Since We're Chasing Thrills, Let's See It Through

The changes are indeed significant. Harry never imagined that magic could be so organically combined with technology.

Moreover, Mr. LeMay's aesthetic sense is also impeccable; perhaps this is a natural talent of the France.

Anyway, he's a bit better than the Germans — Harry wasn't specifically referring to Veratia, nor did he connect it to the disastrous interior design of their home.

Later that evening, Cassandra also arrived in Hogsmeade.

They had a simple dinner at Mr. LeMay's house, after which Veratia hurriedly returned to Austria due to an emergency at the Ministry of Magic.

To Harry's dismay, Veratia also dragged Cassandra into it.

"Oh, you two." Before leaving, Veratia grabbed Harry's collar and whispered, "Don't even think about being all lovey-dovey here while I'm working overtime. I'm jealous!"

Harry clicked his tongue. Veratia —well, never mind, he's used to it.

On Sunday morning, the students gathered again in the Room of Requirement.

This time, they weren't in the training grounds, but rather in another small world within the Room of Requirement —the same world where Harry and Veratia used to keep their Magical Creatures using the Untraceable Extension Charm.

They stood on a rugged, rocky area, with several cages suspended in the center of the area.

The students chattered and whispered among themselves, their voices buzzing and humming.

"Today, we'll have a live-fire simulation." Harry's voice silenced everyone. "Don't worry, they're not Level 5X, just some 'selected' opponents."

He emphasized the word "screening," but in reality, his classmates didn't really believe him.

They're definitely up to something bad again!

Harry noticed the gloomy looks on his classmates' faces, smiled, and opened the first cage.

A huge black shadow fell out of it, but it quickly disappeared after hitting the ground.

It was a Streeler, but it could change its skin color to blend into its environment.

The Streeler is a giant snail native to Africa, but it has been successfully bred by shamans in Europe, Asia, and North America.

This creature changes color every hour, and leaves a trail of potent toxicity wherever it crawls; plants that come into contact with it will wither and burn—its venom is one of the few known substances capable of killing Hokey-Pokey.

Of course, just like the most poisonous mushrooms often have the most vibrant colors, people who enjoy the kaleidoscope-like changes in the Streeler's body might keep it as a pet.

"I know you learned about this in your Care of Magical Creatures; this creature possesses potent venom," Harry said with a smile, looking at his worried classmates. "But we've made some improvements to it—"

In short, these Streeler have now lost their prized venom, and their attacks are no longer lethal—but I must warn you, being hit by their tongues will hurt a lot and leave unsightly slime.

At this point, Harry looked around and said, "I removed its venom, making it less lethal; but I left the slime so you'll remember the pain—alright, your task now is to maintain the Protego while it harasses you, and try to restrain its movements with Impediment Jinx or Binding Charm. Pair up and cover each other!"

The students immediately tensed up.

Although it was only a 3X class, the Streeler still caused considerable panic.

In this other world, screams and the sounds of spells flying everywhere could be heard.

Harry and his "instructors" patrolled the area, intervening promptly to defuse real dangers and offering guidance on techniques.

"Watch out for the shadows on the ground!" Hermione warned the Pettigrew sisters, who were screaming in pain from the sneak attack.

"Don't spam spells, predict its movement!" Ron shouted at Colin, who was frantically firing Stunning Spell but missing every time.

Neville was more direct. He seized the opportunity and used a precise Petrifying Spell to freeze a Streeler that was trying to ambush a student from behind.

The tongue was almost touching the back of the student's head.

"Stay calm," he said to the still-shaken student. "I know you're scared, but now is not the time to be scared—the best way to overcome fear is to face it. Hang in there!"

As the eldest of the fifth graders, Ginny is clearly the strictest mother among them.

She yelled and roared as she corrected some students' mistakes, while praising another student for doing a great job.

"I think I see a shadow of my mother," Ron said, shuddering. "She's just like that—"

do you remember?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, and it did seem very similar. Mrs. Weasley once yelled at the Twins, then spoke softly to Ginny.

This Ginny is quite like her mother!

Half an hour later, Harry finally announced the end of the first class.

Although many were exhausted, the students who successfully used the Binding Charm to capture the Streeler all had a great sense of accomplishment on their faces.

"How are you feeling?" Harry turned to Colin, who was taking pictures of everyone.

"I feel pretty good," Colin said with a silly grin.

His eyes were bright and sparkling, but his large front teeth, under the simulated sunlight, were dazzlingly bright, even brighter than his eyes.

"Feeling pretty good?" Harry couldn't help but chuckle, looking at Colin's almost blindingly white teeth.

I hope you'll still hold onto that idea later.

After resting for more than ten minutes, he clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back.

"The break is over. Now it's back to free pairings. We'll be conducting a competitive sparring exercise—and of course, our opponents are still these adorable little guys."

As soon as he finished speaking, several more of the suspended cages opened, releasing even more Streeler.

This time, they seem to have been enhanced; they move faster and change color more frequently, blending perfectly into their environment almost every few seconds.

"Merlin's beard!"

Colin's brother, Dennis Creevey, cried out as he nearly had his cheek licked by the tongue of a giant snail that suddenly emerged from the shadows of the rocks.

He scrambled to the side, his hastily erected Protego splattered with sticky liquid.

but----

His brother, his own Colin, picked up a camera and snapped a close-up photo of him looking incredibly disheveled.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't be eligible for special training at his age, but since he's Colin's brother and the boy is quite talented, Harry made an exception and allowed him to participate in the training.

"Creevey, I mean the smaller one!" Ginny's shout rang out immediately, "Concentrate! Don't get distracted! If you were facing a real giant snail, you'd already be hit by its venom!"

The Pettigrew sisters stood back to back, nervously waving their wands.

"It's there!" Padma screamed, pointing to Fang Yi.

"Impedimenta!" Parvati's incantation shot out, but it hit empty air—the giant conch had changed position and appeared to their right.

Spells flew wildly in the training ground, and the occasional "hoohoohoohoo" of someone being hit could be heard. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Tom Cat had traveled here.

Although these Streeler no longer have deadly venom, being lashed by their slimy, foul-smelling tongues or having your face covered in slime is definitely not a pleasant experience.

Everyone has suffered some kind of injury, more or less, not physically, but mainly in terms of their clothes and self-esteem.

Colin seemed to see this training as a golden opportunity for his photography career.

He screamed and dodged while trying to capture the exciting moment with his old camera.

The result was that he captured a huge number of embarrassing moments, documenting a vast amount of his dark history.

"Colin!" Ginny yelled, finally losing her temper. "If you don't focus on taking pictures, I'll make sure your face makes close contact with that giant snail!"

Colin was startled and finally obediently put his camera away, focusing on dealing with his elusive opponent.

Nearly an hour later, when the last Streeler was bound by the Pettigrew sisters' layers of Binding Charm, Harry finally announced the end of training.

After Harry flicked his wand and collected all the Streeler, the students immediately collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

Their robes were filthy, some even with large holes; their hair was matted together with sap, and their faces were covered in an indistinguishable mixture of sweat and the saliva of the Streeler. Yet, deep within the students' eyes burned a resolute light.

It's like standing on Dragon Position.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked again, this time addressing everyone.

His response was a chorus of weak groans and complaints.

My robe is ruined—

"I feel like my whole body smells like that—"

"It licked my ear! Merlin!"

But despite the complaints, no one uttered the word "give up".

Harry looked at them and nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good, very good. Remember how you felt today. This isn't a game. You felt the pain, you felt the frustration, but this is real combat—we'll have the next training session next week at the same time."

"What's next?" Terry asked weakly.

Harry gave a mysterious smile.

You'll see then, don't worry, it's still been "screened".

A wailing erupted from the crowd.

This selection process yielded Streeler for everyone.

No one dares to even imagine what he will be able to select next time.

"Now, dismissed! Go back and take a good shower, and digest what you've learned from today's experience." Harry waved his hand. "Don't forget, we'll be facing the newly selected Magical Creatures next Saturday!"

The students let out cries of pain as they helped each other leave the Room of Requirement. Although they were yelling loudly, they were actually full of fighting spirit.

When they returned to the Great Hall, the students from other grades stared in astonishment at their disheveled classmates, whispering among themselves about what had happened to them.

The students, however, walked proudly through the crowd, their chests puffed out.

It's certainly something to be proud of, after all, they defeated a Level 3X Magical Creatures, although not as impressive as those that defeated Level 4X...

They are like the "instructors" of 5X, but they are already quite excellent for their age.

In the past, they would never have dared to imagine that they would one day face a creature like the Streeler.

Although it's a lighter version without venom, its tongue still hurts quite a bit when it hits, not to mention the unpleasant slime.

"Go take a shower, all of you," Harry said to them. "Are you planning to eat like this? Don't you even smell the stench on you—"

The students then realized with a start that they did indeed smell rather unpleasant.

Having been immersed in this smell for so long, I had become desensitized to it and had no idea how foul I was, a walking, talking stench machine.

Ron moved closer to Harry, put his arm around his shoulder, and sat down on the bench.

"Hey buddy," he whispered to Harry, "You said you'd be more selective next time, have you decided which Magical Creatures to choose?"

"What, you have a suggestion?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I think we need some excitement," Ron said with a grin. "Since we're looking for excitement, let's go all the way—this time it's snails, next time it'll be snails again—how about the Blast-Ended Skrewt 'Blast-Ended Skrewt? I think they're old enough to be ready to deal with it."

"Blast-Ended Skrewt is probably a bit early, but it's definitely something we can put on the agenda," Harry nodded and said. "Your suggestion is very constructive; one point for Blast-Ended Skrewt —any other good suggestions?"

"Ashwinder?" Ron asked tentatively.

"You obviously haven't been paying attention in class!" Hermione's voice suddenly came from beside her. "The Ashwinder only lives for an hour. They lay their eggs in secluded places, and then their bodies break apart and turn to dust—how are you going to deal with such a weak and pitiful creature?"

"Oh, maybe I remembered wrong," Ron said, his face neither flushed nor pale. "Then I don't have anything good to offer. What about the Kelpie?"

The Kelpie is a shape- Transfiguration lake monster that has been found in the Britain and Ireland.

Although they can take on various shapes, the most common one is that of a horse, with broad-leaved cattails serving as its mane.

It lures careless people onto its back, then plunges into the bottom of a river or lake, devouring them greedily, and leaving their internal organs floating to the surface.

"I'm afraid that won't work." Hermione frowned, considered the characteristics of the Kelpie, and then said, "That's a Level 4X Magical Creatures. I think it's too early to let them deal with it—or how about Red Cap? I think that would be more suitable, or—yes, we can let them deal with the Inferi, right?"

Hermione's expression became incredibly excited as she said this.

"You forgot?" Ron slapped his forehead, saying helplessly, "Back in second year, Ms. Rosier had us deal with one of these things—"