Harry Potter and the Burnt Badger

As the bloody spider gradually sank into the water, under Moon's surprised gaze, the water in the bottle turned blood red in an instant, and then became clear again.

However, the clarity was a bit too much. Not only was the turbid potion not living up to its turbidity, but the toad inside had completely disappeared, as if... it had been vanished out of thin air.

"A very...interesting little spell that can only act on liquids and can turn all liquids into water...the same poison, if it touches a little bit, people will die completely." Professor Snape is rare. He smiled a little, but quickly stopped. "Usually when we identify whether a spell belongs to the category of black magic, we have many reference standards. One of the commonly used standards is whether the spell can directly inflict damage on the target. . And this spell happens to be a special case, that is, although it cannot directly cause harm to the target, due to sufficient malice and viciousness, this spell belongs to the category of black magic."

Moon thought for a while and suddenly asked a question, "Professor, can't this spell directly cause death by turning the enemy's blood into poison?"

"Ha, common cleverness and self-righteous thoughts." Professor Snape cast a taunting skill without hesitation. "Of course not. There are so many questions like this. Can clear water like a spring be used to gush water from other people's mouths?" Can choking others to death and wearing a vest full of rats be used to resist various spells...Wishful thinking, what do you think magic is?"

He suddenly turned around, took out his wand, and looked at Moon, "Mr. Fox, what will happen if I cast a flying spell on your head now?"

Moon replied without hesitation: "Nothing will happen."

"Then can you turn your head so that you can tell me why nothing will happen?" Professor Snape looked at Moon coldly, his words full of sarcasm.

After taking the initiative to block out all the weird tones, Moon hesitated for a moment, and then replied hesitantly: "Theoretically speaking, according to what was introduced in the textbook, the floating spell cannot directly act on wizards, because wizards often There will be invisible magic protection. Therefore, when the wizards are in a very bad state, such as when they are very weak or unconscious, spells such as moving spells and floating spells can be used to move the wizards. This is because the wizards in this situation , the magic protection on them has completely disappeared. But the problem is... I think what the textbook said is wrong. It is probably because of the wizards' own limitations, or because of their too arrogant way of thinking, that they did not realize, These spells are often ineffective against a waking Muggle as well."

"Hmph, it seems that your head is not too stupid." Professor Snape turned his head. Although he had been sarcastic about Moon, he was actually very satisfied with Moon's performance. "Yes, the textbook is wrong." Yes, Mr. Fox. Many spells cannot directly affect others because of the soul and will. This is an instinctive resistance and has nothing to do with magic. Even if a flying curse is released on Mr. Filch's head, it will not work. It will cause him to be dragged in front of you right now.”

"Why is a common criterion for judging black magic is whether it can directly cause harm to the target through the spell? This is because when creating black magic spells, the creators often use every method to make the spell destructive - not It refers to the damage that the spell itself can cause, but to the fact that when the spell is released, this destructiveness can help the spell break through people's instinctive resistance, so that the spell can be effective on people."

"Therefore, in fact, the standard for judging black magic is not to judge whether the spell can directly cause damage to the target, but to judge whether the components of the spell have such destructiveness. For example..." Professor Snape raised his wand and gently drew a spell in the air, which was a healing spell.

"The white magic spell that can repair the human body will make it heal as before. It can also directly affect the target, but it is not a black magic spell. Because its spell composition is not destructive, but it completely exposes itself to make itself invulnerable. Possessing any possible harm, the magic power of the spell is completely given to human instincts to help the recipient recover from his injuries."

"And this spell -" Professor Snape flicked his wand, the shining spell in the air suddenly dissipated, and the bottle of liquid that had become extremely clear fell into his hands "- the creator is creating it Countless malice was poured into it, but it did not make it destructive, so it is a special black curse that cannot be judged by conventional methods. Similarly, spells such as the Clear Water Curse and the Flying Curse do not have this kind of destructive effect. Sex, they can't be used directly on a awake, conscious person."

Because Professor Snape’s explanation was clear enough, Moon digested all the knowledge almost simultaneously. Because of this, he said to Professor Snape sincerely: “Thank you for your explanation, Professor. , I have benefited a lot.”

Snape's face trembled. He seemed very unaccustomed to this kind of thank you from a student who was ridiculed by him every day, so he turned around and put down the bottle. "This is just some unnecessary explanation. The point is - I don't know." Have you noticed?"

He did not continue, and Moon still did not disappoint him. "I understand, Professor, you just showed an almost identical blood-colored spider, but its effect is completely different from the magic-storing spider mentioned by Professor Dumbledore." The Dark Curse. In other words, it seems that I should speed up my pace as soon as possible and try to find more clues that match the curse released by Professor Quirrell. And this should be why Professor Dumbledore suddenly asked me to come to you for lessons. one of the reasons."

"Very good, you can go." Professor Snape pointed to the door. Moon stood up as he said. At the same time, he also keenly noticed that Professor Snape's face seemed to have turned pale.

Obviously, his injury has not healed yet, and he is probably trying to hold on by showing that he is fine now.

Moon didn't dare to bother him any more. It didn't take much to think about it, but he knew that Professor Snape would never want to show his weak side in front of him.

He quickly walked out of Professor Snape's office. Before he could turn around and close the door, the wooden door suddenly rolled back and closed tightly.

It was also at this time that Moon suddenly thought of a big problem.

Chapter 67 Two fluffy things

In the Hogwarts library, Moon stood in front of the bookshelf, holding a thick book that was not old and trying hard to find something.

"Ah...here..."

His fingers suddenly stopped on a line of writing and began to examine it carefully.

Werewolves, also known as werewolves [Note 1], are a unique kind of 'magical creature'. They do not rely on blood to be passed down from generation to generation, but expand themselves through a special infectious disease 'lycanthropy' ethnic group...

The wounds bitten by werewolves will serve as a channel for lycanthropy to enter, infecting the injured and transforming them into new werewolves...

A mixture of silver powder and white blood can heal wounds caused by werewolf bites, but it cannot counteract lycanthropy.In other words, even if this mixture is applied, a person bitten by a werewolf cannot escape the fate of becoming a werewolf...

"There's more, there's more..." Munn muttered, speeding up his browsing speed, hoping to see the answer to the question he wanted to seek as soon as possible.

The wounds left by the werewolves cannot be healed...the werewolves cannot choose whether to transform...the descendants of the werewolves...the descendants of the werewolves!

Moon's eyes lit up, this was exactly what he was looking for.

"If two werewolves mate in wolf form during the full moon, something magical will happen. Their offspring will look the same as real wolves, but they will have human-like intelligence. Only in this case Very few have been discovered, and there are only rumors circulating in the world. Only some similar records can be found in ancient books, which means that the authenticity of this situation is still doubtful."

The content came to an abrupt end, and Moon's joyful mood was once again disappointed.

Just when he walked out of Professor Snape's office, he suddenly thought of a possibility: he did remember seeing similar rumors in which book, and the offspring of a werewolf and a werewolf in wolf form would be A wolf rather than a werewolf or a human.

So, if what Professor Snape and Hagrid encountered in the Forbidden Forest at that time was a werewolf and his wolf offspring, the problem would be troublesome - whether the wounds caused by the werewolf's wolf offspring would be What about infecting the injured with lycanthropy?Hagrid had nothing to worry about. He was a hybrid giant, and it was unclear whether the lycanthropy spread by real werewolves would affect him.However, Professor Snape was no half-giant.

Moon thought of searching for an answer in the library, but it turned out that none of the books about werewolves he found in the library gave him the answer.

There were only three people in the entire Hogwarts who could possibly give him the answer. One was Professor Snape, who was the Potions professor and was familiar with most diseases and potions. However, this one could be passed on directly.The second one is Professor Dumbledore. With his experience and knowledge, he might be able to give an answer.The third one is Madam Pomfrey from the school doctor's office. As the school doctor, she may also have some understanding of lycanthropy, although it is unlikely.

Moon sighed, and then smiled sheepishly at Mrs. Pince who was holding a lantern behind her and looking evil-looking. His sudden visit obviously caused some trouble to Mrs. Pince. Logically speaking, the library should have been closed. , if he hadn't always had a good reputation with Mrs. Pince, and the approval note for the forbidden book area that Professor Dumbledore had given him before proved that he was quite trustworthy, Mrs. Pince would have driven him away long ago.

He neatly stuffed the books back into the bookshelf, thanked Mrs. Pince again, and then left the library and walked towards the common room.

I'm not in a hurry to ask. The next [-]th day of the lunar calendar falls on Halloween, and there are full moons in the days before and after. There is a dinner party on Halloween, and there happens to be a Potions class on Halloween, which is Thursday. If Professor Pu was really infected with lycanthropy, he would definitely be absent for those two days.If such a thing really happened, it would not be too late for him to ask about it then.

After all, if Professor Snape was really infected with lycanthropy, he would not be able to help Professor Snape solve it.

After rubbing his hair, Moon sighed again and hurried back to the common room.

…………

As soon as he returned to the common room, Moon was pestered by Gar and Yaerin who were complaining.

Moon was going to class with Professor Snape tonight, so he couldn't stay in the school newspaper office until all the new issues of the school newspaper, which would be published tomorrow morning, were printed, so Gal and Arlin had to take over. Cedric had also been asked to do odd jobs by Professor Sprout.

Originally, the school newspaper was just waiting there, but the problem was that the Hufflepuff Quidditch team was training tonight, and Gal and Yaerin planned to join in the fun.They couldn't go to the training if they wanted to print the school newspaper. In desperation, the two had no choice but to part ways.

In fact, the work of the school newspaper was their own job, and the two of them didn't really have any complaints to complain about, let alone any grievances - they just wanted to take the opportunity to blackmail their good friends.

Munn naturally knew what the two of them were thinking, so he had no choice but to cooperate with the two of them: first he promised to lend Garr a "reference" for his next Transfiguration class homework, and then he promised Yaerlin what to do next. You must be the first to tell him when something fun happens, and ride a broomstick to the sky with him the next time you go to see the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

Just kidding, what fun things can Moon do?

Hmm...does it count to go to Professor Snape's office to learn dark arts and get scolded at the same time?

After finally getting rid of the two people, Moon finally got to sit by the fire and rest for a while.

To be honest, it was not an easy task to spend so much time in the same room with Professor Snape and then go to the library to look for information for a long time under Mrs. Pince's vicious eyes.

Just as he was lying comfortably on the sofa, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth emanating from the crackling fire, a fluffy thing suddenly crawled to his hand and gently rubbed against his fingers.

Moon was startled, and quickly opened his eyes to look at his hand, but suddenly found a beautiful little white cat squatting there, blinking and looking at him obediently.

a cat?

There was a soft chuckle from behind. He turned around and saw Violet snickering there, as if she had succeeded in a prank.

The little white cat let out a sweet "meow~", then raised a paw, stepped on Moon's palm with its pink and tender flesh pad, and then the whole cat lay down generously. Going up, it was like using Moon's hand as his own bed.

-

[Note 1] Werewolf is "werewolf" and human wolf is "lycanthrope". The two words are not the same.

Chapter 68 The Successor of the Minister of Magic

In just ten minutes, Violet's little white cat named Snowball became the pet of the Hufflepuff common room.

In fact, in recent years, more and more little wizards like to keep owls as pets - they can help deliver letters and items, there are special owl towers for them to live in, and they don't need to take care of them every day.There used to be a lot of people raising cats, but as time goes on, there are fewer and fewer.Therefore, there are actually not many little wizards in Hufflepuff who use cats as pets. Every time a new cat comes out, it will become everyone's favorite.

Seeing everyone gathered around Snowball and marveling, and the senior sister was preparing to go back to the dormitory to take out her cat, Violet looked sideways at Moon from behind, with a smile still on her face, and her eyes Li was a little worried, "Are you okay? I think you seem a little... unhappy."

"It's okay, I'm fine." Moon also laughed. "I just thought of something... that troubled me a little, but it's much better now."

"That's good." Violet turned back and looked at her snowball. "It's really nice, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Moon nodded lightly, "And he seems quite well-behaved."

…………

The Hufflepuff common room was bustling with laughter.In contrast, there was no such joy in Quirrell's office. At this moment, Quirrell was sitting in front of a crystal ball with his teeth gritted.

"What does it mean to be stopped?! With so many helpers and so much effort, you told me that you were stopped?! Why don't you tell the Dark Lord these words? See if he is willing to forgive you?" Quirrell punched the table hard. Where was the usual cowardice and weakness on his face?

A cold voice came from the crystal ball, a little hoarse, sounding like a traveler in the desert who had not received water for a long time. "Are you threatening me with the Dark Lord? Just you? Quirinus Quirrell ?”

"It's up to me!" Quirrell roared hysterically: "That's right! It's up to me! If we can't fulfill the Dark Lord's instructions! You and me! We will both die!"

The person opposite did not speak for a long time, but fell into silence. It was not until nearly half a minute later that he finally said: "But we really have no way to enter Hogwarts now. Unless you can find a way to entangle Hagrid, otherwise we will There is no way to break out of the Forbidden Forest. You and I both know that this is a fact. Also, don’t try to threaten me with death. Don’t forget that if I really break into Hogwarts, I will most likely end up with it. It’s also death—you really don’t think death can scare me, do you?”

Quirrell gasped twice, and then fell down on the chair in despair. "Enter Hagrid? To put it nicely, that guy is like a stone, and he doesn't listen to anyone's orders. How can I entangle..."

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes brightening. "How about Halloween? There will be a dinner party that day, and Hagrid will also come to attend. He will definitely leave the Forbidden Forest by then."

This sounded like a good idea, but the person on the other side of the crystal ball objected: "It's too late. Halloween is too far away. In less than a week, these wolves will be freed from the shackles of the spell. By then, Even if I break in, I won't be able to cause enough trouble."

Quirrell's eyes, which had just become brighter, dimmed again. "This won't work, that won't work either, what should I do? Wait to die?"

"..."

At both ends of the crystal ball, the two people fell into silence.

"If I can't cause enough trouble, I won't be able to move freely. That damn Severus Snape has been staring at me, refusing to relax for a moment. The Dark Lord hasn't shown up for a long time, so I have no way of telling which side he is from..." Quirrell's voice began to tremble, and the hoarseness of his roar had long since disappeared. "If your wolf hadn't hurt him last time, I wouldn't even be talking to you today. No chance."

"If this continues, let alone the Sorcerer's Stone..." He gripped the armrests of the chair tightly, and all the veins on the back of his hands bulged. "I can't say I will be exposed one day and be sent to Azkaban."

"Then die." Another person suddenly whispered: "If you die, you won't be afraid of being sent to Azkaban."

"Ha, then you kill me." Quirrell said with a sarcastic smile: "You're right, it's better for you to kill me than to be turned into a monster by the Dementor's Kiss. .”

"It's not me, it's you..."

Quirrell's body stiffened, and then he realized something, and the color on his face gradually began to return.

…………

Early on Monday morning, the children at Hogwarts rarely picked up the school newspaper. Instead, almost everyone had a copy of the "Daily Prophet" and were discussing something in a low voice.

What is even more rare is that Professor Dumbledore actually appeared in the auditorium today, happily humming a tune and eating breakfast with the students.

There is no doubt that the principal is in a very good mood today.

When Moon walked into the auditorium with several of his roommates, he felt a little strange when he saw the scene in the auditorium.But as he sat down, Milton next to him handed him a newspaper, and he immediately understood why these abnormal scenes occurred today.

Cornelius Fudge officially announced that he had taken over as Minister of Magic and delivered his acceptance speech - a series of nonsense of little value, and almost no one with a little knowledge cared about the empty promises he made.All anyone cared about was that Cornelius Fudge took over, and that was that.

More knowledgeable people will not pay attention to this news at all. In the eyes of many people, Fudge has probably already booked the position of Minister of Magic.

Originally, this position should actually belong to Barty Crouch Sr., but when his son was reported as a Death Eater and was personally sent to Azkaban, his popularity plummeted and he hit rock bottom. .After him, there is little debate that the person most likely to serve as Minister for Magic is Cornelius Fudge.

What?Albus Dumbledore?

Dumbledore's popularity among the people is indeed ridiculously high. In fact, even most officials within the Ministry of Magic hope that Albus Dumbledore can serve as Minister of Magic (except for Fudge and his supporters). But the problem is , these more knowledgeable people all know that Albus Dumbledore is absolutely impossible to be the Minister of Magic. This has been the case many years ago.

Moon couldn't help turning his head to look at Professor Dumbledore. Unexpectedly, Professor Dumbledore happened to be looking at him. The two looked at each other. Professor Dumbledore smiled and raised his glass to Moon.

Chapter 69 That night

Albus Dumbledore was indeed in a good mood today.

Yes, it was because Fudge took over as Minister of Magic.

Although he has long publicly stated that he will never hold such a high-power position, he has never shied away from discussing this matter with others.But the problem is that his reputation is so high that as long as Fudge doesn't announce his succession for a day, he has to welcome the letters flying in like snowflakes.

It's okay now, the news has come out, and he can be clean for a while.

It was obvious that Professor Dumbledore underestimated Hogwarts.

On Monday morning, in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Quirrell suddenly let out a shrill scream in the middle of the class (in fact, the little wizards of Gryffindor described him as "singing out like the Fat Lady's singing voice"). "Scream"), then his whole face quickly turned black and he fell to the ground.

The little wizards in Gryffindor were frightened. They estimated that the Gauden spotted lizard [Note 1] in Professor Quirrell's hand had bitten him, so they hurriedly found other professors. .

The news that Professor Quirrell was bitten by a lizard spread like wildfire, and the whole school knew about it in just one noon. However, at the same time, the professors in the school doctor's office and Madam Pomfrey did not think so.

"I can guarantee, principal, that this is definitely not caused by the Gauden's spotted lizard. If it were, he should be covered in purple and have blisters everywhere. But now... I think he is probably cursed. ." Madam Pomfrey said swornly, and quickly received the support of Professor Sprout and Professor Snape - the three people who knew the most about herbs, potions and magical diseases in the school made an almost unanimous decision. judge.

Professor Dumbledore glanced at Professor Snape and found that he nodded slightly, and he roughly understood what was going on.

Everyone discussed Professor Quirrell's status for a while, and then dispersed.Different from simple poisoning, if it is confirmed that it is a curse, then until the specific spell that caused this situation is analyzed, even if the professors want to save Professor Quirrell, there is absolutely nothing they can do.

"He is really..." After walking out of the school infirmary, Professor Dumbledore called Professor Snape, and the two of them returned to the principal's office. As soon as they entered, Professor Dumbledore laughed and shook his head, "It seems The forces behind him indeed put too much pressure on him. Now I am gradually beginning to agree with your judgment, Severus, he may indeed be serving Tom. I am afraid that only Tom can let his men behave like this... …The huge burden forced me to resort to such a desperate move.”

Quirrell's sacrifice was not a small one. However, after already knowing that he had a problem, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape almost immediately guessed Quirrell's thoughts - not so specific. , but I can guess that he just wants to use this method to escape into the school doctor's office, and then take the opportunity to carry out some sneaky actions in secret, so as to avoid being stared at too closely.

Of course, the two of them also considered that Quirrell might have other plans, but in any case, neither of them would believe that Quirrell's curse was "accidentally struck."

Only fools believe.

No way, that night changed so many things.

If Moon had not come, the baby's unstoppable crying and struggling that night would eventually lead to An's death.After Ann's death, the furious Golov and Edgar almost devoted all their strength to resist Voldemort, and died heroically in the end.The remaining branches of the Shafiq family had to flee to other countries. It was only after the fall of Voldemort that they finally began to gradually move back to England, but their strength was already greatly reduced.

Without Moon, Naftali's plan in 89 was successfully implemented without attracting any attention; not only that, Quirrell would not have been exposed to the sight of Dumbledore and Snape so early. His colleague, the werewolf, would not try to smuggle into Hogwarts from the Forbidden Forest with a giant wolf. Professor Snape would not be injured, Quirrell's danger would not be further increased, and his relationship with Voldemort would be even better. It will not be further confirmed so early.

None of this happened, and Quirrell would not take such a desperate risk and have not accomplished anything yet. Instead, he helped Dumbledore and Snape confirm that he was most likely Voldemort's subordinate, and thus made this latest decision——

The injured Professor Snape no longer needed to keep an eye on Quirrell. He had to give Quirrell a taste of the sweetness, making him feel that his sacrifice really made the two of them temporarily relax their vigilance towards him.