Part 9

While Noah was preparing to be discharged, Professor Weasley came to him.

"You are banned from leaving Hogwarts, Mr. Omill," Weasley said with a straight face, expecting resistance, but Noah had neither the strength nor the desire to argue with her.

"I thought you'd recovered from the loss of Eleazar," Professor Weasley looked at him with pity. Noah didn't understand what she meant.

"Are you talking about when I fell into a water tank?" Noah said, guessing. "It was just an accident. I got dizzy and..."

"Besides, you have a lot of passes, young man. As soon as you work them all out, you can come to me for release," she didn't even wait for a response and turned around and left the hospital wing.

The nurse gave Noah a couple of potions, telling him to drink them that day, and let him go. After checking the time, Noah headed towards the potions class.

"What's up, mate?" Garreth was the first to greet him, slinging an arm around Noah's shoulders.

"Missed you, buddy," Noah laughed, playfully tapping Garreth on the head.

"By the way, I've finished an experimental potion that gives you strength like Merlin himself! Want to give it a try?" Garreth pulled out a miniature bottle of blue liquid from his pocket.

"Well... Why not?" Noah reached for the bottle, but Sebastian suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched the potion from Garrett's hands.

"Maybe you should experiment with your potions on yourself, Garreth?" Sebastian cast a disapproving glance at the Gryffindor, then turned to Noah. "And you, stop indulging him."

Professor Sharp entered the classroom. "Everyone, take your seats. The lesson is about to begin."

The task for the day was to prepare the Maxim's potion. Noah realized he could bring a whole box of that potion from the infirmary, of course, prepared by himself. During the entire lesson, he managed to brew four potions. Sharpe noticed that Noah's brewing skills had improved significantly, so he didn't assign any additional tasks, while the rest of the students struggled to finish even one.

As soon as the lesson ended, Noah decided to go talk to Professor Garlick about predatory plants. However, Amit intercepted him right at the classroom exit.

"Noah, can I talk to you?" They moved a little to the side.

"Is something wrong, Amit?" Since their adventure with the goblins, they hadn't had a chance to talk, so Noah thought something might be troubling him.

"No, everything's fine! I just wanted to ask, is it true that you saved Hogwarts from a goblin attack?" Amit's face showed genuine interest.

"Where did you hear that ridiculous rumor?" Noah's voice suddenly grew cold, and his gaze sharpened.

"Well, everyone's talking about it. Is that why you missed classes for a whole month?" Amit's curiosity was shining brightly, but he failed to sense the mood in the air.

"Don't listen to them. It's all misinformation," Noah wanted to end the conversation and leave, especially when he noticed that everyone from the class was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I'm telling you, it wasn't like that!" Noah snapped suddenly, and an awkward silence filled the air.

"Why are you bothering him? Leave him alone," Ominis said, and they all hurried away as one.

"What's wrong with him? It's probably because of Professor Fig's death. Poor thing, I feel so sorry for him," one of the students whispered.

Noah stood frozen like a statue.

"Am I being pitied?"

Amit suddenly realized that he had unknowingly rubbed salt into his friend's wounds. Feeling guilty, he wanted to apologize, but Ominis and Sebastian approached him, and by the looks on their faces, they were ready to devour him.

"I just remembered I need to go to the astronomy tower," Amit stammered and almost tripped as he hurried out of the classroom. Noah remained motionless, and Sebastian realized that he needed to distract him from his melancholic thoughts.

"Professor Hecate's class is about to start. Do you think I can beat you in a duel this time?" Sebastian nudged Noah.

"Don't listen to those fools, Noah. If they continue to annoy you, let me know. I'll 'talk' to them," Ominis said, emphasizing the last word.

"You guys..." Noah turned to them, and Sebastian noticed that his eyes had turned red.

"Ominis, go ahead. I need to talk to Noah alone," Sebastian said in a monotone voice.

"I'm not going. I'm tired of you constantly hiding something from me," Ominis approached them. "If you don't tell me what's going on here, I won't talk to you anymore!" He knew he was being childish, but he was tired of all the secrets.

Noah closed his eyes and turned away. Sebastian approached him and asked, "Can you tell us what happened during the goblin attack? And about Professor Fig's death?" Noah didn't react at all; he just continued to stand with his back to Sebastian. "Noah, look at me," Sebastian placed his hand on Noah's shoulder, but Noah brushed it away, indicating that he didn't want to discuss it with them, and left the classroom.