Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Water Margin

Chapter 115 The Principal Establishes New Rules Under the Viper Venom

Chapter 116 The Principal Establishes New Rules Under the Viper Venom

Picking up where we left off, Legnac suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, gesturing wildly as if he had gone mad.

Ron stared blankly for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "Has this guy gone mad from looking at swords?"

"I just figured it out," Flitwick laughed. "Ron, when you learned the Inflation Charm in my class, you were laughing just as loudly as him."

"Ahem, I was startled by the expanding bomb that Simo created."

Harry tilted his head back and chugged the glass of liquor, then slammed the bottom down and yelled at Legnark, "You bastard! You've had your fill, why aren't you returning it?!"

The sound was like a thunderclap, startling Legnack so much that he trembled and his infatuation vanished. He lingered there, his fingers still touching the ruby ​​on the hilt of the sword, before finally placing it beside Harry's robes.

Just as he put the sword down, he suddenly heard a soft "plop" sound. He saw something roll out from inside Harry's robes and lay on the ground, seemingly there but not there. Under the light, he could only see the outline but not the substance. What else could it be but the Invisibility Cloak?

Legnack picked up the invisibility cloak and asked curiously, "Mr. Potter, why are you wearing an invisibility cloak—"

The demon abruptly stopped speaking, her eyes widening like copper bells.

"Hey! Stay away from our stuff!"

Ron yelled, threw down the bread in his hand, jumped forward, and snatched the Invisibility Cloak from her hand.

"Mr. Potter!"

Legnark's breathing quickened, his eyes wide as he stared intently at Harry. "That...that's not an ordinary invisibility cloak, is it?"

Listen, dear reader: This race of demons is naturally perceptive and knows the world's treasures best. No matter how rare or precious your item is, once it passes through their hands, they will know whether it is priceless or just a common object.

Now, just by touching and examining this invisibility cloak, one can sense the endless flow of magic within it, as if it were inexhaustible. It must be a divine artifact on par with the Gryffindor sword.

Harry exclaimed in surprise, "You've got a good eye for quality, haven't you?"

"Oh, Harry," Ron said hastily, "we shouldn't have told him."

Harry waved his hand. "That's alright. This fellow is a shrewd man. Now that he's figured things out, how can we possibly hide it from him?"

Upon hearing this, Legnac felt a surge of pride.

Harry replied, "All we need to do is silence him."

Seeing the scarred man's menacing aura as he gripped the wand tightly, Legnack hurriedly called out, "Wait, Mr. Potter!"

"Don't you want to reforge your magical weapon?"

"I can make it even stronger—even stronger than the Gryffindor sword!"

Upon hearing this, Harry put his wand back at his waist. "Tell me what happened."

"I... I just observed the Gryffindor sword and have realized my own shortcomings in skill..."

"Don't try to fool us with words like that." Flitwick's face was full of skepticism. "I don't believe you can immediately improve your forging skills to the level of your ancestors."

Legnac glared at Flitwick fiercely and gritted his teeth, saying, "That's right, I really can't."

"But I can incorporate this invisibility cloak, which will never fail, into the knife."

Thinking of this, even with his life at stake, Legnack's heart burned with passion, and he exclaimed, "Think of it, Mr. Potter, a knife that no one will ever see!"

"Before anyone could react, you'd already cut their head off!"

"And I only need a tiny bit of the fabric for this invisibility cloak, five feet—no! Three feet will be enough!"

"And you can still use this invisibility cloak to conceal your whereabouts!"

Flitwick frowned and whispered in Harry's ear, "Harry, don't believe him."

"An invisibility cloak that will never expire is enough to drive wizards all over the world crazy. I don't recommend that you destroy such a treasure."

Harry didn't reply, closed his eyes and pondered for a while before finally speaking, "Do you really have such abilities?"

"I vouch for you with the honor of the Legnark family!" Legnark's eyes were bloodshot. "To forge a divine weapon comparable to the Sword of Gryffindor is the honor of all goblins!"

"Very well! I'll grant your request today!"

After saying that, Harry took the Invisibility Cloak from Ron, unfolded it, and then, with a swift stroke of the Gryffindor sword, steadily cut off two and a half feet.

Ron muttered, "Harry, isn't three feet a little longer than this?"

"Brother, don't panic. I know exactly how many feet of cloth this knife is made of. Even including the scraps, it's more than two and a half feet."

Legnack cursed under his breath, but put on a smile again. "Oh, Mr. Potter is right. I miscalculated."

He got up and went to the shelf to get a round-bellied bottle. "Excuse me, Mr. Potter, could you please leave a little more of the basilisk's venom?"

Harry removed his gloves and inserted two fingers into the bottle opening. With a slight exertion of his arm, a stream of dark, poisonous saliva gushed from his fingertips, pouring into the bottle with a hissing sound and a gleaming light.

Immediately, he waved his staff and chanted an incantation. A speck of poison floated out of the bottle, and he used his magic to refine the speck of poison into a nanometer-sized particle.

Legnack sensed something was wrong and quickly took a few steps back, calling out, "Mr. Potter, what are you doing?"

"Go!"

But at Harry's shout, the poison was injected into Legnark's hand.

"No!"

Legnak gripped his arm tightly, his eyes blazing with rage. "Damn it! Why did you have to kill me?!"

"Ha! If I really wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be alive to curse me."

"The poison in my body has long been diluted by my blood. Even if this one dose of poison takes effect, it will take more than two or three months."

Upon hearing this, Legnac hurriedly reached out to look, only to see three or five black lines running horizontally around the back of his hand.

The demon was seething with rage, but dared not utter a sound, saying each word carefully, "Rest assured, Mr. Potter, I will never run away with your knife."

"Uh... Harry?" Ron hesitated. "But do we have the antidote?"

"Wait! You don't have the antidote?!"

"Brother, you are mistaken. I only need to ask Professor Dumbledore for a single drop of Phoenix Tear, and that will be enough to cure his poison."

Legnak's chest heaved like a broken bellows, and a somber voice squeezed out from his throat, "I hope you won't forget to give me the antidote on time."

"After all, if I die, there will be no one to forge weapons for you."

Harry ignored him, pointed to the memoir, and said, "Since you don't want to give me the original, just make a copy and send it to Hogwarts."

"But if you need any gold, silver, or materials, just send a letter."

Having said that, he put on his robe, put on his invisibility cloak, gave Legnac a few more instructions, and then called Ron and Flitwick to leave.

Once outside the cave, Ron asked, puzzled, "Harry, you said you could cure his poison with phoenix tears, is that true?"

"Why didn't you use Phoenix Tears to treat your arm?"

Harry laughed and said, "The basilisk venom in my house has long since seeped into my bones; even soaking my bones in phoenix tears wouldn't cure it."

"That fellow was poisoned by poisonous blood, but the two are not the same. When I was recuperating, I thoroughly studied this poisonous blood. I know exactly how to apply it to the skin and flesh without corroding the bones and muscles."

Ron clicked his tongue and said, "That's a really clever trick. Not only does it prevent him from escaping with a knife, it also prevents him from revealing the invisibility cloak."

Thinking of the Invisibility Cloak, Flitwick suddenly spoke up, "Don't worry, Harry, I won't tell anyone about this."

"I can make an unbreakable vow with you."

Harry, displeased, exclaimed, "Oh dear! Why is the professor speaking so formally? It's infuriating!"

"It's precisely because I trust people that I don't doubt them, and I don't trust people that I don't trust them. Since I've already said it to the professor, it means I trust him. Why should some empty oath tarnish our genuine friendship?"

Upon hearing this, Flitwick felt as if he had drunk three cups of fine wine, and a sweet heat rushed straight to his heart, his internal organs thawed as if by spring water, and ten thousand peach blossoms bloomed all over his chest in an instant.

It was truly a sweet treat, so delicious it permeated my very bones, that even my hair seemed to tremble and dance with joy.

He couldn't stop laughing and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Harry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Well, but... are there any other professors who know about this? You know, I don't really trust Lockhart."

"Besides Professor Dumbledore, only the professor knows."

Flitwick was satisfied and nodded with a chuckle.

It seems that Minerva is unaware of this.

Damn it! Harry really should have come to Ravenclaw!

Enough of this rambling. Now, having finished the important task of forging the sword and inquiring about Hermione's health, Harry summoned a dozen or so house-elves to clean and tidy up the Secret Chamber.

Although Dumbledore took the phoenix badge, he gave orders to all the house-elves, instructing them to acknowledge Harry as their leader.

Whenever he had free time, Harry would summon Colin and other young witches he often visited to teach him spells.

At first, there were only thirty or fifty people, but Harry's skills were so great that even the fifth and sixth year students were ashamed of their own abilities.

Those who were taught by him all displayed remarkable skills in class, earning extra points as easily as drinking water or eating.

As the hourglass swelled, not only first-graders but also students from the same and higher grades flocked to apply.

Within just two or three months, the secret room was often filled with one or two hundred people, a dark mass, all following Hari's lead.

Luna of Ravenclaw, who was usually ostracized, was surprised when Harry publicly apologized, saying that the Basilisk's head had been blown to pieces and that there was no second one to examine.

Everyone who saw this scene was speechless with astonishment.

Those who used to laugh at her for being a freak now call her extraordinary. It's true that those with power speak the truth, and those with high prestige are the judges.

As the semester drew to a close, it was time to compete for the college cup once again. The scores of all four colleges had risen sharply, making it difficult to distinguish between them.

"Ah, children, it's that time of year again for the House Cup." Dumbledore took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and said, "I must say, this year's House grades are truly gratifying."

"Let's take a look at this year's scores."

Hufflepuff: 950 points

Ravenclaw: 946 points.

Slytherin: 941 points.

Gryffindor: 940 points.

The Hufflepuff students stood tall and beamed with joy, as if the Academy Cup was already theirs.

Unexpectedly, Dumbledore added, "However, before awarding the House Cup, I have some extra points to add..."

If this were any other house, there would have been chaos by now. But most of the Hufflepuffs are good people, so how many dare to question them?

"Harry Potter slew the Basilisk, once again making amends for my mistake, and also saving dozens of Slytherin students."

Draco glanced at Harry upon hearing this, but remained silent.

"Therefore, I will add another 100 points to Gryffindor."

As soon as he finished speaking, the yellow and black house flags around the Great Hall turned golden and red, and all the Gryffindor students stood up and cheered, rushing towards Harry.

"Defend the title!"

"We've won the championship again thanks to Harry!"

"Let's cheer for the Lion King!"

Hermione showed no joy, narrowed her eyes, and lightly bit her fingertip.

Why did Professor Dumbledore have to wait until the Academy Cup to award bonus points again?

This is a bit too deliberate...

Flitwick glanced around and saw McGonagall with tears in his eyes, a mixture of relief and joy, before silently drinking another glass of wine.

If I had let the eaglets squawk at last year's branching ceremony, would things be very different today?

"Alright, children. Save the cheers for dinner," Dumbledore said, using a megaphone spell. "I have two more things to announce."

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly fell silent.

"The first thing is that our gamekeeper and key custodian, Mr. Rupert Hagrid, has been exonerated."

"He was not the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago and caused the students' deaths; the Ministry of Magic has already made this public."

Hagrid has now grown a thick, bristly beard, each hair standing on end. However, the top of his beard is completely bald, without a single strand of black hair.

Little did he know that the phoenix had previously risen from the ashes on his head, burning even the roots of his hair to ashes.

The man straightened up, his eyes stinging and his nose red. He waved to the crowd, and Harry clapped and cheered, "Great! Let's have a good drink!"

When everyone saw Harry come to drink, they all cheered.

After the cheers subsided, Dumbledore smiled and said, "Now let's talk about the second thing, which is the new school rules."

The old headmaster waved his magic wand, and a stack of papers instantly appeared before the students' eyes.

Fred and George glanced at it a few times, then felt dizzy and rushed to Hermione's side.

"What do you mean, Hermione?"

"What new thing was added to it?"

"Most of it is the same as the old school rules," Hermione said, flipping through the pages carefully. "The only new rule is that dark magic items will be checked at the beginning and end of the school year."

"This is really bad news," Fred said in a deep voice. "Our business is going to plummet."

George shook his head and said, "The old men up there only said a few words, and two hardworking young entrepreneurs were on the verge of bankruptcy."

Ron laughed and said, "Don't be silly, those things of yours don't count as dark magic items."

"Hmm? Can I bring a new pet now?"

Hearing Hermione's words, the group quickly peered over to see what was happening.

Fred read out each word carefully: "...In addition to the existing owl, toad, and cat, we will be adding the following pets to the new school year."

"Mouse, turtle, goldfish, badger..."

Fred read out the names of a dozen or so pets, then suddenly stopped.

"And...snakes?"

The teachings of Dumbledore have been revised: Hogwarts has issued new rules, strictly investigating evil artifacts to prevent past disasters; and it has broadened its restrictions on animals, allowing them to roam freely among dozens of species, including snakes. But why did Dumbledore decide to change these rules? We'll find out in the next chapter.

P.S.: 8,600 words today, aiming for 10,000 tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)