Perhaps his schoolwork was too demanding, or perhaps Harry had set too heavy a workload for himself. In any case, when Harry suddenly felt the need for a thicker coat one morning, he realized he had already been at Hogwarts for almost two months.
The weather was starting to get colder. Thinking this, he took off his overcoat; it was a bit bulky when worn with his Wizarding Robes, so he decided to put on a high-necked undershirt instead.
Upon arriving at the common room, just as he was about to leave, he heard the familiar password from outside.
"Pure-blood!"
The common room door opened, and Draco entered with two sweaty, chubby boys. They were breathing heavily, exhaling white mist into the somewhat chilly common room.
Draco saw Harry: "Are you going out?"
He had just finished morning exercises with Crabbe and Goyle.
Draco found that he couldn't get up as early as Harry even on weekends; otherwise, what was the point of the weekend? It was simply a waste!
So, on rest days, he would wake up a little later, then drag Crabbe and Goyle out of bed to exercise with him.
Harry nodded: "I have some questions; I need to go to the reading room."
"Alright." Draco walked inside; he needed to take a shower and change clothes quickly, otherwise, he'd feel sticky.
Harry left the common room and strolled alone down the dimly lit corridor, occasionally greeting other Slytherin students he met.
Since that battle last time, his life had become much calmer.
Of course, there were certainly people who disliked him and wanted to cause trouble, but for some reason, other older students diverted the conflict, and a brawl broke out among the fifth-year and above students.
At the same time, Harry also had some contact with them, sometimes offering help generously, or chatting with them when there was nothing to do, and they would curiously ask him some questions.
And one of those questions stumped him.
"What do you want to do in the future? Join the Ministry of Magic? Or become an Auror?" The sixth-year senior asked.
It must be said that, perhaps due to family reasons, Slytherin students generally planned their careers much earlier than those from other houses.
This was one of Slytherin's rare outstanding advantages.
But Harry thought for a long time and couldn't give an answer.
He wanted to become a very powerful Wizard, but he felt that shouldn't be the answer.
Just as the goal for most people is to make money, making money isn't a dream. Making a lot of money is essentially hoping to use money to pay for a good life, to buy top-tier brooms, to travel the world, and so on.
It's impossible to truly love those Galleons and feel that a dream has been achieved just by looking at the gold-containing copper pieces in the vault.
Well, although those things are indeed very satisfying, they are definitely not the dream itself.
So he wanted to ask Uncle Howl for help.
He suddenly remembered that he should have been thinking about this question a year ago—that afternoon.
"Still not thinking about life? Do you have to wait until you're old at eleven to start thinking?"
Harry, oh Harry, Uncle Howl reminded you a year ago, but you thought it was just a joke!
He arrived on the fifth floor and quickly entered Uncle Howl's office.
The melodious piano music was still playing, but the office had already undergone a major transformation. Rustling sounds constantly echoed in the office, and the entire space had expanded a bit. Several long tables were arranged, and many Little Wizards were reading books there.
This was what Harry called the reading room.
Compared to the solemn and quiet library, it was much more relaxed here. Students found Professor Cat very peaceful, not minding their low whispers, and there was also soothing music.
This was a paradise for relaxed reading.
When they felt bored or had nothing to do, they never minded coming here to pick up a collection of selected jokes, a compilation of The Quibbler, or an uncensored edition of "Grimm's Fairy Tales."
The Brothers Grimm always liked to tell stories from the Wizarding World to Muggles, which caused quite a stir in the Ministry of Magic back then.
Now, the Grimm's Fairy Tales in the Muggle world have been censored by Wizards.
And children always looked at Howl with a knowing glance when they saw "Puss in Boots"...
After listening to Harry's question, Howl's hand involuntarily went to his scarf.
"I never expected you to ask this question."
Harry's face was awkward, and he asked uncertainly, "Is it too simple?"
"No." Howl shook his head: "This question is much harder than magic or anything else. Many people spend their entire lives looking for the answer and never find it."
"Even you...?"
Howl looked at him helplessly, his fingers running down his long scarf, and he smiled bitterly: "Even I don't know, otherwise why would I be like this!"
"Alright." Harry nodded somewhat dejectedly.
"No one can give you the answer to this question; you have to find it yourself." Howl then said: "By the way, it's almost Halloween, isn't it?"
Harry nodded: "Yes, next Thursday."
"So fast, it arrived in the blink of an eye." Howl's peripheral vision noticed the Weasley Twins walking into the office door. They were smiling broadly and heading straight towards him.
"By the way, Captain. Is there anything special about Halloween in the Wizarding World? For example, do people really dress up as ghosts?" Harry asked curiously.
"To be precise, Wizards don't celebrate Halloween!"
A voice sounded behind Harry. He turned his head and saw the two well-known students.
"We celebrate Halloween Eve, which was once New Year's and Samhain." The other person added.
"Oh, alright." Harry nodded.
"By the way, do Muggles have any other Halloween traditions? What's dressing up as a ghost?" Fred asked curiously.
"We dress up as spirits or mischievous monsters and go to people's houses to ask for candy." Harry explained, and he couldn't help but think of previous Halloween Eves.
The Dursleys family used to give Harry an old pillowcase or Dudley's torn bedsheet, cut two holes for him to put on, and send him out with Dudley to get candy. The candy he collected would then be snatched by Dudley.
Of course, if he was lucky, he could stuff a small handful into his clothes.
This was one of the few times he could make his mouth a little sweet.
Except for last year, he didn't celebrate Halloween last year. Of course, he wasn't too disappointed, after all, compared to the Moonlight Fortress, the ghosts on the streets outside seemed a bit uninteresting.
"Wow~" Fred exclaimed, his eyes sparkling, then he looked at George: "You know what I'm thinking."
George's face also broke into a smile, and he said mysteriously: "And, if our trick props are successful, it might be even more interesting."
Then the two of them looked at Howl and whispered: "Captain, we have a question we'd like to ask."
"You want to have a night parade of a hundred ghosts on Halloween Eve?" Howl looked at them curiously.
"I knew you'd understand us." Fred laughed.
George quickly added: "That would definitely be fun."
"It's just that our trick props still have some minor issues. Could you give us some advice?"
Howl nodded. This wasn't the first time the Weasley Twins had come to him. Ever since the two children came to ask him more questions and received answers, they would come to him for help whenever they encountered difficult problems.
After all, neither Professor Flitwick nor Professor McGonagall would give them answers to these problems; they knew these two children too well.
He looked at the two: "To be honest, I'm also really looking forward to what you two will come up with for Halloween Eve. By the way, Harry, want to see?"