On that day, Hoare stayed in the dungeons because of that ssage, waiting for Snape to return and tell him.
After all, he didn't know! Can the fireplace ssage be replayed?
And it was about the man with a snake face!
It might just be another suspicion...
As a result, Hoare never expected that he was walking right into a trap, directly caught by Snape to help with the Potions dealings with the board of governors.
He was so busy that he only realized the Christmas holidays were coming to an end.
"Emm, Henry?"
When Hoare left the common room, it was already dusk.
He had slept like a log today.
These past few days, he had only been getting three to four hours of sleep each day. Although he had energy potions, he was ntally exhausted.
He was preparing to go out and find so food to soothe his stomach, which had been filled with sandwiches for days.
At the entrance of the Slytherin common room, Hoare encountered an unexpected person, Ron.
Helena reacted faster than Hoare, leaping forward to give Ron a face hug.
Ron was startled, frantically pulling Helena off his face and holding her in his arms.
"Ron?" Hoare looked Ron up and down in confusion, "Is sothing wrong?"
Seeing Ron at the entrance of Slytherin made Hoare tense up, and his expression beca more serious.
Ron waved his hands repeatedly, "I'm fine—"
He hesitated for a mont before continuing, "It's Harry."
"Huh?" Hoare was even more puzzled.
Ron took a deep breath, as if finally making up his mind, and said, "I want to ask you for a favor, about Harry."
Hoare scrutinized Ron, "Have you been waiting here for long? Why didn't you knock?"
Hogwarts had temperature control magic, but Slytherin was located under the lake. To ventilate, there were so small ventilation spells, so it was slightly cooler than other places.
Slytherin students had cloaks with built-in temperature regulation magic, so they naturally didn't feel cold, but obviously, Ron, who was here for the first ti, didn't.
Ron didn't know the password to enter, so he couldn't get in and had to wait for soone to co out.
Hoare didn't know how long Ron had been waiting, but the young man was already shivering slightly, indicating it had been quite a while.
"Not long, not long," Ron said awkwardly, waving his hand.
"I'm heading to the Great Hall now, shall we talk as we walk?" Hoare asked, but he was already moving quickly.
Ron, holding Helena, hurried to catch up.
Once out of Slytherin's area, the temperature noticeably rose.
Hoare could clearly see Ron breathe a sigh of relief.
"What happened?" Hoare slowed his pace.
The courage Ron had mustered earlier seed to have vanished, and now he looked regretful, as if he was second-guessing coming to Hoare.
"If you're coming to , it ans sothing really bad happened to Harry, sothing even you, his good friend, can't help with," Hoare probed.
He was also puzzled. Although after the Chamber of Secrets adventure, mostly thanks to Helena's cuteness, Ron's view of Slytherin had improved slightly, at most they would just nod and greet each other in passing.
Finding the Slytherin common room, Hoare knew very well, was sothing Ron would only do if absolutely necessary.
That's why Hoare was so worried when he first saw Ron, concerned that sothing might have happened to him.
Ron seed to finally overco his inner struggle, "Harry, Harry he— I want you to help Harry."
"I've tried to talk to him, but he won't listen. I see that Harry is willing to listen to you, so could you try to persuade him?"
Hoare was at a loss. What could possibly have happened to Harry?
Headmaster Dumbledore and Headmaster Snape were keeping an eye on him every day, not to ntion the big gift Hoare had been preparing recently.
A sudden flash of insight crossed Hoare's mind—could it be the Mirror of Erised?
But that didn't make sense; the Philosopher's Stone had already been found, so why would the Mirror of Erised still be around?
Hoare's mind was filled with questions.
"What do you want to persuade him about?" Hoare asked.
"We've been exploring Hogwarts at night recently—" Ron looked around to make sure no one was listening, then leaned in to whisper to Hoare, who was eyeing the long-eared figure in the painting behind Ron, feeling the urge to facepalm.
He pulled Ron to a corner with no fras or knights, just a plain corner. "Go on."
Ron scratched his head, "Oh, oh, oh, it's like this—"
"Hogwarts is just too beautiful at night, the first night..."
Hoare interrupted Ron's prepared speech, "Just tell what happened."
Ron puffed his cheeks, muttered sothing, then continued, "We found a mirror in a room on the seventh floor."
He seed to recall sothing, his expression becoming animated, "In that mirror, I saw myself as the Quidditch champion, holding the House Cup, and you were standing beside in Gryffindor robes."
"You're my twin brother," Ron explained.
"I don't know why, but I always feel like you resemble Hoare." Normally, Ron would never reveal what he saw in the mirror, it was too embarrassing.
But around this Henry William, he felt completely at ease.
This was also why Ron didn't like that Henry William; he thought it was a Slytherin plot to lower his guard.
Hoare was so nervous that cold sweat was forming on the back of his head.
He changed the subject, "What did Harry see?" Though Ron didn't need to say it, Hoare had already guessed.
The Mirror of Erised.
It reveals one's deepest desires.
So, in Harry's heart, there was only—
"His parents, his family."
His family.
Hoare sighed inwardly; this mirror was practically demonic, revealing people's deepest desires. Who could resist that, especially an eleven-year-old boy?
He wondered how far Dumbledore and the others had progressed, and when Sirius could be released.
Hoare didn't particularly like Sirius.
Honestly, the kind of behavior where soone doesn't clear their na despite being innocent, even wasting their life, was sothing Hoare couldn't appreciate.
But he had to admit, Sirius gave Harry a ho.
Hoare rubbed his temples; a wrongful conviction from over a decade ago, and the person involved didn't even care, so why should others go to such lengths?
If it weren't for repaying Harry's favor, Hoare really wouldn't want to deal with such a troubleso matter.
"He's been sitting in front of that mirror for several nights now. I think there's sothing wrong with it, it might even eat people!"
Ron said with a serious expression.
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