Chapter 63 Doubts

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Harry and portrait just silently stood there as Slinky went back. The portrait stopped hiding behind Harry as the statue's mouth closed itself.

"She seems very irritable these days, Harry you should take her out some time so she could properly stretch her tail. Just sleeping inside the castle is bound to get tedious after a while." The portrait sincerely suggested like it was not the one responsible for the serpent's irritated state.

Harry just nodded along because he actually has something important to talk about. "yeah I will find some time to take her out. Aside from that, I want to ask you a few questions."

The portrait nodded "Harry as I told you already, you can come to me for guidance anytime you want. So what is this all about?"

"Is there a way for someone to quickly learn and develop their magical skills? Or some type of artefact or ritual that cause magical skills to develop at an incredible rate?" Harry hesitantly asked.

The portrait shook his head "Nothing like that exists at least to my knowledge. There is no quick way to improve magical skills, it can only be done through practice and dedication. There are some enhancement rituals that can improve the comprehension abilities, but even then magical skills are only developed through actual training."

Harry nodded, the portrait gave a very definitive answer the one he already knew. Harry also knows that there are no shortcuts when it comes to magical skills.

"Harry, why are you suddenly asking such questions? Believe me, there is no easy way when it comes to magic. And looking for such things will only lead you towards a very dark path." The portrait seriously warned Harry.

"It's not that. I am asking because of someone else. Greengrass, a fellow first-year student alongside me is picking up magic at an insane rate. Her first year is not even complete but she already has the magical skills of a third year. If this goes on, by the time this term is complete she might progress to fourth-year level." Harry explained.

"While this may seem odd but Hogwarts has never been short of gifted witches and wizards. She might just be one of the more gifted ones with this level of progression."

Harry shook his head "That's not it. I know Greengrass, while she is talented, someone who one day will become a powerful witch in her own right but this is a completely different situation. The rate at which Greengrass is picking things up is completely absurd and doesn't match with what I know about her. So I want you to think carefully, is there something out there that can cause this?"

"I don't know what to tell you, Harry. But there is no such thing" the portrait answered with certainty. "You are a mage, what does your sight shows you when you look at your friend? Does her magic look any different to you? Do you see anything distorted or altered with her magic or how it flows through her?"

"No" Harry reluctantly answered.

"Then there is nothing wrong with your friend. I also don't understand how your friend can learn magic so quickly but then again I also couldn't figure out how you mastered your magic from such a young age"

Harry just nodded and accepted the fact that even Slytherin's portrait doesn't have a clue about this situation. Harry hoped that the portrait might have seen something like this before but it seems he would have to figure this out on his own.

The next day.

Harry is having breakfast at the Slytherin table, he is focused on the delicious food that is in front of him but he raised his head when he heard Tracey mention his brother.

"Why is everyone at the Gryffindor table giving Charlie and Granger angry stares?" Tracey asked Daphne.

"Those two idiots were caught out of their beds, sneaking around the castle in the middle of the night. Gryffindor lost a lot of points because of their latest stunt" Greengrass answered.

"Why would they do something like this? Tracey asked without missing a beat.

"Who knows why those fools do anything. I am actually surprised by the fact that Harry's sister was not with them." Daphne replied.

"Rose was there, she was just clever enough to not get caught." Harry suddenly spoke surprising both Tracey and Daphne.

Daphne turned to him "Potter so you know what happened. What was so damn important that those idiots had to sneak around the castle in the middle of the night?"

Harry waved his wand putting up a privacy spell before answering "That would be the newborn dragon they were smuggling out of the school."

"What! What in Merlin's name were those fools doing with a dragon?" Daphne yelled which was thankfully blocked by the privacy spell.

After a while when Daphne, Tracey and Oscar got over the shock Harry explained the entire Hagrid winning a dragon egg in a bet and then trying to raise it in his hut bit to the three of them.

"So that's why Weasley is in the hospital wing, to think that what happened to his hand was actually a dragon bite." Daphne quickly connected the pieces.

Then Harry explained the whole smuggling the dragon out of the school bit.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. People can't just use their brooms to fly into school territory, the wards would have alerted the Headmaster long before they could even get close to the castle." Daphne pointed out.

Harry just nodded. Daphne just looked at him for a moment before realization dawned on her face. Of course, Headmaster was in on the whole thing and actually helped to sneak the dragon out without causing trouble for Hagrid.