Hogwarts: Please, Just Graduate Already!

But they seemed exceptionally quiet. Wayne pried open a Biting Cabbage to inspect it and found that its teeth had not grown in yet.

"Wayne, why are you growing Biting Cabbage?" Hermione had already stopped bothering about his violations of school rules.

Wayne was far smarter than she was. Even when he broke the rules, he never left behind any evidence.

Hermione was gradually becoming a proper Gryffindor. If you were not caught, then you had not broken any rules.

"First, I want to see what it tastes like. Second, I'm planning to use it against enemies." "When the time comes, if I throw out a dozen Biting Cabbages, wouldn't the enemy run for their lives?" Hermione looked unconvinced. "This is Hogwarts, the safest place in the world."

"With Dumbledore around, what enemies could there be? Just be careful not to hurt yourself." Wayne opened his mouth.

The safest place.

Fine. Hopefully, she would still be able to say that after everything happened.

As Professor Sprout's prized student, combined with the mark engraved deep in his soul, Wayne's talent for farming was maxed out as well.

He led the two little witches in loosening the soil and fertilizing the Biting Cabbage, then cast a Charm to repel beasts. Only then was the work finally done.

"You just dragged us here to be free labor." Cho wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and complained.

The farming had dirtied her robes, while Hermione looked like a little tabby cat, with mud smeared across her face.

"Don't put it like that." Wayne smiled. "I'll give each of you a few Biting Cabbages as payment." "I don't want them." "Neither do I."

Both girls looked disgusted. Biting Cabbage was ugly and vicious; only Wayne would like something like that.

Wayne asked again, "Then what do you want?"

Hermione thought for a moment. "A few bottles of that potion from last time. I thought it worked quite well." "What potion?" Cho asked curiously.

"Just an ordinary Invigoration Potion. I gave it to her after teaching her Charms last time." "You taught Hermione Charms too?" Cho looked at him unhappily. "Why didn't you teach me?" Wayne shrugged. "You have Quidditch training all the time, and you're already exhausted." But Cho would not let it go. "I don't care. I want to join too." Wayne had no choice but to agree.

Only after receiving their benefits did Hermione and Cho let Wayne off.

Late at night.

Sitting at his desk, Wayne was writing a letter to Newt.

He was quite interested in that senior student. Newt was practically the Harry Potter of the previous era.

Moreover, Newt's expertise in Fantastic Beasts was worthy of Wayne's admiration. Most importantly... Wayne had his eye on Newt's case.

Wayne had indeed mastered the Undetectable Extension Charm and even trained it to an advanced level. The capacity of several of his pockets was no smaller than this dormitory.

But creating a case that could carry the Forbidden Forest around with him was still far beyond him. Newt's case involved more than just the Undetectable Extension Charm; it also touched on all sorts of Alchemy problems, such as spatial stabilization and magical power conversion. It was an exceedingly sophisticated Alchemical creation.

That was the unique foundation of the Scamander family, an inherited secret of a pure-blood family. Newt's brother had become the head of the Auror Office at a young age.

Even though Newt had been expelled, the magic he commanded was not weak. He could even exchange a few moves with Grindelwald.

The only reason the Scamanders had not been included among the Sacred Twenty-Eight was personal resentment.

According to rumors, Newt did not get along with Cattermole, the man who compiled the Pureblood Directory, and deeply despised his behavior of championing pure-blood families.

That was why they had deliberately been excluded.

Wayne was not capable of making such a suitcase for now, so he planned to trade with Newt for one.

At worst, he could sacrifice Ho-Oh's looks.

But he certainly would not bring it up immediately. He would first write letters to build rapport, then slowly talk Newt into it.

During Christmas, Wayne planned to make a trip to the United States. He could bring it up when he paid Newt a visit.

It was not solely for Newt. Wayne had other matters to handle as well. This year was an extremely special one. At Christmas, an earth-shattering event would occur: a giant would collapse, and countless people would make a fortune.

Even after entering the Wizarding World, Wayne would not give up wealth that was practically within reach.

Recently, he had also been writing to his uncle Humphrey and making arrangements. Once the time came, he could join this feast.

As time entered October, it suddenly seemed to speed up.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

As the weather gradually turned colder, the young wizards became listless, as though they were about to enter hibernation.

But the professors did not care about that and abruptly increased the workload.

The first month of term had merely been for everyone to adjust and recover from the rhythm of summer break, so many classes had not progressed very quickly.

But once October arrived, the professors began turning up the pressure.

In Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall fiercely reprimanded the young wizards who could not even turn a toothpick into a needle, then assigned them extra homework.

Ron was nearly in tears.

The other young wizards were not having it much easier. Now that they had gained a preliminary understanding of magic, Professor McGonagall began having them perform Transfiguration from living things into dead objects.

Suppressing their disgust for earthworms, the young wizards waved their wands. There were no specific requirements; as long as they transformed them into an inanimate object, it counted as success.

Hermione, green-faced, asked Professor McGonagall for a mouse. She would rather double the difficulty than face an earthworm.

Most of the other classes were similar. The professors assigned increasingly heavy homework, and the young wizards were drowning in misery.

Wayne became the object of everyone's envy because he had been exempted from homework in Charms class, Transfiguration, and Potions.

Some young wizards also tried to negotiate with the professors. Flitwick cheerfully announced the condition.

If anyone could make a wardrobe dance a complete tango, they would not need to do homework for the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, not a single person succeeded.

Professor McGonagall's condition was also simple: just turn the lectern into a fat pig, like she had during the first lesson.

As for Snape...

No one had a death wish strong enough to negotiate with Snape. Not even the little Slytherin snakes dared.

Quite a few people secretly asked Wayne how he had gotten Snape to agree to let him skip homework.

He always claimed that his talent had impressed the professor, so there was no need to waste any more time. Few believed him, and none knew that Snape disliked Harry and Wayne equally.

Only when the little witches Hermione and Cho asked did he tell them the truth. "...I gave him another bottle of Tears of the Phoenix King." "You bribed a professor?!" Hermione was shocked.

"This is simply the true nature of the world." Wayne patted her shoulder and strode away.

The increased homework brought Wayne quite a few benefits as well.

First, he did not have to write most of it. While everyone else hurriedly struggled to finish their assignments, he could sit beside them with cakes and desserts, enjoying himself twice as much.

Furthermore, Celia's Shop had been doing better and better recently, with people coming every day to buy all kinds of quills.

The recent quills had all been made by Fred and George. They had barely grasped the method, but the quality was too poor, so each one only sold for a Galleon.

But the volume was enormous. Fred and George were ecstatic and spent quite a lot of money at Zonko's Joke Shop.

Together with Wayne's newly added Invigoration Potions, Sleeping Potions, and other products, the young wizards' wallets had nearly been drained dry.

That day, Wayne was eating dinner in the Great Hall when he heard Cedric across from him complaining about Quirrell.

"I don't know whether he's gone mad or the world has changed. We have to write two two-foot-long essays every week. I barely have time left for Quidditch training!"

Cedric was talking about Quirrell. Only he assigned homework with such insane brutality.

Sometimes Wayne wondered whether Voldemort had suffered through homework during his school years and was now paying it back to them with interest.

The homework from one class could equal that of three other subjects.

But Voldemort taught so well that he had conquered students from all seven years.

So everyone merely grumbled, without reacting too intensely.

The only regrettable thing was that Quirrell publicly claimed that, due to the Curse, his brain was still severely damaged and would flare up from time to time.

So sometimes he would be teaching perfectly well, only to suddenly have an episode and become as timid and stammering as before.

People now called him Brilliant Quirrell one moment and Mad Quirrell the next.

Everyone hoped they would meet Brilliant Quirrell in class rather than Mad Quirrell.

"You could buy two Nonsense Quills," Wayne reminded him. Cedric guarded his wallet warily.

"Even you won't spare me?"

"I'd rather write until my hand breaks than save less money for a Nimbus 2001."

With business doing well, Cedric and the twins had earned quite a bit of money. He had immediately set his sights on the new broom due to be released next year.

Because he had hope now, he had become even more reluctant to spend money than before. Whenever he went to Hogsmeade, he only brought back things for Wayne and never bought anything for himself.

Wayne was speechless at this miser and said nothing more.

While the two chatted, a commotion suddenly broke out at the Ravenclaw table, and several people hurried out.

They did not pay much attention and continued discussing some Transfiguration issues. Before long, those Ravenclaws who had left returned. Soon, the reason for the disturbance reached Hufflepuff's table. Wayne's expression changed.

Hermione: Cho, Are You Okay? A Unicorn's Plea for Help. During Ravenclaw's Quidditch training just now, Cho had been injured. It was not a malicious incident, nor had anyone targeted her.

She had fallen from a broom traveling at full speed while performing a difficult maneuver.

Her injuries were rather serious, and she had already been sent to the Hospital Wing. "I'll go take a look first. You head back to the common room yourself."

After figuring out what had happened, Wayne said a word to Cedric and hurried toward the Hospital Wing.

Watching his retreating back, Cedric shook his head. "Tsk, she's the prettiest girl in second year."

Ever since Wayne had mentioned it last time, Cedric had also begun to feel the stirrings of spring. He wanted to find a girlfriend as soon as possible, so he would not have to settle for someone else's leftovers later.

Unfortunately, after looking around for so long, no one had caught his eye.

There were a few decent senior girls in Ravenclaw, but sadly, they were already taken. Compared to Wayne...

Forget it. Better not compare. It was too infuriating.

Cedric tapped the table resentfully with his wand. "A glass of lemonade."

Second floor, Hospital Wing.

After a series of examinations, Madam Pomfrey took out a bottle of foul-smelling potion and poured it into Cho's mouth, then had her lie down and rest properly.

Then she said to the crowd gathered around them:

"It's not a major problem. She only has three broken ribs, a fractured wrist, and the rest are superficial injuries."

"Drink the potion and wait for the bones to heal. Stay in the Hospital Wing obediently for the next few days."

In the Muggle world, Cho's injuries would have been considered severe. But in the Wizarding World, as long as the injuries were not irreversible damage caused by magic, they really were not too serious.

Even missing bones could be regrown.

Ravenclaw's captain, Elias Thorne, breathed a sigh of relief, but Madam Pomfrey's next words made everyone present tense.

"However, she has quite a few broken bones, and the next two Quidditch matches are about to begin!" Elias blurted out.

Cho was currently the team's only Seeker, as last year's Seeker had already graduated.

If they had to recruit someone else at the last minute besides Cho, Ravenclaw could only start preparing for the next school year early.

Madam Pomfrey glared furiously at Elias. "Which is more important, health or Quidditch?!"

"With her physical condition, it would be easy for her to suffer a secondary injury. She could very likely be left with lasting complications."

"I told Dumbledore long ago that such dangerous activities should be abolished."

"Wouldn't it be better to replace them with a weekly medical class?" By the end, Madam Pomfrey had started complaining about Dumbledore again.

She firmly opposed anything that could injure young wizards, with Flying lessons and Quidditch being her top concerns.

The young wizards were scolded until they shrank like quails. Though unconvinced, not one of them dared to argue.

Madam Pomfrey ruled the Hospital Wing with an iron fist. Even the headmaster had to greet her with a smile, so they did not dare make a fuss.

"All right, stop crowding around here. The patient needs proper rest!" Madam Pomfrey began chasing people out, ultimately allowing only two young wizards to stay with Cho.

But they could not remain for too long. They had to leave after half an hour. Cho's eyes were red, clearly from crying.

It was not because she had been injured, but because of the upcoming matches.

She had prepared for so long and trained hard every day, yet now she could not compete.

She was nearly heartbroken.

Marietta comforted her at the side. "Cho, you're only missing one match. We'll still have another chance."