Hogwarts Wasteland: The Witch from the Borderlands

The cheerful atmosphere in the castle lasted throughout the entire holiday. Even though all the outsiders left early the next morning via Floo nets or brooms, everyone seemed to still be immersed in the atmosphere of that night, even though the fir and mistletoe had all disappeared by the third day.

During this time, nothing happened in the castle. The Green Flame Party's black wizard was probably really scared and never dared to show his face again. Even at Christmas, a time that was particularly suitable for creating chaos, he disappeared without a trace and did nothing.

Hermione, on the other hand, focused her attention on studying the Phoenix Tear given to her by Dumbledore. She discovered that this crystallized tear was very similar in nature to the crystallized dew of the Golden Tree. In the Borderlands, there was a profession similar to perfumers but with a higher status—the Apothecaries. They were also messengers of the Golden Tree. These messengers, representing divine authority and faith, could create a treasure called the "Apothecary Chalice Bottle," which could be used to blend different types of crystallized dew in specific proportions to obtain various powerful elixirs.

Some of these elixirs can instantly heal any injury, some can deal with all kinds of stubborn curses or corruption, and others can give the user powerful magic, enough to casually throw away forbidden spells.

Unfortunately, the phoenix's tears don't have any strange or powerful effects. They only have an exceptionally vigorous vitality, roughly equivalent to the red crystal dew of the golden tree. When used to prepare elixirs, adding this dew can instantly restore a person from severe injury to a healthy state, making it a strategic item that can turn the tide of battle.

Compared to the wizards' potions like White Essence and Bone Elixir, the potions from the Borderlands are ridiculously powerful, taking effect instantly like a rule. However, their availability is extremely low. In times of peace, only the nobles of the Golden Dynasty have the opportunity to use them. After the blessing dissipates, they are used by those with exceptional abilities, and are mostly monopolized by powerful Faded Ones, incarnations of the Fallen Golden Tree, and so on. Even the slightly lesser Red and Blue Grail Drops are precious treasures that many people have never seen in their entire lives.

Hermione studied it for several days and found that trying to replicate the Holy Grail Bottle on her own was a bit of a pipe dream. The Faded One only knew how to use it and didn't know the specific manufacturing principle. Moreover, the Holy Grail Bottle required two different crystal dew drops to be mixed to achieve its maximum effect. Now she only had one Phoenix Tear. Even if she made it, there would be no use for it. So she had no choice but to give up and keep the crystal tear drop as a life-saving amulet, keeping it close to her body.

On the last day of the holiday, Professor Flitwick brought her the latest issue of "Postwar Studies in Spells," where her paper occupied the most important column. Ms. Goshak, whom she had met before, highly praised her theory of sapphire magic, mentioning that every wizard alone abroad should at least understand the principles of sapphire magic, which would greatly reduce the danger of venturing into forbidden areas. At the end of her commentary, she excitedly looked to the future, stating that this was the first step for wizards to conquer nuclear fusion and rebuild their homeland!

On the same day, Ron finally escaped from Ms. Molly's clutches and returned to school with his three brothers.

He grabbed Hermione excitedly: "Please, please tell me who these cool pieces are! They even have unique kill animations! The gorgeous sword aura, the dazzling moonlight—I spent my entire Christmas holiday watching them!"

Hermione smiled slightly. She had only added a little bit of sound and light effects when she transformed the chess pieces, which was barely a magic trick. By the time they reached their second year, they would basically be able to master it. However, the king who could wield golden sword energy and the queen who could transform into a full moon to attack the enemy gave the young wizards of this world a little shock at the boundary.

George and Fred, their faces full of obsequiousness, swarmed around her: "Hey Hermione, I think we get along pretty well, don't we?"

"We're your good friend Ronnie's older brothers!"

"What do you think your two older brothers could do for you so that you could make another wizard's chess set like this?"

"How about nosebleed nougat?"

"Hermione isn't that kind of bad girl; she never skips class," Ron interjected.

"You're right, how about a few dung balls? You might need them when you teach Malfoy a lesson."

Hermione, unable to resist the two brothers' persistent requests, had no choice but to agree to make them a set of the same, no, even better than Ron's Ultimate Shining Ascended Limited Wizard Chess set when she had time. The price was that the two brothers would lend Hermione their third-year textbooks to study.

She had already finished reading Cedric's second-year textbook and returned it at the end of the holidays, but she couldn't very well borrow the third-year textbook while someone else was still using it. The Weasley twins, on the other hand, were different. They were all from Gryphon, so it wasn't difficult for them to leave their books in the common room and borrow them at different times.

Hogwarts resumed its normal class schedule, and Hermione made a list of things she needed to do, including studying the textbook in advance, spending time in the library, summarizing the magic of sapphire (necessary for a later paper), practicing gravity magic (she still couldn't understand the joy of riding a broomstick), practicing sensory magic (trying to expand her third eye ability), researching perfumery, cultivating white phosphorus flowers, and so on.

Even though her thesis on Brilliant Stone magic was finished, her days were still full and fulfilling. After the start of the semester, Harry, Ron, and Neville teamed up and became a boys' adventure team, secretly going out at night wearing invisibility cloaks.

Neville, though quiet and introverted when he first arrived, showed the results of his elite wizarding family education after recovering at Hogwarts. Although he wasn't as outrageously outstanding as Hermione, he was still the kind of child Professor Potter always talked about. In Herbs and Potions classes, he displayed meticulousness and composure. In the first Anti-Witchcraft Techniques class after returning from vacation, although he was quite embarrassed because he didn't have a wand, his fierce courage in grabbing an iron short sword and charging forward to cut people despite the spells still frightened many of his classmates.

Of course, in Hermione's opinion, Professor Lily's expectations of Harry were a bit too high. In fact, in the eyes of other professors, of the four first-year students in Gryffindor, apart from Ron being somewhat mediocre, the other three were all above average. Harry's potion and combat performance was second only to Hermione and on par with Draco. He also frequently received praise from professors for his Charms and Herbology classes. Even Quirrell, who taught History of Magic, and Ferrenze, who taught Astronomy, would occasionally affirm the points in Harry's assignments.

Moreover, even Ron, who seems the most ordinary among the four, is above average in the whole grade. After all, even his "borrowed" homework is the best in the whole grade. He can't be too bad after being influenced by what he sees and hears. In addition, Hermione thinks that this little boy just doesn't focus on his studies. His intelligence when playing wizard chess is just as good.

It's worth mentioning that ever since Hermione received Draco's gift for Christmas, she's noticed that the little dragon is deliberately avoiding her. Even when she wants to thank him in person and give him a gift of equal value, the blond boy runs away as if his tail is on fire before she can get close. They even try to avoid each other during get out of class, which makes her laugh.