Harry Potter: This senior is pretty strong

Chapter 123 Get your act together, Barbatos Qin

In the principal's office, which also served as his living room, an elderly man with a white beard, dressed in a silver-gray silk nightgown and wearing a flat-topped tasseled soft hat, turned around from the window he had been facing.

As he slowly walked toward a round-backed chair in the room, he muttered to himself:

"Today I finally didn't have to help him avoid Filch. I have to say, the saying 'practice makes perfect' really applies to this kid."

His tone carried a hint of lighthearted banter, as if he had seen something amusing.

This old man was none other than the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.

As the headmaster of a great magic school and a recognized powerhouse in the wizarding world, Dumbledore may not be an expert on everything in the school, but he could easily observe people if he wanted to.

Last Thursday night, he had a informal but necessary conversation with Qin Yu. Since then, Dumbledore has occasionally used magical means to observe Qin's behavior.

Of course, this kind of observation doesn't involve much privacy; he's just "watching from afar."

Therefore, Dumbledore didn't watch too much of Qin's interactions with Hermione, after all, older people are prone to diabetes (just kidding).

Getting back to the main point, Dumbledore witnessed firsthand Qin Yu's "communication" with Draco Malfoy while he was concealing himself.

There was no way around it; the magical fluctuations when Qin cast spells were quite significant, and they couldn't be hidden from him, one of the world's top wizards.

So he rushed over, used his invisibility spell to hide to the side, and witnessed how Qin persuaded... no, I mean, enlightened, encouraged, and spurred on Draco.

At that time, watching Draco Malfoy, through repeated "verbal manipulation" by that pile of leaves, go from despondency to emotional breakdown and then back to renewed hope, Dumbledore watched with great interest—cough cough, inappropriate wording, scratch that, he watched with utter awe.

As a seasoned educator, Dumbledore understood the importance of "teaching according to aptitude." Therefore, he did not object to Qin using less-than-honorable means to "help" Draco. After all, compared to the cruelty of this world, Qin's behavior could be described as "warm and gentle" and "incredibly kind."

Then he decided to see how Qin would teach Draco at midnight.

Unexpectedly, despite his efforts to have Filch, who was on night patrol, "avoid" Draco, allowing the latter to reach his destination smoothly and wait with the child all night, Qin did not appear.

—In fact, not long after midnight, Lao Deng had a premonition that Qin might not show up.

He was still clinging to a sliver of hope, thinking that Qin was too young to resort to such tricks that only an old fox like himself would do.

However, it wasn't until the sky cleared and the dew dampened his white beard, and he saw Draco's dejected expression, that he had to admit that Qin had indeed used such tactics.

"I really... underestimated Qin." Dumbledore remarked as he stood not far from the oak tree.

He wasn't saying he underestimated Qin's magical abilities; on the contrary, he highly recognized Qin's talent and hard work in magic, considering him one of the few magical geniuses he had ever seen.

What he underestimated was the child's temperament. Dumbledore hadn't expected Qin Xiaoxiao to be so patient at such a young age, and to have such a profound understanding of the impetuousness and trials of human nature. To describe the child as cunning and calculating might be an exaggeration, but it was definitely not too much of an exaggeration.

Yes, Draco Malfoy's personality is restless. Even from a distance, Dumbledore could sense the boy's inner turmoil and unrest.

This is probably the main reason why Qin didn't keep the appointment, or rather, the reason why Qin arranged this "midnight date" was because he saw through Draco's nature.

That morning, Dumbledore, though he had stood by Draco all night, enduring the ordeal and testing his "temperament," couldn't help but smile as he walked back to the castle, his aged face gradually revealing a smile.

He was delighted to see Qin's "methods," and from these methods he saw the boy's reliability and also saw hope for the future.

Of course, it might be too early to say these things now. He doesn't want to arbitrarily impose any so-called hope on anyone, as that would be unfair to anyone.

However, this did not prevent Dumbledore from raising his opinion of Qin even higher.

So, in the following days, after completing his necessary tasks, Dumbledore would take some time to keep an eye on Qin Yu and Draco Malfoy's movements.

The latter remained persistent about "midnight dates," sneaking out every night after curfew. Thanks to Dumbledore's secret help, Draco narrowly escaped being discovered several times and successfully arrived at the agreed location—under the oak tree—where he would wait all night.

And what was the former, Qin Yu, the instigator, doing? He was studying, eating, resting, and playing as usual, as well as spending time with Hermione. Hagrid said that he was also researching a kind of "birthday noodles" with him, and it was easy to find from the student information that Old Dumbledore knew that Hermione was the one who recently had her birthday.

So, while Dumbledore was waiting anxiously with Draco for Qin Yu to appear, Qin Yu was racking his brains to make the little girl happy.

Dumbledore wanted to tell him: Get your act together, Barbatos Chin!

Okay, it's something like that. (Author: I'm a complete glutton, that's my fault.)

However, Dumbledore's comments weren't entirely critical of Qin. Judging from Draco's recent reactions, the boy has gradually found some inner peace amidst his anxieties, doubts, and confusion, and has changed a lot.

"At least, they're getting better and better at dodging Filch's patrols," Dumbledore couldn't help but tease.

This is one of Draco's recent improvements.

After sitting in the round-backed chair for a while and sorting out some thoughts, Dumbledore decided to go to bed—he was exhausted after spending several nights with Draco.

However, just as he got up, he saw another figure moving through the window facing the inner courtyard of the school.

The figure was taller than Draco, but it was still clear that he was a minor.

Judging from the direction the boy came from, he must have come from the Gryffindor Tower.

So, who is this person?

It's true what they say, Merlin is here!

A smile appeared on Dumbledore's face, and his drowsiness vanished instantly.

Older people don't sleep much anyway, so why not go out again tonight and see if anything interesting happens?

……

……

After saying goodbye to Hermione, Qin Yu returned to his dormitory.

As is his custom, he meditates for a while before falling asleep.

However, not long after he entered a meditative state using the meditation method taught by Professor Swinton, he suddenly had a feeling of "a sudden impulse".

And then sneezed twice in a row.

"One 'thinking,' two 'cursing,' so someone is cursing me?!"

Qin Yu came to a conclusion that seemed very much like something out of a magical world.

After a moment's thought, he probably didn't have many enemies, so who was cursing him?

After going through all those names in his mind, Qin Yu selected Draco Malfoy and put him at the top of the list.

Because, recently, this kid probably harbors the deepest resentment towards me.

Firstly, as Qin Yu himself, he had put too much "pressure" on this kid.

Secondly, the persona I was using had stood this kid up for several days, so it was inevitable that I would be criticized.

This can be considered a combination of two layers of resentment.

Actually, Qin Yu hadn't forgotten to keep the appointment at midnight; he had been waiting for news of Malfoy's arrest.

In his view, sneaking out of the castle at midnight to the greenhouse was certainly not an easy task, and it was normal for Malfoy to be caught after several days.

Let this kid experience "Slytherin deducting fifty points," that would definitely be a very rare experience.

If Malfoy can maintain a calm and composed attitude by then, the time will be just right.

However, Qin Yu waited and waited for several days, but he still didn't receive any news that the kid had been arrested.

He sneezed twice more today, and he wondered if he should go and see what had happened.

Based on the feedback from Hermione, Harry, and Ron, Qin Yu felt that Malfoy had most likely gone to the oak tree these past few days.

After leaving this kid hanging for so many days, Qin Yu felt a little uneasy, though of course, not much.

So, around midnight, he left the Gryffindor rest area, sneaked out of the castle, and headed towards the greenhouse.

After passing the familiar greenhouse and stepping onto the soft lawn, Qin Yu felt that the surroundings were really quiet, and he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

"Could this kid have skipped the event? He's really let me down!" he muttered, sounding exasperated.

He had just finished speaking when he vaguely heard the sound of a branch being broken by footsteps. However, upon closer listening, he could not discern where it came from. Only the distant roars of wild beasts from the forbidden forest broke the stillness of the midnight.

"It's probably just my imagination," Qin Yu shrugged and continued walking forward.

Then, very quickly, he saw the trunk of the big oak tree, and the blond boy sitting under it.

The boy sat quietly under the tree, his already pale face appearing even paler and darker in the moonlight.

Qin Yu really wanted to say that this kid was suited to making horror movies.

However, now is clearly not the time to complain.

The boy was none other than Draco Malfoy, whom Qin Yu had arranged to meet at this place at midnight.

Malfoy has clearly arrived as promised, and has even arrived several times in fact.

However, Qin Yu still showed no intention of showing himself when he came today.

He watched quietly for a while, then turned and left.

"Jade that is not carved cannot become a useful object!"

He muttered those words to himself, his tone ambiguous, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. In any case, his figure quickly disappeared into the ancient buildings of the castle.