Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying

Chapter 179: Chapter 69: Friendship and Competition

Since Sirius was released, Vid felt that his impression of Lupin as a gentle and magnanimous elder was being shattered.

He became much more lively, and occasionally showed a subtle manipulative side.

Of course, when facing Vid, he was still the gentle and accommodating friend.

Lupin glanced out the window and said, ”Let’s go, that Disappearing Cabinet is already placed where you mentioned.”

Vid had initially planned this, but just now, seeing Lupin inadvertently gazing at the distant Quidditch Pitch, he felt moved.

”You want to watch Harry’s match too?” Vid asked.

Lupin shook his head and said, ”There will be many more matches after this one. If you think it’s necessary to act today, then the main task should naturally take priority.”

”My task is definitely important, but this match isn’t something that can be missed either.”

Vid pressed against the cabinet door again and closed it.

”Harry flies so well. Professor McGonagall said he flies just as well as his father.”

Vid said, ”Watching the match won’t delay us much. But we need to hurry to the pitch.”

Lupin was slightly startled, then smiled and accepted Vid’s goodwill.

He also used the Disillusionment Charm to conceal himself and followed Vid out the door. They quickened their pace towards the Quidditch Pitch.

Snake-like lightning danced across the sky as distant thunder rumbled.

Lupin looked up at the gloomy sky and said, ”It’s going to rain.”

”Yes.” Vid glanced up and suddenly laughed, ”I don’t know why, but I always feel that important matches happen on rainy days.”

Lupin laughed, ”What’s the connection between the two?”

”Muggle films like to present them that way,” Vid said.

”You often talk about things related to Muggles, and your inventions borrow from their ideas.”

Lupin said, ”That’s unusual... because most of the wizards I know from the Muggle World try not to talk about things over there and, once they’re adults, choose the wizarding way of life.”

”I come from the Muggles. Why should Muggles be taboo?” Vid countered, ”The witch hunts are hundreds of years behind us, yet both sides remain so isolated. I find it quite incredible.”

”Perhaps it’s because many seem to disdain the Muggles but secretly find them frightening?”

Lupin said, ”For us, the greatest punishment is the soul-crushing Crucio, but the Muggles...”

”I’ve read in books that Muggles invented all sorts of terrifying and cruel punishments for their own kind. Terribly cruel... Vid... that kind of brutality is way beyond the imagination of someone like you.”

”Bashida Basha, who wrote ’Magic History,’ didn’t even dare include that in her book.”

”Wizards can be just as terrifying as Muggles!” Vid said, ”I read in ’Modern Magic History’ that Grindelwald once unleashed magic flames that burned half of Paris.”

Lupin shook his head.

”How many people like Grindelwald, who can take lives without hesitation and without feeling any guilt, exist? He wasn’t twisted by Dark Magic because people like him are perhaps inherently dark.”

Lupin said heavily, ”But for most wizards, using Dark Magic distorts their minds, and killing someone irreparably damages the soul.”

Vid thought of Tom Riddle’s once handsome face, later transformed into a noseless monster.

His transformation was because his soul was fractured, causing his body to undergo a horrific change as well.

Under the gray sky, their conversation gradually faded away as each thought of some oppressive matters, leaving a strange silence in the air.

Until the students suddenly erupted in cheers, breaking the quiet.

”Looks like the match has started,” Lupin said.

They quickly climbed the stairs and found a few empty seats at the top level of the stands.

Sitting down, like all the other spectators, they looked up at the sky, where a dozen players were swiftly weaving through the air.

Something furry brushed against Vid, then a ”Woof woof” followed.

”Sirius?” Lupin, who was also invisible, spoke up, ”I’m over here.”

The sound of panting suddenly vanished, replaced by Sirius’s voice of complaint:

”I can’t believe I forgot—I’m invisible now, I don’t even need to transform to be unnoticed... Remus, Vid, why are you so late? You almost missed the start.”

He didn’t seem to suspect that Lupin was teasing him on purpose.

Lupin said, ”You’re on four legs; naturally, you’re faster than us.”

”... True.” Sirius quickly dismissed this, enthusiastically asking, ”Can you tell which one is Harry, Remus? I’ll tell you the one flying the highest is him... He flies just like James...”

Vid leaned back in his chair, listening to the two invisible adults converse beside him, feeling a mix of surprise and admiration.

Anyone who went through what Sirius did might have become silent and gloomy, resentful, or even deranged and neurotic.

But in this meeting, Sirius showed none of that darkness or pain. If not for his noticeably gaunt frame, it would seem the eleven years in prison hadn’t left any marks on him at all.

Vid thought this was really good.

The past pain certainly wouldn’t just vanish, but Sirius was trying to heal himself, reclaiming the spirited young man he once was with his friends, rather than keeping himself trapped in that dark, hopeless prison.

No wonder Lupin seemed more lively lately... He’s helping Sirius in his own way, isn’t he?

Up in the sky, players from both teams fiercely competed. Thanks to Sirius’s commentary, the match turned out to be doubly thrilling. Vid began to grasp the flow of the game.

Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation on his forehead, instinctively closed his eyes, then raised his magic wand and softly uttered a spell.

The wand’s tip emitted a ring of air currents, forming an invisible umbrella overhead. The ”umbrella” was large enough to shelter all three of them.

”Great!” Sirius said with relief, ”I hate getting wet.”

Vid suddenly sensed a gaze on him. Turning around, he saw Professor Dumbledore nodding slightly at him and giving a gentle smile.

Vid: ”...”

”Remus,” Vid said, ”I think Dumbledore knows you’re here.”

”It seems so...” Lupin sighed, ”Not surprising. Skilled wizards can spot traces of the Disillusionment Charm.”

”Yes, as long as Professor McGonagall doesn’t spot us!” Sirius said casually, ”Dumbledore will probably pretend he didn’t see anything.”

He looked worriedly at the sky and said, ”Harry’s wearing glasses; rain affects him more than his opponents... I wonder if he knows the water-repelling charm.”

Vid also watched the two entangled teams high above, thinking, ”Will a Bludger go wild this time too?”

Bludgers, under the players’ blows, flew wildly. Targeting the Chasers was a common tactic. In the torrential rain and poor visibility, it was impossible to discern if the Bludgers had any unusual trajectory.

Zoe and the others had already prepared... Would Dobby come too?