Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying

“Of course I do.” Hughes said with a faint hint of pride: “But I’m not going to tell you.”

“Why?” Vid found him amusing and asked casually.

“Because I can’t say.” The boy’s baby-faced seriousness was evident: “If I say it, it won’t be the way I want to remember it.”

“Alright then.” Vid raised his eyebrows: “However, I do have a Memory Magic that can preserve your memories. Even if you forget in the future, you can bring them out for review.”

“Ah… this…”

The boy hesitated for a while, exerted great effort to ponder with his still immature mind, but ultimately shook his head.

Now Vid was truly a bit surprised.

He thought for a moment, reached into his pocket, fumbled around for a bit, and took out a camera.

“What’s this?” Hughes curiously leaned forward.

Vid said: “A camera.”

He demonstrated how it worked and then said: “This is a gift from my parents, so I won’t give it to you, but I can lend it to you for a while.”

“You can take pictures of your important things. Even if you don’t remember them later, they will remind you that this moment once existed.”

Hughes’ eyes lit up: “Really?”

“Really.”

“Can you lend it to me?”

“Sure.”

The boy extended his hands, cautiously receiving the camera, examining it thoroughly. His gentle handling was endearing.

“Will it preserve everything and never change?” he confirmed again.

“Of course,” Vid said. “As long as you don’t damage the film… or lose it.”

Hughes hugged the camera tightly to his chest, gratefully saying: “Thank you, Vid!”

Following that, he jumped out of bed and ran towards the potion storeroom, shouting:

“Madam! Madam Pomfrey! Look, Vid lent me a camera!”

Vid chuckled, hearing Madam Pomfrey’s gentle voice from inside, and turned to head towards the door.

Sunshine poured through the tall windows on either side, spreading bright golden grids across the ground.

Perhaps infected by Hughes’ joy, Vid felt very cheerful, a smile curving on his lips unconsciously.

He wasn’t in a hurry to return to the common room; instead, he strolled slowly along the corridor, the warm sunlight on his back, making it slightly warm.

Faintly, he could hear the laughter outside, the whoosh of broomsticks slicing through the air, and the murmur of student chatter in the corridor—

“I think you should know about this… No, you should pay attention to anything that might be dangerous.”

“Of course, you can trust me, Mr. Whitby. I am here to ensure the students’ safety.”

Percy’s voice, feigned with authority, came through: “What is it you want to tell me?”

Vid froze in place.

Whitby… He remembered the surname, it must be a lower-grade Hufflepuff.

The boy said nervously: “I… I overheard some Gryffindor students during Herbology class say… that they want to find the school’s secret passages and sneak off to Hogsmeade to play.”

“…Oh.”

Percy responded with a tone of disinterest.

He certainly knew some students would use secret passages to sneak out of school; his two twin brothers were among the regulars.

There’s even a rumor that Fred and George know more secret passages than Filch does. Percy once stayed up several nights trying to catch those two troublemakers in the act, but never succeeded.

Whitby hadn’t noticed Percy’s dismissive attitude—Percy had already graduated by the time Whitby joined, making speaking in front of this Ministry of Magic special liaison quite daunting for him.

Lowering his head, his voice grew quieter: “They said Fred and George, and even Harry Potter… and Vid Gray… would sneak in and out of the castle before, and nobody could catch them…”

Percy raised an eyebrow.

Whitby quickly glanced at Percy’s expression, then promptly looked down, timidly saying:

“Mr. Weasley, I’m not trying to report your brothers, I’m just really worried… what if they encounter danger outside… or if some dangerous individuals follow their tracks and infiltrate the school… what would happen then?”

For a brief moment, Percy’s face lit up with an unusual glow, though Whitby, with his head lowered, didn’t see it.

The boy continued in a low voice: “You mentioned before… if anyone discovers any threats to everyone’s safety, they should report it to you, so I… I thought I ought to report it to you…”

Percy nodded, showing a pleased smile:

“Thank you, Mr. Whitby. This is very important information! You’ve contributed to Hogwarts’ safety!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll investigate this matter… of course, without mentioning your name—to the Minister’s report, that is!”

Whitby breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly thanked him, and got up to leave.

He felt he’d done a good deed.

The sound of footsteps receded into the distance, Vid emerged from the corner of the corridor, glanced at Whitby’s figure from afar, leaned against the wall, and took a quick look along the corridor’s other side.

Percy was quickly picking up a pen, preparing to draft a report, when suddenly a thought struck him, prompting a flick of his magic wand, and the wooden door abruptly closed with a “bang.”

Vid furrowed his brow.

Sealing off secret passages or restricting students from going to Hogsmeade didn’t affect him much; he’d long lost interest in those childish escapades.

If he wanted, he could even take a trip to Diagon Alley and back without anyone noticing.