Chapter 53: Little Girls and Big Smarty-pants

Harry eventually succeeded in dismissing the two junior students who seemed to have things on their minds. He didn't care much about what Ivy had on her mind; in Harry's view, little girls' emotions always came and went quickly. He was still thinking about finishing his homework as soon as possible on Monday, leaving more time and energy to participate in Quidditch training. Wood said the Slytherin Beaters were very difficult to deal with, and they needed to practice a four-on-two formation to target them.

The next day, they indeed went to find Luo En again, trying to persuade Luo En to bring Harry along to serve as the next group of notebook users. And Jin Ni privately found Luo En on Wednesday, hoping Luo En would take the initiative to ask to be in a group with Ivy, so she could be in a group with Harry.

Luo En was also not interested in the notebook, and he believed Tang Tang Nade's statement, thinking that too much contact with the opposite sex would waste his knightly talent, so he directly rejected this suggestion. He also warned the two little girls again, reminding them that it was best not to trust the notebook too much.

Harry met Cedric again on Saturday. He heard that Ivy hoped to have Cedric and Zhang Qiu as the fourth group, which made him a bit unhappy, but he couldn't say why he was unhappy. Fortunately, Cedric didn't agree, and Harry soon had to continue practicing combat with Neville, so he threw the notebook matter to the back of his mind.

A new week arrived. Tang Tang Nade seemed to have forgotten the existence of a Dueling Club, or rather, his original purpose in setting up this club was to give Luo En and Neville private lessons. For an entire class, no student asked about the Dueling Club, so he didn't mention any new invitations at all.

In the evening, Luo En wrapped bandages around his hands twice and went out with a passionate face. Harry tidied up his homework, came to the library again, greeted Zhang Qiu, sat down, and began to ponder this week's essay.

"Hi, Harry. Good evening." A low male voice came. Harry subconsciously looked up and found it was Crabbe and Gao Er, Ma Erfu's two lackeys.

"You aren't here to recommend the notebook, are you?" Harry had an ominous premonition.

"Uh, you guessed it right away, you're really smart, worthy of being Harry Potter." Crabbe said. "In fact, Mr. Tang Mu is indeed a very formidable person; he knows many things."

"Perhaps Harry can answer questions that Mr. Tang Mu cannot." Gao Er said. "I heard from Cui Ge that it was the Ravenclaw password yesterday; he asked us how many years the Hundred Years' War lasted."

"Is such a question serious?" Harry said with a confused face. "Isn't it a hundred years?"

"It's really not." Zhang Qiu sighed. "It's one hundred and sixteen years. Perhaps the significance of the knocker asking this is to hope we don't become arrogant because of our own wisdom."

"Senior Sister Zhang, you are also very formidable." Crabbe stuffed the notebook he was originally holding back into his robe. "Actually, I also have many questions, for example, the straw we use to drink pumpkin juice, does it have one hole or two holes? Tang Mu said it can be understood either way, but I just want to find an answer."

"Mathematically speaking, a straw and a donut are equivalent; it only has one hole." Harry said. "This is topology."

Although Harry felt that a person with a normal brain couldn't ask such questions, their respectful appearance made him feel good, and Harry was essentially a kind person, so he still answered this question seriously.

"So that's how it is. But speaking of donuts, I want to know why there has to be a hole in the middle of a donut? If I spent six Knuts to buy a donut, wouldn't three Knuts be spent on this hole?" Crabbe asked persistently.

"Yeah, I'm always not full; it would be great if there were donuts without holes." Gao Er echoed.

Zhang Qiu praised: "What a pair of 'Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix' big smarty-pants, absolutely amazing."

Harry bit the bullet and answered: "If there were no hole, then it would be ordinary bread. It's not that donuts have holes, but that we specifically call bread with holes 'donuts'."

"Is that so? Let's ask Tang Mu." Crabbe took out the notebook again and wrote crookedly: "Mr. Tang Mu, do you know why there is a hole in the middle of a donut?"

The beautiful floral script didn't appear; there was only a long string of ellipses.

"It seems Mr. Tang Mu is trying hard to think about this question." Gao Er said. "Harry, can I ask you another question? It's also a question Tang Mu can't answer."

"Don't tell me it was Tang Mu who suggested you come and ask me." Harry said helplessly.

"Worthy of being Harry, you guessed it again." Gao Er said happily. "Every time we ask a question Tang Mu can't answer, he suggests we come and ask you; perhaps now we should add Senior Sister Zhang."

Harry glanced at his homework, which had only been written for three lines, and said: "You ask first, and by the way, I want to chat with Tang Mu."

Crabbe handed over the notebook, and the ellipses on it hadn't disappeared yet. Gao Er opened his mouth and asked: "Harry, do you know about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"

"I know." Harry happened to have seen this animal in "The Quibbler" when he was at the Burrow. "It is said to be a magical creature living in Sweden."

"We really didn't come to the wrong place; you really know everything." Gao Er said. "Because we don't know too many things, we are always disliked by Ma Erfu."

New content finally appeared on the notebook, a line of words written: "Perhaps you can go and ask Harry."

Harry took a deep breath and wrote slowly: "Hello, Tang Mu. I am Harry Potter."

The floral script emerged: "Harry, hello. Your friends all say that you are a very formidable person."

Those people? Harry's mind flashed with the crazy Luna and Cui Ge, the hypocritical and arrogant Draco and Pansy, and the naive Jin Ni and Ivy. Perhaps it was Jin Ni and the others who said it; Harry was still willing to admit that Jin Ni and the others were his friends.

"Thank you, I want to know, why do you always want to come and find me."

"Because of curiosity." After a pause, new handwriting emerged. "I am just a diary passed down among students through the ages; most of my knowledge comes from excellent students. This is precisely why I am eager to communicate with you."

"You want to obtain knowledge from me?" Harry wrote.

"Yes, compared to endlessly answering children's questions with existing knowledge, I prefer to learn new knowledge from excellent students."

"Then it depends on whether you can take it." Zhang Qiu snorted coldly, took the notebook, and began to write in Chinese.

"Nothing is not Heaven, nothing is not Fate, nothing is not God, nothing is not Origin..."

The notebook began to emit blue smoke, and Zhang Qiu stopped writing quickly because it was scalding hot.

"Take this notebook away," she said. "Don't let me see it again in the future."

Crabbe and Gao Er were obviously startled. They glanced at Harry, then stammered a goodbye, and left without looking back.

"What did you just write? So scary?" Harry felt that although Crabbe and Gao Er were quite annoying, they shouldn't have any major bad intentions.

"Some dangerous knowledge." Zhang Qiu said. "That is the seventh secret spell I stole to learn; it is a huge burden on the soul. Without having learned the general outline and the first six spells beforehand, just taking a look carries the risk of the brain exploding."

"But, why would the notebook have that kind of reaction? Logically speaking..." Harry was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Could it be, there is a soul inside it?"

"I suspect the same." Zhang Qiu said with a solemn expression. "Sealing a student's soul in a notebook, this looks like Dark Magic no matter how you look at it."

"Is there a possibility," Harry deliberated, "perhaps the notebook and Tang Tang Nade are connected, just like the analysis before, he is studying the mysteries of love, so of course he also needs to monitor the situation between couples at any time."

Harry felt he seemed to have figured it out again. If Tang Tang Nade was just simply matchmaking couples, where would he learn about the origin and development of love? So, he must be secretly manipulating the notebook to secretly understand the students' psychological state.

"And that long string of ellipses just now, he must have been unable to be distracted because he was guiding Luo En." Harry became more confident as he spoke. "When he discovered that the secret spell you mentioned was harmful to the soul, he manipulated the notebook to heat up so you couldn't write anymore."

"Too far-fetched." Zhang Qiu said. "I suspect more that he sealed a soul in the notebook, or this was originally a notebook with a soul, just utilized by him."

"Perhaps it's artificial intelligence?" Harry remembered the news he saw during the summer vacation. "Aren't Americans researching using programs to simulate human thinking? Perhaps this is the achievement of the American Wizarding World?"

Zhang Qiu reluctantly accepted this statement: "Let's assume what you said is true, then how does Tang Tang Nade study it?"

"The diary records the time and content of each conversation, and Tang Tang Nade archives and analyzes them?" Harry guessed irresponsibly. "This way he can completely know how student couples communicate."

"But this still doesn't explain why the last two groups weren't couples."

"There are two possibilities." Harry said: "One is that we asked Ma Erfu before whether it must be one man and one woman, which made him realize that this rule doesn't necessarily have to be followed. Jin Ni and Ivy already had a good relationship, and Crabbe and Gao Er are very loyal to him; perhaps they just shared the notebook with others out of pure kindness."

"Then what is the second possibility?"

"The second possibility is that these people represent special love. For example, Jin Ni and Ivy have always behaved strangely, possibly having a crush on someone. And Crabbe and Gao Er..." Harry said, his expression beginning to become strange.

"My Great Britain has its own national conditions here." Zhang Qiu said solemnly, but she couldn't help laughing quickly. "Pfft, alright, perhaps that's really how it is."

"Let's assume they also have a crush on someone." Harry subconsciously chose the option that was clearly even less possible as soon as he thought of those two big guys.

"We'd better be vigilant and have less contact with this notebook." Zhang Qiu said. "What if it really has a problem."

"Indeed, and it's not very useful anyway." Harry echoed, then spread out his essay again.

Alright, for a moment, he really wanted Mr. Tang Mu to help him write an essay. ===== CHAPTER 54 =====