“I hate the rain!”
"You've said that more than once."
"Why do we have to go outside for Care of Magical Creatures class when it's raining?"
"Who knows?"
Although he encountered similar situations frequently last year, Albert always felt particularly irritated every time it rained. Going out to attend classes on a rainy day was simply torture.
The students were miserable and would come back covered in mud every time. Many of them would rather go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class than go outdoors to the Care of Magical Creatures class in such terrible weather.
The heavy rain had been going on for nearly half a month. The lake water had risen sharply, and the ground outside the castle was muddy. On the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, it was easy to fall if one was not careful.
As they passed the hunting lodge, Albert saw Hagrid, wearing a straw raincoat, draining a pumpkin patch.
"These pumpkins are huge, Hagrid must have used a Swelling Charm," muttered Fred.
Ordinary pumpkins simply cannot grow so huge. The pumpkins planted by Hagrid have expanded to the size of flower sheds. How could this not arouse suspicion
"Your little sister said the same thing." Hagrid put down his farm tools, glanced at the four people coming over here and asked, "What are you doing here now?"
"We're going to have a Care of Magical Creatures class on the edge of the Forbidden Forest later," Albert replied.
"By the way, Professor Kettlebur seems to be retiring?" Hagrid said suddenly, "At the end of this year. When I went there just now, I heard him complaining about his back and leg pains. You know, he has a lot of hidden injuries on his body, which are easy to flare up on rainy days."
"Who's going to substitute?" Lee Jordan asked.
"Probably Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank." Albert said without hesitation.
"How do you know?" The four of them turned their heads and asked Albert curiously.
"We've seen her before, remember?" Albert reminded helplessly, "In Professor Kettleber's forest cabin."
"Will Wilhelmina be our new Care of Magical Creatures professor?" George continued.
"It's Wilhelmina." Albert corrected, "I don't know. But if she is not available to come to Hogwarts to teach Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid, you can give it a try. Maybe Dumbledore will agree to let you take over Professor Kettlebur's vacant position."
At this moment, Fred, George and Lee Jordan all turned their heads and looked at Albert with strange eyes. They always felt that it was unreliable for Hagrid to become the professor of Care of Magical Creatures.
But hearing what Albert said, they felt that Hagrid was very likely to become the professor of Care of Magical Creatures.
"Well... I'm considering it." Hagrid said, "I heard that Professor Kettleburt recommended Professor Grubbly-Plank to Professor Dumbledore, but Professor Grubbly-Plank is still considering it. It seems that she can't stay in Hogwarts as the professor of Care of Magical Creatures for a long time."
"If Professor Kettlebur retires and Professor Grubbly-Plank is unwilling to stay in Hogwarts for a long time, I will submit an application to Professor Dumbledore." Hagrid said with a smile, "You know I am also good at protecting magical creatures."
"To be honest, I don't really want Hagrid to be the professor of Care of Magical Creatures."
After the four of them walked away, Fred whispered, "You should know what I mean. Hagrid may know a little about the Care of Magical Creatures, but he has absolutely no experience teaching students. Besides, Hagrid always gives me a very unreliable feeling."
"If he becomes the professor of Care of Magical Creatures, maybe one day a troll will appear in the classroom." George agreed with Fred.
However, Albert's words just now always gave them a bad feeling. Maybe Hagrid would really become the professor of Care of Magical Creatures.
"It's useless even if you look at me like that. I'm just stating the facts." Albert shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank is indeed very suitable to fill the vacancy, but if she hadn't applied, Hagrid would have a great chance of success."
The class was held near Professor Kettlebur's cabin. As soon as they approached, they heard Lockhart's screams. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor ran out of Professor Kettlebur's cabin, looking extremely embarrassed.
He also tripped over George's foot and fell heavily to the ground, covered in mud, and drank some muddy water.
"Are you okay, Professor Lockhart?" Albert reached out and pulled Lockhart up from the ground.
"It's okay, it's okay. I just came to discuss the bird snake egg yolk shampoo with Professor Kettlebur, but I was attacked by the bird snake."
After that, Lockhart took out a handkerchief to wipe the mud off his face. When he was about to return to the castle, he stuffed a bottle of cooked material into Albert's hand and whispered, "This is the bird snake egg yolk shampoo I developed. You can take it back and try it. The effect is really good."
"What's this?"
Looking at Lockhart's departing back, George turned his gaze back to the bottle Lockhart had given him, picked it up and looked it up and down.
"Bird snake egg yolk shampoo, maybe?" Albert said casually.
"You'd better throw that thing away. It's quite dangerous. I've never seen anyone so extravagant as to use bird snake eggs to make shampoo. Professor Lockhart must be crazy." Professor Kettlebur came out on crutches, muttering non-stop, and looked very dissatisfied with Lockhart.
This couldn't be blamed on him, because Professor Kettlebur loved his nest of bird snakes very much, and Lockhart actually planned to use the precious eggs to make some kind of bird snake egg yolk shampoo, which almost drove him crazy. In the end, he secretly released the bird snakes and drove away the annoying Lockhart.
Professor Kettleber used magic to float an iron barrel of burning charcoal, and took Albert and others to the woods on the side of the cabin, where there were several lush evergreen trees and a large dry area underneath, where they built a bonfire.
After the damp bonfire was lit, a lot of white smoke came out.
"What you are going to learn in this class is how to draw blood from salamanders. I introduced this magical creature, salamanders, to you last year. There is an influenza epidemic in the school right now, and Madam Pomfrey needs a large amount of salamander blood to make a stimulant." Kettlebur poured an iron bucket of salamanders into the bonfire, distributed glass test tubes to the students, and then demonstrated to them how to draw blood from salamanders.
"This is a great opportunity for you." Professor Kettlebur said with a smile, "Whoever can obtain the most salamander blood before the end of get out of class will receive a special reward."
"What special reward?" a student asked curiously.
"That's it."
Professor Kettleber took out a silver statue from his pocket and said with a smile, "This is a bird snake statue I made from bird snake eggshells."
"That thing should be made of pure silver." Albert discovered that Professor Kettleber really liked bird snakes.
While everyone was attracted by the so-called special rewards, the Weasley twins set their sights on the salamander in the campfire. They seemed to want to "save" the salamander from the Care of Magical Creatures class.
"What do you want this thing for?" Albert asked puzzled.
"We want to study the effects of feeding fireworks to salamanders," Fred and George explained in a low voice.
"Are you devils?" Li Jordan muttered. Although he said this, his face showed an eager expression.