A Bunch of Devils

"I hate rain!"

"You've said that more than once."

"Why do we have to go outdoors for Care of Magical Creatures on a rainy day?"

Who knows?

Although similar situations occurred frequently last year, Albert felt particularly irritable every time it rained. Going out to class in the pouring rain was pure torture.

The students were miserable, always returning covered in mud. Many preferred Defense Against the Dark Arts to the outdoor Care of Magical Creatures in this awful weather.

The heavy rains have been going on for nearly half a month, and the lake has risen sharply. The ground outside the castle is muddy, and it is easy to slip and fall on the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

As Albert passed the Hunting Cabin, he saw Hagrid wearing a raincoat and draining the Pumpkin Field.

"These pumpkins are huge. Hagrid must have used Engorgement Charm," Fred muttered to himself.

Ordinary pumpkins never grow to such a huge size. The pumpkins Hagrid grew were swollen to the size of a greenhouse. How could one not be suspicious?

"Your little sister said the same thing." Hagrid put down his farm tools, glanced at the four people approaching, and asked, "What are you doing here now?"

"We'll be Care of Magical Creatures on the edge of the Forbidden Forest later," Albert replied.

"By the way, Kettleburn seems to be retiring soon?" Hagrid suddenly said. "It's at the end of this year. When I went there just now, I heard him complaining about his back and leg pains. You know, he has quite a few hidden injuries that tend to flare up on rainy days."

"Who will substitute for me?" Lee Jordan asked.

"Professor Grubbly-Plank," Albert said without hesitation.

"How did you know?" The four of them turned to Albert in unison and asked curiously.

"We've seen her before, remember?" Albert reminded him with a hint of exasperation. "In Kettleburn's Forest Cabin."

"Will Weemina become our new professor of the Care of Magical Creatures?" George continued to ask.

"It's Wilmina," Albert corrected. "I don't know. But if she's not available to come to Hogwarts to be the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid, you could give it a try. Maybe Dumbledore will agree to let you fill in for Kettleburn."

At that moment, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan all turned their heads and looked at Albert with strange eyes. They all felt that it was unreliable for Hagrid to become a professor who Care of Magical Creatures.

But hearing Albert say that gave them the feeling that Hagrid was very likely to become the professor who Care of Magical Creatures.

"Well... I'm considering it," Hagrid said. "I heard that Kettleburn recommended Professor Grubbly-Plank to Professor Dumbledore, but Professor Grubbly-Plank is still considering it. It seems she can't stay at Hogwarts as Professor of Care of Magical Creatures for long."

"If Kettleburn retires, and Professor Grubbly-Plank is unwilling to stay at Hogwarts long-term, I will submit an application to Professor Dumbledore," Hagrid said with a smile. "You know I'm also quite good at Care of Magical Creatures."

"To be honest, I don't really want Hagrid to become the professor of the Care of Magical Creatures."

After the four had walked away, Fred said in a low voice, "You should know what I mean. Hagrid may know a little about Care of Magical Creatures, but he has absolutely no experience in teaching students, and Hagrid always gives me a very unreliable feeling."

"If he becomes the professor of the Care of Magical Creatures, who knows, Troll might appear in the classroom one day," George agreed with Fred.

However, Albert's words just now gave them a bad feeling; perhaps Hagrid really would become the professor of the Care of Magical Creatures.

"Even if you look at me like that, it doesn't matter. I'm just stating the facts." Albert shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Professor Grubbly-Plank is indeed very suitable to fill the vacancy, but if she hadn't applied, Hagrid would have had a much better chance of succeeding."

The class was held near Kettleburn's Wooden House. As they approached, they heard Lockhart's scream. The Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor ran out of Kettleburn's Wooden House, looking extremely disheveled.

He also tripped over George's foot, fell heavily to the ground, got covered in mud, and even swallowed some muddy water.

"Are you alright, Professor Lockhart?" Albert reached out and helped Lockhart up from the ground.

"It's nothing, it's nothing. I just came to Occamy egg yolk shampoo with Kettleburn, and I was attacked by the Occamy."

After saying that, Lockhart took out a handkerchief to wipe the mud off his face. As he was about to return to the castle, he handed Albert a plastic bottle and whispered, "This is the Occamy egg yolk shampoo I developed. You can take it back and try it. It works really well."

"What's this?"

Watching Lockhart's departing figure, George turned his gaze back to the bottle Lockhart had given him, picking it up and examining it closely.

"Occamy egg yolk shampoo, maybe?" Albert said casually.

"You'd better throw that thing away. It's dangerous. I've never seen anyone so extravagant as to use Occamy eggs to make shampoo. Professor Lockhart must be crazy." Kettleburn walked out leaning on his cane, muttering to himself, clearly very dissatisfied with Lockhart.

You can't blame him, though. Kettleburn treasured his nest of Occamy, and Lockhart's plan to use those precious eggs to make some kind of Occamy egg yolk shampoo nearly drove him crazy. In the end, he secretly released the Occamy to drive that nasty Lockhart away.

Kettleburn used magic to levitate a metal barrel burning with charcoal and led Albert and the others to the woods beside the cabin, where there were several lush evergreen trees and a large dry area beneath them, where they lit a campfire.

The damp campfire, once lit, emitted a large amount of white smoke.

"What you'll be learning in this lesson is how to extract blood from Fire Salamander. I introduced you to these Magical Creature last Fire Salamander. Right now, there's a flu outbreak at school, Madam Pomfrey needs a lot of Fire Salamander blood to make her Invigorating Potion." Kettleburn poured a bucket of Fire Salamander into the campfire, distributed glass test tubes to the students, and then demonstrated how to extract blood from the Fire Salamander.

"This is a good opportunity for you," Kettleburn said with a smile. "Whoever can collect the most Fire Salamander blood before the end of class will receive a special reward."

"What special reward?" a student asked curiously.

"This is it."

As he spoke, Kettleburn pulled a silver statue from his pocket and said with a smile, "This is Occamy Statue that I made from Occamy egg."

"That thing must be pure silver." Albert noticed that Kettleburn really liked the Occamy.

While everyone's attention was drawn to the so-called special reward, the Weasley Twins focused their attention on the Fire Salamander in the campfire, seemingly trying to "rescue" Fire Salamander from the Care of Magical Creatures.

"What do you want this thing for?" Albert asked, puzzled.

"We want to study what happens when we feed Fire Salamander," Fred explained to George in a low voice.

"Are you devils?" Lee Jordan muttered, though his face showed an eager expression.