Hogwarts: From Luna's House to Godhood Through Intense Competition

During mealtimes in the auditorium, the steaming hot food is neglected as fifth and seventh graders are constantly flipping through their books, with almost no time for distraction or conversation.

This atmosphere of anxiety is spreading; not only in the auditorium, but even the common lounge has become much more somber.

Ravenclaws pursue knowledge and wisdom, and exams are undoubtedly the best way to demonstrate these two qualities.

Especially for fifth and seventh graders, their conversations in the lounge were almost entirely about exams;

It's filled with discussions of the theoretical details of transfiguration magic, checking the correct order of potion-making, and repeatedly memorizing key dates and events from the history of magic...

Penelope, who is responsible for class duties, needs to squeeze in time to patrol or maintain order on campus.

Now that she has taken on the responsibilities of class leader, she seems somewhat overwhelmed and even unwilling to talk to those around her, showing signs of a possible breakdown.

As Wizette finished Snape's private lesson and returned to the common room, he heard intermittent sobbing coming from a corner.

Just as he approached and stepped on his shadow, a figure peeked out, his red-rimmed eyes revealing confusion. "Vizet?"

Vizette nodded. "Penelope... what happened to you?"

"Cough cough... It's nothing..." She hurriedly wiped away her tears and hid a textbook behind her back. "I just want to sit here for a while."

Vizette noticed that it was the Potions class textbook, a thick volume titled "Intermediate Potions Making." "If it's a question about Potions... perhaps I can think of a way."

"You mean you want to go see Professor Snape? No! No!" Penelope instinctively refused. "Professor Snape is too terrible... There's no way!"

“Ahem…” Vizet coughed lightly. He hadn’t even mentioned this point, but Penelope’s reaction was so strong.

……

It's clear that Professor Snape had a very bad reputation.

In some respects, Professor Quirrell's reputation is even better than his.

According to Fred and George, although Professor Quirrell stutters in class and is less efficient at listening than when studying on his own, at least he has a very good temper!

Professor Quirrell wouldn't get angry even if you hit him on the head with a snowball.

Vizet immediately dissuaded him, saying, "Can you not do that next time? He's under a lot of pressure."

The twins saluted and nodded playfully, saying, "If it's the materials consultant's request, we promise you we won't do it again!"

Fred and George also talked about what would happen if anyone dared to throw a snowball at Snape's head...

Wizette recalled that the twins had exaggerated expressions of terror, clutching their necks and saying, "We definitely won't see the sun rise the next day! We'll be poisoned that night!"

……

“Actually, Professor Snape… is quite easy to talk to,” Wizette said carefully. “As long as you can identify the important information, after all, that’s Professor Snape’s… style of speaking.”

"Is that so?" Penelope had calmed down and gently wiped away the last of her tears with her sleeve. Her eyes were no longer as red as before.

“Of course!” Vizette nodded. “I just asked him some questions…”

"Tell me first, and I'll ask Professor Snape for you next time."

“That works too…” Penelope said a little embarrassedly, “Professor Snape…never insulted you?”

"Wait a minute! It seems... he even gave you extra points! Right? I heard people from Hufflepuff mention this before!"

“Yes,” Vizette did not deny it, “so you can tell me without worry.”

Penelope nodded, hesitated for a moment, then took out her textbook and turned to the page filled with different line marks.

"Regarding the formulation of this vitality tonic, I remember Professor Snape mentioning two key points when he was reprimanding people..."

She pointed to two of the brewing steps, "Right here, regarding the key points about dosage and stirring speed. Professor Snape seems to have mentioned that there are ways to speed up the brewing process of potions."

Chapter 96 Hogsmeade

Brewing potions is a long process, and if the brewing time can be effectively shortened, it will greatly help improve exam scores.

"Didn't you go see Professor Snape after class?" Wizette asked.

“I didn’t dare to ask…” Penelope’s voice weakened a bit. “I remember last semester, Robert mustered up the courage to walk into the classroom, but before he could even ask a question, he was kept behind to clean.”

Robert Hilliard was another Ravenclaw prefect.

"and after?"

"We didn't get anything out of them."

“Ahem…” Vizette coughed lightly twice. “Professor Snape is actually a nice person… you just have to get used to his way of speaking.”

Without comparison, there is no harm; Wizette felt that Professor Snape was... quite kind and approachable to him.

At least he helped with the cleaning, which not only earned him extra points but also helped answer questions.

He had actually studied the relevant material before the Christmas holidays for the two questions Penelope mentioned, and now he was able to answer them.

He pointed to a line in the textbook and said, "Here you need to use double the amount of verbena, chop it up and add it to the crucible. This will shorten the cooking time by ten minutes, but you need to turn the heat to medium."

"Regarding the stirring speed with the spoon... it shouldn't be about speed, but rather about the force. Each stirring motion must reach the very bottom, stirring against the side of the crucible..."

As Vizette explained in detail, Penelope's expression gradually brightened, and she exclaimed in realization, "That makes sense! That's exactly what he said! Thank you so much!"

"I'm glad I could help you," Vizet said with a smile. "But I suggest you try it out yourself."

"If the process is correct, the time to brew the vitality supplement should be reduced by fifteen minutes."

“How many times have you helped me? I don’t know how to thank you enough,” Penelope said with an envious look. “You’re quite bold to ask Professor Snape a question.”

"Hiss!" She gasped, frantically pulling out her prefect badge. "What bad luck, off on patrol again. See you later!"

"See you!"

After saying goodbye to Penelope, Vizette continued toward the common lounge.

He still has much to learn, such as studying Professor McGonagall's notes and combining them with Professor Flitwick's notes to explore the mysteries of silent spellcasting.

On the night before Christmas, he remembered that he didn't want to wake Luna, so he cast a transformation spell that was almost silent...

As he walked along, lost in thought, he heard Dumbledore's soft voice behind him, "Vizet, would you like to come somewhere with me?"

……

Hogwarts Castle is very large, and it takes a lot of time to fully explore it.

Dumbledore led Vizet along a completely unfamiliar road.

“Vizet, I received your Christmas present, all sorts of candies…it’s wonderful!”

While collecting ancient magical power, Vizette smiled and said, "I'm actually a little nervous. I thought I should give you a book... but then I thought that would be too old-fashioned."

"Later, Luna and I traveled in London and tried a lot of interesting candies, which led to that Christmas present... I'm so glad to have your approval."

“Family!” Dumbledore murmured, his melodious voice like a saxophone, “I love them very, very, very much!”

"If possible, you could also send some daily necessities... such as wool socks or more novel candies, which would be an unreasonable request from this old man."

Vizette smiled and replied, "Of course, I'll remember."

He followed Dumbledore through corridor after corridor and hall after hall, until they finally arrived at the castle’s back garden.

In the center of the back garden is a huge circular fountain, and further away there is a magnificent marble archway, where two winged boar statues are also located.

The marble archway is in the Gothic style and is extremely grand, adorned with a variety of patterns.

Two winged boar statues crouched there, their carvings exquisite and lifelike, seemingly ready to attack at any moment.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Wizette asked curiously. "Where are we going?"

“Hogsmeade Village.” Dumbledore walked ahead of it. “Normally, you need to be a third-year student to get in there.”

“So…we need a little covert method.” He raised his wand and gently tapped it on Vizet’s forehead.

Vizette felt liquid flowing down her forehead, a sensation that instantly spread throughout her body, like being doused with a bucket of cold water, leaving her feeling refreshed.

He quickly looked at his hands, but where his hands should have been, he could see the ground directly below, as if he had vanished into thin air.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, this is the Disillusionment Charm, right?"

"Exceptional intelligence is the greatest treasure of mankind!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "That's right, just follow me and try to speak as little as possible along the way."

Hogwarts Castle is full of magic. As they walked through the archway, the iron gate in front of them rose up with a "whoosh," revealing a wide stone bridge outside.

The stone bridge looks weathered, with its many potholes and dents bearing the marks of history.

Vizette followed Dumbledore across the bridge, simultaneously activating the map in her mind.

Sure enough, as we followed Dumbledore along the way, many areas were illuminated.

Without any hesitation, Vizette absorbed and stored all the ancient magical power closest to him.

Dumbledore seemed to sense something, looked down at Vizet, and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

Around the stone bridge were students returning to school, chatting and laughing with each other, carrying large and small bags.

The Disappearance Charm can make them invisible, so as long as they don't make any obvious noise, these students will have a hard time finding them.

Leaving the stone bridge, a pastoral landscape unfolds before you. Along the simply leveled dirt road, various lush magical plants are planted, occasionally swaying in the wind.

They continued along the road until they reached a T-junction before stopping.

In the middle of the T-junction is a string of tree-canopy-like road signs, which look crooked and illegible, indicating the names of Hogsmeade shops and their directions.

Dumbledore seemed to be deliberately slowing down so that Vizet could familiarize himself with the route.