The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 86 Swamp in the Classroom
A new week has begun. After two weeks of study and life, the students have finally returned to normal. The knowledge that they had eaten with meals during the holidays has been picked up again, and the faces of professors of various subjects are no longer ugly.

Professor McGonagall was patrolling the classroom. Although most students failed to successfully turn the caterpillar into a chess piece, the consumption rate of the caterpillars had obviously decreased a lot, and the students would no longer kill these poor little bugs in anger.

The caterpillars of several students can already see the shadows of chess pieces. With more practice, they should be able to complete a complete transformation.

So Professor McGonagall was in a good mood today and she was very satisfied with her students' performance.

Ada was the first person in the classroom to transform a chess piece. She transformed the bug into a knight, and then she transformed other chess pieces. Each chess piece was very vivid, such as the knight riding a horse and waving a whip, the king who was majestic without anger, and Ada was about to transform a queen.

In Wizard Chess, there is no limit to the number of squares the queen can move. She can move forward or backward horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. In chess, the queen can almost be said to be the most powerful piece.

This was also influenced by the royal families of Europe, who borrowed powerful reinforcements from the queen's family to defeat the enemy or consolidate the royal rule. The queen, as a chess piece, is a reflection of this situation.

With a wave of the magic wand, the caterpillar turned into a queen under the influence of the Transfiguration Spell. The queen chess piece was wearing armor and standing with a sword, with a murderous look between her brows. She didn't look like a queen, but more like a king leading soldiers to fight in front of two armies.

Professor McGonagall, standing behind Ada, watched her cast the spell quietly. The fact that Ada learned Transfiguration so well was not unrelated to Professor McGonagall's careful teaching.

Today's Ada gave Professor McGonagall a different feeling. The feeling was very strong, but she couldn't tell exactly where she had changed. However, Ada was developing in a good direction, which made Professor McGonagall feel relieved.

In the afternoon, there was the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was unclear whether Professor Grover Cecil's words to Ada by the Black Lake on Saturday were helping her or tricking her.

Logically speaking, when a person tells his tragic past, no matter how well he tells it, he can only earn some sympathy and tears and make people sad for a while.

But Cecil's story had a great impact on Ada, almost turning her into a person who only knew how to reminisce and indulge in the past, and almost ruined her.

But when Ada broke free from those memories, she figured out a lot of things and understood how she should live in the future. From this point of view, Cecil seemed to be helping her.

Every time Ada came into contact with these old guys in the wizarding world, she felt her own shallowness. She couldn't see through anyone, and even what their behavior represented took Ada a long time to think about.

The desks in the classroom were collected and neatly arranged at both ends of the room. A large open space in front of the podium was covered with black cloth, and no one knew what was hidden inside.

Cecil was still sitting there smoking in front of the window, with the light blue smoke covering him. You couldn't see a trace of sadness from him, and the person standing by the black lake crying silently seemed not to be him. Cecil was back to the way he was in the first class, wise and knowledgeable, with a hint of humor.

Ada was looking at Cecil, and Cecil was also looking at her through thick glasses. Looking at Ada chatting and laughing with her friends, Cecil showed a satisfied expression. He originally thought that Ada might need some time to get over it, or even never get over it. Cecil was also surprised that Ada could get over it so quickly.

When the bell rang for class, Cecil put away his pipe and stood in front of the podium. He said, "There are many kinds of black magic. They are varied and endless. Fighting them is like fighting a monster. If you cut off one of its heads, it may look at you with other parts, and it will become more vicious and cunning."

The students in the classroom were a little scared by Cecil's words, and they held their books tighter. "How should we look at people without heads?" Fred muttered softly, "I'm really curious."

"I'm curious too. Do you think it could be..." Lee Jordan's smile was a little obscene, and it was unknown what bad thing he was thinking of.

Ada did know one, but he should be a god, not some black magic or dark creature. Ada said, "I don't know, maybe he really exists, or maybe he just made it up to scare us, why don't you go ask him?"

Lee Jordan shook his head vigorously. He didn't want to have any contact with a dark wizard like Grover Cecil.

Professor Cecil has been such a strange presence for the past two weeks since the start of the school year. Students like listening to his lectures very much, but few dare to ask him questions after class. No one wants to have anything to do with the notorious dark wizard.

As soon as the get out of class is over, the students in the classroom will scatter, and everyone will run very fast, as if the person teaching them the course is not a wizard, but a giant monster wielding a huge mallet.

"Today, we are going to encounter a cunning and ferocious dark creature." Cecil pointed his wand at the black cloth, and the black cloth immediately disappeared, revealing a small swamp. "They often live in swamps and attack travelers passing by. Does anyone know what it is?"

The swamp in front of them looked very real, like a miniature version of a large swamp. There was a winding path in the swamp, leading from the students to where Cecil was.

The students shook their heads. They couldn't think of what kind of monsters were hidden in the swamp, but they were instinctively afraid of it.

Ada raised her hand, and Cecil indicated that she could answer the question. Ada said, "Is it the Shinkopunk?" There are many dark creatures in the swamp, but the Shinkopunk should be the only one suitable for them to study now.

"Tell me more about it," Professor Cecil said encouragingly.

"The Shinkopunk is a one-legged creature that seems to be made of smoke. It looks quite fragile and harmless." Ida recalled the information about the Shinkopunk and continued, "But it will lure travelers into the quagmire, and when the travelers drown, it will eat them."

"Yes, that's right. Five points to Gryffindor." Cecil said while clapping. "These creatures sound scary, but they are actually very easy to deal with. As long as you stick to your original intention and don't be fooled by them, everything will be fine."

"Your mission today is to resist the temptation of Xinkepunk and successfully cross this swamp." Cecil walked down from the platform and continued, "Don't worry, you are safe. I will protect you."

All the students took a step back in unison. Everyone reacted quickly and no one became unlucky because they did not step back.

"No? Don't you want to be the first to try?" Cecil said with a smile, "The class still has to go on. There's nothing I can do. I can only pick someone randomly."

(End of this chapter)