The Admiral of Hogwarts

For Hugo, Harry getting the broomstick added 3 points of Destiny to him. Adding the 2 points after New Year's Day, Hugo had now obtained enough Destiny Points to summon a large ship.

And for Harry, it meant that he now had a top-notch new broom after his old one retired, allowing him to continue with the upcoming matches.

That day's Care of Magical Creatures class was very interesting because, considering the wet and cold Scottish Highlands in January, Hagrid lit a large fire and put several fire salamanders in it for everyone to get to know these magical creatures.

"There's been some unusual activity in the Forbidden Forest recently," Hagrid said to Hugo and the others, taking the opportunity while everyone was busy collecting dead branches and leaves to keep the fire going. "The Acromantulas inside are disappearing by the dozens."

"I don't think there's another Basilisk in the Forbidden Forest, is there?" Hugo replied immediately. "The key question is, apart from the Acromantulas, are there any other changes in the Forbidden Forest?"

Actually, Hagrid had barely asked the question when he knew what had happened because the Valkyries had told Hugo a while ago that they would enter the Forbidden Forest to hunt Acromantulas.

For alchemists, every part of the Acromantula is a treasure. Whether it's their carapace, fangs, venom, spider silk, or eggs, they can all be used as important alchemical materials.

So, in addition to capturing some to be artificially raised in the newly acquired sub-space and the breeding base in Russia, they also hunted some wild Acromantulas for current needs.

The reason for choosing to raise them in Russia rather than other places is simple. The biological invasion caused by Hagrid raising Acromantulas shows how dangerous these creatures are once released into the wild.

Fortunately, these animals come from the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia. Scotland is already the northern limit of their survival. Acromantulas simply cannot survive in the wild near the Soviet breeding farms in the northern Ural Mountains, close to the Arctic Circle.

So, in this case, the ship girls can safely raise these magical creatures as raw material providers, and even if the Acromantulas escape occasionally due to staff negligence, there is no need to worry about biological invasion problems.

Unlike traditional potion masters and alchemists, the ship girls have a general feeling about the venom of the Acromantulas, but they are very interested in their spider silk.

According to Indomitable, this spider silk is actually a very good magical textile material, and if enchanted by alchemical means, the woven fabric will have magical conductivity.

Moreover, compared to those traditional magical textiles, this spider silk is much more cost-effective, and there are also ways to produce it on a small-scale, mass-produced basis.

Of course, this matter definitely cannot be told to Hagrid, otherwise Hagrid will definitely be sad. So Hugo can only try to attribute this matter to some kind of Acromantula predator in the Forbidden Forest.

Fortunately, these ship girls have enough bottom lines, so they are only targeting the Acromantulas as biological invaders. Therefore, everyone else present felt that his guess was the most reasonable.

After all, if it were poachers, it would be difficult to explain why there were more valuable things along the way that were not lost at all, only targeting the Acromantulas.

"Could it be that a dragon passed by here?" Hermione said after thinking for a while, looking at some of the photos Hagrid brought. Because the photos showed a lot of scorched marks left in those scenes.

"Actually, I thought so too, but as far as I know, all the dragons are under the surveillance of wizards from various countries. But now, according to the information I asked around, no breeding farm or reserve has reported any missing dragons."

After listening to Hermione's guess, Hagrid shook his head somewhat dejectedly and said, "So I've been patrolling in the Forbidden Forest recently and haven't found any traces related to dragons."

It's also very normal that Hagrid can't find the ship girls. After all, as a half-giant, even if he is now allowed to use a wand, his spellcasting level may not be as good as some senior students.

When faced with the warning circle deployed by the Unicorn using carrier-based aircraft, Hagrid wouldn't even realize the existence of this warning circle, so naturally, there was no way to catch those ship girls.

In fact, the ship girls' actions were not completely hidden from outsiders. At least several centaurs had seen them hunting in the forest.

But considering that they would only attack the Acromantulas, which are a public nuisance in the Forbidden Forest, and that they could be accepted by the Unicorn, the centaurs would pretend that they hadn't noticed anything when Hagrid asked.

"Do you know of any places that sell relatively cost-effective alarms or monitors?" At the end, Hagrid looked at Hugo and asked. "If I patrol alone, there are really too many loopholes."

Obviously, the reason why Hagrid said so much today is that he really can't find what he needs on the market, so he hopes to buy something from Hugo.

"If possible, I think I can help you make some," Hugo immediately nodded in agreement after hearing Hagrid's request. After all, Hagrid also has a lot of enviable materials in his hands.

"But you have to give me a cost fee, or materials. After all, the cost of various materials is not cheap, and I really don't have much money to buy materials to make these alarms and monitoring facilities."

"Don't worry about this. I will give you things according to the rules of you alchemists," As a 60-year-old wizard, Hagrid naturally understands how to deal with people. "But I don't have much cash, so a lot can only be offset with materials."

The so-called alchemist's rules are very simple, that is, in addition to the labor cost, the customer also needs to provide additional materials or material costs. As for how much more materials are needed, it depends on the items being made.

To give a simplest example, if you want to make a legendary alchemical tool like the Philosopher's Stone, then you need at least a hundred times the materials.

Magical alarm facilities like the ones Hagrid commissioned are the simplest type of alchemical products, so basically, you give eleven sets of raw materials for making ten items.

Because of the Dementor attack before, Hermione added training to summon a corporeal Patronus during weekend practice.

Just like some ancient records in the wizarding world, Muggle-born wizards, although not large in number, have stronger talent in casting spells than pure-blood or half-blood family wizards.

So after Veneto explained the spellcasting essentials, Hermione simply tried five or six times and made wisps of silver smoke appear on her wand.

"Good job, sister," Hugo applauded. "At least not many people can make their wands react the first time they cast this complicated spell."

"But it's still not as good as your corporeal Patronus." Looking at the silver octopus floating beside her, Hermione shook her head somewhat dissatisfied.

"Be content, my dear sister. Actually, I might not have been as good as you when I first learned it," Hugo shrugged and said. "I've been practicing this spell since I learned it last summer vacation, and it wasn't until now that I was able to cast a corporeal Patronus."

By the end of the practice, Hermione was already able to summon a ball of silver smoke the size of a basketball. At this rate, she should be able to summon her own corporeal Patronus before the end of this semester.