"My name is Hermione Granger," Hermione answered softly, then hesitantly asked, "How should I address you?"
"Me?" The old woman shook her head slightly and said gently, "Just call me Lady."
"Lady?" Hermione looked at the old woman with confusion, nodded, then asked somewhat cautiously, "Lady, may I ask, is this still part of Professor Kahn's assessment for joining the Magical Creatures Club?"
"Professor Kahn? Magical Creatures Club?" The old woman's eyes showed some confusion, but it quickly turned to amusement.
"I understand. It seems a Hogwarts professor has set up an assessment on top of my little surprise?"
"Hmm... Magical Creatures Club. This professor teaches Care of Magical Creatures, I assume?"
"This isn't Professor Kahn's assessment?" Hermione stood there somewhat at a loss. Though she'd had this premonition before, receiving confirmation still made her afraid.
If this wasn't Professor Kahn's assessment, it meant she'd entered a completely unfamiliar area with no supervision.
And if she missed Professor Kahn's assessment, how would she be able to join the Magical Creatures Club?
Thinking this, Hermione asked cautiously:
"Can I... can I leave?"
"Leave?" The old woman smiled and nodded. "Of course, dear, you can certainly leave."
Hearing this, Hermione's face showed delight.
But the old woman's next words were like a bucket of ice water poured over her head:
"However, as you can probably tell, I'm just a captured memory and don't have the ability to control this place."
The old woman demonstrated by putting her hand through the rocking chair beneath her, showing she spoke the truth.
"The rules here are that young witches must complete the little surprise I left behind before they can leave."
Seeing the little witch's dejected expression, the old woman spoke gently again:
"Don't be too discouraged. After you complete my little surprise, I can give you some things. Take one of them to your professor. I believe he'll do me a favour and let you join his club."
With that, the old woman pointed to the Venomous Tentacula in front of her.
"This Venomous Tentacula is a bit sick. Do you know what's wrong with it?"
Following the old woman's finger to look at the impressive-looking plant in the centre, Hermione observed carefully for several seconds, then shook her head in confusion.
Venomous Tentacula wasn't a magical plant second-years needed to study. She'd only read about this plant in books and knew some of its basic characteristics.
As for diagnosing illness, she had no experience at all.
Seeing the girl's bewildered expression, the old woman chuckled softly and stood up from her rocking chair.
"That's alright. Come, I'll teach you."
…
"Well done, Little Cloak!"
In the pure white mist, George and Fred clutched Little Cloak's corners, crouching in a narrow corridor they normally wouldn't pass through, working on something.
They had just successfully completed a puzzle and obtained an item. Now, they were doing something extremely reckless.
Attempting to defeat one of the castle's monsters using traps and pranks.
While searching for puzzles, they'd briefly encountered that monster. Thanks to Professor Kahn's lessons, they'd easily recognised it as a Sphinx.
The reason they dared do something so reckless was because of the item they'd just obtained.
George glanced at the capsule-like object in his pocket.
Item: Slowness Capsule
Effect: Throw the capsule at a target to reduce their movement speed by 95% for five minutes.
With this item, they could create a trap based on its effect. Never mind whether it would help with the assessment. If they could capture that Sphinx, it would be incredibly satisfying!
Who cared about assessments when you could cause trouble?
After casting all the trap spells they knew on both sides of the corridor and watching Little Cloak bury shadows in the middle, Fred went to a nearby classroom and brought back a pile of desks, chairs, and benches, placing them in the corridor centre, leaving only a small gap for the bait to pass through.
After finishing all this, Fred wiped away sweat and asked excitedly:
"Who's going to be the bait?"
"I'll go," George waved coolly, then squeezed through the gap Fred had left and walked toward the other end of the corridor.
They'd already been chased by that monster once before solving puzzles, so they knew exactly where it was.
Waiting in position, after about two minutes, a roar echoed, and hurried footsteps ran their way.
Within ten seconds, George appeared in the sight of the person and the Lethifold. Behind him, heavy footsteps kept sounding, and a huge head appeared and disappeared in the mist, quickly reaching their trap.
Timing it perfectly, George spun around and threw the capsule at the Sphinx.
An invisible wave rippled out, and the Sphinx's already modest movement speed suddenly became incredibly slow. Instantly, countless black shadows burst from beneath Little Cloak; darkness from the trap surged up, becoming ropes that completely bound the Sphinx.
Then, all of George and Fred's trap spells triggered. In an instant, countless strange magical lights exploded in the narrow corridor, mixed with fireworks and laughter, completely obscuring the Sphinx's form.
As the dust gradually settled, under George and Fred's expectant gazes, a figure completely wrapped in black threads appeared in their vision.
Success?
However, the next second, the Sphinx lifted one foot. Little Cloak's dark mist wrapped around it instantly shattered, Fred and George's spells had no effect at all, and even the desks, chairs, and benches used as obstacles were all kicked flying.
Their carefully constructed trap was completely useless. From the beginning, they had misjudged this Sphinx's power.
Even without answering questions incorrectly, it wasn't a creature that could be trapped by such methods.
Seeing the Sphinx easily escape from their trap, silently gaze at them, and slowly approach, George and Fred made eye contact, instantly grabbed the still-dazed Little Cloak's corners, and fled toward the distant corridor.
"Why are you standing there dazed?"
"Run for your life!"
Moving slowly, the Sphinx wanted to chase those young wizards, but the Slowness Charm's effect still persisted. Although it only needed to exert force to break free from this effect, it had to follow the rules Evans had set. It couldn't violate the Slowness Charm's effect.
But...
A somewhat honest smile appeared on the Sphinx's face.
Then, in the direction the two humans and one Lethifold were fleeing, another deafening roar echoed.