On Monday noon, Harry sat at the table in a disconsolate manner. His food, the piles of treacle tart, grilled eel and roast beef and lamb chops, couldn't even entice him to eat a bite. His mood was so unpleasant that he couldn't stand Draco Malfoy's mocking imitation in the other side of the hall.
"Frankly, Harry!"
Looking worried, Ron sitting next to him said,
"I think you may have been driven mad by that notebook, otherwise, how dare you take off your earplugs when taking care of Mandrake?"
During this morning's Herbology class, Professor Sprout arranged for them to help repot some thriving Mandrakes into brighter pots. As a result, Harry, who was disturbed by the events of the night before orchestrated by Riddle, without knowing what he was doing, took off his own earplugs directly.
The consequence of this action was inevitable. The screams of dozens of mature Mandrakes, just as they were about to be repotted into brighter pots, directly caused Harry to fall into the hedge, and Professor Sprout was so scared by this unexpected scene that she screamed loudly and almost passed out.
"It's really suspicious, Harry--"
Hermione glanced at the large, dark circles under Professor Brian's eyes on the staff dining table, then furrowed her brow and looked at Harry.
"Why do you think a notebook that has been in a completely dark environment for fifty years would be more reasonable than Professor Brian's speculation?"
Harry couldn't convince himself that the poor condition he was in this morning had nothing to do with the notebook, but the speculations in the notebook seemed to have some truth to them. Riddle suggested that the sound he heard before being attacked in Lupin's office and Lorisian's house might have been just a normal snake eating in a water pipe.
The memories of Riddle persisted in their claim, that fifty years ago, it was Hagrid's unnamed monster that killed a girl in the bathroom.
"--Deptford Headmaster is wiser than Dumbledore, Harry. The Ministry of Magic back then was more objective. Otherwise, how could they have easily expelled a young wizard?"
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. The events of the attacks fifty years ago proved that Riddle was right, but emotionally, they would rather believe Professor Brian's guess.
"Let's put this aside for now, Harry..."
Hermione frowned and said,
"By this weekend, I can go to the library with Professor Brian... If I can find a snake that can kill and turn to stone, Harry, I think it's time you give out the notebook!"
"Are you discussing today's practical lesson?"
"Is that... Neville bringing his chubby head over, with his round little eyes full of worry?"
"Oh, blast, I forgot about it!"
Hermione looked again at Professor Brian, who was talking with Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall about something up in the hall, and he slammed his hand down on the table so hard that even Harry gasped.
Due to the large decrease in voluntary participation in practical lessons, on Monday afternoon's Dark Magic Defense class, Professor Amos initially spent half of the time explaining to first and second-year witches about some traps that ancient witches like to set up in their ruins when exploring unknown magical sites, as well as what kind of methods outside black witches usually use when poisoning people. The remaining half of the time, he led the group of young witches to the classroom on the eighth floor of the castle where there were hidden undead bodies.
"Do you think a 'freelancer' who runs errands, finds magical potion ingredients, and delivers goods would know so much about the habits of dark wizards?"
On the way to the eighth floor, Seamus whispered to Dean.
"I have an uncle who was once an Auror, but he retired due to injury."
Dean's tone and expression were both mysterious,
"His told me that there's a kind of people who aren't employees of the Ministry of Magic, but they make a living by apprehending dark wizards. They're called bounty hunters in private. I think that Professor Brian was a wizard hunter who hunted down dark wizards before he came to Hogwarts!"
Dean's reasoning was accepted by many, including Hermione who blinked her eyes and looked as if she had some thoughts.
"Besides this, there's no reasonable explanation!"
Ron, who had already decided to quit the practical class, spoke seriously to Harry.
"I have indeed heard my father say that sometimes the Ministry of Magic does indeed cooperate with some unofficial special individuals, in order to combat dark wizards, smugglers and other bad guys. They're all pretty powerful guys, but they don't like to be restricted by rules, that's why they haven't chosen to join the Ministry of Magic--"
Amos was walking in the lead, and without turning back, his strong magical power gave him a sharp sense of hearing, catching every whisper of the young witches.
"Bounty hunters... hmm..."
Amos smiled to himself in his mind, he was not a bounty hunter who hunted down dark wizards, but a dark wizard who was hunted down by bounty hunters.
"So--"
Amos turned to face the solemn young witches standing in front of the oak door, and loudly pronounced their names.
"Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Daphne Greengrass, Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbott, Ginny Weasley, Michael Corner, Bresh Sabini, Theodore Nott, Eloise Midgen, Terry Boot. The students whose names I have called out will pair up in twos and enter the maze in the classroom in the order of their names..."
Amos looked at the pale Harry and Draco, smiled and said,
"This maze has a memory function, it has recorded your progress in the last challenge... I hope you can take this last opportunity well, by the way, if anyone can kill the dark creatures in the maze, I will add fifty points to his house!"
Gurgle!
Harry swallowed, his green eyes now holding something other than fear, one wizard throughout their entire school career, how many opportunities to get fifty points for his house? Many students might not be able to accumulate so many points from first year to seventh year.
Hermione became obviously anxious. She suddenly realized something: after being separated from textbooks and references, her ability to deal with situations on the spot seemed to be far from what she was satisfied with.
Harry and Draco reluctantly stood together again. Harry's spirit of sacrificing himself to help others had calmed Draco for a few days, but the feeling didn't last long. Draco, who had come back to his senses, seemed to think that Harry's behavior amounted to slighting him, which made him even more sarcastic towards Harry recently!
"This time is different, Potter!"
As they approached the door, Draco said menacingly to Harry, pulling a silver pocket knife from his pocket, which looked like the one he usually used for handling ingredients in Potions class.
"If you beg for mercy, maybe I'll spare your life later!"
Harry was not unaware of the fact that Draco had sought advice from Professor Brian about the 'Obliviate' curse, so it seemed that he had indeed gained some insights into this powerful spell.
"Are you sure you gave us a hint, Professor Brian?"
"Please protect me?"
This was more painful for Harry than being killed. He pitifully looked at Professor Brian, hoping to gain some confidence from him, but unfortunately, Professor Brian remained calm and smiled without any intention of saying another word.
Harry's eyebrows twitched. When he first entered the maze, Professor Brian had also been smiling like this. He had even warned himself that it was very dark in the maze, be careful not to fall... Wait, very dark?
Harry suddenly widened his eyes, as if he had an idea!
(Empty response)
