"What's wrong, Maka?"
When the boy was staring at the black leather diary in Ginny's cauldron, the girl next to him pulled his hand without hesitation and asked.
"It's nothing." Maka shook her head slightly, her tone still seemed as gentle and peaceful, but her eyes were unusually cold.
"This trip has changed a lot."
"Really. Luna?" Maka turned her head and showed a smile, "Maybe! But I think this is good."
Luna tilted her head and looked at him, her eyes slightly dazed, and it was hard to tell what she was thinking.
After a while, she said: "Yeah, it's pretty good..."
Apparently, Maka was in time for school to start. Although no one knew where he was taken by Rowena and what he did, at least he came back safe and sound.
However, some inexplicable changes seemed to have occurred in him.
"Let's go home first." Maka said.
…
On the first day of school, Maka stayed with Luna the whole time and never left her side almost once. Even at the welcome dinner for freshmen, Maka sat directly on the long table in Ravenclaw.
Surprisingly, almost none of the Ravenclaw students objected. This is absolutely rare among eaglets who have extremely high standards for "wisdom and erudition."
This may be because many students have already seen the notice posted on the Hogwarts bulletin board.
The content on the notice was very simple. It just conveyed good news to all the teachers and students at the school—the "Xianyin Potion" invented by Maka had passed the testing and evaluation of the International Federation of Wizards. At the same time as the official certification of the medicine, it also indirectly recognized his status as a "pharmacist".
As Snape said in class, potions can indeed "increase reputation and brew glory." This is most evidently confirmed by Maka, who has just entered the second grade this year.
During the sorting ceremony, Luna was naturally sorted into Ravenclaw. Maka smiled and gave her blessings, and told her again and again what she needed to pay attention to in her future study and life.
The dinner was lively and warm as always, bringing warmth to the little wizards like a big family.
Dumbledore, who was in the middle of the guest table, seemed to glance at Maka inadvertently, but soon heard Professor Flitwick laugh again.
After a while, Professor McGonagall came in from the side door. She walked to Dumbledore and said something softly.
Maka looked over at Gryffindor, and sure enough, neither Harry nor Ron were at the long table. The other little lions were whispering to each other and talking about it.
In it, Hermione looked visibly restless. When Maka looked over, she just turned back and looked towards Maka.
"He...what happened?" Hermione stared blankly at Maka, who had moved her gaze elsewhere, but her heart was filled with doubts.
Hermione has always been very sensitive inside, and she will always notice some details that others will not notice. For example, Maka didn't seem to have changed much at this time, but her cold eyes made Hermione feel very uncomfortable.
"Could it be that Voldemort's incident really had such a big impact on him? Or was it that Maka was actually injured when she saved me?"
Thinking of the incident at the end of last semester and Maka's expression at that time, Hermione's guess was naturally wrong.
"... And who is that girl?"
She looked at Luna, who was being carefully taken care of by Maka, and felt a little unhappy for some reason.
The next morning, while Maka was having breakfast, she was disturbed by a shouting letter from Gryffindor. It was from Mrs. Weasley to Ron.
"... stole a car! You dared to drive to Hogwarts in the car, even several Muggles saw you along the way! I wouldn't be surprised at all if they fired you, let's see what happens to me then Deal with you! You probably have never thought about how your father and I felt when we found out that the car was gone... "
A huge sound erupted from the red roaring letter, filling the entire hall, a hundred times louder than usual.
The sound rattled the plates and spoons on the table, and the echoes from the surrounding stone walls were deafening. Everyone in the auditorium turned to see who had received the shouting letter. Ron huddled in his chair and could only see a red forehead.
Maka frowned, but didn't make any move.
If it had happened in the past, he might have walked over and helped Ron get rid of the yelling letter - it wasn't difficult for him.
But now, he was sitting at the dining table, not moving at all.
The first class was Herbology, and Hufflepuff still took this class with the Gryffindors. When Maka walked towards the greenhouse, he saw the whomping willow in the distance - it was currently wearing bandages to prevent certain branches from being completely broken.
This is the work of Harry and Ron, who drove up the enchanted flying car at the start of term and damaged it along the way.
Although they just couldn't get to the Hogwarts train platform - the entrance to the wall there seemed to be blocked by someone. But even so, they still couldn't hide their recklessness.
At least, Sprout spent a morning on this, healing the poor whomping willow, and only had a quick breakfast of bread.
When Maka came to the greenhouse, she saw other students standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout.
After a while, Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived. As soon as they arrived, they saw Professor Sprout striding across the lawn.
Her arm was heavily bandaged and didn't look good. Moreover, she had always been kind and kind to others, but today she had a sullen look on her face.
Next to Professor Sprout was Gilderoy Lockhart.
The two people are a stark contrast: Professor Sprout has a short and fat figure, a patched hat on his flowing hair, and his clothes are always stained with a lot of mud; but Gid Rolohart was spotless from head to toe, wearing a flowing turquoise robe and a turquoise top hat with a gold rim on top of his shiny blond hair.
"Oh, hello!" Lockhart shouted to the students with a cheerful face, "I just showed Professor Sprout how to heal the wounds of the Whomping Willow! But I don't want you to think that I am any better in herbalism. She's good at it! I just happened to see a few of these strange plants during my travels... "
"We're going to the third greenhouse today." Professor Sprout said with an unhappy expression on his face as he took over the topic.
Maka is already a regular visitor to Greenhouse Three—he's been here many times and even has his own little area inside.
Here, the smells of damp earth and manure are familiar, mixed with the rich scent of flowers. The flowers were as big as umbrellas and hung from the ceiling. They looked like they were growing well.
Maka was about to go inside when Gilderoy Lockhart called out to him.
"Oh! Maka, you are Maka—" Lockhart grabbed his shoulders and said loudly, "Professor Sprout, and this, Maka! Maka McClain! I also want to be with I think you won’t mind if he chats for a while, just two minutes…”
Maka looked at Harry, who was standing on the other side and was also being held by Lockhart, and Harry gave him an awkward smile.
Lockhart didn't seem to really intend to ask Professor Sprout to agree. He simply said "Great" and closed the greenhouse door towards Sprout.
"Oh! The youngest pharmacist! I heard that you were still a first-year student when you invented the 'Xianyin Potion'! Is this true? It's really amazing..." Lockhart said happily, pressing one hand on Holding Maka's shoulder, one hand waved up and down along with the topic, looking quite excited.
"... I also heard that you were very low-key when you first entered school, quite low-key! Just like me when I was a child - but no matter what, gold will always shine, just like me. Although you are not as good as me now. Winning the "Wizard Weekly" Most Charming Smile Award five times is great, but one day you will reach my level—"
"Sorry, Professor Lockhart." Maka interrupted him and said calmly, "If there is nothing else, I think I should go back to class."
After that, he pushed the door open and walked into the greenhouse, closing the door behind him, leaving Lockhart standing there and blinking awkwardly.
"...Okay, I think," he turned his head, and the stiffness on his face quickly disappeared, as if he didn't care at all, and turned his attention to Harry, "Harry, I think I I can understand you..."
In the third greenhouse, Professor Sprout stood behind a stool in the middle of the greenhouse. There are about twenty pairs of earmuffs of different colors placed on the stool.
In front of everyone, there are large pottery pots with a plant growing inside. The grass and leaves are green and look very healthy.
Just as the students were whispering, Harry came back. He walked to the center of the greenhouse with a puzzled look on his face and sat on the seat next to Ron and Hermione.
At this time, Professor Sprout tapped the flowerpot with his wand and said loudly: "We are going to repot the mandrake today. Now, who can tell me what the properties of mandrake are?"
Hermione raised her hands automatically - she always did that. But this time, after raising her hand, she glanced at Maka again.
Maka just stared at the mandrake in front of her without raising her head at all.
"Miss Granger." Professor Sprout also glanced at Maka before speaking.
"Mandrake, also called mandrake root, is a powerful recovery agent." Hermione recited the knowledge points she had memorized in the preview almost verbatim, "It is used to restore people who have been transformed. Or the person under the spell returns to his original state.”
"Excellent, ten points for Gryffindor," Professor Sprout said. "Mandrake is an important component of most antidotes. But it is also dangerous. Can anyone tell me why?"
Hermione glanced at Maka again.
In herbal medicine class last semester, Maka would always raise her hand with her to answer questions. To be honest, Hermione was always happy about this. She thought Maka was the friend who understood her best in the school... But at this moment, the other party still had no response, which made her feel very disappointed.