The days at Hogwarts

Looking at her back, Loren muttered softly: "Weird..."

Ever since the Defense Against the Dark Arts class about Boggarts, Hermione has been a little abnormal and has become more irritable.

In particular, she forbade him to mention what she had done with the Boggart, or else she would blush and scold him, or even beat him up.

But Loren enjoyed teasing her, since it didn't hurt anyway.

Loren threw a mint into his mouth and headed towards the basement, shaking his head.

"Tsk, that's pretty sweet..."

Friday night at 9pm, in the underground Potions Professor's office.

呲——

swoosh-

swoosh-

The pure white smooth bone knife made from the ribs of a basilisk continuously scraped the surface of the translucent red magic stone. The snow-white bone powder mixed with the red stone powder fell on the porcelain dish, mixing into a thin layer of pink powder.

In front of the operating table, Snape, wearing a dark green shirt, was concentrating on making the powder of the Philosopher's Stone.

Loren sat next to him, holding a parchment notebook in his hand, reading it intently.

As Snape prepared the stone powder, he said calmly, "During the summer vacation, Professor McGonagall and I went to Africa and got some inspiration from the traditional methods there. If we are lucky, we should be able to determine the auxiliary ingredients for the resurrection potion within two years."

For the sake of the school's business, the four deans took the recruited students to many places during the holidays. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout went to the more civilized France and Italy... Professor McGonagall and Snape went to the more troublesome African continent.

It seems that Professor Snape has taken some time to do some personal things. Loren looked at the notes in the notebook:

Indigenous shamans in Madagascar in southern Africa can summon the souls of the dead through rituals such as turning over corpses - this remains to be verified, not witnessed, but there are tangible records.

The blood of relatives is poured into the burning fire, and the thick smoke can convey messages to the dead - this needs to be verified, but according to eyewitnesses, it is suspected to be a trick used by indigenous witches to maintain their rule.

……

In addition to the magic rituals, there are also many strange materials, such as African tree snakes and the tail needles of moonlight scorpions...

Loren remained silent as he looked at the handwritten note. He saw the powder on the porcelain dish being blown when Snape spoke. The professor was not as calm as he appeared.

Determining the auxiliary ingredients is probably a futile task. Snape is doomed to fail in his quest to see the true face of death and realize that death is the key to the resurrection potion.

Nico lived in the era when the Black Death was raging. Human lives were like weeds, with people dying in one city after another. From the map, it looked like death in patches.

Even if Voldemort launched the Second Wizarding War, so many people would not die. Unless Voldemort ruled the wizarding world, declared war on Muggles, and launched a genocide, Snape would have to wait until the Third World War.

There is no chance anyway.

However, it's always good to have hope.

Loren thought so and did not say much about the resurrection potion. Instead, he talked about other things: "Professor, it's a new school year. How is the Potions Club recruiting new members?"

Last year, the seventh grade students graduated, and it was time for the club to recruit new members.

After taking 1/16 ounce, or 1 dram, of powder, Snape stood up, wiped the bone knife with a clean handkerchief, and returned the Philosopher's Stone to him: "Observe for a while. I will send out invitations to recruit more people around Halloween."

"Second grade?"

"Every grade, except the freshmen."

"But professor, didn't you say last year that those who didn't receive invitations were not talented enough? Why did you make up for it this year?" Loren asked in a low voice tentatively, "Could it be that their talents have improved?"

"Just do your own thing."

If Dumbledore and McGonagall didn't need help, I wouldn't bother to hire anyone. Snape glanced at him with a cold look and said calmly, "The wolfsbane potion needs to be further improved. I will provide the materials and conduct the experiment according to the plan you submitted last semester. Give me a bottle of improved potion every month in the future."

Why did you say you provoked him?

Loren really wanted to slap himself now. The smell of wolfsbane potion was already bad, and now those smelly herbs had to be added to it. People would be suffocated to death.

"Remember?"

"Yes, professor." Loren's answer was weak and listless.

Then a smile appeared on Snape's lips.

……

At night, dormitory.

Loren looked at the window with a numb expression. The moon shone through the glass window, blurry and with rough edges.

He wondered if he would have gotten into such a situation if he hadn't provoked Snape.

Probably yes.

Professor Snape was determined to find trouble for Lupin, and not only him, but also other members would probably join in the development of the wolfsbane potion after the Potions Club recruited people.

Alone Better Together.

Thinking of this, Loren felt much better and relaxed.

"That's great. School starts on Wednesday and it's the weekend after two days of classes." Harry lay on the four-poster bed, raised his hands in front of his eyes, and watched the candle flame being stretched through his fingers.

"Yeah, it would be nice if we could have two days of classes and two days off." Ron laughed foolishly.

"To be honest, I'm actually looking forward to next week's classes. George and Fred told me that Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class is very interesting." Harry turned over and lay on the edge of the bed, his chin resting on the pillow.

Seamus held a filibuster in his hand, tossing and catching it repeatedly. He looked around and said, "Where's Neville? I wonder if he forgot the password again and got locked out of the common room."

"No way?" Loren sat up, "I didn't see him when I came back."

At this moment, the dormitory door was kicked open and Neville staggered in holding a golden cardboard box that was bigger than his upper body.

Neville put down the box, wiped his forehead, sat back on his bed and let out a long sigh: "The owl can't carry this. Mr. Froome promised to send it to the school gate. I can only carry it back by myself. Merlin bless you, I almost fell down the stairs several times."

"So, why don't you use the levitation spell?" Loren asked sincerely.

Neville, who was panting, was stunned. After a moment of silence, he said, "I, I forgot?"

"Sometimes Loren looks more like a pure-blood wizard than you do." Ron muttered, and came forward curiously, "What did you buy?"

Neville grinned foolishly. "A gold deluxe gift box from Honeydukes. To thank Loren."

"Merlin's Beard, Luxury Gift Box!"

"I heard that one Galleon is more expensive than dragon meat."

Seamus and Harry exclaimed in unison.

This time it was Loren's turn to be stunned: "You actually bought it?"

"Hmm!" Neville scratched his head sheepishly, "I was thinking of buying it during the event week when I go to Hogsmeade, but I can't wait."

Loren opened his mouth, but the words of rejection and refusal came to his lips but he couldn't say them.

"Open it. I heard there are new magic gummies." Neville looked at him with sincere and earnest gratitude in his eyes. He smiled at the others, "I can't wait to try it. What about you?"

"Me too!"

"Come on, Loren, unpack it."

"hurry up!"

Everyone gathered around and watched Loren tear open the golden packaging layer by layer and take out bag after bag of candy from the gift box.

Exploding bonbons, pink shimmering coconut sorbet, bizarrely shaped Bibi Multi-Flavor Beans, bouncing chocolate frogs, liquorice wands, fizzing bees, jelly slugs…

"Look at this, new gummy candy!" Seamus put a candy into his mouth, took a sip, and screamed like a monkey to the others.

"Squeak-squeak-squeak--"

Loren swallowed the pile of cockroaches in his mouth, "Stop pretending, Seamus. This is your own voice, right?"

Seamus looked at him angrily. "Squeak-squeak--"

This sentence made everyone else in the dormitory laugh. Ron and Harry burst into laughter and lay on the quilt, unable to get up.

"Let me try." Neville took one and threw it into his mouth, making an elephant roar, "Moo--"

Others also tried it one after another.

Ron roared like a lion: "Roar——"

Harry opened his mouth and heard the crisp cry of an owl: "Chirp--"

A long whale cry sounded from Loren's nose: "Buzz——"

A sweet and warm atmosphere lingered in the dormitory, and the laughter hit the glass and trembled slightly, as if the missing moon was also laughing...

Chapter 289 Trelawney: I am a professional

Book of Fantasy Virtual Duel Room.

The scene is the default abandoned classroom, with thick black stone walls enclosing a spacious open space and old tables, chairs and benches piled against the wall.

Two figures wearing tattered black cloaks floated in the air. Their exposed hands were bony and their pale skin was stained with damp water marks. One could vaguely see spots of rotten corpse extending into the darkness concealed by the cloaks.

The Dementor made a wheezing sound and an invisible chill emanated from its body, freezing it to the bone.

Flamel carefully looked at the two Dementors, constantly identifying the manifestation of their magic: "Compared to the real Dementors, the Boggart-mimicking Dementors are weaker... However, it did break the magic barrier and truly simulated the unique magic of the Dementors. This is really... unbelievable."

"That's why I'm interested in Boggart." Loren looked at the Dementor transformed from Boggart and said thoughtfully, "I wonder if it can simulate the magic of other magical animals."

The image of one of the Dementors dissipated, and the remaining one kept changing shape in mid-air.

Acromantula, basilisk, mandrake, sphinx...

Loren waved his hand to disperse the image in the air and shook his head in disappointment: "No, I went through all the magical creatures in my mind in the staff lounge that day, and only the Dementors had a magical reaction."

His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, full of puzzlement: "Why, why is it that only Dementors have magical reactions..."

"Maybe it's because of - emotions." Flamel raised his eyebrows and floated in front of him. "Whether it's Boggart or Dementor, their existence is closely related to fear. Maybe there is some connection here."

"Emotions...fear..." Loren muttered quietly, extending his right hand into a fist.

When he opened his palm, a dark stone with a smooth surface lay in the palm of his hand.

This was the second Soul Stone he had obtained. He had refined the first one into the Bloody Mary Mirror, which gave his illusion many magical uses.

The stone contains the evil magic exclusive to Dementors, which can absorb emotions and memories to increase its power. Just like a seed, it will grow into a Dementor after watering and fertilizing.

Can Dementors grow?

Thinking of this, Loren's heart moved, and he asked quickly: "Boggart has no biological characteristics. There is no observation record of it eating, reproducing, and dying. What about Dementors? Do Dementors have biological characteristics?"

Flamel was stunned for a few seconds, then he slowly spoke after thinking: "Dementors can indeed reproduce on their own. In an environment with enough emotions and memories to nourish them, their numbers will increase significantly..."

Azkaban is located on a small island in the North Sea. A dark wizard named Axtis built a fortress on the island and tried to lure Muggle sailors to the island to conduct secret dark magic research, and finally tortured them to death.

After Axtis died under mysterious circumstances, the hiding spells he had used on the fortress and the island failed, and the Ministry of Magic discovered the island, and the Dementors that inhabited it.

In 1718, Damocles Rowle was appointed Minister of Magic and pushed for the construction of the wizard prison Azkaban. Nicolas Flamel was also invited to participate in the design of the prison, although he quickly ran away due to his aversion to Dementors.

Someone once recorded the number of Dementors in Azkaban. When there are enough prisoners in the prison, the Dementors will reproduce rapidly according to an S-shaped growth curve.

The last time the Dementors' numbers increased was after the First Wizarding War, when the cells of Azkaban were filled with Death Eaters and Dark wizards.

Loren nodded and asked thoughtfully, "If the Boggart turns into a Dementor, will it really possess the magic of the Dementor? Will it have biological characteristics? I mean, if the Boggart in Dementor form absorbs emotions and memories, will it use them for its own growth and reproduction?

Will it become more powerful, or will it reproduce? If so, will the next generation be Dementors or Boggarts?"

“This…” Flamel in mid-air was suddenly stunned, with a strange expression on his face. “To be honest, even in Nico’s 600 years of long memory, this novel idea can be ranked in the top three. It’s just that the Book of Fantasy cannot simulate this situation, so I can’t give you an answer.”

"Oh, I see. Looks like we should try getting a real Boggart..."

……

Monday morning, auditorium.

At the Gryffindor table, Hermione was happily looking at her timetable, even though she had memorized it.

"Oh, great, I can't wait to start some new classes," she said happily.

When Harry got the milk, he inadvertently glanced at her schedule. It was so full that it made his scalp tingle. He blinked hard, a little bit unbelieving: "Hermione, why are your courses so messed up? Look, they want you to take almost ten courses a day. Where do you have so much time?"

Hermione snorted twice and didn't care: "I will find a way. I have already discussed it with Professor McGonagall."

"But look here, you have Divination, Muggle Studies, and Ancient Runes at nine o'clock." Harry seemed to not believe his eyes and wanted to persuade him again, "I know you are very good, Hermione, but how can you appear in three classrooms at the same time?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I certainly won't be in three classrooms at the same time."

Hermione secretly blamed herself for being so complacent, but now her flaws were exposed.

"But--"