Fine, since Dumbledore had said so, it wouldn't be appropriate for Karl to offer any other opinions.
He could also understand the Old Headmaster's good intentions; after all, the coming years were indeed becoming increasingly dangerous.
"Then what do you plan to do?"
"We just need to monitor Elvis Heller and wait for him to make a move."
Dumbledore tapped on the table, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.
"If my guess is correct, besides Lord Voldemort's Horcrux, he will have other methods to make me leave the school."
"In that case, we will need to create an illusion at some point to make him think he has succeeded."
"Karl, go and invite Professor Snape over; we need his help."
Uh... this choice of person is quite particular!
Aside from the Lord Voldemort factor, for Snape, who had always wanted to be the defense against the dark arts professor, he probably already disliked Elvis Heller.
"Alright, I'll go now."
The Slytherin Dean's office was located in the Castle dungeons, and the environment was even more gloomy than the Potion Class classroom.
If it weren't for Dumbledore's request, he would absolutely never come here.
Karl hammered on the door twice, and then he heard a muffled explosion from inside.
Ah, this... did he cause trouble?
Judging by the sound, it seemed like a cauldron had exploded!
After a long silence, the office door was opened from the inside.
Snape appeared, wearing a black robe of a different style than usual, his undried hair quite noticeable.
Seeing that it was Karl outside the door, the angry expression on his face turned into disdain.
He looked down his nose at Karl, "Mr. Orolin, you had better have a reasonable explanation for what just happened, otherwise Hufflepuff will have all its house points deducted because of you."
Karl chuckled, "Respected Professor Snape, Headmaster Dumbledore requests your presence; there is an urgent matter."
"It had better be!"
Snape slammed the office door shut and walked past Karl, his robe billowing.
Karl rubbed his nose; what kind of Potion was that? The smell was so strange!
...
Ever since the conversation in the Headmasters Office that day, Karl's life had returned to peace.
Elvis Heller seemed to have amnesia; he never sought him out again.
Professor Snape was a bit busy in the following month and didn't mock the Little wizards during class.
Karl wanted to discuss with Headmaster Dumbledore whether they could tell Snape about Lord Voldemort's Horcrux and the fact that it had been destroyed.
Let Snape properly thank him; if nothing else, teaching him Sectumsempra definitely wouldn't be too much to ask, right?
Days passed, and time flew by like a white horse passing a crack.
Using the excuse of helping Cho Chang experience life in her hometown, Karl gathered his friends and began celebrating the Spring Festival at Hogwarts.
The Little wizards were very enthusiastic about celebrating festivals, just like people in his previous life would celebrate Western holidays—it was just an excuse to have some fun.
Karl applied to Professor McGonagall for a classroom to use as the venue for the Spring Festival party.
However, since he hadn't watched the Spring Festival Gala in so long, in terms of the schedule, this could only really count as a party.
Fortunately, Eastern Wizards also celebrate the Spring Festival, so Prefect Judy brought many festive items like red lanterns and paper cuttings.
"Karl, what about the Spring Festival couplets?"
Cho Chang pulled Karl into a corner, the expression on her face very troubled.
It seemed that Eastern Wizards were still accustomed to doing things themselves, so the ones sold weren't the pre-written kind.
Karl gave Cho Chang a puzzled look, "You don't know how to write them?"
"Although we put them up at home, I never paid attention to what was written on them."
Cho Chang scratched her head helplessly; the only thing she knew related to couplets was "Sky to Earth, Rain to Wind, Continent to Vast Sky; Mountain Flowers to Sea Trees, Red Sun to the Firmament."
But writing these contents on Spring Festival couplets certainly wouldn't work.
"Fine, leave it to me."
Karl picked up the provided brush and wrote in Chinese: "Joyful living in the Castle for a thousand years of prosperity, blessings shining on the school for everything to flourish."
Finally, combining East and West, the horizontal scroll was written in English: "Hogwarts Forever Young."
Although it was a bit nonsensical, the sentiment was there, so there was no need to be too particular.
"Not bad, Karl! You're more like a person of Chinese descent than I am; my mom and dad would definitely like you!"
Just as Cho Chang finished saying this, Karl felt someone watching him.
He turned his head to look, and as expected, it was that guy Cedric. That was fine then.
"Of course! I must have been Chinese in my past life. Look at how I wrote these characters, how is it?"
Cho Chang gave a thumbs up, "You don't say! You really don't say!"
So the unspeakable Karl continued to guide others in decorating the room.
Nina seemed to like the paper cuttings very much, and after learning they were cut out, she quickly began to try.
"How is it? Any results?"
Karl leaned over to look. Good heavens, she had pioneered abstract paper cuttings.
"It's too hard, I just can't cut it well."
Nina flexed her slightly sore fingers and decided to give up on cutting paper cuttings herself; it was better to just admire them.
"It's okay, I'll teach you when I learn."
Karl patted her head to comfort her, then quickly went to stop the Weasley Brothers, "You two, don't put the Spring Festival couplets up upside down!"
Having only walked a few steps, Nina's voice came from behind, "Karl!"
"Yeah?"
"Happy Spring Festival!"
Karl smiled brilliantly, "Thank you, Nina! Happy Spring Festival!"
Just as the couplets were put up on this side, shouts erupted on that side.
Audrey: "Karl, what are this dough and filling for? Are we making pizza?"
"Making pizza, my foot! I'll teach you all how to make dumplings in a bit!"
Shabi: "Does it need to be baked?"
"No! Boil it in a pot!"
Stebbins: "Uh... use a cauldron?"
"Throw away that broken pot that was used to boil slugs! Use the one I borrowed from the kitchen!"
Cedric: "What about these Galleon?"
"They've all been cleaned. We'll wrap them into the dumplings later; whoever gets one will have good luck for the whole year!"
As soon as these words were out, Judy, Summers, Julia, Marietta, Katie, Cormac, Derian, and others all quietly gathered around.
They were already prepared to mark them; nothing else mattered, but good luck was very important.
Derian rubbed his chin and began to rack his brain, "Aren't there a bit too few Galleon here?"
Judy clapped her hands, "That makes sense! Let's go! Go wash another basin of Galleon!"
Karl:... (＿ ＿) ノ｜
Fine, fine, fine! So that's how we're playing, right?
Will there even be any filling left in the dumplings? It won't just be all Galleon, will it?
The starting point was quite good, but please don't start next time!
...
Facts proved that Karl's Spring Festival party was very successful.
His friends participated in it, Fired Up!, eating, drinking, and having a great time.
So much so that when the Lantern Festival party was held, not only students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor came.
Even some Slytherin students, who didn't like to hang out with non-pure-blood Wizards, were dragged over by Derian.
It was also on this night that the Weasley Brothers brought Karl some good news.
"Karl, Professor Heller seems to have been searching for the secret passages of the Castle recently."
"That's right, he discovered one last night, and he even stayed inside it for a long time."
Karl's heart stirred. Was this guy finally about to start?