The days at Hogwarts

"This is how the Malfoy family survives, Draco."

He was vaguely aware of something unusual, but his father just let him go to school peacefully and stay in Hogwarts as much as possible.

Professor Hagrid from the Care of Magical Creatures class came from a distance. Theodore Nott nodded and did not continue the conversation. He didn’t know how much he believed it.

Hagrid held a black smoking iron bucket in his left hand, and lifted a large bundle of firewood on his shoulder with his right hand. He walked up to the student and put down the iron bucket, throwing the firewood beside him.

Hagrid clapped his hands and said with a hearty smile: "Long time no see, little guys!"

"Professor Hagrid, long time no see!" the little wizards responded in unison, poking their heads to see what was in the tin bucket.

"I know the weather is not good. It's too cold and wet. Not to mention you, even Yaya doesn't want to come out...so I've prepared a surprise for you..."

Hagrid piled the firewood into a circle, picked up the iron bucket and poured out a small half bucket of hot charcoal in the center of the firewood pile. With the wind on all sides, the firewood pile quickly turned into a bonfire, burning with crackling sounds.

Dozens of fiery red little lizards were scurrying back and forth in the flames, and the patterns on the lizards' backs lit up like neon lights.

"Wow!" The eyes of the little wizards reflected the bright fire.

Hagrid was very satisfied with their reaction. He knew these cute little guys would win everyone's love:

"Salamanders are born in flames and feed on flames. As long as the flame they live in is not extinguished, they can live forever. For salamanders that have lost their flames, feeding them chili powder can extend their lives by six hours..."

He explained the characteristics of the salamander in very brief words and said with a smile:

"There are dozens of salamanders in this bonfire. You can collect firewood and leaves. You can add firewood to it, or you can try to light a bonfire yourself and see if you can attract these little guys."

"Old rules, you are not allowed to go deep into the Forbidden Forest! Go!"

The little wizards did not take action immediately, but swarmed up to observe the salamanders. Although they had used salamander skins and tongues in potions class, they were all made from cannons, and there was no live fire dancing in front of them. It's novel.

Loren looked at this little creature curiously. It had a flat and small head, short limbs and a layer of scales covering its body. It had a long tail trailing behind. It was so small that the largest one was no wider than a palm.

It looks similar to an ordinary lizard, but it can move freely in and out of the scorching flames.

Loren put his left hand against his right hand and held his chin with his right hand, and began to think about some strange questions:

Does the salamander's fire protection come from its scales or is its entire body resistant to fire?

Can it be made into fireproof material?

Can it protect against severe fire?

As if aware of his gaze, the salamander closest to him stuck out its tongue at him and tilted its head to look at him. Its round eyes looked a bit cute.

The Salamander took two steps in his direction. After emerging from the flames, he immediately shrank back and stared at him stupidly.

"..."

Loren felt a subtle sense of guilt.

"Loren, come with us! I know where the firewood is!" Harry and Ron dragged him and ran into the woods.

Hermione knelt down and looked at the little guy who had just looked at Loren in the flames. She picked up a twig and lit it, then reached into the bonfire and poked the salamander in the face.

The salamander dodged, bared its teeth and sprayed a few sparks at Hermione, then quickly ran into the fire and hid. It was completely different from its cute appearance just now.

Hermione: "..."

Being able to play with fire and tease small animals, the little wizards were almost fascinated by these fiery little guys. They ran into the forest regardless of the mud, looking for firewood everywhere.

Young wizards with some life experience will seek out dead wood buried among leaves and grass;

The inexperienced person chooses to cast the crushing spell directly on the branch.

After a while, more than a dozen bonfires were set up on the site, the damp wood was being smoked, and thick white smoke slowly rose, choking the little wizards to cough non-stop, even if they were blackened by the smoke, they did not want to Stop.

In the end, only a few bonfires were successfully lit, and Loren and the others were one of them.

"Why can Loren attract salamanders with a torch, but Harry and I can't?" Ron used a small branch to stir up the bonfire, and the salamanders quickly hid in the pile of firewood. "Tell me, do you look down on me?" ?”

"Hey!"

The little salamander spat a mouthful of sparks at him, the meaning of which was unexplainable.

"Okay, don't let me catch you, or I'll be like George and Fred, and feed you Libra fireworks!"

Ron and others were furious and picked up small branches to surround the Salamander. Although the Salamander was not dominant in size, it would fight back with spat and sparks from time to time based on the advantage of the terrain, fighting the little wizard back and forth.

The orange flames were rising, and the heat wave dispelled the chill of the late winter snow, making the venue bright and hot, and making people's cheeks glow red.

Loren and Hermione squatted on the opposite side of the bonfire, quietly watching another salamander sucking the flames, and the scales on its body became more red and bright as it ate.

After confirming that it was full, the salamander burped and spit out an orange flame the size of a bellflower. The flame swayed out of the bonfire and was quickly blown away by the wind.

"Um!?"

Hermione's eyes lit up when she saw it. She held her wand and pulled out several blue flames, controlling the flames to float towards the salamander.

The little salamander's eyes lit up, and it flicked its tail and ran into the blue flames. The scales on its body quickly turned light blue. It was not known whether it was caused by the temperature change or the change in the color of the flame.

Loren felt a little itchy when he saw it, but he also knew that the salamander probably couldn't resist Li Huo, so he wasn't so crazy as to do any biological experiments.

Loren touched the wand and turned a few flames into small animals. He threw himself into the fire and played with the salamanders. After a while, the crackling sound of burning wood became faster.

Hermione glanced at him calmly, gritting her teeth secretly.

Damn it, even the flames it transforms are Munchkin cats. Are you implying something?

But it is indeed a bit powerful, as the disembodied flames can be deformed and controlled.

An unknown witch was once again inspired to delve into the art of transfiguration.

……

On the afternoon of the first day of school, Loren and Hermione's Arithmancy class ended at half past four, and there was still some time before dinner.

"Hermione, are you going to the library to do your homework?" Loren turned around and asked.

"Ah?" Hermione looked to the side with a guilty conscience, "I plan to go to Professor McGonagall to ask some questions about transfiguration."

Hermione silently added the second half of the sentence in her mind: It's mainly about how to turn you into a cat.

Loren didn't notice anything strange about her: "I plan to go to Principal Dumbledore and ask about my transformation talent, and talk about Horcruxes by the way."

"That's it..." Hermione said slowly, "Go ahead and see you at dinner."

Loren looked at her strangely several times, always feeling that something was wrong, but finding nothing wrong, he finally waved goodbye.

Familiarly, he came to the principal's office and opened the oak door. The office was empty. Fox was lazily lying on the perch at the door. Dumbledore was not there.

"As a principal, I'm not here on the first day of school... I'm really incompetent!"

Loren muttered to condemn a certain principal and looked over at the desk. Apart from the tea set and silverware, there was only a small gold cup left on the table.

"Hufflepuff's golden cup..."

Loren was stunned for a moment. He was always curious about this only Horcrux that he did not take back with his own hands, and he failed to take a closer look when he left that day.

"Since it's here, it'll be okay if I take a closer look."

Loren quickly convinced himself to step forward and examine the golden cup carefully.

The ear handles are exquisite, the body of the cup is engraved with badger-shaped carvings, and the clear yellow magic power has a trace of black mist. Other than that, there is nothing unusual about it.

"Compared to a diary that can communicate... other Horcruxes seem to be much more rigid."

Loren muttered in a low voice, "There shouldn't be such a big difference... Is it the difference between the carriers or the soul fragments..."

"I prefer that there are differences in soul fragments." As a familiar voice came from the inner room of the office, Dumbledore, wearing a roomy gray cashmere sweater, slowly walked out.

"Good afternoon, principal."

Loren, who was caught in the act, didn't care at all. Instead, he stepped forward and curiously inquired, "Why do you say that?"

"The process of splitting the soul through killing is uncontrollable..." Dumbledore sat behind the desk. "When he made the diary Horcrux, he was just a student whose soul was not yet stable. In addition, he suddenly learned some secrets of his life, and his soul was shaken..."

Loren asked thoughtfully: "Principal, you mean that when he first made a Horcrux, he broke a large piece of his soul?"

Dumbledore nodded: "I think even Voldemort himself doesn't know how much soul he has left after many splits."

"No wonder he was very smart when he was a student, but then he became stupid," Loren said.

A smile appeared on Dumbledore's face, he shook his head and did not continue the topic. While pouring tea for Loren, he asked: "On the first day of school, what do you want to do with me, an incompetent principal?"

"I can turn into a cat!"

"?"

Chapter 363 Professor Tom Gunter

Chapter 363 Professor Tom Gunter

The Hogwarts Principal's office is so quiet that you can hear the sound of silverware spewing out white vapor smoke. The walls are covered with portraits of previous old principals. These moving magical portraits keep the same expression, looking out in the frame. He looked towards the chair in front of the desk.

Dumbledore's expression became calmer and deeper, and he quietly looked at the white lion cat squatting on the cushion, with an interesting light flashing in his blue eyes.

"Honestly, as a former professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts, I have seen many human transformations and many unusual talents..."

Dumbledore's eyes were full of interest, "But let me tell you, such a unique ability deserves to be featured in "Transfiguration Today"...

"There are more types of animals that can transform than Animagus, and transformation involves a wider range of things than Metamorphosis."

Dumbledore paused and asked with great interest: "Can you look like someone else, like Polyjuice Potion?"

"Meow--"

Loren opened his mouth to answer, and realized that he was now a cat. He shook the mane around his neck and returned to his human form: "I can't do it. It seems that I can't change my appearance flexibly when I become an animal. Whether it's a cat or an owl, I can't change my appearance." The figures behind him all have highly consistent features, especially the heterochromatic eyes...

It doesn't feel like a random transformation, but more like converting my own appearance into the corresponding animal signs through some inexplicable magical process... I'm also about to ask you for advice on how to control this magical talent. "

"After all, this is the magic passed down by Fairy Morgan..." Dumbledore fell into thought and unconsciously rubbed his fingers on the tea cup. After half a minute, he came back to his senses and shook his head, "Well, I can't do it for a while. I can't think of any clues, but...the wizard's magic is always full of infinite possibilities.

You can try to learn Parseltongue, and the Disguise Magus has a similar effect to the advanced human transfiguration. In the future, after you deeply understand the nature of transfiguration, you may be able to completely control the details of these changes. "

Loren took a sip of tea and exhaled slowly: "It was such a long time ago..."

The lazy tone was even a bit leisurely, and you could tell from the first listen that he didn't intend to explore in this direction.

Dumbledore smiled helplessly: "Perhaps you can reverse the transformation process into a magic ritual... to transform into other animals without restraint. That would be magic that surpasses Animagus."

"Forget it, I'm not Miranda Gorshak. This kind of thing about benefiting the public and studying abroad textbooks sounds very tiring..."

Loren leaned back and leaned on the backrest of the chair. "Speaking of it, this transformation is very different from Animagus. After I transform into an animal, a strange magic power will remain in my body. I can pass through it." Control this magic power to change form.

So I was thinking, since I have magic in my body, can I transform into a magical animal? "

"Pioneering idea..." Dumbledore praised, "If you can realize your vision, it can almost be regarded as creating a new magical field."

"Really?" Loren smiled sheepishly.

"On the premise of ensuring safety, Hogwarts professors encourage students to try..." Dumbledore looked at Loren's face intently and advised sincerely, "But I also want to remind you that although Fantastic Beasts inspired He has created many magics, but compared to various magical animals, wizards’ magic is more colorful.”

"Don't worry, principal, I know which one is more important."

In the following time, Loren asked Dumbledore some questions about alchemy and transfiguration. He also asked Flamel about the same question. The two old wizards' answers focused on different aspects.

Flamel is better at theoretical knowledge in the field of alchemy and can often guide Loren to explore more profound alchemical systems, while Dumbledore focuses more on basic applications in alchemy, such as how to replace extinct materials. Which materials are more cost-effective...

In the field of transfiguration, Dumbledore was ahead of Flamel in almost all aspects, both in theory and application.

After ending the discussion about invisible beasts and the Illusion Curse, Loren looked out the window. The sky was gradually getting darker, and night began to cover the sky and the earth.

Loren sat up from his chair, patted his sleeves and said goodbye: "Professor, I'm going to have dinner first, and I'll chat with you when I have time."

"Wait a minute, I have something to ask you..." Dumbledore met Loren's curious gaze and said slowly, "Keep an eye on Harry for me. If he dreams of any strange scenes or conversations, be sure to tell him Notify me as soon as possible."

"Did something happen?" Loren was a little surprised.

Dumbledore generally would not mention Harry's dreams. He always hoped that Harry would master Occlumency and sever his connection with Voldemort, even though Harry's fool didn't think so at all.

"Peter Pettigrew's body was stolen..." Dumbledore rubbed his brows, as if he had a headache just thinking about it, "just when Bellatrix Lestrange attacked Gringotts Not long after that, the body that had been stored at Saint-German's Hospital disappeared, and I suspect it has something to do with Voldemort."

……

"what?!"

"Voldemort stole Peter Pettigrew's body?"

Harry and Ron's eyes widened in surprise, and even Hermione was a little confused and completely confused.

Loren nodded: "I'm not completely sure, but that's what Dumbledore guessed."

Anyway, Dumbledore never said anything about keeping it secret, and this kind of news should soon appear on the front page of the Daily Prophet. After coming out of the principal's office to have dinner, Loren called a few people to the abandoned classroom and shared with them the intelligence Dumbledore had just released.

Thinking of the short, fat, bald, middle-aged man, Ron suddenly felt physiological discomfort and shivered coldly: "What does he want with a man's body?"