The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 234: Release the water of the Atlantic Ocean
Generally speaking, spiders are rarely seen in winter. Some spiders die after mating and laying eggs in late autumn and never make it to winter.

Some spiders choose to hibernate during the cold winter. They do not need to eat and naturally will not appear in human sight.

This type of spider will find a corner or a hole, weave a very dense web with spider silk, and then hibernate in it, and will not wake up until the spring of the following year when the flowers bloom.

But this is Hogwarts, common sense doesn't apply. You can see spiders in the warm castle even in winter. What's more, there are Hagrid's good friends in the Forbidden Forest, and Aragog's family of Acromantula is very large.

Ada didn't know whether Lee Jordan's pet bag spider needed to hibernate, but the bag spider had no intention of building a web and hibernating. Instead, it wanted to escape from the castle.

The world is so big, and there is so much to do. A small box is not enough for it. The world is so big, and the bag spider wants to go out and see it.

One evening, Ada and the twins were walking through the hallway when they saw a small group of people gathered around a notice board, reading from a piece of parchment that had just been nailed up.

Fred and George squeezed over and came back a moment later. They said to Ada, "They are going to open a dueling club. Tonight is the first meeting."

"It's as if the monster in the secret room will duel with us." George said, "But why does this 'Dueling Club' sound so familiar to me?"

It sounds familiar, right? Before the attack on the school, Filch had defined Dawn as a dueling club, not a study group. Lockhart was there at the time, and he thought it was a good idea.

Since the attack, Dawn has suspended its activities, and the twins are responsible for finding a new venue. However, the two brothers have not been able to find a satisfactory place, and Dawn needs a safe and hidden place as a gathering place.

It's not that I haven't considered the secret passage on the fifth floor of the castle. It is the best choice in terms of both space and privacy.

However, there are safety hazards deep underground in the castle. Due to years of disrepair and Ada's destruction in recent years, the underground rooms have long been shaky and it is unknown when they will collapse.

If a landslide really happened, Ada might be able to protect everyone, but she was prepared for the worst. If someone got hurt by mistake, it would be no joke, so the secret passage on the fifth floor was abandoned.

At eight o'clock that evening, Ada and the twins followed the crowd into the auditorium.

The long dining table disappeared, and a gilded stage appeared along one wall, illuminated by hundreds of candles floating in the air. The ceiling became dark as velvet again, and almost all the students in the school came, crowded together, everyone holding their own wands and looking excited.

The students were discussing enthusiastically who would teach them how to duel. Everyone hoped that this person would be Professor Flitwick. It was no secret to the students of Hogwarts that he had won the dueling competition when he was young.

A good teacher produces good students, and it is obviously the best choice to teach dueling courses by having the dueling competition champion as the teacher.

Ada and her friends were also mixed in the crowd. Unlike the people around them, they did not think that Professor Flitwick would seek the limelight. There was only one person in Hogwarts who liked to be in the spotlight so much.

Sure enough, the person who appeared on the stage was not the champion the students expected, but another champion.

This champion is not that champion. Everyone still prefers the champion of the duel contest rather than the champion of the bragging contest.

Gilderoy Lockhart walked onto the stage in a dignified manner, wearing a purple robe and looking radiant. Next to Lockhart, who was dressed like a parrot, stood a man, Snape, still wearing his usual black clothes.

"Why is he so desperate that he chooses Snape instead of being unable to sleep well?" Fred looked at Lockhart in confusion. He really couldn't understand Lockhart's actions.

"I swear, this is the first time in my life that I want to cheer for Snape." George said, "I hope Snape can just send Lockhart home. I don't want to see him in school anymore."

"If, I mean if, I stand up and challenge Lockhart again, do you think he will agree?" Ada, who was determined to expose the fake, asked in a low voice.

"No way," the twins said in unison, "Absolutely not."

Ada sighed helplessly. This duel club led by Lockhart suddenly became boring. On the gilded stage, Lockhart was speaking and promoting his works.

He said, "Don't worry, kids. I will return your Potions Professor to you intact. He's just helping me with a small demonstration." Lockhart was still smiling, not noticing that Snape was looking at him with eyes that were almost like looking at a dead person.

Lockhart chose his assistant as a matter of course, but he had no idea how terrifying the past of his colleague who didn't like to wash his hair was, and he didn't know that he was once Voldemort's confidant.

If you don't do anything, you won't die. Lockhart survived for a whole semester, and his ultimate move was to do something stupid and die in front of all the students. It's really admirable.

On the stage, Lockhart and Snape turned to each other and bowed. At least Lockhart bowed, moving his hands in many different ways, while Snape just shook his head impatiently. Then, they raised their wands like arrows to their chests.

Off the stage, Ada looked at Lockhart with disdain. His flashy, useless moves were enough to knock him down several times.

If this were a dueling tournament, Lockhart might not even make it past the auditions.

Ada wanted to know: How did Lockhart survive so long without being beaten to death? When did the wizarding world become a harmonious society?

On the stage, Snape and Lockhart simultaneously jerked their wands over their shoulders.

Snape yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

The speed at which the Potions Professor chanted the spell could be described as a turtle's pace. Ada swore that if her grandmother were alive, she would also be able to dodge this disarming spell.

But there was a flash of blinding red light, and young Lockhart was unable to duck or block the curse. He was knocked off his feet and flung backwards across the stage, hitting the wall, then sliding down and curling up on the floor.

Lockhart looked so miserable that he looked like a cooked shrimp.

There were boos in the hall. Anyone with eyes could see that Snape was letting Lockhart win. He was letting the entire Atlantic Ocean win. At this moment, Snape's slow speed of chanting the spell seemed to be mocking Lockhart's incompetence.

The damage of the Disarming Spell may not be high, but it is extremely insulting.

The students didn't look disappointed, as they had expected Lockhart's fate. Hogwarts professors were no different. Many students thought that it was OK for them to do it, as they would be knocked down by one move anyway, so maybe they could even fall in a more beautiful way.

But Lockhart is Lockhart, a flower of different colors, who never won with magic and never lost with pretense. He staggered to his feet, staggered back onto the stage, and used sophistry to save his face.

The sophistry and contemptuous operation successfully angered Snape. Just when Snape was about to teach him a lesson, Lockhart backed off. He had just saved his face and didn't want to fall to the ground again and be trampled on.

Life was still broad and there were countless fans waiting for him. Lockhart didn't want Snape to send him off today.

Lockhart and Snape walked off the stage and moved through the crowd, pairing up the students for practice.

As soon as the pairing started, Ada left the hall with the twins. They were very disappointed with the school's decision and even more dissatisfied with Snape's leniency. Snape, why are you being polite to Lockhart? Just hit him in the face with a brick. What's the point of talking about friendship between colleagues!

The three people who left the auditorium in disappointment didn't know that they had missed a wonderful show.

They didn't see the round-based magic games between students, didn't see Harry and Malfoy's spiral splits, didn't see the extremely fierce women's wrestling competition, and didn't see Harry's Parseltongue.

Ada and the other two were walking on the way back to the tower, and they discussed going to the forbidden forest to have a look. There was a large group of spiders there, and they might be able to learn from the spiders why they were so abnormal this winter.

(End of this chapter)