Blast-Ended Lobsters

Days passed by like this.

Besides attending classes and studying, Skylar regularly participated in the activities of the Sleeping Dragon Society.

He had a basic grasp of the contents of the Book of Ancient Dragon Language. Of course, he did not have the ancient "Divine Dragon Power" in his bloodline, so he did not believe that he could cast spells in the Ancient Dragon Language.

He also knew the principle of not biting off more than he could chew, so he gave up studying Dark Arts and instead focused his research on Transfiguration. After all, he possessed the power of the Metamorphmagus bloodline, coupled with the House of Black's secret spells, Forbidden Transfiguration, and the Myriad Transformations Spell, which gave him a unique advantage in the field of Transfiguration.

Oh, right, he also needs to take good care of Cho Chang; he hasn't forgotten the Zhang Family Secret Transfiguration Technique that Zhang He promised him.

In addition, he did not intend to give up his research on spatial magic and ancient runic spellcasting, but learning resources in these two areas were extremely scarce and hard to come by, so he made little progress.

As for the Sleeping Dragon Society, they have held at least four exchange activities. Under his guidance, the members' academic performance and combat skills have gradually shown significant improvement. Astoria and the Carrow Sisters second year, both contributing significantly to Slytherin House's score.

October 23rd arrived in the blink of an eye.

Hagrid's Hut, the Care of Magical Creatures.

Hagrid stood outside the cabin door, one hand holding the collar of his enormous hound, Fang. Several open wooden crates lay at his feet, a strange clattering sound emanating from them, occasionally accompanied by faint popping noises.

This is the Fantastic Beasts Hagrid is primarily teaching this semester— the Blast-Ended Skrewt, a new species he artificially bred by Manticore and Fire Crab.

They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, grayish-white and slimy, quite terrifying in appearance, with many legs sticking out haphazardly, obscuring their heads. They also emitted a very strong stench of rotten fish and shrimp. Every now and then, sparks would shoot out from their tails, followed by a soft pop, and they would advance a few inches.

It's been almost two months since school started, and the students still haven't figured out what the animals like to eat.

Hagrid was delighted, and as part of the "project," he suggested that they come to his cabin every other day to observe the Blast-Ended Skrewt and record their unusual behavior.

"I'm not coming," Draco said without hesitation. "I've had enough of this awful stuff in class, thank you."

Hagrid's smile vanished.

"Do as I say," he roared. "This is homework! Everyone has to participate. What right do you have to be an exception?"

Blaise Zabini let out a disdainful sneer.

Hagrid remembered how much trouble he had caused his most respected Headmaster Dumbledore, because of Blaise last semester, and a surge of anger welled up inside him. He glared angrily at Blaise, "What do you mean by this?"

"What else could it mean? Draco asked you before—why are we raising them? What can they do? What's their use?" Blaise sneered, "As a professor, you didn't choose to answer, which is already a dereliction of duty, but it doesn't matter, you said at the time that it was the topic of the next class..."

"We've been in school for almost two months, and even these monsters have grown so much, and you still haven't figured out the answer? What kind of professor are you? Don't you have any shame?" Blaise said.

"Their appearance may not be appealing, but that doesn't mean they're useless." Even Hermione couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to retort, "Dragon Blood has miraculous effects, but would you really want to keep a Fire Dragon as a pet?"

Draco said coldly, "Granger, I let you off last time because of my brother. Are you going to cause trouble again? You can call on Potter and Weasley, those two good-for-nothings, and we'll find a time when I can take on all three of you by myself!"

Here we go again!

This damn, familiar scene!

Skylar had a headache. He wasn't sure what Draco meant by those words. So much time had passed since last semester, and for him to deliberately bring up the past like this, Skylar simply couldn't believe it wasn't to undermine his authority.

Skylar could react, Harry and his group on the other side couldn't sit still any longer.

Ron inferiority complex was the most severe, felt insulted. His face flushed red, his eyes turned fierce, and he immediately drew his wand, shouting angrily, "Fight if you want! Who's afraid of who! No need to wait for another day, you can draw your wand now!"

"Just you alone?" Draco flashed coldly as he slowly drew his wand, sneering, "I'd better bring Potter along too. I'm afraid people will say I'm bullying the weak..."

Hermione's eyes flashed with panic. Reason told her that she had to stand with Ron and Harry. Draco and Blaise were clearly deliberately stirring up trouble. But she remembered what happened last semester, which made it impossible for her to make a tough decision.

She bit her lower lip, looking at Harry and Ron who were gazing at her with expectant eyes, feeling a bitter taste in her mouth.

Skylar's words from the Defense Against the Dark Arts echoed clearly in her mind; that familiar, deep voice felt as if Skylar were truly speaking to her from within, "To protect those around you, you must sacrifice a friendship..."

"Do I really... have to remain enemies with Slytherin forever? Is there really no way for us to be reconciled?"

"Fine, this whole thing started because of me. It was my loose tongue that caused all this, so I'll take responsibility for the consequences!"

Thinking of this, Hermione felt a pang of pain in her heart, stood in front of Harry and Ron, and drew her wand.

"Malfoy! This has nothing to do with Harry or Ron. If you want a duel, I'll take you on alone!" Hermione spoke with great confidence, but her hand holding the wand trembled uncontrollably, showing no signs of a duelist.

Draco gave a disdainful look, his eyes fixed on Hermione's wand, but he raised it slowly, as if in slow motion.

Skylar frowned; he clearly sensed Draco's watchful eye on him!

Draco's eyes appeared to be fixed on Harry's trio ahead, but he was actually looking at himself!

In the past, Draco would have been quick to launch a surprise attack, but what's wrong with Draco now? He's so arrogant that he claims he can take on three opponents at once, and now it seems like he's waiting for the other side to make the first move.

Looking at Hermione's behavior, even if Draco let Hermione go first, she would probably still be completely crushed.

Hagrid roared, "What's wrong with you all? Do you all think I, the professor, don't exist?" He strode forward, trying to stop the dispute, but a figure blocked his way.

Blaise toyed with his wand and said softly, "Professor Hagrid, although we call you professor, we seem to have serious doubts about your knowledge and teaching abilities. How about this—" A strange light gleamed in Blaise's eyes, and a playful smile curved his lips, "I want to challenge you to a duel, professor, to see how strong you are, and whether you are truly qualified to be a professor?"

Whispers and sneering laughter rang out among the young Slytherin wizards.

Since the establishment of the Faculty Hiring Committee, the professors' authority as depicted in the original works has been largely lost. Most interestingly, the power to veto a professor's appointment rests mostly with the Slytherin parents. This has diminished the Slytherin wizards' respect for their professors.

Furthermore, the fact that the Malfoy brothers publicly defeated the renowned Professor Moody made them realize that professors are not invincible.

"Damn it!" Hagrid was furious, even swearing out profanities. Being questioned about his professorship was the thing he couldn't bear to face, and he was also worried that Harry and the others would be taken advantage of. The Malfoy brothers were not to be trifled with. For a moment, he was both angry and anxious, but he couldn't think of any solution.

"Stop arguing," Skylar interjected. "Professor Hagrid is, after all, a professor, a rightfully appointed one." "Brother, Blaise, I don't think we should speak to a professor in this tone. It's beneath our family's dignity."

Skylar, then continued, "To be fair, Miss Granger's words do make some sense. I've actually learned some inside information from Professor Dumbledore. The cultivation of Blast-Ended Skrewt is licensed by the Department for the Control of Fantastic Beasts of the Ministry of Magic, and they will be used in the Triwizard Tournament, so they're not entirely useless. I think we should follow Professor Hagrid's instructions and raise them properly!"

Sure enough, the moment the Triwizard Tournament's inner workings were mentioned, the young wizards' focus immediately shifted. Several of them began to look at the Blast-Ended Skrewt with interest, whispering amongst themselves. They all wanted to know the Blast-Ended Skrewt's Blast-Ended Skrewt in the Triwizard Tournament, and which events in the Triwizard Tournament might utilize it.

A complex look flashed across Draco's eyes. He feigned some displeasure, gave a cold snort, and turned to leave.

Blaise gave a playful smile and said, "Of course, we'll all listen to you, Skylar."

The other young Slytherin wizards looked at Draco, then at Skylar, wondering what was wrong with the two brothers, and fell silent for a moment.

Skylar shook his head and directed the remaining Slytherin wizards to use the Levitation Charm to separate half of the Blast-Ended Skrewt into individual boxes. This way, they could feed one Blast-Ended Skrewt at a time, greatly reducing the chance of injury.

Skylar remembered that in the original story, although they never found out exactly what the Blast-Ended Skrewt liked to eat, they still grew to be ten feet long.

The young Gryffindor wizards saw Slytherin's method and tried to imitate it, but their mastery of the Levitation Charm was clearly not good enough. Dean Thomas was stung and developed several pustules, Seamus Finnigan almost detonated a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Fortunately, Hagrid reacted quickly, catching the Blast-Ended Skrewt and flinging it far away.

Hermione hesitated for a long time before finally mustering the courage to walk up to Skylar and whisper, "Mr. Malfoy, thank you."

Skylar looked at Hermione, sighed, and said, "No need to thank me, this wasn't your fault at all... I should apologize to you, my brother... never mind, let's not talk about it..." Skylar knew perfectly well that Draco had deliberately provoked this whole thing. On the surface, he was targeting Hagrid, but in reality, he was trying to lure the Potter trio into the fray. In the end, he was probably still the one who was the real target.

"If there's nothing else," Skylar said upon hearing Daphne's call, "My companions are calling me, I'll go take care of that now."

Hermione watched Skylar's departing figure and pursed her lips. Hermione wasn't stupid; although she didn't know what had happened, she had a feeling that she had just caused Skylar trouble again.

Why do I always cause you trouble?

Hermione's mood suddenly became irritable.

She remembered that the last time she had a falling out with Skylar, she had acted the same way, unable to control her emotions, and almost ended up fighting with Slytherin —although Skylar had spoken very harshly back then, he had also meant to protect her.

She bit her lower lip tightly, repeating to herself in her heart, "There won't be a next time! Absolutely!"

"You've done so much for me. Every time I'm in danger or hurt, you're the one who helps and comforts me—" Hermione made a silent vow, "I've had enough. Next time, it'll be my turn to give to you!"

After the Care of Magical Creatures ended, the young wizards returned to the castle, Entrance Hall was packed with them.

A large notice was erected at the foot of the Marble Staircase.

"What are they looking at?" Daphne asked curiously.

Skylar's Divine Insight of Amaterasu allowed him to clearly see the contents of the notice from afar, and he said, "It's about the Triwizard Tournament. I'll read it to you: Representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive at 6:00 PM on Friday, October 30th. Afternoon classes will end half an hour early. At that time, please return your bags and textbooks to your dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to welcome our guests, and then attend the welcome banquet."

"Only one week left!" Daphne's eyes Winky up. "Skylar, are you planning to participate in this competition?"

Skylar remained noncommittal. "Let's wait and see. We'll have to see what method Dumbledore uses to select adult wizards. To be honest, I don't have the confidence to break the magical restrictions set by the strongest wizard of our time."