"Opening Merlin's Trial might require the inheritance of Ancient Magic. I think Merlin isn't like Lady Tredwell described; this game wasn't just made for Slytherin students."
Harry didn't make any definitive statements, after all, Pabi couldn't undertake Merlin's Trial back then, but Cassandra could.
"I see." Dumbledore suddenly realized, "No wonder…"
Harry added, "I'd like to ask for some time off, Professor."
"You want to search for the relics left behind by Merlin's Trial, right?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.
"Yes." Harry didn't deny it, "This is very important to me."
Important, huh?
Even though Dumbledore wanted to matchmake Harry and Vivi, he would still respect Harry's wishes as much as possible.
He didn't try to persuade him, but said to Harry, "I understand how you feel, Harry, but I do have a small suggestion—"
"Go ahead." Harry looked at Dumbledore.
"I think it would be best to bring along Miss Grindelwald while searching for Merlin's relics. On the one hand, more people mean more strength, and moreover…"
Dumbledore paused to ponder for a moment before continuing, "Are these 'trials' a one-time thing?"
"They should be, but I'm not entirely sure." Harry thought for a moment, then said, "Just south of Hogwarts, there's a relic of Merlin's Trial. I remember that after passing the trial back then, I couldn't trigger it again upon return… but who knows what things might be like after a hundred years?"
"I see." Dumbledore nodded with dawning comprehension.
"As for Vivi, I'd better not disturb her for now." Harry said, "She's busy absorbing knowledge from the Muggle World recently, so she can't step away at all. I'll handle finding Cassandra myself."
"Alright then."
Dumbledore did not continue persuading, and after Harry left, he still contemplated whether to write a letter to Sister Grindelwald explaining the situation?
In the afternoon, Harry, being extremely tired, lay down on the long table in the Great Hall, planning to nap until dinner.
"What's up with Harry?" Hermione and her friends curiously asked as they passed by Harry.
"He must have fallen asleep." Ron said quietly, placing the book gently on the long table and whispering to Hermione, "Keep it down, don't wake him."
After speaking, Ron sat down next to Hermione and continued, "He didn't seem to sleep much last night. When I got up this morning, I found him still scribbling on a map, heaven knows doing what."
"Really?" Hermione took Jack off her shoulder and placed him on the table, pulling a thick book from her bag and setting it down.
Ron noticed the thick book, and whispered in shock, "Merlin's smelly socks…"
Hermione shot him a warning glance.
Realizing his best friend was catching up on sleep, Ron shrugged, stood up, and decided to ask Ginny about dinner plans.
As soon as he stood up, the twins surrounded him.
"Little Ronnie?" Fred whispered in Ron's ear, then glanced mischievously at Hermione engrossed in her book, "You know Valentine's Day is the day after tomorrow, have you prepared any gifts for your little girlfriend?"
"Little girlfriend?" Ron was taken aback, "What little girlfriend? What are you talking about?"
George patted Ron on the back, "Are you playing dumb? I'm telling you, mom already knows, saying you're completely whipped by Miss Granger..."
Ron's face flushed bright red, and he stammered, "What do you mean 'whipped'? What are you talking about, I don't understand…"
Then there came a muddled conversation, something about managing studies doesn't count as control, she's just concerned about his academics, and the air was filled with a lively atmosphere.
Jack seemed lively too, walking on the long table, its tiny bird feet making gentle pattering sounds.
It swayed its head, its crest waggling, leisurely squawking, "Ah, ah, ah~"
"Ah?" It noticed the notebook placed next to Harry.
For a parrot, it couldn't understand what that was, but its curiosity was more than sufficient.
So, Jack reached out with its beak, intending to probe what was up with that notebook.
Suddenly, Hermione heard a loud "zzzzzzt" while immersed in her reading.
Not only did she notice, but even Ron, who was arguing with the twin brothers saying "she's not my girlfriend," heard it too.
They turned to look towards the source of the sound and found that Jack had already torn up the notebook next to Harry.
Realizing it had done something wrong, Jack squawked and ran back to Hermione's side, making spring-like squeaky sounds with every wobble.
Its head lowered, it buried itself into Hermione's sleeve.
"Oh my god, Jack!" Hermione incredulously pulled Jack's head out of her sleeve, "Look at what you did!"
The cover of the notebook in front of them was completely torn off, and the notes inside were entirely disconnected, like a sunflower seed split from its shell, helplessly divided into two parts.
Harry continued to sleep, oblivious to the fact that the notebook Cassandra left had been torn up.
"Oh dear… " Ron glanced at Parrot Jack, then at Hermione, "Jack's really in trouble this time… What should we do, should we wake Harry?"
The twins giggled, standing on either side behind Hermione and Ron.