Herman looked at his arm and a thought suddenly popped into his head. He said, "Why do I feel like I've turned into Fantastic Beasts? This seems to be the kind of Fantastic Beasts power described in books."
Harry thought for a moment, "Your intuition is very accurate. That's how Ashwinder are; they can ignite flames on their bodies. But you're much stronger than them; at least you won't burn yourself to ashes."
Herman forced a smile, "Thank you for the compliment."
He then pressed further, "Is this the other effect of the Potions you mentioned?"
Harry nodded. "That should be it. It seems the author of that notebook wasn't a proper wizard after all. Since 1743, the Ministry of Magic has prohibited any form of wizarding body modification, specifically the attempt to attach Fantastic Beasts abilities to wizards."
Herman pressed further, "Why ban it? It seems quite useful."
Harry said casually, "It probably affects the mind, similar to Dark Magic, or even more terrifying. Dark Magic at most makes wizards cruel and evil, but body modification makes people as savage as animals, completely losing their minds."
Herman looked terrified: "Then I—"
Harry waved her hand. "That's just one arm. I was talking about a fully mutated body."
Seeing that Herman's expression had relaxed a bit, she slowly added, "But you still need to be careful. If the Auror find out, they might just send you straight to Azkaban to live next to the Dementor."
Herman replied irritably, "Then I'll scout the way for you first and wait for you."
Harry stopped joking. "Alright, you should practice controlling it, so you don't accidentally burn your clothes when you're getting dressed later."
Herman began to practice controlling the flames on his arm repeatedly. He lit the flames and then removed them, repeating this three or four times. Each time, the flames were more fluid than the last, and the response time became shorter and shorter. From the moment he gave the command until the flames rose, there was almost only a blink of an eye.
Then he tried changing the shape of the flame, from covering his entire arm to just wrapping his palm, and then letting it form a thin line of fire along his fingertips. The more he practiced, the smoother he became. When he got into the swing of things, he waved his hand at a dummy in the corner of the wall, and the flame shot out from his arm like an invisible whip, wrapping around the entire upper body of the dummy, and the wooden surface quickly turned black.
He withdrew his magic, the flames disappeared, and the dummy's surface was covered with a layer of charred marks, with wisps of smoke still rising from its edges.
Herman looked at his mutated right hand, then at his left. He used his right hand to cast spells, but he also held the wand in his right hand.
I'll have to practice holding my wand with my left hand from now on, otherwise I might accidentally burn it in my excitement. Judging from the fact that wands can be broken in the original books, Ollivander probably didn't treat them for fire resistance. Otherwise, if wands were all durable, who would he sell them to? He probably would have preferred that they break down at the slightest mistake so that people could replace them every year.
Feeling that she had complete control over the flames, Herman turned to call Harry over, only to find her asleep against the wall.
She chose a spot in the shadows where the light didn't reach, leaning against the stone wall with her arms crossed in front of her, the hem of her school robe draped over her knees, her head slightly turned to one side, her breathing steady, and the lines of her face appearing softer in the shadows.
Her expression was much calmer when she was sleeping than when she was awake, lacking her usual indifference and scrutiny. Her lips were slightly relaxed, like an ordinary eleven-year-old girl. Herman stood a few steps away without making a sound, watching her sleeping, thinking that she must have spent a lot of effort researching the formula these past few days.
He watched her quietly for a while without waking her. It was a pity he didn't have a camera, otherwise he could have taken a picture as a souvenir, and maybe selling her to Snape would have made him treat him better.
Not long after, Harry suddenly opened her eyes, meeting Herman's gaze. Her eyes were still dazed from just waking up, but her tone of voice had already returned to its usual rhythm:
"What are you looking at? I told you the Potions has other effects, this isn't an accident, I won't pay for it."
Herman looked away. "You don't need to pay me back, I'll give you the money. Let's go, it's time to go back."
When the two returned to the Slytherin Common Room, Draco was lying in an armchair by the fireplace, while Crabbe and Goyle were sprawled on the sofas on either side.
All three of them patted their stomachs. Draco's posture was relatively restrained, while Crabbe and Goyle were completely sprawled out, like two lumps of kneaded dough, with a few crumbs of bread on their knees.
On the table were a few crumbs of dry bread and half a glass of leftover Pumpkin Juice. Crabbe's half-eaten pie was almost Transfiguration, with the crust crumbs scattered all over the floor.
When Draco saw Herman, she paused for a moment, her gaze sweeping over his head as if to confirm she wasn't mistaken, before bursting into laughter.
"What were you guys doing? Playing such a dangerous game, you've burned all your hair off!"
Herman reached out and touched his head, which was half burned and uneven. He didn't answer, but simply walked past her toward the dormitory.
Draco's laughter followed from behind, echoing in the corridor for a while before slowly fading away.
He went into the room, closed the door, sat down on the edge of the bed, looked down at the lines that had spread to the back of his hand, raised his hand and tried to let the flame dance in his palm, then pulled it back.
He lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what to do with his hair. At least it needed to be presentable. Maybe he should ask Harry if she knew of any Potions that could make hair grow faster?
After his arm injury completely healed, Herman felt noticeably more confident and walked with a spring in his step.
The dull pain that used to pull with every movement is gone, and my arm has regained its flexibility, feeling like it's brand new.
The only problem was that the flame pattern on his right arm was still there. He tried it and found that it wouldn't catch fire unless he deliberately poured magic into it, so it was safe and controllable.
But there's an even more practical problem: he can no longer hold the wand in his right hand. It's not just the worry that his right hand might catch fire and burn the wand; more importantly, when he casts a spell with his right hand, the magic power flowing towards the wand involuntarily activates the patterns on his arm, causing flames to burst out uncontrollably.
Although the fire wasn't big enough to destroy the wand, the clothes were doomed.
Herman has already burned two sets of undershirts. This was after he discovered the problem and started practicing shirtless; otherwise, no amount of clothing would have been enough to burn.
Left with no other option, Herman could only try to cast spells with his left hand while holding the wand. He tried several times and felt very awkward, like someone who was used to writing with their right hand being suddenly asked to copy a text with their left hand.
The wand feels completely different in my left hand; I have to readjust to the angle and arc when waving it, and the rhythm of my chanting also gets messed up.
He practiced several times in the Room of Requirement, but the Levitation Charm he threw with his left hand either went astray or almost flew out of his hand as soon as he finished the spell.