A few days after receiving the watch, Harry was in a state of distracted consciousness.
His sharp intuition told him that the meaning of Professor Bran giving him the watch might not be as Ron said, just a tradition in the magical world, because this tradition was always carried out by parents, elders or guardians, and Professor Bran did not fit in.
Of course, compared to other professors, Professor Bran has always been quite attentive to him, but this attentiveness never crossed the line.
Take, for example, that Professor Lupin would confront Snape and risk a duel in the castle to prevent him from targeting him again, but Professor Bran would not do so. In fact, he is one of the most friendly staff members with Snape Professor.
For a long time, he and Ron and Hermione are the most frequent contact with Professor Bran among the young wizards. But, Professor Bran's attention to him was higher than Hermione and Ron some.
This is not because he is the famous Harry Potter, but because, of course, that's just a guess; Harry believed that both he and Professor Bran were orphans, so emotionally, there would be some resonance between them.
There must be some other significance.
This idea makes Harry always try to figure out what is unusual about the watch. Every time he is free, his eyes always fall on his left wrist and, unconsciously, he will play with the dial, almost like being spellbound.
Even in class, he couldn't control himself, and this led to a series of 'accidents'.
For example, during Flitwick's class, when Harry and Ron were face to face practicing the Charm spell, because he was attracted by the light reflected on the crystal dial, his wrist unconsciously turned, and then, in a loud bang, Ron was hit by a hanging chandelier in the ceiling above him and fell to the ground with a face as black as coal and smoke coming out of his mouth.
"Oh, I'm fine, really. I'm sure!"
Facing the burst of laughter and Harry's remorseful gaze, Ron, who was set down, firmly assured Professor Flitwick, thus ending the incident with Harry being docked five points.
In McGonagall's Transfiguration class, they were learning how to turn a beautifully ornate tea cup into a turtle, and Harry idly waved his wand in front of him, causing the teapot in front of him to explode with a bang, and several nearby tables were hit by the flying shards.
"Seriously, Potter!"
Professor McGonagall pushed her black rectangular glasses up and walked briskly to Harry's side, saying sternly,
"When did you learn that spell from Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter!"
Alright, five more points from Gryffindor.
"Please, Harry!"
On Thursday afternoon, as they walked to the dungeon for Potions class, Hermione worriedly said,
"Don't worry about why Professor Bran gave you the watch anymore. If Snape finds out, he won't just dock five points!"
Harry agreed with Hermione's advice. He indeed should let this matter drop.
However, not causing accidents on Potions class does not mean that accidents will not happen accidentally.
"Professor Snape!"
Harry was concentrating on brewing the Love Potion according to the book's instructions, when suddenly Malfoy raised his hand across a row of desks. Harry looked over and saw Malfoy smirking at him with a strange laugh.
"What's wrong, Draco?"
Standing below the dais, with his gaze encompassing the entire dark dungeon, Professor Snape looked at Draco lazily and asked.
"Professor, Potter is trying to distract me from brewing the potion. He's using that fake gold watch to reflect sunlight in my eyes, making it hard for me to concentrate!"
"You're lying!"
Harry was furious. He pointed at the tightly sealed curtains and shouted.
"There is no sunlight here at all!"
"Oh, yes, yes--"
Snape came over with an oily smile, slowly lowering his gaze to Harry's gold watch, a spark of malevolence flickering in his dark, hollow eyes, though no one noticed.
"The famous Savior himself got a new thing to attract attention, isn't that so?"
Snape looked down on Harry's thickened potion in the cauldron with contempt,
"Before you explain your despicable behavior, could you please tell me what is in your cauldron, the vomit of a goblin?"
Harry did not argue with Snape, for the past two years of experience told Harry that no matter what he said, Snape would not give up humiliating him, but would bring about even more severe punishment.
To be honest, since Professor Lupin had a fight with Snape, Harry hadn't been targeted in such a way in Potions class for some time.
Snape abruptly waved his wand, and Harry's potion that he had been laboriously brewing for an hour vanished without a trace. He stared at Snape with a pale face, only to receive a casual evaluation,
"A bunch of trash, 0 points, Potter. For the next class, you will submit a paper of fifteen inches to me on the properties of the Love Potion."
Hermione was frantically giving Harry signs, and Ron was kicking his ankle under the table with all his might, but Harry could not bear Malfoy's smugly gleeful smile.
"I did not shine the light on Malfoy's eyes, Professor Snape!"
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Potter--" Snape said coldly, "This is your punishment for lying."
Rage was about to ignite Harry's entire body, and a vein of deep blue pulsated on his hand, using all his reason, Harry barely held back the urge to pour the hot cauldron onto Snape's head, but Snape obviously didn't plan to let him off the hook so easily. He leaned down slowly until Harry could smell the complex mix of different odors that emanated from Snape's body.
"Perhaps you think that having a mass murderer as an ally allows you to disrespect professors, Potter, but if I find you bragging about your ridiculous '"<|user|>
"Lupin is not a murderer. He has been proven innocent!"
Harry was infuriated. He shot up from his seat, locking eyes with Snape, ignoring Ron who was almost pulling his pants down!
Snape's eyes flashed with a terrifying light, and he was about to say something, but Hermione spoke up suddenly.
"Professor Snape--"
Hermione obviously mustered up the courage to interrupt Professor Snape's impending outburst. Using a quivering, trembling voice, she said,
"Harry-- this watch was given to him by Professor Bran as a reward, um. last year, it was Harry who discovered the entrance to the secret chamber--"
In that instant, Harry found that the cold, icy light in Snape's eyes disappeared at his close proximity, replaced by an unprepared surprise. However, this lasted only a short time, and then Snape stood up straight, turned around and left without a facial expression.
For the rest of the class, an extremely oppressive atmosphere permeated the Potions class, where Naevi mistakenly doubled the dose of hemlock. This caused his potion to erupt like a volcano with cement-like substance in his cauldron, and almost half of the students in the room were affected.
But this time, Malfoy did not immediately start mocking Naevi, as he could tell that Professor Snape was out of sorts. And indeed, Professor Snape was acting unusually. If it had been in the past, Naevi would have been destined to deal with toad saliva and frog brains until the end of the term. But this time, he said nothing; he simply waved his wand to clear away the solidified liquid.
"You have to admit, Harry--"
The bell rang, and Harry didn't waste a second, grabbing his backpack and storming out of the dungeon with a pale face. Ron and Hermione quickly gathered their things and chased after Harry.
"If it weren't for you, Hermione--"
Ron said regretfully,
"Probably Harry and Naevi are now in Snape's potions ingredient storage jars."
"It's the name of Professor Bran that did it," Hermione said, gazing at Harry's profile.
"He's not going to press charges because of Professor Bran. I know you want to defend Remus, but Harry, no matter what, you should not have shouted at a professor like that."
"What are you angry about, Harry?"
Remus came down the stairs from the opposite end of the hall, smiling as he bade farewell to several sixth-year Ravenclaw prefects. He then hurried over, and as he approached the three of them, sniffed their scent, and noticed that they were standing at the exit of the dungeon. His expression darkened slightly, and he narrowed his eyes, staring at Harry, who looked a bit unnatural, with an underlying anger in his tone.
"How, did that Weaselblood again give you a hard time?"
(Chapter End)
