Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 352: Vanishing Spell

Harry and the others did not disappoint Mike. They showed their usual troublesome spirit and had a fierce verbal conflict with their professor Umbridge in the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class soon after.

Umbridge was a person who kept her promises, and she showed no mercy in this matter.

After a heated exchange of words, Harry was sentenced to a week's detention.

No one paid much attention to this matter. After all, the conflict between Harry and others and Umbridge was nothing compared to the conflict between Mike and Umbridge before, and it was not worth mentioning.

Even Harry himself didn't care too much about it, because he had been put in detention by Snape before, and based on his previous experience, the so-called confinement was at most some punitive labor.

What's more, Mike had been put in detention by Umbridge before. From his description afterwards, Umbridge's confinement didn't seem to be that terrible.

This can only be said that Harry was too naive, and he soon paid the price for his naivety.

"Harry, I hope Umbridge didn't give you any trouble last night."

In the auditorium, Mike sat next to Harry and others who were having breakfast. While asking, he looked at the back of Harry's hands intentionally or unintentionally.

As Mike expected, there was a faint red mark on the back of Harry's left hand. It looked like new flesh grown after an injury, but the color was very light and could not be seen unless you looked closely.

"It's not so bad. Harry told us that the old witch just made him copy sentences as punishment."

Ron answered quickly. Ever since Mike stood up for him on the Hogwarts Express, he had cherished the opportunity to communicate with Mike.

Upon hearing this, Harry paused in cutting the sausage and quietly pulled up his left sleeve to cover the scar on the back of his hand.

This made Mike feel a little funny.

Mike, who has read the original novel, knows very well that Umbridge's punishment is not as simple as copying sentences. As the Deputy Minister of Magic, Umbridge has mastered many terrifying methods of punishment, and she herself is also an extremely cruel person.

The quill she gave Harry to copy the sentence with was an instrument of torture brought from the Ministry of Magic.

This special feather pen does not require any ink when writing. Whenever it leaves a mark on parchment, it will automatically draw the same blood mark on the back of the user's other hand, and absorb the blood inside as ink to write on the parchment.

This pen also has a very magical effect, that is, the wound it creates will heal in a very short time. Unless a lot of repeated content is written over a short period of time, it will not leave any traces at all.

Mike didn't know whether this pen was invented for the purpose of torturing others, but this wonderful property undoubtedly made it the best tool in Umbridge's hands to punish students.

Mike stared at Harry's hand in deep thought, and Harry felt his scalp tingling under his gaze, and couldn't help asking:
"Mike, what's wrong with you?"

"Hmm? Oh! I'm just a little sleepy." Mike made up an excuse and then asked, "Is what Ron said true? She put you in detention just to make you copy sentences?"

Harry's expression was a little unnatural, but after a moment of silence, he nodded silently.

"Oh, this doesn't look like a very terrible punishment..."

Listening to Mike's words, the expression on Harry's face became more and more depressed, and at the same time, he covered the back of his left hand with his right hand, as if it was painful there.

This made Mike want to laugh, because Harry obviously had no intention of telling the truth, and he didn't even want to tell the details of the confinement.

It was obvious that if he told this kind of thing, someone would come forward to help him solve it, but he just didn't want to say it.

Mike was very confused by this and could only attribute it to a common brain cramp among teenagers during puberty.

"That's what I thought," Ron said again. "The only downside is that he won't be able to practice Quidditch because of detention."

The expression on Ron's face was very complicated, with envy and some melancholy.

After a pause, he continued:
"Mike, the school Quidditch team will be trying out soon. Do you think I should participate?"

"Huh?" Mike was stunned for a moment, and said instinctively, "Are you going to be a guard?"

"How did you know!?"

Ron looked surprised, but he quickly recovered and asked excitedly:

"I almost forgot that you are also a member of the Ravenclaw team and you know Quidditch. So please give me some advice. Do you think I can succeed in the selection this time?"

"emm..."

Mike was speechless. He had seen Ron's goalkeeping skills, which were really hard to describe.

Just when Mike didn't know how to answer, Hermione's voice suddenly came from the side.

"We're going to take the OWL exams this year and you're still thinking about trying out for Quidditch? If Mrs. Weasley knew about this she would definitely skin you alive!"

When Mike heard the voice, he looked and saw Hermione walking towards them quickly with a thick stack of books in her arms.

At this moment, Ron seemed to have thought of his mother's angry look, and his body trembled violently.

"If you ask me, Harry, you should also quit the Quidditch team." Hermione sat next to Mike. "The OWL exam is the most important exam for us this year. I bet that if you put all the energy you usually spend on Quidditch into studying, you can at least get three A's in the end!"

Harry was fiddling with the sausages on his plate with his fork, not paying any attention to Hermione.

After bombarding Harry and Ron, Hermione turned her attention to Mike.

Mike was a little at a loss, but Hermione just snorted and looked away.

This made Ron feel a little disappointed. He and Harry were often scolded by Hermione these days. Now he finally got to see Hermione scolding others, but Hermione finally gave up.

But he also knew very well that Mike was different from them. Mike didn't have to care about the results of the OWL exam at all. His current achievements were something they would never be able to surpass in their lifetime.

"Are you...feeling unwell?"

Seeing Hermione looking anxious, Mike asked carefully.

How could Hermione not understand what Mike meant? Her face suddenly turned red and she turned to look at Mike and said fiercely:

"Mind your own business! Your next class is Transfiguration. If you fail to perform the Vanishing Spell, Professor McGonagall will definitely kill you!"

Mike laughed. Hermione's reaction undoubtedly confirmed his guess. "I suggest you drink more hot water. Really, this is what Zhou Hong told me. I heard it is a secret recipe from the ancient East!"

The blush on Hermione's face spread to her ears. She stretched out her hand to hit Mike, but the latter dodged nimbly and quickly disappeared in the hall.

Hearing Mike's laughter, Hermione's face turned even redder, and she couldn't help but curse inwardly:

"rogue!"

……

After teasing little Hermione, Mike was in a good mood. He hummed a little tune all the way to the Transfiguration classroom.

This was their first Transfiguration class of the semester, and most of the students were very relaxed. When Mike arrived in the classroom, all he saw were their smiling faces.

Obviously, they all felt that even Professor McGonagall would not be too strict with them in the first class of the new term.

However, the reality was cruel. When Professor McGonagall walked into the classroom with steady steps, the classroom, which was originally filled with laughter and scolding, immediately became quiet.

The reason was simple: Professor McGonagall's expression was really ugly at the moment.

I saw that his brows were slightly furrowed, his lips were tightly pursed, and his eyes were wide open.

The students were all too familiar with this expression. Whenever this expression appeared on Professor McGonagall's face, it meant that they were about to face a storm of scolding.

As expected, as soon as the classroom quieted down, Professor McGonagall spoke:

"Why don't you say anything? Keep going!"

There was silence below the podium, and everyone lowered their heads and dared not speak.

Professor McGonagall glanced at everyone's faces, and when no one dared to speak, she continued:
"I can hear your voices from downstairs! The OWL exams are coming up this year, don't you feel the slightest bit nervous?!"

The students still kept their heads down and didn't dare to talk.

"This time, considering that this is the first class of the new semester, I won't punish you! But if I encounter this situation again next time, you will all be punished to copy the textbook! Do you understand?"

"understood."

There were some weak voices coming from under the podium.

"What are you talking about?" Mag said, "Speak louder!"

"understood!"

All the students shouted in unison, until then Mag nodded in satisfaction and said loudly:
"Well, now please take out Advanced Transfiguration and turn to page 104. Today we are going to learn the Vanishing Spell."

Upon hearing this, many Ravenclaw students who had previewed the entire book immediately looked at each other in shock.

The Vanishing Charm is an extremely difficult Transfiguration Charm. It is definitely one of the most difficult spells to learn throughout the year. No one could believe that Professor McGonagall would ask them to learn this spell right from the start!

This...can anyone really learn it?
None of the little movements of the people in the audience escaped Professor McGonagall's eyes.

But she was not angry, because the reason these students reacted this way was precisely because they had done some preparation and had some understanding of the Vanishing Spell.

This is a good thing.

At the same time, she couldn't help but nod her head. Ravenclaw was indeed a top school, and the proportion of students who had done pre-study was much higher than that of Gryffindor.

"Hmm!" Professor McGonagall coughed lightly, and everyone immediately stopped their little movements. "Those who have prepared for the lesson should already know it, right? The Vanishing Spell is an extremely difficult Transfiguration Spell. Its effect is very simple, that is, it can make living and dead things disappear. Listen carefully, it's not invisibility or anything like that, but real disappearance, turning into nothingness, do you understand?"

Mike's eyes narrowed when he heard that, and he raised his hand and asked, "Professor, can the vanishing spell be used on people? Can the disappeared objects or creatures come back?"

"Mike, I don't recommend you use this spell on people, because it often leads to irreversible consequences." Mag's eyes were a little scary, as if warning Mike not to make a mistake. "As for your second question, my answer is yes! Disappeared objects can indeed be recalled, but the spell to recall them is not part of your learning content this year!"

Mike was obviously not satisfied with Mag's answer and wanted to continue asking, but Mag didn't intend to continue answering.

She completely ignored Mike, took out a large box, handed it to a classmate next to her, and said:

"Distribute them."

"There are snails in here, and each of you will receive one later. Your task for this class is to try to make it disappear. Strictly speaking, this is not too difficult. After all, snails are invertebrates. It is much easier to make them disappear than animals like mice and toads."

Soon, everyone had a small snail in their hands.

But McGonagall did not let everyone try it immediately. Instead, she first explained to everyone the incantation of the Vanishing Charm (vanish without a trace), the volume and tone required to cast the Vanishing Charm, the method and amplitude of waving the wand, and many other issues.

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff took this class together. Compared to the badgers, the Ravenclaw members were obviously smarter and understood Professor McGonagall's explanation faster.

Professor McGonagall did not mean to favor Ravenclaw. She demonstrated the trick of the Vanishing Charm over and over again until she thought everyone had roughly grasped the key points.

"Okay, students, please wave your wands."

Following McGonagall's order, the Ravenclaws immediately took out their wands and aimed them at the snail in front of them, while most of the Hufflepuffs cast anxious glances at Ravenclaw.

It was obvious that most of the Hufflepuffs were not very confident in themselves and wanted to see the Ravenclaws demonstrate it a few more times.

"Disappear without a trace!"

Franklin next to Mike couldn't wait to wave his magic wand, but the snail in front of him didn't change at all and continued to crawl slowly on his desk.

Franklin pouted and looked around for a while. Seeing that all the classmates around him had failed, a smile appeared on his face again.

Then he turned his gaze to Mike. There were many people who looked at Mike like him. Most of them were guys who had failed in their attempts. They were eager to see if this great genius Mike would fail like them.

If they fail, then they are comfortable!
Mike naturally noticed those burning gazes, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he slowly took out his wand...

(End of this chapter)