Chapter 130

After the morning training, John returned to the castle with Professor Fuliwei.

Today's training ended a bit earlier than usual.

On the way, they met a wizard wearing a dark green cloak, holding a small suitcase in his hand.

"Oh, Severus seems to be purchasing potion ingredients quite often lately."

Seeing that wizard, Fuliwei did not find him unfamiliar.

Because that person was an apothecary from Diagon Alley who often delivered potion ingredients to Snape.

But he had clearly seen this person deliver ingredients just last week; why were there new ones so soon?

"Professor Fuliwei, it's a pleasure to see you."

That person also noticed Professor Fuliwei and bowed slightly to greet him.

"It's a pleasure to see you too. Are you here to deliver ingredients for Severus again?"

Professor Fuliwei smiled slightly at him.

"Yes, I heard that Professor Snape recently took on a student who likes to study potions, and the ingredients are being consumed very quickly, so I have to restock frequently."

That apothecary said with a smile: "That child is truly lucky to be personally guided by Snape."

Hearing this, Professor Fuliwei raised his eyebrows, looked at John beside him with amusement, and spoke softly.

"Yes, that child is indeed lucky."

John, standing to the side, felt a bit awkward.

He had actually been running to Professor Snape's place frequently lately to raid the old man's potion ingredients, learning the potion recipes he had seen in the Restricted Books Section.

There was no purpose; he was just addicted.

But he had been working for free for Professor Snape, so this was his labor compensation; it couldn't be considered taking advantage.

"Excuse me, Professor, I must hurry to deliver the goods and get back to open the shop."

The apothecary had no intention of talking for long; he bowed slightly, picked up his suitcase, and walked away quickly.

John looked at the apothecary's retreating back and couldn't help but scratch his head.

Seeing this, Professor Fuliwei chuckled: "John, you must cherish the opportunity Severus gives you; he never wastes materials on students without talent."

"Cough, I know."

John coughed lightly and replied awkwardly.

The two continued walking toward the castle, but they hadn't gone two steps.

At a corner, they saw that apothecary talking to Old Barty about something.

It was just that Old Barty didn't seem very interested, while the apothecary appeared very enthusiastic.

Seeming to notice them, Old Barty turned his head slightly, nodded at John and Fuliwei, said something to the apothecary, and then turned and left.

The apothecary waved his hand to bid farewell to Old Barty, then picked up his suitcase and walked toward the stairs leading to the basement.

It seems Mr. Crouch is quite popular; even the person passing by to deliver medicine wants to chat with him a few more times.

John looked at Old Barty's retreating back, lost in thought.

But he didn't take it too seriously; after all, Old Barty was a prominent figure in the Ministry of Magic, and it was normal for people to want to strike up a conversation.

During this time, the Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation had been stationed at Hogwarts.

However, he rarely appeared, spending most of his time behind closed doors handling official business.

When he did appear occasionally, it was for the sake of the Triwizard Tournament.

In two more weeks, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament would begin.

Speaking of the Triwizard Tournament.

One has to mention what happened recently.

The uproar from a while ago about John cheating was no longer being discussed by many people.

Because Harry was speaking up for John every day, and there were many people supporting him, slowly shifting the public opinion.

Plus, John himself always had an expression of "I cheated, so what? If you have the ability, come hit me" regarding such rumors, making those questioning voices seem boring instead.

Oh, there was indeed someone who picked a fight with John.

That Malfoy from Slytherin.

It was only heard later that John was given detention, while Malfoy and his few lackeys were all hospitalized.

The key was that the place where John served his detention was the Restricted Books Section, and John went there more diligently every day than he went to class, showing no sign of being punished at all.

And Malfoy didn't have the face to go to his parents; after all, a group of fourth-years went to pick a fight with a second-year and ended up getting beaten back; he was too embarrassed to say it.

There was also Sirius, who was now staying at Hogwarts, and one could see him out for a stroll from time to time.

In order to make this outsider not appear abrupt in the castle, Dumbledore simply arranged a temporary position for him.

That was to assist Hagrid in taking care of those magical creatures of his; although it was just a name, one could still occasionally see him shoveling dung at Hagrid's place.

Sirius seemed to be enjoying it very much.

"Hey, John."

"Hmm? Sirius."

Just back from morning training and planning to go to the Great Hall for breakfast, John ran into Sirius on the way.

They had naturally crossed paths during this time, and chatting when meeting was also an occasional thing.

"Are you free tonight?"

"No."

John shook his head bluntly; he was indeed not free, because he had to go work at Snape's place.

The corner of Sirius's mouth twitched slightly, but he continued to speak.

"Then make time. Come to the Forbidden Forest tonight; I discovered some interesting things recently, and I think you will definitely be interested."

John raised his eyebrows, not understanding why he wanted him to go to the Forbidden Forest at this time.

"Oh, by the way, this isn't just my idea; it's also Hagrid's idea."

"It's about the first task."

Sirius lowered his voice and said in John's ear.

After saying this, he waved his hand, not caring whether John agreed or not, and turned to leave.

Emmm...

Hearing Sirius's words, John felt a moment of speechlessness.

Could it be that the first task was planned to be held in the Forbidden Forest, and the site prepared in advance was discovered by Sirius?

So he planned to come and spoil the content of the task for him?

That would be so boring.

He didn't want to know the content of the task in advance; that would lose the tension and excitement of dealing with the unknown.

But since it was also Hagrid's idea, forget it, let's go.

After all, one cannot refuse Hagrid's face.

He was still counting on Hagrid to lead him to get rich.

Night.

John arrived at Hagrid's hut as promised.

At this time, besides Hagrid and Sirius in the room, even Harry was there.

It seems it really was related to the first task.

"Finally here, I thought you were going to stand me up."

Seeing John, Sirius also said with a smile.

"I went to Professor Snape to ask for leave. The old man heard it was you looking for me and kept mocking me, saying I have wide social connections and hang out with a wanted criminal, and I definitely won't have a future."

Sirius laughed out loud upon hearing this, not angry at all because of these words.

Harry, on the other hand, was very dissatisfied with Snape's description; his godfather was not a wanted criminal!

Hagrid rubbed his rough hands and smiled honestly: "Don't listen to his nonsense, John, you will definitely have a future."

"Alright, back to the point."

"Harry, John, calling you here today is to take you to see something."

Hagrid stood up slowly, picked up a dim lantern from the corner of the room, and then pushed open the hut door.

Harry also seemed to know that what they were going to see was related to the first task.

After exchanging a look with John, he stood up and followed Hagrid.

"Harry, you brought the Invisibility Cloak, right?"

"Brought it."

Harry quickly picked up a cloak in his hand that looked like a blanket but was almost transparent.

"You and John put it on together, then follow me."

Harry nodded, first covering half of his body, then raised his hand, signaling John to come in too.

Watching this scene from the outside, one found that half of Harry's body had disappeared, without a trace.

Compared to the Disillusionment Charm, it was even harder to detect with the naked eye.