A ruined Hogwarts

"...You need to think back to your happiest memories and recall them as clearly as possible. Use your wands to draw circles in the air while chanting the spell..."

At a study group gathering at the end of October, Harry stood on the podium of the small classroom and explained to everyone the latest Patronus Charm that Dumbledore had taught him.

"Professor Dumbledore said that this spell is very advanced and difficult, especially because our magic level may not meet the requirements. It may take more than a year of continuous practice before we can completely master it..." Ha Lee waved his wand to demonstrate for everyone, and a thin white mist flew out from the tip of the wand.

"I don't understand, what's the use of this spell?" Draco waved his wand perfunctorily, looking at Harry, but nothing happened. He muttered impatiently: "To ward off dementors... as if dementors are everywhere."

"Since the headmaster taught Harry this spell, he must have felt that it was necessary to take precautions. Instead of complaining endlessly, it is better to focus on business." Hermione raised her face and said. She hasn't been in a good mood lately, and she talks as if she's been drugged.

"To prevent you from being imprisoned in Azkaban?" Draco sneered, "I would be happy to watch you go there and experience it for a while. After you are released from prison, remember to write an article about your experience and experience of close contact with dementors. How could you release a Patronus Charm or something like that in a place like that..."

Harry helplessly saw the two guys confronting each other again, and skillfully came over to separate their sight. This was already a daily routine in the study group, and he sadly found that he had become accustomed to this situation.

"Dumbledore said that wizards with a Patronus will have their souls protected, not just to deal with dementors..." Harry explained with seriousness and yearning.

"You heard him giving you chicken soup." Draco curled his lips, turned around and saw Owen sitting in front of the window with his eyes closed and basking in the sun. He leaned over and knocked on his desk: "Look, I caught a lazy person. guy!"

Owen came out of the wall space, covered his lips and yawned, closed his eyes again and said, "I've learned, Draco."

"Really?" Draco looked at him suspiciously, and the others also looked over curiously.

Draco said slowly: "Do you think I will believe your lies? You are not as good at this kind of magic as I am. Unless you read it out and see."

Harry also looked over eagerly, his eyes full of curiosity.

"I refuse." Owen lazily hugged his shoulders.

"..." Draco squinted his eyes and looked at him, then suddenly his eyes lit up and he smiled widely, "You must have summoned an embarrassing Patronus, right? Let me guess, could it be a Pig, or mouse?”

"Actually, you can be more imaginative." Owen glared at him.

"Maybe it's a dung beetle." Draco shrugged, his gray eyes darting around. If that were the case, he felt he could laugh at Owen for the rest of his life.

"Owen, do you have any tips for this spell?" Daphne rolled her eyes at Draco and looked at Owen with sapphire eyes, "I always can't grasp the tricks..."

Owen put his hand on his chin, recalling Voldemort's speech last semester, directly transferred some relevant theoretical knowledge and magic principles, and finally said calmly: "The biggest difficulty is nothing more than the embodiment of emotions. You need to be as clear as possible Recall the happiest memories, center on your own will, guide or oppress it, and let those memories solidify in your brain."

"Come on, I'm optimistic about you." After saying that, he hugged the back of his head again and closed his eyes. The warm sunlight reflected his pale cheeks almost transparently.

A group of young wizards continued to practice as if they had some understanding, until the sun gradually set in the west, casting long slanting light and shadows in the classroom.

The people who had been practicing magic spells all afternoon gradually stopped and chatted in twos and threes.

"...So, Hermione, Ron Weasley bullied you?" Harry finally found out indirectly from Neville what happened to Hermione, and figured out the reason why she cried the night the werewolf attacked.

Neville glanced at Hermione in confusion, then lowered his head and looked at the wand in his hand.

"How could I be bullied by that kind of person!" Hermione instinctively raised her face and retorted, then angrily held her cheek with the back of her hand, "That moody idiot! I don't know where I provoked him. That night I just wanted to help him pick up the books he dropped on the floor, but he pushed me away arrogantly and rudely told me to get out..."

"Pretentious, arrogant, and annoying! Why doesn't he think about how much he weighs?" Hermione's eyes were red, and her emotions were a little out of control. "I originally thought that after a year of getting along, we We are already friends...but I didn’t expect that he would directly reveal his true nature, and he has been acting weird in front of me these days!”

"Ron is not usually like this, Hermione." Neville, who had been silent all the time, defended his friend, but his tone was a little weak, "He must be in a bad mood recently..."

"You're going to take your anger out on me when you're in a bad mood?" Hermione wiped the corners of her eyes and turned to look out the window, "Forget it, let's not talk about him. I have nothing to do with him."

Harry remembered what Owen had said to Dumbledore that day, about the Ravenclaw diadem and the news that something was wrong with several Weasleys. He recalled that Ginny had once said something similar to him, about how some of her brothers had become weird.

"Do you remember that I once mentioned to you that Ron Weasley wanted to join the study group?" He said thoughtfully, looking at Owen who was listening with his chin propped up by the window, "But, When I went to find him later, he seemed to have completely forgotten about it... After I explained it to him, he ran away with a look of horror on his face."

"Also, I think the person he was at that time was completely different from the person he was when he asked me to join the study group," Harry said.

"Why are you so busy with Weasley?" Draco heard Harry's words and couldn't help but said something, but was completely ignored.

"Tch, be careful your kindness goes unpaid." He raised his chin and muttered, taking Pansy and the others to the other end of the classroom to see Blaise toying with his weird folding schoolbag.

"I don't know, Harry, Ron has never behaved differently in front of us." Neville glanced at Draco and the others, thought carefully about it for a while, shook his head and said, "But he has been a little anxious recently and has been ill. We were all worried about him, but he didn't say anything."

"Actually, I know one thing. Several members of the Weasley family seem to have been troubled by...an object." Harry looked at Owen again, asking for his opinion with his eyes. Owen smiled and nodded. Anyway, he was not the only one who knew about the crown. He also wanted to see how things would change.

Harry took a deep breath and briefly explained the situation of the diadem. Hermione and Neville listened carefully. When he said the term Ravenclaw's diadem, Daphne, who was sitting opposite Owen, sat upright and looked over with an expression of interest.

By the time Harry finished speaking, Hermione had completely calmed down from her angry state, and her smart IQ once again took over the high ground. She carefully recalled the scenes with Ron, sorting out all the abnormalities in him, and suddenly said: "Do you think he is reminding us in some way... or even asking us for help!"

Owen, who had been listening to the story without changing his face, glanced here with interest. He tapped the table with the pad of his index finger, thinking about what action Dumbledore would take.

"You think, since the beginning of this semester, he has behaved completely differently from last year. But this abnormality seems to have only appeared in front of Harry and me. Neville and he shared the same dormitory and did not notice anything too wrong. ." Hermione's eyes flashed brightly, and her mood suddenly became uplifted from depression. She is more willing to believe that the other party has his own reasons.

"If that crown is really a terrible dark magic item, will he be threatened or even controlled?" She unconsciously put her finger to her lips, "It only shows abnormality in front of Harry and me. Not because he thinks we can help him? Oh, sorry, Neville, I don't mean that you can't help him, but..."

"Maybe Harry and I have something in common, or something special, that made him choose us. I'm sure that Ron didn't behave like another person in front of me, as naive and...ignorant as ever. ." Hermione curled her lips, but her expression became heavy, "In other words, he may have deliberately acted abnormally to attract our attention..."

"But what do you and Harry have in common?" Daphne, who also heard this, asked.

"I was thinking." Hermione frowned and curled her messy brown hair with her fingers.

Harry also touched his chin and thought, are there any similarities between him and Hermione? It's understandable that Ron Weasley would look for Hermione, after all, they are friends, but it would be strange for him to look for himself. They didn't have many interactions before. At most, I asked him about the rat.

Could it be related to Peter Pettigrew? But what does this have to do with Hermione? What was so special about him that Ron came to him for help? Because his hands give bad guys blisters? Or passed the level to protect the Philosopher's Stone last year? But the other party doesn’t know this either. Or is it that he has had other deeds?

Thinking of this, Harry was horrified. He shouted: "Voldemort!"

His voice echoed in the classroom, causing the place to become deathly silent for an instant. The little wizards who heard this name almost froze in place, looking at him in horror, and even breathing softly.

Draco staggered and almost fell into Pansy's arms; Blaise froze on the spot, and the schoolbag in his hand tore open with a "tear" sound; Crabbe and Goyle stopped chewing candy. Her eyes were wide open; the pen in Daphne's hand fell to the ground with a "clack", and her lips were slightly opened.

Hermione and Neville also gasped, and Hermione quickly tugged on Harry's sleeve and winked at him.

Owen looked away from the scenery outside the window and glanced at Harry with a strange smile. This guy was wildly imaginative again, but this time he seemed to have guessed it right.

After everyone finally returned to their original appearance, Harry lowered his voice and said urgently: "I have very little interaction with Ron Weasley, but he just came to me, and he must have thought that I could help him. He recognized me even though he didn't know me, it must be because he felt that I had some power in me that could do it, or even that I had done it before..."

"Think about it, why am I known to so many people? Who rejects and hates Muggle-born wizards? Isn't that what Ron showed in front of you, Hermione? Maybe he is To confuse someone and know that you have a good relationship with me..." Harry said quickly.

"The mysterious man is dead." Daphne pursed her lips and took the quill she dropped from Owen's hand.

"No, Mr. Dumbledore said that he just lost his body and has been plotting to come back." Harry said slowly.

Daphne's face turned a little pale, and she looked at Owen blankly. Owen smiled at her and said gently: "Don't worry about the future, Daphne, focus on now."

Hermione and Neville looked at each other. One of them was a Muggle and the other had a huge hatred against Voldemort. They didn't feel too scared and digested the information faster.

"But it's still too shocking, Harry." Hermione took a deep breath.

"Yeah, maybe it's just my conjecture." Harry silently clenched his fists. But what he didn't say was that he knew that Voldemort sent his servants to Hogwarts last school year to try to steal the Sorcerer's Stone... Only he and Owen knew this secret in this classroom.

Could it be said that this year he put his black hands into Hogwarts again?

He turned to look at Owen, only to find that this guy was shuffling a deck of playing cards as if nothing had happened, with fancy movements...

"Anyway, now that Dumbledore knows about this, you should pay attention to Weasley's situation recently and don't ruin the principal's affairs." Under Harry's increasingly resentful gaze, Owen turned his head. Said innocently.

The discussion on this matter ended here, but judging from the expressions on the faces of Harry and the two Gryffindors, this matter had not passed at all.

When a group of people were about to leave the classroom, Owen suddenly smiled and clapped his hands cheerfully, and said in a relaxed tone: "Sir Nicholas, oh, that's Nearly Headless Nick, he will hold his 500th death anniversary party on Halloween. .I will be invited to attend, do any of you want to go with me?"

Harry and the others instantly recalled the night they went to the ghost party with Owen last semester. The fear of being dominated by the freezing temperature and terrible music... The young wizards in Slytherin shook their heads without hesitation. And they all took a step back.

Hermione, who was in a much better mood, showed an excited expression. It must have been a special party. She said cheerfully: "Can I go?"

"Of course." Owen narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Then I'll go too." Neville looked at him eagerly.

"I'll go with you too..." Harry sighed, looking like he was about to step onto the execution ground. No one else in Slytherin was willing to go. He felt that as a friend, he should accompany Owen.

"It's seven o'clock in the evening on Halloween, don't forget." Owen nodded and said, "Oh, a reminder, it's best to wear thicker clothes."

"It needs to be very thick." Harry added, "And remember to have dinner in advance. There will be nothing to eat when you get to the ghost..."

Several people in Slytherin looked at Harry with admiration for his courage, and then everyone left in a hurry, and the sun outside the castle had just set on the horizon.

…

The day before Halloween was a nice day, and the professors decorated the auditorium early. Gold plates were placed on the table, lights were decorated everywhere, and candlelight shone. Hagrid's big pumpkin was as big as a flower shed. There were blue flames burning in the pumpkin's belly, and there were dark clouds and bats flying in the air.

It's five o'clock in the afternoon, two hours before the party starts.

At this time, Owen was walking alone in the Forbidden Forest, leaning against a giant tree and observing the forest in front of him. There was a shadow of a huge creature moving rustlingly there.

"Penetrate." After a brief spell, a silver-white beam of light flew out from the tip of the wand like a laser, hitting the huge shadow silently. Amidst a strange clicking sound, the figure twitched violently and let out a terrifying scream.

"Bound by thorns!" Owen waved his wand again without changing his expression, and countless black vines wrapped around the figure. The vines were covered with dense sharp thorns, and the tips of the thorns shone with a dark green edge.

The huge shadow was tied up tightly and could no longer move. It wanted to howl loudly, but amid a "silent" spell, it couldn't even make a sound.

Owen walked over slowly and looked at the big guy he caught. This was an Acromantula as big as a horse. Its eight black and hairy legs were twisting and twitching randomly in the thorn bushes, and a pair of large black claws clicked.

There was a penetrating wound as thick as an adult male's index finger on the Acromantula's furry belly. It had been pierced by the piercing spell just now, and there were burn marks on the edge of the wound. Thorns and vines tightly wrapped around its body, and the poisonous thorns penetrated deeply into the spider's body.

Owen threw away Tom's diary, chanted the puppet spell, and controlled the giant spider to press a long leg against the open pages of the diary. Then, he quickly waved his wand, and a long diagonal wound appeared on the spider leg, and gurgling blood flowed out of it and seeped into the diary.

The diary sucked greedily, while the Acromantula's body became more and more shriveled up. Finally, the eight spider legs shook violently, shrank into a ball, and never moved again.

Owen dispersed the thorn bushes and threw the Acromantula, with only its dry shell left, into the forest. He picked up the diary, shook it, and wrote on it with his wand: "Spiders are really wonderful creatures, aren't they?"

Tom's handwriting slowly appeared on the page: "Sorry, I didn't know you would like this furry... little cutie."

"Tsk, I mean, they can give you a good meal, can't they?" A smile flashed in Owen's dark and deep eyes. Tom is really getting better at talking.

This is the second time he has come to the Forbidden Forest to capture the Acromantula. However, he never found the spider's nest and could only hunt some scattered giant spiders. It's also a good thing that Owen doesn't really want Tom to absorb too much life force.

"I said that the magic power and vitality of magical animals are very different from wizards. I am not very efficient in absorbing them." Tom responded, "Although it is indeed much better than the ordinary animals you found yesterday..."

Owen said "Oh". He wouldn't say that yesterday he took the mice he had done experiments on and fed them to Tom. That would easily hurt his feelings.

He looked at the sky and continued to write: "It looks like we still have time to find another big spider."