"...Oh, I don't understand what that old man Slughorn thinks at all! Isn't it obvious that the reward set for the course must be yours? Hermione?"
At noon one day after school started, Ron was holding a book in the Gryffindor common room, reading and complaining lazily. And around the table where he was, Harry and Hermione were doing their own things.
"Until it's really the last moment, no one knows what the outcome will be. If you work harder, maybe the prize will be yours..." Hermione wrote something rustling on the parchment without raising her head.
In fact, Ron doesn't really care about rewards, because now, at least he is very clear about his abilities. Students like him who got into the NEWTs potions class with "good" grades were lucky enough to be able to study in class. At the moment, rather than complaining, it would be more appropriate to say that he is looking for something to talk about.
"After all, you still won the prize..." Ron turned over a page of the book in his hand and said casually, "But to be honest, I really don't understand what that bald old man is thinking. What... you actually said, 'Gifts for ladies shouldn't be too shabby'... Isn't the prize just a magic potion? What's so shabby or not?"
"Maybe it needs to be wrapped?" Harry closed the notebook on the table and stretched hard. "I remember Uncle Vernon seemed to have said something similar when he gave Aunt Maggie some small gifts?"
"Anyway, I have no interest anyway." Hermione stopped writing and shook the feather that served as the pen holder. "Didn't Professor Slughorn mention it in class? In addition to not overdosing on Felixir, it also There are some other side effects... Since that’s what Maka said, even if there is no basis for it, I still think it’s best not to touch it!”
"But what Slughorn said later seems to me to be quite right -" Harry thought for a moment and said, "Luck cannot be measured in reality. No one can tell whether there are any side effects of Felixir. .”
"Then tonight, I won't go to the dessert tasting party held by Professor Slughorn. Then you can help me find a reason!" Hermione turned her head and glanced at him, "The prize is yours too, use You don’t have to think about it yourself—I don’t need it anyway, and I don’t want to use it.”
"No, no, no, Hermione..." Harry said helplessly, "I think you should take it this time! You didn't go there after the exam last semester... It's not appropriate to make excuses twice, right?"
"I-" Hermione opened her mouth, looked down at the parchment, and then said reluctantly, "Well... I'll think about it, let's talk about it after dinner!"
…
When it comes to small events organized by Slughorn, Maka will certainly not be left out. Yes, he also received the old man's invitation as usual, but whether he can be there when the time comes is still unknown.
At this moment in the Room of Requirement, the "werewolf statues" that were originally placed in various directions have been placed against the wall, but on the surface of the floor where they were originally located, there are faint blue brilliance flowing. .
Here is where Maka studies the rune array and individual rule runes.
The room was still dark, which was arranged in order to eliminate other unnecessary sight disturbances and purely observe the formation diagram. At the moment, Maka is squatting in this large formation, her eyes fixed on the small rule rune floating in the center.
Around the rotating and floating rune, ice crystal fragments flew lightly and then slowly fell and disappeared, exuding a clear sense of beauty every moment.
After watching her carefully, not missing a single moment, for several hours, Maka stood up and twisted her neck a little. He is using his eyes and his ability to sense magic power to simultaneously observe the rules themselves and the appearance of their runes.
Why do the regular runes actually appear with such strokes? What special connection does this have with the meaning of the rules? If he could understand the connection between the two, his understanding of the cooling runes would probably go a step further.
In this way, you might be able to understand another rule rune that is completely opposite to it. And even if not, it will definitely be of great help to the understanding of other rules and runes, right
In fact, he has spent a lot of time on this.
After resting for a while, Maka squatted down again and continued to study the cooling rune in the center of the array.
In fact, he specifically chose this afternoon as a day when there was no magic text class, so he planned to think about it carefully. But no matter how much time you have, studying the rules and runes is like climbing a ten thousand-meter-high mountain. How can you calculate it based on common sense
In this silence, time seemed to pass slowly and quickly, dissipating silently between the fingers bit by bit. When a soft "ding" sound suddenly came from the table deep in the room, Maka suddenly straightened up and rubbed her face vigorously.
"...Is it time to eat? Well...it sounds like I'm really hungry?"
As he spoke, he waved his hand suddenly, and the rule runes instantly disappeared without a trace, and the faint blue light on the floor also dispersed without wind. When he walked straight to the door, the "werewolf statues" leaning against the wall followed and floated up, each falling to their original position, covering up the rune pattern on the ground.
"Crack-bang!"
The door to the Room of Requirement was closed casually, and soon disappeared into the wall behind Maka.
"This kind of research is really time-consuming and laborious... ah!" As he walked forward, he tilted his head as if he remembered something again, "It seems that Slughorn's dessert will come tonight? Hmm... then Let’s put off the research after dinner for now! The old man’s network is quite useful..."
Nowadays, when there is no urgent crisis, Maka is no longer as hurried as before. The road to magic is winding and long, but life is limited. Under the premise that it cannot be achieved overnight, it is also very important to know how to enjoy life from time to time.
As soon as it's time for dinner, the auditorium of Hogwarts will become as lively as usual. Looking at this scene of teachers and students gathering and having fun, anyone will feel a warm feeling rising in their hearts.
"... After observing during the beginning of the school year, I found that this year's NEWTs class is obviously higher than in the past, especially some of the students... "
When Maca sat on the staff bench, he heard the little Professor Flitwick telling Professor McGonagall some of his views on the little wizards. And when several familiar names appeared from the other party's mouth, he also smiled knowingly.
Hermione and others were of course one of the names specifically mentioned by Flitwick, and Maka knew that the words he said in the ward were having the right effect.
The near-conclusive conclusion that "Voldemort will be resurrected" can bring a sense of crisis to everyone present at the time; and a suitable resurrection deadline can allow everyone to appropriately convert that sense of crisis into the driving force for progress. During the current safe transition period, it would be great if they could steadily improve.
"It's a pity that they can't actually sense the magic power, otherwise the practical content of the magic text class could be deepened a lot... It's really a pity..."
While he was thinking and enjoying tonight's food, he felt that such a life was indeed wonderful.
"McLean, did you forget about my little event later? I really hope you can come over if you have time. This time I asked Ambrosio to get me some new types of desserts, which are not available in the store. Sell it!”
Slughorn, who was several seats away, suddenly poked his head out, abruptly interrupting Maka's thoughts. Maka didn't mind at all and just nodded.
"Of course, I will go there..." He smiled and said, "Professors, why don't you go together?"
"Oh, actually I also invited them, but -"
"That's not appropriate," Flitwick said in his high-pitched voice. "Slughorn has invited a lot of students, and they would definitely be uncomfortable if all of us went."
"Look!" Slughorn spread his hands and said, "Actually, I would say that professors should get involved with students. This will also be of great help in teaching!"
"That's not necessarily the case." Hearing what the old man said, Snape also rarely interjected, "I admit that you can get results using this method, but that doesn't mean that everyone can use it. Let me see. , those students are usually too relaxed, so they spent seven years learning only a few things."
Maka couldn't help but smile secretly after hearing this - obviously, even Snape would have a hard time denying Slughorn's abilities. But his ideas are completely different from that of the old man, so it will inevitably be difficult to convince him.
"By the way," Maka thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "I have a general understanding of the situation in the senior class, but what about this year's batch of freshmen? As you know, my courses are elective subjects, and they are not very important to them. I understand! Professors, can you tell me a little bit?"
His words made all the major course professors recall briefly, and they obviously compared the freshmen horizontally in their minds.
"It's not bad to have three students," said Professor McGonagall who spoke first. "Everyone in the first grade is still in the process of contact and adaptation. This is the stage where talent differences are most easily reflected. Sarah Hohenheim from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff's Ens Taron, Gryffindor's Alexander Wolfe—those kids are worth looking forward to."
At this point, McGonagall paused and finally added: "Of course, talent is not everything. Every student deserves our energy to guide them onto the right path."