Chapter 402: Region V
Chapter 402: Region V
"Yes, she escaped... Perhaps I shouldn't say this from my perspective, but I think... it's a blessing that she escaped." Professor Sprout sighed deeply.
"What happened?" Vold asked.
"The Ministry of Magic wanted to execute that girl, and even the children who were rescued with her, they didn't want to let them off easily," Professor Sprout said, recalling the heated argument she had overheard on the ship a few days ago.
"They plan to imprison those children. I heard someone say that they should at least wait until they come of age and confirm there's no danger before releasing them," she said, her voice filled with anger.
"But what about their survival when they're released into society? No one cares! Absolutely no one is thinking about this!"
After speaking angrily, she took a deep breath, her nostrils flaring, and continued, "After that girl escaped, the Ministry suddenly realized that anger and hatred breed more powerful dark creatures. They're afraid of retaliation from the Silent One, so they changed their minds and said they could consider treating those children more leniently."
She spoke with a mocking tone, her expression almost resembling Professor Snape's.
"But there's still a dispute over how to handle the situation?" Vold asked.
"Yes," Professor Sprout replied. "Dumbledore wants to send the children with magical abilities to Hogwarts, but... alas... the Board of Governors strongly opposes it."
"I can understand their concerns to some extent... and some of the children are indeed older, and even if they enter school, they'll graduate soon without much chance of passing the Wizard Examinations."
"Eventually, both sides compromised. Children over eleven years old can't be admitted to school through special means, but the Ministry has approved a special fund for them to take correspondence courses in introductory magic. This way, after graduation, they'll have some basic magic to at least support themselves."
"Correspondence courses?" Vold asked, puzzled. "I thought Hogwarts was the only magic school in the entire UK!"
Professor Sprout smiled indulgently. "Of course, Hogwarts is the only school in the UK, but there are some wizards who set up correspondence courses in their backyards, teaching a few clumsy students some simple household magic—it's all just a sham."
"But with the Ministry and Dumbledore's involvement, they should be able to find a reliable teacher for those children."
"Once they're all settled, perhaps next week, Dumbledore will return to the school."
Vold had intended to ask about the whereabouts of the ordinary children without magical abilities, but seeing the next class of students entering the greenhouse, he thanked and bid farewell to Professor Sprout.
Outside, Vold met up with Michael.
"We still have more than an hour until the History of Magic class!" Michael said. "Why don't we go to the Maze for a match?"
"Sure."
Vold felt a bit down recently and wanted to relax.
The two turned and headed towards the maze.
Ron and Harry, who had just come out of the castle, spotted the two of them turning in the distance.
Harry immediately said sympathetically, "Today's visitors to the maze are going to be unlucky."
"Yeah... yeah..." Ron said absentmindedly, his gaze fixed on the other side.
...
Contrary to Harry's guess, Vold wasn't bullying the younger students with oversized insects in the maze.
Most of the students who had free time and enjoyed playing in the maze were from the lower grades with fewer classes. Upon seeing Vold, they scattered, fearing they'd be caught if they ran slowly.
"Hahaha... Vold, you've become a plague god..." Michael laughed loudly, leaning back and forth, while Vold touched his nose awkwardly.
"I didn't plan to bully them with insects today..." Vold said helplessly.
"Okay, the next group can come in."
Hagrid was on duty at the maze that day. He opened the entrance and roared, but he didn't see the usual young wizards rushing in.
Hagrid, surprised, placed his hand on the hedge wall and looked outside, only to see Vold and Michael standing there.
"Where did everyone go?" Hagrid asked, puzzled. "Why are only the two of you left?"
"Cough!" Michael coughed and stopped laughing, becoming serious. "They all went to class."
"Alright..." Hagrid said disappointedly, "Seems like there's no one else. Do you two want to enter?"
"Er..." Michael hesitated before saying, "Let's go, since we're here..."
Vold took the lead, and Michael hurried to catch up. "Let's agree, Vold, we're just exploring, not competing, okay?"
"What does 'breaking through' mean?" Vold asked. "Since there's no one else, I'll take you to see something new."
"What?"
Michael asked curiously, but Vold just smiled mysteriously and didn't answer.
Behind them, the entrance was sealed by intertwining vines, like a woven barrier, restoring the wall to its original state.
Beyond the wall, Hagrid, sitting on a stone, put down his pink umbrella and picked up a ball of yarn and a large bundle of unidentified animal fur.
"What are you doing, Hagrid?" Michael asked.
"Oh, I'm making a belt from the Chimaera's mane. The old one is about to break."
As Hagrid twisted the yarn and fur together with his thick fingers, he asked, "Do you want one? I can make one for you too."
Michael looked at the belt, thicker than his own arm, and quickly waved his hands, "Never mind, I can't use it."
Vold also greeted Hagrid and said, "Professor Hagrid, we're going to the V area."
"The V area? Oh, okay."
Hagrid picked up his pink umbrella and knocked on the wall. An arched entrance appeared in the hedge wall.
"Go ahead, be careful." Hagrid said.
"Okay, thanks."
Vold waved his hand and walked inside.
"The V area?" Michael walked beside him and asked, "What kind of place is this? I've never heard of it before."
"It's normal that you haven't heard of it because it's a newly developed area."
Vold explained as he led the way. Michael turned back to look at the sealed entrance and then at the increasingly tall walls on both sides, feeling an unusual sense of quietness around them.
It wasn't always like this—
Stepping into the maze, every step could be a trap or a challenge.
Not only were there traps set up by the school professors, but every student who had passed through here might also leave behind a nasty trap for those who followed.
So, even if you repeatedly entered the maze along the same route, you might encounter new "surprises" each time, which was the interesting part of the Hogwarts maze.
Michael recalled his previous experiences in the maze, where every step was a potential trap, and compared it to the current silence, feeling a sense of eerie unease.
He couldn't help but want to start a conversation.
"The walls here are so high, even taller than Professor Hagrid." Michael looked up at the tall green hedge wall and asked, "Why are they built so high? Is there a secret building hidden inside?"
"It's not a secret building, but some creatures." Vold stopped and said, "Look, they're coming."
Michael was taken aback, and then he saw a green troll dragging a long wooden stick, staggering from the end of the passage.
He quickly turned his head, and behind him, a werewolf appeared silently. It looked at the two of them and let out a low growl.
A low laugh sounded above their heads, and Michael looked up to see two figures on the hedge walls on both sides... They had human-like appearances, but their eyes glowed red, and their mouths revealed sharp fangs.
Michael: "..."
...
Half an hour later, Vold looked at Michael, sitting on a natural chair formed by tree roots and picking sunflower seeds, and couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for him.
6◇9◇Book◇Bar
This guy was scared pale by the sudden appearance of the monsters, but after seeing the vampire girl on the wall, he blurted out:
"You're wearing so little, aren't you cold? And standing on the wall in a skirt, you might flash someone!"
The vampire girl burst out laughing, and the tense atmosphere created by the other monsters dissipated.
They looked at each other, then turned to Vold. The werewolf asked with a simple-minded expression, "He's not running, should we chase him?"
"Be flexible, everyone. If a student is scared stiff, will you just let him go?" Vold said helplessly, "Pretend to attack, surround and beat him up, didn't I teach you this?"
"Oh..."
The werewolf suddenly understood and waved his claws, and surprisingly, he pulled out a small notebook from his stomach and carefully took notes.
The troll tilted his head, seeing that they weren't going to fight for now, and continued dragging the wooden stick, walking away with heavy footsteps.
The handsome red-haired vampire bowed and said, "When needed, please summon us anytime."
After saying this, he jumped to the other side of the wall, and the other vampires disappeared with him.
Michael watched the direction where the female vampire had disappeared, feeling a sense of loss, and heaved a deep sigh.
"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen... It's a pity she's not human... not even a vampire..."
"If it were a real vampire, would you still pursue it?" Vold asked.
Michael indignantly replied, "Love is not limited by race!" He paused, then added dejectedly, "But I can't accept that it's a puppet."
Vold teased, "Padma breaking up with you is understandable."
Michael thought of Padma and began to sigh again.
The last time Vold saw the two of them sitting together, laughing and chatting, he thought they had reconciled. Who knew they had actually broken up completely.
Padma couldn't stand Michael's gentle behavior towards every girl and his constant laughter with pretty girls. They had argued several times over this.
Michael understood Padma's anger, but he couldn't change his ways.
After retreating from lovers to ordinary friends, their relationship became a little more harmonious—
After all, Michael had always been good to Padma.
But he was also good to other girls, which made Padma, as his girlfriend, feel annoyed and insecure. However, as friends, Padma could learn to ignore it.
Their relationship was in a realm that Vold had never ventured into. He rarely interfered, and this time, he merely mentioned it before shifting the topic to Michael's performance earlier—
"To be honest, weren't you afraid?" Vold asked curiously. "Or did my puppet have some flaws that you saw through immediately?"
"Not really," Michael replied. "Real trolls might not have that fearsome feeling because... you know, trolls are fools, but puppets aren't."
"So you're afraid because..."
"Because I haven't forgotten that you brought me here."
Michael casually said, "You wouldn't bring me here to die, would you? The professors wouldn't let so many monsters into Hogwarts without noticing."
"Once you realize that, and recall the red-hatted creatures from the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the conclusion is obvious. These are another batch of puppet creatures?"
Vold fell silent.
It's easy to say, but how many people can remain calm and think rationally when faced with life-threatening situations? As they spoke, the two finally made their way through the long passage and arrived at the real V region.
Here, it seemed as if they had entered the Forbidden Forest. The roots of the trees were intertwined, forming a canopy that blocked most of the sunlight, making the area appear cold and damp.
There were also some dead trees around, their branches reaching out like long fingers, resembling a monster ready to devour humans.
Despite the chilling atmosphere, Michael adapted well. After a tour, he even picked up some pinecones and easily peeled the pine nuts, which was not difficult for two magical individuals.
He even had time to eat and comment—
"The atmosphere is good, but the place is a bit small. It would be better if it extended further into the Forbidden Forest."
"That's unlikely," Vold said, sitting on another tree trunk. "The creation of the maze has already caused some Forbidden Forest creatures to protest to Dumbledore. If we extend it further, they will definitely be very angry."
"And beyond a certain range, the school's magic won't be able to protect all the students."
"That's a bit of a shame," Michael said. "In such a small place, everyone will quickly figure out the reality of these puppets."
Not far from them, a few trolls huddled together, making a fire, their massive bodies looking cramped.
Werewolves occasionally ran around, their slender forms often flashing by.
The vampires were well-hidden and had not shown themselves.
"The V region is only temporary," Vold said. "Professor Dumbledore has invited Mr. Scamander to help. During the holidays, they will use magic to move this area to the underground maze, connecting it all, so it won't look much different from the Forbidden Forest."
Michael exclaimed in surprise, opening his mouth wide. "Can such a thing be done? Moving an entire space?"
Vold paused, also surprised. "You're surprised by this? Isn't time magic even more amazing?"
The two looked at each other for a while and decided to give up trying to change each other's minds.
Vold asked, "Do you want to try fighting a werewolf?"
"Sure!" Michael happily jumped up from the tree root seat, wand in hand.
Vold clapped his hands, and a werewolf slowly emerged from the woods.
(End of Chapter)
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