Chapter 1042: Valentine's Day (Patreon)

Evan’s idea was quite irresponsible, allowing a vampire who couldn't control herself to wander around the school.

But he really didn't have that much time, and Elaine didn't like staying in the library all the time.

Moreover, when she wandered around the school, what needed to be cautious about was not her but the other creatures she might encounter.

Others here included not only the students of Hogwarts, but also the various pets they raised and the creatures in the Forbidden Forest.

Although Elaine, with her picky taste, only drank dragon blood and Evan’s blood, this did not prevent her from thinking about things from a vampire's perspective.

She always said that all creatures she didn't like should disappear altogether. This child was unimaginably dangerous and extremely destructive.

If Voldemort wanted to govern the world, then Elaine, with such power, might destroy the world instead.

Evan was truly afraid that she might bite someone without warning. Fortunately, this hadn't happened so far.

Normally, whenever they had time, Evan and Hermione tried to teach her how to think like a normal human.

These efforts had had some effect, or perhaps Evan’s restrictions on Elaine's snacks and candies had worked; she hadn't caused trouble.

Compared with Elaine, Umbridge was currently the one causing the most trouble in Hogwarts.

She was determined to get rid of a teacher, and after driving Professor Trelawney to the point of collapse, she set her sights on Hagrid.

Hagrid was no better than Professor Trelawney. Though he seemed to be following Hermione’s advice and had shown them nothing more frightening than a crup, a creature indistinguishable from a Jack Russell terrier except for its forked tail, since before Christmas, he also seemed to have lost his nerve. He was oddly distracted and jumpy in lessons, losing the thread of what he was saying while talking to the class, answering questions wrongly.

He kept glancing anxiously at Umbridge, hoping to see what she was writing on the clipboard.

Under this situation, Hagrid was also more distant with Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione than he had ever been before, expressly forbidding them to visit him after dark.

"Don't come see me, if she catches yeh, it’ll be all of our necks on the line,” he told them flatly.

Considering Grawp was hiding in the Forbidden Forest, he had bigger troubles, something that couldn't be discovered by Umbridge.

With no desire to do anything that jeopardized his job further, Evan, Harry, and the others abstained from walking down to his hut in the evenings.

Elaine was very interested in the giants and wanted to see him.

To be honest, Hermione couldn't help wanting to go either. She told Evan that she knew it was crazy, but visiting the giant was a very rare opportunity and she was not willing to miss it.

Evan didn't know what was going on with girls these days. They were actually interested in giants. Was bigger really better?!

If necessary, he could use the Engorgement Charm on himself to make them see, ensuring both safety and hygiene, and avoiding any risk of Umbridge discovering and implicating Hagrid.

But it was obvious that they wanted to see a natural giant, not one made bigger by magic.

There was no other way; Evan could only promise the two of them that he would definitely take them to see the giant when he had the opportunity...

But not now, there were more important things waiting for them to do.

In a strange atmosphere, Valentine's Day, February 14th, had arrived in the blink of an eye. This day was very important.

Lupin, Sirius, and the Order of the Phoenix hoped to publish Rita Skeeter's interview with Harry and Evan as soon as possible. Dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Magic and Fudge had been brewing in the wizarding world, and protests were becoming a daily occurrence at the Ministry, Diagon Alley, and other places, even spilling over into Muggle streets.

They asked the Ministry of Magic to explain why so many Death Eaters escaped from prison and to capture them as soon as possible.

The wizarding world was in turmoil, the entire Ministry of Magic was working around the clock, and Aurors were being called back from all around the world to investigate this matter in the UK.

Even so, they still made no progress. The Death Eaters disappeared from their sight, as if they had never existed at all.

Correspondingly, there were increasing calls for the Ministry of Magic to tell the truth and for Fudge to step down.

It was time to reveal the truth to the public. Before that, Rita still had some details to ask Evan and Harry.

Lupin also wanted to talk to Evan. Using the house-elf Dobby to send letters back and forth had been inconvenient. They agreed to meet at Hogsmeade.

Apart from this matter, after two years, Evan also wanted to invite Hermione to Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

He was looking forward to it. Thinking about it carefully, the atmosphere in that place was actually quite good.

Elaine was also looking forward to February 14th. After consuming so many blood-flavoured lollipops, she had long wanted to visit Honeydukes Sweet shop.

She was even prepared to suggest that Honeydukes develop new products based on her taste.

Like them, Harry was looking forward to his second visit to Hogsmeade this school year.

He had had very little time to spare on conversations with Cho since they had agreed to visit the village together, but suddenly found himself facing a Valentine’s Day spent entirely in her company.

"Don't forget the time, Harry!" Evan reminded before setting off early in the morning. "Come to the Three Broomsticks Inn at noon."

"I know," said Harry nervously.

"What are you and Cho going to do?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno, we never said what we were going to do." Harry shook his head.

"If you can bring her along, that's fine too!"

"I really envy you guys going to Hogsmeade. I can't go at all. Angelina wants full day’s training. Like it’s going to help," said Ron in frustration, looking at them with envy. "To be honest, we’re the worst team I’ve ever seen, way too bad. I dunno why Angelina won’t just let me resign…"

“It’s because you’re good when you’re on form, that’s why."

"We can't win. Hufflepuff is so good this year, and their new Chaser is a genius."

"Don't say such depressing words," said Harry irritably.

He found it very hard to be sympathetic to Ron’s plight when he himself would have given almost anything to be playing in the forthcoming match against Hufflepuff.

Ron seemed to notice Harry's tone, he didn't mention Quidditch again, and his attitude was a bit cold.

He quickly finished his breakfast, got up and walked to the Quidditch pitch.

"You know, I think Angelina should consider Elaine," said Evan, looking at Ron's leaving figure, a flash of insight in his mind, saying with some anticipation, "Elaine, I remember you saying that you fly very well and are good at playing Quidditch. Maybe you can save the Gryffindor team."

"I fly very well, but I can't go to training today," said Elaine, rubbing her nose, her big burgundy eyes staring at Evan. "I want to go to Honeydukes. This is very important. You promised to take me there."

"Yeah, yeah," said Evan, looking at her with a bit of a headache.

He hadn't figured out how to get rid of this little trouble yet. He couldn't possibly bring Elaine with him to meet Hermione.

He didn't need much time, just half an hour to an hour would be enough. He could resolve it quickly...