Chapter 414: Smoke Screen

"So, what is the deal with that girl who has appeared in your home?" Snape suddenly spoke up, interrupting Harry's silent mourning.

"Ah? Do you mean Kathy?" Harry replied. "She is this year's exchange student."

"Yes, I am aware of that program, but I originally—" Snape frowned. "Is there something wrong with her?"

"There is indeed something a bit off," Harry said tactfully. "She is a bit too open."

"The Magical Congress promised that the exchange student program would have no impact on you, and they would not break their oath in front of me." Snape's fingers tapped slowly on the table. "So, this transfer student is likely not the handiwork of the Magical Congress... who could it be?"

Harry almost immediately thought of Tang Tang Nade, but he still felt that it made no sense for Tang Tang Nade to do this. This exchange student's methods seemed astonishing, but she couldn't cause any real impact by doing so, which was very puzzling.

Under Harry's silent gaze, Snape said calmly, "I will find out."

Once this matter was finished, they seemed to have nothing more to talk about. Donna, the girl who had always been determined to follow in the Doctor's footsteps, was currently just as concerned about Harry's peculiarities as the Doctor was. She dared not speak much to him, only staring at the open box while avoiding eye contact.

Finally, Harry saw the two visitors out. He walked back into the manor with his hands in his pockets, looking indifferent. A mix of chaotic thoughts and inexplicable sorrow lingered in his heart. Snape had always been this way, and Kruse's story was just a tragedy that had basically nothing to do with him, but—at a moment when he had just been schemed out of his Knight power and was trapped in another conspiracy, his heart was as turbulent as the sea. For a few moments, Harry regretted not agreeing to Kathy; a reckless and crazy night would be a good medicine for this kind of melancholy... No, reason told him that it was just a sedative, and it would be of no benefit to him at all.

If it were his usual self, he would probably have started thinking about the schemes behind this by now, but Harry happened to be using all his strength during this period to fight his own negative emotions, and he had no other train of thought.

Three days after Christmas, Snape visited Tang Dun again with Mia and Nicola.

"I hope you can host them here for a while," Snape said. "Mainly because Gregoriou and the Department of Mysteries have had some disagreements, and I need to protect Mia and Nicola."

"Disagreements?" Harry was stunned for a moment. When he first heard that these two were moving into Tang Dun, he subconsciously assumed that Snape had arranged for them to keep an eye on Kathy.

"Gregoriou is almost impatiently eager to start the second experiment, and the subject he wants to choose this time is Mia. Although her blood has poorer plasticity, as a skilled caster, Gregoriou believes the possibility of her losing control is very small," Snape explained seriously. "But his idea is entirely based on wishful thinking, without any theoretical or factual basis. The Department of Mysteries cannot take risks for a hypothesis, and we haven't even reached a conclusion on whether the previous Queen is completely dead."

"Mr. Hilbert is too impatient, to the point of appearing somewhat rash," Mia said in a soft voice. "I am worried that Nicola will have no one to look after him."

"Then I'll ask Carson to arrange guest rooms for you two," Harry scratched his head. "I'll have to clean them up; those rooms haven't been used for a long time."

Obviously, Gregoriou could not defy the Ministry of Magic's opinion to force the experiment to start, nor could he force someone who was unwilling to be a subject. So, this was just a high-sounding excuse; the real situation was likely that Snape had asked Mia to help monitor Kathy. Harry thought with some amusement, but it didn't matter; he quite liked the child Nicola.

The days after the Christmas holiday passed uneventfully. Mia and Nicola's stay didn't bring much news. Perhaps vampires and wizards naturally lacked a common language; they had very little interaction with others. Mia always sat alone drinking tea and watching the scenery, while Nicola stayed in his room doing homework—even when Snape came to pick them up before the start of the term, he was still writing, making Harry wonder if he would be able to hand in all his homework after school started.

The second half of the school year began with the noisy sorting of transfer students. This time, McGonagall did not use the Ilvermorny sorting files and insisted that they wear the hat properly. But after all, the fifth-year students already had their own mature thinking. The hat didn't play much of a role; the exchange students confidently negotiated with the hat and chose the houses they wanted to go to at will. Many Hogwarts students present found it very interesting.

Harry paid a little attention to the students entering Gryffindor House. Apart from two enthusiastic and beautiful girls, there was only a plain-looking girl with freckles and an optimistic black guy; it didn't seem like anything special.

On the second day after school started, Harry walked into the library during a free period and sat in his usual spot, and then he felt like something was missing.

"Where is Zhang Qiu?" Harry blinked, looking at the empty seat beside him. "Did you see her yesterday?"

"Doesn't seem like it," Luo En said somewhat uncertainly. "Did you see her on the train?"

A bad premonition rose in Harry's heart. He hurried toward the tower. There was no Charms class during this period, and Professor Flitwick happened to be in his office.

"Ah, you mean Zhang Qiu?" he said in a high-pitched voice. "She is sick and asked for leave. Master Xuanjun wrote the letter himself."

Harry's eyes widened.

"Yes, you find it incredible too, right? Wizards rarely get sick enough to need leave. I think it might be some private matter that is inconvenient to talk about," Flitwick nodded. "—And he didn't say when she would be back; I am quite helpless about it."

"Alright, I understand." Harry felt his hands and feet go numb. He dragged his body out. This was undoubtedly another blow to him.

"What's wrong, mate?" Luo En was waiting for him in the corridor. "You look like you've heard bad news."

"Zhang Qiu asked for sick leave, and I don't know when she'll be back," Harry said, looking lost. "I really don't know what's going on."

"That makes no sense," Luo En also felt something was wrong. "There must be some other reason for this."

"I don't know. I feel very confused right now, and a bit tired," Harry sighed. "Things are a bit complicated, but I can't quite figure it out..."

"Does the Old Bat have any explanation?" Luo En suggested. "He should have made arrangements, right?"

"I don't want to go to him," Harry shook his head. "If we talk about these situations and such, he always wants to test whether I can make judgments. But if we don't talk about these, then I really have nothing to talk to him about."

The two were silent and walked aimlessly for a while. Luo En suddenly had an idea.

"Eh? Why don't we go find Hermione?" he said. "Hermione is very smart; she just doesn't know as much. If she is willing to help analyze it, you might be able to sort out your thoughts."

Although Luo En definitely had his own little agenda, Harry had to admit that this was a good idea.

They came to the spot where Hermione usually sat. She was still buried in a pile of large books as she had been in the first half of the school year, looking so busy that she didn't want to talk.

"Hermione, can you please do us a favor?" Luo En said very confidently. "Harry is troubled by some things."

"If you are busy, forget it," Harry added cautiously.

"I am free," Hermione looked up at Harry. "I am very happy to help you."

"That's great," Luo En smiled and patted Harry on the shoulder.

Harry didn't smile. He felt that Hermione's situation wasn't quite right. He weighed his tone and asked softly, "Have you encountered something?"

"Pretty much. I finally know how important the Knight system is," Hermione spun the pencil in her hand and sighed. "Perhaps you can end all of this."

"What do you mean?"

"I finally know where Elena went," Hermione said with a hint of disappointment. "Tang Tang Nade told me that the Magical Congress proposed a concept to counter the Masked Riders. They want to engrave ancient runes onto the human body through tattoos, thereby enhancing the strength of a wizard's muscles and bones... This is very dangerous."

"Elena participated in that experiment?" Harry frowned.

"Yes, she thinks Tang Tang Nade's project has no future at all, and I felt the same after visiting it," Hermione's tone was a bit irritable. "Tang Tang Nade's understanding of magic is a bit too rational."

"He always feels that we can explain magic in a scientific way. I feel like he has hit a dead end," Hermione shook her head again. "The so-called Iron Suit is completely unfeasible. I don't know why he keeps getting stuck there."

"So, the Magical Congress is also researching ways to deal with Masked Riders," Harry summarized. "They chose to start with the ancient runes they are best at and planned a human experiment?"

"Yes, Elena signed up voluntarily," Hermione said. "Although Tang Tang Nade didn't support it, he couldn't stop her. He can only pin his hopes on the Iron Suit making a breakthrough, so that he can announce that he has other ways to respond, to stop that experiment."

"But do you think the Iron Suit project is unlikely to succeed?"

"Yes, isn't that obvious?" Hermione said with annoyance. "He wants to use a materialistic method to harness idealistic magic, and the end result is that he will be forever stuck on energy balance. I have been emphasizing to him that direct spellcasting by wizards is the only way we can bypass the conservation of energy; a purely scientific suit can never beat the Knight System."

Harry swallowed hard. He realized that Hermione's progress was far greater than he had imagined; she was becoming a figure like Donna... and perhaps she would soon surpass Donna, because Donna didn't seem to understand physics very well.