The days at Hogwarts

In an open space outside the Forbidden Forest, third-year wizards were taking a Care of Magical Creatures class. The Gryffindor and Slytherin students stood in two distinct teams.

And their professor is a tall half-giant.

"I know some people were scared by the Hippogriff in the last class, so this time we will learn something gentle and cute..." Hagrid had a bright smile on his face. It was obvious that Professor Hagrid was confident in the teaching aids this time. "Harry, Ron, bring those little cuties up quickly."

"Yes……"

"Okay, Professor..."

Harry and Ron in the crowd responded weakly, went around the stone, and each carried out a wooden barrel.

Hagrid took the barrel from them easily, waved his hand to let them return to their original position, and smiled at the little wizards: "This may be the most gentle magical animal in the world. Everyone, pay attention--"

He pushed the barrel over and its contents spilled out onto the floor.

There were densely packed caterpillars crawling on the ground, like two pools of liquid, slowly spreading out. They were about ten inches long, brown in color, with a circle of white lines on their backs.

"what!"

"insect!"

Several little witches screamed in surprise and took a few steps back involuntarily. Even the boys felt their scalps tingling and got goose bumps all over their bodies.

"hiss……"

Loren rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. Although he had encountered many more disgusting things when dealing with potion ingredients, the sight of two large piles of caterpillars crawling densely on the ground still made him subconsciously want to avoid them.

Loren looked at Harry and Ron and asked, "Is this the result after you helped check it?"

"Of course not." Ron's face turned green. These caterpillars reminded him of the experience of spitting out slugs. "But Hagrid said this is very safe. Even a newborn baby will not be hurt by these gentle and cute caterpillars."

Harry closed his eyes, feeling a little uncomfortable: "We have tried to persuade him, we really have."

Hagrid seemed to be completely oblivious to the reactions of the little wizards and was actively trying to stimulate the classroom atmosphere: "Can anyone tell me what animal this is?"

"It's Flobberworm, Professor." Hermione's clear voice sounded behind them at the right time.

Was there anyone there just now?

Ron was startled. He thought about it carefully, then turned his head and whispered in Harry's ear, "Did you see when she came?"

Harry shook his head. "Maybe it was there from the beginning."

"Is that so..." Ron began to doubt his memory.

"Well done, Hermione! Five points for Gryffindor!" Hagrid responded happily, and then carefully raised his little finger to pick up a small insect and show it to everyone.

"The Flobberworm, this little creature loves to eat lettuce, but in fact it eats almost all plants. Its magic classification is only at the lowest level. Some people say that it is a very boring animal..."

While Hagrid was lecturing, Loren looked at the little witch with rosy cheeks and noticed that Hermione had tied her hair up with a blade of grass stuck on it, and she looked like she had just run in a hurry.

Pulling the blades of grass out of her hair, Loren asked, "Why the rush?"

Hermione exhaled softly: "Professor Bubbage was so excited that he kept the class late..."

The teacher kept the class late... Loren was silent for a moment. There was nothing he could do, this was force majeure.

There was no knowledge point in the Flobberworm, so Hagrid finished his explanation quickly: "Okay! Everyone come up and get a caterpillar. Your task in this class is to feed these little guys and observe how they look when they are full."

The little wizards were all groaning and complaining.

after an hour.

Loren, Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat in a circle, each with a lazy Flobberworm in front of them, its belly bulging with chopped lettuce.

As Hagrid said, this creature is very safe and very boring.

However, for Hermione, who was busy all the time, this safe and boring class made her feel relaxed.

Loren also thought that this kind of caterpillar would not look so disgusting if it did not appear in groups or densely packed together. He used a floating spell to lift the leaves off the ground, trying to lure the little caterpillars to stand up, and then fell to the grass again and again.

Hermione rested her chin on her hands and watched Loren play this silly game, which she still found very interesting even after repeating it dozens of times.

Ron stared at the little caterpillar with lifeless eyes. "We just spent an hour stuffing lettuce leaves into their tiny throats. I feel like we wasted an hour of our lives. What's more terrible is that this may not even be the worst."

Harry was curious when he heard this: "What's the worst thing?"

Ron sighed. "The worst thing is that every Care of Magical Creatures class from now on will be like this."

Harry followed his train of thought for a moment, and with a sad realization that this might well be true, wailed, "Oh, no—"

The two sighed and lamented for a while, and Ron broke off a small piece of lettuce to feed his caterpillars: "Why bother taking care of them? They are useless."

"It actually works," Hermione retorted. "The Flobberworm is one of the few creatures that can be summoned using a summoning spell while still alive."

Loren nodded and added, "The mucus of the Flobberworm can be used as a thickener for potions."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and reached an agreement through their eyes.

There seems to be something wrong with them.

……

Room of Requirement.

Loren sat cross-legged beside a cauldron with a roaring fire, his body enveloped in an invisible air film, holding a book called "The Rise and Fall of Black Magic" in his hands, reading it with relish.

As a formal book that can be borrowed from the school library, this book does not involve detailed spells and methods of casting spells, but only generally introduces some aspects of the evolution of black magic. Through these fragmentary records, Loren glimpsed a glimpse of the truth of history.

When talking about dark magic, we have to mention dark wizards.

The despicable Hercule, a famous ancient Greek dark wizard, is also the earliest and most influential dark wizard in history. He breeds basilisks, creates Horcruxes... He invented and created many evil curses, which still have a profound impact on the field of dark magic today.

In terms of influence, Voldemort is not even worthy of carrying his shoes.

The dark wizard Godlot inherited Herbo's legacy and carried forward the black magic again. As one of the former owners of the Elder Wand, he took the Elder Wand as his mentor, absorbed knowledge from the Elder Wand, and compiled a large amount of knowledge about evil spells into a book - "The Most Poisonous Magic"...

Looking back, Loren found that the dark wizards were gradually declining. After the Middle Ages, there were no top dark wizards who could stand up and take the lead.

Like Grindelwald, Voldemort and his ilk can only be regarded as evil wizards, and they have made no contribution to the field of dark magic.

Of course, if Voldemort's method of splitting his soul multiple times and creating multiple Horcruxes could be recorded, Hercule would probably look up to him, or he might call him a fool.

The book goes back to the present time, and a lot of space is devoted to describing Voldemort, the First Wizarding War, and the story of the savior Harry Potter. The author of the book does not know the truth behind history, and it is difficult to hide his fear of Voldemort, so this part is a bit boring.

Closing the book and putting it aside, Loren opened the lid of the crucible with his wand and took a look. After confirming that the wolfsbane potion was brewed successfully, he sat there and fell into deep thought.

He was hesitating whether to ask Dumbledore for approval.

He certainly couldn't learn the Unforgivable Curses now, so he went to Professor Flitwick to ask about them. The professor suggested that he try some low-level black magic first.

The problem is, if it was just ordinary dark magic, there would be no need for him to find the headmaster and then go to Professor Flitwick with the headmaster's note.

He could study on his own or seek help from Flamel. If he encountered any problems, he could also ask Professor Snape for help. He was also a master of the Dark Arts and might be even more proficient than Professor Flitwick.

Let’s practice some ordinary black magic first.

Speaking of which, there is another urgent matter that is giving Loren even more headaches.

How can I deliver this modified wolfsbane potion to Professor Lupin and convince him to let me watch the transformation during the full moon?

goooo...

goooo...

The potion in the crucible was boiling slightly, and the sound of bubbles bursting continued to be heard.

……

On Friday, in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Lupin was explaining a creature called "kappa" in Japan, which looked more like a water monkey to Loren:

"Although Kaba looks like a scaly monkey, this creature lives in water. Look carefully, it has webbed hands... Look here, there is a hole on the top of its head filled with water, and the water inside can provide energy for this creature."

"Kaba mainly lives in shallow rivers and ponds in Japan. Kaba mainly sucks human blood and will try to strangle those who wade through the pond without any defense..."

"…If you throw a cucumber with your name on it at a Kaba, there's a chance that the Kaba won't attack you. Also, if you trick the Kaba into bowing, the water in the hole above its head will flow out, and it will lose its power."

Ron, who was listening with fascination, suddenly raised his hand: "Professor, wouldn't it be faster and more effective to punch it in the nose?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The little wizards in the classroom all laughed, and many of them had similar thoughts.

Professor Lupin also smiled gently. After recuperating in Hogwarts for a while, he had gained some weight and was no longer as skinny as when he first started school. His plump cheeks made the smile even more friendly.

He did not blame Ron for disrupting the class order, but followed his train of thought and said jokingly: "Of course you can, but that is a method that only trolls would use. As for you - I'm sorry, you only have a troll's brain but not a troll's strength, so this probably won't work."

"Oh, Professor, what you said is so hurtful!" Ron made a funny sad expression and sobbed, about to cry.

The little wizards around laughed even more happily.

Defense Against the Dark Arts is probably the class where the little wizards are most relaxed and laugh the loudest. In front of the serious Professors McGonagall and Snape, they dare not be so presumptuous. Although the kind Professor Flitwick can make a joke, he will not tell a joke to make everyone laugh deliberately.

Happy classes always go by quickly. Fortunately, this was the last class on Friday. When the bell rang, the little wizards ran out of the classroom even more happily to greet the leisurely weekend.

Harry and Ron headed straight for the Quidditch pitch while Hermione went to the library to do her homework on ancient runes.

Finally, the only people left in the classroom were Loren, who was walking slowly and deliberately, and Professor Lupin, who was cleaning the water tank.

Loren walked up to the podium, and the water monkey in the tank noticed him first. It pressed its face against the glass, grinning and showing its terrifying fangs at him.

"Once you know its weakness, it's easy to deal with it. Look—" Lupin seized an opportunity when its head was close to the glass and knocked on the glass, causing the water in its head to sway a few times, and scaring the water monkey Kaba back.

Covering the water tank with a black curtain, Lupin turned his head and smiled: "Tell me, Loren, how many ways can you think of to deal with this little monster in the water."

Loren thought for a moment and replied, "Transfiguration, freezing spell, repulsion spell, stunning spell...anything that can control the effect will do."

"Yes, the trick is to stay calm." Lupin got off the podium and found a seat in the first row to sit down, soothing his stiff knees and calves. "Stay at the back and wait for me. What can I do for you?"

Loren took out a tightly sealed white porcelain bottle from his schoolbag and handed it to Lupin: "Wolfsbane Potion, Professor."

"Wolfsbane Potion..." Lupin's eyes flickered, and then he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Life in school is so comfortable that I almost forgot about it."

He turned the porcelain bottle in his hand, and the chaotic thoughts in his mind gradually became clear.

His first reaction was that Snape had deliberately revealed his identity, but then he thought that Snape would not do it so obviously.

Yes, yes, the Philosopher's Stone... Dumbledore mentioned it...

Lupin smiled and shook his head, then asked, "Why did Snape ask you to pass it to me?"

"Not handing it over..." Loren replied in a low voice, "I brewed this potion."

"Did you make it?" Lupin subconsciously wanted to open it and take a look.

"Don't--"

Seeing that the biological weapon was about to be leaked, Loren quickly stopped him and said with some difficulty, "This potion is a modified formula of Professor Snape. It is not suitable to be opened in public places."

Lu Ping: "..."

Suddenly I was a little afraid to drink.

Chapter 310 The Third Sunday in September

Lupin looked at the tightly sealed small porcelain bottle and his heart beat nervously.

Even though he had always been at odds with Snape, and Snape had always coveted his position as professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, the two were now professors together, and Dumbledore also trusted that man...so Snape would not poison the medicine.

However, this can only ensure that personal safety is not endangered.

"Loren..." Lupin was silent for a moment, "Can you tell me about the improvement of the potion?"

"Okay, professor." Loren explained honestly, "In order to achieve better results, Professor Snape proposed adding highly irritating materials to the original wolfsbane potion. This wolfsbane potion contains Rafflesia extract..."

The corner of Lupin's eye twitched. As a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, he certainly knew what kind of plant the Rafflesia was.

The extract of that thing is added to the medicine, and then you have to drink it...

The taste of wolfsbane potion is already bad enough, and with the addition of Rafflesia...

"Loren!"

"Ok?"

“Can adding Rafflesia really improve the efficacy of the medicine?”

Loren glanced at Lupin quietly.

Professor, your question is very informative.

Loren was silent for a moment, then replied, "From the perspective of the principles of potions, it is indeed possible."

"Really..." Lupin nodded dazedly.

"Professor," Loren gritted his teeth and made a request, looking at the professor's pale face, "I want to observe your transformation state on a full moon night for the purpose of improving the formula later. Is that okay?"