days at Hogwarts

Chapter 251 The Vacation Ends

Gryffindor, in a boys' dormitory.

Harry and Ron sat on the carpet beside the bed, leaning sideways and writing furiously in the parchment.

"In future holidays, I will definitely finish my homework before playing!"

"Me too, whoever doesn't do his homework first is a dog!"

"The last time someone said someone who didn't do homework was a troll, I won't say who it was."

"Ok?"

Harry narrowed his eyes and looked at Ron, "What's going on? We are all copying homework on the same bed, but you actually ruined my situation."

Ron was immersed in his homework, his fingers were sore, and his expression was painful. He asked sadly: "Why? I obviously felt that I had a vacation yesterday, but the vacation will end tomorrow!"

Harry was even more indignant: "Why is the Easter holiday shorter than the Christmas holiday, but there are more homework than the Christmas holiday, almost three times as much!"

Seamus and Neville were lying on their beds watching the fun, with gloating smiles on their faces.

"Who told you to stay at the stadium all the time? You know, Loren and Neville finished their homework in less than two days." Seamus rocked on the bed, making a "squeaking" sound with a leisurely rhythm.

He tsked, trying to rub salt into their wounds: "You should thank Loren and Neville. It is your job to help Professor Sprout take care of the mandrake."

Neville on the other bed scratched his head and showed a naive smile: "It's okay, the three of us just earned 45 points for Gryffindor."

"Yes, that's right!" Ron nodded in agreement, and suddenly leaned forward to look at what he was copying, and then shouted loudly, "Loren, come and take a look! What words do you write here? Continuous strokes It’s so sloppy that I can’t recognize it.”

"Which subject is the homework?" Loren asked calmly. He was lying on his bed, holding "Animagus in History" in his hand, and turned another page as he spoke.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Hearing this, Seamus thought for a moment: "Professor Black has left. Principal Dumbledore did not announce a new professor during the dinner. In this case...can we not do the Defense Against the Dark Arts homework?"

"Really..." Ron only hesitated for half a second, and a cheerful smile immediately appeared on his face, "Oh, this is not good."

Looking at the duplicitous Ron, Harry rolled his eyes: "Then why did you put down the pen?"

Closing the book, Loren looked out the window at the dark night, as if his eyes passed through the black curtain and fell into the distant Muggle society, far away from the magical world.

Compared to the long summer vacation and Christmas vacation, the Easter vacation ended quietly. On an ordinary Monday morning in April, Hogwarts started classes normally.

The first class in the morning is Transfiguration. After the teaching reform, the content of Transfiguration has become wider, but the depth involved has become shallower. Only the basic parts of many contents are retained.Advanced knowledge is either incorporated into subsequent Transfiguration training courses or placed in Transfiguration Club courses.

For young wizards who do not plan to delve into the field of transfiguration and have no intention of working in transfiguration-related industries in the future, transfiguration courses have become much easier.

"As for the deformation process of mouse hair, it officially ends here. This process can be applied to the same type of small animals with hair, such as the deformation of rabbits and cats."

Professor McGonagall knocked on the podium and asked, "Assign a thought after class: Can the above method be applied to the deformation of bird feathers and the deformation of fish and snake scales? What are the similarities and differences between the several deformations?

It is not considered a formal assignment and does not need to be written and submitted as a paper. Interested students can discuss it. "

Hearing the next sentence, many young wizards who originally recorded the questions in their notebooks put down their quills, with cheerful and relaxed smiles on their faces.

Homework that doesn't need to be turned in is homework that doesn't need to be done.

Loren turned his head and looked to the side. Sure enough, Hermione was holding a quill and copying the title into the notebook in neat handwriting.

Then I didn’t have to write, so Loren packed the books and put them in his backpack with peace of mind.

Just as everyone was about to leave after class, Professor McGonagall greeted again: "By the way, the members of the Animagus teaching class will tell each other that the Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the afternoon will be changed to the teaching class. Please remember to attend class on time. .”

"Okay, Professor McGonagall!" all the little wizards replied in unison.

……

Professor McGonagall described the value, difficulty, and risks of Animagus in detail in the last open class, but the temptation of Animagus was too great, and these contents did not dampen the enthusiasm of the students. None of the members opted out.Even a small number of young wizards who are shaken in their hearts want to get in touch with formal teaching first.

Loren unexpectedly discovered that Miss Beetle had really become a teaching assistant.

Rita Skeeter still wears a black mask, her weird blond curly hair has become much neater, her jewel-encrusted glasses are gone, and she is now wearing the same thin black-rimmed glasses as Professor McGonagall, and her long red nails are covered with Cut off.

She held a stack of newspapers in her hand and distributed them to each little wizard one by one. Then she returned to the edge of the podium and stood quietly.Like a normal teaching assistant.

Opening the newspaper, there is no text, only vivid pictures on the 13 yuan page.

The ink prepared with developing potion repeats the process of fusion and separation on the yellowed paper. The effect achieved is that people and animals on the newspaper are constantly moving.

Owl, crow, reticulated python, beetle, black dog, tabby cat, alligator, haddock, hedgehog, cheetah, cobra, rat, wolf.

Thirteen people constantly transformed into thirteen animals, and then returned to human form from animals.

Although some people hid their faces, Loren still recognized many familiar faces: the reticulated python - Nagini, the beetle - Rita, the black dog - Sirius, the tabby cat - Professor McGonagall, the mouse ——Peter Pettigrew.

Loren's fingers brushed the ink on the picture, and the content of the picture did not change due to rubbing.The magic-engraved album has no printing marks, and the damping of the parchment paper is very comfortable.

I admire Professor McGonagall's teaching. The content in the album is so complete.Flying birds, slithering snakes, beasts running on all fours, and even amphibians, covering almost all types of animals, Professor McGonagall did the best with the information he could collect.

Hermione also recognized several people. She raised her head and looked at Loren, then lowered her head tacitly and continued to look at the pictures.

The numerous images of animals and humans transforming into each other aroused waves of exclamation among the little wizard community.

"Quiet, listen to me first." Professor McGonagall's wand was used as a pointer, tapping lightly on the lecture table to suppress the discussion below.

"I collected the contents of this album from various sources. Among the thirteen pictures, only the owl, crow, beetle, black dog, tabby cat, alligator, and mouse are normal Arnies. Muggs, several of whom I wrote to invite them to record the transformation process, and the images of the mice were taken from the Ministry of Magic's criminal files, and I believe you will recognize some familiar faces."

Fred was the first to shout: "I know, the black dog is Professor Black, and the tabby cat is you!"

This caused a group of young wizards to shout excitedly.

"Hehehehe..." George laughed maliciously and turned his eyes to the pale Percy, "And our dear mouse Scabbers."

<divclass="contentadv">Percy didn't look at him and just took a deep breath on his seat, forcing himself not to think about those distant memories. They were simply scarier than the pictures in "The Dark Wizard".

Ignoring their antics, Professor McGonagall continued to explain the contents of the album: "The Reticulated Python is a blood-cursed orc. Just focus on her transformation process and won't go into details here. The Haddock is the poor one. The witch Mirabella Plunkett, you should have heard her story, this is a map deduced by many transfiguration scholars and arithmetic divination prophets in order to find her traces."

There was another lively discussion.

"I know, I opened her picture out of the Chocolate Frog over Christmas break."

"She couldn't be found later. She probably died in Loch Lomond."

"It's so pitiful..."

Professor McGonagall waited quietly for the end of their discussion: "The two pictures of cheetah and cobra are old wizards on the African continent. The principles of human body transformation they use are different from Animagus. We can learn something from them.

The hedgehog on the third page is the eldest son of the dark wizard Thaddeus Sirkel. What you see is the scene when he was rescued by the Auror and restored to his human form. Pay attention to his eyes. The long-term fixed animal form makes The beast's brain overwhelms the human brain, the wild instinct suppresses the human reason, and the primitive beast takes control of the body.Remember this scene and take it as a warning!

The last picture is the transformation of a werewolf. Feel the raging wildness in the picture. This is a crucial step for the Animagus! "Professor McGonagall finished the rest of the picture content in one breath and stood quietly on the podium to let the little wizards slowly digest the information."

Professor McGonagall mentioned this word repeatedly, which attracted the little wizards to focus on the two pictures of hedgehog and werewolf, trying to understand something from the changes in form.

"Now let me tell you some things to note." Professor McGonagall scanned the classroom, her serious face revealed a strong aura, and silenced all the discussions. "The album can be viewed by non-teaching class members, but private development is not allowed. Seal and are not allowed to be taken out of the school. There are restrictive spells on the album, which can resist the copying spell. If you leave the school, it will spontaneously combust and burn. Those who violate the rules will be expelled from the teaching class and will never be hired again."

From Professor McGonagall's expression, the little wizards realized the importance of this matter and made the promise seriously.

“Finally, a round of applause to our teaching assistant, Miss Skeeter, for her magical printing skills that made this album possible.”

Rita looked up at Professor McGonagall in surprise, as if she couldn't believe she would say such a thing.

The vast majority of the little wizards applauded vigorously. Although some loyal readers of the Daily Prophet had heard of Rita Skeeter, Skeeter was not a prominent surname. They did not mention the person who used her gossip to attract attention. The gold medal reporter was linked to this assistant coach.

Except for Hermione, who turned her head to look at her deskmate Loren, the doubts in her eyes clearly visible.

"Shh," Loren raised his index finger in front of his lips, "Professor McGonagall must have her own considerations, and we don't need to worry about it."

Hermione pursed her lips... Forget it, this is in class, as a student, just concentrate on your studies.

At this moment, Professor McGonagall called her name: "Hermione?"

"I'm here!" Hermione straightened her back.

Professor McGonagall handed her a cloth bag: "Give out the mandrake leaves and give each person one piece."

"Okay!" Hermione held the bag and quickly distributed the leaves she collected.

Every little wizard who received the leaves couldn't help but smile excitedly, but they forced themselves to restrain their excitement and carefully protect the fragile leaves.

"I think you have all previewed the first step of the Animagus ritual. I repeat, the mandrake blade is held in the mouth from one full moon to another for a full month. A single mandrake leaf is continued to be held in the mouth. The leaf must not be swallowed or taken out of the mouth at any time. If the leaf leaves the mouth, the whole process must start over."

"This month's leaves have been distributed to you. Those who failed need to re-register and receive the leaves next month. Do you still have any doubts about this?" Professor McGonagall looked at the young wizards.

Fred raised his right hand high: "Professor, what if you accidentally bite the blade into pieces?"

"Then declare failure and wait for the next full moon to start again."

George then asked: "Professor, can I take a few more tablets at once, which will increase my success rate?"

"No, the process must strictly follow the ritual."

"Professor, is it okay if you accidentally swallow it and take it out again?"

"No."

"Professor, can I use the Sticking Charm?"

……

Loren was amazed at the imagination of the seniors and sisters. As expected, those who can get into the exam are all talented people.

Professor McGonagall patiently answered these questions that were full of random and whimsical ideas. The answers were all no, and there were no tricks in the entire ceremony.

After confirming that these little clever guys had no other clever ideas, Professor McGonagall made an arrangement: "Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be a full moon night. You can start to hold the leaves after the moon comes out, no later than twelve o'clock in the evening..."

Professor McGonagall explained some basic precautions. After the bell rang, he packed up his books and the leaves in the bag and walked out, his movements neat and tidy.

Rita picked up the remaining atlas and quickly followed, following Professor McGonagall towards the office.

"Most of them will fail!" Rita said in a deep voice with certainty. She had sufficient knowledge of Animagus and had experienced the step of holding a mandrake in her mouth, so she understood the difficulty involved.

Professor McGonagall kept walking without even looking at her: "I know."

"Then why do you still do that?"

……

In the classroom, after two checks, Hermione confirmed that she had memorized all the precautions that Professor McGonagall had just mentioned. She closed her notebook and turned to look at Loren, with some doubts in her eyes: "Don't you think it's a bit confusing? It’s strange, Professor McGonagall was very careful when explaining the rituals and precautions, but she let us find our own time to hold the leaves.”

"According to Professor McGonagall's rigorous character, do you think she should gather us together and supervise us to start the ceremony, right?" Loren said with a smile.

Hermione nodded.

"It is to allow us to accumulate experience of failure, and also to allow those who are waiting to see the situation before quitting."