Undercurrents Stirring
On the last day before November ended, Sleeping Dragon Society received some good news.
The research on the Growth Potion has finally been completed.
Under the watchful eyes of all the core members, Morrie carefully took out a bottle of green potion with an eerie glow and slowly poured it into a container, inside which lay a seed of the Devil's Snare.
The moment the potion touched the seed, it trembled violently, followed by a faint but rapid hissing sound, as if it were boiling. In just a few seconds, the seed suddenly split open, and a dark green vine shot out instantly, rapidly growing into a grotesque, mature Devil's Snare, wildly waving its tendrils, trying to entangle everyone present.
Skylar's eyes narrowed, and he snapped his fingers lightly. In an instant, a blazing white fireball silently appeared in mid-air, radiating a chillingly high temperature. The Devil's Snare seemed to be under great threat; its wildly twisting vines instantly retreated, shrinking into a ball, no longer daring to move rashly.
"Well done, Morrie and Qiu." Skylar looked at the two women and offered his praise.
"This is all thanks to Mr. Toots' research notes; otherwise, the research wouldn't have yielded results so quickly," Cho Chang said, her face flushed and somewhat shy.
"Luna," Skylar said.
"I am here."
"From now on, the Dragon Wing Team will be divided into two teams. One team will be responsible for cultivating Fantastic Beasts and magical plants, while the other team will begin training on the application of magical plants in actual combat. The two teams will take turns switching responsibilities," Skylar said solemnly.
"Yes, I understand."
"Devil's Snare, Mandrake, Venomous Tentacula, and Venomous Tentacula are just the basics; I also want all members to master more advanced and ferocious magical plant variants. I will have Sarf provide you with more assistance; she has a deeper understanding and knowledge of the habits of these dangerous dark plants."
"Skylar, I will do my utmost to assist Miss Lovegood," Sarf said in a cool voice.
Skylar's Dark Laboratory was always managed by Sarf, and with her assistance, Luna should be fine, so Skylar was quite at ease.
Skylar nodded, but still added, "Be extra careful. Those... things are still quite dangerous for young wizards."
The magical plants in the Dark Laboratory are far more dangerous than those publicly known in the Wizarding World; compared to them, the Devil's Snare is like a cute little baby.
For example, the Devil's Snare's variant, the "Man-Eating Vine," likes to feed on human flesh and blood, is not afraid of fire, and cannot be cut by ordinary Severing Curse.
For example, the hybrid variant of Chinese Chomping Cabbage and Fanged Geranium, "Venomous Cabbage," not only contains deadly poison in its sharp teeth and saliva, but can also self-destruct when attacked by magic, spewing out enough poisonous gas to cover an area of three meters.
The "Nightmare Flower," a hybrid of the Sleepy Flower and a self-pollinating shrub, is equally impressive. Its flowers can be controlled to bloom at a specific moment, releasing an astonishing amount of sleepy pollen. If the location and wind direction are arranged properly, the amount is enough to knock out hundreds of wizards.
Once the members of the Dragon Wing Team master the practical application of these dangerous plants, their combat power will be quite formidable.
December brought even more snow, and with it, an avalanche of homework for fifth-grade students.
As Christmas approaches, the Prefect's workload is getting heavier and heavier.
They were responsible for overseeing the decoration of the castle, keeping an eye on the first and second graders who stayed indoors during breaks because of the cold, and taking turns patrolling the corridors with Filch suspected that fighting might increase during the holidays.
Of course, Ron and Hermione were the most miserable. Peeves was always causing them trouble, and many of the older Gryffindor students, under McLaggen's protection, simply wouldn't listen to any of their instructions, refusing to cooperate on many things and sometimes deliberately creating trouble.
Ron and Hermione had approached McLaggen many times to discuss the matter, but each time they failed to reach a conclusion. McLaggen would always make excuses to avoid them or tell them to go to Filch or Umbridge, clearly convinced that neither of them would dare to do so.
Harry's situation wasn't much better.
He was banned from Quidditch for life, losing his favorite activity and forced to watch enviously as his teammates trained in the sky. He also had to worry about Hagrid being placed on probation and fearing Hagrid would be fired.
He hated Hogwarts.
His only hope lay in the activities of the Dumbledore's Army. However, the situation for this activity was becoming increasingly difficult.
McLaggen has openly become Umbridge's eyes and ears, patrolling the hallways frequently, looking for any students who might violate school rules by holding parties.
Harry himself, unsurprisingly, became the focus of his attention. For some reason, he seemed convinced that Harry was holding some kind of secret gathering at school that violated school rules, and kept sending more people to follow and monitor him, even Hermione and Ron, the two Prefect, which made him extremely anxious and impatient.
With Umbridge's covert support, McLaggen's influence grew rapidly. His original five followers quickly expanded to twenty, many of whom were prominent figures in Hogwarts, such as Fred Cattermole, the seventh-year Prefect of Ravenclaw; Skyler Fawcett, the seventh-year Prefect of Ravenclaw; and Stebbins, her boyfriend in Hufflepuff.
This made McLaggen's attitude increasingly arrogant and domineering, and he became increasingly disdainful of others.
Aside from Harry Potter and his friends, he most enjoyed causing trouble for Slytherin students, especially the young wizards who were on good terms with Skylar. It seems he still harbored resentment over being humiliated by Skylar on the train.
But given Skylar's status, family background, and reputation, he dared not cause trouble for Skylar, so he could only take his anger out on the people around him.
At this moment, Skylar did not want to break ties with Umbridge so quickly, so he strictly ordered all members of the Sleeping Dragon Society to avoid any conflict with McLaggen's forces. If they were entangled with the Justice Inquisitorial Squad, they should go directly to Skylar, Daphne, Morrie, Susan, and the other four Slytherin Prefect to deal with them.
They were all Prefect, on par with McLaggen in terms of power and status. In addition, with Skylar backing Snape, Umbridge's control over Hogwarts was not yet sufficient at this stage, and McLaggen dared not go too far.
Of course, while it wouldn't cause any real harm to the Sleeping Dragon Society, annoying flies are always a nuisance.
Although Skylar wouldn't lay a hand on McLaggen, there were still occasional "accidents" where Kenneth Toller would be knocked unconscious and have his head shoved into a toilet.
There's also the "accident" where Marcos Belby accidentally replaced Sneezewort with Flameweed in Potions, resulting in a spectacular explosion that landed him in the Hospital Wing.
After several unexpected events, even the slow-witted McLaggen realized that someone was targeting him. However, he had already made too many enemies, and most of the students at Hogwarts were suspects, to the point that he had no idea where to begin his investigation.
This made him paranoid, more impatient, and increasingly domineering, almost to the point of crossing the professors' boundaries.
In short, life at Hogwarts has entered a period of undercurrents, with different unexpected events and rumors spreading every day.