New Plan

Hearing Ron's words, Hermione smiled gently.

"Veratia mentioned the special internship program" and the special flexible arrangements for me," she said softly, her eyes brightening. "There might be some remote work, combined with practical projects, and finally I'd return to the Britain to complete NEWTs. Professor McGonagall would probably agree; it's an excellent education in itself, after all, practice makes perfect."

She has already started planning her career.

"Then we----"

Ron's voice was hesitant and even softer.

Hermione turned to look at Ron, a rare tenderness appearing on her face.

"Didn't I just say? I already passed my Apparition certification. Besides, the great Ron Weasley, the senior instructor at Hogwarts, the future Quidditch superstar, surely he can keep up with me?" She lightly kicked his shin. "Besides, you'll be chasing after your girlfriend someday, so you should be even more motivated."

Ron's ears instantly turned as red as his hair, but he grinned, his slight unease easily soothed by Hermione's few words.

"Of course! Just wait and see. Maybe in the future, I'll be the one in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, giving you and the Minister treatment on your reform plans!"

All three of them laughed, and the last bit of tension in the lounge dissipated.

After chatting for a while about their vague ideas for the future and the lessons they would face tomorrow, Hermione began to think about how to explain this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to her parents.

Harry yawned, finishing his hot cocoa.

"It's time to rest." He was the first to stand up, feeling somewhat tired and mentally exhausted.

These days are just so damn fulfilling.

Women, they're such a hassle.

They said goodnight to each other and headed towards their respective dormitory staircases.

Before parting ways, Hermione called out to Harry.

"Harry," she said earnestly, "Please Veratia for me. For this opportunity, and for her trust in you."

Harry nodded, his green eyes warm and clear in the afterglow of the fireplace.

I will. Goodnight.

Back in his dorm, Ron kicked off his shoes, sprawled out on his bed, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"I really didn't expect that Seamus would almost set the Common Room on fire—"

He suddenly sat up abruptly, his eyes shining.

"Speaking of which, besides Seamus's Dragon-Breath Waterfall," George and Fred have another new gadget, supposedly codenamed Portable Surprise No. 07. "They even showed me this cooler thing last weekend when I was helping out at the joke shop!"

As Ron spoke, he sprang out of bed with a somersault and ran barefoot to his wardrobe, which looked like it was about to fall apart.

Instead of opening the cabinet door, he squatted down and skillfully tapped an inconspicuous wooden board on the side of the cabinet.

The wooden planks slid open silently, revealing a space enchanted with Untraceable Extension Charm —filled with all sorts of strange and wonderful things, most of which bore the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes logo.

"Look at this!" He carefully scooped something out from inside.

The object looked like an enlarged, dark purple acorn with irregular bumps on its surface. It lay quietly in Ron's palm, occasionally flashing a metallic sheen.

He's definitely not ordinary.

"This isn't your average acorn," Ron said in a low voice, with the excitement of revealing a secret weapon. "George calls it the Tactical Sleeping Treasure, the test prototype of 'Surprise 07.' Inspired by a hybrid of Devil's Snare and the Sleeping Charm— "

Of course, it's much safer!

Harry and Neville, who had already gathered around, curiously examined the acorn.

"How do you use it?" Neville asked, always particularly sensitive to things related to plants.

"See that little dent on top?" Ron pointed it out to them. "Tap it lightly with your wand, inject a tiny amount of magic to activate it, then throw it. When it lands or hits something hard—bang!"

He made a slight explosion gesture, but kept his voice very low.

"It's not an explosion, but an instantaneous release of a large cloud of modified, non-toxic sleeping spore gas, enough to cover a small classroom. The gas has a built-in disorienting effect, causing unsuspecting people within the area to feel intense drowsiness and disorientation within two or three seconds. If carefully prepared, if someone holds their breath, or uses the Bubble-Head Charm, the effect is much weaker. Fred said this stuff is particularly useful against groups of those low-intelligence, troublesome creatures, or for creating opportunities to escape and take cover. They're also trying to add a friendly fire effect, but it's not working yet, so they have to use it carefully."

"That's somewhat interesting," Harry commented.

He took the heavy acorn bomb and carefully felt its stable yet complex magical structure.

It was determined that it far exceeded the scope of ordinary prank toys.

"If this thing were used in real combat training to simulate Dark Wizard releasing controlled smoke, or a magical plant emitting hallucinogenic spores, it would be perfect."

Harry immediately found a suitable use for it.

"It allows people to personally experience the feeling of being ambushed by non-harmful control skills, and learn how to react quickly—whether it's holding their breath to break through, using Whirlwind Charm to dispel it, or using Protego to isolate it?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Ron slapped his thigh. "George and Fred have several more prototypes. There's a seed that twines around vines; once germinated, it grows into fast-growing magical vines that mainly wrap around ankles and wrists. They're very resilient but easily removed with Cutting Charm or Fire-Making Spell, perfect for practicing dealing with bindings. There's also a Flickering Decoy Puppet," which, when released, can run around erratically like a drunken Puffskein, attracting fire or triggering traps—"

Neville listened, a thoughtful expression on his round face. "If these are combined, they can really simulate many of the dangerous situations mentioned in ' Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Them' and 'Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Defense.' For example, being distracted by the spores of Tactical Sleeping Treasure, then having a Blinking Lure appear to attract attention, and suddenly having Binding Vines sprout from under your feet—this requires excellent teamwork and calm judgment."

"And most importantly," Harry added, handing the acorns back to Ron, "These things aren't inherently deadly. At most, they'll make someone trip, get stuck for a while, or make a fool of themselves. It's much more realistic and safer than when we were in the Room of Requirement, practicing spells on dummies or firing weakened Disarming Charm at each other."

Ron carefully placed the acorn back into his secret storage space, his eyes gleaming. "Then we really need to plan this out! That way, we won't be limited to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. I think this kind of low-risk, hands-on training would be especially suitable for freshmen and second and third-year wizards!"

Ron's suggestion surprised Harry and Neville for a moment, then their eyes lit up.

"Lower grades----"

Harry pondered, his mind racing with images: the helplessness of a panicked first-year student facing sudden danger, the fear gripped by the Notebook incident in his second year, and the instinctive trembling he felt towards Dementor in his third year—

"You're right, Ron. True protection should start from the basics. We can't let future students be like we were back then, only hastily learning how to defend themselves when faced with danger."

Neville nodded emphatically, his hands unconsciously clasped together. "Yes—if I had known how to handle emergencies more calmly when I was in first grade, maybe—maybe my grandma wouldn't always say I need more courage."

He paused, his voice becoming more firm. "We can design completely different scenarios. For first graders, the focus isn't on confrontation, but on some basic coping strategies."

"For example?" Ron sat back down on the bed, cross-legged, looking very interested.

Neville struggled to organize his thoughts. "For example—using these tools to simulate some of the situations mentioned in the ' Beginner's Guide to Magic,' situations they should theoretically know about but might not have actually encountered."

At this point, he asked Ron, "Do George and Fred have any of those little things that can make different Magical Creatures sounds or simulate faint, dangerous magical fluctuations? We can hide in hallway corners or empty classrooms. The training is this: if you hear an unusual sound or sense an unstable magical fluctuation, the first step isn't to curiously approach it, but to immediately stop, warn your companions, and then follow standard procedure—either find the nearest Prefect or professor, or quickly retreat to a safe area to avoid danger."

"Fantastic, Neville!" Seamus exclaimed. "This is more effective than memorizing a hundred safety rules. Experiencing firsthand how to react to danger signals will make it instinctive."

"But they need to know the consequences of blindly joining in," Harry added. "As the saying goes, you can't teach someone everything, but you can learn something after just one lesson. They need to experience the pain to learn their lesson."

"Indeed." Neville nodded, agreeing with Harry. "Harry is right; we definitely need to consider that."

"We can upgrade a little in the second year," Ron interjected, clearly having found a new approach. "Add a tiny, very gentle distraction or minor annoyance. Like a modified version of those freezing spells that only make people slip, or those 'Fizzing Whizbees ' from Honeydukes that spray a little harmless but scary smoke. Train them to stay calm under sudden distractions and complete a simple spell, like 'Lumos ' or 'Whirlwind Sweep.' The key is to stay calm and perform the basics."

"Starting in third grade, we can introduce more explicit combat scenarios," Harry continued, following the train of thought. "We can use Flickering Decoy Puppet to simulate mischievous but harmless Magical Creatures, such as thieving Pixie or wandering Puffskein, and train them to work as a team to chase or guide them."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Or we could use Tactical Sleeping Treasure to generate a little bit of dizzying mist, training them to quickly put on simple masks—we could teach them to use Transfiguration to transform into one, or use the basic application of the Bubble-Head Charm. The premise of everything is absolute safety, zero risk of harm; the key is to establish the correct reaction patterns and teamwork."

The more they discussed the plan, the more specific and ambitious it became, and all three of them were completely dispelled from their drowsiness.

"But this requires the school's support, especially Professor McGonagall," Harry finally said. "We can't organize such a large event privately, even if it's well-intentioned, especially since it involves first-year wizards. We need a well-thought-out plan, clear regulations, absolute security measures, and a mature system of leadership and oversight."

"Of course, it's the professors!" Ron said quickly. "With professors as our advisors and supervisors, we don't need to worry too much. Besides, I think the professors will definitely give us their full support for what we're going to do, especially Professor McGonagall."

"What about the bylaws and safety regulations? Who will write them?" Seamus asked.

"Hermione, of course. The bylaws and security regulations are a piece of cake for her," Ron said with a grin.

"We need more professors' support," Neville added thoughtfully. "Professor Flitwick would certainly be willing to guide us on spell application, Professor Sprout can guide us on safety matters related to magical plants, Hagrid —well, Hagrid can help verify whether the behavior of the creatures we're simulating is reasonable—"

"Hagrid?" Ron asked, taking a sip of his drink. "He really wouldn't suggest we do a real-life simulation with a creature he considers 'gentle and cute,' like the Blast-Ended Skrewt?"

"Trust Hagrid, I don't think so," Neville said confidently.

After thinking it over for a while, they realized that their immediate priority was to come up with a decent plan.

"Tomorrow," Harry decided, "We'll first reach a consensus internally, then go to Hermione and draft a detailed proposal together, including training objectives, tiered content, safety instructions for the equipment used, a supervision plan, and a list of professors and advisors to be invited. Finally, we'll go to Professor McGonagall together and submit our application."

"It feels like we're really preparing to do something that will change Hogwarts," Neville said excitedly.

"You're wrong, Neville," Ron rolled his eyes. "I need to remind you that we've been changing Hogwarts all along, okay? Or rather, we're writing a new chapter in Hogwarts ' history!"

"Indeed, you need to have some confidence," Seamus said with a smile. "Think about it, from fifth grade, when we started bringing more students into the Dueling Club system, we were already effectively changing Hogwarts."

Seamus paused for a moment at this point.

"Perhaps, in the future, we will all become an indispensable part of <Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History>."

.

"It's not just a matter of chance, it's a certainty," Ron said with certainty. "It's no exaggeration to say that if you search through the entire history of Hogwarts, you'd probably never find another era so vibrant and full of life."

After chatting for a while longer, the dormitory fell silent again.

Ron carefully locked his secret compartment, Neville gave his Mimbulus Mimbletonia- Seamus Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes...