days at Hogwarts

Chapter 590: Flexible Tactics
In the corner of the third greenhouse, in the middle of the aisle of the square garden.

The Hufflepuff team is fertilizing the Gnawing Ivy and Mibo Mibo.

The snapping vine is a vine plant with keen perception and can respond instantly to external stimuli. Experienced gardeners can judge its condition based on the squeaking sounds and adjust the care methods appropriately.

The tasks of the little wizards are relatively simple. If the cry is weak, they will increase the amount of fertilizer; if the cry is sharp, they will water more to dilute it.

Mibumibao is mainly distributed in Asia. It is a small plant that looks like a gray cactus, but it is not covered with thorns, but with boils. The pus inside keeps flowing, causing the knots on the outside to swell slightly, like diseased internal organs. The disgusting and weird appearance of the plant has won the love of middle-aged and elderly wizards. In recent years, it has been widely introduced as a pet, causing many jokes.

Mibumibao is not an ordinary plant that is gentle and well-behaved. It has a very strong self-defense mechanism. When attacked from the outside, its boils are powerful weapons that quickly swell and burst, spraying out a lot of sticky, disgusting, dark green and smelly liquids that indiscriminately attack everything around it.

Fortunately, its sap is not poisonous.

When assigning tasks, Professor Sprout deliberately assigned this area to the gentle and patient Hufflepuffs, for fear that the impatient and reckless Gryffindors would anger Meebo and Meebo.

Ernie MacMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley, wearing thick dragon-skin gloves and carrying small wooden baskets, reached into the baskets with frowning, sullen expressions, grabbed the somewhat lumpy dragon dung fertilizer, kneaded it into loose sand, and spread it evenly around the taproots of Mibumibao.

Ernie asked in confusion, "Justin, why should we take the initiative to take care of Mibu Mibao and leave the easy and safe task of calling Yawvine to the girls?"

"Because you're stupid."

"If you don't want to answer, then don't answer. Why are you scolding me all of a sudden?"

"Eh……"

Justin patiently exhorted, "We are in fifth grade, we are already in fifth grade, and the other students are in pairs, but we are still alone. Don't you want to find a girlfriend, walk hand in hand in the courtyard after class, and go to Mrs. Puddifoot's tea shop on weekends?"

Ernie shook his head. "What's so good about Madam Puddifoot's tea shop? Isn't Honeydukes fun? Aren't the snacks there delicious?"

Justin sighed helplessly, raised his head and looked at a girl in front of him on the right, and paused: "Just think of it as taking care of Susan. After all, something like that happened in her family..."

"Ah..." Ernie, who has always had low emotional intelligence, also sighed and did not refute.

"Have you read the report in the Daily Prophet? The latest issue introduces the specific crimes committed by the fugitives." Justin paused, glanced at the girl in front of him, and lowered his voice. "Susan Bones' uncle, aunt, and cousins ​​all died at the hands of the Lestrange brothers. After these people escape, they may target her family."

"That shouldn't be the case..." Ernie was born as a pure-blood, so he was quite familiar with the information in this area. "Her aunt Amelia Bones is the director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Magic."

"Why don't you understand? Just because she's the director, she's even more dangerous!" Justin's voice was dull and rapid. "Death Eaters have escaped on a large scale, and the Ministry of Magic has published meaningless nonsense in the newspapers. It has concealed the results of its investigation into Dementors and hesitated to respond to Headmaster Dumbledore's original warning. What does this mean?"

Ernie looked horrified: "You mean... Voldemort is really back..."

"This is the only possibility left." Justin nodded solemnly, and suddenly heard a scream coming from the front.

"what!"

Susan Bones was distracted and accidentally added too much dragon manure to the young gnats, causing them to twist and scream in discomfort.

The girl was frightened and staggered back two steps, pressing on Mibu Mibao on the platform behind her.

Those small gray cactus-like plants immediately began to swell, and juice spurted out from every boil on the plants. Streams of sticky, smelly dark green juice sprayed onto the flower pots around the platform, splashing onto several Hufflepuff students nearby.

Justin and Ernie were sprayed all over their faces. Although Hannah blocked her face with her arms in time, her blonde hair was stuck to the green juice, which smelled like fresh dragon shit.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Susan, who had been tense for a long time, burst into tears all of a sudden, gasping for breath, "It's my fault for not concentrating on fertilizing... I didn't expect it would turn out like this..."

However, no one blamed Susan. Justin and Ernie wiped it off and quickly comforted her:
"It's okay, don't worry..."

"We're fine."

Hannah cleaned the sticky liquid from her hair, came up and pulled Susan into her arms, whispering gentle comfort to her while holding her in her arms to find the professor.

Leaving the little wizards in the greenhouse whispering to each other.

The students' mood changed. Driven by confusion and fear, some students began to write letters home frequently. The small and frequent exchanges slightly changed the situation of a single source of information in the closed school. It was common to see several students gathered together, talking nervously in low voices and exchanging information with each other.

Except for some students whose family members are high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic, most students gradually reached a consensus -

The warnings Dumbledore had issued during the summer vacation were true.

……

Potions class ended on Thursday morning.

Loren stopped Professor Snape and said he had a few questions about using powerful magic sources as medicine.

The two left the classroom together and walked towards the office.

The corridor on the first basement floor was relatively quiet. After class, the students were all heading upstairs. The Gryffindor students had Herbology class next period, so they were rushing to the grass to breathe some fresh air. The Slytherin students had Charms class next period, and only one or two students were returning to the dormitory in a secretive manner. Their behavior looked a little suspicious, but neither the teacher nor the students cared.

When you push open the wooden door, you can hear the creaking sound of the hinges.

A certain Potions professor kept walking, and Loren followed him into the storage room silently without saying a word.

Snape was busy counting the things on the operating table. "What's your question?"

"That...resurrection..."

"Let me ask you a question first..." Snape said without even turning his head, "If it were you, what would you do?"

"..."

Loren watched him wash the utensils with familiar movements, thought silently for a while, and said softly: "Professor, I'm not here to dissuade you, I just want to confirm something."

"You said."

"Have you created a Horcrux?"

"This is not something you should worry about."

"Are you planning to experience death yourself, observe the true face of death, and perfect the elixir of immortality?"

"This isn't something you should worry about."

"last question……"

Loren opened his mouth, and many thoughts flashed through his mind, including whether his sanity had faded, whether his magic had changed, his emotions and his soul. All of these finally turned into a short question:

"Professor, can you still summon a Patronus?"

Snape's eyes were dazed for a moment. He put down the utensils in his hand and looked down at the pair of equally dark eyes. His eyes were deep, and a ripple rose from the bottom of his heart and gradually spread to the depths of his mind.

Can I still summon the Guardian Angel?

He wanted to know too.

"..."

Snape reached into his pocket with his right hand, took out his wand, and waved it gently: "Expecto Patronus"

The tip of his staff gushed out a soft silver light, and it fell to the floor. Its shape was not clear, and its head was hidden in the light mist. It could only be vaguely seen that it was a four-hoofed animal, with light steps and agile posture. It jumped lightly to the other end of the office and disappeared behind the candlelight. Snape did not speak for a long time. After he came to his senses, he glanced at the little devil and said calmly, "Add another paper."

"Oh."

"Ok?"

"Good professor."

……

The paper was added and deleted several times and was reviewed until December.

It snowed heavily in December.

It's weekend defense association activity night again.

Stimulated by the large-scale escape of Death Eaters and the return of Voldemort, the number of people participating in the Defense Society's activities has increased significantly. All students, regardless of their college or grade, have participated in the Defense Society's teaching and dueling practice activities.

However, the past two months have been very peaceful. Since the young wizards received the news of the large-scale escape of the Death Eaters, they have been living in fear for a long time, but they did not expect that nothing happened. There was no news of the Death Eaters killing or murdering anyone again, no news of Voldemort's high-profile announcement of his return, and even no dark wizards jumped out to do something. It was unexpectedly peaceful.

This is good news and reassuring news for the little wizards who are about to enter the Christmas holiday.

After Harry's candlelight talk with Dumbledore, he came up with a new idea. He changed his approach and persuaded Hermione to participate in the event, thereby motivating Loren to do the same, with significant results.

The teaching for lower grade students is not complicated; they just communicate and practice basic spells with each other.

It is a little different for senior students, as there are only so many commonly used combat spells, and all that needs to be taught has been taught. Except for a small number of poor students with weak foundations, most senior students focus more on duel practice, learning tactics and strategies, and learning how to use transfiguration against the enemy.

Loren and Hermione walked around the little wizards in the duel, pointing out some wrong habits from time to time and making appropriate suggestions based on the situation on the field.

Currently, the Hufflepuff House is basically the one practicing battles in the area on the edge of the hall. The opponents they invite are different. The more interesting ones are the practices between several pairs of good friends.

Cho Chang might be able to go back and forth with Cedric at Quidditch, but dueling practice was completely one-sided;

Rolf and Luna's practice is the most entertaining. The spells they use in battle are always unexpected...

"Hannah, pay attention to the direction of the spell, hide to the right..."

"Neville, use Transfiguration to hinder her movements..."

"Hannah, give him back his wood, and light another fire..."

"Neville, smash these torches and take the opportunity to fight back..."

"Hannah, don't dodge this repulsive spell!"

Loren stood behind Hannah, glanced at the tip of Neville's staff, and casually gave a bad idea: "He doesn't dare to hit you with all his strength, just prepare to counterattack with the Binding Spell, it won't matter if he gets hit once..."

"They are careless, Neville, just end the fight!" Hermione's eyes lit up as she stood on the other side.

Seeing that Hannah was really motionless and was determined to be hit by the Repulsive Spell, Neville panicked for a moment, and the spell accumulated on the tip of his wand failed to be activated. Then he was hit by a Binding Spell that was also not cast with full strength. The upper half of his body stiffened and petrified, and he stood there in a daze.

The duel instructor on the other side, Hermione Granger, was extremely annoyed. She strode up to the man with wide eyes and argued with him aggressively:

"What are you teaching me? What do you mean he doesn't dare to hit you with all his strength, but it's okay to get hit once? Is this the tactic you should use in duel practice?"

"How come it's not a tactic?" Luo Li said confidently, "Distinguishing the strength of attacking spells, making choices in defense and counterattack, and exchanging injuries for lives is a classic tactic!"

Hermione was so angry that she laughed: "This is because Hannah's opponent is Neville. If it were a real Death Eater, the consequence of this tactic would be death!"

"Observing the opponent's psychology is also part of the duel!"

"You are using strong words to make sense!"

"You are being unreasonable!"

"..."

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two instructors was becoming increasingly tense, Hannah quietly moved to Neville's side and released him from petrification. The two looked at each other, then tacitly slowed down their steps and withdrew from the battlefield.

"Then let's practice together!"

"The space here is too small, let's go somewhere else!"

"Then let's go to our old place upstairs!" Hermione was determined to teach him a lesson.

"go!"

"..."

Noticing the two figures gradually walking away, Harry, who was practicing with Ginny, became a little distracted, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

"Bat curse!"

"hiss……"

On the other side, Loren walked out side by side with her, and after leaving the auditorium door, he leaned aside, then stretched out his right hand to hold her shoulders, leaned on her, and turned to walk towards the tower.

"What are you doing this way?"

Hermione struggled symbolically and turned to stare at him.

"You really want to practice dueling?"

"Of course! I must prove that your tactics are wrong!"

"Then I surrender directly." Loren hugged her as she tried to turn around, "I admit that my tactics were wrong."

"No, I want to prove it through a duel."

"Oh, I have a more important question for you. I'm having trouble with my astronomy homework."

Loren looked serious. This was a very legitimate reason. After all, he had asked the little witch to revise his papers in the previous few months. The Christmas holiday was coming soon. Generally, long holidays require comprehensive papers on the content of the courses in the previous semester. He should prepare in advance.

Of course, this is just a high-sounding excuse.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and stared at him, her expression calm: "Then let's go back to the common room and I'll give you extra lessons."

"Of course you have to go to the tower to learn astronomy. How can you learn it in the lounge?" Loren rubbed her head and said happily, "You don't even understand this."

"..."

What else can he do? Hermione just keeps on indulging him.

(End of this chapter)