Chapter 52: The Third Group of Candidates

The next day, Harry found that life was still the same, but when he thought about it carefully, this was actually a very strange situation for Neville and Hermione. Their usual life was like this; whether eating or in class, the two of them would always sit together, but they rarely talked about topics other than studies. What made him feel even more awkward was that Hannah would come over to sit on Neville's other side during meals, and at the dining table, basically only Hannah was talking.

Harry and Luo En discussed this situation, and Luo En said it must be because Hermione heard their gossip yesterday, which is why she continued to stay by Neville's side. It was precisely because of this suspicion that Harry felt even more awkward; Hermione had probably let go but not completely, or perhaps her heart was like dead ashes that were then rekindled.

However, for Harry, who had just joined the team, whether it was Neville's revenge plan or Hermione's little-girl thoughts didn't have much to do with him. Currently, Harry's main fantasy was to shine in the team, and at most, occasionally think about what kind of relationship he had with Zhang Qiu.

When it came to training on Saturday, Wood arranged another practice match against Hufflepuff. Harry learned that Hufflepuff's Seeker was Cedric, and he couldn't help but feel a bit wary of this senior; after all, he had heard that this was the "most perfect Hogwarts student," and at the time, he felt this was a very formidable person.

After the match, he found that Cedric wasn't as formidable as he had imagined; he even boasted to Luo En: "Cedric is a Seeker with no flaws, but of course, he also has no strengths."

After the practice match ended, they went to visit Hagrid, and Zhang Qiu saw the ominous black dog again at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She chased after Hagrid and asked for a long time, but didn't gain anything. On the way back, she said unhappily that the Forbidden Forest "clashed" with her. Harry didn't understand this term, and Zhang Qiu explained for a long time, saying that "clashing" meant that once something was related to the Forbidden Forest, she would always have bad luck.

To comfort her, Harry swore, "We didn't encounter any danger when we went into the Forbidden Forest last term. Don't worry, we won't go this term, that black dog definitely won't be able to affect you."

Hearing this, her expression became even more miserable.

For a moment, Harry genuinely wanted to make her happy. He decided to finish his homework as soon as he got back and then continue studying Potions, striving to make Felix Felicis as soon as possible.

But after he finished his homework, Luo En and Neville suggested he practice unarmed combat with them. Harry thought about it; after all, he would have to fight the Dark Lord in the future, and the role potions could play might not be as good as combat. So he spent the entire weekend exchanging combat techniques with the two of them.

When Luo En received Tang Tang Nade's knight training, what he learned was mainly based on fist techniques, which had some elements of boxing, but perhaps considering that knight armor would be heavy, or because Tang Tang Nade himself wasn't well-versed in it, he rarely used leg techniques, other than front kicks and sweeping kicks, and the range was also very small. Harry's combat techniques came from his childhood tutor, and he learned more practical combat, always subconsciously striking at vital points; if it weren't for the protective spells, he wouldn't have dared to spar with the other two.

And Neville's combat technique was very mature. Although Harry couldn't recognize what school he learned from, he could clearly feel the gap in strength between himself and Neville. According to Neville himself, that tutor from Yingzhou had started training him since he was six, and he was beaten almost every day, which was how he practiced such a set of skills.

Neville's story also made Harry realize that Tang Tang Nade's teaching might not be without a target. In wizard duels, while the outcome is mainly determined by spells, physical fitness and combat techniques are undoubtedly important factors that cannot be ignored; when the level of magic is similar, they become especially critical.

It is worth mentioning that when they were sparring on the lawn, Hannah and Hermione both came to watch, while Zhang Qiu was studying her own things in the library. Fortunately, Harry and Luo En were indeed at a disadvantage when sparring with Neville; otherwise, looking at Hannah's expression, Harry really worried she would come over to find trouble with him.

Perhaps because of the sparring on Sunday, Harry still felt his knees aching slightly when he woke up on Monday. Neville was quite experienced in such matters; he took out some ointment and applied it to the back of Harry's thighs, and recited the recovery spell several times. Harry's legs didn't hurt anymore, but they missed the best time for breakfast because of this. By the time they arrived at the Great Hall, there was very little left on the table.

Hannah and Hermione had both saved food for Neville, but what was left was different. Neville looked at the things handed to him in a dilemma and looked at Luo En for help.

Luo En thought about it; he still supported Hannah more in his heart. He pretended to be happy and said, "I was just wanting to eat jam bread, Hermione, can you give it to me? Anyway, Neville can't finish two portions."

"That won't do." Tang Tang Nade appeared behind them at some point, holding a plate. "Knights need to eat more high-protein food to grow muscle. Luo En, I saved you pickled fish and bacon and eggs, eat up."

What Hannah saved for Neville happened to be oatmeal porridge and bacon and eggs. She smiled and stuffed these things into Neville's hands, saying happily, "The professor said the same thing, Neville, you eat these."

Hermione casually stuffed the jam bread into Harry's hand and said, "I'm going to the classroom first," and hurried away. Harry subconsciously glanced at the Ravenclaw table and didn't see Zhang Qiu's figure, so he had to gnaw on the sweet bread while comforting himself: "Anyway, I don't want to grow muscle."

In this week's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Tang Tang Nade taught some small tricks and then arranged for students to spar. From beginning to end, he never mentioned the Dueling Club. However, Harry wasn't very interested in that club anymore; in his view, he could spar and learn with Neville on weekends anyway, so there was no need to spend his evenings listening to combat teaching.

That evening, just when Luo En was attending the small class again, Harry brought his homework to the library. Zhang Qiu was still sitting in her usual spot. Harry wanted to ask her about breakfast, but then he thought, no one stipulated that she had to wait there to save him breakfast if she didn't see Harry, and besides, for Zhang Qiu, who occasionally proposed "fasting," maybe not eating breakfast wasn't a big deal.

In short, he put this matter to the back of his mind for the time being, the two greeted each other, and began to do their homework together.

"Hi, Harry!" A crisp female voice rang out. Harry looked up and saw it was Ivy. He couldn't help but feel a bit strange; it seemed that in the three weeks since the start of school, he would be disturbed every Monday when doing homework in the library.

"Um... hello, Harry." Beside Ivy, Jin Ni had also come.

"Hello." After all, both of them were junior students from his house, so Harry wasn't unhappy, but he couldn't say he was very welcoming either.

"Sister Qiu is here too." Ivy said. "I feel you still look better in Hanfu."

"You've seen it?" Zhang Qiu was stunned subconsciously, then as if remembering something, she said apologetically, "Sorry, I might not have paid much attention."

Harry's intuition told him that this conversation wasn't right. But his reason told him that it wasn't convenient for him to participate, so he turned and said, "Oh, Jin Ni, this is my friend Zhang Qiu; Zhang, this is Jin Ni, Luo En's sister."

Jin Ni said stiffly, "Friend? That's right, after all, you sit together to do homework, I can tell."

Zhang Qiu also said indifferently, "Weasley? That's right, after all, you have red hair and are so cute, I can guess."

Harry knew a little about sarcasm, and he could feel that Zhang Qiu seemed a bit off today, so he hurriedly smoothed things over: "Hahaha, Jin Ni, Ivy, you two have a good relationship now? What's the matter with coming to find me? Did you encounter difficulties with your homework?"

"The relationship is certainly good." Jin Ni suddenly became confident. "After all, we have a common enemy."

"And, can't we come to find you if there's nothing wrong?" Ivy followed up.

"Common enemy?" Harry's expression was a bit ugly; the first thing he thought of was that someone had told the two children about the Dark Lord. "Who said that?"

"Mr. Tang Mu." Jin Ni said while taking out a notebook. Harry recognized it at a glance; it was that diary again.

"Mr. Tang Mu told us that we should care more about our friends." Jin Ni said. "I heard from Luo En that Harry, you almost didn't get to eat breakfast."

When did she go to find Luo En, and why did Luo En tell her about such things? Harry was completely confused and fell into serious bewilderment.

"Then you can rest assured, he still ate dinner." Zhang Qiu suddenly interjected. "It's just that you came to find Harry to recommend this notebook, right!"

"Um..." Jin Ni fell into embarrassment, as if she indeed had this intention.

"That's not it." Ivy smiled lightly. "The notebook must be used by two people together. Since Luo En is not here, we won't recommend it for now."

Luo En? Didn't Jin Ni find Luo En? Didn't she mention the notebook at that time? But it seems Luo En spent most of his time with him? Harry's little head was getting more and more confused.

"Wait." Zhang Qiu asked with a frown. "In other words, the notebook is currently being used by the two of you together?"

"That's right." Ivy said confidently. "Jin Ni and I are a group, so Harry should be in a group with Luo En; that's appropriate."

"Do you know the first two groups of users of the notebook?" Zhang Qiu asked again.

"I know, Cui Ge and Luna, and Malfoy and Pan Xi. And Pan Xi said that it was Cui Ge who recommended us."

Harry and Zhang Qiu exchanged a look. If the previous deduction was correct, then the fact that the third group chose two little girls made them both feel a bit strange. ===== CHAPTER 53 =====