The biting cold wind seemed to have finally had its fill, as today's weather was exceptionally clear.
Chen Yu suspected that Hogwarts had deliberately used a weather charm to change the weather around Hogwarts Castle for the next two days, all for tomorrow's Quidditch match.
This was to allow the Little Wizards playing Quidditch to practice better.
In the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Harry's appetite had decreased these past few days, and today he didn't want to eat anything at all.
Even after an afternoon of training, Harry still didn't feel like eating dinner.
Tomorrow's first match made him incredibly nervous, severely affecting his appetite.
Harry held a fork in one hand, idly stirring the butter on his toast.
In his other hand, he held the book, 'quidditch through the ages,' borrowed from Hermione, repeatedly reviewing the more than seven hundred types of fouls it described.
He needed to prevent Slytherin from using similar tactics against him.
"Harry, you haven't been eating much these past two days, and that won't do."
"But I just haven't felt hungry lately..."
"I know tomorrow is your first Quidditch match, and it's very important to you."
"But if you don't want to lose the match against Slytherin for a ridiculous reason like being weak from not eating, I advise you to return to normal eating habits as soon as possible."
Chen Yu's words gave Harry a jolt. Harry closed the book and forced himself to take a couple of bites of bread.
He also thought Chen Yu made sense.
He had worked hard and trained in secret for several weeks. If he were to lose the match because he became weak from not eating, even if the Gryffindor Quidditch team members could forgive him, Harry himself would not.
If he truly lost the match, Harry could even imagine Malfoy standing not far away, mocking him for overestimating himself.
The other members of the Slytherin Quidditch team would also be laughing.
"What's that beside you, Potter?"
Hearing the voice of his familiar and loathed professor, Harry looked up to see Professor Snape standing behind him, still dressed in all black.
"It's 'quidditch through the ages,' Professor," Harry said truthfully.
Professor Snape narrowed his eyes slightly and said, still expressionless, "Books from the Library cannot be brought into the Great Hall. Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor!"
Harry knew Professor Snape was targeting him, making up a rule on the spot.
But how could a student argue with a professor?
Otherwise, Snape would find another excuse to deduct points.
Harry was used to Professor Snape's targeting and obediently handed 'quidditch through the ages' to Snape.
Professor Snape took the book and prepared to leave. After two steps, he stopped again, turned back, and said to Harry, "Harry, I thought you would be incredibly nervous today, leading to a poor performance tomorrow. I didn't expect you to still be in the mood to read. It seems even Slytherin as an opponent doesn't put much pressure on you. Good luck tomorrow, Harry."
Harry did not accept Snape's sarcastic blessing.
After Snape had walked away.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others finally dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
Professor Snape's personal aura was simply too strong. When Professor Snape arrived in the Great Hall, the other Little Wizards' voices unconsciously became much quieter.
"Sorry, Hermione, Snape took the book."
"It's okay, Harry. He was just targeting you, making up a rule on the spot. I've memorized all the Library and school rules; there's no such rule."
Ever since Harry and Ron saved Hermione from the Troll, she was no longer so resistant to losing points.
Especially since Professor Snape had so blatantly targeted Harry just now, Hermione's good impression of Professor Snape had plummeted.
Chen Yu patted Harry's shoulder and comforted him, "As long as you can defeat Slytherin in tomorrow's Quidditch match, that will be the best counterattack against Professor Snape."
"Chen Yu's right, Harry, you need to eat more! That way you'll have the strength to beat Slytherin in Quidditch!"
Ron also cheered Harry on.
Part of it was genuinely cheering for his friend, and part of it was because he had placed a Quidditch bet, betting on Gryffindor to win.
"Speaking of which, what happened to Professor Snape's leg? I saw him limping when he walked."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Chen Yu all noticed that Professor Snape's walk was a bit off when he left; he was limping.
"I don't know! But I hope it hurts him a lot!"
Ron was somewhat gleeful.
Back in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione, Chen Yu, Ron, and Harry began to do their homework.
As they continued to study, the amount of homework increased.
However, this homework wasn't too difficult for Chen Yu.
Ever since he bought the auto-answering quill from the Weasley Brothers, Chen Yu had completely freed his hands.
Although this quill could only fill in answers Chen Yu already knew and required magic to sustain, it was enough for homework.
Harry and Ron were envious, but the magic of Little Wizards was not stable, so they couldn't sustain the auto-answering quill with magic to write homework like Chen Yu could.
Harry and Ron had tried before; once the magic became unstable, the auto-answering quill would leave a long scratch on the homework parchment or scribble randomly, which made them want to cry.
Chen Yu had used his system's camera function to photograph all the textbooks for the entire semester into his mind, so as long as the homework assigned by the professors wasn't beyond the curriculum, he could generally handle it.
It's just that this auto-answering quill didn't have a standard font template; it wrote in whatever style its owner wrote.
So Chen Yu's homework parchment still looked like a dragon flying and a phoenix dancing.
Harry wrote homework for a while and felt a bit uneasy.
Lately, 'quidditch through the ages' had been constantly with him, and now that he didn't have it to relax his mind, he felt an emptiness, as if something was missing.
Harry's mind was in turmoil, and eventually, his desire for 'quidditch through the ages' outweighed his fear of Snape.
Chen Yu saw Harry's face change dramatically as he wrote his homework.
Finally, Harry made up his mind, stood up, and left the common room without looking back.
Ron and Hermione looked up, a little confused, at the direction Harry had left: "Where is he going?"
Chen Yu shrugged, looking helpless: "I think he's going to ask Professor Snape for 'quidditch through the ages' back."
After a long while, Ron had finished his homework, and Harry ran into the common room, sweating profusely.
Harry quickly sat in an armchair, panting, and recounted what he had seen in the staff room.
"I... I... just saw Filch handing Snape bandages in the staff room, helping Snape wrap his leg."
"I also heard Snape cursing a three-headed dog, saying the three-headed dog was a cursed thing!"
"Do you know what this means?" Harry held his breath, scanning Chen Yu, Ron, and Hermione, his eyes full of suspicion: "I've seen him pass the forbidden area on the fourth floor, the three-headed dog's room, many times. I suspect the Troll on Halloween was released by Snape from the basement to distract everyone so he could enter the forbidden area on the fourth floor and steal the mysterious item guarded by the three-headed dog."
"Friends, listen to me. When Hagrid took me to Gringotts, he specifically went to Gringotts to retrieve a mysterious item, which was said to belong to Professor Dumbledore. Not long after it was retrieved, news of a theft at Gringotts broke, and it just so happened to be the room Hagrid had visited. This cannot be a coincidence."
"I suspect that what's under the trapdoor is the mysterious item Hagrid retrieved from Gringotts, and that three-headed dog must be guarding that mysterious item on command."
"And Professor Snape must have tried to steal the item guarded by the three-headed dog and was bitten. Otherwise, who in Hogwarts could injure a professor besides a three-headed dog?"
Finally, Harry emphasized again: "So I'm willing to bet my flying broom! That Troll must have been released by Snape to distract the professors so he could steal the mysterious item guarded by the three-headed dog!"
Harry spoke well, but next time, don't make bets.
Chen Yu secretly curled his lip.
If he hadn't known beforehand that it was Lord Voldemort behind Quirrell who was after the Philosopher's Stone, Chen Yu would have suspected Professor Snape too.
Because there were simply too many suspicious points about Snape.
Ron was directly convinced by Harry's conjecture.
Hermione's eyes widened, showing an expression of disbelief.
She only thought Professor Snape was a bad person, always targeting Gryffindor students, especially Harry.
But she had never imagined he would steal something so carefully guarded by Dumbledore.
Later in the night, when curfew began and Neville started snoring, Harry was still obsessed with Snape.
Seeing Harry tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, Chen Yu, as a good roommate, helped Harry clear his mind.
To Ron's horrified gaze, Chen Yu pulled out his wand and cast a 'Stunning Spell' on Harry.
"Stupefy."
A red flash of light hit Harry, who was still muttering, and immediately put him into a baby-like sleep.
"Harry has a match tomorrow, and Professor Snape can't be allowed to affect Harry's sleep."
Hearing Chen Yu's explanation, Ron swallowed hard, indicating that Chen Yu was right.
Glancing at his roommates, all of whom were asleep except Ron, Chen Yu, now changed, began his nightly stroll.