[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-wizard-war-at-hogwarts":3,"chapter-wizard-war-at-hogwarts-wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-161":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Wizard War at Hogwarts",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2358134,4612,"Chapter 161: A Year-Long Vacation","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-161",161,"\u003Cp>To some extent, Harry living in Tang Dun was also a spoiled young master oblivious to the hardships of the world; thus, he didn’t care whether some of the trash consisted of items that could be restored with just “Reparo,” but followed Zhang Qiu’s advice, bundled everything she didn’t need into a single package, and muttered the Shrinking Charm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it, why doesn’t the Shrinking Charm reduce the weight?” Harry strained as he slung the bundle onto his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Probably because of mass-energy conservation,” Zhang Qiu replied uncertainly. “My uncle mentioned something similar—like the Undetectable Extension Charm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh right—your storage bag. All that stuff inside, doesn’t it weigh anything?” Harry asked curiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The total weight inside the storage bag correlates directly with its external weight; my uncle said it follows some function…” Zhang Qiu shrugged. “He studied these things deeply, but my advice is: when it feels heavy, just cast another Levitation Charm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forgot about that,” Harry gave her a thumbs-up, then tugged the floating bundle, pulled on his Invisibility Cloak, and headed toward the eighth floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Harry trudged alone with Zhang Qiu’s trash bundle up Hogwarts’ staircases, his mood felt peculiar. Before this, he had almost never done something so—for a long time he struggled to find the word—so mundane for another person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t stop recalling Zhang Qiu’s face: mostly she smiled faintly, sometimes serious, sometimes troubled, but never angry. He thought again of the trash in the bag—from the broken plate, he imagined her nibbling delicately; from the crooked snack rack, he pictured her lounging lazily on the sofa; from the snagged tights, he imagined her blushing as she muttered “I kao”—he found that Chinese particle utterly adorable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Harry reached the eighth floor, he finally shook off his thoughts and reminded himself he had duties to attend to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I need a rubbish room, Harry thought hard—and slowly, a rusted iron door appeared on the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cautiously pushed it open; inside lay assorted debris, and four enormous trash bins of different colors stood side by side—exactly like the rubbish rooms he’d seen in the Muggle world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry stuck a Disillusionment Charm on one bin, then, cloaked in invisibility, slowly pushed it toward the Chamber of Secrets. When they entered, both were delighted to discover the bin bore the Undetectable Extension Charm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest of the work went quickly: tidying up, erasing traces, staging a dark and terrifying attack scene, then sending Justin a ticket granting him an early summer vacation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, now we just wait for Donald,” Zhang Qiu whispered, facing the empty chamber. “He’ll probably inspect the Basilisk’s corpse, but he’ll leave after.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, but someone from the Ministry might come during Christmas break,” Harry recalled his deductions from second year. “Dumbledore will bring people to tour it—and might credit Donald with killing the Basilisk, to convince the Ministry not to send an inspector to the school.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I understand. You should go back now,” Zhang Qiu said softly. “I’ll handle the rest.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Harry stepped into the time machine, he suddenly felt he should stay with Zhang Qiu—but the Doctor had already smiled, pulled the lever, and the TARDIS whooshed away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The TARDIS landed on a clear day in March, the spring chill still biting—a temperature where Harry could remove his Invisibility Cloak without shivering too badly. He walked through the increasingly familiar corridors and descended once more into the cold Chamber of Secrets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Qiu sat on a sofa, frantically waving her hands at a large rectangular box. Harry studied it carefully, then realized it was a television. He stepped closer and saw she held a controller covered in buttons; on screen, a red, round-eyed creature with a fierce expression bounced around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh Harry, you’re here,” Zhang Qiu kept her eyes locked on the screen. “Sit down. Let me finish this level.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry sat beside her and asked curiously, “What’s this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“NES—also called the Red and White Machine—but this is a magical exclusive version,” she said with a hint of pride. “My uncle sent me ten exclusive cartridges; this one you’re seeing is one of them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So…” Harry struggled to grasp her words, then suddenly understood when “GAME COMPLETE” flashed on screen. “It’s a game console?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly. Want to try?” Zhang Qiu handed him another controller. “All-Powerful Action X has a two-player mode. Blue or orange?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait, wait,” Harry didn’t take it. His mind was still stuck on Christmas Eve. “Let’s talk about something important first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What important thing?” Zhang Qiu looked puzzled—she hadn’t done anything important in over two months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I mean, weren’t we waiting for Donald to come down to the Chamber?” Harry scratched his head. “What happened after?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh…” Zhang Qiu recalled. “I didn’t immediately re-stage the scene, since you said Ministry officials might come too—they came after Christmas, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After you left, Neville came once, but I was afraid Dumbledore might show up any moment, so I told him to leave quickly. Then, after a few more days, Dumbledore arrived with Ministry officials—three men, one woman. The woman was fat-faced, wearing a pink suit, looked like a toad.” Zhang Qiu stuck out her tongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of the men, I only recognized Hark. He and Dumbledore discussed stationing the woman here permanently as a Ministry liaison. Dumbledore suggested sending her to the Board of Governors instead—oh, I remember now—her name was Umbridge. He said the Basilisk was dead, so the attacks must’ve been staged by the Board.” She spoke as if it were obvious. “Just as you predicted, the matter was dropped.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry nodded slightly. Zhang Qiu continued: “Then the Chamber became mine. I reflected on why I’d been so anxious and depressed before—it was all the pressure. So I wrote to my uncle asking for ways to relieve stress and pass the time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And he sent you a game console?” Harry exclaimed in disbelief. “What an incomprehensible man.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He told me games and the Doctor are the perfect pairing,” Zhang Qiu shrugged. “That’s the genius’s educational philosophy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So for these three months, you’ve just been playing games?” Harry leaned over, glancing behind the screen—the bed and desk were still there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Strictly speaking, six hours a day playing games, six hours studying magic,” Zhang Qiu raised an eyebrow. “I think my schedule is perfectly reasonable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fair enough,” Harry thought she wasn’t doing badly. Now he understood a little: perhaps for Zhang Qiu, seeking fate’s gifts was important—but so too was this year-long, unmonitored vacation, which was why she chose to stay in second year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No attacks today. Relax, Harry,” Zhang Qiu smiled, patted his shoulder, and pulled out a bottle of pumpkin juice from a cabinet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, let me see—how do I operate this?” Harry picked up the controller as Zhang Qiu selected “All-Powerful Brothers” on screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They played games, drank tea, chatted, exchanged magic knowledge—and spent a light, joyful day without once mentioning Voldemort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On April 17th, the scheduled day to attack Penelope Clearwater, Harry returned to the Chamber and reminded Zhang Qiu that Hermione and Donald were just around the corner—he mustn’t let them see anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But time never easily alters established facts. For nearly an hour before and after, only Penelope turned into that corridor. The two successfully ambushed her with the enlarged Two-Way Mirror, then swiftly cleaned up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Harry and Zhang Qiu pulled on their Invisibility Cloaks, Donald led Hermione around the corner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They held their breath as Donald checked on Penelope, then watched him escort Hermione away. Perhaps because Donald’s attention was entirely on Hermione, he never noticed the invisible figures beside the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having completed the most easily detected attack, Harry’s tense heart finally eased. Barely inside the Chamber’s entrance, he let out a long breath and laughed: “Now we can relax—the attacks are over.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You forgot,” Zhang Qiu corrected him. “There’s one final attack left. The last one is when someone impersonating Neville attacks Hermione—I still need to brew a Polyjuice Potion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh right,” Harry recalled. “The bottle the Doctor gave you—you drank it all last time to impersonate Donald.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So I stole Snape’s ingredients afterward,” Zhang Qiu shrugged. “I’ll have to sneak time to brew it—it takes a month—but no rush, the final attack is in June.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So now we just keep playing games?” Harry remembered seeing Zhang Qiu’s desk before leaving—her open books had barely turned a few pages since a month ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course. I’ve been playing Dragon Hunter Z this whole time…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dragon Hunter Z was a game designed for four-player co-op; playing with two made it unusually difficult. Harry couldn’t imagine how Zhang Qiu had cleared nearly half the game solo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time flew swiftly amid laughter and play—before Harry knew it, it was dinner time, and his stomach began to rumble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to the school’s current lockdown, Harry and Zhang Qiu slipped into the kitchen for a proper meal. House-elves served them a French-roasted spiced spring chicken with lemon, cherry tomatoes, roasted garlic, a bowl of absurdly sweet apple pie, and freshly squeezed raspberry juice. A side dish of cucumber, tomato, carrot, and beetroot salad sat on the table. Harry thought these seasonal vegetables were nutritious and worth eating more of; Zhang Qiu denounced the whole mess as “dark cuisine” and didn’t taste a bite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next morning, as Harry prepared to leave, he smiled and said, “Today was also very enjoyable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Qiu sighed softly. “For you, it’s just another week of playing with me. But for me, this one day is the only thing I live for each month.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Harry felt a pang of sadness at first—but then he remembered her game progress, and shook his head. Even when he wasn’t here, she still lived happily enough.\u003C\u002Fp>",1614,"2026-06-21T04:54:27.874Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1de45d9549c3a32ff2aea4d66f0448c54ef2c13266a174d35a36f61d6c3e6a7f","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-162","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-160",528,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwizard-war-at-hogwarts-cover.jpg"]