The days at Hogwarts

After finishing breakfast, Loren and Hermione walked along the way, enjoying the morning breeze and the beauty between them, and went to the appointment slowly. When they stepped into Hagrid's hut, they saw this scene:

Ron sat in the corner, occasionally spitting a slug into the bucket. Harry and Hagrid sat beside them, sighing and helpless. In the middle of the room, Ginny and Luna were walking around, looking around the room curiously.

"Good morning!" Hagrid was busy preparing teacups and treacle toffees for the two new guests.

"Loren, Hermione!" Luna greeted them enthusiastically, "Come and see, Ron has become a slug mom."

Hearing this name, Ron in the corner whimpered twice to show his objection.

"What happened?" Hermione was very curious. She stretched her neck and saw the shiny big slug and the slippery mucus, then she retracted her neck.

Harry sighed deeply and began to recount for the third time what happened on the Quidditch field: "…Oliver took the players back to think of a solution. I thought Hagrid might have a solution, so I brought him to the hunting lodge."

Judging from the situation, Hagrid probably doesn't know how to deal with this new creature, Slug Mama.

"Ginny and Luna were just taking a stroll and met us at the edge of the Forbidden Forest."

After walking around and looking around, they came to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Loren took a look at Ginny's red hair and recognized her Weasley ancestry.

"Why not go to Madam Pomfrey?" Lauren asked.

Harry sighed again. "The punishment for driving into the Whomping Willow hasn't come out yet. If he's caught fighting again, Ron is worried that he'll be expelled."

Ron, who had a slug stuck in his mouth, whimpered in agreement.

"It will be fine once you've vomited it all out." Hagrid took the washed cups, poured hot tea into them and handed them to Loren and Hermione, and stuffed them with two pieces of syrup toffee that felt very sticky to the touch.

Luna and Ginny finally finished touring the hut and sat over. Luna looked at the slugs curiously, observing them coming out of the stomach, passing through the esophagus, the mouth, and finally spitting into the bucket, without any fear or disgust.

"My father has done some research on animals, and I also know some relevant knowledge." Luna had observed enough, and her ethereal voice attracted the attention of several people.

Ron cast a hopeful look at her, hoping that this smart Ravenclaw could come up with some solution.

Luna looked at the slug and Ron with an innocent face and a beautiful tone: "Eat a frog, and the frog will eat the slug."

When the others heard this, they looked at Luna's innocent face again and fell into some strange reflection.

Only Hagrid took the idea seriously. He asked with interest, "What about frogs? What about frogs in the stomach?"

"Eat another snake, and the snake will eat the frog."

"What about the snake?"

……

Chapter 165 Professor McGonagall's Reforms

Well, I’ve seen many living Bodhisattvas, but this is the first time I’ve seen a living King of Hell.

In order to prevent Ron from suffering a second psychological trauma, Loren interrupted their conversation: "Since it is the effect of a spell, using the spell to stop it may be useful."

Taking out his wand, Loren cast several spells at Ron's stomach to stop him.

The people sitting around came over and looked at Ron's belly curiously.

For a few seconds, Ron felt like he was some kind of rare animal being watched. He stared blankly at the people around him, then at the slug in the bucket, and after hesitating for a while, he "jumped" out another slug.

However, compared to the other slugs in the bucket, this one is much smaller.

It'd be nice if it worked, at least Ron wouldn't have to despair about being a slug mom all the time.The crowd of onlookers felt relieved and began to enjoy the refreshments provided by Hagrid.

"What's one of those curse-repelling bracelets Marcus has—" Harry put a piece of Hagrid's homemade treacle toffee in his mouth, and before he could finish his words, his teeth were stuck together by the toffee.

Fortunately, Ginny listened carefully and understood what he wanted to ask: "Pure-blood families always have some protective equipment, and bracelets that can rebound evil curses are not uncommon. He really should learn some spells from his mother, the bracelet can't prevent..."

The rest of the words were unclear. Ginny secretly looked up at Harry, who was struggling with the toffee with a grimace on his face. She smiled softly and did not extend the topic any further.

She didn't want to sound unladylike by revealing that she wanted to learn the bat-spirit spell and be shattered to pieces like her mother was good at.

Loren looked at Harry's distorted face and found it amusing. He reached out and touched a piece of treacle toffee in his hand, his eyes rolling around in his sockets.

"It's impossible to defend against a spell that's too powerful," Loren said about the bracelet, turning his head to look at Hermione nonchalantly, "Do you think this is a bit like the Shield Charm?"

Hermione's thoughts were directed to that, she nodded unconsciously and opened her mouth: "It can be deflected--Ugh!!!"

The moment he opened his mouth, Loren stuffed the taffy into Hermione's mouth and covered her mouth to let the syrup melt quickly.Hermione's teeth were glued together with syrup, and she could only grunt.

She looked at Loren in disbelief, her eyes wide open, finding it hard to accept this shocking fact.

The people around were replaying what had just happened in their heads, their brains were still a little frozen, and their stunned expressions showed that they were also shocked at the moment.

Hermione stood up immediately, her pretty face flushed, her fists clenched hard. She couldn't stand it anymore, she had to teach this guy a lesson today.

"It's a joke! Just a joke!" Loren stood up and ran. When he saw how sticky the toffee was, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the bad taste and couldn't control his behavior.

The Apparition technique had not yet been practiced, and recalling Hermione's enhanced physical fitness and the contents of the evil Krav Maga book, he quickly jumped out of Hagrid's hut and ran towards the castle.

Hermione didn't care anymore and followed him out quickly, keeping her lips tightly shut to prevent saliva from flowing out, moaning as she chased Loren.

Harry and Ron watched them run out. For some reason, they felt as if something was stuffed in their mouths. They hadn't eaten anything, but they felt a little full.

"What a lively scene!" Hagrid came back to his senses and smiled. "Let's not stay in the house anymore. Let's go and see the pumpkins I planted."

……

The changing rooms next to the Quidditch pitch.

After finishing his first Quidditch training, Draco took off his sweat-soaked team robe and put on Slytherin's magic robe.

Although the way he entered the team seemed a bit like a backdoor, Draco did not think that he was weaker than Harry. Since Harry could be a seeker, then he could certainly do it too.

Today's training also proved this, Draco was in a very good mood.

Crabbe walked in from the door, with an inexplicable look in his eyes, and asked in a strange tone: "You stole the show today, you must be very proud, right?"

Hearing this, Draco got goose bumps on the back of his neck. He frowned and looked at Crabbe. Today's Crabbe always gave him a strong sense of discomfort.

There are no permanent enemies, only permanent benefits.

Thinking about what his father said during the holiday, Draco's expression changed and he said, "If you also want to join the team, I can let you train with the team. During the selection next year, you can directly join the team."

Crabbe's mouth stretched into a terrifying smile, almost tearing apart at the corners. "Is this your charity, Mr. Malfoy?"

This person is definitely not normal.

In an instant, many scenes flashed through Draco's mind, including the conversation between the centaur and Potter, his father's scolding of old Crabbe, and the news that happened during the holiday.

There seemed to be a vague thread connecting these, but Draco couldn't figure it out.

Perhaps it was a talent inherited from the Malfoy family, Draco calmed down as if he had realized something. He turned around to straighten his robes, naturally avoiding Crabbe's sight: "Why do you say that?"

"Of course it's because you, who come from a pure-blood family, got involved with those Muggles and half-bloods. I thought you had abandoned us, your pure-blood followers." Crabbe's eyes were full of brutality and ferocity.

Draco tried hard to recall his past arrogance and worship of pure-bloods, and acted like himself a year ago: "I spoke a few more words to Harry Potter because he was somewhat famous and also of pure-blood origin."

"He's hanging out with Mudbloods now, it's disgusting."

Crabbe stood at the door with an uncertain expression, as if he was unsure of how to treat Draco.

Draco put the team robe into his backpack, took the bag, and walked out of the locker room naturally. When he passed by Crabbe, he glanced at him with a proud and disgusted look: "This time next week, call Goyle over, and I will take you to Quidditch training together."

Watching Draco walk away, Crabbe was a little confused, but he was also tempted by the idea of ​​joining Quidditch.

The magic robe that was attached to his body rustled, and a thin snake with red stripes emerged from the collar.

Compared with the changes that Crabbe had undergone in the past few days, Voldemort was in a very good mood. From having no brain to learning to think, from being simply cruel to being vicious, this effect was completely in line with his expectations.

The idea of ​​using living things to create Horcruxes is correct, but the container needs to be modified appropriately. So far, the situation seems to be good, and the rest is to split off another piece of the soul.

With the experience of making the previous Horcruxes, he had long had the idea of ​​making living creatures, or even humans, into Horcruxes, but he had never had the conditions to realize it.

In fact, Voldemort did not want to use Crabbe as the first living Horcrux. How could a crude and simple-minded little wizard be worthy of his soul fragment?

If there is a chance, he wants to find a better container...

The corridor outside the Transfiguration professor's office at night.

Hermione walked in front, jumping and humming the tune of Muggle pop music. Occasionally, her tongue swept across her teeth, and she could taste a hint of sweet sugar.

Although there was a faint burning and slight pain somewhere in her thigh, the little witch was generally in a very good mood.

Loren walked behind, pressing one hand on the right side of his neck, and occasionally making "hiss~hiss" sounds of pain.

"If you use your scissors legs to clamp my neck again next time, I will never let go." He said hatefully.

"Hey, who told you to tease me?" Hermione raised her fair and smooth chin, not threatened at all. "By the way, did Professor McGonagall tell us what to do?"

"Won't you know once you go in?" Loren knocked on the office door.

"Please come in."

The two pushed the door in and saw Professor McGonagall correcting homework.That's the job of a professor, preparing lesson plans, lecturing, assigning assignments, grading assignments, and repeating, repeating, repeating.

As the deputy headmaster of Hogwarts, McGonagall needs to do a lot of administrative work because of Dumbledore's long-term slacking off. Professor McGonagall occasionally imagines the future, and when she takes over as headmaster, she will definitely squeeze the next deputy headmaster hard.

"It's the same time as I expected." Seeing the two of them, Professor McGonagall put the quill pen she used to mark homework back into the ink bottle, stood up, walked out of her desk and took the two of them to the cubicle in the office.

Almost all professors' offices have partitions that serve as lounges, but Snape was a little special and turned the partitions into storage rooms and laboratories.

Professor McGonagall's compartment was decorated very cozily. She stayed in the castle most of the time and could only return to her villa in Hogsmeade a few times a year.

There was an orange sofa in the room, and under the light, the whole room was warm and bright. There were some small wooden houses hanging on the wall, and cushions filled with cotton were placed in the corner, next to which were empty cardboard boxes.

Loren looked around the room and couldn't help but look at Professor McGonagall with a strange look. Professor Cat's little habit was exposed...

Placing the tray of apple juice in front of the two, Professor McGonagall sat down opposite them and said, "I want to tell you something."

Lauren and Hermione held their cups, curiously waiting for Professor McGonagall's next words.

"There are seven grades in Hogwarts, and each grade is divided into four houses. At most two houses can have classes together at a time. With seven grades, the professors are a little overwhelmed."

Loren had noticed this situation before. For example, for main courses like Charms and Transfiguration, the two colleges taught classes together, with two to three large classes per week. There were four classes for one grade, and 4 classes for seven grades.

Including grading essays and some extracurricular work, the professor works almost non-stop without any rest time.

"This teaching system was developed a long time ago by the Board of Directors, the Ministry of Magic and the school. At that time, there were not many young wizards who chose to come to school for classes, and the professors were able to cope with it."

"As Hogwarts' influence grows, more and more young wizards choose to attend magic schools. Even pure-blood families have abandoned home-based teaching and chosen Hogwarts. This system is no longer applicable."

"However, due to the Ministry of Magic's education order and the interference of the school board, the application for teaching reform has been prevaricated and delayed. After taking back the full management rights of Hogwarts this year, perhaps some changes can be made."

There was a hint of pride in Professor McGonagall's tone. She seized the opportunity to take back the ownership of the school, which was something that many headmasters had never done.

"Professor, why don't you hire more professors?" Loren put down his cup and asked his question.

Professor McGonagall paused and said, "Although we have regained our power, the school's funding still comes from the Board of Directors, and the finances do not support us in increasing the number of professors."

"And Hogwarts involves too many things. We must screen every person who takes office to avoid bringing bad influences and dangers to students."

"We are also exploring the possibility of financial independence. If the school has its own source of income, this kind of hostage situation will be completely removed."

Professor McGonagall did not hide anything and explained the situation and reasons of the school to the two people: "After discussion among several of our deans, we decided to pilot the new system in the second and fourth grades. If the situation is good, we will implement it in the whole school."

This is because the situation in other grades is more complicated. First graders have just entered school and are definitely not suitable as pilot sites. Third graders have a course selection system and cannot be used as pilot sites either.

The fifth graders have to prepare for the OWLs exams, while the sixth graders have to choose to attend advanced classes. The seventh graders, as prospective graduates, have to consider work issues and prepare for the NEWT exams. These three grades are not suitable as pilots.

To sum up, the second and fourth grades had the most stable situation, so they were chosen to trial the new system.

"What's the new teaching system like?" Hermione asked.

"In terms of content, we added and deleted the original courses, and distinguished between elective and compulsory courses. The compulsory part is based on the original teaching content, merging highly relevant knowledge and deleting some content. The elective content is the deleted part, as well as some extensions and advanced content."

This is achieved by classifying some of the original content as electives, which reduces the professors' workload. Young wizards who have spare time can master the elective content and lay the foundation for advanced knowledge.

On the other hand, there is no requirement to master the elective content, which reduces the learning intensity for young wizards with poor grades.

"Professor, won't this make the gap even wider?" Loren immediately noticed the trend of this development.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, recalling the scene a few days ago when the deans of various colleges gathered together to discuss the teaching reform.

Snape leaned against the pillar, hiding his face in the shadows. "It must be admitted that the gap between some wizards is even greater than the gap between wizards and trolls. It is torture for some people to cram too much knowledge into their heads. Some knowledge is not used at all and will be forgotten soon after graduation. For example, our newly hired Professor Lockhart, isn't that the case?"

"Just like Mr. Longbottom and Miss Know-It-All, making them receive the same education and be assessed with the same standards is cruel in itself."

“Electives are good for both types of people.”

Shaking her head, Professor McGonagall shook off these memories. "The knowledge covered in the elective part will not affect the exam. It is considered self-study content, and -"

Professor McGonagall was silent for a moment. "Professors are not omnipotent. We all have our own limitations. The learning of knowledge depends more on you."

"The professor will not refuse any student's request, but now the choice is in your hands."

Chapter 166 Apparition