Chapter 234

Harry walked out of the washroom, feeling somewhat between laughter and tears, and went to the ballroom, where he quietly pulled Donna aside.

"Is there something you need, miss?" Donna asked innocently.

"It's me, Harry," Harry said, feeling very uncomfortable with the girl's voice he was emitting. "Who is this? Is she one of your classmates?"

"Impossible, I've never seen this person at Beauxbatons." Donna examined Harry's current appearance and clicked her tongue in wonder. "Since the hair was found on Barty Jr.'s coat, this person must have a very close relationship with him."

"She doesn't look young; could she be Barty Jr.'s wife?" Donna said, pulling a hair from Harry's head. "This is getting interesting."

"You shouldn't be unable to tell the difference; Barty Jr. has short hair, but this person has long hair." Harry said, somewhat annoyed. "Are you playing a prank on me?"

"Ah, to be precise," Parvati, who had been transformed into by Zhang Qiu, suddenly leaned over, "although Luo En doesn't know what Hermione was talking about regarding the Polyjuice Potion last time, he knows it must have something to do with us, so I promised him I'd play a prank on Harry too, to let Hermione vent her anger."

"To tell the truth, when we found long hair on Barty Jr.'s coat, we were almost certain it was his wife," Donna said. "Because he rarely has physical contact with students; incidentally, I also wanted to take this opportunity to see how beautiful his Muggle wife is."

"This person." Harry took out the mirror and glanced at it again. "She is indeed quite beautiful, though her mouth is a bit large."

Suddenly, Harry realized one thing: under Donna's unintentional prank, he seemed to have caught the trail of the 'Dire Wolf'.

"I have to find Sirius." Harry calmed down instantly. "No more dancing for now; I need to talk to him. This matter is extremely important."

Ten minutes later, Sirius walked into the room where Harry was. He looked somewhat surprised. "What's going on? Are you my Harry?"

"I'm here, I just drank Polyjuice Potion," Harry said. "I need to talk to you alone, and I have to take a photo of this face later. You must remember this woman."

"What's wrong?"

Harry took a breath and said slowly: "Combining factors from various aspects, I think Barty Crouch Jr. is the Metamorphmagus lurking in the Triwizard Tournament, and this person, as his wife, is very likely the handler, 'Dire Wolf'."

"I understand," Sirius stared straight at Harry's face. Although he knew this was an effort to memorize the Dire Wolf's face, Harry still felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Tell me the cause and effect in detail," Sirius said.

Harry hesitated for a moment, then began from the trial fourteen years ago, mentioning the changes in Barty Crouch Sr.'s position and political stance, the doctor project used as a cover, his own speculation about his cooperation with the Soviet Union, and the coincidence between Bazhu and the Dire Wolf.

"According to this, Donna deliberately gave you Barty Jr.'s wife's Polyjuice Potion to prank you, but she didn't realize that this person is actually the Dire Wolf I've been tracking," Sirius said thoughtfully. "Now that we have her appearance, it can be said to be a very good clue."

"However, if it turns out this person has nothing to do with the Soviet Union," Sirius nodded, "perhaps we will have to re-examine your previous inference."

After the potion wore off, Harry had no heart to continue dancing. He glanced at Luo En and Hermione, who were getting along well on the dance floor, and said to Zhang Qiu in a relaxed tone: "This is suitable now; not only did you make up for those divinations, but Luo En and Hermione also made up for their regrets."

"In fact, Hermione's situation is very unstable right now," Zhang Qiu said. "According to my observations, she doesn't truly like Luo En."

"Huh?" Harry was a bit confused.

"Hermione has fallen for Tang Tang Nade, but she keeps telling herself that it's wrong," Zhang Qiu analyzed. "So she urgently needs a male peer to become her 'reasonable, legitimate, and lawful' boyfriend, and for this person, she chose Luo En."

"How do you know?" Harry asked back. "Why couldn't it be that she really likes Luo En?"

"Believe me, I'm a professional," Zhang Qiu said confidently. "During the year I was at Koldovstoretz, I read dozens of romance novels and know everything about this kind of wealthy family love."

Harry instinctively felt it was unreliable, but let her analyze it.

"Look, Hermione is Muggle-born in the Wizarding World, with no foundation, but she is self-respecting and strong; this is the typical 'little white flower' persona. And Tang Tang Nade, he is also Muggle-born, and now not only holds a seat as a senator in the Magical Congress but also has quite a friendship with Dumbledore and Master Xuanjun; this is the classic 'self-made' persona." Zhang Qiu finished counting three fingers and switched to the other hand to continue counting. "Let's talk about the Muggle world; Hermione's parents are both dentists, their relationship is harmonious, they have some savings, a typical girl-next-door; and Tang Tang Nade, a media tycoon, a god of investment, a wealthy family's domineering president. These two personas are clear and typical enough, right?"

"Although I didn't quite understand, it seems quite clear," Harry nodded blankly. "So what are you planning to say?"

"In this situation, if they want to be together, they will definitely go through repeated 'you advance, I retreat' and tug-of-war. For example, if Hermione develops a crush on Tang Tang Nade—oh right, add a layer of teacher-student barrier—she definitely won't be willing to face this crush squarely. She will feel that their status is worlds apart and use reason to keep telling herself that Tang Tang Nade will absolutely not accept this relationship." Zhang Qiu revealed a look of having everything under control.

"But this should be exactly what Tang Tang Nade wants, right?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Oh my, I didn't say Tang Tang Nade; I was talking about Hermione. She definitely doesn't know Tang Tang Nade's thoughts," Zhang Qiu said. "If we talk about Tang Tang Nade, after all, the status gap is there. If he directly expresses his feelings, it's easy to arouse Hermione's suspicion and scare her away, so he definitely can't say anything and can only constantly care for and help Hermione in secret."

"It seems so; you're very right," Harry began to be gradually convinced.

"At this time, Hermione will feel even more guilty. Her gratitude and admiration for Tang Tang Nade will conflict. She will question herself: 'Tang Tang Nade is so good to me, yet I want to date him; is this right?'" Zhang Qiu continued. "For some 'love-brained' people, like Cassandra, this would be right, but for someone as self-respecting and strong as Hermione, she absolutely cannot accept this idea. But, but! Her feelings are pent up in her heart and cannot be released, which will make her very painful."

Harry suddenly remembered something, so he interrupted her: "Right, then according to your theory, is it because Cassandra doesn't have a self-respecting and strong personality that Tang Tang Nade is unwilling to continue with her?"

"Very likely," Zhang Qiu agreed with his point of view. "Back to Hermione, she had a close relationship with Neville in her third year. This is certainly because they shared the same secret, but more importantly, she wanted to suppress this feeling and transfer it elsewhere."

"But Neville chose Hannah," Harry said.

"That's right. Originally, I thought Hermione should have moved on, but Tang Tang Nade started making moves again. He brought Hermione to Beauxbatons to let her assist Ailina. Of course, we can all guess that he did it on purpose, but Hermione would think this is a hard-won opportunity." Zhang Qiu said while smoothing her scarf. "She will try her best to do this job well. For this, she tries her best to maintain the relationship between Ailina and Fleur, which is only harmonious in appearance, and keeps all strategies a secret from you all."

"Why would Hermione feel this is hard-won?" Harry asked suspiciously. "Clearly, during the summer vacation, Tang Tang Nade invited her to be his dance partner and even took her to watch the World Cup."

"I said at the beginning that in a situation where the status and position of the two are so disparate, Hermione will not think, or rather, dare not believe, that Tang Tang Nade likes her," Zhang Qiu emphasized again. "She will only find excuses for all the favoritism she receives, for example, that Tang Tang Nade wants to help Harry in secret, that Tang Tang Nade recognizes her ability, and so on. And the most extreme thing is that Tang Tang Nade really intends to help you in secret, and Hermione even knows about this."

"So, helping me is not part of his pursuit of Hermione?" Harry thought thoughtfully. "And his doing so makes Hermione afraid to accept him instead?"

"That's why I said, if you analyze Tang Tang Nade, you won't be able to figure it out," Zhang Qiu shrugged. "Who knows, maybe he's worried that the Dark Lord will become powerful and harm Hermione."

"And this is Hermione's current state. Her sensibility leads her to rush toward Tang Tang Nade, but her rationality tells her that Tang Tang Nade will reject her," Zhang Qiu concluded confidently. "Coincidentally, at this time, she discovered an excellent male peer around her who is also closely related to Tang Tang Nade, and plus this boy is a bit interested in her, she will immediately regard him as a refuge."

"Hermione will tell herself that liking Luo En is 'what should be', while liking Tang Tang Nade is 'what shouldn't be'," Zhang Qiu commented. "She is a quite rational person, and such people are often covered up by reason from their true hearts."

"Phew," Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Sounds not bad; I think this is also okay."

"No, this balance is very fragile because Hermione hasn't grown up yet," Zhang Qiu said. "The reason she gave up on Neville is that Neville grew up too fast; he wants to be a determined lone hero, and Hermione cannot accept this persona. And Luo En, his direction of growth is a loyal and reliable Knight of the Round Table. When he briefly gives up his knight status, it is equivalent to giving up all growth, so the current Hermione will have a pleasant conversation with him."

Harry blinked; he felt that Zhang Qiu had returned to that kind of chess player's thinking.

"Either Hermione grows into an intelligent, meticulous elite, and then she will start to feel that such a Luo En is boring; or Hermione will never grow up, and then after experiencing some twists and turns, Tang Tang Nade will be able to successfully trick her into his hands," Zhang Qiu said calmly. "She and Luo En are not meant to last after all, unless you put Hermione under your command to work with Luo En, but that is unfavorable to your career."