Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

Chapter 324 Which school will arrive first?

The fear that Snape was going to poison Harry and many other Gryffindor students lingered in their minds from beginning to end.

Of course, Dylan is not included, as Snape no longer pays much attention to his learning progress.

Dylan had already turned his attention back to the Triwizard Tournament.

The Hufflepuff and Slytherin students didn't take it to heart at all.

The hottest topic in the castle lately has been the upcoming visits from magic schools.

Everyone gathered around the long table and in the corridor to ponder it.

What are the different secrets hidden in magic schools in different countries?

Almost all renowned magic schools are protected by special spells, the most common of which is the "unmarkable" spell.

This spell isn't just a simple concealment; it can make the school disappear from all ordinary magic maps.

Even if someone comes looking for you with high-level positioning items.

However, once you step into the restricted area around the school, you will fall into a looping illusion where you get lost.

Either you end up circling back to the starting point, or you wander into a nearby forest or swamp without really knowing where you are. Getting a proper visit is as difficult as climbing to the sky.

Because of this barrier, Hogwarts students can only rely on old books in the library to learn about other schools.

The books "European Magic Education Assessment" and "Hogwarts: A History" have recently become "hot commodities".

As soon as the library opens in the morning, people rush in to grab a spot and browse books. If you arrive late, you can only stand by the bookshelf and wait for others to finish reading.

Occasionally, they might even cause a minor commotion by fighting over the same book.

Regarding visiting schools, at the end of last academic year, a professor from Vargadu brought an exchange group to Hogwarts.

Their members then demonstrated several exquisite Animagus transformations on the spot.

Some people can instantly transform into a lithe black panther, its fur gleaming in the sunlight.

Some people transformed into nimble hummingbirds, circling and chirping above the crowd's heads.

Many students gathered around to watch, their exclamations of amazement echoing throughout the school, making this African magic school, which specializes in transfiguration, unforgettable for everyone.

Dylan knew about this, but he didn't join in the fun. After all, what's the point of watching someone else perform?
It's better to stay in your own little world and study even more wonderful magic.

Students at Hogwarts had heard rumors about Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, two prestigious European schools, for this Triwizard Tournament.

Beauxbatons is best known for his alchemy.

After all, they have produced legendary alchemists like Nicolas Flamel.

Students whisper among themselves that Beauxbatons' underground laboratory is filled with bronze crucibles passed down for centuries, and even the basic first-year courses teach how to refine the essence of metals, while upperclassmen are exposed to the introductory theory of turning lead into gold.

Durmstrang, on the other hand, had a complicated reputation due to his expertise in dark magic.

Gellert Grindelwald, the dark wizard who sparked the Wizarding World War, was once a student here.

However, he was expelled from school not long after he injured a classmate while experimenting with dangerous black magic in private.

When this topic comes up, people can't help but gasp: "No wonder they dare to accept students like that; how exciting must the courses be?"

Some Slytherin students whispered, "Maybe their Defense Against the Dark Arts class is even more rigorous than Professor Moody's practical training."

Finally, there's a detail that, while not crucial, has caught the attention of many.

When students were looking through the "European Magic Education Assessment", they found that both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were involved.

They seem to give students significantly more financial aid than Hogwarts.

When Ron saw this news, he almost slammed his fist on the table: "Why? We have to scrimp and save to buy potion ingredients, while they can use their scholarships to buy extra magical items!"

Dylan didn't respond, but he overheard a Hufflepuff student nearby complaining quietly, "If Hogwarts had more scholarship money, I could buy more rare herb seeds."

Harry, Ron, and Neville each had a copy of "Seeing the Future Through the Fog" tucked under their arms. They struggled to open the trapdoor of the North Tower and descended the creaking spiral staircase.

A thin layer of dust covered the stair railing, and with each step, the wooden planks groaned under the weight.

"I never expected... that your divination assignment was actually made up?" Neville's round face flushed slightly after hearing Harry and Ron's "answering tips," his eyes widened in disbelief, and his fingers unconsciously tightened around the textbook in his arms.

Professor Trelawney just made a point of keeping the three of them behind.

It's said that Harry and Ron's homework was written with "extreme prophetic talent," which must have been due to Dylan's guidance.

They were also asked to give Nave more guidance whenever they had time, helping him find the "insights" of divination lessons.

Neville tiptoed and looked up at the trapdoor above him, making sure Professor Trelawney wasn't peeking out, before quickly lowering his voice to a whisper: "But didn't she realize it was made up? Those words sounded obviously fake."

“She falls for that.” Ron shrugged, brushing the dust off his trousers, his tone full of understanding. “Whether it’s true or not, she’ll light up whenever something bad happens. Dylan told us all about her habits a long time ago.”

“That’s actually a bit like Snape,” Harry said, stroking his chin. “Snape was happy to see us really fail, while Trelawney loved to hear our stories of misfortune. The more detailed the stories, the more she would praise us for being ‘witty.’”

“So you’ll do as we say.” Ron stepped aside to let the ghost coming down from upstairs and continued, “Go to the library and look up next month’s Astronomical Observatory to see what celestial events are on the table—like Saturn retrograde or Mercury opposition—and then make up some unlucky story that’s related to them.”

“Last time I wrote ‘Saturn in the first house, I tripped over the wind while walking,’ and she said I was very perceptive.”

“However, it’s okay to make things up once in a while, but it gets really tiring if you do it too often.” Ron sighed, his brows furrowing. “The main problem is that I really can’t understand those tea leaf patterns and crystal ball reflections, otherwise I would have applied to switch to arithmetic divination long ago.”

He paused, his tone full of envy: "Hermione was telling us the other day that Professor Victor, who teaches Divination and Arithmetic, praised everyone's performance in class and didn't assign any homework this week—I'm so envious!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ron suddenly cried out, "Ouch!"

Something slippery was stuck on the stair steps, and his ankles buckled, causing him to lose his balance and fall backward onto the steps.

Harry reacted quickly, grabbing his left sleeve.

Neville quickly grabbed his right arm, and the two of them pulled him up together, managing to keep him steady.

Ron, gripping the stair railing, was panting heavily, his palms sweaty. Before he could calm down, the medieval armor standing next to him suddenly began to tremble violently, and a strange, chuckling laugh came from its chest, as if someone inside was trying to suppress a laugh.

Harry and Ron immediately reached for their wands at their waists, but before they could draw them, Peeves had already popped out from behind the armor.

He hovered in mid-air, hands on his hips, a mischievous grin on his face, and shouted in a shrill voice, "Red-haired brat! Someone pulled you up this time, but you won't be so lucky next time!"

After saying that, he turned and floated down the stairs.

Just as Harry and Ron breathed a sigh of relief, Peeves suddenly twisted his upper body 180 degrees, pulled out a small cloth bag behind his back, and threw it hard at them.

Harry and Ron were stunned and were about to draw their wands when Neville reacted even faster, kicking the flying bag hard.

The cloth bag flew backward and crashed into the ceiling.

Finally, it exploded with a loud bang.

White foam rained down, covering Pippi's face and clothes.

"You just wait!" Peeves wiped the foam off his face, shrieked angrily, twisted his body, and floated towards the crack in the ceiling, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and simultaneously gave Neville a thumbs up. Ron patted him on the shoulder: "Neville, that kick you just made was so cool! Your reaction was faster than ours!"

Neville blushed slightly at the praise and scratched the back of his head shyly, his hair a little messy: "It's just... it was a subconscious action. When I saw something flying over, my foot just lifted up on its own. I didn't expect it to actually hit."

Ron smacked his lips: "You're really something now. Dylan must have taught you a lot, right?"

Neville chuckled: "Dylan is really amazing. I feel like chatting with him is just as good as learning from the professors."

“Oh, right!” Harry suddenly slapped his forehead, as if he had remembered something important, and turned to Neville to ask, “How are those books Dylan recommended to you? I was thinking if I have some free time during the summer vacation, I might be able to find them and read them. Maybe I can learn something from them.”

"I think it's quite useful. It covers a lot of basic knowledge about potions and plants, in more detail than the textbook."

Neville nodded quickly, his tone sincere, "Do you want to see it too? I haven't returned the book to Dylan yet. When I get back to the dorm, I'll ask Dylan if he needs it urgently. If he agrees, I'll give it to you, and you can read it at your leisure."

“Okay,” Harry replied immediately, then pulled his wand from his pocket, pointed it at the scattered white foam on the ground, and whispered, “Clean up!”

As the incantation ended, the foam on the ground vanished instantly, leaving not a trace of stickiness.

"That's strange. Peeves usually just throws chalk or splashes water balloons, how did he get his hands on cleaning fluid this time?" Ron frowned, his eyes full of doubt, and kicked the floor next to him. "Could he have conspired with Filch? Doesn't Filch always like to wander around with cleaning fluid?"

Neville followed Ron's gaze to the armor where Peeves had been hiding, and gently touched the metal surface of the armor. It was cool and smooth. "Look at this armor. It looks like it was just polished. Maybe someone came to clean it, and Peeves took the opportunity to steal the cleaning fluid."

The three chatted as they walked down the corridor and soon discovered that there was more than just this suit of armor.

The portraits hanging along the way have all been cleaned up.

The dust on the frame disappeared, the wooden frame gleamed with a warm luster, the canvas became brighter, and even the texture of the clothes on the figures in the painting became much clearer.

Sir Cadogan's portrait has been completely redesigned.

The somewhat faded picture frame was polished smooth and shiny, the colors on the canvas were so vibrant that they looked freshly painted, and the armor worn by the jazz was so shiny that even the patterns on the helmet reflected his image.

As soon as Harry and his friends approached the portrait, Sir Cadogan in the painting spurred his little grey zebra, its hooves clattering on the canvas as it charged toward them, shouting, "Hey! You little devils, stop right there!"

The three of them instinctively stopped and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Sir Cadogan reined in his horse, the zebra reared up and neighed, while he straightened his back, patted his chest armor, and said in a booming voice, "Look at me! Look at this brand-new armor! Look at this gleaming frame! Say something nice, praise how wise and mighty I am now!"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, both looking somewhat helpless.

They simply couldn't bring themselves to say anything too exaggeratedly flattering.

Seeing that the three of them hadn't spoken for a while, Sir Cadogan grew impatient and slapped the zebra's rump: "You're not going to talk? Then I'll keep asking you!"

With that, he rode his zebra out of the portrait and chased after the three people along the corridor.

The three had no choice but to run away, with Sir Cadogan in hot pursuit, shouting repeatedly, "Praise me! Praise me! I'm much more impressive than before!"

The chase continued for quite some time until Sir Cadogan, in his haste, accidentally stumbled into a portrait of Barnabas the Fool, where he was stopped by a giant in a pink ballet costume.

The giant stood with its hands on its hips, howling at Sir Cadogan, clearly not welcoming him into its territory.

Harry and his two friends took the opportunity to stop, leaning against the wall and panting. They looked back at the portrait of Sir Cadogan and the troll in a stalemate and couldn't help but laugh.

The announcement of the Triwizard Tournament not only completely shifted the focus of students' discussions, but also brought a long-awaited thorough cleaning to Hogwarts Castle itself.

The cleaning began in the highest tower of the castle—

Beside the spiral staircase in the North Tower, house-elves were wiping their armor with cloths soaked in polishing agent.

The observatory of the astronomical tower was cleaned repeatedly, and even the picture frames that had been covered in dust for years were carefully polished.

That's why the armor Harry and his friends encountered earlier was so shiny and new, and the portraits along the way were also brightly colored.

October 30th.

The entire castle has been completely transformed.

Not a speck of dust could be seen in the cracks of the stone corridor, the metal brackets of the torches gleamed with a warm light, and even the wooden steps of the movable staircase were polished smooth and easy to handle.

The most significant changes have been to the auditorium.

The pumpkin lanterns and ghost decorations that are common on Halloween Eve have all been removed, replaced by a solemn and serious setup, with a sense of formality even in the air.

Several brand-new silk banners were hung on the walls on both sides of the Great Hall, each corresponding to a house in Hogwarts.

One of the walls had banners with Ravenclaw and Slytherin on it.

The Ravenclaw banner features a pure sky blue background with a beautifully draped fabric. Embroidered on it is a bronze eagle with outstretched wings, its feathers clearly visible, as if it's about to burst through the silk at any moment.

Slytherin's banner was a rich emerald green, embroidered with a long, spiraling silver serpent, its scales layered with silver thread, shimmering with a delicate luster under the light.

The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff banners on the other wall are equally eye-catching.

Gryffindor's red is like a burning flame, and the golden lion embroidered on it is majestic, with its head held high and its mane clearly defined, exuding a fearless aura.

Hufflepuff's banner is a warm wheat color, with a lifelike black badger on it, its front paws resting on an embroidered pattern of loyalty, making it look both honest and steadfast.

That afternoon, during the History of Magic class, sunlight streamed through the high windows into the classroom, warmly bathing the students' textbooks.

Usually at this time, some students would doze off from Professor Binns' monotonous tone, but today no one was drooping their heads.

Everyone either rested their chin on one hand or had their pen tip hovering over their notebook, their eyes occasionally glancing at the azure sky outside the window, their eyes full of anticipation.

Some people were secretly muttering to themselves.

Perhaps some magic school has a habit of students arriving early. If this happens now, Professor Binns might dismiss get out of class early and let them watch the spectacle.

But things didn't go as planned. Even after the bell rang for the end of get out of class, the sky outside the window remained clear, without a single unusual cloud.

The students immediately sprang into action, frantically stuffing "A History of Magic: A Thousand Years of Heritage and Secrets" into their backpacks and haphazardly shoving their pens and quills into their pencil cases.

As soon as Professor Binns' figure slowly floated into the wall and disappeared, most of the students in the classroom rushed out of the door, and the rest followed quickly with their bags.

The corridor instantly became lively, with everyone asking all sorts of questions.

"Which magic school do you think will arrive first? Will it be Beauxbatons?"

"How many people will each school send? A dozen or so students plus two or three professors?"

What's even more intriguing is their mode of transportation—

"Could they use a portal key? Like during the Quidditch World Cup, where you could teleport over with a single grab?"

"Maybe it's a magical train like the Hogwarts Express, steaming into the castle courtyard?"

"I wonder if it's Beauxbatons' flying carriage, or a magical ship like Durmstrang that can sail underwater?"

One question after another was raised, but no one could provide an answer. They could only walk toward the lobby with high hopes.

(End of this chapter)