https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-453-The-Forbidden-Forest-Expedition/13154717/
Chapter 452: Boggart and the Fish Tank
Chapter 452: Boggart and the Fish Tank
The classroom erupted into chaos as students scattered, screaming and running aimlessly.
The Boggart, not being an actual ghost, would pause momentarily whenever the person closest to it changed.
Thus, the 'ghost' behaved erratically, alternating between menacing and confused states, as if the poor creature was utterly bewildered by the students' antics.
However, since its appearance didn't change fundamentally, most of the terrified students didn't notice this peculiar behavior.
Only Wade remained standing in his original spot, observing the Boggart and then Professor Trocar, who seemed equally perplexed, as if the situation had short-circuited his CPU, rendering him temporarily unresponsive.
After a brief frenzy of running around like headless flies, the students in the classroom divided into two groups.
Most of them huddled behind Professor Trocar, while a small number cowered behind Wade.
Wade sighed softly and took two steps forward.
He was curious to know what he feared the most. At the same time, he believed that even if Voldemort or the corpse of a relative suddenly appeared in the classroom, he would understand it as a magical effect and not lose his composure.
The ghostly figure approached swiftly.
Click!
With a crisp sound, the terrifying centipede ghost vanished, replaced by something no one could have anticipated.
"Ah... Ahhh..."
Daphne's face turned ashen, her eyes tightly shut as she hid in the corner, seemingly trying to squeeze herself into the cracks of the wall.
After a brief bout of screaming, she suddenly realized the surrounding shrieks had ceased. She clamped her mouth shut and cautiously opened one eye.
The imagined scene of a terrifying ghost with a gaping mouth before her didn't exist. Daphne gathered her courage and surveyed the classroom, only to find that the ghost was gone, and in its place was a...
"A fish tank?" Malfoy voiced the question on everyone's mind, raising an eyebrow in bewilderment. "Gray, is a fish tank what you fear the most?"
He feigned nonchalance, as if he found the situation amusing. "I mean, it's not like it's Voldemort or a relative's corpse."
Malfoy let out a snort of laughter, glancing around as if expecting others to join him in mocking Wade. But even Goyle merely stared blankly ahead, his expression unreadable.
Malfoy turned his attention back to the center of the classroom.
Upon closer inspection, the fish tank did seem rather peculiar—
The crystal-clear fish tank contained only a single fish swimming slowly, which wasn't unusual, but above the tank, a dense circle of pink fleshy nerves extended, initially resembling flower-shaped decorations. On closer inspection, one could see that the tips were adorned with round eyes, all fixated on the fish tank below.
This eerie, Cthulhu-like scene sent shivers down Malfoy's spine, as if he had sensed an invisible, immense terror.
He rubbed his arms and whispered to Pansy beside him, "Which movie is this from? Have you seen it?"
Pansy shook her head, whispering, "It's so weird... What does Gray usually watch?"
Their hushed whispers of confusion and astonishment seemed to rouse Wade from his daze. He stepped forward, pointed his wand at the Boggart, and said calmly, "Riddikulus!"
Click!
The fish tank vanished, replaced by a man in black with an old-fashioned camera mounted on his neck. He took a step forward, then stumbled and fell with a clatter, his limbs flailing as if swimming on dry land.
Malfoy's sharp eyesight caught Wade's slight smirk, as if he genuinely found the scene amusing.
He couldn't help but turn to his companion and say, "Is there something off about Gray?"
"What? I don't think so," replied Goldstein, also hiding behind Professor Trocar. He offered an explanation for his fellow Ravenclaw's behavior, "Maybe you find this scene strange because he saw some bizarre cartoons as a child, leaving him with a psychological shadow."
"Lucky him," Terry said enviously. "He had countless cartoons and movies to watch as a kid. All I had was a mud pit outside my house."
When did playing in the mud become something to be envied? Malfoy rolled his eyes, but seeing the Ravenclaws beside him and Professor Trocar's towering figure ahead, he swallowed his retort.
Professor Trocar finally snapped out of his daze, and with a wave of his wand, he levitated the Boggart that was crawling on the ground back into the box. He cleared his throat and glared at the students.
"Everyone except for Wade Gray, I am very dissatisfied with your performance just now!" Professor Trocar emphasized, his voice carrying a hint of displeasure. The students who had been scrambling in panic now bowed their heads under his intense gaze, and he slowly calmed down, pretending that the chaotic classroom was exactly what he intended.
Professor Trocar waved his wand again, causing the wands, books, and crystal balls that had been scattered on the floor to fly back to their owners. "I believe you've realized by now that running away is the most useless approach, and discarding your wand is downright foolish!"
"The way to deal with a Boggart is with the Ridiculous spell, but if your mind is in disarray and your willpower is weak, then standing with others is also a way to cope!" Professor Trocar strolled around the classroom, his voice cold as he repeatedly emphasized the methods to handle Boggarts. He had the students review the spell several times before resuming the practical exercises after half the class time had passed.
This time, the students lined up in an orderly fashion, taking turns to challenge the Boggart, finally bringing some semblance of order to the class.
However, each time the spider Boggart appeared, it still elicited a chorus of whispered exclamations from the students.
...
As Wade had anticipated, the news about the fish tank spread quickly within a small circle.
During dinner, the SSC members sat near Wade, their expressions filled with unspoken questions and hesitation. They seemed to be in a state of discomfort, wanting to ask but afraid to do so.
The Weasley twins, however, paid no heed to others' potential "fragile hearts." They marched forward, holding a fish tank with a small fish inside, likely caught from the Black Lake.
"Look, Wade! The most terrifying thing in the world!" Fred exclaimed with a mischievous grin.
"Face your fears! If you're scared, we'll help you overcome them together!" George added with a mischievous smile, patting the fish tank. He placed it on the long table in front of Wade, while Theo and Leon, sitting across from them, quickly moved several plates out of the way.
"Hey, you guys!" Hermione rushed over, her face flushed with anger. Before she could scold them, Wade tapped the fish tank and said,
"Who said I'm afraid of this thing? You should release this dogfish back into the lake. It has strict habitat requirements and is easily susceptible to death if not properly cared for."
The twins exchanged a puzzled glance. "Huh? But we heard... The Boggart turned into a fish tank in front of you?"
Noticing the curious ears perked up around them, Wade decided to offer an explanation. Patiently, he said,
"The vast universe is like a boundless ocean, and each star could be a sun or even a galaxy. We live in the solar system, and the world beyond is immense, so vast that it seems limitless."
"Oh..." Harry asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with the fish tank?"
"A Muggle scientist once posed a question," Wade continued, "If there are numerous extraterrestrial civilizations in the universe, why haven't we discovered any signs of alien life so far?"
"It's like in a vast body of water, under what circumstances would there be only one fish?"
"Either the water is extremely dangerous, and all the other fish have unfortunately perished, leaving only this fish alive by sheer coincidence and extreme luck."
"Or..."
The most ⊥new⊥small⊥said⊥in⊥six⊥9⊥⊥book⊥⊥⊥end⊥⊥first⊥publish!
Wade tapped the transparent fish tank and said,
"It seems that in this vast world, it's just a small fish tank. This fish is being raised here, and the owner only wants to keep one fish."
"The little fish appears to swim freely in the water, but in reality, it is confined to this tank for its entire life, never able to escape. It doesn't even know that there are eyes observing it from outside the tank."
His words were calm, but several people shivered, either due to their rich imagination or heightened sensitivity.
"I think I understand why you're afraid of that kind of thing..." Harry murmured.
He imagined himself as the "only fish in the tank," and suddenly, even being with the Dursleys seemed preferable.
"Why can't it be that the ocean is too vast, and the fish is too small and swims too slowly, so it hasn't encountered other fish?"
A dreamy voice sounded from behind, and Wade turned to see Luna, who had appeared at some point. She listened for a while before chiming in seriously, "And what you said earlier is wrong—it's not just Earth that has life! Someone once flew to the moon and brought back a bag of sparkling moon frogs."
"What if there are even more incredible creatures out there, beyond Mars and the Sun?" Luna exclaimed with enthusiasm.
"Oh, Luna, stop with your crazy talk. People will laugh at you," said one of her roommates, covering her face with one hand and reaching out to pull Luna away.
Vedd smiled and said, "Maybe you're right... I've never seen the world beyond Earth with my own eyes, so I can't confirm that there are no other life forms out there. But what if one day..."
He paused before continuing, "What if that small, slow fish encounters other fish? Will they coexist peacefully, or will it immediately become prey to a predator?"
Luna blinked and slowly replied, "...How can we know that?"
"Yeah..." Vedd looked at her and said, "That's the problem."
The surrounding area fell silent for a while, especially in Ravenclaw, where many students frowned, pondering unanswerable questions like 'What if the universe is desolate?', 'The observer of the fish', and 'Why do we exist?'
Luna was pulled away by her friends, looking pensive, her gaze even more dreamy as if she were immersed in a half-awake state.
When Vedd turned around, he found that the huge fish tank in front of him had been moved by someone, and Theo had put a lot of food in his plate. As Vedd looked over, a thick piece of toast had just landed.
"Theo, what are you doing?" Vedd asked, puzzled.
"They say that being hungry makes you pessimistic and prone to negative emotions," Theo explained with a conflicted expression. "Vedd... eat more for dinner."
Vedd looked at him and then at the plate.
He turned to Ryan and asked, "Is he trying to jinx me?"
Ryan struggled to hold back a laugh and added a potato to Vedd's plate, silently expressing his support for Theo.
While everyone else remained silent, the two Hufflepuffs had only one thought—why think about these things? They were scaring themselves.
...
Malfoy angrily realized that the topic he had tried to spread—'Vedd Grey is afraid of fish tanks'—was quickly overshadowed by some grand and abstract topics.
Even during Astronomy class, Professor Sinistra added a white fish tank symbol to her hat and, while everyone observed the starry sky, she spent an entire lesson telling stories of various constellations, concluding that these were all made up by people.
In History of Magic class, Pansy suddenly sighed and said, "If our world is just a huge fish tank, I would still love you, Draco. I don't care if anyone observes our feelings."
The confession that would have made Malfoy feel sweet in the past now made him frown.
—Why take Vedd Grey's casual remarks so seriously? That kid has thought about these questions so much that he's gone mad. Even the Boggart has turned into a fish tank. Do you all have to do the same?
—Speaking of which, why did the Boggart really turn into a fish tank with eyeballs? After all, compared to a hypothetical fish tank, shouldn't a spider-like ghost be scarier?
Malfoy felt something was odd, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.
However, he didn't really want to delve into Vedd Grey's thoughts. After pondering for a while, he let it go and eagerly anticipated the afternoon's arrival.
Last semester, when Hagrid first taught Care of Magical Creatures, he brought in some Hippogriffs. Malfoy angered one of them, and even Harry Potter was injured by the creature.
Later, due to threats from 'someone,' Malfoy had to endure it and didn't encourage his father to get Hagrid fired. As a condition, Hagrid promised to take him to see a dragon.
But every day since then, Malfoy had to go to the professor for detention for almost killing Crabbe earlier, leaving him no chance to see the dragon.
Recently, after Malfoy's repeated urging, Hagrid finally made an effort and 'stole' an opportunity for Malfoy's detention from Professor Snape.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Malfoy happily walked towards Hagrid's hut, trying to hold back his excitement and not jump. However, as he approached the hut, his expression turned gloomy.
—Why are those annoying guys all here?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
