Chapter 42: McGonagall's Warning

"Let's go, children." McGonagall said. "Let's go to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions first and change out of your Muggle clothes."

"By the way, Miss Crowley." McGonagall said as if casually. "Did you bring money? Do you need to go to Gringotts to exchange some pounds first?"

"Brother Harry gave me five hundred pounds," Ivy was very excited, "I mean, five hundred Galleons."

"So that's it." McGonagall glanced at Zhang Qiu.

"I have my own, Professor." Zhang Qiu said.

"Speaking of which, I really envy Sister Qiu." Ivy suddenly said. "Having parents who love you, and a Master and Senior Brother. Unlike me, I am just like Brother Harry, I can only board at a relative's house."

McGonagall looked at Ivy deeply; she could taste some meanings that the children couldn't quite grasp.

"I am sorry." McGonagall said as if unintentionally. "However, for Harry, at least his parents are heroes."

Zhang Qiu's face was a bit strange; she hid all her expressions behind the long second-year book list.

"My dad is also a hero." Ivy said in an innocent tone. "He participated in the Battle of Stalingrad."

Stalingrad? Soviet? McGonagall thought secretly, that really had nothing to do with the Mysterious Person. However, if her dad was a Muggle, then Ivy's magical talent...

"What about you, Sister Qiu? What does your dad do?"

"He is a curse-breaker for ancient tombs." Zhang Qiu said casually. "The Heavenly Dynasty pays attention to cutting off worldly ties. I started living with my Master at the age of three, and I haven't seen my dad since then."

"Your Master Xuanjun, I know, is a wizard as powerful as Deng Buliduo. It's just a pity that he rarely leaves the Heavenly Dynasty." McGonagall added.

"What makes a wizard powerful?" Ivy asked.

McGonagall said without hesitation: "It is love, love is the greatest magic."

"That's so hard, Sister Qiu, do you understand?"

"Half-understood." Zhang Qiu didn't want to elaborate. "Most of our spell levels haven't reached the point of understanding love."

"That's true. Brother Harry is so amazing, he will protect me."

McGonagall looked at the chattering Ivy and gradually felt relieved. This child's thoughts were still very simple, perhaps a bit of scheming, but it was certain that she would not be detrimental to Harry. In order to finally verify the conjecture in her heart, after buying the robes, McGonagall took Ivy straight to Ollivander's Wand Shop.

After observing Ivy, Ollivander tried willow, rowan, and hazel for her, and ultimately, the wand that matched Ivy best was a hornbeam wand with a unicorn hair core. While Zhang Qiu took her to eat ice cream, McGonagall came back to ask what this combination meant. Ollivander told her: "This little girl's magical talent is very weak, and her mind is not on learning. In the future chaos, she will almost be unable to protect herself. I sincerely hope she can make some reliable friends."

Poor magical talent meant she absolutely couldn't be that person's daughter, and the last trace of worry in McGonagall's heart was resolved. At this moment, she looked at Ivy, who was probing Zhang Qiu from time to time, and only felt it was very interesting.

"Harry, we met McGonagall in Diagon Alley." As soon as she returned to Tang Dun, Zhang Qiu found Harry and spoke directly to him about what she saw and heard in Diagon Alley, her expression and tone very serious.

"What news did Professor McGonagall say?" Seeing her appearance, Harry also vaguely realized that things might be a bit bad.

"The Mysterious Person has been resurrected." Zhang Qiu said in a low voice. "Quirrell failed to get the Sorcerer's Stone, but he had a backup plan. Now he is contacting those pure-blood families who supported him in the past. Unfortunately, our guesses are all true."

"Expected." Harry appeared very calm. "It seems he and the Death Eaters are indeed plotting a conspiracy against me."

"And they are also plotting a conspiracy against Hogwarts at the same time. I suspect the Mysterious Person has just been resurrected and may still be a bit weak, making it inconvenient to confront Deng Buliduo head-on. Therefore, they need a way to drag Deng Buliduo down."

"Wait." Harry suddenly thought of something. "We initially thought they would use the Ministry of Magic to drag Deng Buliduo down, but now it seems very likely that they are setting up something at Hogwarts to distract Deng Buliduo's energy. However, the difficulty of setting up a conspiracy at Hogwarts is much greater than using the Ministry of Magic, right?"

"So, the misfortune in the fortune is that their insiders in the Ministry of Magic may be very limited and difficult to mobilize easily." Zhang Qiu analyzed.

"Actually, I have another conjecture." Harry said. "The Mysterious Person may not necessarily need to do anything heinous at Hogwarts. He only needs to make a little noise to attract Deng Buliduo's attention. After all, we knew in advance that 'there is a conspiracy against Hogwarts'."

"Dobby's move is really very exquisite." Zhang Qiu exclaimed. "It's hard for us to believe it, but we dare not not believe it. And they grasped the kindness in your character, determined that you wouldn't make things difficult for it."

Harry still tended to believe that Dobby was innocent, but under Zhang Qiu's analysis, it was hard for him to say this idea out loud.

After a brief silence, Zhang Qiu said: "By the way, McGonagall also said that it is not convenient for you to take the train this year, and she will help you arrange another way to enter school."

"Hmm, indeed." Harry was a bit depressed. "I have already been targeted. If I board the train, I might implicate other classmates."

"Don't think so." Zhang Qiu comforted. "The Hogwarts Express is much safer than we imagined. McGonagall is just worried that you will be ambushed on the way to the station. She said someone will come to Tang Dun to pick you up."

"Alright, let's not talk about adult matters for now." Harry noticed Ivy reading a textbook by herself, her expression a bit unhappy, so he turned to greet this new student. "Let me see, are you already self-studying?"

In the following days, Zhang Qiu started writing and drawing on her Chinese books again. Harry didn't disturb her, but started trying to tutor Ivy in previewing the textbooks, and by the way, explained some simple knowledge to her.

However, Ivy's magical talent was worse than he imagined. After studying for seven or eight days in a row, she could barely use a Levitation Charm. And this spell could only barely lift a teacup. After practicing repeatedly a few times, she even felt exhausted.

Occasionally, Zhang Qiu would also join the tutoring sessions. She found that if Harry was present, Ivy would behave extremely obediently. Zhang Qiu remembered Ivy in Diagon Alley that day and always felt that she was a bit strange at that time. Why did she think of saying such things in front of McGonagall? Zhang Qiu was indeed very smart, but she was still young and didn't quite understand the things inside, so she could only not delve into it for now.

"By the way, Harry, I heard you can talk to snakes?" One day in August, Zhang Qiu suddenly found Harry and asked him a strange question.

"Ah, yes." Harry replied subconsciously. "I did chat with a python before."

Harry remembered that a few days ago, when he asked Ivy if she had ever revealed magic naturally, he gave this example of talking to snakes when he was a child.

It seems Ivy and Zhang Qiu have a good relationship, they must have talked about it when they were having afternoon tea, Harry thought secretly.

"Then, can you teach me?" Zhang Qiu said. "In exchange, I can teach you Chinese."

"Parseltongue... can I?" Harry was a bit confused. "I am willing to try, but let's forget about learning Chinese for now."

"Then let's try it." Zhang Qiu said. "Oolong, come out!"

A black snake emerged from the tip of her wand, hissing and flicking its tongue.

Harry was startled. He exclaimed: "Are you sure this is okay? I mean, casting magic outside school! You are using your own wand, and the spell is also in English!"

"It's fine, with Ivy, a new student, here, they won't care. Now, Harry, try talking to it."

"Alright," Harry turned to the snake, thinking about talking to the snake in his heart, "Hello, please don't attack me."

The snake seemed to understand and responded with a hiss.

"It agreed, and then it asked me what orders I have." Harry said.

Zhang Qiu's face showed joy. "Then try to let it open the door."

A hiss came from Harry's mouth, and the black snake obediently swam to the door and pushed it, but there was no reaction. After all, the door was closed.

"It seems this snake doesn't have much wisdom." Zhang Qiu said with regret, and casually dispelled the magic. "I originally thought that as long as I could give orders to the snake, this magic would be very powerful."

"No matter how smart it is, it's just a snake." Harry laughed. "Unless you can summon a wizard."

"There really is such a spell, but it's a very dangerous magic." Zhang Qiu said. "You can use a spell to summon a Mr. Mission-Accomplished, who will do some simple things. But once he feels that things are a bit difficult, he will chant a spell to summon a second Mr. Mission-Accomplished. The final result is that a vast number of Mr. Mission-Accomplished gather together, but no one is willing to complete that thing."

"Really interesting, is this a story from the Heavenly Dynasty?" Harry soon forgot about Parseltongue and was attracted by Zhang Qiu's story.

"No, but there is a similar story in the Heavenly Dynasty." Zhang Qiu said. "There is a spell that can summon a devil to do things for you, but once he completes the things you ordered, he will act according to his own will. This is also a very dangerous spell..."

For a rare afternoon, Zhang Qiu didn't read books or take notes, but chatted with Harry about strange stories. Seeing them chatting enthusiastically, and Harry laughing loudly from time to time, Ivy also came over and clamored to hear stories. So the three of them said a lot of interesting things in the magical world, and there was no lack of some classic Muggle jokes.

That evening, Zhang Qiu proposed to Harry that she was leaving. The fifteenth day of the eighth month in the Heavenly Dynasty is a special festival, and everyone must stay with their family.

Harry sent her to the lawn, and then watched her chant a long Chinese spell, and then disappeared.

"Very good." He said to himself. "Now it's just me and Ivy for the fifteenth of the eighth month."

Parents he had never met, an aunt who died suddenly, a grandfather busy with his career... Harry looked around and found that there was not a single elder he could rely on around him, and a faint sadness rose in his heart. ===== CHAPTER 43 =====