Allen looked at Professor Snape expectantly.
Professor Snape was startled, looking at him with the gaze one would give to a mentally challenged person. However, in Allen's eyes, he interpreted it as Professor Snape looking at him with care, his eyes full of encouragement.
Could it be that he was encouraging him to shout with more vigor? The professor's requirements for a secret handshake were truly high! Allen continued to overthink.
Then he would shout! Anyway, there was no one else here. So Allen raised his right hand high and shouted:
"Orcs will never be slaves!"
Professor Snape continued to "carefully" look at Allen.
Still not right? Oh, right, Grom Hellscream shouted while holding Gorehowl, he was still missing a Gorehowl!
Allen searched around and quickly found his target—a cauldron stirring rod.
He reached out, took the stirring rod in his hand, raised it high, and shouted again:
"Orcs will never be slaves!"
Then he stared at Professor Snape, thinking, this must be it! He must succeed in the secret handshake this time!
At this moment, Professor Snape sighed deeply, took the potion cup back from Allen's hand, and said helplessly to Allen: "No one wants to enslave you, you 'orc'! If you don't want to drink it, then don't! I will tell Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall about your decision, but don't come looking for me if you have any health problems afterward."
Snape was so helpless that he couldn't even maintain his usual slow tone, quickly finishing his words, then turned to leave.
Only then did Allen clearly see the helplessness in Professor Snape's eyes.
That helpless emotion, it seemed... not fake! And when the professor spoke, he glanced at Allen's head, as if looking at his horns, did the professor think 'orc' was Allen's self-proclaimed title?
Could it be that he was really overthinking things? Over-imagining?
Allen suddenly sobered up and quickly chased after the professor.
"Professor, please listen to me, things are not what you imagine! I have a problem with my brain..."
...
Allen finally drank the potion provided by Professor Snape. Although it smelled like stinky socks, it felt better than the potions he had drunk at St. Mungo's before. He just didn't know why it made him a little light-headed and dizzy. He didn't want to go to dinner now; he just wanted to quickly return to his bed and get a good night's sleep.
He staggered back to the Gryffindor Tower, stood in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, but couldn't remember today's password.
Oh, his brain was getting duller and duller! Allen shook his head vigorously.
"What's the password today?" Allen muttered to himself.
"Pig snout! (Note 1)" A clear voice came from behind him.
Allen turned around and saw Hermione. She was holding a book and smiling at him.
"Miss Granger, please stop joking and tell me today's password quickly."
"Today's password is Pig Snout! Mr. Pig Snout!" Hermione covered her mouth with the book, giggling.
Allen turned his head and saw that the Fat Lady had indeed opened the door. Then he and Hermione climbed into the common room.
"Thank you, Miss Granger!" Allen said sincerely.
"You're welcome! Mr. Pig Snout!" Hermione replied haughtily, looking a little displeased. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Aren't we friends yet? You can actually call me Hermione."
"Ah! Hermione! We are already friends! You can call me Allen too." Allen quickly replied, a straightforward guy always unable to refuse the reasonable requests of cute girls.
"Haha, I'm going to call you Mr. Pig Snout! This is so fun!" Hermione was very happy to hear that.
"Uh... alright, as long as you're happy!" Allen said with a wry smile.
"Allen, you are a very interesting person, even though your two roommates are very annoying." Hermione said, then ran into the girls' dormitory.
Leaving Allen confused, why did she run away?
...
When Allen returned to his dormitory, he found he was alone. He quickly washed up and went back to his bed to sleep. He took out his wand, intending to put it in the bedside drawer, but suddenly hesitated.
After drinking the potion today, his mind was surprisingly clear. If his wand talent transformed today, the bad situations he had envisioned probably wouldn't occur!
But having fewer thoughts meant this would be a truly random event. Allen hesitated a little; it was somewhat like opening a blind box, but the blind box itself was his own body.
At this moment, the conversation he had with Dumbledore that day surfaced in Allen's mind again.
Let's do it! Let's go!
Allen made up his mind.
However, to be safe, he should sleep naked tonight. Last time his wand talent transformed, it ruined a set of his pajamas. He needed to be careful this time. His body was developing so quickly now, and he only had a few sets of pajamas that fit him. He didn't have money to buy new ones, so he had to be careful.
Then Allen stripped himself naked, got into bed, and tightly gripped his wand in his right hand.
He fell into a deep sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
...
In the middle of the night, Allen was shaken awake. He got up, somewhat displeased, wrapped in his blanket, and found it was Harry and Ron. They both looked very excited, their small faces flushed with excitement.
"Allen, wake up! We discovered a secret!" Ron whispered.
Allen, still half-asleep, said, "What is it! Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
"No, I want to say it today, you don't know what we found in school today!" Harry chimed in.
"We had a duel with Malfoy today?" Ron said.
"Huh? Why did you go and duel him? And you didn't even bring me?" Allen instantly became a little more awake.
"Uh... we wanted to get revenge for you ourselves, so we didn't tell you," Ron added.
Allen wanted to argue with them, but he saw that Harry and Ron looked very disheveled, and he felt a surge of emotion.
They had become very good friends since that flying lesson. When you experience a certain event together with someone, you can't help but develop good feelings for each other, especially when it's something many people know about. The flying lesson was such an event.
He didn't expect them to even duel Malfoy to get revenge for him! Allen thought, a little touched.
Ron continued excitedly, "Then we didn't see Malfoy at the designated spot, but we were discovered by Filch, and then we ended up in the corridor on the fourth floor?"
"The fourth-floor corridor? The one Professor Dumbledore strictly forbade entering at the beginning of the term?" Allen's heart skipped a beat. "How dare you go in there? You could get expelled if you were caught!"
"We were forced by Filch and accidentally entered the fourth-floor corridor. That's not the point, the point is we saw a huge dog with three heads." Ron gestured exaggeratedly to Allen, showing the size of the dog.
"And then?" Allen pressed.
"Then we ran back!" Ron said proudly.
"What's there to be excited about?" Allen couldn't understand the thought process of eleven-year-old wizards.
"It was so cool!" Ron said excitedly.
"We found it was guarding something, and it seemed like Hagrid brought it to Hogwarts. We seem to have stumbled upon a big secret of Hogwarts." Harry also added excitedly.
Allen wasn't interested in the big dog or the secret. His eyelids began to droop, and he soon fell asleep.