bacchusnovels Chapter 146 Miss Granger, you didn't want this either...
Chapter 146 Miss Granger, you didn't want this either...
Chapter 146 Miss Granger, you didn't want this either...
The thick snowflakes, like dark gray silk, have been removed and are now dancing in the sky.
Snowflakes clung to every window of the castle, gradually piling up until they completely sealed the windows shut.
It blocked out the outside light.
Therefore, the interior of the castle was much darker than usual during the day, as if shrouded in a mysterious shadow.
Harry and Ron searched around the castle for a week after Potions class.
They also couldn't find Hermione.
They arrived at their final stop—the library.
With hearts full of hope, the two wandered among the towering bookshelves in the library.
Their eyes searched every corner, hoping to find Hermione.
The air was filled with the mixed smell of ink and old paper, and occasionally you could hear the soft rustling of pages turning.
"She should be here," Ron said in a low voice, a hint of anxiety in his voice. "She'll be in the library whenever she's free."
Harry nodded, but they weren't in a relaxed mood.
Since Hermione was taken away by Professor Sean during Potions class, she has seemingly vanished into thin air.
In a corner by the window, they saw that familiar figure.
Hermione sat at a small table, surrounded by a pile of books of all kinds.
Harry and Ron quietly walked over to her and sat down. Hermione looked up, saw them, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
"You—" she was about to speak, but Harry interrupted her again.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry asked with concern.
Hermione paused for a moment, then shook her head.
"I'm fine," she replied softly, forcing a smile. "Professor Sean just wanted to ask me about something, and it's all resolved now."
Ron breathed a sigh of relief, just about to say something.
Suddenly, a conversation came from behind the tall bookshelf next to the three of them.
The three people leaned over the bookshelf and peered through the gaps.
They were a group of Hufflepuff students.
“So, anyway,” a tall boy said solemnly, “I’ve got Justin hiding in our dorm. I mean, if Potter really decides to do something bad to him, he’d better lay low for a while.”
"Of course, ever since Justin accidentally revealed to Potter that he was a natural-born Muggle, he had a premonition that this might have such consequences."
"Justin even mentioned his time at Eton to Potter. For a descendant of Slytherin, that's not a topic you can just casually bring up, right?"
"So, Ernie, are you sure it was Potter who did it?" a blonde girl with a ponytail asked eagerly.
“Hannah,” the big boy replied in a serious tone, “he’s a Parseltongue. It’s the mark of a dark wizard, as everyone knows. Have you ever heard of an honest wizard who can talk to snakes? Slytherin himself was known as the Parseltongue.”
These words immediately sparked a murmur among the crowd. Ernie continued, "Remember the message on the wall? 'Beware of those who oppose the heir.' Potter and Filch had a falling out, and then we learned that Filch's cat had met with misfortune."
"That freshman Crevy angered Potter during a Quidditch match and even took a picture of him lying in the mud. Then, we learned that Crevy also met with misfortune."
"But he always seemed so friendly," Hannah said hesitantly. "Besides, he was the one who made the mysterious man disappear. He couldn't be that evil, right?"
Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously, and the Hufflepuff students moved closer, with the three little ones shifting to the side to hear Ernie's words better.
"No one knows how he survived the attack by the mysterious man. He was just a baby then, and should have been blown to bits."
"Only a powerful dark wizard could escape such a spell." His voice grew lower, almost a whisper. "Perhaps that's why the mysterious man wanted to eliminate him; he didn't want another 'demon' to stand against him. I don't know what other powers Potter is hiding."
Harry couldn't listen anymore.
He cleared his throat and came out from behind the bookshelf.
If he hadn't been filled with rage, he might have found the scene before him rather comical: every Hufflepuff student stared in disbelief at the sight of him, and Ernie's face turned deathly pale instantly.
"Hello," Harry greeted calmly, "I'm looking for Justin Finley."
The Hufflepuff students had clearly confirmed their worst fears, staring at Ernie with horrified eyes.
"What do you want with him?" Ernie asked, his voice trembling.
"I want to explain to him the truth about the snake in the dueling club," Harry explained.
Ernie bit his bloodless lips, took a deep breath, and said, "We were all there. We witnessed the whole thing."
"So, did you notice that when I spoke to the snake, it retreated?" Harry pressed. "I only saw," Ernie insisted, despite his body trembling, "that you used Parsleyan to urge the snake to attack Justin."
"I didn't urge the snake to attack him!" Harry's voice trembled with anger. "The snake didn't even touch him!"
“But almost,” Ernie retorted. “If you have any ill intentions towards me,” he hastily added, “I can tell you that my family’s wizarding bloodline goes back nine generations, and my blood is as pure as anyone else’s, so—”
"I don't care about your bloodline!" Harry interrupted him angrily. "Why would I attack a Muggle?"
"I heard you hate the Muggles who live with you," Ernie quickly replied.
"Living with the Dursleys, it's hard not to hate them," Harry scoffed. "I'd like you to experience it for yourself."
After saying that, he turned around abruptly and left the library in anger.
Hermione and Ron glared at Ernie before hurrying off to catch up with Harry.
Hagrid's cabin.
Two people, one older and one younger, sat facing each other at a rough wooden table.
Although the hut was simple, it exuded a rustic yet warm atmosphere, with old photos of Hagrid and some hunting souvenirs hanging on the walls.
A steaming hot pot sat in front of the two of them.
The golden chicken soup in the pot was bubbling and releasing a rich aroma that constantly stimulated their taste buds.
Each person picked up a piece of tender chicken and gently placed it into the boiling hot pot.
The chicken quickly changes color in the hot broth and releases an even more enticing aroma once fully cooked.
The other person picked up a spoon, carefully scooped up a spoonful of chicken soup, blew on it, and then slowly savored it, a satisfied smile on their face.
"Delicious!" Hagrid exclaimed sincerely.
"Of course, this is a secret chicken soup recipe I learned from the East when I traveled the world." Sean smiled smugly. For Hufflepuff, cooking seemed to be the easiest thing in the world. "Try this piece of chicken and see how it tastes."
Hagrid did as instructed, picked up a piece of cooked chicken, and put it in his mouth to chew slowly.
The meat was tender and fragrant, making him nod in praise: "It smells so good, your cooking skills are really good."
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"Haha, thank you for the compliment." Sean was clearly pleased. For a chef, receiving praise from diners is the happiest thing. "Most people don't have the chance to taste my cooking."
After several rounds of dishes, Hagrid suddenly remembered something.
He hesitated for a moment before asking, "By the way, Professor Sean, where did you get this chicken?"
Sean replied matter-of-factly, "They're the ones you keep in your vegetable garden."
Hagrid froze, a look of shock crossing his face. "You—you killed my chickens?"
"Yeah, I thought they were pretty plump, so I caught one to try," Sean said casually, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
He wouldn't have made this hot pot chicken if it weren't for his pet snake monster being afraid of chickens crowing.
Hagrid felt a pang of heartache. He had raised those chickens with great care and attention, only to have them killed so easily by Sean.
Although he was somewhat dissatisfied, he felt it was all worth it when he thought about Sean's cooking skills and the delicious hot pot.
"Oh well, what can we do now that we've already eaten it?" Hagrid sighed and shook his head helplessly.
Sean noticed Hagrid's reluctance and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll treat you to something even better next time... I see you have an even fatter chicken left in your garden, I'll make you braised chicken tomorrow."
"Braised chicken?"
"Braised chicken?" Hagrid's face showed curiosity. "What kind of dish is that?"
"Braised chicken is a very delicious home-style dish. After being braised, the chicken becomes more tender and the broth is very rich. You will definitely like it," Sean explained.
Upon hearing Xiao's description, Hagrid couldn't help but swallow hard, his reluctance instantly replaced by anticipation.
He nodded and said readily, "Okay, I'll try your braised chicken tomorrow."
"No problem, I promise you won't be disappointed," Xiao Ni confidently promised, having an alibi.
Harry stormed out of the library, nearly bumping into a Pixfield Hawk who was reading a book.
Anger always easily clouded his judgment.
Ignoring Hermione and Law's low cries behind him, he walked straight down the stairs... Where was he going? He didn't know.
In short, after going down the stairs, he turned into another corridor.
The light was particularly dim here. A window pane had come loose, and a fierce gust of wind blew in, extinguishing the torch.
He was halfway there when he suddenly tripped over something lying on the floor.
He turned around, squinting slightly, trying to see what had tripped him.
Upon hearing this warning, he suddenly felt his stomach churning, as if his stomach had turned into a gurgling stream.
Justin Finley lay stiffly on the cold floor, his face expressionless, frozen in utter terror. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, as if uttering a silent, unspoken fear.
But that wasn't the most startling thing for the eagle. Beside him lay an eagle-shaped figure, its bizarre and strange form unlike anything Harry had ever seen before. This scene was filled with indescribable eeriness and horror.
It's worth mentioning here that Shaw instructed the basilisk to petrify the eagles in the original story, but he couldn't control who discovered it—it could have been Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, or Percy.
Any eagle in the castle could be a threat.
But an invisible fate somehow brought Harry here.
The capricious figure was none other than Nick, who had almost lost his head. Last time, Blood Eagle Barrow crossed out Nick's name from Xiao's notebook, but it happened to be Nick's 500th death anniversary, so Xiao didn't dare to do it. But today...
Nick's appearance had changed drastically. He was no longer the milky white and transparent ghost of the past, but was now shrouded in darkness, with wisps of smoke rising from him. He hovered silently six inches off the ground, motionless, as if he had fallen into an eternal slumber.
His head was mutilated, and his face was frozen with the same look of terror as Justin's.
Harry jumped to his feet, his heart pounding and his breathing rapid as if a small drum were pounding inside his chest.
He looked around in confusion in the empty corridor, only to see a line of spiders frantically trying to escape.
He couldn't hear any other sounds, only the faint sound of a teacher's voice coming from the classroom on the other side of the corridor... No, Hermione and Law are almost here.
Will they believe that this incident has nothing to do with them?
Harry stood on the embankment, filled with panic and helplessness.
Just then, a door next to them was suddenly kicked open violently, and Mischievous Ghost, who loved to create evil dramas, rushed out.
"Aha, isn't that silly baby Potter!" Peeves chuckled, skipping and hopping past Harry, knocking his glasses askew. "What's Potter doing? Potter's sneaking around doing SM—"
Mischievous Ghost was doing somersaults when he suddenly stopped in mid-air.
He saw Justin and the nearly headless Nick upside down, then straightened up, took a deep breath, and before Harry could stop him, screamed at the top of his lungs: "Something's wrong! Something's wrong! Something's wrong again! They'll hunt anything, whether it's an eagle or a ghost! Everyone hurry! Something's happened!"
One by one, the doors in the corridor were pushed open, and the flock of eagles surged out like a tide. Luo Ni and Hermione heard the sound and quickly arrived. They stood there in disbelief, like a rock standing still.
The scene at the embankment descended into utter chaos within minutes. Justin was nearly trampled flat by the hawks, while Nick's headless body was repeatedly impaled by them. Harry was pushed against the wall, and the teachers frantically shouted to maintain order.
Professor McGonagall rushed over with her students, one of whom still had black and white hair.
Professor McGonagall struck her wand with a deafening roar, silencing the eagles. She then ordered everyone to return to their respective classrooms immediately.
The flock of eagles had just dispersed when Ernie of Hufflepuff arrived at the scene, panting heavily.
"He was instantly electrocuted!" Ernie exclaimed dramatically, pointing a finger at Harry.
"Enough, McMillan!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.
Peeves floated through the air, surveying the scene with a wicked grin. As the teachers bent down to check on Justin and the nearly headless Nick, he suddenly burst into song:
"Oh, Potter, you rascal, look what you've done!"
You killed your student and found it strangely amusing—
"Shut up, Peeves!" Professor McGonagall roared.
Peeves made a face at Harry and then quickly ran away.
Justin was taken to the hospital by Professor Frye and Professor Sinnis from the Department of Astronomy, but the Eagles seemed at a loss as to how to deal with Nick, who was nearly headless.
Finally, Professor McGonagall conjured a large fan and handed it to Ernie, instructing him to fan Nick up the stairs.
Ernie did as he was told, and Nick was propelled forward like a silent black hovercraft.
In the corridor, only Harry and McGonagall remained, facing each other, while Shaw, sitting beside Hagrid, finished the last bit of chicken soup in his bowl.
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