Chapter 32: The Injustice of Fate

"Do you think I'm willing?" Harry grabbed his hand back. "Do you think I'm willing to have no parents from birth, to be watched by everyone as soon as I enter the Wizarding World, looking like a monkey in a zoo?"

"Do you think a child who has just awakened magic has to be tied to a vicious Dark Lord, and have people remind you everywhere you go that you are not you, you are that boy who lived, that person who defeated Voldemort." Harry even grabbed Nawei's collar back. "Wearing this meaningless title of savior, I live like the son of the damn Voldemort!"

"I finally managed to enjoy a quiet school life and make some friends," Harry gradually calmed down and let go of his hand. "But I didn't expect that various messy pressures would follow one after another—my surname, my past, and my inexplicable reputation in the Wizarding World. These things pushed me and held me high in a position I didn't want to stand in."

"I really just want to be an ordinary person, just like an ordinary eleven-year-old child, making good friends at school and teasing different teachers," Harry let go with both hands, his tone a bit weak. "Instead of finding out I'm the descendant of this person one moment, and finding out I'm the successor of that person the next."

"What do you think, Harry?" Nawei also let go of the collar he was grabbing, then said, "Haige is a silly half-giant, Sineipu is a stingy potion teacher, Qiluo is a coward?"

"Haige acted so realistically in front of you. You had to go to Gringotts on your birthday, you had to go that day, right? A day early wouldn't work?" Nawei said. "I bet he even let you take a look at that Sorcerer's Stone that day, right?"

Harry didn't speak, just nodded.

"And then? Just such a silly half-giant, and has the habit of making clippings?" Nawei tilted his head, revealing a mocking expression. "And just happened to clip that report about the bank being robbed from a corner, just so you could take a look one day?"

"I even suspect that the person who robbed the bank that day was Qiluo, who found a reporter in advance and then started robbing." Nawei rolled his eyes.

"Nicolas Flamel, how many rock cakes did I eat before I pried such a name out of his mouth? I couldn't find his information anywhere. So I asked Hermione to tell you the name, and guess what?" Neville laughed at himself. "In the blink of an eye, everything about how old he was and what he had done was all clear!"

"I asked Professor Binsi," Harry said.

"Do you think I didn't ask?" Nawei said angrily. "He told me he would talk about it next year and told me not to be anxious—don't! be! anxious!"

"Finally found out who Nicolas Flamel was, finally found out that the Sorcerer's Stone was hidden under there. Even though no one in this school had any reason to steal such a thing, Dumbledore still had to specifically warn that this thing was hidden at the end of the third-floor corridor," Neville said. "Then we really went to the end of the third-floor corridor. Then how to pass the three-headed dog? Everyone knows the three-headed dog is Hagrid's barrier; either use the Draught of Living Death or use other methods."

"Sineipu asked you in the first class, narcissus, wormwood—tell me what they are used for, what are they used for? Of course, they are used to pass the three-headed dog!" he continued. "Okay, then the Draught of Living Death is difficult to prepare. Tell me, what did you see in the mirror?"

"I saw myself in the sixth year, using techniques different from the book to prepare the Draught of Living Death," Harry admitted. "I saw myself improving the formula in the book."

"Magical, isn't it? Have you ever suspected who put the mirror there?" Nawei said. "It was Deng Buliduo! I've seen him standing in front of the mirror with wool socks more than once. And when was the mirror taken away? Just when you were just proficient in the Draught of Living Death!"

Harry also couldn't help but start to suspect; that was indeed a bit coincidental.

"Put the Draught of Living Death aside. What Christmas gift did Hagrid send you? A flute!" Neville said with dissatisfaction. "He was clearly hinting to you that the way to pass Fluffy is music!"

"What?" Harry was taken aback; he had always thought it was an owl whistle.

"I really sang it a lullaby; I would try any method," Nawei sighed. "When you rack your brains, the answer will suddenly appear in your mind. This is not just Deng Buliduo's favoritism; it's simply the favoritism of fate."

Harry swore that the lullaby was really something he said casually.

"And Qiluo, that night on Halloween, Qiluo came in and said there was a troll and then fainted. Just such a teacher who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, yet he can't even handle a troll—do you think it's possible?" Nawei asked. "Do you know what the complete conversation I heard on the third floor was?"

"The first time, Sineipu said Harry went to find the troll, and then the two of them rushed downstairs," Nawei said. "Then they finished dealing with your matter and returned to the door. Sineipu asked Qiluo what he wanted to do, Qiluo said check again, and Sineipu said there was no need."

"When they came to the third floor for the second time, I was hiding behind the door, facing Fluffy's three big mouths," Neville shook his head. "Otherwise, do you think this is a conversation I could hear?"

"What do you mean?" Harry was a bit puzzled.

"If I hadn't asked you to find Hemin, you would definitely have been suspicious and gone to the third floor to check the situation, right?" Nawei pointed to himself. "Then they could start performing—ah, who wants to steal the stone, who wants to stop whom. But, the person who wants to steal the stone runs away as soon as he hears Harry is in the basement. Who is there to watch the acting? Anyway, I don't have the qualifications to watch this play."

"After taking care of the hero-playing Harry, the two walked to the third floor together. Qiluo thought since he was here, he would check if Harry had slipped in. Sineipu said there was no need. He said this because he definitely knew you were eating in the common room; Sineipu knows you very well."

"In order to figure out what kind of play they wanted to perform for you, I followed Qiluo for a whole day on the day of the Quidditch match. His and Sineipu's play didn't start early or late, it had to start when you passed by," Nawei said. "And you? You were chatting with Luo En about Quidditch and didn't even look at them!"

"For this, they even specifically picked the night you went out and specifically performed it for you again. Even that Wizard's Chess was set up specifically underneath, and it just happened to be Wizard's Chess, the thing Luo En is best at," Nawei pointed to Luo En and said. "If your best friend wasn't Luo En, do you guess it would still be Wizard's Chess?"

"I think Sineipu's matter might really just be a coincidence," Harry argued weakly. He clearly remembered Deng Buliduo asking him "who is your best friend," and even reminding him "this school year is coming to an end." His meaning at the time shouldn't have been to let him review well, but to say that looking for the Sorcerer's Stone should be done early.

"Coincidence? If they really have any conspiracy," Nawei pointed to the playground, "Haige should have told Deng Buliduo, and Deng Buliduo should have stopped it. Anyway, if he really wanted to hide the Sorcerer's Stone well, changing the place would be fine, right? No! The Sorcerer's Stone is still in the old place, that back garden of Qiluo and Sineipu's house."

"You haven't violated school rules once, so you don't need to go to the Forbidden Forest," Nawei started to get excited again. "Do you believe that if there's a chance to give you detention, Deng Buliduo will send you to the Forbidden Forest?"

"Zhang Qiu specifically took you to drill once; maybe you really didn't see it that time," Nawei said. "Because by then, Haige would have taken you to the place, and they would have already set up a scene."

"This is the part that makes me feel the most disgusted. I followed Haige and saw the corpse of a unicorn," Nawei's expression twisted. "I checked almost all the materials, and only then did I pick up a little information from the overwhelming books on wand studies: unicorn blood can grant a cursed life, and the effect of pairing it with the Sorcerer's Stone is resurrection."

"I guess if it were you, this information would be delivered to you impatiently, right?" Nawei teased.

"Resurrection? Could it be that Voldemort..."

"Do you think he will really be resurrected?" Nawei sneered. "It's just Deng Buliduo fooling children, letting you have a sufficient reason to stop anyone from stealing the Sorcerer's Stone. But I bet that when you break through all the complete barriers, you will suddenly find someone waiting for you at the end—not Sineipu, but Qiluo."

"Judging from the history of changing a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher every year," Nawei shook his head lightly, "it will be Qiluo without accident, pretending to be Voldemort's number one believer, wanting to resurrect him or something."

"But what if it's true?" Harry said eagerly. "What if they really intend to resurrect Voldemort?"

"Then it's even more disgusting!" Nawei shouted. "I'd rather believe Deng Buliduo is not this kind of person, not this kind of person who, in order to play hero training, let Death Eaters into the school; who handed the key task of stopping Voldemort's resurrection to an eleven-year-old child who just finished playing a barrier-breaking game!"

"Then, then." Harry was scared by his logic. "Then it's a simple game, right."

"Yes, a simple game," Nawei said. "A game where you go to school easily, all clues automatically gather around you, and you clear the level immediately at the end of the term. Deng Buliduo even specifically adjusted the House Cup scores just to let you be a hero once."

"But for me, this is an opportunity to prove myself," Nawei said. "The things fate didn't give me, I want to earn back myself."

"You just continue to eat your Chocolate Frog here," Nawei pointed to his chest. "And I, I am going to fight fate, and then win for you to see!" ===== CHAPTER 33 =====