[Chapter Size: 1700 Words.]
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"Professor, please stop talking." Harry was on the verge of tears. He was sure Dumbledore knew everything.
Of course, Patil was referring to the Indian sisters, who were generally considered the most beautiful girls in the class. Harry was very close to them and had a slight crush on them.
Johnson refers to Angelina Johnson, a beautiful Chaser from Gryffindor. Harry knew five or six boys at school who had a crush on her, the most obvious of them being Lee Jordan, the mischievous friend of the Weasley twins.
As for Farley, she was the head of the Slytherin girls. The only student from Slytherin who was recognized by the entire school. She was fair and impartial and often helped younger students, regardless of which house they were in. Countless younger witches admired her.
"Okay, it's really fine." Dumbledore seemed to find Harry's embarrassment amusing. But he realized that this conversation couldn't go on, so he decisively changed the subject.
"Your father and mother were very talented wizards, and I have long suspected that you would be very talented too. However, the fact that you have already mastered Occlumency to this extent in your first year still exceeded my expectations. In my eighty years as a professor, I have only encountered two young wizards of this caliber."
"Two?" Harry was a bit surprised by the number, and then thought, "One of them is Voldemort... I mean, that guy, right?"
Harry had originally wanted to say Voldemort's real name, but then he remembered that people seemed to dislike hearing that name, so he changed his mind.
"Yes, it's Voldemort." To Harry's surprise, Dumbledore didn't mind mentioning that name. "When he was a student, he was a talented and influential person. Well, of course, compared to you now, there might still be a gap."
"So, who's the other one?" Harry didn't want to return to the subject, but he was really curious.
"Well, it's Professor McGonagall." Dumbledore smiled, looking genuinely pleased, and seemed very happy to bring up this topic.
"You might not have thought this, but Professor McGonagall wasn't as strict as she is now when she was a student. Of course, as a student, she was still very serious. She was the founder and leader of the Duelling Club, the main player on the Quidditch team, the Head Girl, and the President of the Girls' Union."
"While she was still in school, she already won the Most Promising Newcomer Award from Transfiguration Today. She also passed both the Ordinary Wizarding Level with distinction, achieving the highest scores in history."
"Haha, you don't know, during the years when Professor McGonagall was at school, students from all four houses were intimidated by her and couldn't hold their heads up. Even some young professors felt the pressure."
Harry was stunned. He had never imagined that his Head of House was so powerful.
"If I get the chance, I might take a peek and see how vast Professor McGonagall's magical flame and soul projection are. They should be greater than Snape's, right?" he thought.
"I think I've said enough." Dumbledore's smile faded slightly, but he still seemed quite happy.
"I had planned to move the Mirror of Erised to another location. But since it seemed to be of some use to you, I kept it there for a few more days. But this is the limit. I'll move it tomorrow."
"Oh, what a shame." Harry shook his head and said regretfully, "I wanted to look what Hermione wants most."
Harry wondered: "Would it be the mountain of homework or the report card with excellent grades? Or a mountain of perfect grades?"
"If that's the case, it really is a shame." Dumbledore nodded upon hearing this, with an expression that seemed to agree and feel a little regretful. But he didn't change his mind.
"Well, I'll head back first. You're getting older now, so it's better if you get some rest. Harry, enjoy yourself, but don't stay out too late. It's better for children to go to bed early."
Harry's back stiffened when he heard this. Ever since he had gotten the Invisibility Cloak, he had gotten into the habit of sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night. He wasn't sure if Dumbledore was giving him a warning by saying this.
However, he couldn't help himself and asked Dumbledore, who was about to leave, "Professor, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," Dumbledore, who was already walking toward the door, stopped, turned, and answered with a smile. "Actually, you already asked a question just now. I hope that wasn't your question."
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This legendary wizard was a bit too amusing.
After organizing his thoughts, Harry asked, "What do you see when you look in this mirror?"
As he asked the question, Harry thought, "You already know mine, but I don't know yours. That's not fair."
He didn't mind. He already knew Ron's, but Ron didn't know his. It wasn't fair.
"As for me..." Dumbledore didn't show any surprise at hearing the question. Instead, he tilted his head and looked at the Mirror of Erised.
"I found myself holding a pair of thick woolen socks. You never know, there are never enough socks. All these years, year after year, I've never received a single pair of socks. People always insist on giving me books, all kinds of books. Merlin is my witness, at my age, I'd go blind if I read any more books."
As he spoke, he gestured toward his crescent-shaped glasses.
Harry mentally rolled his eyes but promised earnestly, "Alright, Professor, next year, I'll definitely give you a dozen, no, ten dozen pairs of socks, all made of wool."
"That's wonderful!"
…
Harry's first official interaction with Dumbledore wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't pleasant.
Harry felt embarrassed and wanted to retreat when he thought about the desire deep inside him, one he absolutely didn't want to admit. The idea of Dumbledore knowing about it made him want to chew on the walls.
Of course, while Harry was extremely dissatisfied and unhappy with the conversation, his impression of Dumbledore improved significantly.
As a wizard hailed as the greatest wizard of the century and Headmaster of the school, Harry found it extraordinary that he could be so approachable.
When Hermione and Neville returned, both expressed their longing for the school. Especially Hermione.
It was definitely torture for a young witch who had just mastered magic and achieved excellent results to go over half a month without using magic.
Harry told them about the Mirror of Erised. As he and Ron had expected, both of them, especially Hermione, were very intrigued. She also wanted to know what her innermost desire was.
Neville seemed disinterested by comparison. Harry casually asked, and Neville hesitated for a moment before simply saying he knew what he wanted, so Harry didn't press further.
Later, Harry discussed Occlumency and the Invisibility Cloak with Hermione and Neville.
Hermione and Neville were very interested in Occlumency. Especially Neville. After discovering that this magic might have something to do with the spirit and soul, his curiosity was something Harry had never seen before.
But neither of them seemed too interested in the Invisibility Cloak.
Neville was obviously still a bit scared after the recent incident with the three-headed dog and didn't want to embark on an "adventure" with Harry and the others. In truth, Harry didn't care much for adventure, unless it excited him. But Ron seemed very interested in it.
Hermione, on the other hand, couldn't accept them sneaking around the school in the middle of the night wearing invisibility cloaks.
But when Harry pointed out that it had been her idea for them to venture into the Restricted Section to find information about the Philosopher's Stone, Hermione was left speechless. But when she learned that Harry and his friends had found no information about the Stone, she became quite cross.
This time, Harry and Ron could only accept it silently. Fortunately, the practice of Occlumency distracted Hermione.
In the following days, the school was in chaos.
The professors didn't seem to have any special reaction to the end of the holidays and the start of the term. Teaching resumed with intense focus. But the younger students hadn't fully recovered from the holidays.
For a time, the school was full of complaints, but the professors appeared used to it. Not only did they not mind, but they even increased the intensity of their lessons.
However, those who couldn't adapt were, in fact, poor students.
Outstanding students, like Hermione and the Ravenclaws, said they didn't mind at all and even felt somewhat comfortable.
What surprised Harry was that Hermione still had the energy to continue searching for information about the Philosopher's Stone. It was a pity that there had been no progress.
Although Harry and Ron tried to help Hermione, they didn't have the time to.
If we say that before Christmas, the professors focused more on laying the groundwork for first-year students and only covered the most superficial topics, then after Christmas, the content became much deeper.
Even Harry felt the pressure. The most obvious example was that without Hermione's and Padma's help, Harry wouldn't have been able to complete his daily homework. Harry once again considered skipping his Potions homework, but in the end, he didn't, after being persuaded by Hermione and Padma.
"I don't even think it's hard to correct your work, so how can you say you don't want to write anymore?" When Padma said this to Harry, batting her beautiful dark brown eyes, Harry had no reason to argue.
In addition to schoolwork, there was also more intense Quidditch training.
This semester, Gryffindor had consecutive matches against Ravenclaw. As the champion of last year's Quidditch Cup, Ravenclaw had nearly kept their original lineup and was Wood's most important rival.
Therefore, after Christmas, the intensity of the training was raised to a higher level.
Under such circumstances, Harry and Ron naturally didn't have the energy to help Hermione.
When Harry thought that Hermione would give up soon, she found a clue.
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