Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 443 I will always love Cassandra

"Hybrid plants?"

Vivi immediately became interested. As the Minister of Magic, she keenly sensed something unusual.

Harry recounted everything Professor Garrick had told him to Vivi in ​​detail.

Then he added, "I think poisoned mantis cabbage is still very useful—at least for wizards."

“That’s true…” Vivi nodded slightly. “As a wizard, I don’t worry about overdoing it; sometimes I even feel that the damage is far from enough… If we could poison the biting cabbage, I think it would definitely become a sought-after magical plant.”

“I still have the original experimental notes,” Professor Garrick said. “However, it will take me some time to reproduce the technique… After all, you know, I haven’t done this experiment in eighty years.”

Upon hearing Professor Garrick's words, Vivi immediately replied, "If the professor needs anything, the Europa Ministry of Magic will provide you with all the resources you require!"

Professor Garrick suddenly looked at Vivi and gave her a meaningful look.

“Oh, it’s the Minister for Magic.” She said with a slight smile. “Well, since Ms. Grindelwald has extended an invitation, I’ll accept—”

She and Vivi had a pretty good relationship when they were in school.

It should be said that as Grindelwald's succubus, Vivi had a very good relationship with the professors, especially Professor Weasley, who taught them Transfiguration, and seemed to treat her almost like his own daughter.

“What Minister of Magic…” Vivi shook her head with a laugh, “In front of the professor, I will always be your student.”

“If I were Horace, I would definitely put this sentence in the most conspicuous place in my house.” Professor Garrick laughed heartily, then said mysteriously to Vivi, “You know what? Horace has a habit of really liking outstanding students… and you, Vivi, you are the most outstanding graduate of Hogwarts besides Merlin…”

It's really hard to talk about Merlin, after all, Merlin is a legend, a true legend.

Some say he was a student of Slytherin, but traveled to the time of King Arthur through time magic and helped him ascend to the throne.

With such a brilliant predecessor as a model, even Vivi wouldn't dare to claim herself as the strongest.

“Professor Slughorn has this little quirk,” Anne said, unable to suppress a laugh. “Merlin’s socks… I really can’t imagine how proud he would be if Vivi became his student… Would he be telling everyone he meets every day— ‘Do you know Grindelwald, the Minister of Magic in Europe? Hey, she used to be my student, my best student…’”

Anne's imitation is really good, especially Slughorn's adorable expression, which she imitated perfectly.

“However, I think…” Vivi said after laughing, “Slughorn didn’t lose out either. After all, even without me as his student, he still has Harry, right? I remember he was quite excited when he found out he was going to be Harry’s teacher, wasn’t he?”

“Yes,” Harry said, suppressing a laugh. “Dumbledore told me that he knew the position of Professor of Dark Arts at Hogwarts was cursed, but he still came anyway.”

Harry's words were followed by a moment of silence, then a burst of laughter.

“He really values ​​his reputation more than his life,” Professor Garrick said, wiping away tears. “My God, he fits my stereotype of Horace…”

“Of course, besides Vivi, Professor Slughorn’s biggest regret is that he couldn’t teach Cassandra before she graduated.” Anne then steered the conversation back to Cassandra.

Sure enough, after hearing Anne's words, Cassandra's previously somewhat hard facial features softened.

When it comes to emotional intelligence, Anne is still the best...

Harry clicked his tongue. Why didn't I think of saying that earlier?
Does that mean Cassandra will be so happy that she'll unleash a high-speed spinning attack on three points?
He had heard of this before, but had never tried it...

“Cassandra is also an excellent student at Hogwarts.” Professor Garrick also praised Cassandra. “Of course, I’m not saying this because Ignisius Malfoy once pursued me… I wouldn’t say this if I remembered that.”

Harry then remembered that Ignisius had indeed pursued Professor Garrick.

Back when Ignisius came to Hogwarts to pick him and Cassandra up to go home, he saw Professor Garrick from afar and was immediately awestruck.

Professor Garrick was indeed very beautiful back then; she wore two braids and looked very youthful.

Maybe the Malfoys just have a taste for this?

After learning that Professor Garrick was very kind to Harry, he begged Harry to bring some gifts for Professor Garrick.

But his good fortune didn't last long, as he soon learned of Professor Garrick's peculiar habits.

Her mother actually likes women.

The saddest thing in the world is not men fighting over women, but men fighting over women. After learning about this, Ignisius patted Harry on the shoulder and said these very philosophical words in a profound and meaningful way.

It was really damn sad, Harry thought to himself, what was this all about?

No wonder Cassandra was secretly laughing when she found out about this, and even said that her liking to stick to Professor Garrick was like "a dog chasing a flying broom, which he can never catch up with, and even if he does, he can't ride on it."

He didn't know what it meant back then, but he does now.

Indeed, it feels like the same feeling that Vida Rozier had when she liked Gellert Grindelwald.

A straight woman pursuing a top is a long shot, isn't it?
In Gellert's heart, there will always be a red-haired country girl (bushi) from England.

However, if the gender were reversed, Dumbledore at that time would indeed resemble the standard female protagonist in various novels—a weak-willed, dependent, genius older sister.

“I advised Ignisius against it, but he wouldn’t listen.” Cassandra turned her head away, seemingly trying to suppress a laugh. “You see, he even thinks I have a prejudice against Hufflepuffs… but honestly, I’ve never had any prejudice against any Hufflepuffs.”

"Impossible!" Pappy suddenly protested. "You called me a donkey the day before yesterday! You stupid donkey!"

“Oh,” Cassandra said. “I’m just prejudiced against you, not Hufflepuff, Miss Donkey.”

"Aaaaaah!" Papiyas, in a fit of impotent rage, suddenly pounced on Harry, squeezing his arm and whining, "Look at her, Harry! Say something!"

“Uh…” Harry scratched his head and said, “If we’re going by biological classification, unicorns are indeed like donkeys, belonging to the Equus family?”

Papi took a deep breath...

“Not necessarily, after all, they are magical creatures.” Vivi said with a smile, resting her chin on her hand. “Unicorns may not be equines, but they should all belong to the order Perissodactylus—look, donkeys are also Perissodactylus.”

Papi almost fainted from a sudden shock. She never expected that Vivi, the usually impartial and law-abiding leader, would side with that idiot Cassandra to bully her.

Just because they're all Slytherins?

"Am I really an idiot?" Papiyas asked Harry, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Silly boy." Harry reached out and ruffled Pappy's hair. "How could you be a silly boy?"

Pappy angrily punched Harry in the arm, then, feeling that wasn't bad enough, punched him again.

"You guys ganged up on me!" Papi said angrily. "I'm not talking to you anymore!"

After saying that, she turned her head away haughtily, leaving them to sulk by herself.

Harry spent a long time coaxing her before he finally made her smile and be happy again.

Cassandra sighed helplessly.

This guy... he's so easy to please.

The class reunion banquet lasted until late at night before ending with everyone reluctant to part.

Before leaving, Vivi left Professor Garrick her contact address, intending to temporarily bring her to the Europa Ministry of Magic to study hybrid plants.

Professor Garrick readily agreed. She was already very interested in plants, and now that someone was hiring her to do research, why not?

You don't have to spend your own money, and you still have fun. There's nothing better than this.

"You also think highly of this hybrid plant?" Cassandra asked, extending her hand to Vivi after settling into the carriage. "I mean, you really think highly of it, and you're not just going through the motions for Professor Garrick?"

“I do think this is very promising.” Vivi took Cassandra’s small hand, which was covered in white lace gloves, and helped her into the carriage. “Not every wizard is like us, Cass… As for those hybrid plants, they can become an effective means of attack for them… Of course, these plants should also be controlled, at least not allowed to circulate among ordinary people. I think that is very necessary.”

“My gut feeling tells me you’re trying to profit from this,” Cassandra said disdainfully. “You’re Minister for Magic now, why would you care about such a paltry sum?”

Of course, Cassandra didn't actually think Vivi was interested in money; she was just teasing her with that remark.

"Heh, I never thought about making money off other people." Vivi curled her lips into a smile.

"If you're not going to make money off other people, whose money are you planning to make money off?" Cassandra asked curiously. "Potter? I remember he's a small-time tycoon, with lots of gold in Gringotts' vault—he's bragged to me about it many times."

“No, I’ll earn it from you.” Vivi said, sitting down next to Cassandra and vigorously rubbing the other’s face.

The return trip was quick; in less than half an hour, they were back at 13 Grimmauld Place.

Since Sirius was still in Argentina, there was no one at number 12, and Harry had no intention of visiting.

They returned to their respective rooms. Harry had intended to go back to Hogwarts, but upon seeing Cassandra's slender, straight legs clad in black stockings, he quickly changed his mind.

……

The next day, Harry Apparated back to school.

Hogwarts remained largely unchanged; everyone continued their monotonous routine of living between their dormitories, the Great Hall, and the classroom—a dull and uninteresting existence.

“I really want to find some excitement,” Neville said boredly, sitting in his chair. “Going around like this every day, I feel like all my joints are going to rust…”

"What kind of thrill are you looking for?" Seamus turned his head and asked. "How about... Harry finds you a few level 5X magical creatures to relax and loosen up your muscles?"

Neville shuddered.

"No, thank you," he said. "I suddenly feel that life is full of fun—"

He still remembered the chimera that Harry found for them that summer.

It was absolutely terrifying; it was something no student could possibly handle—but they still managed to overcome the difficulties and defeat the Chimera.

This kind of difficulty shouldn't have been theirs to face. It's like the saying goes, when there are no difficulties, Harry will create them—that's the point...

“I think the Duel Hut really should reopen,” Harry said with a smile. “I’m free lately, so maybe we could go to the Forbidden Forest. What do you think? If I remember correctly, there are quite a few magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest… Hagrid’s friend, Aragog, seems to be an eight-eyed giant spider, and I heard that Hagrid bought it a mate. After all these years, given the spider’s reproductive ability, there must be plenty of them in the Forbidden Forest.”

As he spoke, Harry thought of Sirius Black.

It seems that when Sirius Black was trying to survive in the Forbidden Forest, he ate nothing but dead rats and giant spiders.

It's said that it was eaten raw; all I can say is that Godfather was a real man!
"Maybe we shouldn't?" Ron said with a look of fear. "Spiders and stuff... I really can't handle them!"

"It's nothing, just a spider." Ximo waved his hand dismissively. "So what if it's a spider? What's wrong with an eight-eyed giant spider? With the rest of us together, do you think we're afraid of something like that?"

"I'm scared." Ron nodded hastily, his eyes filled with fear.

“Look at you, this isn’t real, is it?” Seamus patted Ron on the shoulder and said, “The best way to eliminate fear is to face it! Bravely overcome it! Otherwise, you’ll forever live in the shadow of fear…”

"Really?" Ron asked suspiciously.

“Of course it’s true,” Harry said from the side. “You don’t believe Seamus, but don’t you believe me? Let’s go to the Forbidden Forest and face the Eight-Eyed Spider. I think it’s a great opportunity—an opportunity to help you overcome your fear.”

At this point, he leaned closer to Ron and whispered, "Ron, you don't want Hermione to know that you're so afraid of spiders, do you?"

Unexpectedly, Ron didn't play by the rules at all.

“Oh, she already knew,” Ron said nonchalantly.

(End of this chapter)