bacchusnovels Chapter 401 Filch, Have You Ever Eaten Fried Rat?
Chapter 401 Filch, Have You Ever Eaten Fried Rat?
Chapter 401 Filch, Have You Ever Eaten Fried Rats? (Bonus Chapter)
As night fell, Hogwarts was shrouded in deathly silence, with only the rustling of the wind through the treetops echoing in the air, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
Sophia moved with light steps, wand in hand, across a quiet lawn, carefully avoiding the bushes, toward a pre-planned destination.
That's right, the Scream Shack.
She had to go there to see someone before she left.
Hermione will never win this bet.
This gamble was like an absurd game of rock-paper-scissors, but the rules had been deliberately altered: one side had to go first, and the other side could always choose based on a predetermined outcome. The stakes were high, but the outcome was already decided.
Or perhaps, it's more like the lottery in China.
Behind every number, the future has already written its answers in the canvas of the past.
All the past attempts were nothing more than a futile pursuit of a predetermined future.
The future always stands on the victor's vantage point, looking down upon the past.
No matter how hard we struggle in the past, we can never defeat the future.
A faint smile appeared on Sofia's lips as she pulled her hood tighter and her figure gradually disappeared into the night.
If... the stories her father told her when she was a child were not wrong, then there are now three figures facing off in the screaming shed.
Sean stood in the center of the room, wearing a black robe, his arms crossed, looking down at the other two.
Filch stood to one side, his face still bearing his usual sarcastic expression, but his eyes revealed an undisguised pride and satisfaction.
His hand, gripping the wand, trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the fact that his hard work day and night had finally paid off.
That's right, he is Filch himself, a Squib once despised by all wizards.
However, he is no longer the lowly administrator who could only clean the floors of Hogwarts.
These days have undoubtedly brought about earth-shattering changes for the vanished Filch.
After Sirius Black took his place, he was secretly sent to Sean's meticulously crafted underground "talent development and re-employment base".
Simply put, this is a special agent training organization.
For the first few days, Filch couldn't even cast the simplest spells.
But no one here laughed at him.
His fellow trainees were all duds.
If everyone is unable to unleash a single curse, and the eldest brother doesn't laugh at the second brother, then what is there to mock?
Moreover, this underground training camp has a well-established, systematic, assembly-line production model, specifically designed for people like them who seem "useless"—with a clear outcome orientation. As long as you have enough willpower, you will definitely change.
Every morning at 4:30, Filch had to get up on time with the other trainees.
The first task is to tidy up the house, a process that must be completed within ten minutes, or face severe punishment.
Then came the morning exercises—running and physical training on the training field to improve the trainees' physical fitness.
After breakfast at 5:30, I begin my day of studying.
The morning self-study session consists of reviewing the knowledge and spells learned the previous day, including accurate spell pronunciation and repeated practice of wand waving movements.
The first class started at 7:30.
The daily classes are intensive and meticulously scheduled. Each class is forty-five minutes long and covers a wide range of subjects, including spellcasting, poisons, dark magic attack techniques, and dark magic defense techniques.
The instructors for these courses were all experts personally recruited by Sean from Knockturn Alley. They were all notorious dark wizards. Although their names sounded terrifying, each of them had in-depth knowledge of their own field and could even rival the professors at Hogwarts.
Their teaching style can only be described as "hellish".
Moreover, the person in charge of this base is none other than Riddell.
Therefore, if trainees fail to meet the requirements or have thoughts of slacking off, the punishment is hard to forget.
The difficulty of compressing seven years of study at Hogwarts into just one or two years is self-evident.
It was precisely because of Sean's emotional support (red face) and the Hengshui model template, coupled with Riddle's severe punishment (black face), that things progressed.
With its "academic" teaching, this underground talent training and re-employment base boasts a high success rate.
At least, Sean believed that this surpassed Hogwarts, where Hogwarts had a white beard, while his side had a second-generation Dark Lord plus a third-generation Dark Lord.
Even... the man with the white beard doesn't teach.
Won.
They've won so many times they're numb.
At noon, the trainees were finally able to rest a bit, have lunch, and have a short one-hour nap.
But the class continued from 1 p.m.
The tight schedule was almost suffocating.
The classes continued until 6 p.m., followed by a mere half-hour dinner break.
After dinner, the students must attend a four-and-a-half-hour self-study session until 11 p.m., to comprehensively review and summarize the day's learning content and ensure that everyone can firmly remember all the knowledge points.
Admittedly, this kind of model is difficult for most people to stick to.
But these duds are not ordinary people.
Their willpower far surpasses that of others.
It was less about willpower and more about a thirst for magic.
It is precisely because we have lost something that we understand its value.
This is also why Sean said before that Squirt is a natural suicide bomber.
In short, Filch went on a crazy "recharge" during this period.
As the Hogwarts administrator and a valuable assistant that Sean will need in the future, he receives far more attention than ordinary students.
Riddle had given him extra help on several occasions.
To fulfill Sean's target of developing Filch into a talent by the end of the semester, Riddle even prevented Filch from sleeping.
Whenever Filch wanted to sleep, Riddle would wear a pair of black dragon-skin gloves, have someone pry open Filch's mouth, and then pour extra-strength stimulant into his mouth as if it were free.
This caused Filch great pain and resentment...
resentment?
This feeling was naturally present.
But when he was given the potion, he was completely disillusioned after seeing Riddle's disdainful look.
In conclusion, Filch had a very difficult time, but also gained a lot.
He stood before Sean, awaiting the commands of this powerful wizard who possessed immense energy and brought about earth-shattering changes to him.
Sean glanced down at his watch, pondered for a moment, and estimated the time.
Sirius should have already been rescued by Hermione and the others.
He hoped the other party could arrive in the north as soon as possible, according to his arrangements.
Everything right now stems from a letter I received not long ago—a letter from the North.
In the letter, he made a promise with Sirius that they would travel north together this summer.
Thinking of this, Sean raised his head and his gaze fell on the third person in the room—the real reason he was in the Screaming Shack: Peter Pettigrew.
He was preparing to give Voldemort a "surprise".
Sean had been planning this for a long time, even going so far as to use a trick to escape from the courtroom set up by Fudge.
Although, for him and the four little ones, the so-called "court" was nothing more than a decoration, and could not truly trap them.
But the only difference between Sean and the four boys is that he has a heart that knows how to be respectful.
Sean respects the law and is willing to abide by its principles as much as possible.
Even though he ultimately chose to escape Fudge and the Ministry of Magic's supervision, he would still feel a little ashamed, unlike the other two of the four who felt no unease about violating school rules and the law.
Of course, these two refer to his two children, excluding his wife and children.
Not only that, Sean was also willing to punish himself in practice to alleviate his guilt by eating foods he didn't like.
So, looking at the restless Peter Pettigrew in front of him, Sean slowly turned his head to look at Filch, who was bowing respectfully to the side.
He asked rather seriously, "Filch, have you ever eaten fried rat?"