Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 113 Lockhart in the Spotlight
"Thank you, Siren, thank goodness you called Mrs. Pomfrey in time."

Harry had lost count of how many times he had thanked him, but every time he saw Malfoy in the next bed, he felt a surge of relief, as if he had survived a terrible ordeal.

Then I sincerely thanked Siron.

Malfoy's legs lay limply on the bed, looking like a thick, flesh-colored rubber boot; Lockhart had removed his entire leg bone.

If Mrs. Pomfrey hadn't been there, he would likely have received the same treatment.

The leg injury was secondary; Harry's shoulder was also injured, and it was right next to his neck. What if Lockhart accidentally pulled the bone out of his neck...?

Harry couldn't help but shudder, and looked at Siron again. "I'd give you all my Chocolate Frog cards. I remember you collect cards too, right?"

“I don’t need any more Dumbledores, you should keep them for yourself,” said Hillen.

Harry was a little embarrassed, as half of his cards were of Dumbledore.

Malfoy in the next bed was still unconscious; he had been in a coma ever since he realized his leg bone had been removed.

"How did the match go?" Harry asked.

“The situation is complicated,” Ron said angrily. “Malfoy broke the rules when he jumped on your broom, Marcus Flint insists the match was null and void at that point, and Ms. Hodge did blow the whistle.”

"What does this mean?" Harry panicked.

He believes you caught the Golden Snitch after the whistle was blown, so it doesn't count...

"Why? I didn't hear a whistle at all!" Harry exploded, shouting, "I have to keep an eye on the Golden Snitch and make sure Malfoy doesn't pull me off my broom!"

"Oliver said the same thing, they can't cancel your results!" Ron got angrier and angrier, clenching his fists and glancing at the unconscious Malfoy, as if he might rush over and punch him at any moment.

But the consequence of doing so was that they angered Mrs. Pomfrey, and Siron and Ron were expelled from the school hospital.

"I'm sorry... I was just too angry." Ron looked at Siron apologetically.

“It’s alright, we can only visit for ten minutes anyway,” Siron said. “Where’s Hermione? Isn’t she coming to see Harry?”

“Hermione went to see Professor McGonagall,” Ron said. “She believes Malfoy’s actions constitute premeditated murder, and she went to see Professor McGonagall as soon as the match was over.”

"I really hope the school expel Malfoy; he almost caused Harry to get his head smashed by the ball."

He glanced at the school hospital behind him and regretted not actually punching Malfoy a couple of times earlier.

Malfoy was unconscious at the time, and Madam Pomfrey was preparing a potion, so even if they had actually fought, no one else would have known.

When the two returned to the castle, everyone was having a heated discussion about the match they had just played, and whether Lockhart's act of pulling out Malfoy's bones at the end was intentional.

Although it looks like a failed spell no matter how you look at it, Malfoy is definitely no longer in pain.

When everyone started eating lunch, Oliver brought some good news.

Ms. Hodge rejected Marcus Flint's protest, maintaining that the competition results were valid.

“The one who fouled was Draco Malfoy,” Fred said, mimicking Mrs. Hodge’s voice vividly. “Harry Potter caught the Golden Snitch despite his interference, so he won the match fair and square.”

“That’s right!” George said happily. “Quidditch doesn’t have a rule that stops the game if the Seeker drops his broom.”

“Professor Lockhart must think so too,” Fred said with a grin. “That’s why he took the opportunity to remove Malfoy’s bones.”

"I heard that Malfoy drinks Bone-Growing Elixir."

"Believe me, it doesn't feel good; it's like having a knife cut into your flesh."

"And he has about twenty-six bones to grow."

The Weasley brothers, speaking in unison, finally looked at each other, smiled, and shouted:

"I declare..."

"Giddy Lockhart is the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor ever!"

Just then, Lockhart happened to be passing by the door. Upon hearing this, he quickly ran away.

Although he likes to be in the spotlight, this isn't the kind of thing he does.

Slytherins are all children of pure-blood wizards; offending them is no good.

Lockhart wanted to keep a low profile, but Fred and George weren't going to let him off the hook.

Those with sharp eyes immediately noticed the situation at the door.

"It's Professor Lockhart!" George shouted. "Anyone want to go get his autograph?"

In no time, countless people responded, and almost half of Gryffindor followed them out.

“Professor Lockhart will be very happy to have so many students wanting his autograph,” Siron said, but Hermione next to him had a tense face and looked not very happy.

In the afternoon, Lucius Malfoy came to the school to pick up Draco. It is said that he also went to the headmaster's office and had a big argument with Dumbledore.

No one knows what they said in the headmaster's office, but Lucius had threatened before leaving that he would join forces with the board of trustees to remove Dumbledore from his position as headmaster.

It's just that not many people care.

“Threatening Dumbledore? Who does he think he is?” Ron scoffed, his tone revealing his disdain for Lucius.

Even Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge wouldn't dare say he could replace Dumbledore, the headmaster, let alone Malfoy. That very evening, a grand feast was held in the Gryffindor common room to celebrate their victory in their first Quidditch match.

It's a pity Harry has to stay overnight at the university hospital; if he were here, the banquet would have been even more complete.

Even so, the banquet continued until very late.

Early Sunday morning, instead of going to the library as usual, Celen went to the Forbidden Forest to visit Hagrid.

“Oh, I thought you’d forgotten how to get here,” Hagrid said, looking rather unhappy.

"Don't say that, Hagrid." Celen felt a little guilty; including his vacation, he hadn't been here for almost half a year.

“I had a little disagreement with Lou Williams, didn’t I?” Xiren looked around. “It’s not here, is it?”

“Fluff is deep inside the Forbidden Forest,” Hagrid said, though his tone softened considerably. “Fluff didn’t chase you on purpose last year; it was under the influence of dark magic. Most of the time, it’s a lovely, well-behaved boy.”

Xilun gave a dry laugh, neither confirming nor denying.

As a half-giant capable of sending an adult Cerberus flying, Hagrid has every right to say that Fluffy is a cute, well-behaved boy.

But Celia is different; at twelve years old, he's probably only about the same height as Lou Williams.

Moreover, his feud with Lou Williams wasn't limited to that castle chase.

His most frequently used wand, Silvermane, has two cores made of two Cerberus teeth, which is also the main reason why Celeste is feeling guilty.

In other words, Cerberus can't talk, otherwise it probably would have complained to Hagrid long ago.

The two chatted for a while longer, and Hagrid's slight dissatisfaction disappeared. He even brought Siren his best rock-skin cake.

“Well, I heard from Harry that you’ve been living in the library almost all year?” Hagrid poured himself another cup of tea.

“It’s not that exaggerated,” Siren said. “I just wanted to learn Animagus transformation as soon as possible, so I read a few more books on transformation.”

“Animagus?” Hagrid exclaimed in surprise. “That’s a very difficult shapeshifting spell. It’s said that only wizards who can completely transform themselves into an animal can learn it.”

“Yes, it’s really difficult.” Xiren picked up his teacup and took a sip.

As for the rock-skin cake... he had just finished breakfast and wasn't that hungry yet.

"How many books have you read?" Hagrid asked.

"Including the magazines, it's almost thirty, I think," Xiren said after thinking for a moment. "Some of them need to be read repeatedly, otherwise there could be even more."

“Thirty books…” Hagrid pursed his lips; he couldn’t get into even one of them.

"I'm not saying that studying hard is bad, it's just...aren't you being a little too hasty? I think being like Hermione is fine."

"She also likes to read, but she also takes a break from time to time."

“Me too,” said Celen. “I went to watch a Quidditch match yesterday.”

“Speaking of the match,” Hagrid suddenly asked, “I heard Harry was injured. How is he? Is he alright?”

"He broke a few bones, but it's nothing serious. He should be able to be discharged today."

"That's good," Hagrid said.

After that, he took Xilen to see the pumpkin patch outside.

If you come before Halloween, you can see pumpkins as big as carriages in the ground, but now that Halloween has just passed, the newly planted pumpkin seeds haven't grown yet.

Next to the vegetable garden is a fenced-off open space where chickens, minks, and other small animals are kept.

“This is to deal with the carnivorous slugs in the vegetable garden,” Hagrid explained. “Those annoying creatures are ruining all the cabbages at school.”

Many of Hogwarts' vegetables are also grown on-site, but not here; they are in a larger vegetable garden behind the castle.

"How are these roosters?" Xilun asked casually.

“It’s fantastic, more effective than any potion,” Hagrid said. “It’s just that Buckbeak keeps trying to get his hands on them, and I told him that these aren’t food.”

Xilun nodded.

He counted them; Hagrid had eight roosters in total, each one full of energy and with bright, vibrant feathers.

It seems that carnivorous slugs are also a great food source for them.

……

By noon, Xiren was ready to leave, and he opened his shapeshifting lizard skin bag.

"Oh, by the way, I also brought you a gift this time."

“A gift… Oh, wait a minute.” Hagrid suddenly remembered something, quickly walked to a cabinet, took out a cloth bag from it, and handed it to Siron.

"Speaking of gifts, I found all of these in the Forbidden Forest. I didn't know exactly what you needed, so I just picked them all up. If you hadn't come soon, I wouldn't have known where to put them."

……

(End of this chapter)