The days at Hogwarts

"Oh, let's continue..."

It was not until after two o'clock that Hermione remembered that the Animagus class had to start, and she hurriedly dragged Loren back to the castle.

They were not late. When the two arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, all the class members had not arrived yet, so they were considered to have arrived early.

Neville sat in the front row early, his head buried in reading the picture album that was distributed last time.

Cedric was sitting with the three Weasley children, Cedric was holding George's neck, Percy was holding Fred's neck, and the four of them looked like they were about to die together.

"I've never failed to live up to my professor's expectations! It's all your fault, it's all your fault!" Percy shook Fred hard.

Cedric shook George. "You guys agreed not to play a prank on me! You guys... I was almost holding on!"

George held his hand and shook his dizzy head. "Peeves did it himself. It's really none of our business."

"Yes, yes, Percy, you found that the blades were broken when you woke up the next morning. It was actually because you were grinding your teeth. Believe me, you really have a problem of grinding your teeth." Fred broke away from Percy's hand.

"Impossible! I don't believe it!" Percy's face turned red with anger.

The twins looked at each other and chuckled. They pulled Percy and Cedric over, put their hands on their shoulders, and the four of them huddled together and whispered.

"You are the good students who know the professor best. Don't say you didn't see Professor McGonagall's plan. This ceremony will not succeed."

"Join us, broomsticks are expensive, and dating also requires money..."

The other members of the teaching class arrived one after another. When the little wizards came in, almost all of them found the twins and punched them a few times with laughter and scolding.

It didn't hurt, and George and Fred didn't care. They smiled and found the best students from each grade to discuss the answers.

The talking in the classroom didn't stop until the bell rang. Professor McGonagall came in with a picture album, followed by Rita in a mask.

"Who has succeeded in the mission of holding a mandrake leaf in their mouth for a month?" asked Professor McGonagall.

There was a flurry of complaints in the classroom:

"It's all a failure! It's all George and Fred's fault!"

“They told jokes in my face!”

"I was scared away by the faces they made. It's so abominable!"

……

Professor McGonagall just smiled.

Amid the boiling noise, Neville looked around blankly and raised his hand cautiously.

The classroom seemed to have been muted. No one made any sound. Their eyes were fixed on the fat figure, their eyes full of disbelief.

Chapter 256 Quidditch Final

Most of the young wizards looked at Neville in a daze. He actually succeeded?

People who have experienced failure understand the difficulty of this process better. It is like holding a fragile blade of grass in your mouth, and you have to be cautious and nervous at every moment. Perhaps an unintentional sneeze, an emphasis in your voice, or a chewing of your food can make all your previous efforts go to waste.

Many members of the teaching class blamed the twins for their failures, but they knew that the main reason was themselves.

In the second half of the ceremony, many young wizards thought they understood Professor McGonagall's intentions and gave up on themselves. They felt relieved after the leaves were damaged. After several good students, represented by Cedric, declared failure, everyone felt more at ease.

And now, the little fat boy who silently persisted until success shocked everyone.

Looking at Neville, who was a little timid and uneasy because he raised his hand alone, Professor McGonagall cast an approving look:

"A month ago, I would not have expected any of you to succeed. Many of the most renowned scholars in the field of Transfiguration have been blocked from the walls of Mandrake. You have an amazingly strong will, Mr. Longbottom!"

Neville's eyes sparkled because of the compliment. He blushed and suppressed the urge to bury his head in his arms. He looked straight at the stage: "Professor, then, can I perform the following ceremony?"

Over the past month, Neville had also heard rumors that the ritual was impossible to complete.

The principles of Transfiguration were not fully learned, and the control of reason and savagery was not explained at all. Neville felt that what those smart students said made sense.

But Professor McGonagall only told them to start the ceremony without mentioning anything else. Between the smart way of doing things and foolishly following the professor's orders, Neville chose the stupid way of doing things.

If you talk, you may bite the leaves, so try not to talk. If you eat, you may bite the leaves, so eat less. If you sleep, you may accidentally swallow the leaves, so sleep less. Neville couldn't think of those smart ways, so he could only use his own stupid way to slowly crawl forward.

Now, the stupid kids have climbed ahead of the smart students.

"Of course," Professor McGonagall smiled and nodded at him, "Tonight is a full moon. Come to my office after dinner. We need to spend some time preparing the secret medicine and then find a quiet place to hide away from the sun."

This remark immediately caused a stir in the classroom.

"Wow!"

George and Fred screamed in surprise, and the other little wizards whispered to each other to express their envy and strong condemnation of the twins.

"Peeves! I must teach that guy a lesson!"

The usually gentle Cedric said this with gritted teeth. He was only a few days away from success.

Hermione pursed her lips. When the blade was broken before, she had convinced herself to accept failure. But now that she knew Neville was about to take the next step of the Animagus ritual, the always strong-willed little witch couldn't help but feel worried.

"Neville is awesome!" Loren smiled and patted his roommate in the front row.

Neville's flushed face showed a bit of embarrassment. Not used to this kind of situation, he could only smile foolishly, nodded vigorously at Professor McGonagall who was looking at him with a smile, and sat back in his seat.

"Professor, when will the Mandrakes be distributed this month? I will definitely not fail again!" A little wizard shouted, "I will stay away from George and Fred for the next month."

"I'm afraid not." Professor McGonagall had a gentle smile on her face. "The final exams are coming up soon. After the exams, it will be summer vacation. Even if you succeed in holding on for a month, you won't be able to perform the rest of the ritual."

A wailing sounded in the classroom:

"Oh~ No!"

"It's all George and Fred's fault!"

"Shut up Andrew, don't think we don't know that you swallowed the leaves when you ate the bread!"

Professor McGonagall stood on the podium, listening to the shouting of the group of little wizards with a smile on her face. She knew that with Neville's encouragement, more people would persevere when the ceremony started next semester.

"Although this semester is almost over, you can continue to try to hold a mandrake leaf in your mouth to gain experience." Professor McGonagall said slowly.

A seventh-grade wizard raised his hand and shouted, "Professor, what about our graduating students?"

Loren then remembered that there was no distinction between grades in the Animagus class, and many of them were about to shed their student status and bid farewell to this castle forever.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

"There is a chance." Professor McGonagall's voice rang softly in the ears of every student. "You have just graduated from school, but learning is a lifelong thing. You can continue to study magic knowledge after leaving school. You are welcome to write to me to communicate. Not only Transfiguration, but also spells, potions, magical animals... I believe that no professor will refuse your letter.

In addition, Animagus is not necessary magic, it is even dangerous, I do not encourage you to perform the ritual yourself. When you are sure that you have mastered sufficient theoretical knowledge, you can go back to school and try it. Of course, you will need to bring your own Mandrake at that time. "

The last sentence made some people laugh again.

Professor McGonagall spent the rest of the time talking about her own methods of studying Transfiguration, and introduced many magazines, books, and even detailed articles. She said it was because summer vacation was coming soon.

However, many young wizards know that this is to teach those who are about to graduate how to study on their own during the days away from school.

The atmosphere of this class was quieter than usual, and Professor McGonagall left the classroom first after class.

Through the graduates' conversations, Loren realized that it was not just this class, but all the classes the graduates had taken recently were like this. The professors no longer focused on detailed knowledge, but preferred to teach general methods.

Hermione put away the atlas and walked out of the classroom side by side with Loren, discussing their revision plans along the way.

Generally, Hogwarts' final exams are held in the first week of June. Occasionally, the date may be moved up or down a few days depending on the situation. The results are released in the second week, and summer vacation begins after the farewell dinner.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was cancelled, and the difficulty of other subjects in the second grade was greatly reduced due to the teaching reform, so Hermione did not start reviewing two months in advance.

At night, in the boys' dormitory.

When Loren and the other three were lying on the bed and were about to fall asleep, Neville quietly pushed open the door and walked in, then gently closed the door. The wooden door inlaid with copper hinges made a harsh creaking sound.

Neville turned his head and met four pairs of glowing eyes. The four roommates stared at him with curiosity.

Neville's fat body trembled visibly with fear: "I, I didn't mean to make the door so loud. I was already very gentle."

"The door will be inspected by elves during the holiday. No one cares about the door if not for this." Loren waved his hand. "Tell me about the Animagus ritual. What did Professor McGonagall do with you?"

"Yeah!" Harry, Ron and Seamus couldn't stop nodding. They had also heard about Neville's glory.

"Put the mandrake and some of my saliva into a crystal bottle, add a strand of hair and a teaspoon of dew from Professor Snape, and then put in the pupa of the ghost moth." Neville said slowly, "Finally, find a quiet, dark place to hide it."

Several people knew the content of the Animagus ritual, but they still listened with great interest.

Harry looked out at the night sky. "It doesn't sound like much trouble. Why is it taking so long?"

Neville was a little embarrassed and scratched his head. "I forgot to bring my password list, and the Fat Lady locked me out. I just came in with George and Fred who came back from a night out."

"What?" Ron shouted, "George and Fred are out at night again! I must report them!"

Loren mercilessly punctured his fantasy: "I advise you to think it over carefully. The holiday is coming soon. They will have two months to retaliate against you."

"Do you think I'm afraid of them?"

Harry yawned and nodded, "Yes."

"Loren! Harry! Which side are you on?"

There was another round of laughter in the dormitory.

Neville slowly changed into his pajamas, turned over and lay down on the bed. His eyes passed through the black curtains of the four-poster bed, through the bright moonlight outside the window, and flew to the closed ward of St. Mungo's Hospital for the Sick and the Infirm.

In this case, will mom and dad be proud of him?

Probably so.

……

Saturday, the day of the final battle between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

In the morning, people poured out of the Great Hall, talking and laughing loudly, and walked all the way out the front door to the Quidditch pitch. Players from both sides took to the air accompanied by earth-shaking cheers.

It was a bit strange to say that the less enthusiastic Gryffindors such as Loren and Hermione were organized by Luna. She held a banner in her hand and urged Hermione and others who were holding notebooks to shout with her. For a moment, it was hard to tell which was the Gryffindor and which was the Ravenclaw.

The situation on the field was a little tense. The eagle head offensive formation was not very effective. Angelina rushed straight forward, and the Slytherin players rushed towards her even more savagely. Angelina was forced to turn around.

Slytherin's attack was more fierce than in the last game, and Gryffindor had a hard time defending. Wood quickly moved in front of the scoring circle to make saves, but the score was still widening.

The key to victory still lies on Harry.

What surprised Harry was that Malfoy seemed to have changed his personality and was competing with him in an upright way. Speeding up to increase the distance, feints, psychological games... Malfoy didn't even say anything annoying.

Wronski feint, Cobra maneuver... Harry fought with Malfoy for a while, and was delighted to find that he was much stronger than him. So Harry happily took Malfoy flying around the field, disrupting Slytherin's offensive rhythm and relieving Gryffindor's defensive pressure.

Once again, he used a double "8" shape to help the team get the ball. Before Harry could smile, goalkeeper Wood flew to the same position as him and looked at him solemnly:

"Harry, if we delay any longer we will lose."

Harry turned his head sharply to look at the score - 30:100, the difference was rapidly approaching 150.

Flying next to the scoreboard was Malfoy. Harry noticed the sinister smile on his lips and his eyelids twitching rapidly.

Is Malfoy trying to please me?

Ginny, who was in the audience, noticed this and asked in confusion, "We have the ball, why does Harry look unhappy?"

Ron did not answer his sister's question. He was leaning on the railing, watching the game intently, with half of his body leaning out of the audience. He wished he could fly up to the sky and knock Slytherin captain Marcus off his broom.

Afraid that he would fall off the audience, Loren pulled him up and explained, "It looks like Harry has the upper hand, relying on his superb flying skills to lead Draco by the nose, but in fact, Draco is just trying to appease him and delay his time in finding the Golden Snitch. When the score difference reaches more than 150, we will lose for sure."

Hermione had closed the notebook in her hand. She couldn't concentrate on reviewing and was mumbling to herself while calculating the scores of the house cup.

Luna waved the banner above her head and said in a disembodied voice, "Harry will win."

"Got it, Captain!" Harry responded glumly.

No longer caring about Malfoy, Harry grabbed the broom and sped it up, looking in all directions, and began to cruise around the stadium.

The two Seekers began to unleash the full speed of Nimbus 2001, leaving only two flying and fighting shadows on the court.

On the front battlefield, the Chasers and Beaters of the two teams also fought fiercely, turning the battle into a boiling pot of magic. The Slytherin players were ruthless, while the Gryffindor players cooperated well, using a variety of tactics to create a situation where they were outnumbered.

Considering the presence of Madam Hooch, neither team drew their wands. However, the difference in equipment was too great, and the score difference between the two teams was still rapidly approaching 150.

As it flew over the edge of the court once again, Harry caught a fleeting glimpse of golden light out of the corner of his eye. Without too much time to think, the Nimbus 2001, flying at full speed, accelerated again and crashed straight into the Golden Snitch.

After catching the Golden Snitch, Harry was unable to stop his broom from flying at full speed, and crashed into a flag on the side of the field, landing smoothly on the ground with the help of the flag cloth as a cushion.

Raising his right hand high, Harry fully displayed the golden light in his hand.

The audience was silent for a moment, and then burst into even louder cheers:

"Long live Gryffindor!"

"Long live Harry Potter!"

The Quidditch champion went to Gryffindor, and from now on there was no suspense about who would win the house cup.