Chapter 441: Bad Example

Harry spent the whole afternoon curious about what Zhang Qiu was talking about. Of course, he had some vague guesses, but he didn't quite dare to believe them.

In the evening, he stood somewhat nervously in the eighth-floor corridor, hesitating about how to describe the Room of Requirement. He worried that his guess was wrong, leading to opening the wrong room and making Zhang Qiu dislike him.

"I want a room suitable for conversation." He turned around a few times in such an ambiguous way, but the Room of Requirement didn't react at all, which meant someone was inside.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He said somewhat nervously, "I want to enter the room Zhang Qiu invited me to."

When he recited it for the third time, the door appeared. He pushed it open gently, and a faint sweet fragrance rushed toward him, immediately grabbing his scattered thoughts, and Harry's heart also calmed down.

The walls in the room were all covered in soft warm tones, and countless small night lights hung from the ceiling, emitting soft light like stars in the night sky, appearing dreamlike. In the center of the room sat an exquisite round table covered with a pure white lace tablecloth, and a bouquet of fresh roses sat on the table, with crystal clear dew drops still on the petals.

Zhang Qiu was sitting by the table. She was wearing a soft light blue knit sweater with the neckline slightly open, and Harry could clearly see her exquisite collarbone. He couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

"Drink some tea first." She said this, placing an exquisite gold-rimmed teacup with a saucer in front of Harry. Inside was a pale yellow tea emitting a faint floral fragrance.

Harry sat down by the table, and the armchair cushion was so soft that he sank into it completely. He picked up the teacup and took a sip. A strange sweetness with a crisp tea flavor filled his lips and teeth; this was a drink he had never tasted before.

"You should have guessed it, right?" She said softly.

"Mm, you mean?" Harry was somewhat nervous; he felt he might have said the wrong thing.

"The true purpose of this room."

Harry's throat felt a bit dry. He didn't know how to answer, only feeling a subtle atmosphere permeating the air. He felt somewhat dazed, as if every strand of Zhang Qiu's hair was dancing gently under the light. The light blue gemstone on her hairpin was shining, mesmerizing Harry's eyes.

"Do you know what the trajectory of fate should be like?" Zhang Qiu sat up straight, but Harry relaxed; he felt the topic had returned to a safe area.

"What is it like?"

"We will break up this year, and then you will fall in love with Jin Ni," Zhang Qiu said calmly.

"This!" Harry suddenly heard this news and only felt the world spinning; for a time, he couldn't speak.

"But even so, we are still sitting together, aren't we? The feelings between us are real, while divination is just pale words, and fate has long since disappeared without a trace. So," her cheeks flushed slightly, "can you understand my heart?"

"Of course, I have always known." Harry felt his reason return to his mind, but not much returned; the only remaining thoughts were just telling him that the girl in front of him still loved him.

"So, I think this is the first time I've invited you to drink jasmine tea. This is my favorite tea; it always reminds people of spring."

"It tastes very good." Harry took another sip; the tea seemed to have some kind of gentle story in it.

"Before this, I always thought we were just passersby in life with fate but no connection, so I didn't intend to share everything with you. But after much hesitation, I finally decided to go one step further." Her voice became lighter. "We can not only walk through these youth years together, but also... more."

"No matter what the future becomes, I will stand by your side." Her voice was even lighter, like a whisper.

"We both shoulder many responsibilities, but I think that won't affect the feelings between us." Harry felt unprecedented relaxation. "If I were to choose the life I want, then you have always been the person I want."

"So, after tonight, will we trust each other more?" After Zhang Qiu finished this sentence, she put down all her thoughts, and only shy tenderness remained in her eyes.

"We will walk together and face every day of the future together," Harry answered seriously.

Zhang Qiu stood up and walked slowly toward the depths of the Room of Requirement, where there was a wooden door carved with vine patterns. She placed one hand on the doorknob and stretched the other toward Harry, blinking somewhat playfully.

"Are you ready? We are going to break fate."

His heart was beating violently, and everything around him started to become distant and blurry. He had never felt Zhang Qiu was so beautiful, so very naturally, he walked to the door in big strides and grasped the hand Zhang Qiu stretched out. Her hand seemed softer than ever before.

This reminded him of that time in the fourth year; it was this hand that pulled him out of the stagnant space-time, and he left his innocence and that heavy fate there forever. This time, the last bit of fate had been grasped in Harry's own hands, and he was going to completely forget those "destined" things.

Early the next morning, Harry felt his energy bottle in his pocket; it had completely turned golden, which was the "Fullbottle."

"This is..." His thoughts were somewhat chaotic. "Could Lu Na really be a genius?"

"This bottle represents your attitude toward fate. When you recognize your fate and decide to start resisting it," Zhang Qiu explained, "you have grasped the true spirit of a 'Kamen Rider'."

This explanation answered Harry's doubts well and also dispelled his worries about Ron. Awareness and strength aren't necessarily linked to a girlfriend; he believed Ron should be able to find his own path.

They walked out of the Room of Requirement with light steps, and then, they bumped into Edith carrying a broom in the corridor.

"Captain? What are you doing?" She asked curiously. Harry suddenly understood the feelings of those people. He and Zhang Qiu smiled tacitly, then their eyes drifted, and they walked elsewhere without a word. As for Edith, she wandered around the corridor suspiciously, and she also fell into deep doubt.

In the evening, when Harry and Zhang Qiu, carrying a sense of unfinished business, wanted to push open the door of the Room of Requirement again, they found it occupied by others. They left the castle with some regret and chose a walk under the moonlight as their date for the night.

In the blink of an eye, a new day arrived. Just as Harry continued to be immersed in gentle love, he received a cold notice.

"Come to my office, Potter." Professor McGonagall said with a stiff face. Since Professor McGonagall served as Snape's Deputy Headmistress, she had rarely managed student affairs like this, nor had she lost her temper often. Harry followed behind her cautiously with a trace of nervousness.

Professor McGonagall's office had undergone some expansion and became much larger than before. When Harry entered the door, he saw two dejected first-year students, Nikola and Edith, who were sitting on the edge of the sofa, appearing very nervous. And, in an armchair on the side, was Professor Flitwick with a calm expression, and Zhang Qiu stood behind him feeling somewhat guilty.

After the door closed, McGonagall turned around suddenly, her face full of anger. "Who taught two first-year students to use the Room of Requirement?"

"I learned it myself, Professor." Edith said in a low voice.

"Then who!" McGonagall almost shouted, "taught her to turn the room into that look!"

"What look, Professor." Zhang Qiu's eyes flickered. "It's a room for drinking tea~"

"Pot! ter!" McGonagall grabbed Harry's shoulder. "I simply cannot believe that such a thing happened in this school! Two first-year students, because of the bad example of you and Zhang Qiu, actually in the middle of the night in the Room of Requirement..."

She held up a finger, her body trembling with anger, and for a time she couldn't speak.

"Drinking tea." Zhang Qiu prompted.

Edith had several red marks on her neck; Harry didn't know how drinking tea could cause these marks.

"Calm down, Minerva." Flitwick seemed to intend to defend Zhang Qiu. "Children, after all, are always curious and naughty. I believe Harry and Qiu will learn a lesson from this."

"These two little classmates, you should also know, what age to do what things," he said with a smile, "you should wait until you grow up a bit more before doing these... emotional explorations."

"Filius!" McGonagall's voice was a level higher. "I didn't call you here to excuse them. I am notifying you: give Zhang Qiu detention every Saturday until the end of the term. Do you have any objections?"

"Fine, you have already made a decision, I will execute it," Flitwick said cunningly. "However, since the punishment has already been decided, you don't have to be so angry..."

With a click, his words were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Snape walked into the office with a stinking face.

"And you, Severus!" McGonagall started outputting toward him without ceremony. "Flying around with Harry every day, he now thinks he's an adult, huh? As soon as he's free, he pulls off this kind of thing?"

"Sorry, Minerva, but I feel the situation may not be that serious..." Snape's gaze stayed on Harry for a short while, then stared fixedly at the red marks on Edith's neck. "No, it is indeed quite serious, but not the same kind of serious."

"You two, I must notify your parents to come over," Snape made a serious decision. "As for you, Potter, come to me for detention every Saturday until the end of the term."

As they walked out of the office, Zhang Qiu whispered: "Do you know, according to divination, you indeed have to go to Snape for detention."

"Ah? Didn't you say you wanted to break fate that day?"

"Then fate will also fight back," she said somewhat relaxedly. "Don't worry, Flitwick said, detention will put the two of us together." ===== CHAPTER 442 =====