Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 379 The Stubborn Horse-Shaped Water Monster

The next day, Sunday.

Hermione was surprised to find that Siren, who always got up very early, didn't come out of the dormitory until almost noon today, yawning.

“Sirlen, you…” In the common room, Hermione was about to say something, but suddenly stopped.

She stared at Xilen, frowning. "Why do you look so pale? Didn't you get enough rest?"

Xilun's complexion was indeed not good. He looked extremely pale and even had bruises, as if he had been punched... a dozen times.

"I really didn't get much rest," Xilun said, feeling like his whole body was falling apart.

It shouldn't have come to this, but Hagrid said that the giant squid seemed to get impatient after saving him so many times, and simply threw him and the Kelpie out of the lake.

Nothing serious, but I wasn't feeling well either. Anyway, after Xilun came back yesterday, I tossed and turned until it was completely light before I could finally fall asleep.

"Has someone broken into the dormitory?" Ron looked around warily.

“No, no,” Siren said. “It’s just that I… well, I tripped and fell.”

Not only did Hermione and the others not believe this excuse, but even Neville, who was passing by, looked at it with suspicion.

Can you get five or six bruises on your face from a fall?

Not to mention that Siren is a wizard; they're trying to fool them into thinking they're Slytherins.

But Xilun also felt wronged, because he really fell and got there, but the process might not have been quite the same as they expected, and it required some skill.

He didn't explain, but rushed to the school hospital before lunch.

For Madam Pomfrey, this kind of external injury to Siron was almost no challenge... She had seen similar situations countless times since Hogwarts started holding Quidditch matches, and she brought the appropriate potion in just a few minutes.

“I don’t understand.” She shoved the cup of potion into Siron’s hand. “Can’t even a dragon make you temporarily forget Quidditch?”

She sounded unhappy, but it was unclear whether it was directed at Quidditch, the dragon, or both.

Xilun didn't say anything, just smiled awkwardly, took the potion, and drank it all in one gulp.

The next second, it seemed as if a warm current was rushing through his body.

Under the impact of this warm current, all the aches and pains from the bumps and bruises disappeared, and my whole body felt much lighter.

"Thank you," said Xi Lun.

“I would be happier if you could just stop touching the flying broom,” Mrs. Pomfrey said. “But honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone get hit like that by a running ball. You really aren’t cut out for Quidditch.”

Although this matter had nothing to do with Quidditch, Mrs. Pomfrey's words were still a bit hurtful.

Fortunately, she didn't say anything more after that, but she brought Xilun another kind of potion.

This vitality supplement effectively addresses the lethargy that Siren has experienced due to numerous comas.

So when Xilun arrived at the auditorium an hour later to have lunch, he looked much better, with a rosy complexion and no longer any bruises.

Despite this, Hermione still pressed on, saying with a stern face, "What did you do last night? You didn't go with the Weasley twins to get the Whomping Willow branches again, did you?"
"Have you forgotten that you are a champion of Hogwarts, and that the second event of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin?"

"How did you know?" Siron looked at her in surprise. He had indeed often plucked branches from the Willow of the Beast, especially after learning Animagus techniques, making it even easier to touch the knot. Sometimes, he would leave a few minutes early for Herbalism class, allowing him to avoid everyone's gaze, quickly break off a few branches, hide them, and then pretend nothing had happened as he went to class with the others.

The reason for choosing the herbalism class was not only because it was on the way, but also because Professor Sprout would definitely be in the greenhouse during class, making it less likely to be discovered.

“Fred let it slip once… or maybe it was George,” Hermione said. “Don’t change the subject. You know what I’m trying to say. It’s February now, and the second project will start soon. What if you get hurt?”

“The Beauxbatons and Durmstrangers will be jumping for joy,” Harry muttered to himself.

“Okay, actually I went for special training,” Celen said.

"Special training?"

“It’s about the second project,” Celen said. “Hagrid can testify to that; you can ask him if you don’t believe me.”

Hermione frowned.

Looking into Xilun's open eyes, she quickly chose to believe him.

However, she still had some questions: what kind of training could have made Xiren look so disheveled?

However, Xilun absolutely refused to talk about this issue anymore, so she didn't press him further.

In the following days, Celen did not go to see Hagrid again.

This does not mean that he has tamed the horse-shaped lake monster. In fact, his best achievement was only to deal with the horse-shaped lake monster in the lake for fifteen minutes, which is far from being tamed.

However, Siron believed this wasn't his limit, but rather the limit of the Bubble Head Curse. The fragile bubble was difficult to keep intact while moving at high speeds, and once it was broken by the water flow, Siron would be helpless.

In addition, the giant squid responsible for the rescue was a little upset from doing the same work for a long time and needed a break.

Even Xilun himself needs to slow down.

So it wasn't until the second Saturday night that Siron came to Hagrid's cabin again and they took a boat together to the other side of the Black Lake.

At first, Xiren was worried that the horse-shaped lake monster might go into hiding because of what happened last time. But as soon as they reached the shore, the monster leaped out of the black lake, its two empty white eyes staring straight at Xiren. After noticing that Xiren was looking over, it spewed out two puffs of water mist from its nostrils.

Okay, now there's no need to worry.

It's truly unexpected that although the water monster looks like a horse, it has the stubbornness of a donkey and actually refuses to submit.

After the two got ashore, the horse-shaped water monster lay down and showed its back to Siron, seemingly inviting him to sit on it.

Xilun, of course, wouldn't refuse. He walked straight over, skillfully mounted his horse, and then, just like last week, plunged into the black lake with a splash.

He didn't notice that a huge tentacle, over ten feet long, had appeared on the lake surface at some point, right behind them.

After Siron, afflicted by the Bubble Head Curse, charged into the Black Lake with the Horse-like Water Monster, the tentacle stiffened for a moment before slamming heavily onto the riverbank.

Whether by coincidence or not, the tentacle landed right on the small boat that Xilun had been riding on, and the fragile wooden boat instantly turned into pieces.

……

(End of this chapter)