Chapter 28: Harry! Where is Harry?

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Harry! Where is Harry?

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Harry! Where is Harry?

Hagrid didn’t notice the resentment directed at him at all.

Not only did he fail to notice it, he even looked at Vesey with pity.

This child is so well-behaved.

"Get on the boats! Don’t pay attention to them. They’re just jealous."

The corner of Vesey’s mouth twitched.

Hagrid, you actually know what jealousy is?

Of course, on the surface, she could only put on a disapproving expression.

"Hagrid, it’s not that everyone is jealous. We’re just too tired!"

Hagrid thought that was strange.

He had run back and forth twice without feeling tired. Why were these students so delicate?

Why did all these young men look so weak compared with Vesey, a girl?

He glanced disdainfully at the first-years and urged everyone into the boats as though he were herding chickens.

Harry and Ron boarded the same boat as Vesey, along with Neville.

Neville was still wiping away his tears.

His toad still hadn’t been found.

"I’m not sure if it’s lost," he said sadly.

Hagrid climbed into the boat and began steering it forward. When he heard Neville, he immediately shouted, "It won’t be lost! Magical creatures will find their way back to their owners!"

"I hope so!"

Neville wiped his tears again.

Vesey comforted him, "Don’t worry. Once we get to school, I’ll look through the books. If I learn a spell for finding pets, I’ll help you find it. I don’t know any spells for finding living pets yet!"

Neville looked at her gratefully.

"Thank you. Thank you. I’m always like this. Grandma says I’m too stupid..."

Vesey shook her head.

She pointed at herself and asked, "Do you think I’m stupid?"

Neville shook his head.

After looking at Vesey again, he immediately lowered his head shyly.

Vesey is so beautiful. How could she possibly be stupid?

"But the matron, her mother, and the others all said I was an idiot!" Vesey said loudly.

Her words attracted the attention of many people nearby.

She pretended not to notice and excitedly patted Neville on the shoulder.

"Don’t worry. It’s not our fault that we’re stupid. We’ll grow up and become just like everyone else!"

Neville was infected by her optimism.

He nodded vigorously.

Then he curiously asked Vesey, "Vesey, did people really call you an idiot too? Why?"

Vesey smiled.

"Because I can’t remember other people’s faces. If they change their clothes, I can’t recognize them.

"Back then, I didn’t know I was face-blind. Fortunately, my brother told me on the train that it was a condition.

"When he told me, I felt like the whole sky had suddenly brightened. It turned out I wasn’t actually stupid.

"So believe me, Neville. You can earn your own glory too!"

It wasn’t just Neville who heard her.

Many of the students around them had now learned about Vesey’s condition.

They couldn’t help feeling sorry for her.

They hadn’t expected Vesey to have an illness.

She couldn’t recognize people’s faces. Just thinking about it made them feel sorry for her.

Although they didn’t quite know why, the moment they heard she was sick, they instinctively felt sympathy for her.

Vesey also noticed several girls whose eyes had turned red.

She immediately waved her hands.

"Don’t worry. I don’t care about it at all. After all, I can’t recognize everyone’s faces, so I don’t have to look at my own ugly face either. That means I can walk confidently among everyone!"

Silence.

The entire boat, including Hagrid, fell speechless.

Someone this beautiful actually thinks she’s ugly?

If Vesey was ugly, wouldn’t that mean all of them were hideous?

It was almost as though she were deliberately trying to provoke everyone’s jealousy.

But Vesey had already demonstrated that she really was face-blind, which immediately put her in an unbeatable position.

At this point, nobody could accuse her of deliberately fishing for compliments.

They could only rack their brains trying to praise her appearance.

Of course, Vesey was deliberately pretending to be insecure, thereby awakening the protective instincts of many of the young girls.

All in all, she was quite satisfied.

When they reached the other side of the lake, several girls immediately surrounded Vesey as soon as they got off the boat.

They felt especially sorry for her.

They comforted her, telling her not to feel inferior in the future and that even if she really were ugly, everyone would still like her.

After trying to persuade her, however, they discovered that Vesey stubbornly insisted she was ugly. No matter how much they tried to comfort her, she refused to change her mind.

So they could only accept it.

And this also made the girls who had been slightly jealous of Vesey’s appearance feel that they had been too petty.

Vesey was already so pitiful, yet they had still been thinking badly of her.

"Okay, children, stop chatting. We’re heading up!"

Hagrid shouted as he checked the boats.

When he inspected the last one, he suddenly reached inside and pulled out a toad.

"Look! Is this yours?"

He handed the toad to Neville.

Neville accepted it gratefully.

"Thank God!"

Hagrid patted him on the shoulder, then turned worriedly toward Vesey.

"Vesey, can you walk up? Or should I carry you?"

Vesey was obviously about the same age as the other girls, but Hagrid simply felt that she was particularly fragile and needed looking after.

He didn’t think there was anything strange about it.

After all, he had been friends with Lily and James and had always been willing to take care of their children.

The only problem was...

Harry!

Where is Harry?

Hagrid looked around and finally spotted Harry in the crowd.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had actually forgotten to look after Lily and James’s son.

In the end, he could only comfort himself.

Vesey looks much more in need of looking after. Harry is a boy. He can walk by himself.

Yes. That’s right!

Hagrid looked at Vesey expectantly, clearly hoping he could put her on his shoulders again.

But this time, Vesey refused.

They were about to enter Hogwarts, and she didn’t want to leave a bad impression on Professor McGonagall.

After all, McGonagall was also one of her diary holders.

And Professor McGonagall looked like the kind of person who hated causing trouble for others.

Besides, there was only one tunnel left leading to the castle. It wasn’t as though Vesey was incapable of walking that far.

Seeing how determined she was, Hagrid had no choice but to abandon the idea.

However, he still walked beside Vesey with his lantern, carefully watching her to make sure she didn’t fall.

He even whispered that he felt ashamed before James and Lily—that he had actually made Vesey walk by herself.

His voice was very low.

But somehow, even the students at the very back could hear him clearly.

Vesey: "..."

Okay, please, Hagrid. Stop talking.

You’re suddenly making me feel guilty for making you feel guilty!