An Overpowering Smell

Faced with the unexpected situation, Madam Hooch seemed rather inexperienced. Pale-faced, she had no idea what to do.

William thought that, of all the teachers at Hogwarts, only Flitwick and Professor McGonagall were reliable. As for Snape and Tywin... they had only recently gotten out of the hospital.

"Wingardium Leviosa." William raised his wand and cast the Levitation Charm.

Summerby's fall began to slow. It didn't stop him completely, but at least he dropped slowly into the grass.

Madam Hooch hurried over and bent down to look at Summerby, her face as white as if it had been coated in BB cream.

"Oh, Merlin, he isn't hurt. The vines just squeezed his limbs and left some bruising," Madam Hooch said as she examined Summerby's injuries.

"All right, child-you're fine now. Get up, and I'll take you to Pomfrey. She'll have you right as rain in a few minutes."

Madam Hooch stood up and looked at William. "Excellent Bluebell Flames and Levitation Charm, child. Five points to Ravenclaw House, thanks to you!"

Everyone applauded.

William sighed. He had rescued people so often lately that the teachers of every subject seemed to have agreed to change the reward from fifty points to five!

Needless to say, Professor Snape had surely had a hand in it. Lately, whenever he looked at William, his face lit up with a sleazy smile.

Madam Hooch turned to the rest of the class and said sternly, "I'm taking this child to the hospital. All of you stay on the practice field and put your broomsticks back where they belong.

"Otherwise, you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'..."

Before she had finished speaking, the Devil's Snare suddenly went berserk.

The Devil's Snare feared fire. It drew all its vines back into the ground, leaving only a main stem as thick as an arm.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As if the earth were being beaten with drumsticks, the ground began to shake. Several Magical Creatures' waste treatment pools trembled violently, and the magic on them was destroyed.

Bang!

The Hogwarts microorganism cultivation pool exploded.

Everyone hurried away. Cho was the fastest, hopping straight onto her broom and flying toward the practice field.

William leaped up and grabbed the tail of the broom. The battered broom instantly slowed down and, like an old train, struggled to fly forward with him in tow.

A strong stench spread rapidly on the breeze...

For a while, the scene was utterly miserable.

The Headmaster's Office was on the Seventh Floor, overlooking most of the school's buildings.

Dumbledore stood at the window, gazing toward the horizon. Beside him was a deep red bird, as large as a swan, performing its strange song at the window.

Dumbledore pushed up his Half-moon Spectacles and applauded. "Fawkes, your singing is as beautiful as ever. Paired with the Sorting Hat's lyrics, it's like a stage play... perfect, simply perfect!"

Fawkes bowed slightly and accepted Dumbledore's flattery without a qualm.

Dumbledore pulled some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from his pocket and asked, "Would you like one? I've had good luck lately. I've gotten strawberry several times. It's a wonderful flavour."

Fawkes blinked his two bright black eyes and stared at a spot. A moment later, he vanished from the office without warning.

Dumbledore frowned.

That was unusual. Fawkes was rarely so panicked.

He opened the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, took one out, and held it near his nose.

He twisted it and sniffed it, and a murky smell hit him in the face.

Dumbledore took another deep breath.

This smell... it's a bit overpowering!

Have Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans come out with a new flavour?

No one knew when it began, but a strange smell had enveloped all of Hogwarts.

It had arrived so quietly and so suddenly, mysterious and overpowering, a hundred times stronger than a Dungbomb from Zonko's Joke Shop.

It was no exaggeration to say that the smell was enough to be considered a lethal dose!

Even the professors couldn't make it dissipate quickly. The enormous treatment pools held not only the waste of Magical Creatures, but also that of every teacher and student... This vast energy had already contaminated a stretch of soil, and completely eliminating it would take some time.

And so, classes at the Quidditch practice field were temporarily suspended!

The young witches and wizards complained incessantly, and teams hoping to practise could only play indoor Quidditch... Of course, it wasn't all bad. The school bought a batch of new broomsticks overnight!

After all, the main cause of the accident was that the broomsticks were old and worn out!

According to Summerby afterward, he had first encountered Quidditch at three, could soar freely fifty metres above the ground at five, and had been invited by major clubs at ten. He was clearly a second Krum.

But he had resolutely given up Quidditch, returned to Hogwarts, and joined Hufflepuff. Could you say such an outstanding child lacked talent?

Of course not. So the biggest problem was the poor quality of the school's broomsticks.

Thus, countless students found an excuse!

It wasn't that their flying skills were poor; the school's brooms were holding them back.

Of course, everyone chose to overlook the sight of Cho flying like a bird on that battered broom when she escaped the stench.

According to Madam Hooch, Ravenclaw House had finally produced a talent.

William badly wanted to say that he was talented too.

As the three-point champion of his orphanage's basketball tournament for six consecutive years in his previous life, William didn't want to brag.

But with his incredible shooting touch, if he hadn't been too short, he would definitely have become Asia's number one point guard.

Unfortunately, because of Summerby, the first lesson became an indoor class.

Madam Hooch didn't let them touch a Quaffle, greatly disappointing William, who had been ready to drive with the ball and show off how he could break a press with both hands.

After only a few days apart, Fluffy looked as though he had been taking growth hormones. He had grown several times larger and was almost as big as Fang.

Hagrid also spent all day shut up in his cabin. He even complained that the smell was affecting Fluffy's appetite...

William certainly didn't believe it. He had plainly noticed that Fluffy was eating with even greater relish, and not just Fluffy-Fang was too.

Hagrid still hadn't told Dumbledore about Fluffy, especially since, as time passed, Malfoy still hadn't been sent to Azkaban, and the public were demanding the truth!

The Ministry of Magic could barely hold out.

So Hagrid was very afraid.

William couldn't go and comfort Hagrid every day, because the smell really made his eyes sting.

Everyone wore a mask. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought Hogwarts had an outbreak of bird flu.

Filch made Mrs. Norris a pretty mask and wore one himself, keeping watch everywhere all day with a stick in his hand.

He always claimed the Weasley brothers had created the smell and demanded that Dumbledore punish them severely, or at the very least deduct some points.

It had only been a little over a month since term began, and Gryffindor was already at minus 130 points, rapidly approaching the lowest score in its history!

(First update. Please vote with your recommendation tickets, dear readers!)