A ruined Hogwarts

In the evening, a drizzle began to fall from the sky, and the lawn on the field became brand new green in the rain.

Harry carried his broomstick back to the castle with excitement on his face. He didn't even care that his body was soaked by the cold rain. There seemed to be a cheerful fire burning happily in his heart, dispelling the chill in his body.

He had just become the Seeker of the Slytherin Quidditch team. His superb flying skills and keen observation of the Golden Snitch amazed Captain Flint, claiming that Harry was the one he had seen. The most talented Seeker ever.

Draco's performance was a bit inferior to Harry's, but compared to other competitors, he was still outstanding. Having been exposed to broomsticks since he was a child, his flying skills were not bad at all, and he eventually settled for the second best and became a chaser. .

In this regard, the captain of the Slytherin team breathed a sigh of relief, because Draco's father invested in a new batch of Nimbus 2001 broomsticks for the house team, and he should not have eliminated Draco anyway. Draco can show excellent abilities and enter the academy team with his own strength. This is the best result.

"I just said that Harry will win, and I am willing to admit defeat." Blaise stretched out his palms proudly.

Pansy snorted arrogantly, slapped a few gold coins into his palm, and made a "pop" sound. Then she moved closer to Draco and greeted him with a gentle look on her face.

"This kind of thing... you still open a bet?" Harry looked at Blaise with a speechless face as he jumped and shook his red palms. He really felt that this guy deserved it.

"Actually, it's not just this." Blaise raised his eyebrows at him meaningfully, "In fact, without you knowing it, you have helped me earn dozens of galleons, Harry. "

Harry's face was dark, so this guy used himself to set up a bet when he had nothing to do? He couldn't help but lift his broomstick, wanting to hit someone with the broom handle.

"Harry, you win this time. But you have to be careful. If you keep falling off the chain, I will take the Seeker position back from you." Draco had already recovered from his disappointment. He came out and spoke slowly with his chin raised. He usually doesn't obey anyone, but today his performance was really not as good as Harry's. Considering that his opponent was Harry, he graciously didn't care.

"Then you have to keep up." Harry grinned and breathed a sigh of relief involuntarily. He was always worried that Draco would be unhappy.

"Hmph, do I still need you to remind me?" Draco muttered, "I really don't understand why Flint doesn't let me be the batter. Don't you think I'm better suited to cracking open the opponent's head?" As he spoke, he raised his broomstick and made a swinging motion like a bat.

"Maybe he thinks you're not strong enough." Harry sweated, and then explained with a serious face: "And the most important purpose of a batsman is to protect his own players, not to crack open the opponent's players' heads... "

"Tch, the best defense is offense. If we knock out all our opponents, we will win..." Draco raised his chin high.

While they were talking, a figure slowly walked over from the other end of the corridor, it was Ron Weasley. He scanned the faces of the group of people with a strange expression, and finally stared at Harry's face with a hint of curiosity and inquiry.

Harry was a little uncomfortable being stared at. He coughed slightly and was about to speak, but Draco beat him to it.

"Hey, who did I think it was? It turned out to be a Weasley." Draco said in an arrogant tone, "You are blocking the road in the middle, do you want to get into trouble? I guess you finally can't afford to eat, so start Working on the side... Ouch! Harry, what are you doing?" Harry kept tugging on his robes. When Draco's sarcasm became more and more unpleasant, he poked Draco's waist with his finger and poked him. Gotta jump up.

"I think begging should be more suitable for him. How pitiful." Pansy covered her mouth and laughed. She and Draco stood together, now like a male and a female.

Ron Weasley was not angry. He continued to stare at Harry as if he didn't hear him, as if he wanted to make a flower appear on his face.

Draco, who was completely ignored for the first time, became angry. Just as he was about to continue speaking, he was dragged aside by Harry.

"You go back first, he may have something to do with me..." As he said that, Harry pushed an unconvinced Draco to Blaise.

When he was dragged away by Blaise, Draco did not forget to turn around and said: "Don't be fooled by him! If he blackmails you, just tell me, my father can definitely..."

After the three people walked away, Harry grinned in utter embarrassment, looked at Ron whose expression turned half-smiling, and asked in a low voice, "Uh, are you looking for something from me?"

"Harry Potter..." Ron called his name softly, tilted his head slightly after a moment of silence, "Have you seen my mouse?"

"Your mouse?" Harry was stunned for a moment and asked quickly, "What happened to it?"

"He's been missing since the summer vacation." Ron took two steps slowly with his hands behind his back, getting closer to Harry. "I remember that you asked me about my mouse...Scabbers. So I think, you Might know its whereabouts.”

Harry waved his hands and said: "I don't know, I can't possibly know where a mouse wants to go..." Although he was thinking about the mouse, he hadn't started to do it yet! Could it be Owen?

Harry pictured Owen's playful smile in his mind and thought that he was indeed capable of such a thing. Well, ask him when we get back.

He looked at Ron Weasley in front of him with some confusion. He always felt that the other person had changed a lot. In the past, he always looked at him with a complex vigilance, instead of with an almost greedy look like now. Explore. More importantly, the words and deeds of the person in front of him had a sense of elegance and calmness, as well as a strange sense of oppression, which reminded him of Irving...

Could it be that Owen became like this to tease himself? Harry's expression became suspicious, and he began to look at the guy in front of him silently.

"What are you thinking about, Harry Potter?" Ron said softly.

"It's nothing, I really don't know where your mouse is. Also, just call me Harry." Harry always felt as if the other person's eyes had completely seen through him. He looked away and stopped looking at each other. He felt a little hair on his back, and the guy in front of him felt a little weird.

Ron said noncommittally: "Well, maybe it just got old and left me to die alone in a corner. It has been more than ten years, not short..."

Harry nodded absently, feeling a little empty. Owen said the rat was related to his family, but it disappeared...

"I heard that you set up a... study group at Hogwarts?" Ron said slowly, seeming very interested.

"To be precise, it was organized by Owen, and we are all members of the study group." Harry emphasized, and then suddenly said, "You want to join?"

"Do you need any tests?" Ron looked at him.

"Of course not, but I can't agree to you hastily. This requires the consent of everyone in the study group." Harry shook his head and said.

"With everyone's... consent?" Ron repeated, slightly raising the corners of his mouth as if he was amused, "So this is not the team you chose for yourself, but just a child's play house?"

"They're all my friends," Harry said, looking at him.

"Friend..." Ron put on that weird expression again, nodded slightly and muttered.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll go back first." Harry took a step back. He felt that he was beginning to reject this weird guy.

He passed Ron and walked quickly towards the end of the corridor. He felt the glaring eyes on his back staring at him. This feeling did not disappear until he turned the corner.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and quickened his pace. He wanted to go back and see if it was really Owen who turned into Ron and played with him, then...he would rub Owen's hair into a chicken coop!

He walked along the wide corridor to the end, and suddenly heard a low sob. He looked in the direction of the source of the sound and saw a petite figure with red hair squatting on the steps, his cheek buried in his arms, and his thin shoulders trembling slightly.

Looking at the girl's fiery red hair, Harry felt a little familiar and walked slowly behind her and asked in a low voice: "Are you okay?"

The crying figure suddenly froze. She raised her hands to wipe her face and said in a nasal voice, "I'm fine..." She turned her head and suddenly screamed when she saw Harry's face. , her cheeks instantly turned red, the same color as her eyes that were red and swollen from crying.

"Harry Potter!" She stood up suddenly and jumped back, losing her balance on the steps and about to fall.

Harry quickly reached out and took her arm, finally holding the girl steady. He looked at the other person's face, which turned even redder, and said, "You are Ginny Weasley, right?"

Ginny nodded as if pecking at rice, hurriedly wiping away the tears that overflowed from the corners of her eyes, and buried her head deeply in confusion, wringing her hands nervously in front of her.

"Have you encountered any trouble? I just met your brother Ron, do you want me to call him for you?" Harry scratched his head and said. He had no experience in comforting people, and he was not familiar with the girl in front of him.

"No need, I just had a fight with him." Ginny's voice became choked again, and she raised her hand to wipe her eyes.

"Did you... have any conflict happen?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Because I was sorted into Slytherin. Our whole family is from Gryffindor. I don't know why I am an exception..." Ginny sobbed and said, "Ron doesn't understand. He is always like this. It's really hard for him. He came here specifically to scold me..."

Listening to Ginny's words, Harry felt a little bit of empathy. Last semester, he had always felt that he was not suitable and should not be sorted into Slytherin House. He even had to face overwhelming discussions and suspicions from the outside world. Everyone was discussing whether he was a born evil dark wizard...

Fortunately, he has a group of friends who are willing to accompany and help him despite conflicts of one kind or another. He has the support and understanding of Hagrid and Dumbledore, a group of classmates who are mostly friendly, and an indifferent and vicious person who always treats him. The headmaster who had high hopes... Harry admitted that he already had a sense of identity and belonging to Slytherin. Even though there are still some prejudices here, he believes that everything will always develop for the better.

"I think the Sorting Hat put you here because you have certain qualities that you didn't realize you had. That's not a bad thing, Ginny." Harry thought of his first meeting with Owen. He said at that time, "There is no need to be biased. There have been numerous great men in every college. It is not others who determine our destiny, but our own choices."

"You will make sincere friends, and there will always be people who understand and support you." He racked his brains and thought, realizing for the first time that he was so good at talking, "I think your brother is definitely not here to scold you. Maybe he just doesn't know how to care about you..."

Ginny looked up at him furtively, her blue eyes misty. She cried and laughed and said: "I know, I have figured it out a long time ago. I don't need to care about which college I go to. It doesn't matter even if I am isolated by my classmates. My parents didn't blame me. They were just a little worried and wrote to comfort me... …”

"Are you isolated?" Harry frowned.

"Because our family is a pure-blood traitor in their eyes, and those guys from the pure-blood family took the lead..." Ginny lowered her head again, unconsciously kneading the corners of her robe with her fingers, "But I didn't think about it either. If I want to make friends with them, they are not worthy of my sincerity."

"That's right!" Harry nodded heavily, opened his mouth, and then scratched his head in distress.

Finally, he said dryly: "There will always be better people worthy of your trust. You see, we are friends now, right?" He raised his hand and patted Ginny on the shoulder, feeling the other person's His body suddenly stiffened, and his fair forehead turned red.

Ginny froze for a moment, then jumped up as if she'd been electrocuted. Her body instinctively moved backwards, and she almost fell down the stairs again.

"Yes...yes!" She grabbed the handrail of the stairs, looked at Harry's hand that grabbed her wrist again, and said loudly with a red face, her expression becoming excited and surprised.

If you can make friends with the idols you admire, leave everyone else alone!

Harry was bewildered by Ginny's suddenly amplified voice. He exhaled, leaned his broomstick against the armrest, and sat down next to where Ginny had been sitting just now. Ginny also sat down next to him nervously, and the two chatted.

Soon, Ginny became much more relaxed and less sad, and a bright, genuine smile appeared on her face. After discovering that Harry was interested in his family, she chirped in a clear voice.

"I have six brothers. Bill and Charlie have graduated. Charlie used to be the captain of the Quidditch team. He is now studying dragons in Romania." Ginny glanced at Harry's broomstick. "Percy is a stickler for rules." He's a bit boring, but he's very nice to me. Although he's been acting weird lately, I suspect it's because he's pursuing his girlfriend, which is about to get dirty..."

"Fred and George are very interesting. They always have all kinds of whimsical ideas, and they are also the people who are most accepting of me coming to this academy. But they are always busy with something recently, and they rarely even play pranks. . It’s been so many days since school started, and I haven’t heard of any toilets they blew up. It’s really strange.”

"Ron's temper is extremely awkward. He is even more immature than me... Forget it, let's not talk about him." Ginny snorted angrily.

The two chatted about Lockhart again, laughing from time to time, and Harry was glad that Ginny was not a Lockhart fan.

At this time, they heard hurried footsteps. The two turned around and saw Ron walking over in a hurry, with a panic expression on his face.

After seeing the two people sitting side by side, Ron's cheeks twitched in surprise and weirdness, staggered a bit, and almost fell to the ground.

"So, what are you up to?" Ginny said coldly, "Is there something chasing you behind your back?"

Ron's ears turned red, and he said irritably: "You don't need to know, Slytherin!" After saying that, he went upstairs quickly, stamping loudly under his feet.

"It just so happens that I don't want to know at all." Ginny took a deep breath, her eyes were red again, this time she was more angry.

Harry stared thoughtfully at Ron's retreating back, thinking that he was completely different now than when we talked just now, but the old robes he was wearing were exactly the same as before...

"What's going on?" Harry thought, "Or was he just being angry when he talked to me just now?"

After regaining consciousness and saying a few words to Ginny, they went to the Great Hall to get some food for dinner, and then walked towards the Slytherin common room together. After entering the stone door of the lounge, Ginny saw Draco waving to Harry, pouted slightly, thanked Harry again, then turned and walked towards her dormitory.

Harry responded casually to Draco's questions and glanced at the empty seat in front of the fireplace, but did not find Owen.

"Where's Owen?" he asked.

"Going out to practice spells," Daphne said.

Harry nodded, occupied Owen's armchair, and ate his dinner in silence.

…

"So, you suspect that I pretended to be Ron Weasley to tease you?" After Owen returned to the lounge, he looked at Harry occupying his beloved throne and raised his eyebrows. "You have such a rich imagination, why don't you write a novel?"

He sat on the chair next to him, his right hand pressing Melete's front paw. The little cat just raised his eyelids slightly and let Owen's palm press his paw. What cat's claws must be on top? She sadly discovered that she couldn't play Owen, and she was already ruined.

"Am I that boring?" Owen said with a smile, analyzing what Harry had said in his mind.

Harry said nothing, but his eyes showed confirmation.

"Okay." Owen smiled playfully, "That missing mouse...do you really have no clues?"

Harry was silent for a moment, shaking his head hesitantly.

In fact, he had secretly observed the rat while he was plotting against it. He knew that the rat had a toe missing from one of its front paws.

During the opening ceremony, he discovered that the new Professor Peter Pettigrew was missing an index finger on his right hand, and every move of that person looked like a... big mouse. Ron said that his mouse had been living in the Weasley family for more than ten years, which was about the time when Peter Pettigrew disappeared, and the time when the other party returned to the magical world was about the same time as the time when Ron's mouse was lost...

But how could a human be a mouse?

"Do you know something?" Harry cast a staring look at Owen.

"Ha, I don't know anything," Owen said lazily.