Chapter 332: The Helpless Snake

Harry searched his memory hard for the name "Credence," and finally he remembered; this was the former name of Aurelius Dumbledore.

"Uh, I'm very sorry, he has also passed away." Harry said with a hint of regret, "Died of an Obscurus."

"Is that so? It's not entirely unexpected." Nagini's tone was very calm, "I have almost no human friends, and he was one of the few."

"I actually don't really understand what 'Dark Lord' means to humans, but if I had to choose a human who has special significance to me, besides Lord Voldemort, it would be him."

Harry fell into silence. The snake's way of thinking made him feel somewhat surprised, and at the same time, he felt a hint of sympathy for Nagini.

"Then, if I really have to choose, I'll choose you." After a moment of silence, Nagini continued, "At least you can understand my words."

"Do you feel lonely?" Harry couldn't help but ask, "You are so intelligent, do you feel lonely like a human?"

"Yes, I was once a human." Nagini said flatly.

"You were once human?" Harry vaguely remembered Sirius seemed to have mentioned this, "Is it because of the Blood Curse?"

"Yes... I didn't voluntarily want to become a snake, although I didn't have a good life in human society." In the snake's hissing, a mournful tone was conveyed, "After I completely became a snake, I spent a quite lonely time until I met Lord Voldemort."

"He was powerful, charming, and most importantly, he could speak Parseltongue, so I stayed by his side and revered him as my master; our minds were connected..." Nagini suddenly paused for a long while, "But I only now realize that we were not of one mind; rather, he used some kind of magical ritual to link us together."

"Horcrux." Harry nodded, "He tore his own soul and let that fragment attach to you."

"I killed many people for him. It's strange, I actually wasn't willing to kill people originally." Nagini's tone was a bit off, "You said he passed away, I feel this might be true, because I don't really want to kill people now."

"Uh? You mean, the Horcrux... affected your thoughts?"

"It's possible." Nagini propped up her body, "I might... in short, I feel very light now, as if my memory has improved."

Harry couldn't help but start to worry, had his own thoughts been affected by the Horcrux? But he quickly thought that now that Voldemort was in stasis, Nagini could also get rid of his influence, so he shouldn't have to worry.

"I am very happy that you are willing to chat with me, but I don't want to serve anyone as Master anymore." Nagini rested her head back on her body, "I am an independent snake."

"Are you going to elect a Dark Lord? Who do you want me to choose?" She asked.

"Then choose me, I will come to visit you often." Harry felt a bit embarrassed; he felt like one of those politicians who make empty promises.

"Are you leaving? Go then, so I'll be alone again."

Harry left the basement with mixed feelings. Sirius noticed his face didn't look good and asked, "What's wrong? Did she disagree?"

"No, she agreed very readily." Harry sighed, "I just, I feel some sympathy for her."

"Oh? Did she talk about the time when she was human?" Sirius wasn't surprised, "But you have to know, she killed many people for Voldemort, that is beyond doubt."

"If you think Nagini can be forgiven, that is unfair to the people who were killed by her." Sirius shook his head.

"But even if we kill her, those people can't be revived." Harry countered, "And, forgiving Nagini can set a good precedent and disintegrate the resistance will of those die-hard Death Eaters."

"We don't need to rush to clarify this issue." Sirius smiled, "If you become the Dark Lord, of course, you won't be in a hurry to deal with Nagini."

"Alright, at least the good news is, Nagini agreed very readily to choose me as the Dark Lord." Harry continued, "It can be considered making up for past mistakes."

"Judgment and revenge, this is a topic that is always worth discussing, but also one that can never be discussed clearly." Sirius sighed, "Let's talk about it later, I'll send you back to school first."

Not long after returning to school, Harry didn't worry about the Death Eaters for too long, because it seemed there was already an acceptable ending. What he needed to do next was to practice Occlumency hard, and then find a way to weave a false memory for himself of "Harry Potter being turned by Quirrell."

Then, it seemed everything became smooth. Harry felt his homework wasn't that annoying anymore, Jin Ni made exquisite operations in Quidditch training more than once, and Slughorn often called him to the club to enjoy high-class food—and he enthusiastically treated Harry and Luo En as guests of honor in front of many students.

At the beginning of the second month, Arnold issued an educational decree. Educational Decree No. 25 stipulated: From now on, all punishments for Hogwarts students must be reviewed and approved by the High Inquisitor, and other faculty members are not allowed to corporally punish students without approval—this made Filch extremely annoyed.

And, the very next day, he issued Educational Decree No. 26: Encouraging teachers to teach across disciplines, carrying out a teacher-sharing system for some elective subjects, and allowing the invitation of influential social figures to give public lectures to students.

After noticing this unusual move, Harry found Zhang Qiu, wanting to talk to her about the significance behind it.

"I feel he seems to have some conspiracy." Harry said, "Calling it a conspiracy might not be appropriate, maybe it's just some kind of plan."

"Yes, and it's very likely he and Tang Tang Nade have also cooperated." Zhang Qiu proposed a new line of thinking, "You mentioned before that the teachers showed unreasonable coldness toward Elena's arrival. Perhaps it's because Tang Tang Nade, through Elena, bypassed Snape to reach some kind of deal with Arnold."

"That makes a lot of sense. Speaking of Elena, I seem to see her very rarely." Harry frowned, "Has she never come to find Luo En?"

"That's right, but you can rest assured, she hasn't done anything strange, she's just been sticking to Hermione." Zhang Qiu said in a relaxed tone, "Why don't we consider some other things? You know, it's already February."

"Uh, for example?" Harry was originally thinking about whether the so-called guest public lecture would become an opportunity for Tang Tang Nade to return to Hogwarts—but obviously, Zhang Qiu didn't seem to want to talk about these.

"For example, Snape decided to give us a holiday next Wednesday, allowing everyone to go to Hogsmeade village."

"Right, he obviously learned a clever trick from Rodolphus. The most convenient way to bribe students is naturally to give them a holiday, an inexplicable holiday." Harry said vigilantly, "February 14th, it doesn't match any holiday... oh, February 14th."

"You wouldn't be unwilling, would you?" Zhang Qiu's expression looked very strange.

"How could that be! I mean, I just realized that life is indeed getting better and better." Harry laughed happily.

Early on the morning of February 14th, Harry prepared to dress up with excitement and agitation, and then he discovered that someone had gotten up earlier than him.

"Oh mate." Luo En was combing his hair over and over again in the bathroom, "Why did you get up so early?"

"I wanted to ask you that question too." Harry said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"I met Elena a few days ago, and she invited me to take her around Hogsmeade." Luo En smiled, his tone high-spirited, "Just today, today is a holiday, it's really thanks to the holiday."

"Yeah, that's really nice." Harry also laughed, as if the anger from being severely trained by Snape yesterday had also vanished into thin air, "The old bat rarely did something human."

When Harry saw Zhang Qiu in the entrance hall, he suddenly didn't know what to say: she was standing by the oak door, wearing a long ponytail, very beautiful.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Are your shoes too big?" Zhang Qiu said with a smile.

"Uh, yes, actually I'm a bit worried." Harry said, making small talk, "Luo En also went on a date, Angelina originally wanted to have intensive training."

He glanced toward the direction of the Quidditch pitch; Jin Ni was riding his Firebolt, sweeping across the stands.

"Do you want to go train?"

"Oh no, I didn't plan that." Harry hurriedly tried to change the subject, "I, uh, I still feel Snape has a hidden purpose for this holiday."

"If you don't want to talk, you don't have to." Zhang Qiu sighed, "Shall we go to the shops? It seems there's a new activity doll specialty store."

The memory of the Gobstones shop came to mind, and Harry couldn't help but say: "How about we go to the Three Broomsticks first? I feel a bit thirsty."

"Of course, drink something hot in this weather," Zhang Qiu looked up, "And it seems it's going to rain, but we don't have to go to the Three Broomsticks."

"Whatever you want, you seem to have a better idea."

Zhang Qiu led Harry to a side road, taking him into a small teahouse he had never noticed before. This place was very small, steaming inside, as if everything was decorated with ruffles or bows. Harry looked at all this with interest, realizing that the atmosphere between the two had also begun to turn a bit pink, just like the decorations.

"Very cute, isn't it?" Qiu said happily.

"Ah, of course." Harry noticed that everyone here was in pairs, all holding hands, and Zhang Qiu's hand was placed naturally on the table.

He hesitated slightly, then slowly reached out his hand, touching hers on the table.

Just as Harry was about to open his mouth to say something under Zhang Qiu's encouraging gaze, the wind chime sound of the shop door being pushed open rang out.

They turned their heads together to look, only to find it was Hermione and Elena walking in holding hands, while Luo En followed behind them with his arms crossed, his face looking not very good.

Zhang Qiu sighed and said faintly: "This is fate." ===== CHAPTER 333 =====