Hogwarts: I will not become the Dark Lord

The next morning, as Jerry, neatly dressed, yawned and stepped into the Great Hall for breakfast, he was surprised to find that someone had arrived even earlier.

“Hey, why are you three up so early today, and why is the atmosphere so weird?” Jerry's gaze fell on the Gryffindor table, where Harry, Ron, and Neville sat together, a subtle sense of oppression filling the air. He couldn't help but ask curiously.

“After returning to the common room last night, Harry almost got into a fight with Seamus!” Neville explained in a low voice, “Seamus and his mother seem to believe what's in the Daily Prophet.”

“Seamus insists that Harry lied about the thing with You-Know-Who,” Ron added from the side.

“Seamus is an idiot!” Harry couldn't help but shout.

“It's really infuriating!” Jerry was about to comfort Harry when Hermione stormed over, looking angry.

“Hermione, what's wrong with you now?”

“Jerry, look at this!” Hermione slammed a piece of paper onto the table. “I just tore this down from the notice board.”

Jerry glanced at it quickly. It was a notice posted by the Weasley twins, looking for testers for their Skiving Snackboxes.

“Hermione, it won't be long before you change your mind,” Fred and George happened to walk over to the table and sit down. They spread jam on their bread as they spoke, “You're in fifth year this year, and you'll soon find that you need Skiving Snackboxes.”

“Why?” Hermione asked, puzzled.

“Because fifth year is the O.W.L. year,” George explained.

O.W.L. stands for Ordinary Wizarding Level. The scores students achieve in their O.W.L. exams for each subject directly determine whether they can continue to study that subject in depth.

Students need to take the O.W.L. exams in each subject to obtain the corresponding grade. O stands for Outstanding, E for Exceeds Expectations, and A for Acceptable.

The failing grades P, D, and T stand for Poor, Dreadful, and Troll, respectively.

Only students who achieve at least an A in a particular subject are qualified to continue to take the subsequent N.E.W.T. courses.

“Are you saying I'll fail the exam?” This question clearly made Hermione even more annoyed.

“Half of the students in fifth year experience various minor problems,” George said, “Some cry, some throw tantrums, and some students, like Stebbins in my year, faint at the drop of a hat.”

“In short, fifth year is like a nightmare,” Fred added, taking over the conversation, “It feels like everyone in the school is constantly reminding you to seize the time and study hard, because the O.W.L. exams are crucial for you!”

“But luckily, we two don't have any problems, we're full of energy,” the twins said proudly.

“Is that why you two only passed three O.W.L. exams each?” Ron asked curiously.

“Exactly,” Fred replied nonchalantly, “But we think our real future lies outside of school.”

“We've even seriously considered whether or not to come back for seventh year…” George said animatedly, but then stopped himself. They didn't want Ron to write to their mother about it.

After speaking, the twins each picked up a piece of bread covered in jam and quickly left the hall.

“What does this mean? Could they have saved enough Galleons needed to start their business?” Ron looked at Harry questioningly, then turned to Jerry.

“Don't ask me, I don't know anything!” Harry quickly turned his head away, avoiding Ron's gaze.

“I was wondering during the summer,” Ron scratched his head, looking puzzled, “Where did they get the money to send me that new dress robes?”

Hermione tugged at Jerry's sleeve, looking at him sharply. Could it be you?

She remembered Jerry secretly telling her before that he and Ludo Bagman had won a lot of Galleons on the Triwizard Tournament bets last year. Could it be that Jerry invested in the Weasley twins?

“Professor McGonagall is here to hand out this year's schedules,” Jerry felt he had to change the subject quickly, “Quick, take a look at your schedules.”

Professor Snape had already given Jerry the Slytherin schedule last night. The courses on it were packed tightly, like planting potatoes. Jerry had eight classes today!

Sure enough, once they got their schedules, they didn't have the mind to think about anything else.

“Two periods of History of Magic, two periods of Divination, two periods of Potions, and two periods of Defense Against the Dark Arts!” Harry and Ron repeatedly checked their schedules, “I'm not seeing things, am I? Is this our schedule?”

“I suddenly think George and Fred are right, I really need Skiving Snackboxes!” Ron said with a sigh.

“Hurry up and eat breakfast, I have four classes this morning too!” Jerry picked up a piece of bread, urging everyone.

Owls flew in gracefully from the high windows, landing lightly in every corner of the hall, delivering letters and packages to their respective owners, and inadvertently sprinkling rainwater on the heads of the students enjoying breakfast.

Hermione had to quickly move her orange juice aside and take a wet copy of the Daily Prophet from the owl's beak.

“Why are you still subscribing to this?” Harry frowned, his tone tinged with displeasure. He was reminded again of Seamus, who had argued with him last night.

“It's never wrong to understand the enemy's movements,” Hermione said seriously.

She carefully unfolded the wet newspaper, shielding herself behind it, until everyone had finished breakfast, then she peeked out again.

… …

The History of Magic professor was still Professor Binns.

“More than a hundred years ago, the Goblin Rebellion shook the entire wizarding world…” Professor Binns's lecture was still hypnotic. Jerry sat in his seat, his upper and lower eyelids fighting, his quill unconsciously sketching out winding lines on the parchment.

“You… are you my mother?” Jerry followed the sound, but could only grope blindly in the darkness.

“Jerry, be sure to find it! It's very important!”

“Where are you?” Jerry shouted anxiously, “What do you want me to find? Why can't you just tell me the exact answer?”

“The Elder Wand will guide you…”

“Jerry, Jerry, wake up!” Hermione's voice suddenly appeared, like an icebreaker smashing through a dream. The darkness fell suddenly like a velvet curtain, wrapping him tightly.

“Hermione…” Jerry sat up abruptly from his seat, gasping for breath, cold sweat running down his spine into his shirt.

“Jerry, are you okay?” Hermione waved her hand in front of his eyes.

“Am I still dreaming?” Jerry looked at the empty classroom in front of him in a daze, and said to Hermione.

“Dreaming? Are you out of your mind?” Hermione pursed her lips and pinched his cheek hard, “Class is over, of course there's no one here. Look at the clock on the wall, lunchtime is over!”

Hermione had been waiting for Jerry in the hall, but she became anxious when she hadn't seen Jerry's figure even after lunch. Things hadn't been peaceful recently.

So, knowing that his last class in the morning was History of Magic, Hermione hurried to the classroom, but she didn't expect Jerry to be sleeping in the classroom.

“Sorry, I overslept!” Jerry rubbed his temples, “Professor Binns's class is really too hypnotic!”

“Didn't anyone call you after class? Your popularity is really bad in Slytherin!”

Hermione sighed, her gaze falling on Jerry's notes. “Huh, what's this? Did you draw it?” She curiously picked up the parchment.

There were no words on it, only a strange pattern made up of multiple spiral lines, the center of which was dyed black with ink.

“This is…” Jerry snatched the parchment from Hermione's hand, “I drew it?”

“That dream…”