Veratia Was a Woman Who Could Become My Mother

Sirius was a sociable person, probably because he had been in Azkaban for too long, where it was just too lonely.

Perhaps only in lively places can he gradually forget the trauma he suffered in Azkaban.

"I've prepared the Potions you needed."

Before they knew it, Professor Snape had appeared behind them.

Sirius turned his head to meet Snape's emotionless, dark eyes.

"Thank you, Severus, you've been a great help." He thanked him sincerely.

"Ha." Snape scoffed disdainfully. "Send someone to fetch it as soon as possible. It's in Madam Pomfrey's Hospital Wing on campus."

"Okay." Sirius, unusually, didn't mock Professor Snape, probably because he knew that being polite always comes with an ulterior motive.

After Professor Snape floated away, Harry asked curiously, "What did you ask Professor Snape to do for you?"

"Of course it's Wolfsbane Potion." Sirius looked at Harry in surprise. "You're telling me Severus didn't mention this to you? You know, very few people can successfully brew Wolfsbane Potion, and Severus is one of them. Although he always likes to add some strange flavors to the Wolfsbane Potion, I believe Werewolf would still be willing to accept such flavors."

"I need to remind you, Sirius," Snape's voice came again, "Werewolf may look a lot like dogs, but they are not the same species as you, and they don't have any particular fetishes regarding excrement."

Sirius's fingers twitched twice, but he resisted the urge to retort.

The world is so wonderful, yet I am so irritable. This is not good, not good at all.

As the Minister for Magic, he couldn't possibly stoop to the level of Snape, a professor at Hogwarts, could he?

Snape, on the other hand, chose to retreat once again. Seeing that Sirius was not taking the bait, he turned and leisurely left.

"I think he did it on purpose," Harry said, unable to suppress a laugh.

"I think so too," Sirius sniffed. "Okay, let's just ignore it—my wedding is the day after tomorrow, I should think about happy people or things."

He didn't say the next thing, but it was, "It's really unlucky to always think about that old Snivellus."

Clearly, his current position no longer allows him to say such things.

"I've already looked at the wedding arrangements," Harry said with a smile. "Cass and I have been talking about it for a long time, saying she wants to be Miss Farley's bridesmaid. Veratia is still a little upset about not being able to be a bridesmaid, but I also don't think it's appropriate for her to be a bridesmaid. After all, she's the Minister of European Ministry of Magic, and her position is rather sensitive. If Miss Farley's bridesmaid, it would cause some unnecessary problems, especially for you."

"Oh, that's alright." Sirius laughed and rubbed Harry's shoulder. "We never expected Veratia to be a bridesmaid, after all—you know, there's a bit of—nationalism in both the Muggle World and Wizarding World in Britain."

Sirius was absolutely right about this; the Ministry of Magic is the Britain Ministry of Magic, and that's what most Britain wizards think.

"When are you planning to get married?" Sirius asked with a smile. "After graduation? I think I asked you about your wedding plans before, do you have any ideas now?"

"To be honest, I haven't decided yet, but we can do it together—provided they both agree," Harry said with a shrug. "After all, you know I've always been a gentleman who respects women's opinions."

Sirius glanced at his godson and for the first time felt that the boy's shamelessness was remarkably similar to his and James's when they were young.

"Get some rest," Sirius said, patting the child's shoulder. "These next couple of days we still need to set up the wedding venue and familiarize ourselves with all the wedding procedures. To be honest, I'm a little nervous—no, extremely nervous."

"You don't need to be nervous," Harry reassured Sirius. "Look, we've already come this far, so there's no going back now, even if you wanted to back out."

"You know that's not what I meant," Sirius coughed twice to clear his throat. "That's good, but don't say it again. If Gemma hears you, she'll think something's wrong with me."

"Alright, then you should get some rest." Harry chuckled mischievously. "You're going to be busy these next couple of days—by the way, your honeymoon is probably off the table after the wedding, right?"

"No, let's go to Buenos Aires," Sirius laughed. "There's an international conference there, so let's make it our honeymoon."

Sirius went back to his room to rest early, but Harry didn't rush back. Instead, he went back to the Living Room and sat down next to the boys.

There's been a lot of noise and commotion here for a while now, and he's been wanting to come and see what's going on.

Sure enough, they were gathered together, with a Chinese chomping cabbage in the middle and several knights wearing their helmets askew.

"What are you doing?" he asked with interest.

No sooner had the words left his mouth Chinese chomping cabbage swayed its plump body, pounced forward, and swallowed the little knight's head whole.

Then, the cabbage charged several more times, sweeping away all the remaining knights. Its cabbage face showed a human-like expression of satisfaction, and it twisted its body and squatted down in place.

"This is a toy knight that Fred and George researched. It can assist wizards in battle, but I don't think such a small knight doll can have any fighting ability. But the two of them insisted on showing it to everyone." Ron looked up and introduced it to Harry. "Look, we've just tested several plants, and now it's Chinese chomping cabbage's turn. But I think it might be because this knight was too tired that he was defeated by Chinese chomping cabbage. If we can get him back in good condition, I think the outcome is still uncertain."

"Don't talk, just pay up." Draco excitedly stretched out his hand. "Everyone owes me four Galleon. Only Longbottom and I bet on the Chinese chomping cabbage victory." The lads around him helplessly took Galleon out of their pockets and placed them in Draco's hand.

Draco counted out half and handed it to the delighted Neville.

"You see, Longbottom," Draco boasted as he divided the money, "It's so important to stay true to yourself—you probably wouldn't have this confidence if I hadn't bet on Chinese chomping cabbage."

"You're right," Neville said without looking up, carefully placing the Galleon into his wallet. Then he looked up again. "Alright, alright, now it's Venomous Tentacula' turn—who do you bet on? This time I'm betting on Venomous Tentacula— "

"I also bet on the Venomous Tentacula," Ginny said.

"I'm betting on the Venomous Tentacula too," Ron said, raising his hand. Everyone followed suit and placed their bets on the Venomous Tentacula.

"And you, Harry?" Fred and George asked with sly grins, "Who are you going to bet on?"

"I'll bet on the Mini Knights," Harry said, sitting in his chair.

Fred and George exchanged a glance, both showing regret, but quickly said, "Okay, then we'll bet on Mini Knights with you."

After saying that, Fred took out a miniature castle from his Dragonhide wallet. It looked very similar to the castle at Hogwarts, but it was also somewhat different.

"Come out, Mini Knights!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen knights, each the size of a two Chocolate Frog Card, flew out of the castle. They wore Winky foil armor, rode equally miniature, buzzing flying brooms, and carried long, gleaming nails—which appeared to be their lances.

"Hey!" Draco suddenly shouted, "You didn't say your Mini Knights could fly, Merlin's stinky socks! Why didn't you say so sooner?!"

"Protest denied." The Twins brothers exchanged a glance and clapped their hands.

On the other side was a Venomous Tentacula that Neville had just pulled out.

Despite having only one Venomous Tentacula, its dark purple, multi-segmented vines were already as thick as a python, and the pods at the top, covered in sticky mucus, opened and closed, emitting a pale green, sweet-smelling poisonous mist.

The Venomous Tentacula immediately sensed the presence of living beings, and a thick vine lashed out like a whip, bringing with it a foul stench. However, the Mini Knights reacted swiftly, scattering nimbly in all directions, and the vine only struck the air.

Immediately afterwards, the pods at the tips of the Venomous Tentacula contracted violently, and with a "poof," they spewed out a large cloud of thick green poisonous mist, instantly engulfing the knights who were charging at the front.

The onlookers gasped in surprise, and Hermione even instinctively covered her mouth.

However, something surprising happened.

As the poisonous fog dissipated, the knights who had been hit head-on remained firmly seated on their brooms. Their foil armor and broom handles were covered in sticky green venom, yet they showed no signs of damage. Instead, the venom made them gleam with an eerie and even more majestic light.

The Venomous Tentacula seemed to be enraged, and more vines danced wildly, spewing out poisonous mist one after another.

Fortunately, they were confined within a miniature dueling arena—so the situation inside wouldn't affect the outside at all; otherwise, the room would have been swallowed up by the poisonous fog.

Despite the intense poisonous fog, the knights moved through it with ease, as if patrolling in ordinary morning mist.

The venom dripped down their armor without causing any corrosion or slowing.

"Immune to toxins, that's the advantage of the Mini Knights," Fred's voice rang out. "You see, the most powerful weapon of the Venomous Tentacula is its toxins—but these riders are completely immune to its attacks—"

"Don't forget, the Venomous Tentacula are equally powerful. They can deal with your knights even without the poison!" Ron retorted defiantly.

Just as if to echo Ron's words, the knights also began to fight back.

They swooped down from mid-air, their spiked spears piercing precisely at the waving vines.

While it cannot pose a fatal threat like a real spear, each puncture leaves a small hole in the plant's surface, causing considerable damage to the Venomous Tentacula.

They split into several small groups, some of which feigned an attack in front to draw fire, while others circled around to the sides and back, specifically targeting the joints of the vines and the roots of the pods with fierce stabbing.

The Venomous Tentacula were clearly also damaged by the attack; their movements became sluggish, and the vines they swung were no longer as powerful as before.

Finally, a knight who was clearly the captain (with a particularly bright red feather stuck in his helmet) gave a silent command.

All the knights simultaneously ascended, forming a sharp triangular formation in mid-air, and launched a final downward charge!

They swooped down, their nail lances piercing the most vulnerable parts of the Venomous Tentacula in unison.

The Venomous Tentacula suddenly stiffened, and all the vines drooped limply, no longer moving.

Then, the Mini Knights gracefully raised their brooms and re-formed in the air, their armor, stained with green venom, Winky under the lights. The captain, adorned with red feathers, even raised his lance and saluted Fred and George.

"What a magnificent match!" Fred was the first to applaud. "Look at these knights, how brave and fearless they are—look, they even managed to defeat the Venomous Tentacula— "

"I think you were clearly holding back, especially around the Chinese chomping cabbage," Ron objected. "Why weren't the Mini Knights fighting the Chinese chomping cabbage riding brooms, while those dealing with the Venomous Tentacula were all riding flying brooms?"

"Because I'm going to harvest your leeks, my dear Ronnie little darling."

George laughed heartily and took the Galleon from everyone's hands.

"By the way, they can also sing ' Weasley is our king' —though they're a little off-key," he added.

"Alright." Fred glanced at the time. "It's getting late. If you don't go to sleep soon, you'll get scolded."

"It's a holiday, after all," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "If you looked over there, you'd see our parents chatting away, having a great time."

Harry turned his head and saw Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Granger chatting and laughing with Veratia, glancing in his direction every now and then.

Aren't they supposed to be the parents? How come Veratia is involved too?

Oh, Veratia is the woman who could be my mother, so it's alright.

"How about another match?" Neville was still somewhat eager for more, and it wasn't because he had a surplus of over ten Galleon. "I think besides magical plants, we should also try having these Mini Knights deal with some Magical Creatures, what do you think? Like—like those with fewer than three 'x's in the Ministry of Magic's markings?"

"That's too conservative." Fred and George exchanged a glance. "Our goal is to make our product capable of dealing with Level 5X dangerous Magical Creatures!"