"So, what I need to do now is no longer learn new knowledge?"
"Or is it to review the old material and study it in depth?"
Hermione muttered to herself.
She was so convinced not only because she liked Basil.
More importantly, it is because he possesses a kind of power that inspires belief.
He exuded an indescribable sense of ease at all times, as if nothing could defeat him and nothing was beyond his ability to achieve.
Basil looked directly into the girl's eyes. "Your breadth of knowledge is already sufficient for you to delve deeper."
"You need to find what you're best at and expand on it."
"For example, the Incendio."
Ron continued, "Hermione is very good at creating magical flames. In winter, she always creates a bright blue flame to keep us warm."
"The best part is that it can be carried around in a jam jar."
"Does it have a name?" Basil asked, feigning ignorance but with great interest.
Hermione shook her head. "I just wanted something warm, easy to carry, and most importantly, good-looking. And that's how it ended up."
"It's simple, isn't it? As long as you know enough spells and find the corresponding properties, you can assemble them like building blocks."
"The ability to incorporate other spells into a single spell—just keep experimenting."
"However, this affected my studies and was considered a waste of time, so I stopped after I realized this."
"We haven't even chosen a name yet," Hermione said, her cheeks flushed.
Ron: I wish I could be this way too, indulging in frivolous pursuits.
"Oh, what's its spell?" Basil asked with interest.
In his world, this magic was something Hermione found in a book she was reading to pass the time; in this world, it's actually Hermione's 'unconventional' creation.
"There's no spell," Hermione's voice was barely a whisper, "I just want it to appear, like this—"
Extending his wand, blue flames resembling forget-me-nots surged forth.
Is naming important?
"You should name it," Basil beckoned, and flames flew into his hand, his eyes flashing with 0s and 1s. "Only then can it be stable, learned by others, and you can add additional properties."
Basil has discovered the drawbacks brought to him by [Electric Swirl], which, while boosting his rationality, has also given him a strong voyeuristic desire.
He began to yearn to use the [Pupil of Insight] to decipher all that was unknown.
However, for someone who is completely in control of himself, he can control it, but he doesn't think it's necessary.
"You can consult the Runes Dictionary. In addition to helping wizards understand and Runes, it can also help young wizards compile more magical spells."
"Or you could try learning other less common languages, or Old English."
"Modern English is widely used, but unless it's for general, everyday magic, it would place too high a demand on a wizard to use it for your unique, personal style of magic."
"."
"You can do that too?" Hermione had already taken out her notebook, and a rustling sound instantly filled the corner of the corridor.
Ron and Harry felt like they were listening to Heavenly Book, completely confused.
Harry, in particular, wasn't really interested in that.
Wizards have created countless spells throughout history, too many to learn. Whatever you can think of, others have probably thought of too. Creating your own magic is much more complicated than spells.
The important thing now isn't that Mad-Eye Moody is a fake, is it?
"May I say something? Since that bottle might really contain Polyjuice Potion, wouldn't Moody— "
Dragged out of her ocean of knowledge, Hermione retorted irritably, "Do you think Dumbledore would mistake his old friend?"
Ron chimed in, "Look at how crazy he was in class today, that's not something you can imitate."
Harry was still a little unconvinced. "Maybe it's precisely because he's crazy that it's easy to imitate."
"The Moody that Dumbledore knew was the one who was still normal; the Death Eater were a bunch of lunatics anyway."
Neither Hermione nor Ron took Harry's words to heart.
Mad-Eye Moody, an Azkaban Auror who was captured by him, is not someone who can be replaced.
It's better to believe Lockhart is genuine than to believe Moody's is fake.
Even if Moody is a fake, it could still be part of Dumbledore's plan.
The real Moody might have been assigned to some clandestine task, possibly related to the fight against Voldemort.
So for the next while, whenever Harry brought it up, they would change the subject.
Only Ginny was willing to listen to her boyfriend, nodding in agreement from time to time.
Meanwhile, Basil gained the favor of almost all the professors during this period.
Professor McGonagall praised his Transfiguration as exquisite and profound, seemingly ordinary but actually thought-provoking and full of unique insights.
If written as a paper, it would be sufficient for publication in "Today's Transfiguration" (the most authoritative academic journal focusing on the latest developments in the field of Transfiguration).
Professor Flitwick let out an excited scream and fell to the ground from a stack of books, simply because of the silent, wandless Cheering Charm that filled the entire classroom.
Professor Sprout forgot to call the start of class, simply because he saw the Bouncing Bulb obediently staying still in his hand.
Professor Trelawney's voice, which had been erratic Divination, was no longer wavering, and for the first time ever, she removed all the Winky jewelry she was wearing.
The disgusting Blast-Ended Skrewt that Hagrid kept were incredibly obedient in Basil's hands. These picky eaters were willing to eat almost anything Basil fed them and would even actively suppress the urge to set their rear ends on Spark.
The fact that these monsters, which reeked of rotten fish and had white-gray, slimy bodies that looked like deformed, shelled lobsters, were so docile surprised even Hagrid.
Unsurprisingly, Basil's charm failed Snape with Snape.
"Oh yes," Snape said quietly, "Basil Granger, that's our new, very famous man."
Harry thought the name sounded familiar.
But then I felt something was off; no one was laughing or joking.
The students present, both male and female, were all supporters of Basil.
They still remember the Sorting Hat's comments.
Especially due to their noble lineage, they conquered the most difficult Slytherin.
His outstanding performance in other classes also proved that Basil was not just good-looking.
The exceptions were Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe, who dared not step forward.
They've been living like Translucent these days.
Aside from eating and attending classes, I try to stay home as much as possible.
Even during their free time, while everyone else was gathered around the Goblet of Fire watching who was voting, they still stayed in their dorm rooms.
Snape was quite surprised by the students' reaction. After a brief silence, he put down the list and did not continue calling roll.
His dark, tunnel-like eyes were fixed on Basil.
"I heard you're from Castelobruxo. You must be very skilled at Potions."
"Of course." Basil raised an eyebrow and looked back at him without any politeness.
Aside from his bad temper, the movie version of Snape is a pretty good professor, but that doesn't mean he should just silently endure being targeted by him.
In fact, he had already prepared a [Levicorpus].
This spell must have left a deep impression on him, as if he had returned to his student days.
Hermione sensed the anger in Basil's words and quickly tugged at his sleeve.
Snape also raised an eyebrow, not only because of Hermione's little tricks and Basil's attitude.
Another reason was that a feeling of unease, like a thorn in one's side, suddenly lingered in one's mind, and this sense of crisis intensified as the malice deepened.
Wude had planned to use the professor's deduction authority to Dimensional Strike, disregarding all martial ethics, but he quickly changed his plan.
"Mr. Granger," Snape said suddenly, "What is the Golpalott's Third Law?"
"The number of components in the antidote for a mixed poison is greater than or equal to the sum of the number of components in the antidote for each individual poison," Basil blurted out without hesitation.
Snape pursed his lips. "Scarpin's Revealing Charm incantation, extremely effective."
Basil stretched. "Specialis Revelio. When used on Potions, it can analyze the Potions's components."
Snape's brow furrowed even more. "Very well, as expected of Castelobruxo's top student. Let's try again. Mr. Granger, assuming Golpalott's Third Law holds true, how would you prepare the antidote for the mixed poison?"
"It's very simple," Basil said, crossing his arms. "It uses Scarpin's Revealing Charm."
"But after analyzing the Potions's ingredients, our primary goal is not simply to choose an antidote for each individual component, but to find another substance that can Transfiguration various unrelated components through a process akin to alchemy—"
"That's enough," Snape interrupted, taking a deep breath. "Hufflepuff gets two points for answering the question."
"Hufflepuff loses 1 point because you moved around while answering."
He then turned the gun on the others, saying, "Why don't you write all of this down?"
Suddenly, a rustling sound of quill pen and parchment being fumbled could be heard.
Amidst the commotion, Snape said, "This is sixth-year material. Most of you wouldn't even make it into my advanced class. Finnigan, do you have any objections?"
"Unless you achieve an O (excellent) in your OWLs, I can say goodbye to you after next year."
"Especially you, Lumbaton, if you want to be Auror, you'd better get serious!"
"Potions and antidotes are essential skills for Auror. At least five NEWTS certifications require Potions!"
And so, with Snape's relentless spray of Venom, Potions Class came to an end.
Apart from Basil, almost everyone was not spared.
Slytherin students were no exception.
Hermione, being next to Basil, was only targeted once, and it was a very subtle one.
As soon as the bell rang, everyone rushed out of the classroom.
No one whispered to each other; everyone just kept moving forward.
Snape had a pair of very sensitive ears and was also very petty and vengeful.
It's common for someone to speak ill of someone outside the classroom, and then be confronted or picked on again a few days later.
Ron was most familiar with this; being caught red-handed by Snape was as commonplace as eating and drinking.
So, until we reached the Great Hall and entered the Entrance Hall.
Only then did he dare to speak.
"Snape must be afraid of ending up upside down in the air like Moody," Ron said confidently. "I really want to see that."
"Yeah," Harry chimed in.
"No, let's not," Hermione waved her hand in denial. "Snape isn't as easy to talk to as Professor Moody."
"What if Bucky gets ostracized by the Hufflepuff if too many points are deducted?"
"Granger," Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff stopped in his tracks, "We Hufflepuff don't do that."
The Entrance Hall is now packed with people because of the Goblet of Fire.
Hufflepuff, who overheard their conversation, nodded repeatedly.
They all said that the score was not important; what was important was that Hufflepuff students should not be wronged.
Justin Finch-Fletchley went even further, saying, "That's Basil Granger. Even if he reduced our house's gems to zero, we wouldn't say a word."
"Bucky," Hermione said incredulously, "Is your house really like that?"
She recalled the time she was ostracized when she lost 50 points in first grade, even though she had earned far more than 50 points.
"You can think of it that way," Basil nodded.
"I don't believe it," Harry said firmly.
He also recalled that time.
He went from being one of the most popular and respected people in school to becoming the target of everyone's hatred, a memory that left a deep impression on him.
At that time, not only the Gryffindor students, but even the unrelated Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students gave him a cold shoulder.
Because they all wanted to see Slytherin lose the House Cup, and he ruined that hope.
Ron seemed to remember something. "That might actually be possible."
"Zacharias Smith of Hufflepuff got into a fight with a Slytherin student last year and was caught by Snape and had 50 points deducted from his score."
"But nothing happened to him. He was even treated like a hero."
"The reason we are like that is perhaps because we are Gryffindor."
"The other houses are all expecting us to defeat Slytherin."
"Our college itself may have vaguely realized these things, and therefore has higher requirements for its students."
Harry felt like he'd swallowed a fly. "It can be like this? I should have gone to Hufflepuff in the first place."
"I'm not going to talk about it," Ron shook his head. "There's no precedent for transferring hospitals."
"I wish we were 17 years old."
Even if you don't get selected, you've still tried. If you succeed and there's no need for another exam, that would be amazing!
As he spoke, he would occasionally glance at the Goblet of Fire, his eyes filled with envy as he looked at the students registering inside.
"Yeah," Harry murmured.
"If you really want to, I have a way," Basil suggested.
"What method?!" x2
Harry and Ron's eyes seemed to be shining.
"Ask an older student to help with the registration."
Hearing Basil say this, the two hesitated.
Is it really possible?
"Such a simple method."
Hermione stroked her chin. "Maybe it really works, since there's no loss anyway."
"Of course," Basil said confidently.
Even if the Goblet of Fire is no longer under his control, it is still a loophole that Dumbledore allowed.
The novel version might not be.
But in the movie, the grumpy version of Dumbledore once shook Harry's body and yelled, "Did you ask an older student to throw it for you?"
All that's needed now is to conduct experiments.
"Hey! Diggory, come here for a second!"
Basil waved.