A soft girl like Annie, showing such admiration for him, was indeed quite satisfying.
After all... if Vivi acted admiringly, he would definitely find it fake; if it were Cassandra, he would wonder if she took the wrong magic potion; as for Pabi, it's just not her style.
Speaking of Pabi, as soon as they sat down at the Gryffindor table, Pabi came in from outside.
Upon entering the hall, Pabi immediately spotted Harry chatting with Annie.
Very close, the two of them seemed very close.
Pabi sniffed, walked to Harry's other side, and tapped the shoulder of the Gryffindor student to his left with her magic wand.
That student sensibly gave Pabi some space, and she stepped over the bench to sit down.
"Harry." She nudged Harry with her elbow.
Harry turned around, and seeing it was Pabi, greeted her happily, "Ah, Pabi?"
"Looks like some people do remember me." Pabi wrinkled her nose, leaned in, and sniffed Harry, "Just finished Defense Against the Dark Arts class? How's it going, the students' talent must be troubling you, right?"
"Not bad." Harry shrugged, "Even though they aren't as hardworking as our classmates from back in the day, at least they know what they should be doing."
Pabi smacked her lips.
Not as hardworking as our classmates back then?
That's for sure!
What was our environment back then? Just walking outside, you could encounter several high-grade dangerous magical creatures, or run into a few dark wizards, or poachers...
And now?
Now the magic world isn't turbulent like back then, at least it's calm and peaceful.
It's no wonder the students don't have that sense of urgency.
"And what about you?" Pabi asked, "Besides having me fight against Umbridge, is there anything else you needed me back for?"
As she spoke, Pabi leaned her face close to Harry's, and the two were very close, Harry could smell the fragrance on Pabi.
"Of course." Harry was no longer the naive and innocent boy; he was now terrifyingly strong, "Actually, the main reason is that I missed you..."
The look in Pabi's eyes instantly softened, and she hugged Harry, giving him a strong kiss on the cheek.
If it weren't for the inappropriate setting, she would have passionately given him a French kiss.
Beside them, Annie made a gagging gesture behind Harry's back, rolling her eyes, clearly displeased with Pabi's actions.
"I'm really happy, Harry." Pabi let go of Harry and said, "I'm so glad you missed me—I'll be staying at Hogwarts this year, so don't worry."
After a simple dinner, Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room.
As for Pabi... she had a place to stay, as she stayed in Newt's tent, which had plenty of rooms thanks to the Traceless Stretching Spell.
Even without Newt, Mr. Leme's Alchemy House could easily accommodate Pabi.
Umbridge hadn't noticed Mr. Leme at Hogwarts yet, as his Alchemy House is protected by the Sword of Loyalty Spell, unless Mr. Leme wanted her to know.
But even if she found out, there's nothing she could do to Mr. Leme.
After all, Mr. Leme is a legendary Alchemist; even Fudge would need to show him respect.
If something happened, it could become a major diplomatic incident.
Back in the common room, he saw Ron and Hermione sitting at a table, with Ron looking quite frustrated.
He leaned in for a closer look, and it turned out Ron was working on a Magic Potion Class paper.
Not far away, a group of students were clamoring around the twins.
Fred and George seemed to have finally perfected some Instant Escape Candy and were demonstrating it to the cheering crowd.
Fred first bit into the orange side, immediately began vomiting heavily into a bucket in front of him, then swallowed the purple side, and the vomiting stopped instantly.
Every so often, Lee Jordan lazily emptied the vomit using the Disappearing Spell that Draco used on Crabbe and Gall in Magic Potion Class.
The common room was filled with the sound of vomiting and cheers, with people lining up to place orders with Fred and George.
"This is really hard to focus with!" Ron said, sounding a bit agitated, "Hermione, you're not going to help me stop them?"
Saying this, Ron crossed off the incorrect proportion of Lion-headed Eagle Claw Powder for the fourth time.
"I can't, they technically aren't doing anything wrong," Hermione said through gritted teeth, "Eating gross things is their right, and I can't find a rule that says other fools can't buy it, unless it can be proven dangerous—but it doesn't seem to be..."
She, along with Harry and Ron, watched George spew the vomit into the bucket, swallow the rest of the candy, then stand up smiling with his arms open, drawing a long round of applause.
"I don't know why Fred and George only got three O.W.Ls," Harry watched as Fred, George, and Lee took in Gold Coins from the eager crowd, "They seem to be doing quite well..."
"Oh, they only know some useless fancy stuff," Hermione said disdainfully.
"Useless?" Ron exclaimed, "Hermione, they've already made twenty-six Galleons."
"I see that," Hermione pursed her lips, "but that has nothing to do with us, Ron, we should focus on our own things, right?"
Ron sighed, took a bite of the Licorice Wand, and continued to battle with his paper.
The crowd around the Weasley brothers didn't disperse until late, and then Fred, Lee, and George sat counting their money for a long time after midnight before Ron and Hermione finally enjoyed some peace in the common room.
Fred finally shut the door to the boys' dormitory, shaking his money box ostentatiously, causing Hermione to frown.
"This kind of behavior is really hard to evaluate," Hermione said, pursing her lips, "They'll lead the other Gryffindors astray."
"Isn't it possible they were already bad?" Ron asked, chewing on a Twist Candy.
"Oh, come on," Hermione tapped Ron on the head with her magic wand, "Will you die if you don't contradict me?"
"If you keep tapping me, I'll keep contradicting you," Ron said with a serious expression.
Hermione snorted and said nothing more.
The next morning, the first class was Spell Class, and today's practice was the Summoning Charm.
Professor Flitwick in class now didn't really pay attention to Harry, since he knew that no matter what magic spell was taught, Harry could always use it skillfully and proficiently.
Sometimes he even wondered, why a good child like Harry wasn't in Ravenclaw?
What a pity!
"I think," Ron whispered with his head tilted, "the Summoning Charm is indeed useful, but why can't it be used on people?"
"Who says it can't?" Harry looked at Ron in confusion, "Didn't I tell you about it before? Although the Summoning Charm can't be used directly on people, it can be used on their clothes, which is practically the same as using it on them."
"I kind of remember," Ron said uncertainly, "But I forgot when you said it."
As he was thinking, Hermione sternly reminded, "Watch your frog, it's about to escape."
"Frog, come here!" Ron said, pointing his magic wand at the frog.
The frog dejectedly landed back in his hand.
"I saw Pabi came back yesterday?" Hermione suddenly asked, "Did she come back to stand for justice? After all, you see, Umbridge at Hogwarts is almost..."
She lowered her voice: "Already making everyone angry, someone should indeed stand up to stop her."