Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 977: No Practice

Since Evan got the Philosopher’s Stone left by Gryffindor in the Centaurs’ tribe three years ago, he also gained their friendship.

That piece of magical stone had been stored in the Centaurs’ tribe for centuries, long enough for it to be endowed with countless additional meanings by the Centaurs. It was simply a sacred existence that could be compared with the stars and the beliefs of the ancestors.

As the current owner of the Philosopher’s Stone, Evan naturally had a high status in the Centaurs’ tribe, even surpassing Dumbledore.

Especially after he had merged the two halves of the stone, the fallen Centaurs and the events involving Dark creatures remained a source of shame for this Centaurs’ tribe.

However, Evan was skeptical that even with his intervention, the Centaurs might not agree to Hagrid’s request.

Hagrid had a good relationship with the Centaurs, but keeping a highly destructive giant within the Forbidden Forest was, in reality, a very crazy move. Moreover, the Centaurs regarded the entire forest as their private land and were extremely stubborn, insisting that tradition should not be altered.

Thinking about the temperamental Magorian and the other Centaurs, Evan sighed deeply.

“It’s unimaginable that he really wants to bring that giant back. I was expecting Hagrid to give up!”

“Yeah, a giant; I bet if you stand on the castle’s tower, you can see him,” said Ron, suddenly laughing. “Actually, that’s not bad, is it? Just imagine, Umbridge opens her window, and she’s greeted by the giant’s ugly face and a terrifying roar. I bet she’d cry for sure.”

“This is no joke!” Hermione said sternly, “If anyone else discovers the giant, Hagrid will be expelled, and it might even affect the Headmaster and others. We must keep the giant’s secret. Evan, are you ready to help him?”

“I’ll give it a try, but those Centaurs are the most stubborn creatures I’ve ever met. It might not work,” Evan replied.

“Well, I’m going out for a while!” Harry said. “Hedwig needs treatment, and I’m going to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.”

“Wait a minute, let Dobby the house-elf go,” said Evan, stopping Harry. “You will easily be suspected if you go out with Hedwig now. I also want Dobby to deliver a message to the Centaurs, tell them about it and hear what they have to say.”

House-elves were more discreet than owls in delivering letters, and they were very convenient. Dobby was also happy to take on this task.

He even talked to everyone about the situation in the kitchen. Although Hermione had made a lot of efforts, everything was the same as before. The only change was probably that Winky’s condition became worse. Since Mr. Crouch was killed, and after Barty Jr. had his soul sucked away, Winky completely collapsed!

She did nothing now, drank alcohol every day, and had become a scum among the house-elves, which was even more unacceptable to the elves than Dobby.

Now, Dobby was the only one taking care of her, even hiding her in the Room of Requirement several times.

“We have to do something for Winky,” Hermione said, watching Dobby disappear in front of her with Hedwig. “I think with a little more care, she’ll get better. Look at Kreacher, he is a good example.”

“Kreacher didn’t get better because of love,” Ron said. “And he is only friendly to you three now.”

“Well, maybe we can take Winky to Mr. Crouch’s tombstone to take a look. It might make her feel better.” Hermione said thoughtfully, thinking about the matter carefully, “Does anyone know where he was buried?”

Just then, Angelina walked in dejectedly, with Fred and George following her.

“No Quidditch practice,” she said in hollow tones. “Not this week, and probably not next week.”

“But I kept my temper!” said Harry, horrified. “I didn’t say anything to her, Angelina, I swear, I… “

“I know, I know,” said Angelina miserably, “the other three Houses teams have been approved to reorganize. We just went to see her, and she only said that she needed a bit of time to consider.”

“Consider what?” said Ron angrily. “She’s given the Slytherins permission, why not us?”

There was a moment of silence, and everyone could imagine how much Umbridge was enjoying holding the threat of no Gryffindor Quidditch team over their heads.

Of course she would not want to relinquish that weapon over them too soon. It was much more useful than detentions!

“Well,” said Hermione, “look on the bright side — at least now you’ll have time to do Snape’s essay!”

“That’s a bright side, is it?” snapped Harry, while Ron stared incredulously at Hermione. “It sounds as bad as helping Winky find Mr. Crouch’s burial place, no Quidditch practice and extra Potions!”

Harry slumped down into a chair, dragged his Potions essay reluctantly from his bag, and set to work.

“Hermione is right, and it’s not entirely a bad thing. I think this will give us time for combat training. At least all Gryffindors will have free time!” Evan said. “We can start as soon as possible. How about tomorrow evening?”

“I’m okay with that!” Harry immediately agreed, feeling somewhat better with the prospect.

At least they were actively resisting Umbridge and the Ministry, which seemed to be his only refuge at the moment.

“We don’t mind either. If we don’t start soon, I’ll forget everything I’ve learned!” Fred said.

“Yeah, you know, there are so many things waiting for us to do every day,” George added.

“Okay, then. Let’s inform the others tomorrow. If they have time, ask them to come to the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor after dinner,” Evan said. “Hermione and I are ready with a proper training area and everything we need.”

For the rest of the evening, Evan and the others discussed Hagrid and Grawp.

Harry was making little progress with his Potions essay. He had trouble concentrating, as there was an incredible amount of noise in the room: after countless attempts, Fred and George appeared finally to have perfected one type of Skiving Snackbox, which they were taking turns to demonstrate to a cheering and whooping crowd.

George was shouting and holding a clipboard to record the orders. Fred would take a bite out of the orange end of a chew, at which he would vomit spectacularly into a bucket they had placed in front of them. Then he would force down the purple end of the chew, at which the vomiting would immediately cease.

Every once in a while, Lee Jordan lazily emptied the vomit with a Vanishing Charm.

There were vomiting, cheers, and orders from Fred and George, and Harry could hardly concentrate on writing the correct recipe for the enhancer.

Like him, Hermione kept sneering dissatisfiedly and stopped talking about giants!

“Aren’t you going to stop them?” Evan asked. Hermione was very dissatisfied with Fred and George’s experiments.

She had threatened to tell Mrs. Weasley about it, but it was just talk.

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