The days at Hogwarts

"Subsequent improvements to the formula?" The light in Lu Ping's eyes flashed, and a glimmer of hope arose, "What improvements?"

"Adjust the dosage of the extract, and determine the dosage of the corpse-smelling arum, leopard flower..." Loren saw that Professor Lupin's hands seemed to tremble, and he gradually slowed down his speech, "The dosage of these additives."

"Corpse Amorphophallus, Leopard Flower..."

Lupin repeated these unpleasant-sounding flower names in a low voice and thought for a while. Perhaps the news was too heavy, so he thought it through. He raised his head and gave Loren a carefree smile, "It will sound unpalatable, but I believe Professor Snape is a professional..."

He looked like he had finally come to terms with it. "I hope the improved potion will give me enough energy to attend class after the full moon. If I remain in the same state as I was on the train for the next few days after my transformation, you'll be late for class again."

What a good temper...

Loren prayed silently in his heart for the werewolf professor, hoping that he could still hold on after drinking the potion.

"Professor, remember to drink the potion one week in advance, which is next Thursday." Loren instructed.

Lupin put the small porcelain bottle into his pocket and nodded in response: "I know, the full moon is on the last day of this month. Come to my office after dinner and we will go to the Shrieking Shack together."

"Okay professor. Bye professor."

Looking at Loren's quickly leaving back, Lupin smiled lightly, stood up and walked to the podium, ready to take the water tank back to the office.

The water monkey Kaba pressed his face against the glass and bared his teeth at him fiercely.

Lupin looked into Cabba's eyes and asked softly, "Do you think Snape will make the potion taste better if I give him the Defense Against the Dark Arts class?"

"squeak--"

Lupin smiled, knocked on the glass to scare it back, lifted the tank with a levitation spell, and walked out of the classroom.

……

September 1993, 9, the third Sunday in September, in the morning.

The dark clouds in the sky gathered and dispersed, and the sky was gray for the whole week ahead. The heavy rain that everyone expected did not fall. Fortunately, the autumn wind was brisk and the temperature was neither too cold nor too hot, which was very pleasant.

“It might rain today.”

At the foot of the entrance hall steps of Hogwarts Castle, Loren looked up at the sky. Although there were still dark clouds floating in the sky, the sky today was brighter than usual.

Hermione also looked up like Loren, her fair little face reflecting the light of the sky. She couldn't understand why the brightening sky was a sign of rain.

Harry didn't look up. He looked far into the sky outside the school. Some vague black shadows were moving through the clouds. They were the Dementors that had not yet left.

Ron next to him urged, "Come on, stop looking, let's go to Hagrid as soon as possible."

So they withdrew their gazes and strode towards Hagrid's hut.

Crookshanks, who was squatting on the steps, slowly raised his head, opened his mouth and limbs wide, stretched himself, then jumped down the steps and followed the little wizards in small steps.

"It's just an ordinary birthday. There's no need to go to Hagrid's for a barbecue, right?"

Hermione asked weakly amid the rustling of footsteps. She had just gotten up, and her voice was soft and thin, like the autumn wind blowing through the leaves.

"Come on, your birthday happens to be on the weekend, how can you just spend it so casually!" Ron yelled, "By the way, have you opened my birthday present? It's a magic notebook, the contents of which can be erased and altered without leaving any trace. I spent a long time choosing it..."

He showed off eagerly, as if he had received a gift rather than given one.

Hermione smiled and said, "Thank you, I really like that notebook. And Harry, I also like the "British History of Magic" you gave me."

Loren, who was walking beside her, turned his head, narrowed his eyes and stared at her.

"Watch the road, be careful not to fall." Hermione reached out and turned his head back, leaning close to his ear with a helpless expression, and whispered, "Although your gift has not been given to me yet, as long as it is from you, I like it. Okay?"

Loren then looked back at the road, a smile on his face.

There are few people on the road outside the castle. On weekend mornings, most little wizards will stay in bed for most of the morning, and the few students who wake up early will not come out to play at this time.

Walking on the soft path, thanks to the fallen leaves blocking the mud, the ground feels soft and the shoes are not stained with mud. It's just that the dew soaks the trouser legs unconsciously.

None of them wore magic robes, just long-sleeved jackets or hoodies over simple shirts. The faint autumn breeze blew the moisture accumulated during the night onto their faces and necks, making them wet and cool, but not cold, and rather refreshing.

Breathing the cool air, Hermione, who had been immersed in busy classes and homework, gradually relaxed and slowly accepted this leisurely weekend birthday.

She seemed to remember the past two years. Although the first year was always worried about the Philosopher's Stone and the second year was shrouded in the shadow of Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, they would always find a weekend every month to go to Hagrid's hut. Most of the time they would not stay for rock pie lunch, but occasionally there would be fresh seasonal vegetables to try, and Loren would simply cook something...

At that time, we also walked along this path, and our trouser legs would get wet by the dew.

Hermione was a little dazed. She suddenly realized that although there was no Philosopher's Stone crisis and no basilisk chaos in her third year, she seemed to be busier and almost missed the weekend.

A loud shout suddenly rang out from the quiet forest path: "Spin!"

Hermione subconsciously looked towards the source of the sound.

Loren shouted and a small stone flew out from under his feet.

The stone flew out suddenly and disappeared straight into the grass without any rotation and naturally no arc.

But this person was not discouraged. He looked for the next stone on the ground with great interest and tried to shoot a curved shot.

After watching him try a few times, Harry also became interested and quickened his pace to catch up with him: "Let me try, let me try, there are some moves in Quidditch that also involve arcs..."

Ron's eyes widened and he quickly came forward: "Quidditch, what Quidditch? Let me see..."

So all the stones along the way suffered.

Hermione pursed her lips and couldn't help laughing. She followed the group slowly, occasionally calling out to Crookshanks to stay away from the boys.

Walking through the vegetable garden and greenhouse, I saw the leaves of the Whomping Willow swaying gently in the distance. Then I walked along the edge of the Forbidden Forest for a while. When I heard Fang's joyful cry coming from the woods, I arrived at Hagrid's hut.

The hound Yaya was standing inside the fence. When he saw the figures of the people, he slid out smoothly from a gap in the wooden fence and ran towards them barking.

Harry and Ron went over, bent over and rubbed and kneaded Fang's head quickly, saying things like "Long time no see" and "Why do you look fatter?"

Fang left the two of them and trotted over to Loren, rubbing his calf. When he saw Crookshanks nearby, he wagged his tail happily and sniffed at him. His movements looked similar to the way Harry and Ron rubbed his dog's head.

Crookshanks was not at all flustered and followed Loren steadily.

"Good morning, little ones!"

At the door of the wooden house, a half-blood giant wearing a moleskin coat poked his head out of the house. Hagrid's face was full of smiles. He shouted at the top of his voice, "Loren, come and have a look. I prepared many kinds of meat as you said, and chopped them all into pieces!"

……

zizi——

zizi——

The fat melted by the high temperature drips onto the charcoal fire, making a pleasant sound. The fat and protein marinated with spices slowly mature, giving off an increasingly tempting aroma.

The whole stone was carved into a rectangular stone trough, filled with a layer of fruit charcoal and topped with a crudely made wire mesh. This was the barbecue grill made by Hagrid.

I don’t know if it was made by magic or by hand. It’s not very exquisite, but it’s big enough for a half-giant and four little wizards to barbecue each.

Ron, who had several skewers of beef and mutton in front of him, stood next to Loren. He mechanically flipped his own skewers while unable to stop glancing at Loren's. He subconsciously sniffed a few times, and the tempting aroma became stronger, making his stomach growl.

It's very strange, the meat was all chopped by Hagrid, and the sauces were all prepared by Loren... marinated with the same sauce, turned over in the same way, but Loren's just smelled more fragrant.

"Suck--"

Ron took a deep breath and the fragrance became stronger. He turned his head quietly, wanting to see Loren's technique and learn from it.

When he raised his eyes, his gaze met Harry's, and they looked at each other tacitly, and looked at each other tacitly.

Ignoring the thoughts of the people around him, Loren leisurely flipped the barbecue.

It is said that the best ingredients require the simplest cooking methods. For the general public, fresh meat is the best ingredient, and grilling is the simplest cooking method.

This primitive cooking technique is not only used in China, but all over the world. German barbecue is bold and open, with various legs, elbows and steaks, large portions and enough to fill you up; Brazilian barbecue is unique and even has a place in China.

Britain, which has always been considered a food desert, also likes barbecue, sausages, chicken skewers, peppers and vegetable skewers, and served with sauces... different ways to achieve the same goal.

In order to cater to the tastes of several people, Loren reduced the spicy sauce and added some sour and sweet flavors.

The fat and lean beef and mutton were sizzling with oil, and the white chicken was marinated into a reddish brown color with a rich aroma. The oil and sauce seemed to have penetrated into the texture of the meat.

The gutted perch lay peacefully on the iron plate, with no strange light in its eyes, as its eyeballs had been separated by Crookshanks and Yaya when the meat was marinated. The perch at this time of year had fat stored in its body to prepare for the winter, and was very plump. It was simply marinated with oyster sauce, cooking wine, and black pepper, and served with onions.

And butter corn, vegetable salad...

A few minutes later, Loren lifted a skewer of lamb and blew on it. When the temperature dropped, he tasted a piece and said, "It's ready. Be careful of the heat."

He gathered the skewers together and shook off the oil, then gave half to Hermione and the rest to the others.

"Thank you..." Ron said stupidly. He took the skewer and couldn't wait to put it in his mouth. It was so hot that he exhaled and stuck out his tongue without spitting it out, making a hissing sound.

Hermione blew on it, took a small bite, and her eyes narrowed in delight.

The meat skewers are grilled to a slightly browned texture. When you take a bite, the rich sauce and fat are squeezed out from the meat, wrapping around your tongue and bringing out the rich meaty aroma.

……

An hour later, everyone found a place to sit down around the barbecue grill, stroking their round bellies, and staring absent-mindedly at the steam coming out of the charcoal fire that had not yet been completely extinguished.

Looking at the half plate of butter corn left, Hagrid let out a long sigh. He couldn't eat any more. He really couldn't eat any more. Not to mention the half-blood giant, even the pure-blood giant couldn't eat any more. The ingredients were originally too much. How much could a few little wizards, a cat and a dog eat? The rest went into Hagrid's stomach.

Hagrid could only watch with a numb expression and sigh with disappointment.

No one cared about the messy barbecue scene. Loren and Hermione sat side by side on two small stools near the door. They were originally leaning against the door frame, but the wooden door frame was too slippery, and somehow their shoulders and heads leaned against each other.

Crookshanks was lying under the bench with his belly exposed. Although he was ginger in color, there was some white hair on his belly. Fang was lying at Hagrid's feet, his belly was bloated and he kept whining.

Ron was chatting quietly with Harry about Quidditch recruitment: "What should I do? Wood said I have to be selected and tested with the others, too?"

Harry found this funny: "Aren't you very confident?"

"I'm worried that I'll be unlucky that day. What if I lose?"

"Don't worry, I can help you train."

"What can a Seeker like you do to help a Keeper train? I feel like some of your skills are not as good as mine."

"you!"

Chapter 311: Homeless Man or Stray Dog

A cool breeze blew out of the woods, the clouds in the sky gathered and dispersed, and Buckbeak's cry came from far away in the sky.

Hermione looked at the leaves swaying in the tree with a calm expression. Loren leaned on her shoulder, and the girl's hair kept tickling his nose, making it itchy.

Harry tried to comfort Ron about Quidditch, but he succeeded in getting himself angry and sat aside angrily waiting for the charcoal fire to completely go out.

Be sure to throw some dust in his eyes!

Ron must have eaten too much. After Harry finished his anger, he went to talk to Hagrid again: "Hagrid, how long are you going to teach Flobberworms in the Care of Magical Creatures class?"

Hagrid, lying on his back on a wooden chair, opened his eyes a little, thought for a while, and replied in a muffled voice, "I asked Professor Kettleburn, and he told me not to worry and to get used to the professor's job first."

“How long will it take to adapt?”

"About one semester..."

"Oh, we're going to take care of caterpillars for a whole semester! Hagrid, you can't do this!"

Hagrid reached out and rubbed Fang's head, making it close its eyes comfortably. He replied without any emotion in his tone: "I think those little guys are safe. They won't cause any trouble for me, nor will they bring any trouble to Harry."

"Don't say that, Hagrid..." Harry looked away from the coals.

The cabin was silent for a moment, with only the sound of burning embers of the fire to be heard.

Hermione looked away and lifted the unconscious head on her shoulder. He was about to fall. "If the whole semester is full of Flobberworms, the teaching progress will be delayed. There are many gentle magical animals. Consider the Puffball. How about the goblins?"

Hagrid's eyes showed some intention, and although he didn't say anything, he subconsciously increased the strength of rubbing Fang's head. Fang whimpered and moved away a little, his scalp hurting a little.

"And Rolf's Bowtruckle!" Harry suggested loudly.

"There are animals like these in the forest..." Hagrid whispered. Looking at Harry's hopeful eyes, he nodded slowly, but still felt a little worried. "You guys accompany me to the forest to look for them. If there is no problem, I will move to the classroom."

"Great!"

"Don't worry, Hagrid! Leave it to us."

……

By the time Hagrid had finished cleaning up the barbecue, the charcoal in the stone trough had not completely cooled down, so Harry could only leave with regret, hoping to find some dry mud in the forest.

"See you later Hermione!"

"Loren is in your hands, haha!"

"Wang Wang..."

"What should we look for first? How about Foxy?"

"I remember Foxy seems to be poisonous, right?"

Harry and Ron chattered away.