Two Weeks Later
"Wait," Hagrid said, looking down into the box, "There's still one Niffler left... Who hasn't come? Where's Harry?"
"He had to go to the hospital," Ron said.
"We'll explain later," Hermione said softly, not wanting to answer Hagrid's question at the moment, because she noticed Pansy Parkinson loitering nearby, eavesdropping.
This was truly the most fun Care of Magical Creatures. The Niffler darted in and out of the ground as if they were in water, each one rushing to the student who had released them and spitting out coins into their hands.
Daphne had a particularly large haul; her thighs were soon piled high with gold coins. She winked at Skylar, as if asking him how he did it; clearly, Skylar's selection of the Niffler was definitely not random.
Skylar smiled but didn't intend to explain. In fact, he didn't know how to explain it either; this special ability had come about somewhat inexplicably.
Just then, Harry walked across the lawn toward them. Both his hands were wrapped in thick bandages, making him look rather pitiful.
"Alright, let me see how you've done!" Hagrid said. "Count your coins! Trying to steal them won't work, Goyle," he said, narrowing his bright black eyes. "These are the Goblin's coins; they'll disappear in a few hours."
Goyle pulled out the gold coins from his pocket, looking utterly distressed. In the end, Daphne's Niffler won first place, and amidst the envious glances of the other little witches, Hagrid rewarded her with a large piece of Honeydukes chocolate. Although Daphne was beginning to show signs of maturity, she was still essentially just a 14-year-old girl, and in class she usually chose to maintain the persona expected of a young woman.
She happily accepted Hagrid's chocolate and, in front of everyone, gave Skylar a sweet kiss on the cheek.
Both the Slytherin and Gryffindor witches applauded the golden couple.
The Slytherin witches had essentially realized they had no chance with Skylar, and turned their attention to Draco, Nott, and Blaise, three promising candidates; while the Gryffindor witches were indeed extremely envious of Daphne's treatment.
Looking at Daphne, who was radiant with love, Parvati felt a surge of resentment. Why were her and Daphne, both Champion' partners, so drastically different in fate? She had been reduced to a clown in gossip news. Thinking of this, her hatred for Harry intensified.
As for Hermione, another supporting character in the gossip news, when she saw Skylar being kissed, she accidentally grabbed the Niffler's neck too tightly, resulting in the Niffler biting her hard, making her cry in pain.
The lunch bell rang from the other end of the grounds, and Skylar and the young Slytherin wizards set off back to the castle, leaving Harry, and Harry chatting with Hagrid.
Harry told Hagrid about receiving the malicious letter, Hagrid told him not to take it to heart and just throw the letter into the fire.
Ron was deeply bothered by the fact that the Leprechaun gold would disappear automatically. He had given his Leprechaun gold to Harry during the Quidditch World Cup to pay for the Omnioculars. Although Harry, who had little interest in money, didn't mind, Ron's fragile pride was once again trampled on because of poverty.
Hermione seemed still shaken from being bitten by the Niffler. She listened quietly to their conversation, but stood there silently with a furrowed brow. It wasn't until Harry and Ron called her to leave that she snapped out of her daze.
Nothing noteworthy happened on campus in the following week.
Harry continued to receive malicious letters, and although he heeded Hagrid's advice to stop opening them, some malicious individuals sent Howler that exploded on Gryffindor's desk, screeching insults that could be heard throughout the Great Hall. Now, even those who didn't read * The Witch Weekly * knew about the messy love quadrangle involving Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Parvati.
While Harry was embroiled in the scandal and constantly busy explaining and clarifying things to people, Skylar received a lot of good news.
After nearly two months, Morrie and her team finally succeeded in figuring out a way to hide the Secret Keeper in the location concealed by the Fidelius Charm;
Meanwhile, Luna and her friends also brought good news: they had successfully figured out how to cultivate Pygmy Puff in pink, light blue, and light yellow. The Pygmy Puff even had watery eyes, making them extremely adorable.
One night, Skylar had Dobby Apparition with him to Ella Cottage, where he used the Fidelius Charm to transform it into a safe house, with Schelling himself as the Secret Keeper.
Next, they transformed 93 Diagon Alley they had taken over from Nott Sr., into a new shop. The shop's main products were various protective gear developed by Skylar, such as bracelets with the Shield Charm and cloaks with the Water-and-Fire Immunity Charm. They also sold "Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," an escape tool that Ali Bashir had helped him import from Peru.
In the early days of opening the store, Skylar only assigned a few illegitimate members of the House of Malfoy to manage it. He had no intention of publishing advertisements or making a big fuss about the business. In his view, it was not yet time to widely promote protective equipment. His plan was simply to gain a foothold in Diagon Alley first, and when war really broke out, business would come naturally.
So, Voldemort has no choice but to be resurrected.
However, armor shops can also sell some entertainment products unrelated to protection, such as the adorable Pygmy Puff exclusively developed by girls, which perfectly matches girls' aesthetics. Skylar is sure this will definitely spark a wave of popularity for keeping it as a pet.
Another week passed, Ali Bashir rushed back to Britain, where he met with Skylar in Hogsmeade Village.
Ali did not disappoint Skylar's expectations, finding him a piece of Snakewood that exuded an ancient aura. Both the diameter of the Snakewood and the dazzling dark gold patterns on it made it a top choice among materials for making staffs.
Over the past three weeks, Sarf had used the Time-Turner Skylar had lent her to read through the entire collection of books. Interestingly, the Time-Turner couldn't leave any trace of time magic on her, a discovery that greatly surprised Skylar. When Skylar was a child, he had frequently used the Time-Turner, and his body hadn't shown any signs of premature growth. He deduced that this was because he hadn't used it for more than five hours at a time, meaning he was still within the rules of time magic.
However, under the observation of the Magic Eye, he could see faint, almost imperceptible traces of the magic of time on his body, meaning—
Using time magic to travel through time and space does have an impact on the body, but it's not the simple aging effect described in Muggle World biology.
However, there was absolutely no trace of this magic in Sarf. What does that mean?
Skylar frowned. Could it be that Sarf's existence had already escaped the control of time magic? Was that possible?