The Clever Girl Has Rather Unusual Interests / A Feast of Snake Is Not for Humans

Just as Dumbledore said, this trophy belongs to everyone, not just Harry, the so-called 'hero'.

As for complaints about the school refusing to award extra credit to these award-winning students, Gryffindor only made a few remarks.

The Gryffindor House and Hufflepuff House Points, but these lions are not as low-key as the badgers, and naturally, they are less open-minded.

As for the Eagle House... Eagle House students there don't care at all whether Hahru and his two companions got extra points, since they're already far ahead anyway.

Harry didn't cause any trouble at school this year, so he didn't lose points for Ravenclaw like he did last year. As a result, Hermione's scoring prowess was immediately apparent.

With half the academic year still remaining until summer vacation, the gap between Eagle House and the other three colleges will only widen, making the outcome of the House Cup a foregone conclusion.

"Finally, I have two more announcements to make." After the awards ceremony, Dumbledore continued, "The first is... although many courses have been suspended for quite some time, this year's exams will proceed as scheduled. Please do not take any chances."

Albus Dumbledore paused here, looking at the chorus of complaints below, and a sly, mischievous look appeared on his old face.

"Furthermore, given that Professor Lockhart is no longer able to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, the school has decided to make some adjustments to the course."

"First, for students in grades five through seven who need to prepare for major exams, your classes will be taught by Professor Snape; for students in other grades, your classes will be taught by students selected from the previous year... Until the new professors arrive, I hope you will enjoy this teaching method."

Dumbledore briefly explained the method for substitute teaching the Black Defense course, and then began to read out the names of the students one by one, clearly having a plan in mind.

Harry hadn't expected Albus Dumbledore to use students to teach students, but the method of fifth graders teaching fourth graders, fourth graders teaching third graders, and so on, was actually quite scientific.

After all, if it's only a one-grade difference, you can simply copy what you learned last year.

Additionally, Harry noticed that some people seemed particularly honored when their names were called, such as Cedric Diggory, who was about to teach third-year classes and was sitting up straight.

Meanwhile, the other group, mainly the senior student who was about to take charge of the second-year courses, was currently wearing a sour face.

After all, the Granger Siblings, who are in their second year, have the experience of defeating the Black Defense Professor twice in the ring and in the Chamber. The upperclassman who was chosen probably wouldn't feel any honor at all, but rather utter fear.

"Finally, the student in charge of the Defense Against the Dark Arts course for the first year is Mr. Granger. Harry Granger!"

"Ah?"

Upon hearing his name, Harry was completely bewildered.

Are you kidding me?! Albus Dumbledore actually wants me to teach first grade?!

Chapter 191 The Interests of a Clever Young Girl Are Quite Unique

"Tch, Albus Dumbledore is definitely hiring child laborers, actually ordering me to teach first grade!"

Inside Harry's portable briefcase, someone was setting up a workbench in the style of a slaughterhouse while incessantly denouncing the headmaster's heartless capitalist behavior.

Beside him, various items that would be needed later were already lined up.

Knives, buckets, iron basins, alcohol stoves, soup pots, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, dried chili peppers, and so on.

This was one of the few times Harry hadn't been with Hermione since Valentine's Day, and the reason was quite obvious—he finally had time to dissect the Basilisk's corpse.

"Do you hate teaching us?"

However, although Hermione wasn't there, another girl was present, and she was eagerly preparing to observe Harry's dissection process.

"I was just complaining a little about the headmaster, I don't dislike teaching you." Harry quickly explained, worried that his casual remark might cause Luna Lovegood to misunderstand.

He was not at all opposed to teaching the Black Defense course; in fact, he had a strange sense of anticipation, feeling that he was the one who should teach it and that all the other teachers were rubbish.

Furthermore, it would be quite interesting if the student were Luna Lovegood.

"I see. I'm actually curious about what you'll teach." Luna Lovegood's voice remained ethereal. "Of course, I'm even more curious about how you're going to dispose of the Basilisk's corpse."

"Uh... I think I should be the one curious~" Harry asked speechlessly as he took the Basilisk's corpse out of his Space Ring, "You're clearly a girl, so why are you so interested in dissection?"

Honestly, Harry sometimes doesn't know if Luna Lovegood is just brave or naturally naive; it seems like she wants to try everything.

When Harry dealt with the Mandrake last time, Luna Lovegood was in the disposal room, and she witnessed the entire process from the first cut to the dismemberment...

He thought that was the peak of Luna Lovegood's courage, but this time the girl insisted on staying to watch Harry Basilisk!

"I have absolutely no interest in what you're talking about... anatomy, but I just want to stay and watch."

Unexpectedly, Luna Lovegood shook her head at Harry, indicating that she actually had absolutely no interest in gore.

"Not interested but insisting on staying to watch... Please, what kind of logic is that?" Harry scratched his head, completely baffled, feeling utterly confused about Luna Lovegood's thinking. "Anyway, if you can't stand watching later, just wait outside the suitcase for a while. Crookshanks and Mrs. Norris are there."

After giving a brief instruction, Harry stopped paying attention to the enigmatic and incomprehensible girl. He turned the Basilisk's corpse over to its abdomen and began searching for the most suitable spot to make his cut.

During this time, Harry couldn't help but marvel at how truly magical his ring was.

Unlike items created by the Undetectable Extension Charm, Harry's Space Ring cannot be used to store living things. However, items with expiration dates, such as food and corpses, will not spoil when placed in the ring.

Harry killed the thousand-year-old Basilisk at the end of January, and now more than twenty days later, it is still as fresh as when it died, showing no signs of decay whatsoever.

The sharp weapon made a soft sound as it entered the basilisk's body. Harry easily sliced open the Basilisk's abdomen with the blade, his hands steady without even a tremor.

Incidentally, because the Basilisk's corpse was so enormous, the tool Harry used to dissect it was... the Sword of Gryffindor.

One wonders what Godric, one of the Four Founders, would think if he knew his sword was being used as a scalpel for dissection.

With a single sword strike, Harry completely cleaved open the Basilisk's body, revealing its internal organs.

"Huh?" Luna Lovegood behind her let out a curious murmur. She had barely prepared herself mentally, but the expected blood splattering did not occur.

"The power of the water element is surprisingly useful in this regard~"

As Harry removed the Basilisk's heart, liver, intestines, gallbladder, and other internal organs one by one, he muttered to himself with satisfaction.

Having mastered the element of water means that Harry can freely manipulate the flow of many liquids, including blood.

Under Harry's magical manipulation, the Basilisk's blood was now obediently gathering into a stream, Harry orderly into the bucket Harry had prepared beforehand, with almost not a single drop wasted.

This convenience is undoubtedly the best aid to Harry's profession.

After gutting the creature, Harry smoothly completed the subsequent steps of butchering, deboning, and skinning it. Although the Basilisk's corpse was enormous, its overall structure was not complex... at least much simpler than a human's.

In Harry's view, the only two difficult parts of the entire dissection process were the Basilisk's venom glands and eyes.

The poison glands were relatively easier to remove. Harry switched to a smaller scalpel and carefully separated the glands connected to the Basilisk's fangs, then wrapped them securely in Basilisk meat and tied them tightly.

Scamander's book records that the Basilisk's venom is extremely dangerous and can corrode almost any object. Therefore, until Harry finds a suitable container, the only option is to temporarily preserve it using the Basilisk's own flesh.

As for the other challenge, Harry was concerned about the Basilisk's only remaining eye, wondering if it would still be fatal.

If they still can't make direct eye contact, Harry will have to close his eyes during the process of retrieving the eye, which could potentially damage the Basilisk's eyeball.

"There shouldn't be any problems now, you can make eye contact with me." Suddenly, Luna Lovegood's voice came from behind.

"Luna Lovegood... you?"

Harry turned around and saw that Luna Lovegood was holding a small mirror, reflecting the Basilisk's eyeball, which now had a slit embedded in it.

She actually tested the waters with herself without saying a word!

"Why do something so dangerous?" Harry frowned worriedly. "If the Basilisk's eyes still have supernatural powers..."

"It's just being petrified~" Luna Lovegood didn't think it was dangerous at all, and said nonchalantly, "Anyway, you can brew Mandrake Restorative Draught, so even if you're petrified, you can recover quickly, it's okay."

"This..." Harry was momentarily at a loss for words.

"I felt that since I was here, I should do something, I couldn't just stand by and watch, and you probably also want to get that eye out intact." Luna Lovegood seemed not to understand why Harry was in such a hurry, tilting her head and asking in confusion, "So... is there something wrong with what I'm doing?"

"I'm not saying you have a problem! I'm just saying..." Harry frowned repeatedly, finally letting out a helpless sigh, "Fine, anyway, next time you want to act on your own, you'd better tell me beforehand..."

But at this point, Harry hesitated again.

It's true that there's some unclear or ambiguous connection between him and Luna Lovegood, but they're not in a special relationship right now, so why should he expect her to report everything to him?

"Okay." But to his surprise, Luna Lovegood did not refuse.

She stared at Harry with wide eyes for a moment, then nodded seriously in response.

"If that's what you want, then yes~"

Chapter 192 A Whole Snake Feast Is Not Something Humans Can Enjoy

"Phew... finally done!"

After disassembling the entire Basilisk into its parts and sealing one of its Eye of the Basilisk in formalin, Harry stretched contentedly.

However, Harry's subsequent actions left the blonde girl somewhat confused.

He first lit a large fire in the open space, then placed the soup pot, which had been enlarged by the Engorgement Charm, on the fire. Next, he heated oil in the pot, added various unidentifiable seasonings, and finally threw the Basilisk's internal organs, a dozen or so pieces of bone with meat, and more than half of the meat into the pot!

"What are you doing...?"

Watching Harry struggling to stir things up with a special shovel-shaped 'stirring stick,' Luna Lovegood momentarily doubted that he was cooking.

But he probably wouldn't go that far. He's probably just brewing some kind of special Potions. You see, he's already mixed snake blood and white wine together and put them in the pot...

Come on, this looks like cooking!

Only now did Luna Lovegood become completely convinced that Harry had actually cooked the Basilisk!

"Cooking, huh?" Harry replied matter-of-factly. "Luckily, we don't have to cook everything fully cooked, otherwise, with Basilisk that big, this one pot really wouldn't be enough."

"Uh... are you sure this is edible?" Luna Lovegood covered her mouth with a conflicted expression.

From her perspective, the sheer complexity of the colors in the pot Harry created rivaled even the Black Lake.

"You've got it wrong, this pot isn't for human consumption," Harry explained with a laugh. "The stewed snake is Norberta's treat; he prefers cooked meat, and the leftover flesh and blood are shared with the other Fantastic Beasts."

Harry's suitcase contained quite a few carnivorous creatures, such as the Nundu, which had not yet shown itself due to its extreme danger, and the Kelpie, which had been released into the Black Lake. All of them were carnivorous.

However, due to limitations in their digestive systems and dietary habits, their diet consists entirely of raw food.

Of all the Fantastic Beasts Harry kept, Norberta was probably the only exception.

Because of its high body temperature, even if Norberta eats raw food, it will eventually be cooked inside its body. Therefore, it only ate dead chickens and dead rats for a period of time when it was young, and later it switched to cooked food.

Especially since Harry would often cook a Chinese meal, it made Norberta, this little fire Dragon, develop a stomach... somewhat resembling Harry's shape.

This was also one of Harry's taming strategies. As long as female Dragon are fed well, their temperament will remain relatively docile, making them perfect for feeding foodies.

"Everyone, dinner's ready!!"

After simmering for several tens of minutes, when Harry felt the aroma wafting from the pot was becoming increasingly tempting, he used Amplifying Charm to notify the residents who were waiting for their meal.

"Don't be afraid. Although some of them look scary, they're actually quite safe..."

Tsk tsk, even Harry himself doesn't believe that.

"Okay." But judging from Luna Lovegood's serious expression, she clearly believed it.

"Roar!"

A dragon roar echoed from the distant sky. Norberta spread its enormous dragon wings, circled once in the air, and then excitedly landed beside the soup pot, clearly unable to wait any longer due to the aroma.

After getting Harry's approval, the guy was so excited that he stuck his head right into the pot.

"Can you slow down a bit?" Harry complained helplessly. "This whole pot is yours, no one's going to take it from you."

"Woohoo~" Norberta flicked its tail nonchalantly, its gluttonous eating not slowing down in the slightest.

Having been hand-raised for over a year, it's become quite resilient with Harry.

Compared to the anxious little fire Dragon, the Zouwu and the Unicorn were much calmer. After all, one of them only ate the corpses of those who died naturally, and the other was simply a vegetarian. A whole snake feast held no appeal for them.

After a while, the Erumpent, Graphorn, Runespoor, and Nundu also gathered over one by one and began to enjoy their respective portions of delicious food according to Harry's distribution.

During this time, the Occamy even brought the Acromantula egg obtained from the Forbidden Forest. Looking at the increasingly dense patterns on the outside of the spider egg, Harry thought for a moment and then put it into a large bucket containing Basilisk blood.

"You actually keep other creatures too, that's really impressive!"

These dangerous creatures didn't frighten Luna Lovegood at all; instead, they stimulated her, making her eyes light up.

"I think your reaction is more impressive, isn't it?" Harry covered his face, both amused and exasperated.

Even a notorious dark wizard would tremble with fear at the sight of these creatures, but Luna Lovegood was full of excitement.

This girl's hobbies are so unusual that most people probably can't understand them at all.

But that's fine too; at least Harry doesn't have to worry about how to comfort her if he scares her to tears.

"I'm going to deliver some meat to Mrs. Norris and Crookshanks. You can stay here and keep an eye on them for me." Seeing that Luna Lovegood wasn't afraid of the dangerous creatures in the suitcase at all, Harry felt more comfortable leaving her here.

"Okay, go ahead." Luna Lovegood waved her hand with her back to Harry, but her eyes kept wandering around, watching everything from Graphorn to Runespoor with great interest.