Chapter 379: Emotional Stalemate

There were only a few days left in the summer vacation. After Harry saw Luo En off, he spent a lot of time thinking about the Knight System. Zhang Qiu would stay at Tang Dun for a few days, which also meant that when he thought about these problems, there would be a lot of extra information or many interference items mixed in.

When he saw Luo En again at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Harry still only had a vague guess in his heart.

When Harry walked down the train aisle, almost everyone was staring at him. When the first empty compartment appeared in front of them, Cui Ge and Lu Na, who were walking in the opposite direction dragging their trunks, also stood in front of them.

"Let the younger students sit. We'll go ahead and look," Zhang Qiu suggested.

Harry and Luo En didn't care about this. After the group chatted briefly, they began to walk forward, and finally saw a compartment that was empty, or rather, almost empty.

"Hello, Hermione, how was your summer vacation?" Zhang Qiu was the only one who could talk to Hermione without feeling awkward. "Is it convenient for us to sit here?"

"It's fine," Hermione nodded with a smile.

If Harry held three parts appreciation, one part sympathy, and six parts guilt toward Hermione, Luo En's eyes were complicated beyond words: mixed in them were misunderstanding, admiration, guilty conscience, suspicion, love turning into hate, taking anger out on others, self-moving, self-deception, etc., all buried under a calm that looked like relief.

"Ailina went back, right?" Zhang Qiu prepared to emphasize this fact that was favorable to Luo En, to slightly boost his mood.

"Yes, but she is very likely to come again this year," Hermione said. "Tang Nade seems to want to make this exchange activity a routine."

"Can the old bat agree?" Luo En pouted.

"I think this exchange is still very positive, but you were unlucky and got caught in a power struggle within the Ministry of Magic," Harry said with restraint. "It made everything a mess."

"At least the result is not bad," Hermione said, looking out the window. "The Ministry of Magic is not completely unreasonable."

"Yes, you can believe that the current Minister of Magic is an absolutely reasonable person," Zhang Qiu said in a cheerful tone, picking what Luo En liked to hear.

"Let's not talk about this. Have you decided which classes to take this year?" Hermione shifted her gaze from the window back to the compartment.

"Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts," Harry said without thinking. "Of course, provided we can have a new teacher who is not bad."

"Me too, oh right, if I want to be an Auror, there's also Transfiguration and Charms," Luo En said with some distress. "But Potions is really too difficult. Let's take it one step at a time."

"Oh, obviously this is what McGonagall told you," Hermione took a breath. "I'm planning to take an extra course in Ancient Runes and Alchemy. For Runes, applying to Miskatonic University requires this grade."

"But Alchemy, you wouldn't be thinking of..." Zhang Qiu narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, the Imperial Academy of Tianchao, as far as I know, also has content related to higher magical education," Hermione admitted generously. "I have written to them. I think it's worth a try."

"Indeed, that is a trump card major, but actually you can also be admitted with other grades," Zhang Qiu hinted. "Magical Creatures, Potions, Meteorological Rituals, Magical Materials Science, these are all good majors. Magical Architecture is also quite good. These are all courses that don't require you to take extra electives."

"Is that so?" Hermione said with a half-smile. "But if you want to take the Magical Creatures course this year, who will teach it?"

Harry and Luo En looked at each other. They didn't reject either Hagrid or Grills, but the two of them happened to be two extremes: one called a terrifying giant spider a "good baby," and the other claimed that Puffskeins tasted like chicken.

"Indeed, Hogwarts' teaching in this regard is a bit too abstract," Zhang Qiu stopped the topic in time. "But to be honest, I'm not very optimistic about your Alchemy. Tianchao is quite exclusive to international students."

"Yes, so my main direction is still Miskatonic University. Tang Nade promised to help me write a recommendation letter," Hermione shrugged.

Harry looked elsewhere helplessly, while Luo En didn't know what he was thinking.

After a long period of silence, Harry and Luo En chatted about Quidditch. This year Harry was chosen as the Quidditch team captain, which should have been a position bearing important responsibility, but he didn't seem to take it too much to heart. Perhaps this was the confidence brought to him by three consecutive House Cup championships.

Regardless of whether he could win the fourth and fifth titles, his personal career was already perfect enough.

"Who should we choose as Beaters?" Luo En chattered on. "The Seeker actually needs to be strengthened..."

"Katie definitely needs to stay, an experienced old team member. How does that saying in Tianchao go?" Harry looked at Zhang Qiu.

"A family with an old person is like having a treasure." Zhang Qiu's eyes darted between Luo En and Hermione. Hermione had already buried her face behind a copy of "Advanced Rune Interpretation."

"Yes, that's how it is. We really need her," Harry concluded.

"By the way, have you considered letting Ginny switch to Chaser?" Luo En looked at the aisle. "She played as a scorer last year. I dare say she is definitely more skilled at chasing than seeking."

"Think about the Beaters. We have to retrain a system now," Harry rubbed his temples. "Traditional Chaser-Seeker linkage or 'four protecting one' all rely heavily on Beaters. If we can't find enough decent people this year..."

"We can also play confrontation, or treat Beaters as Seekers. Yes, Wood said that's called the suicide tactic..."

In this intermittent conversation, the train arrived at Hogwarts. Ever since Snape took power, the express train seemed to be a bit faster, always arriving half an hour earlier than in previous years. This meant they could leave that awkward compartment half an hour early.

This also meant they had half an hour more to endure Zhang Qiu's pointing and criticizing.

Finally, they separated in the Great Hall, and Luo En breathed a sigh of relief impatiently.

"I didn't say I like her! Did I say that?" He looked at the Ravenclaw table with dissatisfaction. "Who Hermione likes is her own business. How is Zhang Qiu more anxious than she is herself!"

"She is also panicking and throwing to the doctor," Harry sighed. Anyone who knew the truth wouldn't look at Tang Nade favorably.

"Throwing to what doctor? Am I just not getting along with the two of them? Will I die if I don't have this romance?" Luo En was still complaining.

Harry originally wanted to say that the one in Zhang Qiu's eyes who urgently needed to have a romance was actually Hermione, but he felt that involving Tang Nade would be very troublesome to explain, so he simply didn't say a word, just aimlessly looking at the new students of this year.

"Did you notice the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Neville sat down beside them, taking the opportunity to interrupt Luo En's nagging.

They looked up at the staff table together. After returning, Hagrid sat between McGonagall and Grills, and at this moment he was looking here with a smile.

Harry returned a warm smile to him, then his gaze began to shift elsewhere. After Arnold left, Snape had become the true head of the school, sitting at the very top. Slughorn, who seemed determined to curry favor with him, was sitting on his right hand, and next to him was Trelawney, a die-hard loyalist cultivated by Snape himself.

In a position in the middle of the seating area, sandwiched between Heipu of Ancient Runes and Burbage of Muggle Studies, Harry finally saw a new face. It was an Oriental man who looked a bit cynical.

"Could it be a Tianchao person?" Harry subconsciously looked at the Ravenclaw table. "Zhang Qiu didn't tell me anything?"

"Tianchao is very big, Harry. She has no reason to know everything," Neville shrugged. "Looking at him, he seems a bit unreliable."

"By the way, after the Dark Lord fell, is that curse still there?" Luo En asked curiously.

"Hard to say, Arnold left on his own," Harry continued to stare at the new person. He always felt a bit familiar.

Soon, a new round of the Sorting Ceremony interrupted his thoughts. Harry mainly focused on the newcomers who entered Gryffindor this year. He automatically ignored those who looked thin and small, focusing on who was more likely to have the talent of a Beater.

"What a pity, all the ones who enrolled this year are little ones," he sighed.

"Don't say that, six years ago we were also a group of little ones," Neville reminded him.

The freshmen sat at the end of the long table, sitting with the third and fourth-year children. Harry noticed Colin enthusiastically putting his arms around their necks, pointing to his side from time to time. He suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable and hurriedly focused his attention on the food.

As the dinner was nearing its end, Snape stood up and tapped the table to signal everyone to be quiet.

"Welcome new students to school, and welcome old students back to school. This year our rules are the same as in previous years: not allowed to enter the Forbidden Forest, not allowed to cast spells in the corridors, and, caretaker Filch asked me to remind everyone that using any products from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is equivalent to casting spells. If used in class, you will be severely punished. Understand?"

"Broken, he must have gone to investigate secretly," Luo En said with schadenfreude. "Fortunately, I can't afford it, so it doesn't apply to me."

"A younger brother can't afford his own older brother's invention, and you are actually complacent?" Harry mocked.

"... Students who want to join the House Quidditch team can report their names to the Head of House. At the same time, we are also recruiting new Quidditch commentators, also report to the Head of House," Snape said these old rules methodically.

"This year, we are very happy to welcome a new teacher," he paused, "Professor Huey-Chi Su Ge Mi."

The Oriental man stood up in response and nodded to everyone.

"He is a retired Auror from Yingzhou, Tianchao. He will take over from Professor Arnold, who announced his retirement last year, to teach everyone Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Harry stared fixedly at the new professor. He knew that Snape likely didn't pronounce his name correctly, but what he didn't know was whether this professor was more willing to use a transliterated name and let it be, or introduce his real name to everyone. ===== CHAPTER 380 =====