Harry Potter and the Burnt Badger

In the care of magical animals class in the afternoon, Professor Kettleburn finally stopped taking them to learn about fire crabs. This made all the little wizards who chose this class feel extremely relieved, because from the beginning to today, there have been many people His robes were burned by those damn things, and even Moon was not spared - he escaped the attack of his group of fire crabs who were responsible for tending, but was attacked by the fire crabs of Fred and George's group. Crab comes with a wonderful backstab.

What made everyone even more gratified was that Professor Kettleburn brought them a very cute magical animal: a bowtruckle with a body that looked like a curved stick insect.

"These little guys are very gentle and won't attack you as long as you don't try to damage the trees they live in or attack them - but if you do, you have to watch your back. Eyes." Professor Kettleburn said as he took a bowtruckle out of the sleeve of his wooden prosthetic hand. "See those long, sharp fingers? There are some every year. Guys who can’t think about it will have their eyeballs poked out by these fingers.”

Chapter 64 The “cute” Bowtruckle

Professor Kettleburn seems to have a magical talent - probably because he really likes those dangerous magical animals, so when introducing magical animals, the more dangerous things, such as fire crabs, he The more he likes to say that they are less dangerous; on the contrary, they are less dangerous things, such as bowtruckles, and he has to introduce to the little wizards in large sections how these little guys have hurt people in various ways. .

If the Bowtruckles hadn't been so cute and funny, the little wizards probably wouldn't have dared to get close to these little creatures that poked people's eyes out when nothing happened in Professor Kettleburn's mouth.

But in essence, Moon believes that Professor Kettleburn's teaching method still has some merits. People can often easily realize the danger of dangerous things, and thus instinctively think of protecting themselves, but things like Little guys like Bowtruckles, if Professor Kettleburn hadn't made it more serious, Moon would have no doubt that some little wizards were already trying to cut Bowtruckles that looked like twigs. It was "broken".

Professor Kettleburn brought not too many Bowtruckles for this class, so everyone still couldn’t afford the luxury of one each. They could only work in groups of two or three, each holding a Bowtruckle and staring at it. Watch.

Fred and George were trying to feed their Bowtruckle a piece of peach-flavored hard candy, but it clearly didn't match the Bowtruckle's recipe, so they sadly threw the candy to Lee Jordan. .Arlin and Gal were chasing the Bowtruckle all over the ground. For some reason, the Bowtruckle they were assigned was full of fear of them, probably because it was afraid of being eaten by Gal.

Moon and Violet were also assigned a Bowtruckle. The little guy liked Moon very much, but Moon found that it had been trying to get into the velvet bag on his waist.Therefore, Moon strongly suspected that the Bowtruckle might not like him, but the dozens of spare wands in the bag on his waist - yes, after he was kidnapped into the Forbidden Forest in the first grade, Those old wands he bought from second-hand dealers.

He really wanted to buy a few new wands as backup wands, but Mr. Ollivander refused, because in Mr. Ollivander's view, wands are not tools, but good friends of wizards and like family members. Same relationship.Moon didn't bother much, because it was obvious that Mr. Ollivander probably felt that if a person used two wands, he would be guilty of bigamy.

So what else can he say?

Fortunately, second-hand wands are just as useful, because these wands are usually recycled wands after their owners died and are not defective items.Of course, there are indeed some wands that will become very difficult to tame and use due to the death of their original owners, but there are still a few that are useful, not to mention that the spare wands are only for emergencies. They only need to be able to cast spells, and they are not required. As handy as my own magic wand.

"I have new card inspiration." Violet said with a smile while watching Munn blocking the Bowtruckle from getting closer to her velvet bag with her hands: "The next card can draw a 'Mun and Lovely Bowtruckle'."

"Then I think what you should draw is 'Mun is confused by the cute Bowtruckle'." Moon helplessly looked at the Bowtruckle looking at him with pleading eyes, and suddenly an idea flashed through his mind. a good idea.

"Professor Kettleburn, can I give my wand to the Bowtruckle? He seems to be very interested in the wand." Moon turned to look at Professor Kettleburn and shouted: "Let's talk about it." Is it possible that you won’t return it to me after you get it?”

"Correct answer, Mr. Fox!" Professor Kettleburn's eyes widened. "You made a very wise choice to ask me first instead of giving your wand to these little guys directly. The reason why they like your wand is Because these little guys like to live in the trees that are often used for wands. Unless you raise your own Bowtruckle and already regard you as its owner, once your wand is taken away by the Bowtruckle, they will be very vulnerable to it. There is a possibility that the wand will be directly regarded as his own property and will not be returned to you - I have already told you the consequences of robbing it."

As soon as Professor Kettleburn finished speaking, the big Gryffindor boy, Noel Benson, immediately shouted in embarrassment: "But Professor, I have already handed my wand to the Bowtruckle!"

All eyes immediately turned to him. Sure enough, on a tree stump in front of Noel Benson, a Bowtruckle was holding a wand much larger than himself, pressing his head against it tightly, and his eyes felt fast. Little stars appeared.

"Damn that simple-minded big man!" Professor Kettleburn immediately dragged the wooden prosthesis over as quickly as possible. "Get out of the way! I'll handle it! If you dare to do it, I can go to the school hospital to give it to you tomorrow." Sending condolences."

Noel Benson felt like he was about to die unjustly. Shouldn't you have said such an important thing earlier?

No wonder you were detained and inspected more than sixty times...[Note 1]

Professor Kettleburn obviously couldn't hear Noel Benson's voice, but he was really good at dealing with the Bowtruckle. He didn't even use a wand. After a while, the Bowtruckle obediently held up the wand. It was handed into his hand.

"Now, you little guys, listen up. Not only can't you hand over your wands, you must also protect your wands! The Bowtruckle is a good, born thief, because he is so petite. With their size and nimble and powerful fingers, they are often bred by some bastards with ulterior motives for stealing and lock-picking. So! Watch your mouth - damn Fred Weasley! I said don't hand over the wand. Bowtruckle! And that stupid Slytherin girl over there! Bowtruckle has his finger in your pocket!"

After saying goodbye to the Fire Crab, Moon thought their Care of Magical Creatures class would be peaceful and happy, but now it seems...

It seems that it is inevitable that there will be some excitement in every class.

Throughout the entire class that followed, Professor Kettleburn hardly stopped, and he worked hard to save eight wands.And it wasn't until Moon pointed out to him that there was no place for everyone to keep their wands - if they put them in their pockets they would be stolen by the Bowtruckle, and if they held them in their hands they would be hugged by the Bowtruckle, the professor finally remembered. Put everyone's wands into the basket and take care of them personally.

-

[Note 1] When Professor Sylvanus Kettleburn was teaching at Hogwarts, he caused many accidents due to his recklessness and hastiness, and was therefore placed on probation 62 times.

Chapter 65 Pleasant life and unhappiness

Hogwarts in December has completely turned into a snow-covered look. Every day after school, you can see little wizards running around outside the castle, using their wands to have snowball fights with each other.

The little wizards thought this was very happy, but Madam Pomfrey didn't think so, because it meant the beginning of another dangerous period.

A new week, a new Monday, and another temporary ban from the school was published in the new school newspaper—for the senior little wizards, this temporary ban is an old friend.

"Notice: It is strictly forbidden to use wands during snowball fights outside the castle."

The reason for this temporary ban is simple, and the answer can be found in the same school newspaper: On Saturday, a second-year Hufflepuff wizard tried to throw the snowball away with a newly learned spell, but he ended up saying He mispronounced the spell, causing his snowball to turn into a rock and launch - yes, not fly away, but be launched.

Well, as you can imagine, the result was that his poor little friend had two ribs broken.

This is also thanks to the magic power of the wizards, whose bodies have spontaneous and stronger resistance to highly dangerous injuries. Otherwise, according to the scene seen by other young wizards who were watching at the time, the two ribs may not be The only price.

Of course, this kind of thing happens almost every year. As for why the school doesn’t just issue a permanent ban...

Moon also wanted to know.

But there was nothing he could do. It was not the right time yet. With his current "record", he could not interfere too much at the professor level. If he could make Professor Snape stop cursing, he would have taken advantage of Professor Snape. There is a "loophole" in his own character.He can only wait. Anyway, he will have to find a way to change several incompetent professors one by one in the future. Eliminating the relative hostility between young wizards from different schools is only the first step. If he wants to make Hogwarts really good To get up, professors must also make changes and master correct teaching methods.

The emergence of the temporary ban cannot hinder the enthusiasm of the little wizards. They still like to play snowball fights, and they will change to other ways of playing when they can't use magic.Moon would occasionally participate, but it was often forced, because Garr and Cedric always wanted to drag Moon out to participate in everyone's common entertainment.However, this situation did not last long, and Moon refused to play with them even to death, because he found that as long as he stood on the lawn, most people's snowballs would greet him.

What's this?This is blatant bullying!

If he didn't have to worry about his own face, Moon would have to show it to these people no matter what he said.

In the Potions class on Thursday, everyone was pleasantly surprised to discover the change in Professor Snape - well, to be honest, if Milton hadn't mentioned it, everyone would have hardly noticed it, because Professor Snape was still cold every day. He has a big face, speaks in a weird and eccentric manner, and only shows a "browsing" expression when others make mistakes. He also has a set of big yellow teeth. The whole person looks the same as before, making people think of him only as a "greasy old bat."

However, when Alma once again cooked up a pot of potion in class, Professor Snape only asked her a few questions without further humiliation or ridicule.It wasn't until Milton blew up his cauldron countless times that Professor Snape finally couldn't help but ask him, "Are you planning to make it impossible for everyone in this classroom to walk out alive?"

Milton admitted his mistake honestly, and after class, he stared like a black cat with his eyes turned into bells, and asked everyone in disbelief if they felt that Professor Snape suddenly changed.

There is a reason why he said this, because the last time he blew up the crucible, Professor Snape's original words were:

"Mr. Gravers, if you tell me now that you are a quarter troll, I'm afraid I won't be surprised at all. Besides, if you blow up your own cauldron again, I'll kill you." Feed all the medicine to your owl and see if it can accept this...honor."

At first, Arlin replied, "If you expect Professor Snape to change, you might as well expect Professor Snape to wash his hair first." But when Alma timidly said that she felt Professor Snape had changed, , everyone had to unanimously admit that Professor Snape did not seem to like insulting others that much.

And, soon, everyone discovered that Professor Snape had indeed changed - almost everyone admitted this.This also includes Harry Potter, who also feels that Professor Snape has changed.

"I mean...well, he seemed to have turned all the fire on me last class...it made me feel like I was being scolded on Ron and Hermione's behalf."

When he said this, Harry was a little on the verge of tears. Fortunately, he still had Neville as his close friend. Unfortunately, he soon discovered in the next Potions class that although Neville was still Professor Snape was the outlet for his firepower, but the firepower he withstood was still not as ferocious as him.

However, no matter what, at least Professor Snape will no longer attack them personally, but he still likes to criticize their potions.To be more precise, Professor Snape no longer attacked him and Neville personally, but instead criticized their potion-making process while personally attacking their potions.

So, it’s a good thing, but it’s not that thorough.

Severus Snape himself was not without gains. After only two weeks, he was disappointed to find that most people's performance in Potions class was actually better than before.Especially people like Alma and Neville, probably because they are no longer so afraid of him. Although their potions are still a bunch of garbage, at least they won't make the same mistakes that people with brains shouldn't do. Mistakes made.

But when Mu En came to his office to turn on the stove, he still told Mu En to get out every day.Although it was apparently the issues that Moon pointed out that made him realize that his bullying of students was a "total mistake," he just wanted Moon out.

Moon fully understood this. This might be Professor Snape's last bit of stubbornness - he had to save some face.

In addition to Professor Snape's surprising transformation, something even happier for the little wizards soon came: before the Christmas vacation, they could go to Hogsmeade to play for a while. lock up.

Only Moon's happy mood was suddenly swept away one night.

Chapter 66 Missing

Friday, January 12th.

In the evening, Moon came to Professor Dumbledore's office as usual, preparing to start today's class. But when he arrived, the worry hidden in Professor Dumbledore's eyes gave Moon some bad thoughts.

Before he could ask, Professor Dumbledore took the lead and said, "Moon, I have something to tell you - although you are not the kind of impulsive person, I still want to say, please stay calm."

"You said it." Moon looked at Professor Dumbledore quietly and answered briefly.

"Your uncle, Edgar Shafiq, was confirmed missing. The time of disappearance was... three days ago." Professor Dumbledore's tone was calm, with a hint of comfort.

Moon took a deep breath, "She disappeared three days ago. Why did the news come today?"

"According to Golov, Edgar has been performing a secret mission for the Ministry of Magic for the past few months, so he has not had any contact with his family since mid-October. Until this morning, Golov Only then did they finally receive a notification from the Ministry of Magic, saying that Edgar had disappeared while performing a mission. But the person sent by the Ministry of Magic to notify Golov refused to reveal what mission Edgar was performing, only that they We will do our best to search for Edgar's whereabouts, and notify his family just as a precaution."

"In addition..." Professor Dumbledore sighed, "I personally don't agree with telling you this matter, but Golov insists that I don't hide it. So, in fact, Golov thinks that Shafik Manor notified your uncle and mother. Her real purpose was not to inform them of Edgar's disappearance, but more like she was testing your family because she suspected Edgar had betrayed the Ministry of Magic. I want to use this to understand the inside story."

"Golov passed the information to me this afternoon and asked me to pass it on to you. He also said that he would try to contact his news channels to see if he could find any information about Edgar, but because There are currently spies from the Ministry of Magic around Shafiq Manor, so things may not go so smoothly. If forced to..."

Professor Dumbledore did not finish his words, but Moon had already guessed what Uncle Golov's last words would be.

If forced to do so, they would have no choice but to break up with the Ministry of Magic and have a conflict.

Because it is obvious that although Uncle Edgar always looks unconventional and irregular, if he really wants to make such an exaggerated decision as "betraying the Ministry of Magic", he will definitely contact his family first instead of Just leave without saying goodbye and disappear.Even if he really wanted to betray the Ministry of Magic and was forced to disappear and hide temporarily, there must be a reason why he was forced to do so, and this reason must have something to do with his family, otherwise he would never be so impulsive.

"You seem to have something else to say? You can continue. Don't worry, I'm not uncool." Although he guessed Uncle Golov's last words, Moon could see that apart from this sentence, Deng Professor Bullydo didn't seem to have finished speaking, because he still looked a little... hesitant.

Professor Dumbledore nodded slightly, and then said: "Yes, not two hours after Golov sent me the news, Fudge contacted me in the evening and asked to let Aurors into the school. There is no doubt that, They want to take the same approach as they did to Randall at that time, and they will be more strict. To ensure that you are temporarily fully exposed to their sight and will not contact Edgar privately. I temporarily require an official order You refused them for this reason, but it won’t be long, maybe not even an hour later, they will come over with official orders to take care of you.”

"In addition... I think that if there is no result for a long time, they may temporarily intervene in school affairs, take you away from Hogwarts in the name of the Ministry of Magic, let you return to Shafiq Manor, or take you directly Go to the Ministry of Magic and take you and your family into custody."

Moon thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you think the matter is so serious?"

"Yes." Professor Dumbledore said affirmatively: "The woman who was sent to your home to inform your uncle and mother is named Dolores Umbridge. She is the Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic and the The most loyal backbone of the Ministry of Magic, the kind of person who will completely and unconditionally agree with any decision of the Ministry of Magic. Right now, she is still Cornelius Fudge's absolute confidant. If Edgar's disappearance is just an ordinary disappearance If the incident happened, Fudge would never take such a big step and ask Umbridge to go to Shafiq Manor to inquire about the situation under the pretext of the notice. In other words, Edgar's disappearance is obviously not a simple disappearance, but there is a hidden secret."

When he heard Umbridge's name, Moon realized that Professor Dumbledore's judgment was obviously very correct.Uncle Edgar must have grasped something that made Fudge so confused. Even if he exposed the news of Uncle Edgar's disappearance, he still had to confirm whether Uncle Edgar had contacted the family.

He had no choice but to make sure that Uncle Edgar had not contacted his family, so he had to tell Uncle Golov about Uncle Edgar's disappearance - Uncle Golov was once a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic, and he still did a pretty good job. , a very respectable person. He has seen a lot of dirty things and twists and turns in the Ministry of Magic. He wants to make up some reasons to hide it, such as "checking the confidentiality status of Aurors during their secret missions", " Edgar Shafiq's task has been completed, but he has not returned to the department to report on his work, so I came to see him." It is obvious that Uncle Golov cannot hide this from Uncle Golov.

"In that case, is there anything you want to say or tell me?"

Professor Dumbledore hesitated for a moment, and then said: "The method of substituting one thing for another will probably not be used a second time. In addition, I don't think that your failure to cooperate with the people from the Ministry of Magic will bring any good results. If it is true, It is definitely not a good thing for the Shafiq family to break up with the Ministry of Magic and have a conflict - you don't even have any legitimacy. If I really want to say my opinion, I think you'd better accept magic. Ministry of surveillance. As for Edgar’s whereabouts, I will arrange for people to help search and see if I can get any information. In addition, I also advised Golov in the same way. I hope you can also advise him. . It is never a wise move to have a head-on conflict with the Ministry of Magic, not only for the Shafiq family, but also for the wizarding world, which is facing a storm."

Chapter 67 Monitoring begins

"Although I agree with you that now is not the time to have a high-profile conflict with the Ministry of Magic, but..." Moon shook his head, "I can accept the surveillance of the Ministry of Magic, but it is impossible to do nothing. Similarly, It is impossible for me to persuade Uncle Golov to give up trying to find Uncle Edgar by his own means."

"The truth is the truth. It is true that now it is completely up to you to find a way to help find Uncle Edgar. It is the most correct decision for me and Uncle Golov to stand still and cooperate with the Ministry of Magic's investigation. But, isn't family just there to make us violate our laws?" Is that reasonable? What's more, fully cooperating with the Ministry of Magic also has its drawbacks, not all of them are benefits. Even if we don't consider the possibility that the Ministry of Magic will go further and use us to blackmail Uncle Edgar after discovering that we cooperated obediently, we alone A completely cooperative attitude will only make Fudge suspicious, making him even more suspicious that there is something wrong with Uncle Edgar and us - I believe you can't deny that Mr. Fudge, the minister, is very suspicious."

Professor Dumbledore smiled inexplicably, "Ha, it seems you already have your own ideas?"

"Yes, please tell Uncle Golov that I understand." Moon bowed, "Should we continue today's class?"

"Let's forget it until this matter is over. People from the Ministry of Magic will arrive at some point. Our class will probably be interrupted in the middle. Why don't we give you a few weeks' leave?" The old man smiled and shook his head. He shook his head and said, "Go back and have a good rest. By the way, you don't have to go to the Shrieking Shack next week. Sirius can take care of it there alone."

"Okay." Moon replied briefly, and was about to leave when he suddenly heard Professor Dumbledore say in a soft voice behind him, "Remember when you were in first grade, with Violet?" That time when I was caught in the Forbidden Forest, you asked me later why the dark wizard didn’t directly kill you and Violet. What was my answer at that time?”

Moon's heart was moved, and he did not turn around. He just nodded slightly and said, "Of course I remember."

"Just remember, let's go."

Moon obeyed and left, not forgetting to close the wooden door when he left. So, for a while, the only sound in the office was the sound of Fox chewing cuttlefish bones.

…………

"Dolores Umbridge." After leaving Professor Dumbledore's office, Moon did not immediately return to the Hufflepuff common room, but returned to the school newspaper office - if he remembered correctly If so, Hesper and Quaid should be here now to help prepare next week's manuscript.

"Moon, you're here."

Sure enough, Nash, Burt, Ashley, Hesper, and Quaid were all busy at their desks. When they saw Munn coming in, they quickly said hello. After Munn responded one by one, He said "Follow me" to Hesper and Quaid, and then strode into the cubicle in the office.

"Brother Moon, has something happened?" Hesper, who was attentive, noticed that Munn seemed to have something important to say just by the difference in Moon's tone, so he asked softly immediately after entering.

"Well, let me make a long story short. Uncle Edgar disappeared during the mission. Now the Ministry of Magic suspects that he has betrayed the Ministry of Magic. Not only did they send people to monitor the manor, but they also sent Aurors to watch us. Prevent Uncle Edgar from contacting us privately - during the next period of time, you need to ensure two things, one is to pretend not to know that there are Aurors watching secretly, and the other is to come to me from time to time and ask Edgar News from uncle.”

"At that time, I will tell you what to do next. In addition, there is one more thing that you two need to do immediately. Hesper, you are mainly responsible for the lost and found part of the school report. Later, You need to add a lost and found article to it. The content is: 'I found a gold leather notebook with a Capricorn on the title page. If you lose it, please contact the school newspaper office, Cedric Diggory.' Remember this. ?"

Hesper nodded vigorously, and then asked with a worried face, "Brother Moon, will something happen to my uncle..."

"Don't worry, he's blessed with good fortune, and nothing will happen to him." Moon rubbed Hesper's head, and then patted Quaid on the shoulder. "Quaid, the two of you will be under less surveillance." , and it may be spying, but there is still a risk, so be sure to stay calm. You must take good care of Hesper. As long as you leave the Slytherin common room, except for going to the toilet, you must follow Hesper at all times. Stay together - if, I mean if you do receive an owl from Uncle Edgar, don't read the contents, just burn the letter, and then come to me immediately and tell me about it. Do I know?"

Quaid solemnly agreed.

"Okay, you go out, I'll stay here for a while."

The two little guys Hesper and Quaid looked at each other, then stopped talking and walked out of the cubicle quickly.After the two of them left, Moon took out the Marauder's Map from the velvet bag on his waist, took out his wand and tapped it lightly, "I solemnly swear that I have evil intentions."

As the ink smeared, the entire Hogwarts map began to be laid out on the Marauder's Map.

Professor Dumbledore was still stationary in his office, and most of the other professors were staying in their offices or the faculty lounge. Filch was walking from the second floor to the first floor, not slow, probably rushing to a place. Lou what to do.

He focused on Professor Dumbledore. If the Aurors arrived at Hogwarts, whether it was out of respect for Professor Dumbledore or the need for negotiation between the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, , they all need to see Professor Dumbledore first as a matter of course.Therefore, as long as you pay attention to Professor Dumbledore's movements, you can roughly know the arrival time of the Aurors.

When he talked with Professor Dumbledore in Professor Dumbledore's office, he had already discovered that Professor Dumbledore left a lot of "leeway" during the conversation.For example, he only mentioned that the Ministry of Magic would send people to monitor Moon, but did not mention Hesper and Quaid - unless Fudge was a fool, there was no way he would only have people monitor Moon but leave out Hesper. Per and Quaid, two young Shafiqs who also attend Hogwarts.Therefore, Professor Dumbledore's meaning is obvious. Moon will be the key surveillance target of the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, while the surveillance on Hesper and Quaid will be much looser.

In other words, many things that are difficult for Moon to handle by himself can be accomplished through Hesper and Quaid.

As for why Professor Dumbledore didn't speak clearly...

Moon rubbed his eyebrows. How should I put it? This old gentleman obviously wanted to take the opportunity to test Moon. If Moon performed well enough in this matter, Professor Dumbledore would probably have done what he said before. "By the way, let's deal with the matter of the secret society of dark wizards".

Can you hear the implication between the words, and can you handle this matter maturely and steadily?

Originally, Moon was not very sure about this and thought he might be overthinking it, but Professor Dumbledore's last words convinced him of this idea.

Why weren't Moon and Violet killed by the dark wizard in the first place?Professor Dumbledore's answer at the time was, because he was still alive.As long as Albus Dumbledore survives, anyone who wants to openly attack Hogwarts students needs to consider the consequences first.Therefore, Professor Dumbledore's last words obviously meant to tell Moon to let him go and let him take care of everything.

Obviously, Professor Dumbledore did not say that at the beginning. The first thing he said at the time was "cooperating and accepting the investigation is the best option."

If there are two contradictory sentences, one of them is always false. So, which sentence is false, the answer is self-evident.

After understanding that Professor Dumbledore was on his side, and that he could use the hands of Hesper and Quaid to complete some actions, the intelligence system of the Shafiq family that was hidden behind the school newspaper was in operation. .For Moon, it can be said that half of the surveillance by the Ministry of Magic's Aurors is in name only.There is no need to worry about family matters. As long as Uncle Edgar is not confirmed to have been killed, Uncle Golov, a veteran politician, can definitely handle it.