Chapter 387
Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts (TL)
When he exited classroom seven and stood in the hallway, he could see the bright moonlight outside the window, painting the sparse shrubs in the yard with a silvery glow.
âNo need to see me off,â Newt said as he turned around, âIâve come by occasionally over the years to replace book manuscripts and still havenât forgotten the way out.â
Niffler Valen stood on Felixâs shoulder and waved along with the crowd.
At a fork in the path, Hogwarts Champions looked at Newtâs back, a surge of admiration welled up in their hearts.
â Do you want to be like Mr. Scamander and work as a Magizoologist after graduation?â Felix smiled at them and asked in a very assured tone, âOr, at some point, want to become a naturalist?â
âProfessor, how do you know?â Cedric asked in amazement. He had indeed just felt an urge to follow the footsteps of this old man and travel to every corner of the world to see the magical creatures with whom they shared their magic.
Felix laughed softly.
âThis is the personal charisma of a great wizard, their own experience alone is enough to move and inspire countless people until they want to follow along ⦠but you have to think it through without making a hasty decision.â
âRemember what I said? Hogwarts once had popular graduation travel customs, you can use that as a reference, walk more and see more, broaden your horizons. Some truths can only be yours if you have experienced them, and the truths spoken by others are no more precious than a Knut.â
With thoughtful expressions, they parted from each other near the grand staircase.
Collins Foley and Cedric Diggory went down, with their common rooms on the lower floors, while Roger Davies and the trio went up until finally, only the trio remained as they headed towards the Gryffindor common room.
âI guess itâs ten oâclock, so there shouldnât be many people in the common room, right?â Hermione asked with hope.
They seemed to have turned into rare creatures in the classroom during the day today, attracting everyoneâs attention. There was a lot of debate, and the attitude of the students of the other three houses was not that good, forming a vague atmosphere of antagonism toward Gryffindor, as if Gryffindor had taken away the honour of the other houses.
The Gryffindor students did defend them, but this kind of defense is equivalent to treating them differently, which is not what they want. The âHarry Potter fan clubâ seemed to have added a new member, and Colinâs brother Dennis Creevey seemed to be more influential than his brother, which was proved by the fact that he had brought in a group of new students from all four houses.
So the trio fled the scene.
After that they ran to the great hall in one breath, and finished their lunch early before anyone else showed up, then hurriedly made their way out.
In the afternoon care of magical creatures class, Hagrid had used the excuse that the Firetrail Snails had grown to three feet, so they need a certain amount of exercise, and asked the students to take them for a walk with each leading one. These Firetrail Snails are no longer fleshy, shellless, colorless bugs in the incubator, but rather they have grown a thick, grayish-white shell shaped like armour with incredible toughness.
If you just glanced at it occasionally, and also ignored the exaggerated size of the Firetrail Snails, you would think that these little wizards were walking a puppy on a leash. But the truth is, they were like helpless leaves in the wind, or a boat floating in a black lake in a rainstorm, dragged forward by the snails â every time their rear emits a cluster of sparks, the snails would suddenly advance six or seven feet, dragging the little wizards holding the rope behind them to the ground, and Lavender Brown was dragged backward and forwards, as she had screamed horribly while struggling to get up.
Hagrid took this opportunity to express his concern toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
The trio then thanked Hagrid for saving them from Malfoyâs relentless taunting, as Ronâs face turned into the colour of a baked Firetrail Snail in a fit of anger â Seamus at one point complained that if Hagrid continued to let them take care of the Firetrail Snail, he wouldnât be able to resist giving them the Bombarda.
This comment drew the young Gryffindor wizards into a lively discussion, as they all shared the same hatred. Dean introduced the fried scorpions and steamed crabs that he had eaten and talked about various types of cooking. In the process, even Harry joined in, arguing with them half-heartedly about whether fried Firetrail Snail would turn red when cooked or not.
âYou guys donât look well, are you worried about the dragon?â Hagrid asked then.
Hearing that Ronâs face cooled sharply, originally his face had turned red like a fried Firetrail Snail shell because of anger, now it turned into a pale ash colour, and at the same time, his lower belly trembled. After only a day, the word âdragonâ has successfully replaced the word spider and become his new Fear Switch.
Seeing Ronâs expression, Hagrid did not say anything else, only patted his shoulder, then Ron with a âpoofâ sat down on the ground.
âOops â sorry! But I think you can, at least exercise your body a bit, so that you can run faster â¦â
This is why they were so unenthusiastic towards Hagridâs concerns and advice, as it was totally counterproductive!
â¦
On the grand staircase, the trio slowed their pace as much as possible, the fireworks that the Weasley twins bought to celebrate last night had not been used up yet, and according to their habits, they certainly would make up for it today, or perhaps they are just behind the door at the moment.
As they walked up a staircase, two Ravenclaw girls came down and glanced at them with a strange look, before they turned their heads back and walked down.
Hermione let out a long sigh.
âDidnât Cedric and them say that theyâd help us explain?â Harry asked in perplexity.
âItâs only been a day, nothing wonât change this soon.â Hermione said, âEveryone else just wants to throw some tantrum.â
âLetâs just take a break here.â Harry said with a low spirit, as he sat on the steps, he saw the portraits on both sides of the stairs were staring at them, he suddenly burst out with a fit of anger: â Wanna look? Come closer so you can see better!â
The old wizard in the portrait with the walrus moustache gave him a blank look and walked away, muttering something.
âHarry â¦â
âIâm fine, Iâm just a little uncomfortable,â Harry said after taking two deep breaths, Sirius had comforted him only in the morning and his chat with Mr. Scamander in the evening had taken his mind off his troubles for a while, but now they were all coming back together.
âIf Malfoy is going to give me a nickname like the fried Firetrail Snail or Scarhead, Iâll give him a good beating.â Harry clenched his fist and said.
Hermioneâs originally stony face bloomed with a smile, and then they all quieted down, each thinking about something.
âHarry, what do you think my family clock shows about me now? Will it point at âmortal perilâ?â Ron suddenly asked.
Harry hesitated for a moment, âI donât think so.â He knew what Ron was talking about; there is a magical wall clock in their Burrow that didnât show any specific time, but rather what one family member is doing. At Nine oâclock on the regular clock, it is labelled with â Mortal Peril â.
âI havenât informed the family that Iâve been chosen as a champion.â Ron said, glancing at Hermione, âYou havenât either, have you?â
Hermione shook her head.
âI wanted to drag it out for a day, and although Professor Hap said that we can bring our family over to watch the tournament of champions, I donât want to bring them.â She said.
âI canât dodge it,â Ron said bitterly, âGinny writes home every week, and Fred and George write almost once a month or two unless they get into trouble. Then thereâs Percy and Charlie, whose works related to Ministry of Magic, and theyâll know about it sooner or later â¦â
âMaybe Iâll wake up one day and watch them storm into my dorm room and beat me up, or a red Howler will be sent to me by owl.â
âWe have to do something.â Harry said as he got up.
Ron and Hermione looked up at him.
Hermione said hesitantly, âYou mean classroom seven? But according to the professorâs plan, we will spend the next few days following Mr. Scamanderâs memory to learn about dragons, and at the end of the week, they will determine each personâs style and develop a strategy for the tournament. Other schools are probably doing something similar, and all of Ilvermornyâs students have taken a day off today.â
âWe canât always count on others. Ron, what do you say?â Harry looked at Ron.
Ron licked his lips and said slowly: âI think Hermione has a point, we still canât do anything, our magic is useless against a Dragonâ¦â
âHow can it be useless!â Harry shouted, causing the portraits to stare again, but he continued without caring: âRemember the Professorâs black hovering door? Remember how we got selected? Have you all forgotten?â
He stared into the eyes of Hermione, who compromised first, and then he looked at Ron, who swallowed hard twice.
A few minutes later.
Felix Hapâs memory body clasped his arms as he leaned against the wall and looked at them nonchalantly.
âSo, you guys are going to try out the Dragon in advance?â
âThatâs right.â Harry said, dragging Ron and Hermione along.
Felix Hapâs memory tilted his head to the side, seemingly listening to someone in the air, and the trio looked around, without discovering a single person. Under their expectant gaze, the memory body stretched his hands out as he said: âSome people disagreed. But ⦠I do think itâs interesting â¦â
The dark, ancient wall he had been leaning against gradually collapsed, as a single dragon hung its head down and a large pool of drool dripped in front of the three.
âDo you need me to give you a countdown? Three â two -â
âRun!â Harry shouted.
ââââ-
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