Chapter 80 United Academy's Alarm
Hodu could still sense through Spirit Treasure Perceptionthat Snape's wand was placed in the Hospital Wing.
Unless Snape left his wand there and didn't take it back, but for an adult Wizard to do such a thing was simply too absurd.
The person outside the door definitely wasn't Snape.
Under normal circumstances, if it wasn't Snape, no one else should be bold enough to sneak into this office just like them.
But how could Harry and the others know this? Hearing the noise outside stop, they became even more panicked, their hearts jumping straight to their throats.
Hodu immediately activated Spirit Treasure Perception, and after sensing the person outside the door, his expression paused involuntarily.
It was Professor McGonagall.
Could Professor McGonagall also think that Snape had taken the Philosopher's Stone?
Hodu spat at himself in his heart.
He had been led astray by Harry and the others' way of thinking.
Professor McGonagall appeared here because Snapeasked her to come and get backup Potion.
Snape was the Potion Class Professor and an expert in this field, and trusted the Potion he brewed himself more, which was why he asked Professor McGonagall to make this trip for him.
Outside the door, Professor McGonagall took out her wand and gently tapped it on the office door.
The door didn't react at all.
She didn't look surprised; with a twist of her wrist, she waved her wand again.
"Alohomora!"
The spell clearly passed into the room.
Harry and the others' moods instantly became extremely complicated.
Professor McGonagall coming meant they were naturally afraid of being discovered; but conversely, running into Professor McGonagall was still better than falling directly into Snape's hands.
The Alohomora landed on the door, but the office door still didn't budge.
Hodu narrowed his eyes.
Just as he heard Professor McGonagall chant Alohomora, he had already silently added a locking spell.
This was a domestic magic specifically designed to counter Alohomora, and under ten thousandfold superposition, his casting speed was even faster than Professor McGonagall's, finishing almost in the blink of an eye.
But Hodu didn't feel secure just yet.
The locking spell could only stop Alohomora; if Professor McGonagall intended to forcefully dismantle the door, this little trick couldn't block it.
A Diffindo could forcefully destroy the door, and then it could be repaired with Reparo afterwards.
Hodu pressed down on Harry's shoulder, already prepared.
As long as Professor McGonagall broke in, he would immediately take everyone away using Apparition.
Who would have thought Professor McGonagall just frowned and stood for a while, and in the end did nothing, turning around and leaving.
She understood Hogwarts better than Hodu.
Although the Professor's office door couldn't compare to the Gryffindor Common Room entrance, it had also been cast with secure spells, not something a Diffindo could easily break open.
Until Professor McGonagall's footsteps gradually faded away, did the few of them dare to let out that breath.
The clothes on their backs were long since soaked with cold sweat.
"We were really done for just now."
Hermione still had lingering fear on her face.
After experiencing this, they didn't dare stay any longer.
The office door was carefully pulled open, a head poked out first to look left and right, and confirming no one was outside, the few hurriedly slipped away quickly.
After leaving that area, they finally truly recovered.
"I thought I was definitely going to get expelled!"
Ron panted, his entire being still not recovering from the shock.
When Professor McGonagall used Alohomora, he even felt that his life had completely come to an end.
Harry, however, thought of elsewhere: "But why couldn't Professor McGonagall's Alohomora open the door? Didn't we rely on this when we came in?"
"I used a locking spell."
Hodu told them directly.
"There's actually such a spell?"
The poor student Harry wore a fresh expression.
Although he didn't see when Hodu chanted the spell at all, it obviously didn't matter right now.
"Of course there is."
Hermione gave him a speechless look.
As the few of them talked, they walked towards the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room.
This path was very short, but Hodu saw it very clearly.
Harry and the others, who had just been scared out of their wits, became excited again as they walked, as if what they had just experienced wasn't almost getting caught, but an extraordinary adventure.
As expected of Gryffindor.
Scared to death the previous moment, and daring to do it again the next moment.
After returning to the dormitory, the few of them discussed the Philosopher's Stone again.
Failing to catch evidence of Snape stealing the Philosopher's Stone, they were somewhat unwilling.
Analyzing back and forth, everyone felt that such valuable stolen goods might be hidden in a more secretive place, or simply kept on Snape's person.
Listening, Hodu felt this speculation was quite reliable.
Truly important things were usually safest kept around oneself.
For example, the Philosopher's Stone was truly placed in his storage money bag at this moment.
Ever since he knew Dumbledore had recovered his memory, he no longer considered where to hide the Philosopher's Stone.
No matter how tightly it was hidden, it wasn't as good as carrying it with him.
The topic came to an end, and the few of them dispersed.
Hermione was going to the Library as usual, and Harryhad to continue Quidditch training.
The real match was getting closer and closer, so recent training naturally became more frequent.
Ron had no choice but to go with Harry.
With Neville not around and Harry busy, he couldn't even find someone to play wizards chess with him.
As for Hodu, he prepared to find Huo Yunqi and ask about the true dragon shedding residue.
After expanding Spirit Treasure Perception, he quickly discovered that Huo Yunqi had already returned to United Academy.
Hodu glanced at the empty dormitory and directly cast Apparition.
When he reappeared, he had changed his figure and attire.
Over at Hogwarts it was still afternoon, but United Academy had already entered night.
But as soon as Hodu showed his face, he noticed the surroundings were abnormally bright.
It was like a dazzling moon hanging in the sky, emitting incandescent light, illuminating the entire United Academyexceptionally clearly.
Just as he suspected whether the academy was holding some celebration, a sharp long howl suddenly spread.
At the same time, the "moon" in the sky shot down a red light, accurately covering Hodu.
Hodu frowned.
This didn't look like a celebration no matter how one looked at it.
That light specifically fell on his head, clearly indicating that someone had been discovered breaking in.
He immediately activated the Phantom Concealment trait, concealing himself from the various magical means of United Academy.
This was also the troublesome part of the Phantom Concealment trait.
In many places, one had to arrive at the scene first before being able to conceal against the magic here.
Except for the soul always being in a concealed state, other targets on him wouldn't hide at all times and had to be actively activated.
After all, the more targets selected, the heavier the burden, and a person would become increasingly strained.
However, soul concealment itself was also targeted at the surrounding environment.
Hodu would instinctively treat everything related to magicas a specific target to cover up his soul.
As soon as the Phantom Concealment trait was activated, the red light covering him disappeared.
Then, the long howl echoing in the academy also stopped bit by bit.
Hodu could basically be certain that the fake moon and sharp howl were both defensive magic of United Academy.
What rang just now was not some strange sound at all, but the alarm after the academy was alerted.
Not long after he concealed, a dozen or so Wizards stepping on peach wood swords flew over from the sky.
They circled around the area a few times, didn't find anything, and left one after another.
"United Academy has had an accident?"
Hodu made a judgment in his heart.
Otherwise, the academy wouldn't turn its defensive magicon like this and send people to patrol everywhere.
Relying just on guessing was useless; to figure out the situation, he still had to ask Huo Yunqi.
Hodu walked towards the location detected by Spirit Treasure Perception.
Huo Yunqi was not staying in the Yujian Stone Tower, but rather in a complex of buildings.
Following the corridor, Hodu came to a row of low houses.
This place looked like a student dormitory, with simple-styled small cabins clustered together. There wasn't a single person outside, but lights were on inside.
This place was different from Hogwarts.
Hogwarts student dormitories all had protections and required knowing the password to enter; United Academydidn't have this restriction.
Hodu walked all the way to the cabin where Huo Yunqiwas, and the doors and windows were tightly closed.
This naturally couldn't stop him.
Hodu was too lazy to even use Apparition; he just made the door in front of him enter a concealed state, then walked straight through it, easily entering the room.
The cabin didn't have an Undetectable Extension Charm; however big it looked from the outside was how big it was inside.
The layout was even more crude than the outside; there wasn't even a separate bed, and there was only a large brick bed inside the room.
The bedding placed on the kang indicated that such a small room actually squeezed in eight people.
Except for the large kang, the room only held a simple wooden table and four long benches.
The people inside were chatting animatedly, divided into three small circles.
One batch sat on the kang, one batch surrounded the wooden table, and another person sat alone, flipping through a book with little interest.
That lonely person was precisely Huo Yunqi.
Hodu was somewhat surprised.
In the past, Huo Yunqi was often surrounded by a group of lackeys; he didn't expect that today he would end up sitting alone, a scene that was truly uncommon.
He walked over and sat down beside Huo Yunqi.
At this time, Huo Yunqi couldn't see Hodu, still lowering his head and looking at that book.
The Magical World on the hometown side didn't have bookstores, but that didn't mean books were cut off.
Hodu casually glanced at the book page and found that this was not a magic book at all, but a novel from the Muggle world.
He didn't manifest immediately.
Hodu could indeed let only Huo Yunqi see him, but he was worried that popping out suddenly would scare this kid out of his wits.
So he first changed his figure and restored it to his own appearance.
Huo Yunqi suddenly raised his head and looked around, obviously searching for Hodu.
Clearly, he had already sensed from the jade pendant that Hodu had come.
Only then did Hodu reveal his figure.
Being prepared, seeing Hodu suddenly appear beside him, Huo Yunqi didn't cry out.
"Inconvenient to go outside and talk?"
Hodu lowered his voice and asked.
There was no helping it; the Phantom Concealment trait couldn't hide speech sounds.
Huo Yunqi glanced at the others still chatting idly, slowly raised the book to block his mouth, and then whispered, "No. The academy is under martial law now, and going out at night is not allowed. The alarm just now, you didn't cause it, did you?"
He quickly matched the alarm with the time of Hodu's appearance.
"It was me."
Hodu nodded, then looked around the room again, "But your dormitory doesn't even have a toilet, don't you go to the toilet at night?"
He scanned a circle and didn't even see a chamber pot.
"The soup drunk at night was mixed with Potion, so there is no need to excrete for a short time."
Huo Yunqi whispered.
Hodu couldn't help but gasp a breath of cold air.
Are there such outrageous Potions? If this stuff were popularized in the Muggle world, wouldn't even people's chances of slacking off be gone together.
"What on earth happened to the academy to warrant such martial law?"
Hodu asked.
Even such Potion was used; the matter was clearly not small.
"A batch of Dark Wizards sneaked into the academy and attacked the Dean."
Huo Yunqi said this, but his gaze flicked around evasively.
"Are people dead?"
Hodu blinked.
The Magical World back home was actually so unpeaceful too.
If he remembered correctly, the Dean of United Academywasn't just the Dean, but also the president of the Wizards Federation, with a status roughly equivalent to the Minister for Magic.
Someone daring to kill a Minister for Magic, this matter was indeed big enough.
"How could they be dead?"
Huo Yunqi's voice involuntarily raised a bit, "They just wanted to make a move when they were surrounded by the Professors. If the Dean were so easy to kill, could he still be the Dean?"
"Bufan, what are you muttering to yourself about?"
Someone heard the sound and asked a sentence.
"Nothing, I'm reciting."
Huo Yunqi immediately lowered the book, casually found an excuse, and then raised the book again to cover his face.
Hodu continued to ask: "Since everyone is fine, why still impose martial law?"
"I heard those were just hired Dark Wizards, and the real mastermind behind the scenes didn't show up at all."
Huo Yunqi said behind the book in a low voice, "And at that time, Muggle officials were also attacked. It's very likely done by the same gang. I think the Dark Wizards who sneaked into the academy were just cannon fodder."
Hodu's eyes shocked.
Attacking Muggle officials, weren't they afraid of violating the Statute of Secrecy?
"Did the officials die too?"
He asked back.
"Not dead, but I heard quite a few Muggles died."
Huo Yunqi looked at Hodu with a very strange gaze.
Hodu frowned.
This gaze was not quite right; Huo Yunqi seemed to be hiding something from him.
But this group of Dark Wizards was indeed crazy enough.
Striking at Muggle officials, once the Memory Charmwasn't cleaned up properly, the existence of the Magical World might be directly exposed, and at that time it might even trigger a war.
They were practically acting like they wanted to drag the Wizards of the entire Magical World down with them to the grave.
Could it be that behind them was also an ambitious person like Grindelwald?
"When I went home this time, I asked about a few things, but I dare not say they are definitely true."
Huo Yunqi hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke in an extremely low voice: "Your father back then seemed to have some relation with this mastermind."
Huo Yunqi appeared in front of him multiple times, so Huo Yunqi naturally went to ask about the second branch's news.
He did ask out some things, who would have thought that upon just returning to United Academy, he would run into this storm.
He had already spoken very tactfully.
According to his mother, Hodu's father was deeply entangled with the mastermind back then, and it was precisely because of this that he was expelled from the family.
Chapter 81 Troll's Fist
Hearing Huo Yunqi's words, Hodu's expression changed slightly.
His own father?
That was someone he had never seen since coming to this life.
He couldn't say there was any emotional attachment, and he didn't even know what he looked like.
Compared to that unfamiliar father, he cared much more about the identity of Hannah's husband.
Huo Yunqi didn't beat around the bush and told him everything he had found out in detail.
The mastermind behind the attack on the muggle officials was named Guanshan Yun, a Dark Wizard who did not come from the Five Great Families, with ancestors who were merely ordinary muggles.
When he studied at United Academy back then, his grades and conduct were quite outstanding.
After graduation, he entered the Four Ministries, possessed strong working capabilities, and indeed made quite a few contributions to the Magical World.
Later, he even went all the way to become a member of the Wizards Federation.
This was no longer a position that ordinary Wizards could reach.
Within the Wizards Federation, the vast majority of members came from the Five Great Families.
For a Wizard without family roots or connections background to climb to that height was in itself an extremely difficult matter.
Yet, only a few months after becoming a member of the Federation, Guanshan Yun suddenly made a move against the president.
That president was none other than Dean Hope of United Academy.
According to rumors, Guanshan Yun cast Unforgivable Curses at the time and almost killed Dean Hope.
After the matter was exposed, he fled all the way, and later gathered a group of similarly dissatisfied people, attempting to overthrow the Wizards Federation.
And Hodu's father was once a subordinate of Guanshan Yun.
It was precisely because of this matter that he was expelled from the Huo Clan.
The rebellion planned by Guanshan Yun was of great momentum, but in the end, it still failed.
However, Guanshan Yun fled everywhere ever since, and for many years has never been caught, with the Ministry of Punishments failing to capture him all along.
Who could have thought that after disappearing for so long, he would suddenly pop up again recently.
"Like-minded people?"
Hodu's expression was somewhat odd.
"What kind of path do they practice?"
Huo Yunqi didn't catch the response for a moment.
But Hodu had already thought of his own father.
He didn't expect the other party to actually be a villain, and the kind who rebelled together with Guanshan Yun.
Viewed this way, being expelled from the Huo Clan didn't seem too unjust either; no wonder Hannah usually never mentioned her father.
This was similar to Death Eaters.
There really wasn't much to say.
Previously, Hodu had even thought that if there was a hidden story behind his father's death back then, he wouldn't mind taking revenge for Hannah along the way.
But looking at it now, wanting revenge would mean going directly to trouble the Wizards Federation.
That place was not somewhere just anyone could barge into.
Seeing Hodu asking, Huo Yunqi instead became hesitant.
He himself couldn't be certain whether those messages were true or false, and could only consider them rumors heard from home.
Hesitating for quite a while, he lowered his voice and spoke, his voice so small as if he was afraid of being heard by outsiders.
"Rumor has it... that Dean Hope colluded with Muggles and betrayed the entire Magical World."
Hodu abruptly looked at Huo Yunqi.
This answer completely exceeded his expectations.
Huo Yunqi raised one hand and scratched his head.
If it weren't for investigating matters concerning Hodu's branch, he likewise wouldn't have known there was such a secret anecdote back then.
When he first heard it, his reaction was actually about the same as Hodu's, both feeling it was utterly absurd.
Hodu's gaze flickered.
Could this matter be true?
If it were true, many things could be explained.
On what grounds did Dean Hope suppress the Five Great Families back then?
He indeed had quite a few supporters from Muggle families, but the Five Great Families had entrenched themselves in the Magical World for many years, and their heritage and influence were frighteningly deep, making it impossible for them to be easily ignored.
But this could also just be a narrative deliberately fabricated by Guanshan Yun.
After all, this kind of statement sounded very reasonable, and even ordinary Wizards were easily persuaded.
The more it was like this, the more it showed how brilliantly crafted this conspiracy theory was.
Hodu quickly thought of another matter.
Guanshan Yun's target back then seemed to have always been just President Hope.
That being the case, were the Five Great Families really willing to be pressed down on the head by Hope without a single objection?
And his father belonged to the direct lineage of the Huo Clan at that time, so how could he participate in such a matter?
Hodu narrowed his eyes.
If the Five Great Families really wanted to use people as discarded pawns, they shouldn't use the direct lineage of the main branch to fill the pit.
Ordinary Huo Clan descendants participating in it versus people from the main branch getting mixed up in it were completely two different concepts.
Once the matter was exposed, could expelling someone completely clear the Huo Clan's relationship?
After thinking for a long time, he still shook his head.
Relying merely on a few rumors to deduce the truth of back then was simply too difficult.
Since there were temporarily no more clues, he might as well just listen to it as a story first.
"What about the Bai family's side?"
Hodu finally asked about the real purpose of finding Huo Yunqi.
Mentioning this matter, Huo Yunqi's spirits visibly perked up a bit.
"Bai Chen personally looked for me!"
He said somewhat excitedly, "He asked me if the blood in my hand truly has dozens of times the medicinal efficacy of ordinary blood."
Although the item wasn't Huo Yunqi's own, for a future head of the Bai family to personally visit and inquire, this face was indeed big enough.
Many people in the academy saw it at the time, and even the usually arrogant Third Eldest ran over to ask him because of this matter.
Of course, Huo Yunqi didn't tell the other party anything.
"However, Bai Chen also said that their Bai family does not have a True Dragon skeleton."
"That thing was just fabricated by someone else, and asked me to change the transaction condition, or they are willing to use a large amount of money to buy it."
Hodu knew what money he was talking about.
The magical currency here, its formal name was actually Gold-thread Coin, but usually everyone directly called it money.
The style of the coin was somewhat like ancient copper coins, round on the outside and square on the inside, golden overall, with three exceptionally clear gold threads on the surface.
"How did you answer?"
Hearing this, Hodu's expression changed slightly.
"I said I need to consider it."
Huo Yunqi answered very honestly.
The so-called consideration was actually waiting for Hoduto make the decision.
"Humph."
Hodu sneered, "Tell them that only a True Dragon skeleton can be traded."
"If they can't bring it out, then there's no need to talk."
"As for that drop of blood, take it back for me first."
He didn't believe the Bai family really didn't have a True Dragon skeleton.
Perhaps they were just reluctant to take it out for exchange; after all, as long as it was something money could buy, which family would lack it?
Hodu pondered slightly and added another sentence.
"Give them one day at most."
"If they can't decide within a day, consider the transaction failed."
He simply didn't believe the Bai family would have no interest in his blood.
If the other party wasn't even willing to consider it for a day, it could only mean the Bai family truly did not have a True Dragon skeleton on hand.
"Alright."
Huo Yunqi agreed directly.
With the matter finished, Hodu no longer delayed, cast Apparition on the spot, and returned to Hogwarts.
Next, he prepared to continue the fusion.
The last experience taught him a lesson, and this time he had to obtain characteristics regarding strength or physique no matter what.
The first things Hodu thought of were Giants and Trolls.
Both possessed powerful strength, but in his view, a Trollcould by no means engage in a head-on contest with a Giant.
The two sides were simply not opponents of the same weight class.
A Troll looked about as tall as Hagrid, but even Hagridmight not necessarily be able to beat a juvenile Giant.
In hand-to-hand combat, strength was inherently the most important thing.
Although he had never seen it with his own eyes, Hoduinstinctively believed that a Troll probably couldn't beat a juvenile Giant either.
However, Giants ultimately belonged to a kind of human, while Trolls were merely low-intelligence magical creatures.
There was a clear distinction between the two, at least in Hodu's view, the fusion difficulty of a Troll shouldn't be as high as the same tier as a Giant.
Therefore, in the end, he chose a Troll.
Hodu cast Apparition once more and went straight to Diagon Alley.
Not long after, he bought materials from a Troll, which included Troll whiskers.
That thing could be used to serve as a wand core.
Of course, under normal circumstances, no one would be willing to make a wand using Troll whiskers.
That was no different from walking around with a ridiculous name, enough to make someone get laughed at for a lifetime.
Wands usually matched their owners, and if a wand was made from Troll whiskers, when conflicts occurred in the future, people would probably directly associate the user with a Troll.
This insultiveness was even stronger than swearing.
[Fusible material discovered, parsing program initiated.]
[Current fusion target: Forest Troll]
[Parsing level: C-level]
[Current parsing progress: 1 / 2000]
[Extracted trait: Astonishing Strength]
[Astonishing Strength: Possesses powerful strength far exceeding one's own appearance.]
[Remarks: Trait strength is related to parsing progress, and ten thousand times the trait can be obtained after parsing is completed.]
[Current parsing speed: Increases by 1 point daily, progress can be boosted with exclusive tasks.]
Forest Troll?
Hodu was slightly stunned, not expecting Trolls to be classified in such detail.
Forest Trolls were just one of the categories; besides them, there were Mountain Trolls and River Trolls.
The so-called classification was mainly distinguished based on living locations and growth environments, and there would also be some subtle differences in appearance and physique.
The current progress was only one point, yet Hodu felt that his condition was better than ever before.
His figure did not change because of the fusion, his muscles did not suddenly expand, nor did there appear the exaggerated scene of his clothes being torn apart.
Regarding this, he felt somewhat regretful.
However, his body not getting bigger did not mean his strength didn't change.
That solid strength was surging from the depths of his body, giving Hodu a bizarre feeling.
He even felt that he had become much healthier, and an inexhaustible confidence emerged out of nowhere in his heart.
He wasn't considered weak to begin with, he was just young.
But compared to now, his past body was practically absurdly weak; let alone fighting, taking a few extra steps would probably make him pant for a while.
Hodu glanced at the parsing difficulty again.
C-level, still acceptable.
The fusion difficulty of a House-elf was B-rank, which also matched his guess.
Wisdom would indeed occupy a certain weight in the fusion judgment.
He continued to check the exclusive quest of the Forest Troll.
[Exclusive Quest: Bare-Fisted Tree Breaking]
[Use your fists to break a tree, and it will increase the analysis progress by 1 point. This quest can be completed repeatedly.]
[Remarks: This quest is restricted to Forest Troll fusion use.]
Hodu was so shocked that his mouth fell open.
This quest really looked like something a Troll would do.
But with his current strength, could he really break a tree with a single punch?
He was quite skeptical.
As for wanting to take shortcuts, it was too easy; the quest obviously wouldn't leave him with such a loophole.
The next second, Hodu locked onto a location deep within the Forbidden Forest, magic circulated, and his figure instantly vanished from the spot.
The Forbidden Forest was filled with towering trees that reached into the clouds.
The gloomy sky was blocked by dense branches and leaves, making it difficult for sunlight to penetrate, and the forest appeared exceptionally dim.
Hodu looked around and found that even the thinnest trunk here was as thick as an adult wrapping both arms around it.
He slowly walked up to a tree.
That tree was several circles thicker than his body, making it almost impossible for someone of his build to shake.
Hodu raised his fist and smashed it out without holding anything back.
"Puff!"
His small fist heavily embedded itself into the trunk, forcefully blasting out a pit.
The tree did not fall, and it was still far from being broken by a single punch, but this fist pit alone was already enough to show how terrifying this strength was.
Coupled with the Tough Skin trait, Hodu didn't even feel any pain.
He pulled his fist out of the trunk, brushed off the wood chips, and his fist remained completely intact, without even a scratch on his skin.
A flash of light gleamed in Hodu's eyes.
Immediately after, his body suddenly shot up, his bones and figure rapidly expanding, and in the blink of an eye, he turned into a Troll.
In his Troll form, he raised his fist once again and fiercely blasted it toward the Giant tree in front of him.
"Bang!"
Wood chips splattered in all directions, and another huge dent appeared on the trunk, but this tree still didn't snap.
Hodu didn't hesitate, immediately following up with another punch.
Then came the third punch, the fourth punch.
He swung his left and right fists alternately, treating the Giant tree in front of him like a punching bag.
The fists fell time and time again, and pits continuously appeared on the trunk, as if he completely didn't know what fatigue was.
The effects soon became apparent.
Although the current analysis progress was only one point, his own strength had already gained a multiple-fold stack.
If he really had to compare, Hodu felt that his strength at this moment was probably not far behind that of a real Troll.
The final punch fell.
With a crisp snap, the thick trunk could finally no longer bear it, snapping apart from the middle, and the massive trunk crushed down toward Hodu.
He didn't step back.
Raising both hands, Hodu hugged the falling trunk head-on.
Then his eyes widened, his waist and back exerted force simultaneously, and he actually hoisted this section of the trunk onto his shoulder.
At the very moment the tree snapped, the analysis progress increased by another point.
Just this slight change caused his strength to surge once more, enabling him to catch this falling Giant tree just in time.
With the physique of his Troll form, Hodu's arms could just barely wrap around the trunk.
He pivoted his waist, his shoulders sank abruptly, and then he used the wood in his hand as a weapon, smashing it toward another Giant tree beside him.
"Boom!"
The loud sound made the forest tremble.
The trunk burst directly in mid-air, violently crashing into another tree.
The struck tree split open on the spot, wood chips and broken branches shooting in all directions, and a huge gap was smashed into the trunk, slanting to reveal a large patch of exposed roots.
Hodu looked at his masterpiece and grinned.
This feeling was simply exhilarating.
He casually threw the remaining broken wood onto the ground, turned around, and targeted another Giant tree.
His fist smashed down with terrifying force; although he couldn't finish it in a single punch, the trunk was already shaking violently, obviously unable to hold on for long.
Hodu immediately followed up with two more punches.
This thick Giant tree finally couldn't hold out, emitting a muffled snapping sound before crashing to the ground with a boom.
The analysis progress increased by another point once again.
His strength also ascended to the next level accordingly.
Hodu immediately found a third tree to try out.
This time, he only swung a single punch, and the trunk snapped into two pieces amidst a loud explosion.
A Giant tree that required an adult's two hands to embrace was actually blasted apart by his single punch.
That near-superhuman strength made the excitement in Hodu's eyes almost impossible to hide.
Compared to other traits, this feeling of directly enhancing physical strength was clearly more stimulating to him.
His eyes shone astonishingly bright, and with a light stamp of his foot, a clear footprint was left in the mud.
The next moment, his figure had already rushed in front of another tree, and his fist smashed out immediately.
"Boom!"
The analysis progress began to rise rapidly.
Every single punch thereafter could take away a Giant tree.
This could be considered a rare quest where Hodu did not choose to take shortcuts.
It wasn't because the quest was very difficult, but because he was already immersed in this feeling of constantly increasing strength, and simply didn't want to stop.
At the very beginning, he could only break the tree trunk.
As the strength stacked layer upon layer, after his fist fell, the trunk burst directly from the inside, as if it had endured pressure far exceeding its own limits.
Moreover, the terrifying strength brought not just arm power.
As the trait multiplier continued to increase, Hodu's overall body strength and speed grew stronger and stronger.
Later on, one could only see a blurred afterimage flashing rapidly through the Forbidden Forest, followed immediately by a towering Giant tree exploding into pieces with a boom.
That scene was like someone burying a bomb inside a tree and detonating it; the entire tree didn't even have time to fall before turning into fragments filling the sky amidst a loud noise.
Explosive sounds echoed one after another deep within the Forbidden Forest.
At the beginning, one could still hear the heavy sound of Giant trees crashing onto the ground.
But later on, the trees no longer fell intact, instead shattering into countless residues in mid-air, naturally leaving no sound of landing.
Every time Hodu threw a punch, it was like detonating a bomb in the forest.
The nearby magical creatures had long been alerted, fleeing instinctively from the direction whence the sounds came.
Even those creatures hiding in the Forbidden Forest all became restless, not daring to remain nearby at all.
As for Bowtruckles, Hodu actually wanted to see if they dared to appear in front of him.
But not all creatures would instinctively run away.
At this moment, rapid running sounds suddenly came from the other side of the Forbidden Forest.
Several figures hurried over; their upper bodies were human, but their lower bodies were connected to horse bodies.
The Centaur clan was an important community in the Forbidden Forest, and with such a massive commotion in the woods, they had to come over to confirm what had happened.
Bane was the first to halt his four hooves, staring with his mouth wide open at the scene before him, his entire face written with disbelief.
"Merlin above, what on earth happened here?!"
The Forbidden Forest before their eyes looked as if a patch had been forcibly hollowed out, with large areas of trees completely vanishing, leaving only uneven tree roots, wood chips all over the ground, and scattered branches and leaves.
Under the dark clouds, the sunlight finally lost the obstruction of the leaves, spilling over the ground in large patches.
Bane and Firenze stood there, as if stepping right at the boundary between light and shadow.
Firenze said with an ugly expression: "Someone is destroying the Forbidden Forest."
"Does that even need to be said? Is that the point?"
Bane couldn't help muttering in complaint.
Just as the two were speaking, the loud noises in the distance still hadn't stopped, and it sounded like they were already very close to them.
Firenze's expression turned solemn.
"Let's go take a look."
After speaking, he was the first to stride out with his four hooves, galloping toward the direction whence the sound came.
Bane was obviously quite reluctant, but looking at the tragic state around him, he ultimately followed along.
Not long after, they saw a scene they would probably never forget in this lifetime.
Ahead, a massive figure was flashing rapidly among the woods.
Every time the figure swept past, it was accompanied by a deafening roar.
A towering tree that required two adults working together to barely embrace was actually blasted to pieces by a single punch from that figure, with broken wood and debris scattering in all directions.
Some of those wooden blocks flew onto Bane and Firenze.
The two Centaurs only then confirmed that what they saw was not an illusion.
Initially, they couldn't even see the appearance of that huge figure clearly.
The other party's speed was simply too fast; just as their vision captured it, the next moment it had already vanished on the other side.
A dozen seconds later, the expressions of both changed simultaneously.
They finally saw clearly what that thing was.
That was a Troll.
They saw the Troll raise its fist and swing it head-on toward a towering Giant tree.
The next instant, the entire Giant tree burst directly into fragments, leaving not even a complete trunk behind.
Was this reasonable?
Firenze and Bane simply could not imagine what kind of terrifying strength it would take to beat a Giant tree into this state.
Even if a Giant came, they might not be able to do this.
How could this still be an ordinary Troll?
"Even a Dragon would have to fall after taking a punch like this!"
Bane widened his eyes, unable to recover from the shock even until now.
He even felt that if a Dragon were hit head-on by this Troll, it would probably lose its combat ability on the spot.
Firenze smiled bitterly and continued: "In front of such strength, wisdom seems to be of little use."
He had always been proud of the wisdom possessed by the Centaurs, but at this moment he suddenly felt that no matter how profound wisdom was, when facing this punch, the result was the same as a mindless Troll.
Wait.
The other party was a Troll to begin with.
In the end, wisdom still lost.
Chapter 82: The Terrifying Troll in the Forbidden Forest
What made Firenze's and Bane's scalps tingle was no longer just the Troll's ridiculously exaggerated strength.
Such a bulky and massive body actually moved so fast that it left afterimages in its wake. Judging by that posture, its speed even surpassed the Centaur.
In other words, as long as they were targeted by it, they couldn't even manage to run for their lives.
Centaur failing to outrun a Troll was truly a joke that made no one laugh.
The two locked eyes, their throats moving simultaneously. Staying in the Forbidden Forest was obviously not an option; taking advantage of the fact that the monster hadn't noticed them, they needed to quickly take their kinsmen and leave this place to find another place to settle.
They had just turned around when a high-pitched dog bark suddenly rang out.
Firenze and Bane froze on the spot.
A Cerberus was coming from ahead, all three heads grinning with wide mouths, sharp teeth gleaming white, and saliva constantly dripping down. Its six terrifyingly fierce eyes locked tightly onto the two Centaur, clearly treating them as today's food.
"Fluffy, behave! They are my friends, they can't be eaten!"
Standing beside Fluffy was Hagrid, who was equally tall and busy pacifying his Cerberus. He certainly didn't want to lose two friends in the blink of an eye.
I don't know if it was set off by that even more terrifying Troll, but looking at the fiercely exposed Fluffy, Firenze and Bane actually felt for a split second that it looked quite pleasing to the eye and didn't seem so dangerous.
Of course, this illusion lasted only for a split second.
Fluffy's three heads roared at them in turns, the sound spreading throughout the Forbidden Forest. Normally, this commotion would have scared birds flying everywhere, but today there was still no movement around at all.
Yet Firenze and Bane had their bodies stiffening with every roar, their complexions extremely ugly. Look closely, and fear was clearly suppressed deep in their eyes.
"What on earth happened in this ghost place? Firenze, you guys came first, did you see anything?"
Hagrid frowned and looked around, completely failing to notice the abnormality of the two.
Firenze and Bane did not reply. Their necks stiffened as they slowly twisted back toward behind them, cold sweat breaking out instantly.
That Troll was no longer chopping trees and was turning around to observe them. That gaze falling over was simply like Death looking at people right against their necks, and they even felt that the breath of death was about to condense into substance.
Yet one of Fluffy's heads saw Hodu at this moment.
It immediately barked wildly at Hodu, and the other two heads followed suit. The Cerberus lowered its body, tensing all over, its fierce light bared.
Firenze was about to open his mouth to remind Hagrid to run quickly when a dark shadow darted past his eyes.
It was Fluffy!
This dog actually took the initiative to provoke that monster, and both Firenze and Bane were deeply shocked.
"Leave quickly, Hagrid!"
Firenze turned back and shouted anxiously to Hagrid.
Bane sprinted out a step ahead, not waiting for them at all. This wasn't entirely a bad thing either; Fluffy, this big dog that looked very fierce, could at least buy them a little time to escape. Though, they could have originally slipped away silently.
Firenze rushed to Hagrid's side, grabbed his arm, and pulled outward. But given Hagrid's physique, how could he be pulled?
"Come back, Fluffy!"
Hagrid couldn't bother questioning Firenze, and hurriedly shouted to Fluffy. He felt that although the Troll was powerful, running into the three-headed Fluffy, it should not last long before being torn apart, so he wanted to call Fluffy back.
But Fluffy completely ignored him.
In the blink of an eye, it had pounced in front of Hodu and leaped into the air. All three heads had their mouths wide open, as if whoever was slower, the prey would be snatched away by the other two heads.
The next second, Hodu stepped forward.
Clearly it was just one step, but he instantly stood in front of the Cerberus. All six of Fluffy's eyes went a bit blank, as if it didn't understand how Hodu suddenly appeared before its eyes, and the hunting excitement in its eyes had not yet dissipated.
Hodu just threw a casual punch, hitting Fluffy's chest.
Bang!
Fluffy's three heads were still dazed, but its entire body had already flown backward, even skimming past the desperately fleeing Bane, flying faster than him.
Bane could only watch the dark shadow flash past his eyes, crashing into the forest ahead like a cannonball. A large tree was snapped instantly, and all three heads simultaneously let out wails like young beasts.
He stopped abruptly and turned his head back blankly.
Fluffy was knocked flying from its spot by the Troll's punch, landing directly in front of him. This kind of speed actually surpassed his?
Not only Bane was dumbfounded, but Hagrid and Firenzewere also completely speechless.
Seeing this scene, Hagrid felt a chill rise in his heart. He couldn't understand it no matter what, but the facts were right before his eyes, forcing him to believe it.
Firenze was thoroughly certain that this Troll's strength was so terrifying that it exceeded his cognition.
"Is this... really a Troll?"
Hagrid's voice trembled, his legs somewhat weak.
Firenze instead showed a look of relief. Probably feeling that he was doomed to escape, he simply prepared to welcome the final moment.
Little did they know, Hodu was frowning and muttering to himself about Fluffy in his heart.
Just now he had held back his strength; if he hadn't controlled it well, that Cerberus would probably have met the same fate as those towering trees around, being blown apart with a single punch all the same.
Fortunately, for the convenience of working, he had transformed into a Troll appearance beforehand. Otherwise, what Hagrid and them saw should have been an eleven-year-old child snapping a big tree with one punch.
Hodu thought about it and didn't plan to pay attention to these people. His progress points were still a bit lacking, so he would wait until it was finished. Before that, they probably wouldn't cause trouble again.
Huge explosions rang out in the Forbidden Forest again soon.
Hagrid was covered in cold sweat, and only after confirming that the Troll was not coming to kill them did he quietly breathe a sigh of relief. He gave Firenze a look, and the two moved their footsteps bit by bit, fearing to disturb Hodu.
After a while, Hagrid came to Fluffy's side.
Fluffy was half-lying on the ground, clearly not having recovered yet. All three heads were dizzy, their eyes unable to focus anywhere, and they whimpered with suppressed voices in their mouths, as if crying out too loudly would attract the Troll's fists.
In a short time, Fluffy definitely couldn't wake up. Hagridhad no choice but to use all his strength, laboriously dragging it away.
There was no longer the figure of the Troll here, and they fled very quickly, no one daring to delay.
Hodu glanced at the previous position, and confirming that everyone had left, he continued his work. After a while longer, the explosions in the Forbidden Forest finally stopped.
He quietly changed back to his original appearance, his size rapidly shrinking. Only then did he have time to look around; the scene was simply too messy to look at.
Anyway, if anyone else chopped trees, it would definitely not be as fast as him.
Hodu didn't stay long, directly using Apparition to return to Hogwarts.
After returning to the dormitory, he lay on the bed with his hands behind his head, looking at the sunlight outside the window to check the system.
The task of fusing with the Troll had been completed. This trip was truly exhilarating; the bursting feeling when his fists hit the trees made his whole body comfortable. He felt he could fight like this for a whole day, and maybe he could clear out the Forbidden Forest in a day.
Nowadays, the astonishing strength trait had been stacked up to ten thousand times. However, Hodu suppressed it very low, actively lowering the trait multiplier.
This thing was too exaggerated, and he didn't know what result his true full-strength attack would cause, whether it would smash the Blue Star with a single punch. Of course, this was just a random thought; he couldn't possibly actually try it.
It's just that the next magical creature to fuse with had to be pondered over again. The train of thought he had just come up with was broken just like that, and Hodu was quite annoyed.
On the other side, Firenze and Bane finally fled to a very far place, quite having the feeling of narrowly escaping death.
Fluffy had also recovered a bit, but no longer had that fierce momentum from before. All three heads were drooping, feeling gloomy.
Although Hodu held back, Fluffy was still injured quite heavily. Not only was it traumatized, but its body was indeed uncomfortable.
"That Troll is too terrifying."
Hagrid's face was full of horror, speaking everyone's thoughts. This completely subverted their understanding of Trolls; after today, Trolls would probably become the most dangerous magical creatures, without even needing to add 'one of'.
"Hagrid, you saw it with your own eyes too. The Forbidden Forest is no longer suitable for Centaur to survive, and we will take our kinsmen and leave. As for you, my friend, it's best to move away early as well."
Firenze's expression was heavy, and without waiting for Hagrid's response after speaking, he hurried away. This matter could not be delayed; Bane had already returned to the Centaur tribe first to tell the news to the elders in the clan so they could arrange the evacuation as soon as possible.
"Yes, I have to find Dumbledore, a big trouble has happened!"
After Firenze left, Hagrid seemed to come back to his senses, smiling bitterly with a complex expression. With such a terrifying magical creature around, many magical creatures would probably prepare to move.
Hagrid hurried out of the Forbidden Forest, walked quickly towards Hogwarts, and came all the way outside the Principal's office door. After speaking the password, he entered the door, fortunately Dumbledore was inside.
"Professor Dumbledore, something big has happened!"
Hagrid rushed in anxiously and shouted loudly.
After listening to Hagrid's description, Dumbledore's expression also sank, his gaze constantly flashing, as if thinking about something.
"Hagrid, I need to see your memory."
Dumbledore spoke solemnly, then took out the Pensieve. He needed to personally check Hagrid's memory regarding this matter to judge how strong that Troll really was, not that he didn't believe Hagrid
Chapter 83 Dumbledore's Investigation of the Forbidden Forest and the Disillusionment Curse
Hagrid was squeezed into that rather narrow chair, with a heavy cyan stone basin placed in front of him.
The rim of the basin was inlaid with a few gemstones, and Hagrid was holding that folded bright pink umbrella, pressing its tip against his temple.
Dumbledore stood beside him, reminding him in a gentle tone: "Concentrate, find the scene you saw. After you find it, use your wand to extract it, Hagrid."
Hagrid immediately closed his eyes tightly, his facial expression straining as if he were fighting something, almost looking a bit like he was constipated.
Yet he held his breath for a long time, and nothing happened.
"Don't rush, relax," Dumbledore said patiently, "Go with the feeling. Once you find that memory, it will come out on its own."
Under Dumbledore's continuous reminders, Hagrid's expression slowly relaxed, and his eyebrows lifted gently, obviously having caught that memory.
Wisps of silver light soon emerged from the tip of the umbrella.
Those lights gathered more and more, finally converging into a large mass of silver light.
Hagrid abruptly opened his eyes, carefully guiding the silver light out, and slowly sending it into the Pensieve in front of him.
As soon as the silver light fell into the basin, it scattered like smoke, filling the entire stone basin in the blink of an eye.
Dumbledore walked to the edge of the basin, then entered it, beginning to check the memory Hagrid had preserved.
Time passed bit by bit, and his expression grew increasingly gloomy along with it.
Finally, Dumbledore withdrew from the memory in the Pensieve.
"Pardon my frankness, that thing doesn't look like a Troll," he slowly spoke, "If Trolls all possessed this kind of power, other Wizards probably wouldn't keep talking about them all the time."
The scene in that memory was truly shocking.
A Cerberus of a similar size was actually knocked flying with a single punch by that Troll.
Based on this scene alone, one could see that its strength was far above that of the Cerberus.
Dumbledore turned around and instructed Hagrid: "Please go find Professor Snape, and ask him to guard the edge of the Forbidden Forest so that Troll cannot break into Hogwarts. After that, go find Professor McGonagall, have her manage the students well, and tell them not to approach the Forbidden Forest for the time being."
"No problem!" Hagrid agreed immediately.
He hurriedly stood up from the chair and strode outward with his two thick legs.
Heavy footsteps fell on the ground, causing even the ground to faintly vibrate along with them.
After Hagrid left, Dumbledore did not act immediately, instead turning his head to look at the Phoenix Fawkesbeside him, reaching out to gently stroke its feathers.
Fawkes clearly already understood his meaning, raised its head, and let out a clear and melodious cry.
The next moment, raging flames burst forth from its body, instantly swallowing it and Dumbledore together.
The figures of the man and the bird then vanished within the firelight.
When Dumbledore appeared once again, he was already deep within the Forbidden Forest.
Unlike the Apparition used by Wizards, Fawkes's ability could not simply be counted as Apparition; it was more like a kind of flight shuttling between the illusory and the real.
It did not require being like a Wizard, who must have visited a certain place in order to cast Apparition there.
Dumbledore looked around, instantly feeling somewhat speechless.
The originally dense Forbidden Forest was actually like a patch of hair forcibly shaved off someone's head, leaving a huge vacant area that looked awkward no matter how one looked at it.
The Troll's figure was no longer here, leaving behind only tree stumps, along with wood chips and broken branches all over the ground.
Dumbledore slowly walked along the clearing, stepping on those shattered tree barks beneath his feet.
His expression became even more solemn than before, and he remained silent throughout.
The shock brought by this place even exceeded the scene in Hagrid's memory.
Looking at the wood fragments and tree bark on the ground, he was already able to roughly reconstruct what had happened at that time.
For some unknown reason, that Troll threw a punch at the tree trunk.
With just a single punch, several tall trees shattered under its power, turning into wood chips filling the sky.
No wonder it could send Fluffy flying.
This kind of power truly deserved to be called terrifying.
Dumbledore continued to observe his surroundings while drawing his wand.
A monster like this was simply incomparable to ordinary Wizards.
In his view, the danger it brought even surpassed Lord Voldemort, and he must not be the least bit careless.
He soon began searching the Forbidden Forest for traces and figures left behind by the Troll.
With such a dangerous existence staying in the Forbidden Forest, no one could be certain whether it would cross the woods and break straight into Hogwarts.
On the other side, in a Hogwarts dormitory, Hodu was blanking out with his eyes closed.
Thinking and thinking, he almost fell asleep right on the bed.
Right at this moment, the dormitory door was suddenly pushed open, making a soft sound that directly dragged him out of his sleepiness.
Hodu sat up from the bed, seeing Harry and the others walking in with depressed expressions, with Ron and Hermione following behind.
"What's going on?" Hodu looked at them and asked curiously.
"Don't mention it." Harry sat down with a plop, looking very impatient, "We finally managed to take advantage of another House having class to go to the Quidditch training pitch to practice for a while, but Professor McGonagalldrove all the students back to the common room."
The more he spoke, the more depressed he became: "There isn't much time left before the first match, and training time has decreased again."
The Quidditch training pitch was already not enough to go around.
Every House wanted to occupy the space, and they could only schedule times in advance to take turns going in for practice.
Now that they were directly driven back, the time available to them naturally shrank by another chunk.
"There's no help for it." Hermione pushed her non-existent glasses and analyzed earnestly, "Something major must have happened in the Castle. I saw that all students' classes were suspended, and everyone was called back to the common rooms."
This was the first time she had encountered whole-school class suspensions.
Ron, however, thought of another matter first and sighed regretfully: "If only it had been this morning. In that case, we wouldn't have had to attend Snape's two classes either."
Harry and Hodu nodded at the same time.
This was indeed quite a pity.
However, Hodu knew very well in his heart that the current situation was probably caused by the commotion he had made in the Forbidden Forest.
If classes had truly been suspended since the morning, that would be rather unlikely instead.
Of course, he himself could not escape responsibility either.
"I always feel that too many things have been happening recently." Harry suffered two successive blows and the more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt, "Is Hogwarts always like this? I heard Hagrid say that besides Gringotts, this is the safest place."
"Of course not." Ron shook his head immediately, "Fredand George both said that they've stayed at the school for several years and have never seen such a good thing as classes being suspended. The accidents happening this semester are way more than before."
Hodu listened to their discussion, his eyebrows lifting slightly without making a sound.
In this regard, Harry could completely look for reasons from himself.
Of course, the same went for Hodu himself.
Next, the few of them could only be trapped in the common room to pass the time.
Ron and Harry set up wizards chess, while Hermione went back to the dormitory to read.
Hodu sat for a while, feeling increasingly bored.
Although he himself was the chief culprit who had made everyone end up like this, this did not prevent him from feeling bored.
Finally, he quietly left the dormitory, cast Apparition, and went straight to the Kyoto villa.
Upon arriving at the place, he hooked up the game console to the television, and subsequently started playing games with the Dragon Turtle.
This time the Dragon Turtle's performance was obviously somewhat more proficient than before, and its operations were gradually taking shape.
Previously, it basically only had a share of being brutally beaten; this time, although it was still being suppressed and beaten by Hodu, it had already made Hodu expend a little more effort.
Hodu couldn't help staring at the Dragon Turtle with suspicious eyes.
Could this turtle have secretly practiced while he wasn't around?
Simply practicing games wouldn't amount to much.
But while he was attending classes at school, the Dragon Turtle stayed at home playing games; no matter how one looked at it, it felt rather uncomfortable.
The problem was that he couldn't find evidence.
Every time they played games, they had to plug in the cables first; could the Dragon Turtle really figure out this kind of operation?
Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, Ron defeated Harry once again, immediately crying out in joy.
Harry's expression became even uglier.
He and Ron were completely on different levels when playing wizards chess.
Feeling depressed about it, he casually turned his head and swept a glance around the dormitory.
With this look, he finally discovered that Hodu was gone.
"Where's Hodu? How come I don't see him?"
"He probably went to the bathroom." Ron didn't even raise his head, continuing to place the chess pieces back onto the board, "Come on, another game. This time I'll definitely slaughter you for another round."
"But it seems he's been gone for a long time." Hermioneput down the book in her hand and recalled when she had last seen Hodu.
The movements of the three people stopped simultaneously.
They looked at each other, the expressions on their faces changing from doubt to surprise.
"He didn't run out of the Castle, did he?" Harry blurted out.
"If he gets caught by a Professor or Filch, that won't be a small matter!" Hermione frowned.
What she was worried about wasn't the House losing points, but Hodu's safety.
The Professors suddenly suspending classes and also demanding all students stay in the common rooms was clearly because there was danger outside.
"Then let's go find him and bring him back!" Harryimmediately proposed.
Of course, his primary purpose was that he didn't want to continue playing wizards chess.
"Do you know where the secret passage leaving Hogwartsis?" Hermione asked.
"I know." Harry nodded, "Hodu took us there last time."
Speaking of this, he couldn't help shivering.
The scene of being chased and running from the Acromantula last time was still remembered by him crystal clearly up to now.
"That path has been sealed off by the Professors." Ronshook his head, "I heard it from Fred and George."
They had previously told Fred and George about the secret passage, and the two of them even treated that experience as an adventure, preparing things with the intention of going to catch an Acromantula.
Before they even had time to act, the secret passage was completely sealed off by the Professors.
Ron looked around, and after confirming that there were only the three of them in the dormitory, he lowered his voice again and said, "Do you guys think Hodu went to Hogsmeade Village?"
"I asked Fred and them." Ron continued, "Hogsmeade Village doesn't actually have anything particularly fun. Most people who go there are either for dating or drinking."
Harry suddenly widened his eyes: "You mean, Hodu is in a relationship?"
"It's not entirely impossible." Ron said it as if it were a serious matter.
"How is that possible?" Hermione directly rolled her eyes, "When have you ever seen Hodu get very close to any girl? This speculation has no logic at all."
Harry and Ron began to recall earnestly.
The two quickly discovered that Hodu indeed had not gotten close to any girl.
It wasn't entirely none, but they tacitly looked at Hermionetogether, and then shook their heads simultaneously.
It couldn't possibly be Hermione.
Who would choose to date Hermione? Wouldn't that be voluntarily finding oneself a nagging chaperone?
"However, Hodu is indeed a bit strange." Although Hermione denied his guess about being in a relationship, deep down she likewise developed suspicions about Hodu.
"Right, right!" Ron instantly became happy.
This was the first time he had won Hermione's approval.
The three of them chatted more and more enthusiastically, simply digging out all the places where Hodu usually acted strangely and discussing them heatedly.
When Hodu came back, he pushed open the dormitory door and the first thing he saw was three people staring at him with odd expressions.
"Uh... I went to the restroom."
Under the gazes of the three, Hodu instinctively explained first.
Who says going to the restroom can't take an hour or two?
"Confess honestly!" Ron excitedly leaned closer, "Are you in a relationship?"
Hodu's eyes widened.
What on earth is this all about?
Soon, the scene turned into another appearance.
Hodu sat on one side of the table, while Harry and the other two sat opposite, arms crossed over their chests, looking for all the world like they were about to conduct a formal trial.
"Where did you go?"
"Outside."
"What did you go out to do?"
"Play..."
"Which secret passage did you take?"
Hodu was instantly stuck.
Judging from the posture of the few people, they clearly wanted to ask about the matter clearly.
It seemed that usually they hadn't completely lacked suspicions, they just hadn't spoken up until now.
As for why they suddenly put on this stance now, Hodu felt the reason was very simple.
They were simply bored with nothing to do.
"I didn't take the secret passage." Hodu crossed his arms and said slowly, "I went out through the front entrance."
As soon as these words came out, Harry and the other two were all stunned, looking at each other in dismay.
"Filch guards the front door, how could you possibly go out through the front entrance?" They asked almost simultaneously.
Looking at the three people's incredulous expressions, Hodu instead leaned back against the back of the chair, revealing a confident smile.
The situation returned to his control once again.
"You guys know about the Disillusionment Charm, right?" He asked casually.
This scene gave Hodu a feeling of returning to the first time he met Hermione.
That time, he had also asked Hermione like that, leaving her momentarily speechless.
However, today's Hermione was no longer the Hermioneof back then, and Hodu was long no longer the Hodu of the past.
"That is a spell only upperclassmen learn, and the difficulty is very high." Hermione's gaze flickered slightly, and she immediately replied calmly, "Even for upperclassmen, it is very difficult to truly master it."
She stared sharply at Hodu, as if she had already made up her mind in advance that this time she would never let him render her speechless again.
To this answer, Hodu was not surprised at all.
How could the person unable to answer be Hermione?
He slightly raised his chin, putting on a rather proud look.
Harry and Ron looked at him in confusion, completely unable to figure out why he suddenly showed such an expression.
Hermione was the first to react; she furrowed her brow and asked suspiciously, "You wouldn't happen to want to say that you've already mastered the Disillusionment Charm, would you?"
Harry and Ron also looked over at Hodu, the meaning on their faces very obvious.
They simply didn't believe it.
"That's right." Hodu nodded, "This is a matter regarding magic, there's nothing that can't be admitted. Who doesn't have a bit of talent?"
His concealment ability and the Disillusionment Charmwere actually not entirely the same.
The Disillusionment Charm could allow a person to make changes on their body, but his concealment couldn't do that, purely hiding himself away instead.
However, Hodu did not plan to explain this slight difference right now.
"Impossible!" Hermione immediately retorted, "Even among advanced spells, the Disillusionment Charm is one of the hardest to master."
She herself hadn't not tried learning advanced spells, but the difficulty of that magic far exceeded ordinary spells, and wanting to master it through self-study was almost impossible.
Even with a Professor personally guiding, it would require investing a massive amount of time and energy.
Let alone that the difficulty of the Disillusionment Charmwas even above ordinary advanced spells.
Harry and Ron widened their eyes enormously, their faces clearly writing disbelief.
Clearly everyone was a slacker, by what right did you suddenly secretly turn into a straight-A student?
Seeing this, Hodu instead raised his head even higher, putting on an unyielding and rebellious look.
"Hump, how is it impossible?" He said triumphantly, "I didn't study my other courses well because I spent most of my time learning the Disillusionment Charm. What you usually see is just a superficial appearance; actually, I am a diligent and studious person."
He paused for a moment and added: "The time you guys spent playing Quidditch, playing wizards chess, and studying, was all taken by me to research the Disillusionment Charm."
Hodu spoke with an arrogant expression on his face, as if that really was the case.
Looking at Harry and Ron's completely stunned appearance, that bit of confidence in his heart instantly came back.
After all, he was different from slackers like Harry and Ron.
It was just that he usually hung out with them, which made others mistakenly think he was a slacker too.
Hermione stared at him for a moment, her expression turning somewhat odd, and she asked faintly: "According to you, if I take the time I usually spend tutoring you guys to finish your homework and use it to study instead, would I also be able to learn the Disillusionment Charm?"
The triumph on Hodu's face froze instantly.
He awkwardly scratched his head: "This... not necessarily. Learning this kind of thing still depends on talent. Without talent, no matter how much time you spend, it won't work."
He didn't dare truly anger Hermione.
Because of the Dragon Turtle matter, his evaluation among the Professors was already very poor.
If he dared to fail to hand in his homework one more time now, Professor McGonagall would probably send a letter to Hannah.
Therefore, when it was time to cling to Hermione for support, he still had to hold on tight.
Hermione gave a soft hum, figuring he knew what was good for him.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, still unable to accept the fact that Hodu had secretly turned into a straight-A student.
This was just like Ron suddenly telling them that he was actually an even more formidable straight-A student than Hermione, and had only intentionally hidden his strength all along to keep a low profile.
No matter who it was, it would be impossible to accept easily.
"I don't believe it." Hermione took the lead to say, "Unless you cast it for us to see right now."
In fact, she likewise couldn't accept a slacker suddenly turning into a straight-A student, and even less believed that Hodu had truly learned the Disillusionment Charm.
"That's right!" Harry and Ron immediately chimed in.
Looking at the three people's stubborn expressions, Hodusneered.
"Hump, cast it then."
Today he was really going to give Harry and the others a shock.
Usually he was just used to keeping a low profile, not expecting these three guys to actually treat him as a slacker just like them.
Hodu reached out and fumbled in his pocket, preparing to take out his wand.
But after fumbling for a long time, there was nothing inside.
Only then did he remember that, apart from class times, he usually didn't carry his wand with him at all.
Hodu had no choice but to quickly get up, walk over to his bed, lift the quilt and take a look, and sure enough, the wand was hidden underneath.
There was no help for it, he hardly ever used a wand normally.
When it really came time to cast spells, using a fan was actually much more convenient.
Under the gazes of the three people, Hodu held the wand and put on a pretentious posture, just preparing to wave it when he suddenly stopped.
He tilted his head, struggling to recall the spell.
Previously while reading books in the Library, he seemed to have seen the Disillusionment Charm in a spellbook.
The problem was, at that time he had only glanced at it hastily and hadn't memorized the incantation at all.
What on earth was the incantation again now?
Hermione looked at his frozen posture in place, an expression of "as expected" showing on her face.
From the very beginning, she hadn't believed that Hoducould actually perform the Disillusionment Charm.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, also seeing amusement and relief in each other's eyes.
"Ahem..." Hodu gripped the wand, forcefully finding an excuse, "How about we do this next time? I'm a bit hungry. It's dinner time now, we surely can't just stay here forever, right? How are we going to eat?"