Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 182 Campus Club

Harry held his head high, his eyes fixed on the envelope, but his peripheral vision kept darting to the side, and his ears were perked up, trying to hear the lesson beside him. His mind was no longer on the envelope.

It's astonishing that Professor Lockhart, the complete idiot, actually knows how to teach; he explained the Forgetfulness Charm quite convincingly. The Ilfulecombe incident, the strange experiences of the Ministry of Magic's memory erasers—if this were in a proper classroom, even Professor McGonagall would have to praise how vivid and interesting it was.

Harry, who had firmly believed Lockhart was a fraud, is now beginning to waver.

Loren listened attentively, and he gained a lot from the theoretical content.

During the summer, he spent a great deal of time practicing memory magic—Leech Technique and Occlumency. Practicing these two spells gave him a preliminary understanding of the brain and soul. Lockhart's views on surface memory and deep memory of the soul opened up a new perspective for him, providing new answers to many of his previous questions.

He had a premonition that after learning the Forgetfulness Spell, he would also make significant progress in the other two memory spells.

Lockhart spoke with great enthusiasm, twirling his wand around his finger: "Remember, the Forgetfulness Charm isn't unbreakable. Deep-seated torment and time can weaken it. In extreme cases, some people have managed to break the Forgetfulness Charm through sheer willpower. Of course, such cases are extremely rare..."

The lecture lasted until very late; tonight's content was entirely theoretical, with no demonstrations or exercises.

Loren and Harry left the office together. Only after the door closed did Harry snap out of his daze while copying the envelopes and come back to his senses.

"I must have copied thousands of envelopes," Harry said dejectedly.

"At least he didn't show off the contents of the letter, did he?" Loren was in a good mood.

Harry imagined what the fan letter and Lockhart's reply might contain, and nodded with relief.

Turning a corner and stepping up the stairs, Harry said, "I didn't expect him to explain the Forgetfulness Charm so well. By the way, do you really want to become a memory eraser?"

"Of course, everyone in the school knows this is the career I, Loren, have always dreamed of." Loren's voice was resolute.

Harry then understood and nodded, "Oh, it's fake."

Suddenly, a strange voice, its direction and source unclear, rang out: "Come...let me...tear you apart...kill you..."

Harry, who was about to continue teasing, was startled, stopped, and fell silent, pretending to listen. But he heard nothing; the voice from before did not reappear.

A moment later, Harry turned to Loren, looking at him with a puzzled expression. "That sound! Did you hear anything strange?"

Seeing Harry's bewildered expression, Loren feigned ignorance and shook his head: "What was that sound? Weren't you the one talking the whole time?"

Harry's brow furrowed deeply. "That—that voice said—didn't you hear it?"

Although he already knew he could speak Parsley, he didn't connect the strange sounds he heard with Parsley, assuming it was some hidden Easter egg in Hogwarts Castle.

This ancient castle is like that; some young wizards, when they wander around at night, have even heard screams of people being tormented in pain, and the shrieks of wailing banshees.

Loren said, "You're probably a little sleepy because you've been copying too many envelopes."

He roughly guessed that Voldemort must have gone down into the Chamber of Secrets over the weekend and awakened the Basilisk. This was a plan Dumbledore had already arranged; the Basilisk's deadly gaze had been neutralized, so there was no need to worry about the students' safety.

The stage is set up, and all that's left is for the protagonist, Harry, to make his entrance, and the grand show will begin...

It's late September, and the school year is already in its fourth week. Whether it's the new teaching methods for second and fourth graders, or the regular curriculum for other grades, everything is running smoothly.

The young wizards finally shook off their holiday lethargy and threw themselves wholeheartedly into school life. The shores of the Black Lake were crowded with young wizards practicing spells, the glow of spells and the splashes of waves stirred up by squid tentacles rose and fell.

It was in this atmosphere that Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration Club was established.

Instead of posting a notice on the bulletin board in the common room, Professor McGonagall announced it suddenly during class:

"The Transfiguration Club is for young wizards who have extra learning capacity and are interested in continuing to study and explore Transfiguration. To join the Transfiguration Club, you must pass an exam. The exam is different for each grade, and only students who score an E or higher on the exam can join."

She patted the pile of parchment exam papers on the lectern, making a dull thud: "Now, those who have no intention of joining the club can leave get out of class early and go to the auditorium for lunch."

Seamus and Dean exchanged glances, and Dean asked in a low voice, "Do you want to join the Transfiguration Club?"

Seamus shook his head. He was not good at Transfiguration, was not a young wizard with extra learning ability, and had no intention of exploring the field of Transfiguration in depth.

But they are still young and lack confidence in making choices about something that seems important, so they hesitate about whether they should leave. The other young wizards are in similar situations, wanting to give up but also afraid of the negative consequences.

Seeing this, Professor McGonagall emphasized, "Clubs are just places for extracurricular activities. You don't have to join every club, and you can even not participate in any clubs. It won't affect your grades or exams. Besides, there are entrance exams every academic year. Students who are hesitant can observe the club activities for a year and then take the exams next year."

Seamus and Dean were relieved and stood up to leave the classroom. With someone to lead the way, the other young wizards followed suit, leaving the classroom more than half empty.

Loren and Hermione had received Professor McGonagall's invitation in advance, and as expected, they were the pre-selected candidates to be in charge of the lower grades of the club, so they naturally didn't leave and sat properly in their seats.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and stayed. Surprisingly, Neville also stayed.

Meeting his friend's surprised gaze, Neville scratched his head and stammered, "Professor McGonagall didn't say what would happen if I didn't pass the exam. Anyway, there's no harm in it, so I want to give it a try."

"Neville, you're no worse than anyone else, you'll definitely pass the exam," Hermione encouraged.

Neville smiled shyly. During the holidays, his grandmother said he was starting to look like a man.

The exam paper is divided into two parts. The first part consists of simple fill-in-the-blank questions, mainly covering the original text from the textbook, key points of polymorph spellcasting, precautions for polymorph steps, etc., which are not difficult at all.

The second half consists of only one essay question: Discuss your understanding of Gamp's basic transformation rules and analyze the five exceptions.

The little wizard who had just turned the page and read the question was completely bewildered. What was that?

This kind of essay question without a standard answer was the first time the young wizards had ever seen one. Their previous learning method was to memorize the basic transmutation rules and the five exceptions, and that was considered mastery.

Now, suddenly a question appears that doesn't ask about the basic transformation rules or the five exceptions, but rather your understanding and perspective. In fact, most students don't even remember what the five exceptions are; they've only learned Gamp's basic rules.

The young wizards were divided into three categories. One category consisted of those who stared blankly at the questions, trying to decipher the meaning of each one; another category consisted of those who scratched their heads and chewed on their pens until they were worn down to the brim, still unable to figure out how to answer the questions; and the last category consisted of Hermione and Loren, who were actually writing down their answers.

Hermione didn't know the answer. She first explained the basic rules of transmutation, and many thoughts arose in her mind during the process. So she wrote these thoughts down on the exam paper.

Loren, on the other hand, wrote down whatever came to mind, scribbling down his thoughts on Gamp's basic transformation laws at will, filling the page as he pleased, not expecting any points.

As they listened to the sound of pens slicing across parchment, the young wizards grew increasingly restless. Several Gryffindor wizards fidgeted in their seats, feeling extremely uncomfortable. They were once again experiencing the torture Loren had inflicted on them during last year's final exams—the feeling of being unable to write anything themselves while others filled the pages was utterly agonizing.

Is this what a top student looks like? The young wizards trembled with fear.

After the exam, Professor McGonagall collected the exam papers, said a few words, and left.

The grading of the exams will take time, and the list of selected students will be posted on the bulletin board in the lounge, but formal club activities will not begin until after October.

Following closely behind the Transfiguration Club was Professor Snape's Potions Club.

Unlike the Charms Club's public events or the Transfiguration Club's recruitment process, the Potions Club's recruitment method was straightforward—Snape directly sent invitations to aspiring wizards.

Wednesday noon, in the auditorium.

Loren stacked several steaks together, drizzled them with black pepper sauce, and took a bite out of them like he was eating a hamburger. Just looking at it made him feel happy.

A series of flapping wings sounded, and far more owls than usual flew through the auditorium's skylight and landed beside their respective delivery targets.

The little spectacled owl with patterns around its eyes cooed twice, placed the letter beside Loren, and went off to eat its biscuits. Hermione and Harry received the same envelope.

The dark green envelope with its dark gold embossed pattern was truly eye-catching; of the four sitting together, only Ron hadn't received a letter.

Ron craned his neck to look out the skylight, his neck aching from looking, but his owl never appeared. He asked, a mix of envy and curiosity, "What kind of letter is this?"

Hermione put down her knife and fork, opened the letter, and quickly glanced through its contents: "The sender is Professor Snape, inviting us to join the Potions Club."

"Really?" Ron muttered. Although he wasn't interested in the Potions Club, he was the only one among them who hadn't received the letter, and he still felt a little jealous.

"I understand you and Loren receiving invitations," Ron said, turning to Harry. "But why did you get one too? Is the old bat trying to torment you further?"

Harry, who had been feeling rather smug, suddenly found his lunch steak less appealing. Thinking about it, it seemed like a real possibility. He hesitated, then asked, "So, should I decline the invitation?"

"You dared to refuse Snape's invitation?!" Seamus leaned closer, looking at him in shock. "How will you ever be able to eat in peace again?"

One sentence extinguished Harry's courage, and Ron suddenly felt relieved after hearing it. The sour feeling in his heart disappeared, and he felt a little happy instead.

Harry received an invitation from Snape, which surprised Loren, but upon reflection, it didn't seem so unexpected.

None of the first-year students received an invitation.

Several other second-year wizards also received invitations: Rolf Scamander of Hufflepuff, Michael Corner of Ravenclaw, and Draco Malfoy of Slytherin.

The higher the grade level, the more junior wizards receive invitations. The Potions Club is a niche club, but its members are enough to fill a class.

The young wizards in the auditorium were discussing this matter enthusiastically.

The main guest seat.

Professor Flitwick whispered to Professor McGonagall, "The Transfiguration Club probably admits more people than the Potions Club, right?"

Professor McGonagall nodded: "The first half of the exam consists of basic questions, while the subjective questions at the end have no standard answers. They are mainly to test whether students have their own thoughts on Transfiguration. Students who pass the basics and have independent thinking abilities will be selected."

Have you decided on your club activities yet?

Professor McGonagall paused for a moment: "I'm planning to start an Animagus coaching class."

"What a brilliant idea!"

Professor Flitwick stroked his beard and exclaimed, "The British Ministry of Magic only has seven registered Animagus. If your class succeeds, Minerva McGonagall's name will resound throughout the wizarding world!"

"Haha, that's not true..." Professor McGonagall said modestly, but the smile on her lips just wouldn't go away.

"If this initiative succeeds, it will prove that club activities are sufficient to supplement the reduced class hours, and there will be much less resistance in its implementation."

"Yes, I hope it works out..."

Seeing Potter struggling with his invitation and actually hesitating, Snape's face darkened as he planned to have Harry deal with the slugs during the club event.

Dumbledore looked at the deep green, gold-embossed invitations in the young wizards' hands and asked slowly, "Have you made the arrangements?"

"Yes," Snape replied, "Let the younger students handle the raw materials, and the older students handle the brewing. We can use the Malfoy family's channels to sell these low-end potions to Africa."

Finances are an essential element in Hogwarts' path to complete independence, and the plan was set from the moment Lucius Malfoy delivered the raw materials.

This batch of low-end finished potions was sold to acquire raw materials of various levels from Africa. These raw materials were then used to make potions of various levels at the school. Some of these potions were sold back to Africa to exchange for raw materials, while others became the school's financial pillar.

With the school owning its own property, many things became unrestrained. The Ministry of Magic had no control over Hogwarts, nor did the Board of Governors.

Seeing Dumbledore's hesitation, Snape added, "Helping the school take its first step towards financial independence, gaining advanced potion knowledge, and accumulating potion-making experience is not unfair to them. Many students want to work in potion-making after graduation, and this experience will be even more valuable to them."

"Who can predict how the future will unfold? Let's respect their wishes as much as possible." Dumbledore sighed. "And what about your experiments with the resurrection drug? Any plans for them?"

"I have my own plans."

(End of this chapter)