Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

Chapter 323 Dylan, I really think you should come to Ravenclaw!
Time slipped quietly into late October, and the Scottish Highlands were completely immersed in the atmosphere of autumn.

Every morning, a thick fog, like solidified cotton wool, envelops the valley, obscuring the spires of Hogwarts Castle until only a blurry outline remains.

The fog would slowly dissipate only when the sun was high in the sky, leaving behind a lingering chill in every corner of the castle.

The stone bricks in the corridor felt cool to the touch, and the breath of the students as they walked condensed into a faint white vapor.

The weather has become increasingly unpredictable.

Just moments before, the sun was peeking through the trees, and the herbalists had just followed Professor Sprout to the greenhouse.

The sky suddenly darkened, and fine rain fell silently, clinging to hair and shoulders, and instantly soaking the outer cloak.

If it rains after nightfall, the raindrops will condense into tiny ice beads in the latter half of the night, pattering softly on the castle's glass windows and the leaves of the trees in the courtyard. The sound is delicate yet clear, and accompanied by the howling evening wind, it is particularly distinct in the quiet night.

The atmosphere on campus also took on the tranquility of autumn.

The corridor outside the assessment classroom, which had been bustling with activity due to the selection process for the three-way competition, gradually became deserted.

In the past, people would always peek out from the doorway or discuss the selection criteria in groups of three or five. Now, only a few students pass by in a hurry.

The number of people in the library has decreased significantly. In the afternoon, most of the seats in the reading area are empty, and even Mrs. Pince, the librarian, is moving more slowly when organizing the books.

Discussions about the selection process have long since faded, replaced by Professor Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which students talk about during their free time.

Whether in the Gryffindor common room or at the Slytherin dining table, you can always hear people reviewing the details of combat training.

"Did you see clearly the 'Disarming Charm Direction Change Technique' that Professor Moody demonstrated yesterday?"

"Dylan's defensive order against the three spells last time was crucial; I tried three times and failed."

"I heard that in the next class we'll be practicing the rapid casting of spells that can stop a spell instantly; you can't be even a little slow."

Even Crabbe and Gore, who usually don't like to talk about courses, could ramble on about how "Moody's magic eye can see through illusions."

This shows just how popular this course is.

During breaks, students often practice with their magic wands in the open space.

Some people practiced defensive postures repeatedly in front of tree trunks, while others simulated battles in pairs. The "swish" of wands and the "bang" of spells colliding became the most vivid background sounds in Hogwarts in autumn.

People were discussing it in the corridor.

"Remember Dylan who sparred with Professor Moody before? My God, I can tell that when Professor Moody was teaching us just now, he wasn't really going all out; his spells were very light. But he must have used his full strength against Dylan."

“Yeah, didn’t he get dragged up for sparring by the professor again recently? I feel like Dylan is really relaxed, but Professor Moody seems to be exhausted.”

"Because he's a bit old, Dylan can easily dodge his spells, but his legs aren't very strong, so if he can't block the spells, it looks like he's having a lot of trouble."

A group of people chatted as they walked down the slowly moving stairs, their footsteps following the rhythm of the stairs.

As they spoke, they had already reached the vicinity of the marble staircase.

A noisy commotion came from the lobby not far away, and one could vaguely hear people talking loudly.

"I think I heard that!" A student suddenly stopped, his eyes lighting up instantly. He grabbed the person next to him and shook them. "It's news about the championship! It must be!"

"Yes!" the latter exclaimed, her voice brimming with excitement. "It's almost the end of October, Halloween is just around the corner, they really should be coming!"

The others nodded in agreement, their faces showing anticipation.

At this moment, Luna also slowly walked to the marble staircase. As soon as she came down, she saw Dylan and immediately went over to him.

"Why is it so lively?"

Dylan glanced at Luna and smiled.

"It should be news about the championship tournament."

Dylan explained, pointing towards the foyer, "Let's go down and take a look; maybe it's news that other magic schools are coming to visit."

Just as the two were about to step down the stairs, an owl suddenly flew through the castle's oak gate, flapping its wings and landing in front of them, its talons twitching gently in mid-air.

Luna immediately raised her arm, palm up, and the owl landed precisely on her arm, tilting its head and rubbing against her sleeve.

"You're here. I'm sorry, I forgot to feed you today. Let's go take a look together," Luna said softly.

The owl tilted its head.

Dylan laughed and said, "Don't worry, I fed it to it while I was at it."

"Ah, thank you." Luna nodded slightly. "You've really gone to a lot of trouble."

“It’s nothing.” Dylan shook his head.

The two stepped forward.

The bulletin board was already surrounded by students, a bustling crowd with noisy discussions.

Luna saw Anthony and his group huddled together, arms linked, trying to squeeze into the crowd.

The people in front kept backing up, and they were bumped and stumbled several times, barely managing to squeeze to a spot near the notice board after a lot of effort.

The owl in Luna's arms tilted its head, its round eyes staring at the bustling crowd, and its wings flapped slightly, as if it wanted to fly up and see more clearly.

Luna reached out and pulled it into her arms, whispering, "You can't do that, there are too many people, they'll bump into you."

"Ya ya?" It tilted its head in confusion and made two noises. It obediently stopped flapping its wings and just twisted its body from side to side, finding a more comfortable position to lie down in Luna's arms, resting its head on her wrist.

After Anthony and his friends read the announcement clearly in the crowd, they struggled to squeeze out.

Someone stepped on Anthony's shoes, and Michael's backpack strap was loosened. He barely managed to squeeze out of the crowd and was panting heavily as soon as he reached the open space.

Just as they were bending over to catch their breath, Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned from their outdoor class, still carrying the faint scent of grass and the dampness of the rain.

Ron spotted them immediately and strode over, asking with a curious look, "Dylan, what's all that people doing over there at the billboard? What happened?"

"People from other magic schools are coming!" Anthony finally caught his breath, straightened up, and said loudly, his voice brimming with excitement. "The delegations from those magic schools will all be here on October 30th!" He took another deep breath and added, "The exact time is 5 PM... and the second period that afternoon will be skipped so we can all go and greet them!"

"October 30th? The second class in the afternoon is..." Harry's smile, which had just appeared because of the suspension of classes, suddenly froze on his face, and his brows furrowed slightly.

He suddenly turned his head to look at the stone staircase behind him leading to the basement.

That was the direction of the Potions classroom. A complicated look flashed in his eyes, then he grinned and cheered, "Potions class is the second period that afternoon! That's fantastic!"

Ron immediately reached out and gave Harry a high five, their palms clapping together with a crisp sound. His tone was full of relief: "Now he has one less chance to poison us! As long as we can make it to Christmas safely..."

"Poisoning?" Chrismoon, who was standing to the side, immediately leaned over, his eyes full of curiosity. "Who would poison someone? Could it be Professor Snape?"

"Who else could it be?" Harry shrugged, a slight smirk playing on his lips. As if recalling some unpleasant experience, he looked at the Ravenclaw students around him and hesitated before speaking, "Didn't... he mention anything similar to you?"

Several Ravenclaws shook their heads in unison, and Terry even subconsciously took half a step back, clearly surprised by the "poisoning" claim.

"Your Potions class is with Hufflepuff, right?" Ron's expression instantly turned grim, his brows furrowing. "Does that mean only we Gryffindors and Slytherins are at risk?"

"It should only be you Gryffindors."

Michael Corner pushed up his glasses and said with certainty, "Would Professor Snape poison Slytherin? Unlikely... no, absolutely impossible."

"Hmm, poisoning? I had no idea. You're not talking about the 'broad-spectrum antidote' course from before, are you?"

Dylan spoke, his gaze falling on Harry and Ron, "If that's the case, perhaps he just wants to test whether the broad-spectrum antidote you brewed is up to standard?"

"Perhaps that's the real purpose."

Ron scratched his messy hair, his tone uncertain, "But Snape's expression at the time..."

"I always felt like he was in a hurry, as if he wanted to knock us all out before the Christmas holidays."

Harry picked up the conversation, and remembering Snape's gloomy face in the last class, he couldn't help but shudder.

Anthony Goldstein suddenly interjected, "What if he's deliberately lying to you?"

Ron and Harry's eyes lit up instantly, a clear expectation flashing in them, and they asked almost in unison, "Is it really possible?"

“Of course!” Anthony nodded emphatically, his expression very serious. “Maybe he’ll wait until you’re on campus during the Christmas break before making his move—then there will be fewer people, and the success rate will be higher, right? Don’t you remember? Professor Moody talked about a similar case in the last class. Dark wizards like to strike when their enemies are off guard.”

“Oh, I suddenly don’t want to have a holiday anymore.” Ron scratched his head, his tone full of helplessness. “Even if I have a holiday, I have to outwit Snape. It’s too miserable.”

“Maybe he’ll wait until we come back from the Christmas holidays before making his move?” Harry suddenly offered an even more unsettling guess, his voice lowering slightly. “Didn’t Professor Moody say that we must wait until the enemy is completely off guard before striking?”

Luna gently stroked the fur of the creature in her arms, and the owl nuzzled her fingertips comfortably. She softly suggested, "Perhaps you could prepare the antidote in advance? Brew several batches for backup."

Dylan wasn't usually interested in Harry and the others' classes or daily life, and Ron and the others rarely bothered him or discussed things with him.

After thinking for a moment, he still asked, "There shouldn't be any problems with the broad-spectrum antidote you've prepared, right?"

"It should be... no problem."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, their voices sounding somewhat strained. Ron scratched his cheek and added, "At least when we submitted our potion last time, Snape looked very unhappy, but he didn't say it was unacceptable."

"The potion is fine, so why does Professor Snape look so unhappy?" Tyrebault frowned, took a half step forward, and looked puzzled. "What's the connection between these two sentences? He shouldn't be reacting like this if the potion is up to standard."

“This is the experience Harry and I came up with!” Ron raised his chin slightly, his tone carrying a certain confidence of someone who had been there, and he subconsciously pointed to himself and Harry. “And it only applies to the two of us…it might not work for others.”

"Simply put, as long as we successfully brew a qualified potion," Harry shrugged, a slight smirk playing on his lips, as if recalling countless Potions classes, "Snape never gave us a kind look, as if our success was a bad thing."

He paused, his tone turning somber again. "But the more crucial thing now is that even if we manage to concoct a broad-spectrum antidote, it probably won't be of any use. Snape seems to have said that we need to use a specially formulated poison."

"There are also ways to deal with specific poisons; just use a broad-spectrum antidote combined with specific potion ingredients."

Dylan smiled slightly, his tone clear and logical, "For example, the kind of poison that can make the tongue swell up, the emergency treatment is very simple."

"How exactly do we do it?" Harry leaned forward, his eyes filled with eagerness.

"Add three drops of leech juice to the broad-spectrum antidote, then shake the bottle vigorously until thick white foam appears, and then apply the foam to your tongue."

Dylan explained in detail, and even raised his hand to demonstrate the shaking motion.

"That easy?" Harry blinked, somewhat incredulous. "I have leech juice in my storage bag; all I need to do is shake it to get the foam out?"

"This is just an emergency measure," Dylan explained patiently. "Under normal circumstances, this will at least relieve the symptoms, prevent your tongue from continuing to swell, and reduce the swelling and pain, so you can hold out until you go to the school clinic."

He added, "If it's the kind of poison that makes you feel like you're burning all over, break fresh peppermint into pieces, take three small pieces and put them into the broad-spectrum antidote, shake it until it foams before drinking it."

"If you fall into a coma, find a bottle of Coolick, mix it with a broad-spectrum antidote in a 1:1 ratio, and pour it into your mouth to wake up."

"Koolik can be used like that?" Ron's eyes widened in shock. "I always thought it was just a drink to keep you awake in class!"

“The prototype of Coolick was originally a powerful stimulant, so it’s naturally useful against coma-like toxins.” Dylan nodded. “However, these are only emergency treatments and cannot completely detoxify the poison.”

"If it only provides temporary relief, we'll still have to go to the school hospital to see Mrs. Pomfrey later."

He paused, then mentioned an even more crucial method: "If you encounter a particularly potent poison and don't have the right materials on hand, you can just stuff a dung bead into your mouth."

"Why?" Harry frowned, his face full of doubt. "I remember adding dung bezoar powder when I was making the broad-spectrum antidote, so why is using dung bezoar directly more effective?"

Dylan patiently explained, "Because natural dung stones are the best emergency antidote, and they are extremely rare and valuable."

"Only a small amount of powder is added to the broad-spectrum antidote, firstly to save materials, and secondly because it needs to be combined with materials such as mistletoe to fully activate the detoxification properties of the fecal stone in order to deal with multiple toxins. Using a whole fecal stone directly, although wasteful, has a more direct and rapid detoxification effect."

"So that's how it is!" Harry and Ron exclaimed in unison, exchanging a glance with obvious understanding.

The students watching nearby also expressed similar sentiments, and some couldn't help but applaud.

They had only come over to listen to the commotion and find out what Harry and Ron were afraid of Snape for, but they never expected to learn so many useful antidote tips, and they all showed expressions of surprise.

Terry even pulled out his notebook and quickly jotted down several of the pairing methods Dylan mentioned, afraid of missing any key information.

"Dylan, I really think you should come to Ravenclaw!"

(End of this chapter)