[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-wizard-war-at-hogwarts":3,"chapter-wizard-war-at-hogwarts-wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-166":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},2358139,4612,"Chapter 166: The Earl of Glamorgan","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-166",166,"\u003Cp>On the third day of summer vacation, Harry was tormented again by a strange dream during his nap—the same as before: a long table, a madwoman, and a white snake—but this time, he seemed to detect a hint of beauty on the woman’s face, and the snake appeared more affectionate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry found this alarming and had considered giving up naps altogether. But after thinking it over, he decided to let the dream continue. The main reason was his fear that if this was Voldemort’s scheme, Voldemort might resume tormenting him at night once he noticed Harry no longer napped—and that would be worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, if Voldemort remained hidden, he held the advantage of information. But if he made a move—even if this dream seemed meaningless—Harry could extract some information from it. Even uncertain information was better than none at all; Voldemort would inevitably reveal something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To avoid being subtly influenced, Harry decided to record every dream daily, focusing especially on his impressions of the dream figures: yesterday he had seen the woman as a nightmarish yecha, today he suddenly perceived her as a still-charming middle-aged woman—clearly problematic, as the diary made obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After gradually growing accustomed to the daily nightmares, Harry’s summer resumed its dull, uneventful rhythm. He kept in touch with Sirius via letters and learned that Sirius had gathered a group of disgruntled Death Eaters; Harry then asked Carson, the butler, to use Crowley Law Firm’s connections to collect information on criminals, launching his vigilante work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, Sirius had resisted killing Muggles—but as Harry had anticipated, once he learned the crimes of these individuals, he decided they deserved to die. Besides, he rarely acted personally; most often, he let his Death Eaters torture and murder Muggle scum for sport.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under Sirius’s guidance and restraint, these men now had an outlet for their rage and refrained from attacking innocents. From their correspondence, Harry learned Sirius was gradually earning their respect; many, inspired by his quote “I am the night,” began calling him “The Godfather of Night,” leaving Harry, the legitimate godson, slightly embarrassed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time swiftly reached late July. Harry’s birthday and Ivy’s long-awaited ball were approaching, and the entire Tang Dun estate grew busy. Maids thoroughly refurbished every unused guest room; the kitchen stocked up on vast quantities of ingredients; Harry once saw them hauling a tall ladder to clean the chandelier in the ballroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weeks before the birthday, the Weasleys arrived early at the manor. Deeply devoted to family bonds, they requested only three rooms—this was Percy’s insistence; having graduated and begun work at the Ministry, he needed his own space, unlike Ron, who could share a room with Harry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the twins, they always slept together—perhaps only when each married would they finally separate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a formal dress robe, its cut resembling a tailcoat; Harry looked striking in it and adored it. The twins gifted him a crate of “Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes Fireworks”—self-made magical fireworks that unleashed a series of explosive bursts of flame; Harry thought it was essentially a crate of rocket missiles. Ron gave him a set of magical broom maintenance tools—he understood Harry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The evening before the birthday, Sirius arrived at Tang Dun. After nearly a month as leader of the Death Eaters, he had grown more imposing and somber, almost frightening. But knowing Sirius was on his side, Harry found it cool—and reassuring. Sirius gave him a pair of two-way mirrors, which Harry also appreciated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the morning of the birthday, Ron’s father, Arthur Weasley, set off in his flying car to pick up Neville and Hannah. Sirius and Harry shared breakfast at the same table, and Harry noticed his godfather possessed impeccable table manners—his knife work while cutting meat was elegant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they leisurely enjoyed their morning tea, the butler Carson approached and whispered, “Young Master Harry, I’ve received a call: the Earl of Glamorgan will be arriving to celebrate your birthday—he may arrive shortly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Earl of Glamorgan?” Harry paused. That title hadn’t existed for centuries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Correct. It’s a new title granted by the Queen—an American.” The butler spoke with a faint, smug satisfaction; everyone knew the Earl of Glamorgan was no easy title to hold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright then,” Harry shrugged. Muggle nobles occasionally visited before. “Should I go to greet him?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fireplace suddenly roared with a loud bang. Amid faint smoke, a voice Harry recognized instantly rang out: “No need—the Earl of Glamorgan has come in person!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the smoke cleared, Harry saw the guest: a muscular man with wavy golden hair—Donald Fontroy, his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in second year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My dad connected this fireplace to the Floo Network,” Ron whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry knew the Floo Network was one of the magical world’s transportation methods—people traveled between fireplaces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Professor Fontroy,” Harry instinctively greeted him. “Just now, the butler told me you’ve become the Earl of Glamorgan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, he noticed Hermione was with him. She had changed her hairstyle and wore a deep blue dress—more beautiful than ever, even compared to school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Noticing Harry’s gaze, Hermione smiled and waved at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I needed a Muggle identity—it’s nothing,” Donald laughed. “The main point is, I wanted to surprise you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look, I brought Hermione too,” he said, patting her shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s truly a surprise,” Harry smiled warmly in welcome. Whether it was Hermione smiling back, or Ivy and Ron forcing smiles beside him, all chose to ignore the fact that Harry had never invited Hermione.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, let the children chat for a bit. I have something to tell you, Harry,” Donald said after brief pleasantries, clapping Harry’s shoulder. “You’re welcome to join, Sirius.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course. I’d like to hear it too,” Sirius said, rising with a smile, following them to the parlor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Regardless, Harry, I’ve always felt that year teaching at Hogwarts in second year was among the happiest of my life,” Donald subtly introduced his identity, then turned to his next matter. “I’ve come with Hermione not only to celebrate your birthday, but more importantly to tell you something: do you know about the Triwizard Tournament?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry tried not to think of Hermione and replied softly, “I know—but it involves Ministry secrets. I can’t tell you much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine. Since you know, I’ll be direct,” Donald nodded. “The French Ministry’s Department of International Magical Cooperation ordered ten dragons from me, to be delivered to Beauxbatons before November.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That means one task of the Triwizard Tournament will be fighting a dragon?” Sirius frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Precisely. And I suspect the Hogwarts champion will inevitably be you,” Donald grinned wickedly. “So I made a little adjustment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry wasn’t fond of cheating in competitions, but he realized he’d need to demonstrate sufficient ability in the tournament—and he had no idea how to fight a dragon—so he stayed silent, willing to hear what Donald had to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I had the dragon farm select the ten weakest, most bullied dragons,” Donald continued. “Then I commissioned a master alchemist from Tianchao to forge a set of swords and blades infused with dragon blood—blood taken from the dragon that most often bullied them. Now, whenever you activate the alchemical runes on the blades, they emit an aura of terror that will make these dragons flee. Killing them becomes easy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you so much,” Harry said, unwilling to reject Donald’s kindness outright. But he still needed to consider how exactly he’d use them during the tournament.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve named them the Seven Sins,” Donald said excitedly, pulling out a massive chest—he must have used a Shrinking Charm or Undetectable Extension Charm to hide it in his pocket, though Harry didn’t dwell on the details; his eyes were fixed entirely on the seven swords within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The eight-sided Han sword named Pride, the Tang dao named Envy, the zhanma dao named Wrath, the katana named Sloth, the Kremmer longsword named Greed, the Yatkan longblade named Gluttony, and finally, the wakizashi named Lust.” Donald introduced each blade with fervor. To Harry, they were undeniably exquisite, sharp cold weapons—but he couldn’t understand why his former professor was so excited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And the incantation to activate them is:” he said in a cold, chilling tone, “The blood of kings shall end in steel!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, the seven blades began to tremble faintly. Harry saw their luster intensify—surely their power had increased—but he still felt he might not need to use them at all; perhaps they’d serve better as collectibles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine weapons,” Sirius said, lifting Wrath to examine it. “Setting aside the dragon-killing modifications, these are still priceless alchemical weapons—equal in value to goblin-made blades.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So after the dragon task, you can keep them. Ron and Neville can use them too. Consider them a gift from me to your little group,” Donald smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those words convinced Harry to keep them. As Donald said, even if unused in the tournament, they could still be given to Ron or Neville.\u003C\u002Fp>",1477,"2026-06-21T04:54:27.874Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e5c06517c5803eea4e38f3f3179b476596d23e255131c6a77879d2a508195121","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-167","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-165",528,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwizard-war-at-hogwarts-cover.jpg"]