But no matter what, life had to go on.
It had been several days since their 'Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes' delivered the 'Imitation Wand 2.0 Gale Edition' to Filch. The one-month observation period had allowed Filch to gradually get used to it and let his guard down.
He began to focus more of his energy on patrolling the castle, as that was his actual job.
So, Anton discussed it with the twins, and they decided to open for business!
It was time to sell the backlog of various magical joke products, recoup their funds, and move on to the next stage of research.
Especially the dozen or so boxes of Dungbombs piled up in the corners of the house, it was time to let Filch look forward to the wonderful experience of 'Scourgify'.
There were no celebratory firecrackers.
There was no sound of gongs and drums.
Their little campus tuck shop was more like a black market.
All the students had a tacit understanding to come over secretly and go back quietly.
Anton's 'Snake Transformation Candy' had already been developed to version 2.0, turning into a whole series.
Snake Transformation Candy: Transforms into a 1-meter-long snake, effect wears off automatically after 2 hours.
Anti-Snake Transformation Candy: Provides immunity to 'Snake Transformation Candy' for 72 hours after consumption, can also be used as a specific antidote for 'Snake Transformation Candy'.
Serpent Hand Candy: Transforms one arm into a snake.
Anti-Serpent Hand Candy: Same as above.
Enhanced Snake Transformation Candy: Length increased to 2 meters, effect shortened to 20 minutes.
In addition to these, Anton had also developed 'Werewolf Arm Candy' and 'Anti-Werewolf Arm Candy'.
Everyone who saw the descriptions in the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes brochure was eager to try them.
The price was...
Price my foot!
Head of House Snape still refused to lift the ban on sales.
For now, everyone could only drool over the brochure.
But a little rumor was going around, well, who knows where Harry Potter heard this little rumor.
Malfoy, that evil Slytherin, was planning to gather a large group of students to sneak out the Snake Transformation Candies on Saturday while Anton was in Snape's office and the twins were at Quidditch practice.
On Wednesday night, when Anton was busy in the lab and Ron came over to borrow homework as usual, he, Harry, and Hermione were all convinced it was Malfoy's conspiracy!
To this, Anton just smiled.
"This place is protected by the Elephant-Eating Vine, no one can come into my lab and steal anything!"
The twins also thought these three little ones had too much time on their hands.
"Your three older brothers have clearly overestimated the power of the Elephant-Eating Vine and underestimated Malfoy's evil," Harry's loud scheming could still be heard from a distance.
And Ron's loud muttering, "Please, Anton is the same age as me, I don't like calling him brother, just calling him Anton is fine, okay?"
"..."
Such minor ripples couldn't affect Anton's mood at all, his research had already entered a new domain.
Building upon the 'Fiennes Potion Scholarship' which combined potions and spells taught by the old wizard, he had learned potions from Snape and spells from Professor Voldemort, and was faintly touching upon a new field.
He wasn't satisfied with turning into a viper or a werewolf, no matter how formidable a werewolf was, it was still a bottom-tier character in the wizarding world, hiding in dark corners.
On the basis of imitating creatures, he continued to research towards something stronger.
If he couldn't upgrade the werewolf, then he would add an external attachment to it, like a pair of wings.
Finally, he managed to brew a new large jar of 'Wizard's Eye' potion just before Saturday.
Saturday.
The weather was clear and sunny.
When Anton arrived at Snape's office, he saw him about to leave in a hurry, after a greeting, the professor thought for a moment, turned back and opened the door for him.
Clang.
The cage of that pink, fluffy sub-dragon species was thrown in front of him.
Thump.
A pile of parchment bound into a thick book with string.
"Dumbledore has summoned us, I don't have time to teach you today, perhaps you can look at this, this is all the research material on sub-dragon species."
His lifeless eyes stared at Anton, "None of the information in here can be shared, nor can it be copied, this is a research project the dragon farm paid a great price for me to do, all ownership belongs to the dragon farm."
"Anthony, you are a smart person, you know what I mean, right?"
Anton nodded with a smile.
"Very good." Snape departed, his loose black wizarding robes swaying.
Anton gently stroked the cover of the book, its thickness of nearly thirteen centimeters also represented the weight of this book.
"Squeak squeak squeak."
The pink, fluffy, round sub-dragon species opened its small, tender beak and chirped, coughing from time to time as if its throat was stuck.
This hybridized sub-dragon species inherited none of the dragon's strengths, nor the unicorn's, it would even remain just a ball like this after reaching adulthood.
A dragon half-breed that couldn't even breathe fire.
According to Snape's research, the greatest advantage of this fat bird was its wings, especially the feathers, which had unique flight control and braking power, making them excellent materials for high-end flying broomsticks.
Just adding a small piece could instantly turn a bicycle into a supercar, it was that good.
And this was Anton's goal for today.
He took out the 'Wizard's Eye' potion from his satchel and chugged it down.
Gulp gulp.
His pupils began to dilate, and after reaching their maximum size, specks of dark green appeared within them.
At this moment, the whole world turned into distorted lines, the more magical power something had, the messier and more distorted the lines were, making one feel nauseous.
That wasn't all.
Countless ripples spread out, shimmering before his eyes, through the folds rippling out from this space, his eyes seemed to become enormous.
The 'Goblin's Eye' secret technique.
There were too many things in Snape's office, potions were piled high in stacks, and various magical items for experiments occupied every large and small corner.
For a moment, he was dazzled.
He gripped the edge of the wooden table tightly to find his bearings, quickly turned his head, and fixed his gaze on that sub-dragon species.
A terrifying mess!
If the complexity of a werewolf was a hundred times that of a viper, this fist-sized little creature was a thousand times that of a werewolf.
This was no longer the combination of squares, lines, and dark green cracks of the past.
There were more regular shapes, more modes of operation, a more three-dimensional and complex magical image.
"What a perfect life form!" Anton exclaimed in admiration.
Combined with Snape's research on the functions, uses, and characteristics of various parts, he could easily distinguish the blocks of this messy magical image.
The sub-dragon's wings were not large, but the magical image lines inside were the most numerous, yet not too difficult to record.
It was particularly regular, presenting as a series of smooth, grid-like spheres, constantly twisting and looping with a certain rhythm.
"Wow~"
Magical light appeared beside him, the Light and Shadow Note-Taking Charm quickly recorded all the observed lines beside him.
Anton could already skillfully manipulate the light and shadow to record magical images.
The speed was extremely fast.
Seeing that there was still plenty of time, he simply began to record the various parts of the sub-dragon species, large and small.
The dense, strong, and solid dragonhide, it had extremely strong resistance to spells.
The soft, bony little claws, an excellent substitute for brewing antidote potions.
...
Towards the end, Anton frowned and stared at the fat bird's throat, where there was an extremely distorted and chaotic magical image.
It looked as if a machine of countless gears had been jammed by a crowbar, giving off a lifeless feeling.
An idea struck him, and Anton drew his wand, magical power surging.
In the months before starting school, he had conducted many experiments with the help of Pedro the goblin and Mr. Rosier, he had some experience with this kind of fine-tuning of soul magic.
"Crucio!"
An extremely fine beam of magical light shot into the fat bird's body, like a delicate scalpel, gently flicking at the center of the mess.
Uh.
No reaction.
Apparently, even as a sub-dragon species, it still possessed stronger magical resistance than Lupin the werewolf.
Again!
"Crucio!"
He strengthened the magic by another tiny bit.
Very subtly, he held the fat bird in his hand, the tip of his wand against its throat, adjusting the changes that were invisible to the naked eye bit by bit.
"Professor Dumbledore should not have let Quirrell participate in setting up the obstacles!" Snape's voice came from the doorway.
He pushed open the door, turned to look at Professor McGonagall, "I told you, I don't trust him!"
McGonagall smiled, "You don't need to hold such a grudge against him, the fact that Professor Dumbledore chose him to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts means the professor trusts him."
"It's not because he got the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor position and I didn't that I suspect him!" Snape said with a look of displeasure.
McGonagall just smiled without saying a word, she was almost sixty, and looking at this thirty-one-year-old young man, she always had a certain elder-like gaze that made Snape very uncomfortable.
Just then.
A dragon's roar erupted from Snape's office.
Snape quickly turned to look, and splat! A large jet of water hit him right in the face, giving his head a thorough wash.
McGonagall's eyes widened as she looked at the fat bird in Anton's hand.
It was constantly growing larger, growing to the size of a normal dragon, almost filling the entire office.
A dragon with pink feathers, it looked like a strange big bird.
Poor Anton was under the dual observation of 'Wizard's Eye' and 'Goblin's Eye' and had no time to react, he could only grab onto the feathers in front of him to keep himself from falling.
"Gah!"
The big bird cried out, spitting a huge ball of water that smashed into the window, shattering the bay window glass upon impact.
Its sharp claws dug into the ground, sending stone fragments flying, and with a sudden push, bang, it had launched itself out of the window.
Spreading its wings, soaring high~
Woohoo~
"Quick, save that child!" McGonagall cried out urgently.