After listening to Ryan's narration, Hermione's attention was immediately drawn in.
"Oh my God, he is so pitiful. A soul so similar to a human being is forced to live as a wolf. It's not his fault, yet he has to bear everything," she said sympathetically.
"It's not that bad," Ryan quickly reassured her, noticing her growing concern for Wolf's tragic life. He recalled the efforts made later by the house-elves and didn't want Hermione to start a Wolf Protection Association too early.
"While living with centaurs is a bit dull, Mr. Wolf has clearly adapted to life there. He doesn't resent being a wolf—he just finds it boring."
"That makes sense," Hermione agreed after some thought. After all, Harry had encountered centaurs the previous year, and from his account, Hermione knew they were kind creatures. The only real issue was their difficulty in communicating with other species.
After hearing Ryan's story, Hermione learned that Ryan had promised to visit Wolf for a chat whenever he had free time. She immediately asked to accompany him next time.
Since there was no danger, Ryan nodded and agreed.
Finally, Hermione pulled out a sandwich wrapped in newspaper and a bottle of pumpkin juice from her bag, handing them to Ryan. "I figured you didn't get to eat dinner tonight, so I got these for you."
"Thanks a lot," Ryan said gratefully, quickly devouring the food. After spending an entire afternoon battling in the Forbidden Forest, he was starving.
Once he had eaten, Ryan went upstairs to grab his schoolbag before heading to the library with Hermione.
Calm After the Storm
The following days settled into a peaceful routine. Ryan and Hermione visited Wolf several times, chatting and learning more about his life. Meanwhile, Ryan received his rewards from the last battle: three liters of venom from the giant eight-eyed spider, over thirty liters of its blood, and a large bag of processed spider shells.
Firenze personally delivered these in two large baskets on horseback. As soon as Ryan received them, he stored everything in his Myriad Realms Store, where they would remain fresh.
Originally, thousands of giant eight-eyed spiders could have yielded even more materials. Unfortunately, the repeated explosions and flames during the battle had destroyed a significant amount.
The eight-eyed giant spider venom, in particular, had to be collected from the last batch of spiders killed, as it quickly lost its potency after the spider's death. This was precisely why the venom was so expensive on the market.
Delaying the Basilisk Hunt
This encounter made Ryan reconsider his original plan to hunt the basilisk. If a battle against spiders had led to so many unexpected situations, he needed to be more prepared before facing a creature as dangerous as a basilisk.
To ensure success, Ryan designed several new weapons and asked Dr. Zombie Bruce from Plants vs. Zombies to help craft them. However, with Plants vs. Zombies still recovering from recent events, everyone was busy, and the weapons would take a month or two to be completed.
In hindsight, this delay wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The basilisk, being a cold-blooded creature, might become sluggish in winter despite its magical resistance to hibernation. If Ryan waited for colder weather, hunting the basilisk would be much easier.
Instead of wasting time, Ryan decided to use this period to craft new spell scrolls using spider carapace and spider blood to enhance his magical strength.
Autumn at Hogwarts
Time passed quickly, and soon it was mid-October. The weather in Edinburgh had turned gloomy and cold. Living in an old castle made the damp chill even more pronounced, making everyone painfully aware of how miserable the season could be.
The constant rain led to an outbreak of colds among the students. Unfortunately, magic offered little resistance to common illnesses like this.
Luckily, Ryan's improved physical fitness from training kept him from getting sick, allowing him to observe his classmates with some amusement as they suffered through the cold. Madam Pomfrey's remedy, which caused smoke to pour out of their ears, only made the situation funnier.
The Gryffindor Quidditch team suffered the most. Covered in mud after every outdoor practice, they trudged back inside, exhausted from training in such miserable weather.
Seeing this, Ryan came up with a solution: a recipe for brown sugar ginger tea. He asked the Weasley twins to smuggle it into the house-elves' kitchen during one of their nightly escapades.
The next morning, a steaming pot of ginger tea sat by the fireplace in the common room, ready for everyone to enjoy. The warming drink helped students avoid getting sick from the rain, much to their relief.
Although few people knew Ryan was behind this, he was happy just to see his fellow students benefiting from his efforts.
One person who did know, however, was Madam Pomfrey. Since the house-elves were preparing food for students, they had to get her approval for the recipe.
Recognizing Ryan's handwriting from his last visit to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey quickly figured out who had prescribed it. Once she confirmed the drink's effectiveness, she called Ryan in for a discussion.
Thankfully, wizarding medicine followed an ancient Greek understanding of hot, cold, dry, and wet, which coincided with many British herbal medicine principles.
To provide better explanations, Ryan asked his father to visit Plymouth's Chinatown and mail several English-language medical books to him. He then handed them to Madam Pomfrey, hoping they would help her understand the concepts better.
Despite being more knowledgeable than Ryan in medicine, Madam Pomfrey still studied these new ideas with great interest. Whenever she encountered something unfamiliar, she wasn't afraid to ask Ryan for clarification.
Her open-mindedness and thirst for knowledge were what made her such an exceptional healer at Hogwarts. This attitude would have made her successful in any profession.
A Meeting with Nearly Headless Nick
One afternoon, Ryan had just left the hospital wing when he ran into Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, better known as Nearly Headless Nick.
The ghost was holding a letter and looked unusually nervous.
"Hello, Sir Nicholas," Ryan greeted politely. "What are you up to?"
Nick sighed dramatically. "I received a reply from the Headless Hunt. I was hoping they would finally accept me this time."
He opened the letter, but his expression quickly turned into one of disappointment.
"They rejected me again! All because I'm half an inch away from a full decapitation," Nick lamented.
Seeing how dejected Nick looked, Ryan decided to comfort him. After all, he was grateful to the ghost for allowing him to use the Room of Requirement before.
"Sir Nicholas, if something is troubling you, why don't we sit down and talk about it? Maybe sharing your thoughts will help," Ryan offered kindly.
Nick looked touched. "Oh, thank you, my dear boy! It's rare for someone to actually listen to my troubles."
They stepped into an empty storage room, where Ryan cleared a few crates and used one as a table. Sitting opposite Nick, Ryan said, "Actually, I recently learned a new spell that I think might cheer you up…"
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