A Bowtruckle Named Zaun

William arrived at the Great Hall early the next morning.

He didn't go back to his dorm yesterday; he slept in a double room at the Room of Requirement.

Luna's words still had some impact on him, even though she was probably joking on purpose.

Not long after, Professor Flitwick arrived and tossed a huge stack of timetables to William, instructing him to distribute them when the third-year students arrived.

William stacked the class schedules together and placed them on the table.

Soon, Hermione arrived. She was alone and, as always, had gotten up early to review her lessons.

She sat at the Ravenclaw dining table and recounted what had happened the previous night.

It turned out that after Harry and Ron returned, they were treated as heroes by the Gryffindor students, and the two were quite pleased with themselves.

"They're still celebrating, thinking it's something glorious!" Hermione fumed. "If you ask me, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Harry and Ron got expelled!"

"Okay, don't be angry." William handed Hermione a summer strawberry sandwich.

Hermione took it and gave most of it to William, and also added two fried eggs, one for each of them.

William took a bite, shook his head, and said, "Isn't that what Gryffindor is like? They just haven't realized the seriousness of the problem."

"So you see... this is wrong, they should reflect deeply on their actions!"

Hermione's expression was exactly the same as Professor McGonagall's when she said this.

Many students have already been secretly calling Hermione "Little McGonagall"... Indeed, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

William, without looking up, continued writing on the table and said, "Don't argue with Harry and Ron anymore. They won't listen to you, and it'll only damage your friendship, understand?"

Hermione gave a soft, nasal "hmm".

William looked up and laughed angrily, "Don't try to fool me!"

Hermione's eyes crinkled with amusement as she wrinkled her delicate nose and said softly, in a childlike voice, "Okay!"

"I know what you're thinking, that both of them should be punished... and they will be punished."

What punishment?

"Solitary confinement, cleaning toilets, wiping trophies, going to the Forbidden Forest... Filch has plenty of disgusting methods."

Mrs. Weasley would also send Ron a Howler.

Mrs. Weasley sent the twins Howler because they refused to send them Hogwarts Map with their location.

How could Ron possibly escape?!

"By the way, where's Anne? Didn't you wake her up this morning?"

"Gryffindor first-year students don't have morning classes, so I didn't wake her. I won't let her sleep in next time."

Hermione said, taking out a Herbology textbook from her ring.

William hummed in agreement and continued writing with his head down.

"What are you writing?" Hermione rested her head gently on William's arm, looking at him curiously.

"I'm writing to Diagon Alley to order some food."

"Snacks with Bobocha?"

"No, it's these three little ones."

William opened his pocket, revealing three tree-like beings.

"Wow, it's Bowtruckle! I saw it in ' Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Them'!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly in a high-pitched voice. "Where did you get it?"

"At the place Whomping Willow '."

Hermione quickly reached out, but the Bowtruckle fearfully dodged away. They stretched out their slender arms, swaying gently, and nimbly climbed onto William's shoulder.

"They are a little shy."

William gently took Hermione's right hand, and with his patient persuasion, a Bowtruckle shakily climbed up her arm and onto Hermione's arm.

William gave Hermione some Potions to feed to the Bowtruckle.

Bowtruckle loves to eat ground beetles or fairy eggs. Feeding him with Potions is a bit of a luxury, so he needs to buy some dried ground beetles from Diagon Alley.

Bowtruckle are also very useful; they can find precious trees and open locks that cannot be opened with magic.

Their long, sharp fingers make them natural-born lock-pickers, a perfect Niffler for the thieving Niffler!

William kept the Bowtruckle; it was useful because the secret passage they discovered still contained many rooms that couldn't be opened.

He plans to take some time to go and check it out.

William then tossed Hermione a silver ring.

"I've made the ring much larger; you can plant the Devil's Snare inside. The Bowtruckle will live on the Devil's Snare's vines, and you just need to feed it beetles regularly."

Newt's trunk was infinitely expanded using the Undetectable Extension Charm, large enough to comfortably house several fire dragons.

How does Hagrid's song go again?

Falling in love with a fire dragon

But there are no grasslands in my home.

This makes me feel desperate.

Miss Long...

But for wizards who know the Undetectable Extension Charm, this is no problem!

"Is the other Bowtruckle for Anne?" Hermione asked.

William nodded.

Have you chosen a name yet?

"Well, my Bowtruckle is named Zaun, you two can name yours yourselves."

William hoped that this Bowtruckle would inherit the tradition of the Zaun and be gentle and approachable to other wizards.

Hermione smiled, her fingers twitching as her tree-like creature extended its long claws and coiled around her hand.

The girl was having a great time.

Soon, Cedric arrived.

He looked exceptionally excited, walking with a brisk pace.

"What's wrong?" William asked. "You seem so happy."

"Wasn't the Whomping Willow hit by a car?" Cedric sat down next to William.

"You're so happy?"

"No, Professor Sprout needs treatment for the Whomping Willow, so I applied for permission for us to help out as well."

Cedric grinned smugly, planning to ask for some more broken branches while he was receiving treatment.

As Professor Sprout's favorite student, Cedric did have this privilege.

"William probably can't make it," Hermione said, holding the Bowtruckle.

"Why?"

"Because he has a lot of classes these two days." Hermione raised her chin, gesturing to the top of the stack of timetables.

"The school has scheduled a full ten classes for him every day, there's not enough time," Hermione said, pointing to the timetable.

Cedric also picked up the timetable.

"This morning... nine o'clock, Divination; nine o'clock, Muggle Studies; and Arithmetical Divination... William, how come you're taking three classes at the same time?"

"I'll be selective about which classes I attend. I won't go to things like Muggle Studies; I'll just go for the final exams," William explained.

"You can do it this way?"

"Of course."

If it weren't mandatory to attend class, he would skip Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class altogether.

Anyway, I've already learned everything in the time loop, so it's still one-on-one tutoring.

Although William chose many courses, he didn't attend many of them; he only focused on taking exams and then obtained all the certificates by the time he was in fifth grade.

That's how top students can be so capricious.

Hermione seemed thoughtful; it seemed she could do the same next year, after all, William had helped her preview many lessons over the summer.

For example, she's making great progress with Transfiguration.

She could continue to have William tutor her while she had fewer classes in her second year.

Hehe~

Hermione had a bright smile on her face.

"William, I really don't recommend you go to that old charlatan's Divination. Professor Vector's Arithmancy is much more interesting." Cedric tossed a piece of bread into his mouth.

"It's alright, I'll attend Professor Vector's class next period," William explained.

Although Arithmancy also uses the word "Divination," it is more rigorous and logical.

Gringotts requires its Curse-Breaker to have studied Arithmancy, otherwise they cannot break the curse in the Egypt pyramids.

Just then, a deafening roar suddenly came from the Gryffindor dining table.

"... You stole a car... just wait and see how I deal with you... you never even considered how your father and I felt when we found the car was gone..."

"... Because you drove it out without permission, your father will be investigated by the Ministry of Magic. It's all your fault! If you don't behave, we'll bring you back immediately and send you to Muggle boarding school!"

The yelling finally stopped. Ron, his face flushed and veins bulging on his forehead, argued loudly, "We weren't seen by Muggle... seen!... Does that count as a violation of the International Statute of Secrecy?"

Then came a string of incomprehensible words, such as "The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery" and "The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy."

This caused everyone to burst into laughter, filling the Great Hall with a joyful atmosphere.

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