Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying-Chapter 563 - 179: Invitation (Part 2)

I’ve heard that several times, he went back crying.

Now that I think about it... Dumbledore, Malfoy Senior, and Snape, though their stances are not entirely aligned, should have the same attitude on this matter.

They all used detention as an excuse to force Draco Malfoy to cut ties with some people he shouldn’t associate with.

But now it seems that Draco Malfoy himself doesn’t think so.

Vid had already made up his mind when he entered the ward where the young wolf was resting.

He objectively wrote down the process just now on parchment, made two copies, and turned them into paper cranes, then watched the light yellow paper cranes flap their wings and fly out of the window.

One flew to the Headmaster’s Office and the other to find Professor Snape.

Draco Malfoy’s gathering tonight probably won’t go smoothly, and I wonder if that student club will be casually taken care of by the professors.

As Vid leaned against the window, watching the paper cranes fly away, the young wolf on the hospital bed had already turned over, secretly pulling open a crack in the curtain, with round eyes peeking at him through the gap.

Suddenly, Vid turned his head, shocking the young wolf, who let out a startled sound and shrank back into bed.

"Hello." Vid didn’t approach, asking gently, "My name is Vid Gray. How is your wound feeling?"

A moment later, that little wolf poked his head out from the curtain again.

"Much better," he said in a youthful voice, "Thank you for saving me... What is this place?"

"Hogwarts Hospital Wing, let’s go, I’ll take you back to the Forbidden Forest."

Vid extended his hand, and the young wolf hesitated for a moment before the whole body came out. Being grabbed by Vid by the back of the neck, he was picked up and held.

He let out a startled cry, wrapping his limbs tightly around Vid’s arm, his tail becoming stiff.

"What’s your name?" Vid asked while walking out.

"Maurice," the young wolf said, "Maurice Holden."

"How old are you?" Vid asked.

"I’m already two years old," Maurice said proudly.

Vid was a bit surprised; he had thought this little guy was probably only three or four months old.

He vaguely remembered that ordinary wolves were nearly mature at two years old, yet this young wolf, from appearance to speech, carried a childlike vibe.

Perhaps this is also due to human bloodline influence—an extended childhood, but correspondingly, a much longer lifespan compared to ordinary wild wolves.

"If I take you to the Forbidden Forest, do you know how to get home?" Vid said uneasily, "Don’t get captured by some beast again."

"Of course I can, I was just careless for a moment before!" Maurice argued loudly.

Speaking, Vid walked out of the ward and suddenly paused.

Carrel stood leaning against the wall in the corridor, looked up with a slight smile, and said, "Good morning, Vid."

"...Morning." Vid closed the door behind him and asked, "No class this morning? Why are you standing here?"

"I was waiting for you," Carrel said, "Were you just outside the window? I felt it."

"Felt it?" Vid raised an eyebrow, "More like you heard it, right?"

"Haha, that’s true too." Carrel laughed twice, his gaze turning to Maurice, "Is this little guy your pet?"

Maurice’s body trembled slightly, burying his head into Vid’s embrace.

"No, I picked him up from the forest," Vid didn’t hide it, "He was injured, so I brought him to Madam Pomfrey for treatment."

"Oh, it was yesterday evening in the Forbidden Forest, right?" Carrel said with a smile, "I thought I had a good relationship with Professor Hagrid, but even someone like Malfoy got an invitation, and I didn’t."

"Hagrid promised Malfoy a long time ago, back when you hadn’t arrived at school. Besides, Hagrid always does things as he pleases," Vid said.

"Like illegally raising a Fire Dragon?" Carrel said enviously, "That’s wonderful... Doing whatever you want, even if it’s wrong, someone will cover for you."

Vid glanced at him and asked, "Did something happen over the holiday? You don’t look too well."

"Maybe I played too hard during the holiday, didn’t recover... or perhaps I didn’t get the Christmas gift I wanted," Carrel said, looking at Vid, implying something.

Vid heard this and felt slightly awkward.

He hadn’t sent Carrel a Christmas gift, but after returning from the Gray Castle, he found in the pile of gift boxes the gift Carrel sent him—a schedule planner and a small pack of cookies.

Very ordinary and normal, so normal that Vid checked it for a long time and felt like an idiot.

Of course, he didn’t eat the cookies either, still placing them on the shelf as a decoration, as there was plenty of space in the wardrobe, no fear of taking up too much room.

"Speaking of..." Carrel suddenly asked, "Were the cookies I sent you delicious?"

"...Not bad," Vid vaguely said.

"Haha, no need to be so forced, I know they’re not as good as the ones my mom used to make." Carrel said with a smile, "Vid, remember? My mom was a great cook, you used to love the cookies she made."

"Of course." Vid nodded.

"But I liked the seafood chowder the most... She’d add cream, put in some bay leaves and lemon, so delicious you could swallow your tongue," he said with a nostalgic expression, "Unfortunately, the Blood Race has a dull sense of taste, and recently her seafood chowder hasn’t been as delicious."

Vid’s heart moved, turning his head to look at Carrel, unsure if he was intentionally saying this or just chatting casually.

"By the way, you didn’t accept my invitation during the Christmas holiday, so how about visiting my home during the next Hogsmeade weekend? My parents bought a house in Hogsmeade, they’d really like to see you."

Carrel said enthusiastically, "My mom will make a large feast, and you can bring a few more friends along."

Vid frowned, "Your parents?"

"Yes!" Carrel’s smile didn’t change as he said.

Vid puzzled, "Carrel, after all this time, have you really not realized..."

The smiling youth opposite him retracted his smile, his eyes with a hint of scarlet looking cold and resentful. But this cold expression lasted only an instant, as he quickly bent his brows and eyes again, still showing a mask-like smile.

"Please, Vid, you owe me this," Carrel said lowly, "You didn’t agree to my last invitation, this time, no matter what, say yes just once, or my parents will surely be angry with me... I’m begging you."

Vid looked into his eyes and, after a long while, slightly nodded.

"Great!" Carrel immediately showed a happy smile and said smugly, "Haha, I knew your heart would soften easily! You promised, so you can’t go back on your word! I’m off to breakfast!"

He waved and walked lightly toward the Great Hall, while Vid headed in the opposite direction, descending the side staircase.

It was only then that Maurice cautiously lifted his head, rolling over in Vid’s arms, looking up at the wizard who saved him.

The gray eyes of the youth were cast down, with an indescribable sadness and pity.

"Vid?" Maurice called softly, his front paws on Vid’s arm.

"Hmm?"

"That person just now... had the smell of blood, seemed very dangerous... You’d better not get close to him, and don’t accept his invitation." Maurice said seriously.

Vid, however, just said, "I know."

"Huh?"

"I know he’s a Vampire. But..."

Vid walked out of the castle, gazing at the distant dark forest, swallowing the words that followed the "but."

When there was no follow-up to "but," Maurice thought for a while, then patted Vid’s arm with his paw and said:

"I don’t know what’s going on, but my dad once said... He said bad things don’t stop happening because you avoid them, but if you keep moving forward, you’ll eventually get out of the quagmire."

Vid smiled and said, "You’re smart, Maurice, and your father is a wise man. But I... I can be very clumsy in some ways."

Looking back at the majestic castle, Vid sighed and said, "It seems this time, I’ll be troubling Professor Dumbledore again."