Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

In addition to the restlessness unique to adolescence, everyone’s inexplicable anxiety mainly came from the increasingly worsening situation in the Wizarding World.

Evan didn’t want to talk much about it but couldn’t avoid addressing it.

Every morning there would be some bad news in the newspapers brought by owls. Last week, the bad news was that Stanley Shunpike, conductor of the Knight Bus had been arrested on suspicion of Death Eater activity, but any wizard with common sense knew that the guy was not a Death Eater at all.

He was bragging, and the Ministry of Magic arrested him to prove that they were not doing nothing.

If one had to put it that way, boasting and spreading rumors could indeed be considered crimes, and in this regard, Shunpike truly deserved his punishment.

Anyway, he’d likely be released after a while, and without Dementors at Azkaban, he wouldn’t suffer too much.

In addition to this incident, there was also the news that Eloise Midgen had been withdrawn from school and that a student’s parents had been harmed by Death Eaters…

It was the second week of the new term. Although this week had not ended yet, the bad situation continued to worsen.

On Tuesday, Hermione informed Evan that two more students had decided to withdraw.

Friday’s Hogwarts Magic delivered horrifying news that a fully armed five-man Auror team was killed while on duty by the Death Eaters. This was the first death of Aurors since Voldemort’s return.

The shadow of war and atmosphere of panic had enveloped the entire Wizarding World and were beginning to infiltrate Hogwarts…

Students now tried not to talk about Voldemort and the grim news, at least not in public.

On the surface, everything was immersed in an eerie calm and quiet.

Yes, it was quiet, at least in the areas where senior students gathered.

Now, whether in the common room or at mealtimes, Evan frequently looked at sixth and seventh-year students staring at something, purple in face and straining as though they had overdosed on U-No-Poo.

They were actually struggling to make spells work without saying incantations aloud, that is, practicing nonverbal spells.

This matter began in sixth-year classes when Snape demanded that his students master nonverbal spells. Soon, other professors followed suit, requiring students to develop this skill in their first or second lessons. Proficiency in casting nonverbal spells was a necessary skill for N.E.W.T.s, but this advanced technique was highly challenging. Even for seventh-years who had practiced for a year, many hadn’t yet mastered or become proficient at it.

Among all sixth-years, Evan was currently the only one who had successfully mastered the nonverbal spell, and many people came to him for advice.

In recent D.A. activities, he had also dedicated significant time to explaining the techniques of using this magic.

Evan’s advice regarding nonverbal spells was to practice a lot. Mastery came from repetition. One shouldn’t give up because of the difficulty. The method was straightforward, and in such cases, doing more and thinking less was far more effective than endlessly reading books or seeking some so-called secret trick.

Therefore, it was not surprising that Neville mastered this magical skill faster than others.

Though clumsy, his determination and perseverance were unmatched, making him the most promising in terms of growth potential.

After Evan and Hermione, Neville became the third student in their year to successfully perform a nonverbal spell.

Although successfully casting a nonverbal spell once was still far from full mastery, the news of Neville’s success spread quickly. It caused some urgency and frustration among others, blending with the stress brought on by the heavy coursework for the upper years.

Just think about it, even Neville successfully used the nonverbal spell, while they hadn’t made any progress at all. It was utterly embarrassing!

This happened not too long ago. Since then, many students, including seventh-years, had noticeably become more diligent in their practice of nonverbal spells.

These two factors largely contributed to the growing anxiety spreading throughout the school. On top of that, Evan had some personal troubles to deal with.

For example, his current main task was to search for clues about the key Hufflepuff had left behind.

After talking with Dumbledore and thinking over and over again using Ravenclaw’s Diadem, Evan decided to summon the house-elf demon under the school kitchens in the near future. He wasn’t sure what would happen then, but Dumbledore assured him he would accompany him once Evan was ready.

As for the summoning ritual itself, Dumbledore wouldn’t help with that, and Evan understood. After all, Dumbledore had so many things to do.

More importantly, this was a test set by Hufflepuff for Evan. It wasn’t just a challenge — it was also an opportunity to improve his spellcasting skills.

As for the timing, if all went well, the summoning would take place a few weeks later, during Dumbledore’s second round of training…

Dumbledore’s presence alone would be the greatest support Evan could ask for!

Of course, these weren’t the only bothersome things. There was also Hagrid’s invitation…

This was an invitation that could not be refused, or was really difficult to say no to. After they had visited Hagrid last week to help him recover, he had persistently invited them to visit Grawp and the seriously ill Aragog.

No one wanted to go, so the matter could be postponed as much as possible, but no one wanted to make Hagrid sad again, so they had to go sooner or later…

Speaking of invitations, another troublesome one came up, one just as hard to decline.

On the first day of the second week of the term, Professor Slughorn sent someone to deliver invitations to Evan, Harry, Hermione, Elaine, and Ginny, inviting them to attend a gathering to be organized this weekend.

Needless to say, it was the Slug Club again.

Without much thought, the five of them refused.

No one wanted to go to dinner with a bunch of Slytherins and some unpleasant fellows and waste the entire evening listening to Professor Slughorn reminiscing about the past.

But Professor Slughorn wasn’t one to give up easily. Since they hadn’t given him a definitive response, he eventually decided to take matters into his own hands. On the weekend, just before dinner, he intercepted the group in person. He seemed to have been waiting at the entrance of the Great Hall just to discuss this matter.

Given Professor Slughorn’s status, it wasn’t appropriate to refuse his invitation outright to his face.

Having learned of his plans in advance, Evan and Hermione had hidden away early.

The two of them spent the entire weekend in the Room of Requirement, studying some magic that was not to be known to outsiders. Even their lunch and dinner were delivered by Dobby.

Harry, Elaine, and Ginny were not so lucky. They had Quidditch practice, and their whereabouts were far too easy to track. As the Gryffindor team finished their day’s training and entered the castle, they were greeted by Professor Slughorn, who had been waiting there in advance. He blocked their path, smiling warmly at Harry…

Hey there! Translating_Wizard here! Chapter 1590 just dropped on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed reading and want to read more, I’d greatly appreciate your support ♡