The Snot Curse

Professor Foxx's first class was a great success.

At least, Linley saw smiles on the faces of the young wizards as they left.

Linley also received extra points in the class as he had wished.

This was because he was the first among the new students of the two houses to successfully cast a wand-lighting charm.

Wednesday's classes were relatively light, with only Defense Against the Dark Arts in the morning and Astronomy in the evening. This left a significant amount of free time for the young wizards to manage themselves.

Instead of spending this free time in the library as usual, Linley took his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, "Dark Arts: A Self-Defense Guide," to the lawn by the Black Lake.

It was still class time, so the area was deserted.

Linley opened his textbook and activated one of his two titles: Newbie Freshman.

Although the title sounded unappealing, its effect was extraordinarily useful, tripling the learning efficiency for basic spells. This allowed Linley to quickly learn and use many spells taught to lower-year students.

It was just not very suitable for use in crowded places, especially in the Slytherin common room.

While the atmosphere in the Slytherin common room seemed good for now, people's hearts were unfathomable.

Who knew if that friendliness was genuine or just a superficial facade?

Linley didn't want to test others' attitudes towards him. Even if it was just feigned kindness, it was better than a public falling out.

So, he specifically found a secluded spot, activated the title, and practiced magic alone.

Only this kind of visible progress could make Linley feel a little more secure living in the magical world, which wasn't a very safe place.

The title's effect was excellent.

After activating it, Linley immediately felt his mind become exceptionally active, and his control over his body reached an unprecedented level.

He looked at the spell recorded in the textbook: the Snot Curse, a spell that caused the target to have a runny nose continuously.

It had virtually no offensive power but was disgusting enough.

Following the book's description, Linley swung his wand and softly uttered the incantation towards a frog by the lake: "Mucus ad Nauseam."

However, nothing happened.

But Linley was not discouraged in the slightest. The moment he uttered the incantation, he felt that his casting was unlikely to succeed.

His mind clearly told him that his wand movement needed to be faster, and the pronunciation of the spell wasn't accurate enough.

So, Linley aimed the Snot Curse at the frog, which was completely unaware it had become a test subject, once more:

"Mucus ad Nauseam."

A bright green beam shot out from Linley's wand, accurately hitting the frog that was staring blankly by the shore.

Startled, the frog croaked, hopped twice, and then jumped into the lake.

Linley smiled silently. His spell had clearly worked. The frog didn't have a runny nose because it simply didn't have the biological function for it. If the spell had hit a person just now, it would have had its intended effect.

Linley continued practicing various spells by the Black Lake until lunchtime. The feeling of constantly improving himself was quite addictive.

In just half a morning, he had learned three spells recorded in the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook: the Snot Curse, the Repelling Charm, and the Smoke Screen Charm.

These spells weren't powerful, but in certain situations, they could have unexpected effects.

There was no good food in Britain.

Linley actually agreed with this statement. However, in Europe, the interaction between countries was strong, and cultural barriers were quite blurred, especially evident in cuisine.

British salted fish wasn't tasty, but French cuisine was quite good.

Linley particularly enjoyed the cooking of the house-elves at Hogwarts; the lunch tasted excellent to him.

As he was enjoying his lunch, Prefect Betty sat down beside him.

"Hi, Linley, are you free this afternoon? Professor Snape needs some help processing potion ingredients, and students from other years have classes this afternoon."

Linley shook his head. "Sorry, I have plans this afternoon."

Betty frowned slightly.

"May I be so bold as to ask who with?"

"Professor Foxx," Linley replied, having no intention of hiding it. He figured he'd need to use Professor Foxx's name to borrow books from the restricted section of the library later, so their relationship couldn't be kept secret.

Betty patted Linley's shoulder, gesturing for him to look at her. She stared into his eyes, her tone very serious.

"Do you remember what I said at the welcome banquet? Adrian Foxx is a very dangerous individual. I don't recommend you get too close to him."

"I remember, of course."

Linley had almost finished eating. He picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. "Thank you for your concern. I'll keep your advice in mind and be careful when interacting with Professor Foxx. Goodbye."

Watching Linley walk away, Betty clenched her fist and slammed it against the long table in frustration. She could tell that Linley hadn't taken her words to heart at all.

Linley didn't pay much attention to the Prefect's words. Having seen plenty of online rumors in his past life, he believed that normal people would make their own judgments and wouldn't be swayed by others' words.

As it stood, Linley still didn't think Professor Foxx was the heinous, monstrous killer they described him to be.

In the afternoon, Linley knocked on the door of Professor Foxx's office.

"Come in, Linley," Professor Foxx's voice came from inside. Linley pushed the door open and walked in.

The office wasn't large, but it was kept very tidy, which didn't quite fit the image of Professor Foxx, an older, single man.

Linley walked to his desk and saw Professor Foxx seemingly preparing lesson plans for the advanced courses.

"Make yourself comfortable. I just moved into this office not too long ago, so I don't have any afternoon tea snacks to offer you."

Linley found a chair and sat down, curiously observing a mural hanging on the wall.

It depicted a knight holding a long spear, and the warhorse beneath the knight was glaring at Linley, flaring its nostrils.

"Have you been settling into life at Hogwarts these past few days?"

Professor Foxx put down his quill, crossed his hands on the desk, and asked with a smile.

Linley worriedly pinched his cheeks. "The food at Hogwarts is too good; I feel like I've gained quite a bit of weight."

Professor Foxx was amused by his words. At the same time, two teacups leaped out of the cupboard next to them and floated in front of both of them.

The teapot on the table suddenly levitated, floating over to the teacup in front of Linley and pouring him some black tea.

Professor Foxx looked at Linley seriously.

"You've been exposed to magic for a few days now, and you've probably heard some things about me from your classmates. So, Linley, are you still willing to accept my investment in you?"