Hogwarts Summoning Guide

"The Hogwarts Summoning Guide" ranks highly in readers' poll for best fantasy novel!

Delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, the two magic schools, will arrive at Hogwarts in October. Students are buzzing with excitement, eagerly anticipating this rare event and wondering what students from other magic schools will be like.

Despite their anticipation, the curriculum for this school year is just as demanding. Starting in fourth grade, Harry and his friends will be exposed to intermediate magical knowledge. Although they have already learned a lot about spells, many systematic magical concepts, such as ancient runes, potions, herbalism, and magical history, cannot be learned in just one or two months of intensive training. Therefore, their academic pressure is quite high.

The faculty and staff were even busier, as the delegations from the two schools numbered one or two hundred people, along with officials from the Ministry of Magic, journalists, and enthusiastic social figures to host. They had to make room for the arriving guests and prepare for all their daily needs.

Bai Lin admired this meticulous service spirit, but also found it incredible. He had heard Hermione say that each magic school deeply concealed its location, and many people only knew the school they had attended, not even knowing which country the other two were in (which is why Hermione had the conversation on the train). How come when it came to the Goblet of Fire, they all traveled to Hogwarts openly by public transport instead of taking the train, which was more protective of Hogwarts? What kind of concealment was that?

Despite not understanding, the work still had to be done. "Coincidentally," Professor McGonagall heard that Bai Lin had learned some spatial magic, so she directly conscripted him to do hard labor. Although busy, classes still had to be taught. As Hagrid's assistant, he served as an off-site emergency personnel when Hagrid taught the students to take care of the blasting snails that had been raised last semester and had now grown to be larger than a round table.

"When the 'Bombtail' snails reach X-stage maturity, they engage in courtship behavior and competition. Often, two male 'Bombtail' snails will fight to the death..." Hagrid was carefully instructing his students, as if he were talking about a Corgi or a Ragdoll cat. However, looking at the 'Bombtail' snails' repulsive appearance, Bai Lin thought to himself: "Bombtail snail meat is very unpalatable. They have no natural predators. If it weren't for the competitive behavior that leads to the deaths of many 'Bombtail' snails, the coastline might be full of these disgusting creatures by now..."

After class, many students ran up to Bai Lin and asked him when he would open another zoo... Bai Lin did have an idea about this. If the habitat could be expanded to a size large enough to form an ecosystem, it would indeed be possible for students to visit and learn. Of course, a few idiots with arrogant faces and fierce eyes don't count.

Besides the Magical Creatures Protection class, Bai Lin was also very interested in another course: Defense Against the Dark Arts taught by Mad-Eye Moody. Bai Lin wasn't entirely at ease with him; he had a feeling that Barty Jr. had infiltrated the group, but besides Moody, he really didn't know who else to suspect.

After lunch on Thursday, the students were all holding newspapers and making fun of Ron and the twins because their father had made headlines in the Daily Prophet for failing to handle a case of misuse of Muggle electronic devices (his father was the head of the Ministry of Magic's Office of Misuse of Muggle Devices).

Although it was a small matter, it caused quite a stir in society because Muggles had begun using something called a "mobile phone," which was far more efficient than the wizards' communication.

Below the news article were many comments, most of which were sarcastic and cynical.

Bai Lin was somewhat surprised. He vaguely remembered that in the original story, Arthur was in the newspaper because he got involved in the mess caused by Mad-Eye Moody. Now it seemed that even though he was the butterfly flapping its wings, it didn't change the fact that he was in the newspaper under the name "Arnold Weasley".

Malfoy, surrounded by a group of Slytherins, launched into a tirade: "This nobody, the reporters didn't even remember his name, how pathetic!"

Ron, who was nearby, was immediately furious. It was one thing for his classmates to gossip about him, but Malfoy had clearly done it on purpose to let him hear.

Ron rushed over, and Malfoy even pointed at the photo in the newspaper and mocked Ron's mother. This was the last straw. Before Ron could even throw a punch, Harry had already stepped forward and shoved Malfoy to the ground, saying contemptuously, "Go home and see your mother. She must have spent too much time with you; her expression is always like she has dung under her nose!"

"How dare you insult my mother?!" Malfoy's face turned pale, then he flew into a rage. But the truth is, Malfoy's mother was Black's cousin, and Harry had just insulted his aunt... Harry ignored him and turned to leave with Ron.

"How dare you, you brat!" Mad-Eye Moody's voice came from the porch, but before he could turn Malfoy into a weasel (or perhaps some other animal), Harry had already made his move. He turned around and swiftly swung his wand, knocking Malfoy unconscious with a red ray that sent him sprawling to the ground.

Standing on the second floor, Bai Lin, holding a cup of fragrant black tea, was watching the show. It seemed that after a summer of intensive training, Harry had actually learned to cast spells silently. No wonder he was the chosen one of this world; his talent was simply explosive.

Moody limped over, and the Slytherin next to him, who had been about to complain to him, swallowed his words in fear after being glared at by Moody.

"Are you alright?" Moody asked Harry with concern, without even looking at Malfoy.

Harry was a little embarrassed, realizing he had gotten himself into trouble. But Moody patted his chest and assured him he would be fine, as he had personally witnessed Malfoy launch the sneak attack first.

Moody pointed to Crabbe beside him and said, "Take him to the school hospital. If I ever see someone attacking a classmate from behind again, I'll make sure you never forget it!"

The minor incident passed quickly. When it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Moody hadn't arrived yet. To the students' surprise, Bai Lin was already sitting in an empty seat at the back of the classroom with a notebook.

"The two generations of Professor Dada are going to have a showdown!" the students whispered. (Defense Against the Dark Arts class is abbreviated as DADA, and the students jokingly call it Dada class.)

A moment later, Snape also passed by the door, as if he wanted to come in and listen in. When he saw Bai Lin sitting inside, his face darkened, and he turned and left.

Soon, everyone heard Moody's very "distinctive" stomping sound, followed by a strange wooden foot stepping in. Upon seeing this foot, Bai Lin thought of Qi Qi. He had the family hospital build a magical prosthetic limb for Qi Qi. Although it wasn't as realistic as a real leg, it was still quite mobile. Why was Moody still using a prosthetic foot that might be decades old?

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