heart-shaped bow tie shimmered like candle wax under the magical candlelight. His words echoed loudly throughout the Great Hall, their final reverberations bouncing off the stone pillars and startling the carved figures embedded in the walls.
Dylan looked over, genuinely wondering how this guy had the nerve to wear such a brightly colored suit.
His psychological resilience must be immense; even if Voldemort wanted to possess him and take over his body, it wouldn't be easy.
If last year it wasn't Quirrell but Lockhart who had been the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, maybe there wouldn't have been so much trouble.
—Speaking of which, if Voldemort really did possess Lockhart, would he be able to tolerate his narcissism?
Dylan suddenly found this thought quite amusing.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were forcibly pulled to the front of the faculty table by Lockhart.
Neither of them could openly glare at Lockhart—they weren't Snape, after all.
And under the watchful eyes of students from all four houses, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick could only force strained smiles.
Their smiles were quite strained—brows slightly furrowed, eyelids lifted, nostrils flared, corners of the mouth pulled down into a thin line.
Compared to their "cooperation," Professor Snape was much more direct.
He hadn't even stood up, remaining seated in his chair, his brows deeply furrowed, creating profound crevices, and his entire aura was chillingly cold.
—It was a bit like the look Professor Snape had given Dylan that time he accidentally added a Shrinking Solution to his cauldron instead of an Ageing Potion.
Of course, Dylan believed that Professor Snape's disdain for Lockhart was infinitely greater.
That subtle look made Dylan feel that Lockhart might be the most incorrigible idiot Professor Snape had ever encountered in his life.
"As of now, forty-six people have sent me cards, and I thank them all! For this, I have specially decorated the Great Hall, and I hope my arrangements will surprise you all!"
Lockhart suddenly waved his hand, raising his arm high and gently clapping.
"Next, let's welcome our friendly little Cupids, bearing cards!"
As Lockhart's words faded, several doors behind the entrance hall slowly opened, and twelve goblins emerged, each with a rather sullen expression.
These goblins were draped in white fabric, with golden wings attached to their backs, and each carried a harp—it looked as though the harps were almost crushing them.
Dylan glanced quickly and then averted his gaze.
Just that one look made his eyeballs feel a little uncomfortable.
"Give them a big round of applause, everyone! They're holding an event in the school today, delivering Valentine's cards to all of you! Colleagues, I'm sure you'll also be eager to participate!"
"First step, why not try asking Professor Snape to teach you how to brew a love potion!"
Dylan bared his teeth, looking at Lockhart standing at the front of the faculty table, then at Professor Snape, who was still seated.
"...Are you seriously not afraid of death?"
Dylan distinctly felt Professor Snape's face darken even more than before!
Whether anyone would actually go and ask Professor Snape, Dylan didn't know.
But he knew that if anyone dared to ask, there was a 99% chance they'd be seized by Professor Snape and instantly transmuted!
Until they were boiled down into a puddle of potion in a cauldron!
And a 1% chance they'd be hit directly with an Avada Kedavra by Professor Snape.
And that Kedavra would definitely be fatal.
"Ho ho ho~"
Lockhart laughed loudly, then uttered what he thought were humorous words.
"Perhaps you find Professor Snape difficult to approach, so you could also go to Professor Flitwick and learn illusion magic from him."
"—I believe no other wizard is more skilled in this art!"
"He truly is a cunning old chap~ Ho ho ho~"
Professor Flitwick closed his eyes slightly, somewhat unable to face the scene unfolding before him.
Listening to Lockhart's somewhat unrestrained laughter, his head, which had been held high for most of his life, slowly drooped.
Vaguely.
Dylan even felt he could see two words on the swirl of hair at the top of Professor Flitwick's head—"It's over"!
The other professors present almost all had terrible expressions.
Only Professor Dumbledore sat serenely, seemingly unaffected by Lockhart's words in the slightest.
—Forgot that he was also an "old prankster."
He looked like he was enjoying the show, unconcerned by the trouble.
Dylan even suspected that Dumbledore might be anticipating whether any professor would actually do as Lockhart suggested.
Almost no one had a good breakfast.
Everyone hastily finished and rushed out of the Great Hall, heading straight for their respective classrooms.
—Never before had students wanted to start learning so quickly.
However, they were bound to be disappointed.
Those distorted goblins, arranged by Lockhart to cosplay Cupid but looking more like they'd just crawled out of a sewer.
Even when students were in class, they weren't left alone.
They would constantly wander in and out of classrooms, in and out.
The cards in their hands seemed endless; not only would they forcefully thrust them into every student's hand, but every now and then they would also tear open their croaky throats and directly recite the contents of the cards.
—Sometimes they would even sing.
—Accompanied by their harps.
Almost all the students were miserable.
They endured the auditory torture for an entire morning.
The professors teaching were also very displeased but couldn't directly attack the goblins.
Dylan naturally wouldn't expose himself in front of the professors, so after the first time a goblin entered and exited the classroom, he immediately turned the classroom door into an iron door that ten people couldn't budge.
Not to mention the Hufflepuffs who had class with them in the first half of the morning; even the Slytherins who came into the classroom for the latter half of the morning were eager to call Dylan their "dear father" after seeing his handiwork.
After lunch, not many people chose to linger in the Great Hall, still hurrying back to their classrooms.
—Although those goblins were scurrying about, at least there were so many classrooms, and you weren't guaranteed to run into one!
Before Charms class began.
After everyone had arrived, Dylan pointed at the main door again.
"Vera Verto!"
The classroom door instantly became much heavier.
"Clang!"
Just then, a thud came from the front door of the classroom; it seemed something tried to enter the classroom but was blocked by the suddenly transformed iron door.
Professor Flitwick, who had been standing at the podium, had already keenly spotted the goblin outside.
Dylan's sudden transformation of the door, blocking the goblin, made him let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Dylan smiled and apologized, "I'm very sorry to use a Transfiguration spell in your class. I hope you can forgive me."
Professor Flitwick quickly waved his hand, "Not at all! What I mean is, you did excellently! You are absolutely welcome to use spells whenever necessary!"
Professor Flitwick's smile seemed genuine.
He raised his hand, almost about to add ten points to Gryffindor.
However, on second thought, giving Gryffindor points just for this reason didn't seem entirely justified.
Professor Flitwick then reconsidered.
"I wonder if any of you have sent a card to your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. If so, you may ask to step outside and listen to Professor Lockhart read your Valentine's letters, and then return."
"No? That's even better then. Let this iron door remain here; don't move it."
It wouldn't be good if the goblins outside took the opportunity to barge in.
Professor Flitwick's gaze swept across the room; seeing no one raise a hand or respond, he finally nodded with satisfaction: "Now then, let's begin today's lesson!"
As he flipped through his book, Neville, seated next to Dylan, tried hard to hide the joy on his face, giving Dylan a thumbs-up.
"Only you would do that!"
Dylan smiled faintly, opening his textbook and pulling out his notebook.
While Professor Flitwick lectured, he could review his previous notes.
Time flew by, and April arrived without Hermione.
Nothing major happened at school during this period.
Dylan even received a letter from Gringotts, inviting him to visit at his convenience to finalize the property transfer. Afterward, the goblins would erase their own memories.
However, Dylan didn't have much time for this.
He had new knowledge to acquire—the books in the library seemed endless.
At the same time, he also needed to analyze existing spells on various levels, delving deeper into the connections between them.
He couldn't neglect his potion studies either.
He also had to test his new spell ideas on experimental subjects.
It seemed that learning a lot of new knowledge, combined with his previous accumulation, had led to a recent surge of inspiration.
This also accelerated his progress in various magical research fields.
—Inspiration waits for no one; it's fleeting.
Dylan could only record it first.
Yet, sometimes, just starting to write down an idea in one area was almost impossible to stop.
This, too, consumed a significant portion of Dylan's time.
Therefore, he decided to postpone the property acquisition until the summer holidays.
—After all, the house would stay there. As long as he didn't formally accept it, the old goblin couldn't claim his commission.
Dylan wasn't worried about the old goblin neglecting him after payment.
The magical contract was clearly laid out.
"It's been so quiet lately, Dylan. Do you think the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets ran away?"
Neville asked him once after class, walking with Dylan on the way to the Great Hall.
Dylan just smiled without answering. When asked too often, he would casually brush Neville off.
—At this point, even when walking, his mind was constantly popping with new ideas, leaving him with little time for casual conversation.
Neville naturally understood that Dylan had been very busy lately—even mealtimes were rushed.
So, he usually didn't take up too much of Dylan's time, at most just asking a quick question like this when he couldn't help himself.
Seamus wasn't particularly close to Dylan, so he naturally didn't interact with him much.
Harry and Ron had been busy with something lately; anyway, they were nowhere to be seen daily and wouldn't bother Dylan at all.
With ample time and energy, despite being preoccupied with many things, Dylan made significant breakthroughs and progress in his various magical research areas.
In fact, Dylan even felt that his research, even for his current self, was heading in a new direction.
Yet, he felt he should still cut down on research time.
To give himself more time for reading.
—Because research is endless.
One new direction always leads to another.
Dylan's intense research during this period, though progressing greatly, also made him feel that his existing knowledge was insufficient to support further research.
He encountered confusion in many areas.
Therefore, reading more books, acquiring more knowledge, enriching himself, and solidifying his foundation became Dylan's primary focus.
In addition to all this, Dylan even had to carve out some time every day to practice flying a Norwegian Ridgeback proficiently.
This was also something Dylan couldn't overlook.
Fortunately, he already owned a Norwegian Ridgeback. With Norbert there, flying with him daily, Dylan's mastery of flying skills also improved significantly.
It's worth noting that after he could transform into a dragon, Norbert became more cheerful and clingy—oh no, perhaps "clingy to dragons" is more accurate.
Such a full schedule continued until the Easter holidays.
Firstly, the Quidditch teams were using this time for intensive training, and professors had also assigned a large amount of homework to students.
Moreover, the campus remained calm; there were no further reports of the Chamber of Secrets or monster attacks on wizards.
Professor Sprout also brought good news: after the next repotting, the Mandrakes would be fully mature.
Once the Mandrakes matured and Professor Snape brewed them into a restorative potion, everyone in the school would no longer fear being petrified by the monster.
At most, they would walk in groups to avoid being eaten by the monster.
However, since there had been no instances of the monster eating people in the previous attacks, Hogwarts students' fear of the Chamber of Secrets and the so-called monster had diminished considerably.
Some even rumored that the monster might be no bigger than a booger, otherwise why wouldn't it come out and eat people?
Ron had hinted to others that they suspected the monster in the Chamber was a Basilisk, but when asked, Harry remained tight-lipped, so this rumor didn't spread widely.
As a result, even though it was a holiday, not many young wizards chose to go home; instead, they stayed at school.
—To finish homework and review the year's knowledge.
—Final exams weren't far off either.
Furthermore, since Dylan was now in his second year, he would soon be advancing to his third year.
This meant that second-year wizards needed to choose their elective courses.
How to choose, however, posed a dilemma for many second-year wizards.
A large group gathered in the common room, gazing at the course list with worried expressions, chattering amongst themselves.
Which course should they choose as their elective?
Almost every young wizard felt apprehensive.
They feared choosing a bad course, and they feared choosing a too-good course—which would mean a very difficult final exam.
They feared not choosing well, and they feared their friends choosing well—which would make them feel very unbalanced.
In this struggle, most second-year wizards had to use all their ingenuity; some asked their friends or older students, while others simply wrote home to ask their families.
This is where the benefit of having wizards in the family became apparent.
At least they could provide a general direction when one was confused.
Dylan, however, was unfazed.
He already knew how to choose his elective courses.
That is, only children make choices; he wanted them all!
If he only chose one or two subjects, he would have more than enough time for classes.
However, Dylan had been curious about the Time-Turner for a long time.
So, almost in his first year, he had already decided that for his third-year electives, he would choose all of them.
It's important to note that if all four elective courses were chosen, there would be scheduling conflicts.
Other students naturally wouldn't want to spend so much time studying so many subjects.
After all, choosing a course meant they had to pass its final exam.
But Dylan was different.
He chose so many courses, firstly, because he had the ability to bear the consequences of choosing them.
Secondly... it would give him a legitimate reason to apply for a Time-Turner from Professor McGonagall.
—In fact, Hermione had done the same in the original story.
Unfortunately, she was still in the infirmary.
Dylan wondered if Hermione would break down when she woke up and found she had missed several months of classes.
Actually, Dylan still didn't understand why, when it was just a Mandrake, and the school's weren't mature, they didn't just buy mature plants from outside.
Wouldn't that allow them to start brewing the potion right away?
Why wait for the school's to mature?
For this, Dylan had only one guess.
That is—he thought, perhaps Hogwarts' current financial situation wasn't very good.
The tuition fees paid by each student would at most cover their food and lodging; larger sums would have to come from the Board of Governors.
The Ministry of Magic might have already stopped allocating funds to Hogwarts recently.
Otherwise, how could Hogwarts be so poor that it couldn't even afford a few Mandrakes?
At the very least, they should buy a few, brew them into potions, and restore the petrified people first, right?
"Also, after being petrified, in what state does one exist in the world? Or does petrification mean a person is already dead? Hermione hasn't eaten for so long, yet she's fine when she wakes up. Is it because her body was petrified, causing her entire being to be paused at the moment of petrification?"
Many new ideas popped into Dylan's head.
He was truly interested in this point and very much wanted to find some test subjects for experiments.
This also made him eager for young Tom to regain his strength and duel Harry with the Basilisk.
At that time, he could catch the Basilisk and the Horcrux in one fell swoop!
"Dylan, my grandma said that even though electives are optional, they're still quite difficult. Which courses do you think I should choose?"
Neville stood beside Dylan, clutching a pile of letters, his face no less worried than other young wizards.
After taking the topmost letter, Neville looked at the other letters, then sighed deeply.
"Not just my grandmother, but many of my relatives have sent me lots of advice, but much of what they've suggested contradicts each other, and it's making my head spin! Who do you think I should listen to?"
Neville saw Dylan choose all four elective courses with a single gesture, and he became even more anxious.
—Some relatives had told him that choosing all electives was definitely a good idea and would allow him to experience the wonders of magic throughout the entire academic year.
Neville didn't know if he would experience the wonders of magic.
But he knew that if he, like Dylan, chose all these electives, he would surely go crazy first.
"Each of these electives has its own merits, and once you learn them, those abilities will stay with you, no matter what you want to do. So, if there's something you're interested in, you can choose it. If not, there's no need to. It's very simple."
Seeing Neville so troubled, Dylan offered him some guidance.
However, after hearing his words, Neville became even more distressed...
"But I'm not interested in any of them, I don't really want to learn any of them."
Dylan: (_)
Dylan thought to himself, "That makes sense."
Neville didn't seem to need these elective course skills for any particular career path, as he eventually took over from Professor Sprout as the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts.
Stroking his chin, Dylan pointed Neville towards a clear path: "I suggest you simply choose Divination. You know, Divination is subjective."
"Some young wizards without talent can't accurately divine anything, and that's just how it is. The professor won't fail you in the final exam."
Dylan had made it very clear—this course was an easy pass for the finals!
Neville's eyes lit up.
"Really? Then I'll choose Divination!"
He gripped the course list in his hand and put a checkmark next to Divination.
Harry and Ron were also fretting over what to choose. Upon hearing Dylan's words, they exchanged glances, then discreetly put checkmarks next to Divination as well.
Neville glanced at the crowd: "Percy is amazing, he's chosen all the courses! What does he plan to do in the future?"
Dylan shrugged: "Maybe he just wants to blindly be a stooge."
"What?" Neville paused.
Dylan shook his head: "Nothing. I don't know either."
"Uh..." Neville scratched his head, "But Percy also said we could choose electives based on what we want to do later."
"I'm only interested in Herbology, and I might work in that field later, so for these electives, I'll just pick one course to take."
—As long as he didn't fail, everything else was fine.
Harry and Ron had listened to Percy for a long time.
In fact, they didn't know what they would do in the future either, nor did they have a definite goal.
So, they just chose the courses they were slightly interested in, which included the easy-pass Divination recommended by Dylan.
No matter what, the course selection was finally over.
Harry quickly put the matter out of his mind.
—Quidditch training became even more frequent.
Perhaps because the match was approaching, Wood was waking up even earlier than Dylan.
Every time Dylan left before dawn, he would surprisingly find Wood waiting at the door, perfectly timed to meet him...
It had to be said, Wood was truly dedicated to ensuring Harry, who had secured victory for the Gryffindor team numerous times, trained more.
However, even waking up too early and getting insufficient sleep would significantly reduce training effectiveness.
Dylan, after all, was someone who usually woke up after four in the morning.
It was just that he had too many things to do lately, and he also needed to ensure ample sleep.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have much energy throughout the day, which would be detrimental to his studies.
"Sharpening the axe doesn't delay chopping wood" was a perfectly accurate saying.
Precisely for this reason, he had been waking up slightly later in the past month or two, but still well before five in the morning.
So, after encountering Wood several times upon leaving, and seeing his increasingly heavy dark circles, Dylan advised him:
At least sleep until six, preferably seven, then wake up for training; it wouldn't delay anything.
Perhaps he took Dylan's advice, or perhaps Harry's Quidditch training had indeed been subpar recently.
Wood eventually agreed.
After that, Dylan never encountered Wood again when leaving in the mornings.
It was the day before the Quidditch match.
Dylan had spent some time in the library, then secretly went to the Room of Requirement to practice spells.
When he returned to the dormitory, he saw Harry frantically searching for something at his spot.
Dylan asked, and only then learned that Tom's diary was missing.
After training, Harry returned to the dormitory to find his belongings haphazardly rummaged through by someone unknown.
Then he couldn't find the diary.
Dylan raised an eyebrow.
It seemed he could spend the entire next day in the library then?
With the diary missing, the attacks would naturally resume.
The Quidditch match would naturally be unable to continue.
In fact, Dylan's thoughts were accurate.
When the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Quidditch teams took to the field, before they could even take off, just as Madam Hooch was about to blow her whistle, Professor McGonagall rushed over, immediately halting the match.
"Match cancelled—!"
Professor McGonagall even used the Sonorus Charm.
And as her words fell, the students in the stands widened their eyes in surprise.
"What?"
"Match cancelled? Why?"
"How can this be? The match is about to begin!"
A chorus of boos erupted.
Wood, who had already straddled his broom, saw Professor McGonagall's stern expression, jumped down, and ran to her, wanting to inquire about the situation.
However, Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued to announce loudly: "All students! Everyone! Return to your common rooms immediately!"
"All prefects, immediately lead your house students away! Quickly!"
Professor McGonagall's voice reached everyone on the field.
The prefects immediately acted according to Professor McGonagall's instructions.
Then, Professor McGonagall strode over to Harry, grabbed his hand, and led him away, saying something.
Ron paused, then jogged to catch up.
Dylan had originally been reading in the library.
He knew there was a high probability that this Quidditch match wouldn't happen, so he hadn't gone to the stadium.
However, he couldn't stay in the library for long either; Madam Pince seemed to have received a notice, and then she drove everyone out of the library.
—At that moment, he was the only one in the library.
Meaning Madam Pince was practically kicking people out one-on-one.
Dylan, helpless, could only pack his things and head back towards the dormitory.
At this time, Hogwarts Castle was bustling with people.
As Dylan approached the Gryffindor common room, a chubby boy darted to his side.
It was Neville, who had been sent back by Professor McGonagall from the Quidditch pitch.
"Dylan! I don't know what happened, Professor McGonagall even interrupted the Quidditch match! Oh my goodness, did something happen to someone again?"
Neville stammered, his face filled with panic.
To cause such a commotion, could it be that the monster from the Chamber of Secrets not only attacked someone again but also ate them?!
"Harry said the monster should be a Basilisk! Oh my god, that's a Basilisk! That thing does eat people! Dylan, do you know what the monster in the Chamber of Secrets actually is?"
Neville swallowed, looking at Dylan.
Dylan was calm. Hearing Neville's words, he shrugged.
"There aren't many creatures with petrifying abilities. A Basilisk certainly is one, so it's very possible."
"Ah!"
Neville's expression became even more distressed.
At this moment, they had entered the Gryffindor common room.
Seamus saw Dylan and walked over, looking terrible: "Bad news! Something terrible has happened!"
Dylan looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
Neville was startled by Seamus's anxious expression: "What's wrong? What happened?"
"My charm! My charm is gone! Could it be that the monster from the Chamber of Secrets was going to attack me, and the charm blocked it for me?"
"...Dylan's mouth twitched.
"What kind of charm was it?" Neville asked, quickly feeling for his own charm in his pocket.
After feeling something hard, Neville breathed a sigh of relief.
Good, his charm was still there.
"It's a charm the Weasley brothers sold me... I heard several people say this charm is quite effective."
Dylan: "."
Hearing Seamus say the charm he bought was actually sold by the Weasley twins, Dylan was surprised again.
"Didn't you know the charms they sell have my spells on them?"
To Dylan's surprise, Seamus nodded.
"I bought it because I knew that. I thought the spells you cast would be very strong."
"..."
Dylan opened his mouth, then didn't know what to say.
What was this, were they treating him like Buddha now?
Asking him for blessings?
However, even more surprisingly, Neville also nodded in agreement.
"Last time someone said the charms the Weasley brothers sold were fake. They not only demonstrated the charm's power on the spot but also said it was made by Dylan. When those people heard that, they went crazy and all ran to buy charms from the Weasleys."
"Huh?"
(End of this chapter)
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