Victor pressed his earmuffs in, then reached out and, just like Professor Sprout, grabbed the Mandrake's stem and leaves and pulled. An incredibly ugly, crying, gurning root appeared before him. He leaned in for a closer look, and the more he stared, the more he felt like he had seen this face somewhere, in some anime. Was it called a Jiguko?
Victor didn't immediately put the Mandrake back in the pot. Instead, he mischievously uncovered a small gap in his earmuffs. In an instant, he felt an intense dizziness, as if someone had taken his brain out of his skull and hit it with a hammer. His vision immediately blurred.
WHOA!
He quickly covered his ears again and used Sky Dragon Slayer Magic to dispel the negative effects on himself. Goodness, that scream is brutal! Why are all the creatures in the Harry Potter world so bizarre? The Mind Ward had no effect, which meant the scream was a physical attack, a special kind of sound wave.
In fact, what he had just heard wasn't just the cry of the Mandrake in his hand, but the cry of every Mandrake in the entire Greenhouse Three.
Patting his groggy head, Victor glared at the Mandrake in his hand, which was still wailing. Honestly, this thing was so noisy that even with earmuffs on, it was irritating. With a few angry thoughts, Victor grabbed a handful of soil and plastered it over the Mandrake's mouth before putting it back into the new pot and burying it with fresh soil.
Even with the increased class time, the Herbology class quickly ended. Before he left, Victor secretly took a few Mandrake leaves. After his conversation with Gryffindor last night and Scarlia's answer in class, he suddenly wanted to try practicing to become an Animagus.
An Animagus is a witch or wizard who can transform into a specific animal while retaining their magical abilities. The method to become an Animagus is as follows:
For one whole month (from a full moon to a full moon), you must constantly hold a single Mandrake leaf in your mouth. You cannot swallow the leaf or take it out of your mouth at any time. If the leaf leaves your mouth, the entire process must be started over.
On a full moon, take the leaf out and place it in a small crystal vial filled with your saliva. The vial must receive pure moonlight (if the night is cloudy, you must find a new Mandrake leaf and start over). Then, add one of your hairs and a silver teaspoon of dew to the moonlight-infused crystal vial.
The dew must be collected from a place that hasn't been exposed to sunlight or human contact for seven full days. Finally, add a chrysalis of a death's-head moth. Place the mixture in a quiet, dark place and do not look at it or disturb it until the next thunderstorm.
While waiting for the thunderstorm, you should do the following at sunrise and sunset every day: point your wand at your heart and chant the incantation: "Amato Animo Animato Animagus".
After drinking the potion, you will feel intense pain and two violent heartbeats. The image of the creature you are about to transform into will appear in your mind.
In fact, Victor already knew a type of magic similar to an Animagus.
Take Over Magic was a type of magic that Mirajane and her siblings had awakened naturally. It was a magic that allowed them to receive the power of a monster or animal and use it for themselves. It could be divided into Partial Take Over, which only took over a part of the target's body, and Full Take Over, which completely took over the target.
However, compared to being an Animagus, Take Over Magic had a major flaw. That was, even when using Full Take Over, the fundamental essence of the user as a "human" didn't change at all.
For example, if Victor were to use Take Over on Helena, he would have some of the Swooping Evil's abilities, but they would be limited to his physical abilities. Other abilities, such as changing his body size and exhaling a poisonous breath, would be greatly weakened.
That was why Victor wanted to learn to be an Animagus. He also wanted to challenge a height that no Transfiguration master in the world had ever been able to reach.
Leaving Greenhouse Three, Victor originally wanted to go directly to the Black Lake to look for Gryffindor's tomb. But before that, someone found him in a hurry.
"Victor! I finally found you!" A figure suddenly came running from the other side of the school corridor, breathing heavily.
"Cedric?!" Victor looked at the person in front of him from head to toe and asked in confusion, "Why are you in such a hurry? Is there something important?"
"Haha, it's not a big deal!" Cedric said, scratching his head. "It's just that I finished learning everything in that book you gave me, The Basic Principles of Magic Circles and Rune Carving, in the first month of the summer holidays. But I didn't have your contact information, so I had to wait until now to find you."
"Oh?! I thought you had given up since you never came looking for me!" Victor said in amazement. "Have you tried drawing any basic magic circles?"
"Yes, although I'm not very skilled yet, I can at least release them completely now!" With that, Cedric took out his wand and began to draw a basic magic circle in front of Victor. It took a little over ten seconds for a water-type basic magic circle to be released, and a water ball the size of a basketball fell from mid-air to the ground.
"Very good!" Victor looked at the water stain on the ground and nodded in praise. "I have to say that your talent is even a little higher than Hermione's. I taught her several times over the summer, but her time for drawing a basic magic circle still hasn't broken the twenty-second mark."
"Can I learn Skyscraper now?" Cedric asked excitedly.
"Not yet!" Victor immediately poured cold water on his enthusiasm. "You can only learn Skyscraper after you've practiced drawing a basic magic circle to the point where it only takes you two seconds!"
"What! Two seconds?!" Cedric was shocked. "How is that even possible?!"
"Practice makes perfect!" Victor replied. With that, he snapped his fingers, and a water-type basic magic circle flashed by. A transparent water ball instantly floated in mid-air. He then snapped his fingers again, and a fire-type basic magic circle was released, turning the water ball into steam.
"Cedric, you have to remember! You can't forcefully memorize the runes of a magic circle with your mind. You have to use your body to feel and become familiar with them. I suggest you set aside a certain amount of time every day to practice repeatedly. Although this process is very boring, it's the only way for you to quickly master basic magic circles."
"Okay!" Cedric nodded in a bit of a dejected mood. "Then I have one more question. If I meet the requirements to learn Skyscraper, how long will it take for me to be able to use the illusion to practice Quidditch?"
"If you want to practice to the point where you can create a permanent and fixed illusion like the one with the pumpkin head on the first floor, it will probably take you five to eight years, depending on your talent and effort. But if you just want to practice Quidditch, it will probably only take one to two years! After all, you just need to cast the spell directly on a person. It just uses a lot more magic than a permanent, fixed illusion!" Victor estimated in his heart.
"Okay, I understand!" Cedric's fighting spirit was ignited upon hearing that it would only take two years at most. He had absolute confidence in himself. As long as he practiced hard, he might be able to basically master Skyscraper in just one year or even less than a year!
"Thank you, Victor! I'm going back to practice my magic now!" After thanking him, Cedric turned around and rushed off to find a place to practice drawing basic magic circles. But as soon as he said that, a hand grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Wait a minute!" Victor reached out and grabbed Cedric's robe. "What's the rush? I have something I need to tell you!"
"The guild is planning to recruit new members this weekend! I'll be putting up an announcement all over the school in the next two days," Victor said slowly. "Wait for my message then, and come over to help!"
"Okay, no problem!" Cedric nodded in agreement.
And so, after parting with Cedric, Victor headed to the Black Lake as planned. Looking at the vast, shimmering surface of the water in front of him, he didn't plan on draining the entire Black Lake as he had last time. After all, school had already started, and it wasn't appropriate to make such a big fuss.
So, Victor didn't think too much about it. He cast an Impervius charm on himself and then dove directly into the lake.
Relying on his memory, Victor quickly arrived at the merpeople's village in the Black Lake. He just waved his hand at the merpeople who were swimming toward him with their spears and the dozens of Grindylows who were preparing to cause trouble, and a huge empty chamber suddenly covered the entire merpeople's village. The merpeople and the Grindylows were caught off guard and fell to the ground.
"Send someone who can talk over here!" Victor ignored the merpeople struggling on the ground and shouted directly.
A moment later, a merperson who was a bit sturdier than the average merperson swam out, moving its fishtail. He asked nervously and respectfully, "Powerful wizard, what brings you here?"
"Where is Godric Gryffindor's tomb? Do you know?" Victor didn't waste any more words and asked directly.
"I know. It's in the deepest part of the Black Lake, in the Great Chasm, where countless foreign materials have settled. Godric Gryffindor's tomb is guarded by a giant squid that has lived for who knows how long!" The merperson leader breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that he wasn't there to cause trouble for them.
"Where is the Great Chasm?"
"It's in the center of the lake. There's a huge rock cave there. You can get to the Great Chasm by going through the rock cave!"
"Okay, thanks!" Victor waved his hand, and the power of the empty chamber instantly disappeared. A massive amount of lake water instantly poured in, making all the merpeople and Grindylows dizzy and disoriented.
If someone were to fly over the Black Lake at this moment, they would see that in one spot on the lake's surface, the water was boiling and constantly bubbling up.
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