During the weekend holidays, the examination atmosphere in Hogwarts Castle became more intense. In addition to the fifth and seventh grade students, students in other grades also began to face final exams.
Everyone is making good use of the last two days to review the exam points mentioned in class.
However, there are always exceptions.
After finishing the first few subjects, Fred, George and Lee Jordan looked lazy and didn't even take the Potions exam next Monday seriously. What they said meant was: it was impossible to review.
The three of them obviously had no intention of attending Snape's Potions class again.
In fact, it would be difficult for them to attend Snape's Potions class next semester.
Only students who obtained "excellent" grades in the OWLS exams were eligible to study in Snape's advanced potion class. There were only a handful of students in the four colleges who could reach this level.
Fred, George and Lee Jordan were very happy that they didn't have to see Snape's sour face in class. The three of them obviously knew that they could not get excellent grades in the OWLS exams.
Albert was not worried about this. Having just won the Grand Prize for Potions, his attainments in potions far surpassed those of other students in the same class. The potions he brewed for the practical exam were selected from the potions book, so there was no need for him to worry.
As for the content of the written test, he had read the test papers of previous years in advance and memorized the so-called key points. He did not think that the potion written test would cause him trouble.
Well, actually the OWLS test was so easy that it gave him great confidence.
"If I were you guys, I would definitely give Snape a big surprise." Albert sat by the window drinking butterbeer and chatting with the three people who were playing wizard cards.
"Forget it. It's basically impossible to get an excellent score in the Potions exam. If we really get an excellent score, it will scare us first."
"Kenneth left the black market to us."
George poured himself a glass of butterbeer, sat down across from him, and casually mentioned what happened last night after Albert ran off on a date.
black market
The black market at Hogwarts is not a black market in the true sense, but refers to a list of people from the four colleges who frequently engage in black market transactions, as well as the locations of several channels that are often used for private transactions.
Everyone actually knows some people, but the list is not as detailed as the one Kenneth gave.
"Didn't Kenneth ask you for money?" Albert asked suddenly.
"That guy asked for five Galleons, but we only gave him one Galleon." Fred threw away the wizard card in his hand and lay down in the armchair. "To be honest, I feel like I was cheated by him."
"It's not like you don't know what kind of person that guy is."
Albert didn't know much about the so-called black market. Usually, if you wanted to buy something on the black market, you had to find a fixed person to ask for the price. In Gryffindor's case, that person was Kenneth.
"In fact, you can try to write the things you want to trade directly on the notice board. Next year, you can also try to sell joke props in school to accumulate fame for opening a shop after leaving school. After Owls finishes his exams, you can put up advertisements." Albert gave the three people advice. "As for the black market, you can also find a secret passage that Filch doesn't know about, set up a notice board there, let everyone leave a message on the notice board about the things they want to trade, and provide everyone with the trading location."
"That's a good idea, but it's not easy to find a hidden passage that Filch doesn't know about." Lee Jordan said, looking at Fred and George. If there was anyone who knew the secret passages in the school better than Filch, it would probably be these two.
George suggested using the secret passage behind the large mirror on the fifth floor as a trading location for the black market, since the secret passage leading to the outside had collapsed anyway.
Then they started discussing the name of the store.
Because there are four of us, we can’t add our surname when naming the store.
Magic joke shop
This is the name currently in preparation.
Albert was too lazy to care about this. His naming skills were actually very average, as could be seen from the fact that the fat cat next to him was named Tom.
The warm summer breeze blew in from the window, making Albert a little sleepy. He couldn't help but put out his hand to cover his yawn. He turned his head to look out the window and inadvertently saw Hagrid at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. In his hand, he seemed to be... holding a suitcase containing Buckbeak.
"I'm going to look for Hagrid. Do you want to come with me?" Albert looked at the four people who were discussing the name of the store and asked.
"Go on your own!" said George.
Well, an unexpected answer.
The relationship between the three and Hagrid can only be described as average.
Albert turned his gaze back to the window and found that Hagrid had disappeared.
After leaving the common room, Albert took out the map from his pocket. Hagrid was indeed not in his hunting cabin. He roughly guessed what Hagrid wanted to do.
"Are you sending Buckbeak back to the Hippogriffs?"
Albert could understand Hagrid's reluctance to lock up Buckbeak, but he still felt that it was too risky for Hagrid to do so, and he should at least discuss it with him first.
"None of these guys are reliable!"
Albert walked into the boys' bathroom on the eighth floor, mumbling something.
An hour ago, when Albert walked out of the boys' bathroom and was about to go to Hagrid's hut, he suddenly thought of something and gradually slowed down his pace.
"Could it be that I changed Hagrid's mind, so he is going to send Buckbeak back to the colony of hippogriffs?" Albert stopped, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to follow secretly to see what Hagrid wanted to do.
"So what should we do now?"
Albert suddenly felt a little depressed, and finally decided to go to the Room of Requirement to read a book, as if he was reviewing for the Potions exam.
There he met Katrina, who was also reviewing for the Potions exam, and the two chatted casually about the key points of the Potions exam.
The time for chatting passed quickly. Albert took out his pocket watch and saw that it was almost time. He used the Disillusionment Charm to hide himself and went to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest to wait for Hagrid to appear.
A short while later, Albert came out from behind a tree trunk after seeing Hagrid entering the forest with a suitcase.
"Why are you here?" Hagrid was very surprised.
"You should have discussed this with me first." Albert's tone was slightly reproachful, "At least I can give you some advice."
"I'm sorry, I don't want to disturb you. I know the OWLS exam is very important to you." Hagrid looked at Albert and glanced at the suitcase. "But it has been in there for too long. It looks very depressed."
Hagrid obviously felt sorry for Buckbeak. Life in the box was not easy, so he planned to send Buckbeak away secretly without telling Albert.
"Can you find the herd of hippogriffs?" Albert asked.
"Of course," Hagrid said, palming his chest. "I know every nest they have in the Forbidden Forest."
"Aren't you afraid that someone will follow you?" Albert said unhappily. He took a badge out of his pocket and threw it to Hagrid.
This matter had to be finished neatly and quickly, he didn't want to be cheated for no reason.
"What is this?" Hagrid asked in confusion, glancing at the badge on his palm.
"A jammer. With this thing, others can't lock you with spells. Of course, owls can't find you either."
"Thanks."
Hagrid smiled and put the badge into his pocket, then called to Albert, "I guess you're planning to go along since you're here."
"Is it far from here?" Albert asked.
"About half an hour's journey." Hagrid made a quick estimate of the time.
"It should not have passed through the hunting range of those giant eight-eyed spiders." Albert asked again.
"Don't worry, I think those Acromanthus spiders should have forgotten about you long ago." Hagrid knew why Albert was wary of the Acromanthus spiders.
"Who knows?" Albert took out his broom from his pocket and sat on it, saying as he flew, "I won't joke with my life."
As he spoke, Albert took out another object from his pocket.
"I always see you taking out some weird stuff."
Hagrid looked at the pocket watch-like thing in Albert's hand and asked curiously, "What is this?"
"Wizard radar can detect whether there are other wizards within a one-kilometer radius." Albert said casually, "The principle is a bit similar to the peephole, and it also uses the human footprint spell. Well, you probably won't understand it when I tell you this."
Of course, this thing is still a semi-finished product, and everything Albert took out is more or less a semi-finished product.
"So, you plan to use this thing to see if there is anyone watching us around?" Hagrid guessed the use of this thing.
"Yes." Albert raised his wand and tapped the suitcase lightly, using the Disillusionment Charm to hide it directly, so as to prevent Hagrid from attracting attention with a suitcase. Although the possibility of encountering people is very small, it is always better to be prepared.
At this moment, the wizard radar responded, and Albert saw several red dots approaching this side rapidly.
"Hagrid, someone is coming." Albert wanted to take out a piece of invisible cloth from the deformed lizard skin bag to cover the two of them, but the red dots on the radar were moving too fast.
"What's going on?" Hagrid asked.
"I don't know." Albert frowned slightly. He felt that he should stop Hagrid from taking the risk.
Above their heads, several wizards on brooms flew by.
"What's wrong, Hagrid?" After making sure that the group of people had gone far away, Albert looked at Hagrid who was frowning beside him.
"It's probably poachers." Hagrid said gloomily. Few poachers would rashly break into the Forbidden Forest. It is more dangerous here than imagined.
"Today is not a good day to go out," muttered Albert. "Are you still going to release Buckbeak back to his herd?"
Hagrid hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded. Even if he wanted to do something, he couldn't do it because they couldn't fly.
"By the way, were you also the one who released the Hippogriff in the Forbidden Forest?" Albert deliberately changed the subject.
"No, hippogriffs are very common in Europe. I encountered them when I was a game keeper at Hogwarts." Hagrid was diverted by Albert. "It is said that the appearance of hippogriffs is related to wizards. It was originally the product of a cross between a griffon and a horse."
In fact, those strange creatures in the magical world were created by wizards. For example, the exploding-tailed skrewt that will appear next semester is one of them, which is a hybrid of a human-headed sphinx and a fire crab.
What’s worse is that unlike donkeys, they can reproduce, so a whole new kind of creature has appeared in the magical world.
“They usually start laying eggs in mid-July.”
"egg?"
"Yes, a large and fragile egg that usually hatches within 24 hours," said Hegcop. "During the egg-laying period, the Hippogriff's nest will become very dangerous and will attack any creature that tries to approach the nest."
Albert suddenly didn't know what to say. That thing actually lays eggs
"Hippogriffs usually start test flights after seven days, and can fly long distances after a few months. They usually fly south with their parents to find food in the winter." Hagrid introduced.
"Honestly, you should tell this to the students. They need to know this knowledge more," Albert suggested.
"That's a good idea. I'll set up a similar course next semester." Hagrid said seriously, "I already have a good idea. I'll try it out during the summer vacation."
Albert couldn't help but mourn for the others.
As he followed Hagrid forward, he instinctively glanced at the wizard radar in his hand and narrowed his eyes.
when
He handed the wizard radar to Hagrid and made a gesture. Hagrid was stunned after reading it and wanted to turn back but was stopped by Albert.
"I'll go ahead and explore the way. You might be lost." Albert said, and let the broom fly forward.
After a while, he turned a corner and came back, and quickly found the four wizards who were following them.
These four guys were just floating in the air about a hundred feet away from them, not saying a word, just following Hagrid silently.
Albert drew out his wand and used a large-scale stunning spell in the general direction of the four people. When the red light exploded mist in the void, the four poachers finally reacted and drove their brooms out of the area of the stunning spell. But it was too late. The four people affected by the stunning spell began to lose consciousness, and they didn't have time to react before they were knocked down from the air by the stunning spell.
Of course, due to the spell, the four of them were not killed by the fall, but they all fell into a deep sleep.
Hagrid stared at the four people thrown together in amazement and asked, "How did you do it?"
"Of course it was a sneak attack. I just caught them off guard." Albert said as a matter of course.
"What are you going to do?" Hagrid asked.
"See what their purpose is, then deal with them." After Albert tied them up with ropes, he woke up one of the wizards and used Legilimency directly on him.
The wizard's memory flashed before Albert's eyes. He saw four young men meeting in the Hog's Head Bar. They heard that there was a breeding base for Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest, so they wanted to come and try their luck. As a result, they did not find the Acromantulas, but met them halfway and recognized Hagrid. So they wanted to secretly follow Hagrid and try their luck, maybe they could find something valuable.
That is, a group of poor people who came to the Forbidden Forest to try their luck and try to make a fortune.
"What are you going to do?" Hagrid asked Albert with a frown. Every year there are guys like this who go to the Forbidden Forest to try their luck, but very few of them can actually make a fortune.
"Confiscate their tools, erase their memories, and they will leave on their own when they wake up."
In fact, if they didn't follow him and Hagrid, Albert wouldn't bother to care about them.
"Well, let's do it," Hagrid agreed.
After they woke up, they found themselves lying on the ground inexplicably, with their wands missing. They flew away in a hurry, and this scene was seen by Albert and Hagrid.
"Do you think they will come again?" Hagrid asked Albert with his head down.
"I don't know." Albert handed the wand to Hagrid and said, "Do you want to try it?"
"When I was expelled, the Ministry of Magic stripped me of my wizarding qualifications and prohibited me from carrying and using a wand," Hagrid said with a wry smile.
"I can make you a telescopic cane or a telescopic umbrella so you can carry it with you." Albert smiled and comforted him, "You don't have to worry about these problems. It's not illegal as long as no one finds out."
"You can do that?" Hagrid asked in surprise.
"There are always loopholes in the law," Albert said contemptuously. "Moreover, most laws are actually used to constrain ordinary people. You must have experienced this deeply after what happened."
Hagrid was surprised by Albert's words, but he had to admit that it was right. When facing Lucius Malfoy, the laws of the Ministry of Magic were so ridiculous.
In the end, Hagrid did not ask Albert to help make that kind of thing, and the two did not go to the Hippogriff's nest, but released Buckbeak near the nest.
"Go back and live with your companions." Hagrid touched Buckbeak's head sadly, untied the chains on it and said to Albert, "I shouldn't have allowed them to appear in the classroom."
"This is not your fault." Albert comforted softly, "Let's go back."
"Go on, I'll come visit you later." Hagrid waved goodbye to Buckbeak who was looking back as he walked away, "I really don't want him to leave."
"It will do you no good to stay here. Buckbeak belongs to nature." Albert said as he watched Buckbeak spread his wings and fly away. "At least you can come back and visit him occasionally."