Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil

Chapter 121 The Easter Holiday is Approaching

The most talked-about figure in Hogwarts Castle recently has been Professor Calder, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. He is stern and unsmiling, with a cold and solemn face. His teaching style is tough and decisive, and he never shies away from high-impact demonstrations of practical magic. This sharp teaching style has quickly established a strong deterrent effect in the minds of all the new students, and has also gained a lot of fans and admirers. Among them, the students of Slytherin House admire his way of doing things the most.

Even Professor McGonagall, who is known for her rigorous scholarship and extremely high standards, has repeatedly admitted in private conversations with other faculty members that she acknowledges Professor Calder's classroom management skills. Her teaching pace is efficient and well-organized, classroom discipline is orderly, and students' practical improvement speed far exceeds the level of previous years. These advantages are beyond doubt.

However, at the same time, McGonagall also had great concerns and objections to his teaching methods. Calder was used to casting extremely destructive and visually impactful offensive magic in front of all the new students. In McGonagall's view, this teaching method was very likely to lead the younger students to form a wrong perception, making them equate magic with violence and destruction, and deviating from the true purpose of learning magic.

The core value of education lies in positive guidance, inspiring thinking, and imparting rules, rather than suppressing students with shock and fear. For this reason, McGonagall even secretly had doubts about the Ministry of Magic's personnel appointments, wondering why a wizard with a highly aggressive style would be selected as the teacher of the crucial Defense Against the Dark Arts course.

Outside the castle, the entire wilderness was shrouded in a thick, oppressive fog. The sky was dark and gloomy, and the fog lingered, creating a somber and oppressive atmosphere. Only Hagrid's cottage, situated on the edge of the castle, exuded a contrasting warmth. Inside, the fireplace burned brightly, its flickering flames continuously providing warmth and dispelling all the cold and gloom. The air was filled with the rich aroma of freshly baked barley cakes and the refreshing aftertaste of piping hot black tea, creating a cozy and soothing atmosphere.

Puni sat upright at the wooden dining table, holding a rough and hard rock-skin cake.

The cake was dense, dry, and extremely hard, making it impossible to chew and swallow directly. He could only slowly soak the cake in warm black tea, patiently waiting for the tea to soften the hard cake.

Across the dining table, Hagrid's massive, imposing body was deeply embedded in a large, solid wood chair.

He held a rough earthenware teacup the size of a large bowl in both hands, his thick eyebrows tightly furrowed, his facial features tense, and a heavy sense of depression emanating from him.

The oppressive silence lasted for a long time before Hagrid finally broke it, his voice much lower and hoarser than usual.

"Puni, I have something weird to tell you." He casually waved his hand, his tone full of awkwardness, "Last night I went to the Pig's Head Bar and encountered something that made me feel very uncomfortable."

Puni stopped soaking the pastries, looked up at Hagrid's grave expression, and asked softly, "What happened? Is someone causing trouble, or are you in some kind of problem?"

"It's not some kind of fighting or brawling." Hagrid waved his hand again, directly denying Puni's guess, his brow furrowing even deeper. "It's that new Professor Calder! Isn't it strange that he would go to a place like the Hog's Head!"

He continued to complain: "That bar was old and shabby, with a messy environment. It was not a place that someone like him, who was well-dressed and rigid in his behavior, would go to."

"I was feeling down last night, and I kept thinking about Buckbeak, so I thought I'd go sit in my usual spot and have a drink to calm myself down," Hagrid slowly recalled the scene from last night. "I had just sat down when the wooden door of the bar was pushed open, and Professor Calder came in."

"He was dressed in a neat and crisp uniform robe, impeccably so, which was out of place with the shabby and slovenly environment of the Pighead Bar."

Hagrid sat up slightly, mimicking Professor Calder's flat, emotionless tone: "After he entered, he located me, walked straight over, and asked me immediately: 'Mr. Hagrid, are you here alone?'"

At this point, Hagrid looked annoyed and sighed heavily: "I didn't think much about it at the time and just gave a vague reply."

Looking back now, I really shouldn't have paid him any attention.

"Then he started pressing me for answers." Hagrid lowered his voice and leaned closer. "He deliberately struck up a conversation with me, saying that the Forbidden Forest had a unique charm at night, and that a large number of magical creatures that were hidden during the day were active at night. He asked me if I often saw various special creatures while I was guarding the hunting grounds all year round."

Upon hearing the words "Forbidden Forest," Puni put down the rock-skin bread in his hand and listened intently to Hagrid's story.

"I always remembered Headmaster Dumbledore's instructions: never reveal anything about the Forbidden Forest to outsiders." Hagrid lowered his voice, afraid that someone might overhear him. "I immediately changed the subject, pointing to an old, dusty specimen on the wall to appease him, saying that the specimen was very old and a rare find in the bar."

"But he completely ignored my change of topic, didn't pick up on my words at all, and continued to ask about the previous questions. Then he inquired about my work on campus, asking if I had any other special tasks besides guarding the hunting grounds and maintaining the site."

"The way he spoke, the pressure he exerted, was like a Ministry of Magic inspector interrogating a wizard who had broken the rules." Hagrid frowned as he truthfully described his feelings. "And his questions were all very leading, making people want to answer truthfully without their consent. But I remembered the headmaster's instructions and didn't reveal any key information. It was so frustrating."

Hagrid spread out his broad palms.

"I really had no other way to deal with it at the time, so I just kept praising all the good things about Hogwarts, and kept saying that the pastries and baked goods I made were always very popular with the students. I also took the opportunity to invite him to try my food."

At this point, Hagrid revealed a slightly comical and disappointed expression.

"He rejected my invitation on the spot. Even so, I could still sense that he wanted to ask me something. I had originally planned to send him a ready-made pastry later, but now it seems completely unnecessary."

"He still wouldn't give up, repeatedly steer the conversation toward the depths of the Forbidden Forest, specifically mentioning those dangerous magical creatures that only appear at night. He also deliberately revealed that the Ministry of Magic is currently focusing on investigating various hidden magical threats and paying close attention to elusive and dangerous creatures."

"Every time he throws out a question, I can only hurriedly change the subject to brush it off."

"One minute I'd be casually complaining about the unpredictable rainy weather, the next I'd be rambling on about how silly Ya Ya was, chasing its tail in place. In the end, I didn't even know what I was rambling about anymore; I was just saying whatever came to mind."

Puni listened quietly to the whole story, unconsciously picturing the scene in his mind.

The dimly lit Pighead Bar was filled with smoke, creating an eerie and oppressive atmosphere. The surrounding noise and dappled light made Hagrid flustered and incoherent, trying to find topics to talk about. Meanwhile, Calder remained calm and composed, his expression indifferent, like a waveless iceberg, pressing him relentlessly with his questions. The stark contrast almost made Puni burst out laughing.

He suppressed a smile and pressed for details: "How did things end up?"

Hagrid picked up the huge ceramic teacup in front of him, tilted his head back and took a big gulp of warm black tea. Using the warmth to calm his mind a little, he replied in a dull tone: "The ending is simple. He must have seen through my deliberate avoidance and realized that he couldn't get any useful information out of me, so he lost patience."

"His eyes were frighteningly sharp, and he stared at me for several seconds without moving."

Recalling the scene, Hagrid still felt tense. "His gaze was extremely penetrating, as if he could see through all my thoughts. It made my hair stand on end and I felt inexplicably panicked. Then he stood up and said indifferently, 'It seems I'd rather be alone in peace and quiet,' and then turned and left the bar."

After letting out a heavy sigh, Hagrid relaxed. "As soon as he left, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. That standoff was more exhausting than a whole day of intense patrolling the Forbidden Forest with Tooth. Puni, that new Professor Calder, he's just too unbearable to look at."

He muttered to himself, "This oppressive sense of confrontation is even more agonizing than the interrogations I faced back then."

Hagrid's casual remark about the past brought Puni's thoughts to a focus.

He fell silent for a moment, his mind racing to sort through all the clues, quickly connecting Calder's unusual behavior, targeted probing, and past events, and instantly figured out the connection.

Puni spoke seriously: "Hagrid, I suspect that Professor Calder's purpose is not just to investigate the secrets of the Forbidden Forest. He has most likely noticed suspicious points in the old case related to you. You were expelled from school when you were young because of the Aragog incident. This matter should still be fully recorded in the Ministry of Magic's official archives."

This speculation struck like a thunderbolt, causing Hagrid's massive frame to jolt violently. His pupils contracted, and his face instantly contorted with shock.

A mixture of resentment and barely concealed fear: "You mean—this Calder is someone specifically assigned by the Ministry of Magic to thoroughly reinvestigate my old case from back then?"

"That's highly likely." Puni analyzed the situation clearly, supporting his judgment. "I specifically looked into his resume before. He has the authority to access old files and check past cases at will. Given his background, it would be easy for him to check your records from back then. His sudden focus on you and his frequent probing is definitely not a coincidence."

"This is a big problem." Hagrid gasped.

For so many years, he had been quietly guarding Hogwarts, diligently performing his duties as the game's watchman, and had long believed that the old case from back then was completely closed and that the dark past was now a thing of the past.

He never imagined that, after so many years, someone would still be clinging to the past and stirring up his old troubles again in such a cold, obsessive, and relentless manner.

"From now on, I must avoid him as much as possible and never have any private contact with him." Hagrid lowered his eyes.

The lingering, chilly mist outside seeped into the small house through the cracks in the doors and windows, diluting the warmth of the fireplace and making the atmosphere inside even more oppressive and heavy.

But this lingering worry did not last long.

The focus at Hogwarts quickly shifted to the upcoming weekend Quidditch match, which swiftly captured the attention of the entire school.

The two teams facing off in this tournament are Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

In everyone's mind, this was a clash of extreme styles.

Slytherin has always been adept at using tricky tactics to break through defenses, and their playing style is sharp, varied, and highly aggressive.

Hufflepuff is known for its composure and resilience, excellent teamwork, and a tight and solid defensive system that is almost impossible to find.

The clash between two distinctive teams is bound to produce a fierce and exciting match.

But the Slytherin students didn't think so at all.

Before the duel even began, they frequently provoked the Hufflepuff students with an arrogant and overbearing attitude, displaying an extremely arrogant demeanor and adopting the posture of victors, confident that they could win the match.

Puni didn't seem to care much about this.

That day, standing in the common room in front of the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, he finally confirmed his previous speculation.

Slytherin wizards have always placed great importance on the purity of their bloodline, and with a strong sense of factional exclusivity and obsession with inheritance, they would never leave behind only a single secret passage for their descendants.

Successors throughout history must have left behind secret and secure access routes for independent entry and exit, adapting to different entry and exit needs in various scenarios.

Based on the on-site investigations and tracing of magical traces over this period, Puni has figured out the complete logic of the pathway.

The hidden entrance to the girls' restroom on the second floor is the exclusive access passage for the basilisk inside the secret room, used only for the giant beast to move, sneak, and lie in wait, and is not an entrance for human use.

The lounge in front of us, which connects to the secret room, is the proper entrance and exit for human wizards.

At this point, he had completely figured out the two-way passage structure of the secret room.

All the exploration conditions, theoretical deductions, and field verifications have been completed. Everything is ready except for the final crucial step of preparation, which has temporarily put aside his idea of ​​exploring the secret chamber in depth.

As time goes by at the school, the semester's coursework is gradually coming to an end, and Hogwarts' new long holiday is approaching.

The school holiday schedule in the Wizarding World is very similar to the school system in Muggle society.

The UK education system does not have a winter break. The year is mainly divided into two major long holidays: the Christmas holiday at the end of the year and the Easter holiday in the spring.

The lively and heartwarming Christmas holidays of this semester have come to an end, and the Easter holidays, with temperatures gradually warming up, are just around the corner.

Hogwarts has a long Easter holiday, but many students are not very happy about the upcoming long break.

The reason for this is that the final exams of this semester will be held right after the end of the holiday.

In order to keep students engaged in their studies, consolidate what they have learned during the semester, and minimize the loss of knowledge due to relaxation during the holidays, all the professors have unanimously assigned a large amount of homework and practical exercises.

Piles of theoretical exercises, herbal observation records, practical debriefings on potions, and transmutation practice tasks were stacked together, densely covering the desk.

Looking at the heavy list of assignments in front of him, Puni was alright.

Marcos is going crazy.

Amidst his utter laziness, a thought of shirking his duties quietly took root in his mind.

He thought about his classmates and wondered if anyone could copy his homework and save him the trouble.

As his thoughts wandered, the images of Eddie and Puni were the first to come to mind.

Eddie is recognized as an all-around top student in the grade. He has a solid academic foundation, and his grades in all subjects are balanced and stable, with no weaknesses in any subject.

Since the start of the semester, Eddie's grades have consistently ranked among the top in the grade in every in-class quiz and periodic assessment.

Hogwarts' grading system is divided into multiple levels, and his answers almost always earned the highest grade, with no mistakes or oversights.

If we only consider talent and explosiveness in a single subject, Eddie's performance in Potions and Transfiguration is not as good as Puni's and Marcos's, who specializes in these subjects. However, considering all his subjects, his overall ranking is far superior to that of his peers, and his overall strength is outstanding, second only to Puni.

Marcos secretly considered that, given Eddie's gentle nature and helpful manner, as long as he politely asked for help, he would most likely be able to borrow Eddie's complete assignment reference.

As for why they didn't look for Puni...

That's because he knew he was sure to get a good scolding from Puni!

Of course, before their minds were completely occupied by holiday homework, extracurricular activities at school did not stop.

The final Quidditch match of the semester officially kicked off before the holidays, reigniting the enthusiasm of the entire school and becoming the most exciting event in the castle before the break.