"But I have to face it..." Robert said, "It's OK if I didn't know before, but now that I finally have a clue, I can't just do nothing."
Tom nodded and smiled. "I support you to go. I just want to remind you to be mentally prepared. Many impoverished pure-blood families may live worse than beggars, even the descendants of Slytherin."
Tom acknowledged this and then asked, "Let's not talk about my business anymore. Let's talk about yours. Have you found your things?"
The smile on Robert's face faded. "Something unexpected happened..."
Tom was surprised. It was the first time he had seen Robert get nothing despite making a detailed plan.
Robert looked toward the door and suddenly said, "Actually, I should have brought Nagini with me..."
"Why?" Tom asked, puzzled.
"Sometimes, snakes can sense things that people cannot see," Robert said meaningfully.
Tom looked at Robert in confusion again. This guy always said some cryptic things at strange times.
"It's time for us to go," Robert said.
Tom responded, put the books back on the table, and followed Robert.
The same Disillusionment spell, the same mysterious magic, the same route.
The return trip was much smoother than the trip there.
They met neither the night watch professor nor Peeves.
It was past four in the morning when they quietly returned to the dormitory. Alphard and Henry were fast asleep.
After saying good night to Tom, Robert tapped his head with his wand and fell asleep instantly.
Tom was stunned. This guy was too cruel. In order to fall asleep quickly, he had cast a spell on himself!
Nagini, who was at the head of the bed, stuck out her tongue, looked at the sleeping Robert, and pulled the quilt over with her mouth, covering him.
Tom sighed and lay down as well. After a while, he sat up helplessly. "Can't you give me some time first? I can't sleep either!"
…
"Senior, your notebook is lost."
Robert had fallen asleep so quickly just to discuss this matter with his senior.
Because the timing was so strange, just as he was about to take it, it had already been taken away!
You see, apart from the two of them, no one else knew about this!
Moreover, they were still in a dream when discussing this matter! The senior's nightmare magic was so terrifying. She had always been the only one who invaded others' dreams. How could anyone invade hers?
If someone did invade her dream and learned about their discussion, then why just take the notebook? Wouldn't it make more sense to catch both of them directly? The two of them—one was only the strength of an ordinary adult wizard, and the other was still an old popsicle—would be easy to deal with.
This matter was so strange and irrational!
"I put the notebook into the restricted area on a whim. I haven't told anyone about it," the senior's voice was full of fatigue.
"Could it be that someone learned the location of the notebook from the consciousness you lost?" Robert asked.
"No... that doesn't make sense. My consciousness is like the sense of touch of an insect. It's a net I use to observe the world. It doesn't contain memories." The senior student shook her head, denying Robert's guess.
"That's strange... How could someone know all this in advance? Wait... In advance..." Robert suddenly thought of something.
"In advance... you mean, prophecy? What did someone see in the prophecy?"
"That's right. Otherwise, there's no way to explain it!"
The senior student nodded. "Indeed... prophecy can reveal some fragmented images of the future... Perhaps, they only saw the location of my notebook and nothing else..."
"Prophecy..." Robert sighed. "As far as I know, there seems to be only one person who can predict to this extent."
"Who?"
"Gellert Grindelwald... As far as I know, he once publicly predicted that a war between Muggles was imminent. The facts have proven that the Muggle world is indeed about to go to war..."
"Gellert Grindelwald. I know the name... Have you ever met him?"
"Unfortunately, I've met him before, and he seems to be very interested in me and Tom..."
"He should be considered the most influential dark wizard in the world right now. I know this kind of person very well. He won't be interested in anyone for no reason... You have to be careful!" the senior said seriously.
"You mean... he actually saw something in the prophecy and came to London to find us?" Robert pondered. "Indeed... How could a man like him really go to such great lengths to deal with two underage wizards like us just because he was curious about Dumbledore's motives?"
The senior said, "If it was just Grindelwald, then this might be good news. At least, you haven't been targeted by the guy who plotted against me..."
Robert said, "I must find out who took the notebook."
"What do you have in mind?" asked the senior.
Robert smiled. "If I took the notebook, I'd definitely go to the location on the notebook to take a look. Besides, only people at Hogwarts can enter the restricted area like this..."
The senior student said, "I understand. But there are too many places on the notebook, and I don't remember many of them..."
Robert smiled. "Do you remember the first few locations in the notebook?"
"Of course. That was my first time exploring ancient magic. I still remember it vividly."
"That's good. I think most people would start reading from the first page, right? But if they start from the middle, then I'll be out of luck..."
"You want to wait and see? But didn't you say the notebook had been taken away in advance? Maybe they've already been there?"
"That shouldn't be the case. The marks left by the notebook are still fresh. It must have been taken away no more than three days ago. And we've only been at school for less than two days. This person shouldn't have had time to explore these places. In other words, I still have a chance to catch them!"
"Okay, then be careful."
"Don't worry, as long as they didn't transform themselves and sneak in, I won't have any problems."
…
Robert woke up at eight o'clock in the morning as usual and washed up, feeling refreshed.
The nightmare magic allowed him to be full of energy even after only a few hours of sleep!
Then he saw Tom in the bathroom with dark circles under his eyes.
"Good morning, Tom. You look great!" Robert said happily.
Tom: ...
"I'm kidding. Perhaps you need a stimulating potion." Robert took out the potion he had prepared from his pocket.
Seeing the potion, Tom's resentment decreased a bit.
However, after he took the potion from Robert's hand, Robert didn't take his hand back.
"A top-quality invigorating potion, 5 gold galleons at a discounted price!"
Tom's eyes widened. "You still want to charge money?"
"It's not my fault, Tom. I have to spend money to buy the goods. You don't think you can buy them on credit, do you?"
"Even if you charge for it, isn't 5 galleons a bottle too expensive?"
"Hey, at least you have to let me earn some money, right?"
"The price of a bottle of the cheering potion is at most 1 galleon, and you offer 5 galleons? I refuse to force a sale!" Tom threw the potion back.
Robert quickly caught it. "Hey, if it breaks, you still have to pay!"
"Isn't this not broken?"
"Okay, okay... are you sure you don't want a potion to perk you up? You have a lot of classes today."
Tom shook his head, his eyes determined. "I'd rather die of sleepiness! Be killed by the cauldron in Potions class! Jump to death from the tower of Hogwarts Castle! Than drink a sip of your potion!"
Robert raised his thumbs up. "Good! You have guts! But in Potions class later, you need to find someone else to team up with. I need to stay away from you..."
Tom laughed, a little creepy. "You think you can get away?"
…
There was a Potions class that morning, two classes in a row. In the afternoon, there was a Herbology class in a row.
It can be said that today's classes were like hell for Tom, who hadn't slept all night.
After finishing breakfast, Tom forced himself to go to the Potions classroom.
Robert was still trying to sell Tom the potion, but Tom was very determined not to let Robert succeed!
On the way to the classroom, they ran into Annie again. After listening for a while, Annie decisively spent 5 galleons to buy the potion.
After seeing Annie drink the stimulating potion, Tom whispered to Robert, "It seems that we're not the only ones who couldn't sleep last night..."
Robert hummed, looking at Annie's back thoughtfully...
…
The Potions classroom was in the basement.
At the door of the classroom, many Slytherin freshmen took a few steps back involuntarily when they saw Robert and Tom, their eyes full of fear.
Robert smiled as soon as he saw them. Aren't these the guys who were beaten up by Tom yesterday? Except for the seniors, all the others were there.
When they walked into the classroom, they found that it wasn't just those who had been beaten.
The other pure-blood students looked at Robert and his friends with strange eyes.
There was a hint of alienation and rejection in their fear.
They looked at Robert and whispered...
However, although their voices weren't loud, Robert still heard them all thanks to his excellent hearing.
It was no wonder that these guys were alienating and rejecting him. It should be because of the resistance of the pure-blood families in their own country to the pure-blood families from other countries.
After all, Robert, an outsider, had beaten up their own people, which was equivalent to being beaten at their doorstep!
Neither Robert nor Tom cared much about this. If you aren't convinced, then just beat them up again...
Slytherins generally admired the strong, so if they found opportunities to beat them up a few more times, it should be effective. Robert and Tom were in agreement on this.
Tom found a seat at random with an expressionless face.
Robert said, "Annie, why don't you sit in the middle?"
"That's not good. I should sit between you?" Annie said a little embarrassedly.
"The view in the middle is good," Robert said seriously.
Tom said coldly, "He's afraid I won't be energetic enough and will collapse from brewing the potion!"
Hearing this, Annie very rationally rejected Robert's request. No one wanted to be killed by the potion!
"Tom... do you really have to die together with me?" Robert said helplessly.
"hehe..."
"I'll change my seat." Robert stood up.
But just then, Professor Slughorn walked in, smiling.
"Class has started, everyone please find your seats and sit down."
Robert turned around and saw that almost all the seats in the classroom were full...
And he couldn't sit in the Gryffindor seat next to him...
"Okay, then let's die together." Robert sighed and sat back next to Tom.
"I have always believed that Potions is the most magical subject. Various seemingly unrelated materials, when mixed together, can produce all kinds of magical effects..." Professor Slughorn began today's class.
After a brief introduction to Potions, Professor Slughorn moved a few cauldrons and placed them on the podium.
"Can anyone recognize what potion this is? If you can, it means you have studied the textbook well! I'll give you an extra gift!"
As soon as Professor Slughorn finished speaking, the classroom became noisy.
Obviously, everyone was very interested in Professor Slughorn's mysterious gift!
"Anyone volunteer to come up and identify it? Flipping through a book doesn't count now." Professor Slughorn looked at the Slytherin students.
Seeing that everyone was hesitant, Professor Slughorn said, "How about everyone come up and take a look, then write your answer on paper..."
Before Professor Slughorn had finished speaking, two people raised their hands.
Professor Slughorn looked up and immediately smiled with satisfaction.
"Robert, Tom, since you've raised your hands, come up together. Then write your answers on the parchment. If none of you are right, let everyone else come up and take a look."
Professor Slughorn does this every year to find students genuinely interested in Potions.
After all, those who can preview the boring Potions textbook before entering school are the ones who are very interested in Potions.
Seeing the two of them answer correctly, Professor Slughorn said excitedly, "All correct! I have to give you two 20 points each!"
Robert and Tom looked at each other and thought, "It's true! We've been deducted so many points, we must find more opportunities to make them up!"
(End of this chapter)
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