Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil.

"To be able to master this complex spell in just two days..." Sprout paused for a moment, unsure of what to say, then solemnly raised his hand and patted Puni's shoulder, full of sincere affirmation, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You are already very excellent and outstanding. For a freshman who has only recently come into contact with magic, such progress is already far beyond that of ordinary people."

Feeling encouraged by the professor, Puni nodded emphatically in response: "I will continue to work hard and improve. I have only been exposed to magic for a short time, and there is still a lot of knowledge and skills to be studied and learned. I cannot slack off."

After saying that, he looked up at the playground outside the greenhouse window, remembered the upcoming class schedule, and asked, "Professor, the next class is flight class, and I need to be there on time. Do you have any classes scheduled afterward? I would like to come back and continue studying the Devil's Net content when I have some free time."

"Don't worry, just come over." Sprout smiled gently and patiently explained, "The next lesson will still revolve around the Devil's Web. Headmaster Dumbledore specifically instructed that all students must master the methods to control the Devil's Web to ensure that everyone has basic self-defense skills in the wild. You can come and audit the class at any time to improve."

Watching Puni hurry away to her flight class, Sprout raised her hand to close her wand, securely fastening and locking the black sealed wooden box containing the Devil's Web. She looked down at the box, sighing softly, her eyes full of admiration.

Meanwhile, the flying playground at Hogwarts has become quite lively.

Professor McGonagall's application for the use of flying brooms by freshmen has been officially approved, and the university has allocated a batch of second-hand brooms to the freshmen.

Although these brooms are not brand new, they have all undergone a comprehensive inspection and maintenance at the Magic Workshop. The broom wings are smooth and even, and the magic operates stably and smoothly, completely eliminating the previous risks of loss of control, deviation, and high-altitude malfunctions. They are sufficient to meet the daily flight training needs of new students.

A gentle breeze swept across the playground, and all the students took advantage of the rare flight lesson to ride their broomsticks into the air, circling and chasing each other freely in the low sky, enjoying the ease and joy of flying with the wind. The entire training ground was filled with the laughter of the boys and girls, but Puni's mind remained detached from playing in the sky.

Even when he was surrounded by people, he was constantly reviewing the entire process of the Devil's Net's transformation in his mind. The contraction, expansion, reorganization, and solidification of the magic circuits, every dynamic change detail was repeatedly replayed and dissected in his mind. A large number of new magical insights and transformation ideas kept emerging, colliding and intertwining in his thoughts, accumulating a continuous stream of creative inspiration.

Throughout the entire flying lesson, Puni was immersed in studying the principles of magic and did not participate in the playful antics of his companions. After the lesson ended, his roommates invited him to return home together to rest. After a brief farewell, Puni turned around and headed back towards the herb greenhouse.

The greenhouse had quieted down by now. All the students had left after class, leaving only Sprout in the vast green space. During her free time, she methodically organized the various magical plants, put away her teaching equipment, and completed the final thorough cleaning and maintenance before the weekend.

Puni walked quietly into the greenhouse, greeted Sprout in a soft voice, then took out her wand from her waist and quietly stepped forward to help tidy up the space, organize the equipment, and share the finishing work.

Seeing his initiative and diligence in helping, Sprout's eyes were full of gentle smiles as he raised his hand and handed over a clean ceramic water glass.

The cup holds a clear, light golden drink with a faint, refreshing herbal scent.

"Try this." Sprout said cheerfully, with a hint of pride. "This is my own unique blend of white honey water. You can't find it anywhere else. It's a special drink made exclusively in our greenhouse."

Puni took the water cup with both hands, lowered his head and took a small sip. The warm and sweet taste spread from his throat to his whole body. The taste was mellow and smooth, without any cloying sweetness. After entering his mouth, a refreshing warmth slowly spread out, instantly dispelling the fatigue of practicing magic for days, making his mind exceptionally clear, and his concentration also improved a lot.

"It tastes quite good, doesn't it?" Sprout said with a smile. "The honey produced by the honeycomb this year is of excellent quality. When paired with the White Herbal Extract, it has the best effect of refreshing and calming the mind. Did you come back this time to continue observing the mimicry process of the Devil's Web?"

Puni shook his head slightly, put away his water glass, and earnestly explained his purpose: "Professor, I would like to request a Christmas cactus from you for private practice. May I ask if I can cast shapeshifting magic on it?"

“Of course, no problem at all.” Sprout agreed without hesitation and patiently instructed, “The Christmas cactus has extremely strong vitality, high environmental adaptability, and its ability to resist magical impact far exceeds that of ordinary plants. As long as you do not use forbidden black magic, regular transformations and magical adjustments will not damage it.”

After receiving permission, Puni revealed his core purpose: "During the process of observing the Devil's Web mimicry, I accumulated a lot of insights about shapeshifting magic, and I want to use the Crab Claw Orchid to conduct practical verification and solidify my new ideas."

"Just go for it." Sprout fully supported his initiative to improve, and then raised her hand and waved her wand. The black sealed wooden box containing the dangerous plant was instantly lifted up by magic and suspended in mid-air, making it convenient for her to store it away.

As she put the wooden box back in place, she carefully instructed, "Practice here without feeling constrained. I'll completely store the Devil's Net first. It's still very dangerous and shouldn't be exposed. When you're done practicing and leave, just remember to close the greenhouse doors, windows, and gate for me."

Once Sprout had finished packing and left the practice area, the greenhouse fell completely silent, leaving only the neatly arranged magical plants and the gentle airflow of the room temperature.

Puni calmed himself down and officially began the practical training.

"Yugadimu Leviosa!" With a soft incantation, he raised his wand, and the pages of the notebook filled with magic circuits detached from the paper and floated around his body. All the pages were densely filled with the complete magic structure of the Devil's Web and the Crab Claw Orchid, covering all the details of their static circuits, dynamic transformations, and mimicry deformations.

At the same time, the "Theory of Metamorphosis and Deformation" that he had memorized appeared in his mind. All the core knowledge points, deformation principles, and magic control techniques were readily available, laying a solid theoretical foundation for practical exercises. He slowly moved to the front of a thriving Christmas cactus.

Sensing someone approaching and magic drawing near, the Christmas cactus in front of it instantly became lively. Its delicate, emerald-green vines stretched and swayed rhythmically, gently swaying with the airflow, presenting a fresh and vibrant growth state.

With the blessing of meditation, Puni's thinking speed increased significantly. His gaze could freely switch between the floating notes and the theoretical classics in his mind, reviewing theoretical knowledge while searching for patterns of transformation by combining the magical trajectories recorded in the actual footage.

With a slight tremor of his fingertips, he lightly controlled the magic of his wand, causing the suspended pages to turn at a uniform speed, as if turning pages manually. This dynamically recreated the complete process of the Devil's Web transforming from the form of a Christmas cactus into its mimicry. The dynamic visuals and theoretical knowledge corroborated each other and combined layer by layer, instantly clearing his previously blocked train of thought.

"So this is the magical logic behind the plant mimicry of transformation magic."

A flash of understanding crossed Puni's eyes. He immediately activated his Holy Light, precisely locking onto the Christmas cactus in front of him. With the tip of his wand pointing forward, he channeled his refined and gentle magic steadily through the tip, slowly seeping into the Christmas cactus's branches and veins, perfectly matching the plant's original magic circuitry.

He meticulously controlled his own magic, wrapping the Christmas cactus's original magical veins layer by layer with the flowing magic, forming a highly fitting magical coat that firmly envelops the entire plant's magical structure.

"Shaping with vines".

Puni whispered the self-improved shaping spell, simultaneously controlling the form of magic. The originally gentle and soft magic coat gradually tightened and sharpened, simulating the highly aggressive and taut magic trajectory of the devil's net, gradually changing the original magic distribution of the crab claw orchid.

As the magic continued to permeate and transform, the Christmas cactus's originally light and swaying movements gradually stopped, and its bright emerald green skin began to slowly transition to a deep and heavy dark green. The magical veins inside the plant continued to reorganize and tighten, gradually approaching the dangerous form of the wild devil's web.

The entire Christmas cactus vine becomes increasingly flexible and supple, with countless branches extending, twisting, and bending freely, stretching out in all directions, completing its shape reshaping, and completely shedding its original docile and harmless appearance.

Just as Puni was fine-tuning his magic and preparing to solidify his form, the dark green vines that had completed their transformation suddenly moved collectively. All the outstretched branches abruptly closed and gathered together, as if receiving a unified command. They rapidly converged and entwined from all directions, instantly enveloping the unsuspecting Puni. Then, with a collective force, they lifted him into the air and suspended him in mid-air above the greenhouse.

The holy light within Puni erupted instantly, shattering it completely.

"Oops, I was careless."

Puni shook his head.

Chapter 121 The Easter Holiday is Approaching

The most talked-about figure in Hogwarts Castle recently has been Professor Calder, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. He is stern and unsmiling, with a cold and solemn face. His classroom style is tough and decisive, and he never shies away from high-impact demonstrations of practical magic during his lectures. This sharp teaching style has quickly established a strong deterrent effect in the minds of all the new students, and has also gained a lot of fans and aspirations. Among them, the students of Slytherin House admire his way of doing things the most.

Even Professor McGonagall, who is known for her rigorous scholarship and extremely high standards, has repeatedly admitted in private conversations with other faculty members that she acknowledges Professor Calder's classroom management skills. Her teaching pace is efficient and well-organized, classroom discipline is orderly, and students' practical improvement speed far exceeds the level of previous years. These advantages are beyond doubt.

However, at the same time, McGonagall also had great concerns and objections to his teaching methods. Calder was used to casting extremely destructive and visually impactful offensive magic in front of all the new students. In McGonagall's view, this teaching method was very likely to lead the younger students to form a wrong perception, making them equate magic with violence and destruction, and deviating from the true purpose of learning magic.

The core value of education lies in positive guidance, inspiring thinking, and imparting rules, rather than suppressing students through intimidation and fear. For this reason, McGonagall even secretly had doubts about the Ministry of Magic's personnel appointments, wondering why a wizard with a highly aggressive style would be selected as the teacher of the crucial Defense Against the Dark Arts course.

Outside the castle, the entire wilderness was shrouded in a thick, oppressive fog. The sky was dark and gloomy, and the fog lingered, creating a somber and oppressive atmosphere. Only Hagrid's cottage, situated on the edge of the castle, exuded a stark contrast of warmth. Inside, the fireplace burned brightly, its flickering flames continuously providing warmth and dispelling all the chill. The air was filled with the rich aroma of freshly baked barley cakes and the refreshing aftertaste of piping hot black tea, creating a cozy and comforting atmosphere.

Puni sat upright at the wooden dining table, holding a rough and hard rock-skin cake.

The cake was dense, dry, and extremely hard, making it impossible to chew and swallow directly. He could only slowly soak the cake in warm black tea, patiently waiting for the tea to soften the hard cake.

Across the dining table, Hagrid's massive, imposing body was deeply embedded in a large, solid wood chair.

He held a rough earthenware teacup the size of a large bowl in both hands, his thick eyebrows tightly furrowed, his facial features tense, and a heavy sense of depression emanating from him.

The oppressive silence lasted for a long time before Hagrid finally broke it, his voice much lower and hoarser than usual.

“Puni, I have something strange to tell you.” He casually waved his hand, his tone awkward. “Last night I went to the Pig’s Head Bar and something happened that made me feel really uncomfortable.”

Puni stopped soaking the pastries, looked up at Hagrid's grave expression, and asked softly, "What happened? Is someone causing trouble, or are you in real trouble?"

“It’s not some kind of fighting or trouble.” Hagrid waved his hand again, directly denying Puni’s guess, his brow furrowing even more deeply. “It’s that new Professor Calder! Isn’t it strange that he would go to a place like the Hog’s Head Bar!”

He continued to complain: "That bar was old and shabby, with a messy environment. It was not a place that someone like him, who was well-dressed and rigid, would go to."

“I was feeling down last night, and I kept thinking about Buckbeak, so I thought I’d go sit in my usual spot and have a drink to calm myself down,” Hagrid slowly recalled the scene from last night. “I had just sat down when the wooden door of the bar was pushed open, and Professor Calder came in.”

"He was dressed in a neat and crisp uniform robe, meticulous in every detail, so orderly that it was out of place with the dilapidated and slovenly environment of the Pighead Bar."

Hagrid sat up slightly, mimicking Professor Calder's flat, emotionless tone: "After he entered, he located me, walked straight over, and asked me immediately, 'Mr. Hagrid, are you here alone?'"

At this point, Hagrid looked annoyed and sighed heavily: "I didn't think much about it at the time and just gave a vague reply."

Looking back now, I really shouldn't have paid him any attention.

"Then he started pressing me with questions." Hagrid lowered his voice and leaned closer. "He deliberately struck up a conversation with me, saying that the Forbidden Forest had a unique charm at night, and that a large number of magical creatures that were hidden during the day would be active at night. He asked me if I often saw various special creatures while I was guarding the hunting grounds all year round."

Upon hearing the words "Forbidden Forest," Puni put down the rock-skin cake in his hand and listened intently to Hagrid's story.

“I always remembered Headmaster Dumbledore’s instructions: never to reveal anything about the Forbidden Forest to outsiders.” Hagrid lowered his voice, afraid that someone might overhear him. “I immediately changed the subject, pointing to an old, dusty specimen on the wall to appease him, saying that the specimen was very old and a rare find in the bar.”

“But he completely ignored my change of topic, didn’t pick up on my words at all, and continued to ask me about the previous questions. Then he inquired about my work on campus, asking if I had any other special tasks besides guarding the hunting grounds and maintaining the site.”

"His tone of voice, that oppressive feeling, was like that of an investigator from the Ministry of Magic interrogating a wizard who had broken the rules." Hagrid frowned and truthfully described his feelings. "Moreover, his questions were very leading, making people want to answer truthfully without their consent. But I remembered the headmaster's instructions and didn't reveal any key information. It was so uncomfortable for me."

Hagrid spread out his broad palms.

"I really had no other way to deal with it at the time, so I just kept praising all the good things about Hogwarts, and kept saying that the pastries and baked goods I made were always very popular with the students. I also took the opportunity to invite him to try my food."

At this point, Hagrid revealed a slightly comical and disappointed expression.

“He rejected my invitation on the spot. Even so, I could still sense that he wanted to ask me something. I had originally planned to send him a ready-made pastry later, but now it seems completely unnecessary.”

"He still wouldn't give up, repeatedly steer the conversation toward the depths of the Forbidden Forest, specifically mentioning those dangerous magical creatures that only appear at night. He also deliberately revealed that the Ministry of Magic is currently focusing on investigating various hidden magical threats and paying close attention to elusive dangerous creatures."

“Every time he throws out a question, I can only hurriedly change the subject to brush it off.”

"One minute I'd be casually complaining about the unpredictable rainy weather, and the next I'd be rambling on about how silly Ya Ya was, chasing its tail in the middle of nowhere. In the end, I didn't even know what I was rambling about anymore; I was just saying whatever came to mind."

Puni listened quietly to the whole story, unconsciously picturing the scene in his mind.

The dimly lit Pighead Bar was filled with smoke, creating an eerie and oppressive atmosphere. The surrounding noise and dappled light made Hagrid flustered and incoherent, trying to find topics to talk about. Meanwhile, Calder remained calm and composed, his expression indifferent, like a waveless iceberg, pressing him relentlessly with his questions. The stark contrast almost made Puni burst out laughing.

He suppressed a smile and pressed for details: "How did things end up?"

Hagrid picked up the huge ceramic teacup in front of him, tilted his head back and took a big gulp of warm black tea. Using the warmth to calm his mind a little, he replied in a dull tone, "The ending is simple. He must have seen through my deliberate avoidance and realized that he couldn't get any useful information out of me, so he lost patience."

"His eyes were frighteningly sharp, and he stared at me for several seconds without moving."

Recalling the scene, Hagrid still felt tense all over. "His gaze was extremely penetrating, as if he could see through all my thoughts, making my hair stand on end and my heart inexplicably panic. Then he stood up and said indifferently that it seemed I would prefer to be alone and quiet, and then turned around and left the bar."

After letting out a heavy sigh, Hagrid relaxed: "As soon as he left, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. That standoff was more exhausting than a whole day of intense patrolling the Forbidden Forest with Tooth. Puni, that new Professor Calder, is just too oppressive."

He muttered to himself, "This oppressive sense of confrontation is even more agonizing than the interrogations I faced back then."

Hagrid's casual remark about the past brought Puni's thoughts to a focus.

He fell silent for a moment, his mind racing to sort through all the clues, quickly connecting Calder's unusual behavior, targeted probing, and past events, and instantly figured out the connection.

Puni spoke seriously: "Hagrid, I suspect that Professor Calder's purpose is not just to investigate the secrets of the Forbidden Forest. He has most likely noticed suspicious points in the old case related to you. You were expelled from school when you were young because of the Aragog incident. This matter should still be fully recorded in the Ministry of Magic's official archives."

This speculation struck Hagrid like a thunderbolt, causing his burly body to tremble. His pupils contracted, and his face instantly contorted with shock, resentment, and barely concealed fear: "You mean... this Calder is someone the Ministry of Magic specifically assigned to thoroughly investigate my old case from back then?"

“This is highly likely.” Puni analyzed the situation clearly, supporting his judgment. “I had specifically looked into his resume before. He has the authority to access old files and check past cases at will. Given his background, it would be easy for him to check your records from back then. His sudden focus on you and his frequent probing is definitely not a coincidence.”

"This is a huge problem." Hagrid gasped.

For so many years, he had been staying at Hogwarts, diligently guarding the hunting grounds, and had long believed that the old case from back then was completely closed and that the dark past was now a thing of the past.

He never imagined that, after so many years, someone would still be clinging to the past and stirring up his old troubles again in such a cold, obsessive, and relentless manner.

"From now on, I must try my best to avoid him and never have any private contact with him." Hagrid lowered his eyes.

The lingering, chilly fog outside seeped into the small house through the cracks in the doors and windows, diluting the warmth of the fireplace and making the atmosphere inside even more oppressive and heavy.

But this lingering worry did not last long.

The focus at Hogwarts quickly shifted to the upcoming weekend Quidditch match, which swiftly captured the attention of the entire school.

The two teams facing off in this tournament are Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

In everyone's mind, this was a clash of extreme styles.

Slytherin has always been adept at using tricky tactics to break through defenses, and their playing style is sharp, varied, and highly aggressive.

Hufflepuff is known for its composure and resilience, excellent teamwork, and a tight and solid defensive system that is almost impossible to find.

The clash between two distinctive teams is bound to produce a fierce and exciting match.

But the Slytherin students didn't think so at all.