Chapter 201: Scabbers: You Don't Come Over Here!!!
Upon hearing Dylan's words, Wood's eyes instantly lit up like two thousand-watt lightbulbs.
Dylan pinched his forehead. But at least he had finally managed to send the guy away. —Good heavens, it's just a game, is it necessary to be so competitive?
Dylan thought of the national football team in his previous life. —Even when they were that bad, never winning, they still lived quite comfortably, didn't they?
He shook his head. Dylan figured that, no matter what, it was still someone else's hobby. Perhaps for him, things that fundamentally couldn't bring him any practical benefit, and instead only brought useless fame, held no interest.
But he was him, and others were others. Everyone had their own thoughts. He would listen to others' advice but wouldn't allow others' ideas to completely mold him. Similarly, he wouldn't force others to understand his thoughts.
For Wood, ever since he enrolled, he had been suppressed by those little snakes from Slytherin. They hadn't won a single game each year. And now he was the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
It was perfectly normal for him to have a fixation and a desire for victory. Even though Wood would be graduating next year and leaving Hogwarts, he was still only just an adult. It would be problematic if a young adult didn't have some unyielding pride.
Of course, he was different. —Combining his two lives, he was already quite old. Naturally, he didn't have as much pride. Although in this life, he grew up from an infant, and during his interactions with peers, Dylan felt his spirit and energy had become much younger.
Perhaps it was also due to the nourishment of magic. But his thinking obviously couldn't be the same as Wood's; he wasn't overly interested in struggles that were, in essence, merely about face and so-called honor.
"Sigh~ When you're old, you just want to quietly read a book, do some experiments, eat good food, sleep soundly, and casually beat up little Voldy."
Dylan returned to his dormitory and continued to research the structure of Horcruxes. He hadn't found any books detailing Horcruxes, so trying to figure out their principles was genuinely not easy.
Even when he grabbed Tom, he would occasionally force information about Dark Arts from him. But naturally, he couldn't entirely trust what this guy said. Not even halfway. He had to maintain complete skepticism.
Recently, Dylan had also noticed that Voldemort seemed to be getting somewhat accustomed to being hit by the Killing Curse. —For example, after being hit by an Avada Kedavra recently, little Voldy's screams weren't as strong as before. This discovery made him feel a bit strange. However, Dylan wanted to research it further but couldn't figure out why.
He couldn't just completely dismantle the Horcrux. After all, this diary, besides being available for his research, was also a good way for him to grind proficiency for spell refinement tasks. He couldn't bear to completely destroy such a valuable item. At most, he would damage it locally. This also allowed him to feed more Life Essence into the diary to restore it. It wasn't too much trouble.
Time gradually passed. Dylan's days were fulfilling, but not as hectic as before. In the mornings, he would occasionally feed Luna (the owl) with Luna (the girl).
In the evenings, he would occasionally go to the Forbidden Forest with Luna (the girl) to check on Thestrals. During the day, he would attend classes, then occasionally run off to Dumbledore's to further study Fiendfyre and alchemy.
If it wasn't a good time to release Dementors, and Dylan didn't want to bother too much, he would wait until Ron and Harry went to the library to study—which was actually just catching up on homework.
He'd borrow Ron's Scabbers to feed his Dementors. Every day, after eating and reading, when not doing research, Dylan could even make some snacks for himself. —This was something Luna had introduced him to.
Although Luna was a Ravenclaw student, in the eyes of others, she was 'Loony'. Yet, she got along reasonably well with the Hufflepuff students. So Luna would occasionally go to the Hufflepuff common room to cook.
One time, after Dylan fed the owls with her in the morning, they were walking to the Great Hall for breakfast. They got to talking, and the conversation drifted to this.
As a result, Dylan was led astray by Luna. He would occasionally join Luna in the Hufflepuff common room to do some baking projects, like baking small cookies or making small desserts.
Since Dylan himself knew many cooking spells, he only had to demonstrate once in front of Luna. After tasting his cooking, Luna was astonished. —This was one of the reasons why Luna would always invite Dylan to cook with her.
Compared to Dylan's leisurely and fulfilling daily routine, Harry's recent life was exceptionally busy. These past few days, even apart from the weekly Quidditch practice on Wednesday evenings, in the early mornings—even on weekends when Dylan occasionally slept in—and even in the middle of the night! Wood would rush into the dormitory! He would literally shake him awake!
At first, Harry was quite panicky, fearing that Dylan would be woken up by Wood and would reprimand him as well. —He didn't want to end up like the ghoul in Ron's attic. But to his surprise, Dylan seemed to be completely unaffected.
Even when Wood's movements woke Ron, Dylan still slept peacefully. Later, Wood explained it to him. Only then did he learn that Dylan had cast three Silencing Charms around his own bed to ensure that no sound could wake him.
Harry was helpless. With Dylan's deterrent presence before, Wood had more or less been able to control himself. But now, without Dylan nearby, he could only let Wood have his way with him...
Moreover, Seamus and Neville's work had also been done by Wood. Ron, in any case, wouldn't go to practice with him so early; he would just go back to sleep after Harry left and then casually wander to the Quidditch pitch to cheer him on when he woke up. It had no impact whatsoever.
Fortunately, Harry quickly adapted. And under Wood's influence, he even became quite competitive. After all, Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup in a long time.
Harry believed that since he was a Gryffindor, he should naturally strive for the honor of Gryffindor! So Harry had been training for Quidditch early in the morning and late into the night recently.
One weekend afternoon, after training in the morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the library.
...
A short while later, Dylan strolled over too. He glanced at the homework the trio was working on. "More Charms homework, huh?"
Ron pouted. "Yeah! I don't know why Charms has so much homework! It feels like I'm writing every day, and I can never finish!"
Dylan clucked, shaking his head. "Right, it feels like learning never ends—I totally empathize!"
Ron's furiously writing hand paused. He eyed Dylan but said nothing.
Dylan chuckled, then pulled a few notebooks from his bag. "Professor Flitwick also had me do this assignment. Want to take a look?" Dylan placed the notebooks on the table in front of Ron.
Ron's eyes lit up. "Huh? Really?"
"Of course, just for reference. As long as you understand it, and don't fail the exam, it's fine."
Ron's face immediately transformed with gratitude. "Thank you, Dylan! You're such a good person!"
Dylan continued to smile at him. "Then... could you lend me your Scabbers for a bit?"
"Huh? Are you going to study rat anatomy again?" Ron was slightly taken aback.
Dylan blinked. "Yes. Your Scabbers has lived so long, I find it quite amazing, so I want to compare it with normal rats more often."
Ron thought for a moment, then looked at the homework notebooks next to him and nodded in agreement. "Scabbers is getting old, so please be careful with him."
Ron put down his quill and reached into his robes to pull out his somewhat balding pet rat, which was also missing a toe. However, all living things have spirits, and even animals have intelligence. Scabbers seemed to realize something.
It huddled in Ron's robes, trembling all over. Its claws tightly gripped the fabric of Ron's undershirt, and its little pointed nose burrowed into the sweater, trying to shrink away.
Ron frowned, grabbing Scabbers by the tail and pulling it out. "Hey! Scabbers, don't tear my clothes! I don't have any other good clothes to wear!"
Scabbers squealed and curled into an ugly ball of fur. In the end, Ron dragged it out of his clothes. Even so, it thrashed its claws, trying to burrow back into Ron's sleeve. "Quiet, you stupid rat!" Ron mumbled, shaking Scabbers, which only made it squeal louder, a sharp, piercing sound as if someone was about to kill it.
Ron handed Scabbers towards Dylan, who didn't take it immediately. Instead, he smiled and gently waved his wand. Magic surged, and an invisible light flashed.
A Silencing Charm was effortlessly cast. Now, although Scabbers' mouth continued to open and close, not even a whispered whimper could be heard. Only then did Dylan reach out, take the struggling rat, and tuck it into his pocket.
Then, he waved his wand at Ron and Hermione. "I'll head back to the dorm now. Just bring it back to me after you finish your homework."
Ron nodded, immediately lowering his head and continuing to write furiously. Harry sat beside Ron and also leaned in to look. Hermione, meanwhile, tilted her head slightly, her gaze on Dylan, her lips pursed.
"You're not being good to them at all! If they don't do their homework themselves, what will they do for the final exam?"
Dylan's eyelashes fluttered. He looked at Hermione, puzzled. "Are you saying I shouldn't let them copy homework?"
Ron and Harry instantly looked up. "We're not copying!"
Hermione's lips twitched. She ignored the two dimwits and continued to Dylan, "What else?"
Dylan shrugged innocently, then pointed to another homework book lying next to Harry. —A book that clearly didn't belong to Harry, with much neater, more delicate handwriting. "But... haven't you also lent your homework for Harry and them to reference? I remember you've given it before, too?"
Hermione was taken aback. "..."
Dylan didn't press Hermione, instead smiling. "Last school year, you had trouble, and no one was there to help them review. But this school year, with you around, I believe you'll lead them to excellent results in their exams next year." He continued, "I believe in you—after all, you're a very smart girl. I would never doubt your abilities."
Hermione's ear tips instantly turned red. Her left fingertips nervously rubbed the edge of the parchment, her golden-brown curls falling to obscure her slightly flushed cheeks. "N-no way..." She stammered, "I, I just tend to write everything down, I'm not as smart as you say..."
Dylan chuckled softly, winking at her. "Your intelligence is a fact that can be seen even from the Hogwarts corridors; you don't need anyone to tell you." Dylan waved to the trio. "Remember not to lean your head too low when writing. Watch your eyes. I'm off."
Dylan turned, his footsteps gradually fading under the library's archway. Hermione watched Dylan disappear around the corner, her fingers unconsciously rolling the corner of her notebook into a small scroll.
"Hey, Hermione! What's wrong?" Ron turned around and saw Hermione poking her own cheek with the hand holding her quill.
Hermione snapped back to attention, nearly knocking over the ink bottle beside her. "N-nothing, what's wrong with me?"
Ron's hand, resting on Dylan's homework, paused. He looked at Hermione's somewhat unusual expression, then turned to look in the direction Dylan had left.
When he turned back, he looked suspiciously at Hermione. "Your face is as red as dragon's blood in a cauldron—you're not like this just because Dylan complimented your intelligence, are you?"
"Shut up!" Hermione steadied the ink bottle with a flurry of motion, then glared at Ron. "I mean, what are you talking about?" She added, "I'm just... just a little embarrassed from being praised so suddenly!"
Ron heard this and became even more puzzled. "Yeah, isn't that what I'm saying? Why are you yelling at me?" He pouted, feeling a bit wronged.
"Ahem! Hurry up and continue your homework!" Hermione picked up a book beside her, opened it, and held it in front of herself. Ron looked at Hermione, who had shielded herself with the book, in confusion. He shook his head. —This guy should be called 'Loony'! How utterly inexplicable!
Dylan was unaware of their little interlude. When he returned to his dorm with Scabbers, no one else was in the room. He pinched the trembling Scabbers out of his pocket and looked at its missing toe.
Dylan smiled at it. At this moment, Scabbers was shaking like a sieve, its whiskers trembling as if they might break at any moment. It dared not directly look at Dylan, only cautiously observing him out of the corner of its eye.
It had no conscious memory of this guy, but strangely, it was utterly terrified of this young human wizard
....
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