Chapter 14: Midnight Duel

Before the next Potions class on Friday, Harry first had the flying lesson on Thursday. He really stole the show in the flying lesson. When Madam Hooch asked them to summon their brooms, he was almost the first to grasp his broom firmly in his hand, even faster than Ma Erfu, who had practiced at home several times.

Seeming to want to mend the awkward relationship between the two, Ma Erfu invited Harry to fly a few laps with him first. Madam Hooch rarely agreed. The two children rose into the air as if strolling in a courtyard, and then slowly began to accelerate.

Ma Erfu looked very happy, flying in the sky, showing off his noble status, and elegantly sparring with the savior Harry Potter, while that annoying Wei Silai could only watch them with envy.

But Harry didn't like having to deal with Ma Erfu's hypocritical conversation while flying; he preferred to enjoy the feeling of flying carefree on his own. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Neville also took off. Harry said, "You can invite Mr. Longbottom to fly a few more laps," while his hands couldn't wait to lower his altitude. For the rest of the lesson, he had been swaying at low altitude with Luo En.

Neville and Ma Erfu chased each other for a while, and it seemed there was some unpleasantness, but the two didn't make a big deal out of it, just treating each other with cold eyes.

Harry thought to himself that people like Ma Erfu were hard to become friends with; he had no real ability but thought highly of himself. He himself was only speaking a few words to him out of politeness and upbringing.

Little did he know, Ma Erfu felt the same way about Neville.

When Harry finished dinner and came to the library to do his homework, he found that Zhang Qiu was a bit strange today; she seemed very curious about his first flying lesson.

"I mean, did really nothing happen? You didn't have a falling out with Ma Erfu, and you didn't help Neville get back his Remembrall?" she asked eagerly.

"No, you can ask a few more times and it's still no," Harry said helplessly. "I wouldn't go out of my way to provoke Ma Erfu, and Neville doesn't have a Remembrall at all."

"Alright, I asked because," Zhang Qiu said, "my master's divination said you have a great talent for flying, would have a conflict with Ma Erfu, help Neville a big favor, and then join the Quidditch team. Perhaps divination isn't always accurate."

"Strictly speaking, it's not entirely wrong. I might indeed have that talent, the one who had a conflict with Ma Erfu was Neville, and if I had argued with him first, it might have really helped Neville a big favor," Harry explained. "As for the Quidditch team, they did invite me after class, but it was just to invite me to try out next year."

"But, Harry," Zhang Qiu said with some worry, "if divination is always inaccurate, it's hard for me to plan my actions based on it."

"Don't take this too seriously; divination is just divination, one still has to live one's own life," Harry said dismissively.

"This is your destiny," she lowered her head and said softly, "and also my mission."

The second half of the sentence was said in Chinese, which Harry didn't understand. He just followed the first half and said: "My destiny is in my own hands; if divination and prophecy are wrong, let them be wrong."

Zhang Qiu apologized, saying she wasn't feeling well and wanted to return to the dormitory, then she quickly packed her things and left in a hurry.

Harry was a bit puzzled, but he didn't take it too seriously. Teacher Clara had told him that girls would have a few days of bad mood every month, which was very normal.

Harry finished his homework alone in the library. At this time, he found an insignificant extracurricular book left on Zhang Qiu's seat, perhaps she had used it to hold her spot.

He picked it up and looked; it was "Hogwarts: A History," which recounted a series of legends from the time the four wizards founded the school. Harry browsed through it roughly; it turned out that the names of the four houses came from the surnames of the four founders, and Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were originally friends, but they quarreled many times during the school's operation because of conflicts in philosophy. Only then did he realize that the hostility between the two houses was long-standing and not as simple as he had imagined.

When Harry returned to the dormitory, he found that both Luo En and Neville were gone. That copy of "How the Steel Was Tempered" was quietly placed by Luo En's bed; judging from the bookmark, he had already read more than half of it.

It was originally a thing that made Harry very happy that his good friend liked the novel he brought, especially since this friend was Luo En, who didn't like reading in the first place, but he was a bit worried tonight. What could be so important that Luo En would go out even after putting down his novel?

In Harry's anxious waiting, Luo En and Neville returned, panting. As soon as Luo En entered the door, he couldn't wait to say to Harry: "Hey, Harry, you absolutely cannot imagine, it's terrible, no, it's amazing!"

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Neville and Ma Erfu agreed to a duel in the trophy room on the third floor at night, and he invited me to be his assistant," Luo En said with dancing eyebrows. "But somehow Filch found out. We had just stood still and hadn't had time to salute when we found Mrs. Norris sniffing around at the door."

"And then?" Harry asked.

"Then we had a stroke of luck," Luo En said. "Zhang Qiu suddenly appeared in the trophy room. She gave us two small pieces of paper, which are said to be 'talisman papers.' The Disillusionment Charm recorded on them can make us invisible for fifteen minutes. We initially wanted to hide in the trophy room, but Filch..."

"Wait, what about Ma Erfu?" Harry asked. "He should have been there too, right?"

"Zhang Qiu is too kind; she also gave Ma Erfu two," Luo En said with some dissatisfaction. "As soon as they turned invisible, they slipped away quietly, without even saying a thank you."

"Ma Erfu did say it, just a bit quietly," Neville explained.

"Of course that's not the point. The point is we were almost discovered by Filch. The fifteen minutes were about to pass, and we had to run to other places. Finally, we hid behind that door at the end of the corridor. Guess what's inside?"

"I want to know how you got in first; we pushed for a long time last time and couldn't open the door," Harry said.

"Because that door was locked, Neville cast an Alohomora," Luo En said, becoming excited. "There is a three-headed dog inside! My god, its head reached the ceiling! Think about it, three heads; three pairs of round, fierce, big eyes; three noses, each spraying foul air; three drooling big mouths, each with terrifying pale yellow canine teeth. It just stood there quietly, six eyes staring at us without moving. It was terrible!"

Harry couldn't help but feel a bit scared, and he sighed: "Deng Buliduo's talk of a painful death really wasn't a joke. So how did you escape?"

"Neville reacted quickly; he touched the doorknob," Luo En said, still having lingering fears. "We ran for our lives, and finally ran back to the dormitory. This is the luckiest thing tonight."

"What about Zhang Qiu?" Harry said. "She's from Ravenclaw."

"The situation was special tonight, after all, and Filch was still in the corridor," Neville said. "She followed us in, and I asked Hermione to let her squeeze into the girls' dormitory."

"I'm still thinking, why did Zhang Qiu appear there?" Harry felt very confused. "And she specifically brought so many invisibility props, as if she had expected it long ago."

"Maybe it's because of her master's magical divination," Luo En said. "She originally thought the person appearing there tonight was you."

"The prophecy about Harry saved my life; this feeling isn't very good," Neville said helplessly. "It's the second time, but I still have to thank you."

"Second time? Can you tell me in detail? I don't quite understand," Harry realized that things didn't seem that simple.

"Someone told Voldemort a prophecy that a child born at the end of July would become his nemesis. We both met the conditions, but he chose to solve you first," Neville said with some unhappiness. "If it weren't for you, I'm afraid my grandmother alone couldn't have resisted him."

"Then your parents also..." Harry said cautiously.

"No, they were harmed by Death Eaters," Neville said angrily. "Those are the nobles who support Voldemort; they are as hateful as Voldemort himself. My grandmother was heartbroken, and I was almost harmed too. I have always kept these blood debts in my heart."

"I'm really sorry, I didn't know before that our backgrounds were so similar," Harry said apologetically. "But Voldemort should be dead for sure, otherwise the resurrection spell wouldn't have worked on him."

"Resurrection?" Neville was clearly startled.

"Uh, Zhang Qiu has a spell that can let me talk to the dead. I originally wanted to see my parents, but it was Voldemort who appeared," Harry said with a wry smile. "Or, you can also try this spell?"

"My parents didn't die, they were just tortured into madness," Neville climbed into bed, feeling depressed.

"Hey, let's talk about something happy," Luo En tried to liven up the atmosphere. "That big dog, I noticed he was stepping on a trapdoor. That must be the secret treasure Deng Buliduo hid!"

"Grandmother once said, those who steal from others lose their own treasure," Neville's voice came from behind the bed curtains.

"Uh, alright, I'll read the story of the Fullmetal Alchemist again," Luo En said awkwardly. He also sat on the bed and picked up the novel.

The next morning, Harry was surprised to find that Hermione and Zhang Qiu were chatting very enthusiastically, as if they were close friends who had known each other for many years. However, after getting to know each other last night, his relationship with Neville was now quite good, at least he wouldn't always avoid him like he was avoiding Percy.

Under the introduction of Zhang Qiu and Neville, Harry and Luo En formally met this bushy-haired little witch for the first time. Although her appearance was not outstanding, she seemed very smart and studied very seriously. From this point, Harry thought it was not surprising that she became friends with Zhang Qiu. ===== CHAPTER 15 =====