A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 251 The Tree Guardian Bowtruckle Named Zaun

William arrived at the auditorium early the next morning.

He didn't go back to his dorm yesterday; he slept in the double room at the Requirement Room for the night.

Luna's words still had some impact on him, even though she was probably joking on purpose.

Not long after, Professor Flitwick arrived and tossed a huge stack of timetables to William, instructing him to distribute them when the third-year students arrived.

William stacked the class schedules together and placed them on the table.

Soon, Hermione arrived. She was alone and, as always, got up early to review her lessons.

She sat at the Ravenclaw dining table and recounted what had happened the previous night.

It turned out that after Harry and Ron returned, they were treated as heroes by the Gryffindor students, and the two were quite pleased with themselves.

"They're still celebrating, thinking it's something so glorious," Hermione said angrily. "If you ask me, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Harry and Ron got expelled!"

"Okay, don't be angry." William handed Hermione a summer strawberry sandwich.

Hermione took it and gave most of it to William, and also added two fried eggs, one for each of them.

William took a bite, shook his head, and said, "Isn't that what Gryffindor is like? They just haven't realized the seriousness of the problem."

"So you see... this is wrong, they should reflect on their actions!"

Hermione's expression was exactly the same as Professor McGonagall's when she said this.

Many students have been secretly calling Hermione "Little McGonagall"... Indeed, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

William, without looking up, continued writing on the table and said, "Don't argue with Harry and Ron. They won't listen to you, and it'll only damage your friendship, understand?"

Hermione gave a soft, nasal "hmm".

William looked up and laughed angrily, "Don't try to fool me!"

Hermione's eyes crinkled with amusement as she wrinkled her delicate nose and said softly, in a childlike voice, "Okay!"

"I know what you're thinking, that the two of them should be punished... They will be punished."

"What punishment?"

"Solitary confinement, cleaning toilets, wiping trophies, going to the Forbidden Forest... Filch has all sorts of disgusting methods."

Mrs. Weasley would also send Ron a howling letter.

Mrs. Weasley sent the twins a howling letter because they refused to send them a map of Hogwarts with their location.

How could Ron possibly escape?!

"By the way, where's Annie? Didn't you wake her up this morning?"

"Gryffindor first-year students don't have morning classes, so I didn't wake her up. I won't let her sleep in next time."

As Hermione spoke, she took out a herbalism textbook from her ring.

William hummed in agreement and continued writing with his head down.

"What are you writing?" Hermione leaned her head gently against William's arm, looking at him curiously.

"I'm writing to Diagon Alley to order some food."

"A snack with boba tea?"

"No, it's these three little ones."

William opened his pocket, revealing three tree-men.

"Wow, it's a Bowtruckle! I saw it in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly in a shrill voice. "Where did you get it?"

"At the place called 'Hit-Man Willow'."

Hermione quickly reached out, but the Bowtruckles fearfully dodged away. They stretched out their slender arms, gently swung on their swings, and nimbly climbed onto William's shoulder.

"They are a little shy."

William gently took Hermione's right hand, and with his patient persuasion, a Bowtruckle shakily slid up her arm and onto Hermione's arm.

William gave Hermione some more potion to feed the Bowtruckle.

Bowtruckle loves to eat ground beetles or fairy eggs. Feeding him with potions is a bit of a luxury, so he needs to buy some dried ground beetles from Diagon Alley.

Bowtruckles are also very useful; they can find precious trees and open locks that cannot be opened with magic.

Their long, sharp fingers make them natural at picking locks and opening doors, making them a perfect match for the Niffler, a thieving duo!

William kept the Bowtruckle for good; the secret passage he discovered earlier still contains many rooms that cannot be opened.

He plans to take some time to go and see.

William then tossed Hermione a silver ring.

"I've made the ring much larger. You can plant the devil's web inside, and the bowbell will live on its vines. Just feed it beetles regularly."

Newt's trunk was infinitely expanded using the Unseen Stretch Charm, and could easily hold several fire dragons.

How does Hagrid's song go again?

Falling in love with a fire dragon

But there are no grasslands in my home.

This makes me feel desperate.

Miss Long...

But for wizards who know the Unseen Stretching Charm, this is no problem!

"Is the other Bowtruckle for Anne?" Hermione asked.

William nodded.

"Have you chosen a name yet?"

"Well, my Bowtruckle is named Zaun, you two can name yourselves."

William hoped that this Bowtruckle would inherit the tradition of the Zaunites and be gentle and easy-going towards other wizards.

Hermione smiled and flicked her fingers, her tree-like creature extending its long claws to entwine around her hand.

The girl was having a great time.

Soon, Cedric arrived.

He looked exceptionally excited, and he walked with a gust of wind.

"What's wrong?" William asked. "Why are you so happy?"

"Wasn't the Willow Tree hit by a car?" Cedric sat down next to William.

"Are you that happy?"

"No, Professor Sprout needs to treat the Whomping Willow, so I applied for help for her so we can go and help too."

Cedric grinned smugly, intending to ask for some more broken branches while he received treatment.

As Professor Sprout's favorite student, Cedric did have this privilege.

"William probably can't make it," Hermione said, holding the Bowtruckle.

Why?

"Because he has a lot of classes these two days." Hermione raised her chin, gesturing to the top of the stack of timetables.

"The school has scheduled a full ten classes for him every day, there's not enough time," Hermione said, pointing to the timetable.

Cedric also picked up the timetable.

"This morning... nine o'clock, divination; nine o'clock, Muggle Studies; and arithmetic divination... William, how come you're taking three classes at the same time?"

"I'll be selective about which classes I attend. I won't go to things like Muggle Studies; I'll just go for the final exams," William explained.

"You can do it this way?"

"Of course."

If it weren't mandatory to attend class, he would skip Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class altogether.

Anyway, I've already learned everything in the time loop, so it's still one-on-one tutoring.

Although William chose so many courses, he didn't attend many of them. He only cared about taking exams and then got all the certificates in fifth grade.

That's how top students can be so capricious.

Hermione seemed thoughtful; she could do the same next year, after all, William had helped her preview many lessons over the summer.

For example, she's making great progress with Transfiguration.

She could continue to have William tutor her while she had fewer classes in her second year.

Hey~

Hermione had a bright smile on her face.

"William, I really don't recommend you go to that old charlatan's divination class. Professor Victor's arithmetic divination is much more interesting." Cedric tossed a piece of bread into his mouth.

"It's alright, I'll attend Professor Victor's class next period," William explained.

Although arithmetic divination also uses the word "divination," it is more rigorous and logical.

Gringotts requires its curse-breakers to have studied arithmetic and divination, otherwise they cannot break the curse in the Egyptian pyramids.

Just then, a deafening roar suddenly came from the Gryffindor dining table.

"...You stole a car...just wait and see how I deal with you...you never even considered how your father and I felt when we found the car was gone..."

"...Because you drove it out without permission, your father will be investigated by the Ministry of Magic. It's all your fault! If you don't behave, we'll bring you back immediately and send you to a Muggle boarding school!"

The yelling finally stopped. Ron, his face flushed and veins bulging on his forehead, argued loudly, "We weren't seen by Muggles... seen!... Does that count as a violation of the secrecy law?"

Then came a string of incomprehensible words, such as "Law on Reasonable Restraint of Underage Wizards" and "Secrecy Law of the International Federation of Wizards".

This caused everyone to burst into laughter, filling the auditorium with a joyful atmosphere.

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(End of this chapter)