Twenty minutes later, the crowd gradually dispersed. Having listened to many jokes and wholeheartedly believing that quitting Professor Watson's physical education class was a wise decision, Ron walked out of the crowd and saw Harry and Hermione sitting there whispering.
"When did you get back, Harry?"
Ron had just plopped onto the sofa when he noticed the object in Hermione's hand and immediately jumped up in surprise.
"Good heavens, a gold watch! Where did you get that?!"
"Professor Watson gave it to Harry as a gift —" Hermione glanced at Ron and calmly said, "It's not a gold watch, Ron. I just used magic to detect it; the casing isn't made of gold—but it is a special kind of metal, and this watch seems to be magically protected."
"Oh..."
Upon hearing it wasn't a gold watch, Ron appeared much more serious as he carefully examined the silver dial adorned with glistening crystal-like decorations.
"A gift... but from Professor Watson. Oh, I understand, it's about that incident!"
Ron had also recalled Professor Watson 'owing' Harry a gift. He blinked, his puzzled gaze shifting to Harry.
"But why would he give you a watch? I thought he'd give you something related to Quidditch."
"We were just discussing that," said Harry. "Hermione thinks maybe Professor Watson wants to remind me to cherish time with this watch—"
Ron snorted with laughter, but Hermione's annoyed look made him hastily suppress his grin. After tilting his head in thought, his expression grew much more solemn.
"Generally, when a young wizard comes of age, his parents or elders will give him a watch that will accompany them throughout their lives."
Ron noticed the confusion on Hermione and Harry's faces, so he shrugged and added,
"This is an ancient tradition in the wizarding world. Mom and Dad gave watches to Bill and Charlie when they came of age. Percy has one too, but he rarely wears it, maybe because he doesn't like it much."
'Parents and elders...' Harry was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"In my opinion—" Ron said pensively, resting his chin on his hand, "It would have been more appropriate for Sirius to give it to you. You know what I mean, right? After all, he's your godfather."
Hermione hesitated for a moment but didn't say anything. If there really was such a tradition in the Wizarding world, Ron's words were not wrong.
Harry silently took his watch back from Hermione. After considering, he still fastened it onto his wrist. In the gentle candlelight, the golden casing's reflection held a touch of mysterious radiance. Harry furrowed his brow slightly.
"Isn't it a bit too showy?"
"No," Hermione raised her eyebrows and said decisively, "It looks great and suits you very well."
Harry grinned and finally showed a happy smile.
...
*Scene-break*
In the fleeting days after receiving the watch, Harry found himself enveloped in a perplexing state of absentmindedness.
His keen intuition told him that Professor Watson giving him the watch might not just be a tradition in the wizarding world, as Ron had said. This tradition was usually carried out by parents, elders, or guardians, and Professor Watson did not fall into any of those categories.
Of course, compared to other professors, Professor Watson had always been quite caring towards him, but this care would not exceed certain boundaries.
For example, Sirius would directly warn Snape and would not hesitate to duel with him in the castle to prevent Snape from targeting Harry anymore. However, Professor Watson would not do such a thing. In fact, he had the best relationship with Professor Snape among all the staff.
All this time, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been the students who interacted with Professor Watson the most frequently. However, Professor Watson paid more attention to Harry than to Hermione and Ron.
This was not because he was the famous Harry Potter but rather, Harry guessed, because he and Professor Watson were both orphans, so there might be some emotional resonance between them.
There must be some other meaning behind it.
This thought made Harry constantly try to figure out what was so unusual about this watch. Whenever he was free, his gaze would fall on his left wrist, and he would unconsciously fiddle with the watch face, as if he were bewitched.
Even during classes, he could not control himself, and this led to a series of 'accidents'.
For instance, during Professor Flitwick's class, when he and Ron were practicing the Cheering Charm face-to-face, the reflection of light from the crystal-clear watch face caught Harry's attention. His wrist turned involuntarily, and with a deafening bang, Ron ended up hanging from the giant chandelier on the ceiling, his face blackened and smoke coming out of his mouth.
"Oh, I'm fine, really, I'm sure!" Ron assured the concerned Professor Flitwick adamantly, facing the roar of laughter erupting from his amused classmates and Harry's apologetic expression. After being let down, this incident eventually settled with Harry losing five points.
Yet, the string of misfortunes did not cease there, During Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, they were learning how to transfigure a beautiful teacup into a turtle. Harry absentmindedly waved his wand, and the teapot in front of him exploded with a loud bang, its shattered remains raining down upon the nearby desks, eliciting startled cries from the unsuspecting students.
"Really, Potter!" Professor McGonagall pushed her black square glasses, striding up to Harry from the lectern and saying sternly, "When did you learn that skill from Professor Finnigan , Mr. Potter?"
Well, another five points gone from Gryffindor.
"Please, Harry!" Hermione said worriedly on their way to the Potions classroom in the dungeons on Thursday afternoon. "Don't worry about why Professor Watson gave you that watch anymore. If Professor Snape catches on, he won't just take five points!"
Harry deeply agreed with Hermione's advice. He should indeed let this matter go.
However, not actively causing any accidents in Potions class did not mean that unfortunate things would not happen.
"Professor Snape!" Harry was concentrating on brewing the Confusing Concoction according to the book's instructions when Malfoy suddenly raised his hand from across the row of desks. Harry looked over to find Malfoy sneering at him with a twisted smile.
"What is it, Draco?" Snape, standing below the lectern, his gaze encompassing the entire dimly lit dungeon, asked Draco lazily.
"Potter is trying to distract me from brewing my potion, Professor. He's using that fake gold watch to reflect sunlight into my eyes, making it impossible for me to concentrate!"
"You're lying!" Harry burst out angrily, pointing at the tightly sealed curtains and shouting loudly, "There's not a single ray of sunlight in here!"
"Oh, yes, yes—" Snape walked over with an oily smile, slowly letting his gaze fall on Harry's gold watch. A glimpse of malice flashed in his dark, hollow eyes, though no one noticed.
"It seems the great Savior has acquired a new trinket to better capture the attention he so desperately craves,"
Snape gave Harry's thickening potion in the cauldron a disdainful glance. " Before you entertain us with the details of your latest pathetic bid for notoriety, could you please tell us what's in your cauldron? Goblin vomit perhaps?"
Harry did not refute Snape's words because his experience over the past two years had taught him that no matter what he said, Snape would not stop insulting him. Instead, it would only invite more severe punishment.
To be honest, after Sirius and Snape had a fight, it had been a while since Harry had been targeted like this in Potions class.
With a disdainful flick of his wand, Snape vanished the Confusing Concoction that Harry had so painstakingly brewed over the course of the hour, the fruits of his labor dissipating into nothingness. Harry glared at Snape with an ashen face, only receiving a casual dismissal in return:
"A worthless pile of rubbish, zero points, Potter. Before the next class, you need to submit a fifteen-inch essay on the properties of the Confusing Concoction to me individually."
Hermione desperately signaled Harry with her eyes, and Ron kept kicking his ankles under the desk. However, Harry could not stand Malfoy's gloating smile any longer.
"I didn't use the watch to poke Malfoy's eyes, Professor Snape!"
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Potter—" Snape said coldly, "this is the punishment for lying."
The rage was about to engulf Harry entirely and blue veins bulged on the back of his hands. Using up almost all his reason, Harry barely resisted the urge to smash the searing cauldron onto Snape's head. However, Snape clearly did not intend to let him off the hook. He slowly bent down until Harry could smell the complex mixture of odors emanating from Snape's body.
"Perhaps you think having a murderer as a backer in school allows you to disrespect your professors, Potter. But if I catch you showing off that ridiculous—"
"Sirius is not a murderer; he has been proven innocent!" Harry roared, jumping to his feet and staring directly into Snape's eyes, not caring that Ron was almost pulling his pants down!
A terrifying light flickered in Snape's eyes, and he was about to say something when Hermione suddenly spoke up.
"Professor Snape—" Hermione had clearly mustered every ounce of her Gryffindor courage to dare interrupt the about-to-explode Snape. In a trembling, sugary voice, she said, "Harry—this watch was, was given to him by Professor Watson as a reward, um. Last year, it was Harry who discovered the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets—"
At that moment, Harry noticed the cold, icy glint in Snape's eyes, mere inches away from him, disappear, replaced by a look of sheer surprise, though it also only lasted for a brief moment. Then, Snape straightened up and turned away expressionlessly.
For the rest of the time, the Potions classroom was filled with an extremely oppressive atmosphere. Neville made a mistake with the amount of Shrivelfig, causing a cement-like substance in his cauldron to erupt like a volcano, affecting almost half the students in the classroom.
This time, however, Malfoy did not immediately start mocking Neville. He could see that Professor Snape's mood was probably off, and indeed, Professor Snape behaved unusually. If it had been in the past, Neville would have inevitably had to deal with Stinksap and frog brains until the end of the term. But this time, Snape said nothing and just waved his wand to clear away the solidified liquid.
"I must admit, Harry—" The bell rang for the end of class, and Harry did not delay for a second, grabbing his bag and rushing out of the dungeon with an ashen face. Ron and Hermione hastily packed their things and chased after Harry.
"If it weren't for Hermione—" Ron exhaled a tremulous sigh of relief once they had achieved a safe distance from the dungeons, his words laced with palpable gratitude. "You and Neville would probably be soaking in Snape's jars of potion ingredients right now."
"It was Professor Watson's name that had an effect—" Hermione stared at Harry's profile and said in a soft voice, "He didn't pursue it further for the sake of Professor Watson. I know you want to defend Sirius, but Harry, you should not have shouted at a professor, no matter what."
"Who are you angry at, Harry?"
Sirius came down the stairs across from the entrance hall. He smiled and waved goodbye to a few sixth-year Ravenclaw students, then hurried over. As he approached the three of them, catching the potent scent on Harry and the others, and noticing that they were standing at the dungeon entrance, Sirius's face paled. He narrowed his eyes at Harry's slightly unnatural expression, his tone laced with barely contained anger.
"What-, did that sniveling git give you trouble again?"
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