Harry's Praise

"How about it?"

Hermione was breathing heavily, and her free hand reached haphazardly behind her, gripping Ron's wrist tightly.

"It's nothing."

Ron was not panicked by his arachnophobia; in fact, the attack by the four giant Acromantula had already ignited the fighting spirit hidden within him.

Finally, he didn't forget to spit on the ground.

"Once I get out of here, I'm going to kill Harry with my own hands! With my own hands!" he said angrily to Hermione. "What happened to one Acromantula? Why do we have to fight four at the same time?"

"Let's look on the bright side," Hermione said, steadying her breath. "At least he didn't make us deal with forty at once, did he?"

Ron's room.

It seems that Hermione's words make some sense.

Indeed, if we look at it this way, Harry is still relatively humane—at least he didn't make them deal with a sea of spiders at the same time.

Four of them? For him and Hermione right now, it's a piece of cake.

Suddenly, Ron became alert.

"Watch out," he growled.

Immediately afterwards, two figures leaped out of the jungle and pounced on the two.

"Shield Charm!"

Hermione reacted quickly, immediately casting Protego in front of the two of them.

The giant spider crashed into the invisible barrier with a dull thud.

But the last spider, and the most cunning one, had already dangled from the "tree branch" above their heads, its chelicerae stabbing straight at Hermione's nape!

In the moment of crisis, Ron and Hermione displayed unparalleled teamwork.

There was no need for them to exchange words. Hermione suddenly crouched down, pointing her wand upwards. "Arresto Slowing Charm!"

The spider's descent suddenly slowed.

Almost simultaneously, Ron abandoned all complex incantations and roared with all his might, "Depulso! (Pushing Charm!)"

The powerful thrust blasted the suspended giant spider away, sending it crashing heavily against the wall in the distance with a dull thud.

But from the front, two other spiders had already closed in again.

"Winguardium Leviosa!" In the nick of time, Hermione did not choose to prepare a powerful attack, but instead used the Levitation Charm to manipulate a huge piece of broken wood on the ground, blocking the path of the spider's attack.

The two spiders bumped into the wood, becoming dizzy and disoriented.

Ron then turned around and cast a spell.

"Confringo! (Confringo)"

The Exploding Charm exploded on the head of one of the spiders, the shockwave knocking it to the ground. Several of its legs twitched, and its head was blown off, clearly indicating it was not going to survive.

At this point, the battle reached its climax.

The two stood back to back, breathing heavily, beads of sweat sliding down their foreheads.

The light of the incantation flickered rapidly in the dim light, intertwining with the hissing of the giant spider.

They no longer used single spells, but began using intricate combinations:

Hermione created a muddy puddle with Water-Making Spell, and Ron immediately cast Freezing Charm, causing one of the giant spiders to slip. When another attempted to attack from the side, Hermione's Madness Charm temporarily threw it into confusion, causing it to indiscriminately attack its own kind.

Finally, after a fierce battle that felt like an eternity, the last Acromantula was pulverized by Ron's precise Crushing Spell, its thick belly exploding open.

Seeing the colorful mess scattered all over the ground, Ron plopped down on the floor, panting heavily, but his face was filled with unbelievable excitement. "We—we did it! Hermione! We killed four Acromantula!"

Hermione nodded emphatically and sat down next to him. Her hair was disheveled and her robes were dusty, but her eyes shone brighter than ever.

The two rested and kept watch for a while. When they emerged from the forest, they were greeted with enthusiastic applause.

Everyone applauded and cheered for them wholeheartedly, even Draco did—though he didn't cheer, his applause was still quite loud.

"How was it?" Hermione asked, head held high, looking at Harry with pride.

"Pretty flashy," Harry commented, "But all show and no substance, it's useless—I really don't understand why you used such a flashy combination of spells? Freezing Charm + Water-Making Spell, are you fighting or flirting?"

Harry has a sharp tongue, but his critiques are always spot-on.

"But we stopped the spider—" Hermione retorted, unconvinced.

"If you were facing hundreds of spiders, this combination would be acceptable, as it acts like a trap, slowing down their movements," Harry continued sharply. "But you're facing two spiders. Why not use a powerful Charms like Crushing Spell?"

Upon hearing Harry's words, Ron and Hermione lowered their heads.

Harry's words made a lot of sense, and neither of them could refute them.

"Alright, we can talk about your questions when we get back." Harry lowered his head, saved the video on his phone, then looked up and continued, "Who's next? Who's going to deal with the Horned Serpent again?"

"Me," Ginny listlessly raised her hand, "And Malfoy —that's what the two of us have to deal with."

Harry glanced at Draco, who looked full of energy, and thought to himself, "Don't let your current smile fool you; I hope you'll still be smiling when we face the Horned Serpent later!"

The Horned Serpent he chose this time is a special species captured in the America. This species of Horned Serpent has a gem on its forehead that can emit a low warning sound, and the part cut off from its horn can be used as a cane core.

Furthermore, the gemstone on the forehead of this Horned Serpent is said to grant the ability to become invisible and fly.

Therefore, it is also the most famous and precious of all Horned Serpent species.

The Horned Serpent also has intricate connections with the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In 1620, Isolt Thayer befriended a Horned Serpent that lived near the Mount Greylock.

She could understand the water snakes and later named one of the schools after the Horned Serpent when she founded the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Later, Isolt and her husband James Stewart used a fragment shaved from the Horned Serpent horn as the core of the first wand produced in America, and made wands for their adopted sons Chadwick and Webber Boot.

"Alright," Harry cleared his throat, "Follow me now—we're going to a place suitable for a battle with the Horned Serpent."

They followed Harry and walked on, and soon they came to a swampy wetland.

"No?" Draco was somewhat taken aback. "How come there's everything here? I'm starting to wonder if there are extreme environments like volcanoes or the ocean floor here."

"The Room of Requirement, isn't that amazing?" Harry chuckled. "Alright, I have to go now—get ready, the Horned Serpent could attack you in ten minutes!"

After saying that, Harry left, leaving the two of them behind.

The swamp landscape was incredibly realistic; the air was filled with the smell of decaying aquatic plants and a peculiar fishy odor, much like the smell of something rusting.

Muddy puddles were scattered all around, surrounded by twisted dead trees and dense reeds, resulting in extremely low visibility.

Draco pursed his lips, a few strands of his usually impeccably blond hair dampened by the moisture and clung to his forehead.

His eyes were wary, but he didn't forget to say something to Ginny.

"Listen, Weasley," he lowered his voice, his wand sweeping warily across the water, "I hope you don't hold me back— Harry won't be lenient with whoever we are when he releases this Sickle."

He had originally planned to say something nice, but for some reason, it just came out off-key.

All I can say is that this thing is probably something you're born with.

Ginny didn't look at him; all her attention was focused on perceiving her surroundings.

She held her wand firmly, her eyes sharp as an eagle's.

"Mind your own business, Malfoy. Instead of complaining, think about how to deal with that precious thing on its forehead," Ginny said sarcastically.

Just then, a deep, humming sound, as if coming from the depths of the water, arose.

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried a soul-stirring resonance that made both of their hearts involuntarily tighten.

They knew it was definitely the sound of Horned Serpent.

In the center of Fang Yi, the water surface silently broke open.

A slender head covered in dark green scales slowly rose.

This Horned Serpent was quite large; its body above the water's surface was probably over ten feet long, making it easy to guess how long the section hidden underwater must have been.

Its cold, yellow, vertical pupils locked onto the two of them, and what was most striking was the gem in the center of its forehead that shimmered with an eerie light, and the incredibly hard-looking horn above the gem.

"Horned Serpent!" Draco exclaimed, drawing his wand with lightning speed, "Full Body-Bind!"

The spell was cast on the Horned Serpent, but nothing happened.

As a level 5X Magical Creatures, its scales are full of resistance to Charms.

But Draco's spell clearly angered the Horned Serpent, which let out a long roar towards the sky.

"It's going to become invisible!" Ginny reacted incredibly quickly. The instant the gem on the Horned Serpent's forehead began to flash intensely, she shouted, "Confringo!"

The Exploding Charm didn't hit the water serpent directly, but rather struck the surface of the water in front of it.

The huge splash and impact clearly interrupted its concealment process, causing the gem's brilliance to momentarily falter.

"Not too bad," Draco managed to squeeze out a compliment—though he actually wanted to say something even better—as he swiftly waved his wand, "Full Body-Bind Totalus!"

The spell's light shot towards the snake's head, but the Horned Serpent was incredibly fast. It suddenly tilted its head, and the Petrifying Spell grazed its horns, leaving only a large patch of gray-white on the dead wood behind it.

The Horned Serpent let out an even sharper hiss, and dangerous lightning began to gather at the tip of its long horns.

At the same time, part of its massive body surfaced.

"Merlin's bitter tea seed!" Draco exclaimed, "This thing—just how big is it?!"

"No time for that!" Ginny shouted anxiously, "I'll distract it, you find a chance to deal with its horns or gems! Don't let it disappear, I don't want to get pierced through!"

After saying that, she moved quickly and fired several harassing spells in succession, successfully drawing the water serpent's main firepower.

An arc of electricity shot out from the corner, grazing the spot where she had just stood, scorching the ground black.

Draco seized the opportunity and unleashed a cutting Charms, striking the water serpent's long horns.

However, the Horned Serpent was, after all, a Level 5X dangerous creature, and its fighting instincts were clearly far superior to those of ordinary Magical Creatures. It seemed to have anticipated the danger, and its massive body twisted with incredible agility. The Longhorn narrowly avoided the magical beam of light, but was struck on its body, only having a few hard scales shaved off.

Its yellow, vertical pupils turned angrily towards Draco, and the gem on its forehead lit up again.

Its massive body began to blur, as if it were about to merge with the surrounding moisture.

"We can't make it invisible!" Ginny shouted anxiously, "Don't stand there like an idiot! Crushing Spell!"

A bright, dazzling light shot from the tip of Ginny's wand and struck the Horned Serpent's body.

With a loud bang, a huge wound was blasted into the body of the Horned Serpent.

Clearly, as a natural-born master of the Reductor Curse, Ginny was highly skilled in this Charms, enough to pierce the scales of the Horned Serpent.

Draco didn't just stand by and watch; he unleashed a Dark Charm, striking Ginny's ruptured wound.

This Charms is definitely not a good thing, at least that's what the spectators all think, because the Horned Serpent's movements suddenly became incredibly slow, and its originally pink wound turned completely black.

Immediately afterwards, Draco displayed his keen eye as Seeker, and an incredibly swift Cutting Charm, like a thin silver thread, precisely sliced across the tip of the Horned Serpent!

A small, gleaming white horn tip, seemingly imbued with some kind of low, buzzing sound, fell down and landed in the muddy water.

At the same time, the Horned Serpent hissed, glanced at them with its bright yellow vertical pupils, and slowly sank its massive body into the swamp.

The ripples spread slowly, and the Horned Serpent had disappeared.

"Where's the snake?" Draco asked in astonishment.

"Be careful—" Ginny remained vigilant, continuing to look around, trying to find traces of the Horned Serpent.

However, they waited for a long time but did not find any trace of the Horned Serpent.

After a while, Harry appeared beside them. "Well done," he said approvingly with a smile. "You two did a much better job than the last group—of course, I didn't expect you to actually kill the Horned Serpent, just to test your adaptability—"

Produce