Chapter 695: Bitten by a Motar Rat
Chapter 695: Bitten by a Motar Rat
Albert had no qualms about sharing Snape's embarrassing history as a post-dinner joke, nor did he worry about the story getting back to Snape and causing him to bear a grudge.
Izabel was an intelligent young woman, and she naturally wouldn't go spreading it around. Moreover, it was clear that she didn't entirely believe Albert's tale.
It was common knowledge that Gryffindor students tended to hold biases against Slytherins, especially when it came to the widely feared and disliked Professor Snape.
It was only natural to take any opportunity to smear his name further.
However, Izabel did deduce a few things from the story:
The prophecy about the Savior was made by Professor Trelawney to Dumbledore before she started teaching at Hogwarts.
Snape had eavesdropped on the prophecy and leaked it.
Snape had feelings for Harry Potter's mother.
Snape was Dumbledore's spy.
But what was the truth?
Was it a tragic love story or a scheme concocted by Snape? It was hard to say.
Reality often defied logic and could be more absurd than fiction.
Moreover, the truth didn't matter much to either of them; it was merely a post-dinner conversation piece, not something anyone would truly care about. Instead of worrying about such gossip, there were more meaningful things to do, like preparing for the upcoming Magic School Potion Championship, which was just over a month away.
Albert dedicated a significant amount of his time and energy to preparing for the championship during the remaining time.
He was determined to win that title! By becoming the champion, he could complete three panel tasks in one go: "Golden Cauldron," "Zygmunt Bach's Last Wish," and "In the Name of Hogwarts," and the bountiful rewards made him smile in his sleep.
The vast amount of experience and skill points were secondary; the main attraction was the reward from "Zygmunt Bach's Last Wish."
Upon completing the task, he would instantly master all the potions in the "Potionary" and bring one of the potions to the max level.
Most importantly, he would gain a special Potion-type skill: Potion Genius.
Albert already had a similar Magic Genius skill, which was incredibly useful, so he was eager to get his hands on the "Potion Genius" reward.
However, mastering all the potions in the "Potionary" was almost a given, as completing "Zygmunt Bach's Last Wish" required using potions from the book in the competition to achieve the goal of "having this book accompany a great potion master to win the championship."
How could a champion of the Magic School Potion Championship not know how to brew the potions from the "Potionary"?
Of course, the temptation of gaining a max-level skill was also irresistible. It was incredibly challenging to raise a skill to the max level, requiring an astronomical amount of experience.
But winning the championship was no easy feat.
Eleven schools from the magic world would attend this grand event.
Cheating during the competition had become commonplace.
If Albert wanted to emerge victorious among a group of cheating students, his best bet was to cheat as well.
He had only one chance.
Albert would not tolerate failure, no matter what.
If it meant cheating, so be it.
He took out his crystal ball and began to predict the content of the Magic School Potion Championship.
The predictions aligned with what Albert already knew—they would need to go through a basic screening process, and the potion they had to brew was Felix Felicis, the Liquid Luck.
The rest of the process was as Snape had described.
Albert suspected that Chairman Bernard had already given his grandson a head start by letting him familiarize himself with the Magic Garden.
There was no other explanation for why the first round's potion, Felix Felicis, was so suspiciously simple, leading everyone to associate it with Chairman Bernard.
Albert prepared several backup formulas, and among them, the beauty potion was the one he was most satisfied with.
It had a relatively high brewing difficulty, and the ingredients weren't exactly rare.
Fairy wings, morning dew, rose petals, lady's mantle, unicorn tail hair, and ginger root could all be found in the Magic Garden.
As for the snake skin of the African Tree Snake, the organizers would provide the participants with the necessary ingredients, so there was no need to worry about that.
To perfect his recipe, Albert took the time to consult Hagrid about unicorns.
Hagrid had plenty of experience finding unicorns or collecting their tail hair.
However, it would be challenging to collect all the ingredients within the allotted time and brew the potion successfully. A bit of luck was needed, and the Magic School Potion Championship often tested the students' ability to brew potions with very limited resources.
Upon returning from Hagrid's, Albert noticed Fred, George, and Lee Jordan glancing surreptitiously in a particular direction, as if anticipating something.
After sitting in the empty seat next to the trio, Albert followed their gaze and found it resting on Draco Malfoy, not far away.
Now, everything made sense to Albert.
Were they planning to target Malfoy?
"I thought you'd be having dinner with Hagrid," George winked at Albert, his lips twitching slightly as if to say, 'You almost missed the show.' "Draco, are you alright?"
A panicked scream suddenly came from the Slytherin table next to them.
Albert turned his head towards the source of the sound and saw Malfoy's body twitching slightly, as if he was about to vomit. What surprised everyone the most was that he covered his buttocks with his hand, looking rather comical.
"What's wrong with him?"
"I don't think it's stomach trouble."
"No, it looks more like someone gave him a good kick in the rear."
"Maybe he's got some strange disease."
"It's karma."
The students around them started whispering among themselves.
Harry was laughing heartily, wishing he had a camera to capture the moment.
Well, someone was already doing just that.
"You should take him to the hospital wing instead of standing there gaping," Percy said with a disgusted frown, addressing Goyle and Crabbe. "Take him there now, the rest of you disperse."
And so, Malfoy was escorted to the hospital wing by his two lackeys.
News of the incident spread quickly throughout the school.
Someone (Lee Jordan) claimed that Malfoy's anus was shooting out sparks, and he was being treated by Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.
This sparked curiosity among the students, as the idea of an anus emitting sparks was truly bizarre. How had Malfoy managed that?
Later, it was rumored that Malfoy's symptoms were caused by a bite from his pet Motar Rat, even though he vehemently denied ever owning or being bitten by one. However, according to Madam Pomfrey's diagnosis, the symptoms indeed matched those of a Motar Rat bite.
Soon, Snape got wind of the matter and paced the hall with a gloomy expression, scanning the students in an attempt to identify the culprit responsible for Malfoy's sparkling anus. He evidently believed that one of the students was behind it.
"Let's continue practicing the Patronus Charm tonight. I heard from Hagrid that the supply of Dementors is becoming insufficient," Albert said, deliberately shifting their attention to another matter as he noticed Snape approaching their table, thus avoiding any suspicion.
"You seem wary of Dementors."
"Those evil dark creatures are unreliable. They've been breeding rapidly due to the abundance of food lately, and the supply provided by the Ministry of Magic is no longer sufficient. There will come a time when the supply runs out, and there's a risk of them going out of control."
"Will the Dementors try to break into the school?"
"Are we going to face an attack from Dementors?"
"They're right outside the school. If we don't make our Patronuses strong enough to protect ourselves, we'll be in danger when we encounter them." Albert could tell that the three of them weren't really focusing on learning the Patronus Charm, but if they wanted to join him in capturing Sirius Black, they would first need to master the corporeal Patronus.
"It's really a shame that Malfoy's symptoms will only last for a maximum of 48 hours, according to what I've heard. It would be better if it were permanent," Ron said, relishing Malfoy's misfortune. The more unfortunate Malfoy was, the happier he became.
"Do you think you've gained some knowledge now?"
"Do you want to get bitten by a Motar Rat too?"
"I think Malfoy would be delighted to have his Motar Rat bite you."
"Shut up."
Ron suspected that Fred and George were behind it, although he had no proof.
"Is Albert teaching you the Patronus Charm?" Harry suddenly asked. "Can I join you guys in learning it?"
"We want to learn too!" Hermione chimed in.
"Albert probably won't mind. It's the same amount of effort to teach a few more people," Fred said, looking at Albert who was getting some food.
He knew that Albert and Hermione had a good relationship, so he didn't think Albert would refuse.
(End of Chapter)
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