My partner at Hogwarts is Tom

Chapter 89 Battle Royale

Two days later, on the afternoon of the same day, at the edge of the Quidditch pitch.

It was a rare, clear and bright autumn day at Hogwarts.

The sky was a clear, deep blue, with a few wisps of thin clouds drifting lazily by. The warm sunlight shone on the lawn, dispelling the chill and dampness of the past few days.

However, the scene next to the three flat arenas that were originally used for dueling club activities has undergone a surprising change.

Overnight, a lush, small forest appeared out of nowhere.

This forest is tightly surrounded by a wall of dense, tangled, dark green thorny bushes, about one kilometer in diameter.

From the outside, one can see towering fir trees, lush oak trees, and beech trees.

The forest was dimly lit, with vines hanging down and the ground covered with a thick layer of moss and fallen leaves. You could even smell the unique scent of the forbidden forest, a mixture of soil, damp wood, and a faint floral fragrance.

Without a doubt, this was the work of Professor Viktor Scamander.

Using his mysterious druidic magic, he "borrowed" an ecosystem from the Forbidden Forest and transplanted it here.

At this moment, the area surrounding this "newborn" miniature forest is already filled with young wizards.

All the members of the Duel Club were present, along with many other students who were drawn by this novel sight. They pointed and whispered among themselves.

Victor stood before the only open archway in the thorny wall, formed by twisted vines.

Tom, perched on his shoulder, stood tall and proud, his face beaming with an air of self-satisfaction, as if the forest were a masterpiece he and Victor had created together.

"Quiet, everyone." Viktor's voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, and the crowd immediately quieted down, with countless eyes focused on him.

"As you can see, this is a new venue prepared for the Duel Club and all students who are interested in practical combat, as well as a new event."

Viktor smiled slightly, his gaze sweeping over the eager students. "I call it—Battle Royale."

This novel and somewhat dangerous name immediately sparked another round of whispers.

"The rules are simple," Victor raised his voice. "You enter the forest through this entrance. Once inside, the forest plants will randomly send each person to any location within the woodland. You will initially be scattered."

He paused, making sure everyone was listening.

"Every ten minutes, a brief magical mark will appear on the wrist of everyone still in the forest. At the same time, you will be able to roughly sense the location of others through a simple magical rune on the back of your hand. Of course, this sense is mutual."

"Your goal is to survive in the forest." Ultimately, you may use any spells you possess that do not cause irreversible damage.

"But there are two important restrictions: First, you are not allowed to use any magical items other than wands, such as spyglasses, anti-spell glasses prototypes, prank props, etc. You must rely solely on yourselves, your wands, and your wisdom."

"Second, being hit in a major part of the body by an effective attack spell—don't worry too much, the plants in the forest and my magic will handle the assessment—is considered 'death.' The 'death' will be safely transported out by the plants."

Seeing the excitement and nervousness in the students' eyes, Viktor's smile deepened, and he added.

"Oh, by the way, to make this survival game more interesting and to better hone your adaptability, I've prepared some surprises for you. I hope you'll like them."

"A surprise?" Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione. "A surprise from Professor Scamander usually means we might get a shock."

Hermione pursed her lips, but her eyes gleamed with a competitive light as she quickly reviewed the spells she might need.

Harry touched his wand, feeling a familiar thrill mixed with tension and anticipation, just like before every Quidditch match.

Fred and George Weasley exchanged a knowing glance. They hadn't heard of this "side project" when they were helping to make the protective goggles, but it was clearly more to their liking.

Cedric Diggory stood among the Hufflepuff students, his expression calm and focused, recalling the tips Victor had given him in his Magical Creatures Conservation class on observing the wild, using the terrain, and staying calm.

Students from other houses, including many Slytherins, were also eager to compete, none willing to be outdone.

"Professor! Can we join in?" some students who had only come to watch the fun asked loudly, looking at Viktor expectantly.

"Of course," Viktor waved his hand generously. "This activity is open to all students who have mastered basic defensive spells. Anyone willing to challenge themselves is welcome to participate. Remember, safety first, learning second, and winning third."

"Meow!" Tom also raised his paw and meowed, his amber eyes full of eagerness.

Victor glanced down at it and chuckled, "Oh, looks like our Quality Director is interested too. Well, Tom, you're a special participant, too. The rules apply—though I suppose the definition of 'death' might need to be a bit more flexible for you, like being grazed by a spell?"

Tom immediately raised his head, made a disdainful expression, and then "whoosh" jumped off Victor's shoulder. With confident cat-like steps, he took the lead and walked to the entrance. He turned back and shouted "Ooh ho ho" twice at the crowd, as if to say "Follow me".

This comical and adorable gesture drew a burst of good-natured laughter, making the atmosphere even more lively.

"Well then," Victor stepped aside to make way for the entrance, "Hogwarts' first-ever Battle Royale is now underway! Good luck, have fun, and most importantly, learn something!"

"yeah!"

The young wizards cheered and rushed eagerly toward the vine archway.

The first to step in, Neville Longbottom, was caught in the darkness as soon as his figure disappeared. Several seemingly supple vines gently but quickly wrapped around him, dragging him into the depths of the forest and disappearing among the trees, leaving only a short gasp.

One by one, the others entered, and each person was quickly and randomly carried away from the entrance area by different plants—whether it was vines, suddenly drooping aerial roots, or even a carpet of moss that suddenly moved underfoot.

The twins went in arm in arm, but as soon as they entered, two different ivy vines grabbed their ankles and pulled them in opposite directions. They only had time to shout to each other, "See you in the Forbidden Forest!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione wanted to go together, but Hermione was immediately surrounded and dragged away by a clump of flowering bushes as soon as she entered.

Ron was then tripped by a tree root that suddenly sprang out from the ground, and before he could get up, he was wrapped in a moss "blanket" and slid to the left.

Harry himself was wrapped around the waist by the soft air roots hanging from above, and swung like a swing into the depths of the forest.

Cedric appeared calm as he entered. He observed the movement of the plants at the entrance and skillfully moved with the vines as they rolled over. Although he was also swept away, his demeanor was much more composed than that of the other students who were flustered.

Finally, it was Tom's turn.

It swaggered to the center of the entrance, even turning back to wave its paw at Victor. The next second, several exceptionally thick vines shot out, precisely wrapping around its limbs, neck, and tail!

"Meow?!" Tom exclaimed in surprise.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the vines began to pull forcefully in different directions!

Tom's body was instantly stretched out! Like a highly elastic and resilient piece of gummy candy, or more vividly, like a stretched noodle!

Its body was stretched thin, its eyes bulged out, and its mouth opened wide, emitting a distorted and out-of-tune comical cry of "Ooh ho ho ho ho." Then, with a "whoosh," the entire "cat strip" was dragged into the depths of the forest and disappeared behind the dappled sunlight and shadows of the trees.

The students watching burst into thunderous laughter, and even some professors couldn't help but chuckle.

Viktor smiled and shook his head, watching the last student being "swallowed" by the forest.

The thorn archway slowly closed, returning to its original impenetrable state.

He raised his hand, tapped his wand lightly, and several complex magical runes lit up in the air before disappearing into the forest's edge.

A huge, translucent hourglass phantom appeared above the forest, beginning its timer. At the same time, a faint, leaf-shaped green rune appeared on the back of the hand of everyone who entered, including Tom.

"Alright," Viktor muttered to himself, a mischievous glint of anticipation in his eyes, "I hope you like the 'little surprise' I prepared."

The "surprise" he spoke of was currently active in this magically maintained miniature forest.

Those were a batch of insects and small animals that he had carefully processed with the spell "Grow Bigger Quickly".

Ants, half a person tall with shiny black shells, are diligently carrying huge "fallen leaves"; fist-sized, brightly colored spiders are weaving shimmering webs in the forest to trap squirrels.

A praying mantis, almost as tall as a child, crouches silently behind the leaves of a bush, its compound eyes darting about; a snake as thick as a wrist glides silently among the fallen leaves.

Of course, their aggression was gently suppressed by magic, and their main function was to create fright, obstacles, and tension, forcing the young wizards to use what they had learned.

Within the forest, the battle and the struggle for "survival" have already begun.

Harry Potter was placed on a thick branch of a large oak tree by aerial roots.

He took a breath and immediately looked around warily.

The forest was dimly lit and filled with various rustling sounds.

He gripped his wand tightly, his heart pounding.

He was still ten minutes away from the location marker and was all alone.

"Flickering light," he murmured, the tip of his wand emitting a soft glow that helped him see his surroundings.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps and hushed voices below. It was two lower-year Slytherin students who seemed to have formed an alliance.

Harry held his breath and crouched low. As the two students stepped directly beneath him, he lunged forward, wand pointed at them: "Expelliarmus!"

A flash of red light, and a Slytherin student's wand flew out of his hand.

Another one turned around in a panic: "I'm fainting—"

'

"Grinning and swooshing!" Harry was one step ahead.

The Slytherin student was under a spell; he collapsed to the ground, laughing maniacally, and his wand fell to the ground.

The vines quickly appeared, gently wrapping up the two "fallen" students and carrying them out of the forest.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, slid down from the tree, and then waved his wand.

He could ignore the other spells, but he found himself becoming more and more adept at using the Disarming Charm.

Hermione Granger was placed at the edge of a relatively open clearing in the woods by the flowering shrub.

She immediately leaned against a large tree and quickly and carefully observed her surroundings.

"Poor lighting and limited visibility mean there might be an ambush," she muttered to herself, her mind racing.

She first whispered to herself to lighten her pace, then moved carefully among the trees.

She heard incantations and shouts in the distance, but did not approach rashly.

When the ten minutes were up, the runes on the back of her hand felt hot, and the locations of several blurry points of light appeared in her mind. She immediately began to analyze them.

The nearest point of light is moving rapidly, possibly being chased; a little further away, two points of light are almost overlapping, possibly forming an alliance or engaged in battle.

She decided to avoid these obvious places of trouble and explore in a direction without any light, hoping to find favorable terrain.

Along the way, a hairy spider, about half a person's height, suddenly emerged from behind a tree, its eight eyes staring at her.

Hermione gasped, but didn't panic. "Vadishu!"

She waved her wand, and a stone flew up and smashed into the tree trunk next to the spider with a loud bang.

Startled, the spider quickly slithered away.

She then used a transfiguration spell to turn several fallen leaves into a few squeaking mice, sending them running in another direction to create noise and attract any potential lurking creatures.

Ron Weasley was led behind a damp thicket by the moss blanket.

He scrambled to his feet, feeling dizzy, and brushed the moss debris off his body.

"Damn it—I've been separated from Harry and Hermione."

He muttered to himself, gripping his old wand tightly, and looked around nervously.

He was "lucky" and soon spotted a lone Hufflepuff first-year student with his back to him, who was nervously looking around with his wand in hand.

Ron's eyes lit up—a chance to launch a sneak attack!

He crept closer, emerged from behind the tree, and shouted, "Legs freeze, stop, die!" The spell struck the young wizard's leg, who cried out and staggered to the ground.

The vines appeared and carried him away.

"Haha! Got it!" Ron said smugly, walking over to check his "spoils of war."

Just as he bent down, he suddenly felt the light above his head dim.

He looked up in confusion.

A huge, hairy face with eight black eyes was hanging upside down from the branches above, almost touching the tip of his nose!

It was a forest spider magnified many times over, its mouthparts slightly open and closed.

"Ah ...

He didn't even have time to utter a single spell.

The vines appeared just in time, catching the unconscious Ron and his wand, and silently carrying him out of the forest.

In the distance, one could hear Fred and George sighing dramatically.

Although Fred and George were initially separated, their tacit understanding clearly indicated that they had a plan in place.

George deflected the sneak attack spell with a beautiful "armor shield" and then grinned and berated the little wizard who had attacked him.

Immediately move in the direction suggested by the "direction guide trick" that Fred had agreed upon in his memory for when they would meet in complex environments.

Fred was using a similar method to search for his brother.

The two used a combination of "Tarantella dance" and "tooth-stick challenge" on the road, causing the opponent's front teeth to grow wildly while dancing, resulting in many laughs. Finally, they successfully met up at the edge of an open space covered with glowing mushrooms.

"Dude!"

"Brother!"

The two high-fived, stood back to back, and looked around warily.

"Looks like Ronnie's 'dead'," Fred said, looking at the familiar dot on the back of his hand that had just been refreshed and was now one less. "I guess he was scared unconscious by something."

"Maybe it's a big spider," George shrugged. "Whatever. How do we play? Hunt it out or ambush it?"

"Take the initiative," Fred grinned, "and see what the professor's 'surprise' is all about—wow!"

Before he could finish speaking, a bright green mantis, almost half his height, carrying two enormous "scythes," gracefully emerged from behind the ferns. Its triangular head turned toward them, its compound eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"This is quite a surprise!" George whistled, and the two immediately went into battle mode, their wands aimed at the giant insect, their eyes filled with more excitement than fear.

"What do you think, how about we give it a color-changing spell? Or try that new variation of the tripping spell we came up with?"

Cedric Diggory's performance was exemplary. He was randomly taken to a creek.

Instead of moving immediately, he first observed the direction of the water flow and the angle at which sunlight pierced through the leaves to determine the approximate location.

He gathered several large leaves, magically made them temporarily tough, and simply crafted wristbands and a shawl to help conceal himself in the forest and protect against abrasions.

He tried to avoid walking in open areas, moving slowly along the shade of trees and bushes, stopping occasionally to listen.

When the marker refreshed every ten minutes, he quickly memorized the location and movement trend of several points of light, and chose a route that would avoid most people, be close to the water source, and be a place where others might come, making it suitable for ambushes or observation.

Along the way, he encountered a hedgehog that had grown larger and looked a bit aggressive.

Instead of attacking, Cedric softly recited a gentle incantation that Victor had mentioned in class to soothe small animals, while slowly retreating.

The hedgehog gradually calmed down, curled up into a ball, and ignored him.

He also used a variant of "Whirlwind Sweep" to kick up a small patch of sand, disrupting the view of anyone who might be peeking from the side.

A small area of ​​damp mud was created using "clear water like a spring" to slow down the trackers.

His performance was less like a fierce competitive game and more like a cautious and skillful wilderness adventure.

Tom — Tom's experiences are extraordinary.

After being stretched by the vines, it snapped back to its original shape with a "snap" and fell into a pile of soft fallen leaves.

It shook its head, a little dizzy, but quickly became excited. This place was simply its playground!

It first easily dodged the spell of a little wizard who panicked and randomly launched "Flock of Birds," which resulted in a bunch of chirping birds that attracted more people. Then, relying on the agility of a feline, it quickly leaped and darted between the trees.

It spotted the shapeshifting rat Hermione had released, and, seized by a playful impulse, fluttered around for a while.

It encountered the giant spider that had terrified Ron, but instead of being afraid, it arched its back, bristled its fur, hissed menacingly, and stretched out its claws to scratch a few times.

The large spider seemed to sense that something was wrong with the "small" animal, hesitated for a moment, and then crawled away.

Tom meowed smugly.

Then it saw Fred and George confronting the large praying mantis. Its eyes darted around, and it silently slipped up the tree behind the mantis.

Just as the twins were about to unleash their spell, Tom seized the opportunity and pounced down from the tree. Although it wasn't a real pounce, the commotion and the loud "Meow!" startled the focused praying mantis, causing it to turn around abruptly.

The twins seized the opportunity to unleash their spells—"Color Change!" and "Leg-Lowering Spell!"

The praying mantis instantly turned bright pink, and at the same time, its legs went weak, causing it to stumble and swung its sickle-shaped forelimbs to maintain its balance, looking extremely comical.

"Well done, Tom!" Fred laughed.

"It's a pleasure working with you!" George said with a smile.

Tom landed, elegantly licked his paws, winked at them, and then dashed back into the depths of the forest to continue his "adventure."

It seems to treat "dodging spells" and "creating chaos" as a game, and enjoys it immensely.

In the clearing outside the forest, as the hourglass's shadow faded, flashes of light appeared, and one by one, young wizards, some dejected, some excited, and some still in shock, were carried out by vines.

Some had leaves stuck to their clothes, some had their hair stuck together with some kind of sticky substance, and others were laughing uncontrollably.

Viktor watched all this with a smile on his face, but his sharp eyes observed the state of each student who came out, assessing their performance in his mind.

-

The air around him rippled slightly, and Dumbledore's figure appeared silently, watching the vibrant forest with equal interest.

"A very creative teaching method, Victor," Dumbledore said gently. "Learning under pressure, growing through play. And—it seems your 'surprise' has worked remarkably well."

"They need to face unconventional situations," Victor nodded.

"Whether it's a suddenly appearing behemoth or a classmate hiding in the shadows, this will hone their reflexes, their spellcasting, and—well, their courage."

He glanced at Ron, who had just been brought out and was still patting his chest to catch his breath.

"How is the progress on the protective goggles?" Dumbledore asked.

"The first batch, enough for all faculty and staff and some upperclassmen to try out, is complete and is undergoing final checks and enchanting for stabilization. The twins were a huge help; their craftsmanship is exquisite," Victor replied. "Mass production will take a few more days, but by next week at the latest, all students should be able to wear them."

"Very good." Dumbledore's gaze was distant. "The castle's security is being strengthened, and the spectacles are being prepared—but we all know that the real threat may appear in ways we do not expect. It is always good to give the students a little more preparation."

The two turned their gaze once again to the bustling and vibrant miniature forest.

The battle inside continued, with screams, chants, collisions, and the occasional "Ooh-hoo-hoo" of Tom weaving together a unique autumnal symphony at Hogwarts.

Harry continued to traverse the forest, dodging the patrols of the "giant ants" while searching for Hermione's trail.

Hermione has already dealt with several opponents and "surprise" creatures with her wit and solid spells, and is moving toward what she judges to be the final possible "safe zone".

Cedric, like a seasoned hunter, steadily advanced toward the heart of the forest, attracting almost no attention.

The twins and Tom's "temporary alliance" is creating more chaos and laughter —

Who will survive to the end in this unique "battle royale"?

The answer is still brewing in that magical forest.

But in any case, on this day, the young wizards of Hogwarts, whether happy or frightened, truly experienced an unforgettable practical lesson.

Viktor knew that such training might give them a glimmer of hope in the face of the real shadows they might encounter in the future.