"State the purpose and main ingredients of the Hair-Raising Potion!"
"The Hair-Raising Potion is a potion that makes the drinker's hair stand on end. Its main ingredient is rat's tail!" Hermione answered without hesitation. The question Draco asked was actually very basic, something a second-year student would learn, but since the school year had only started two months ago, they hadn't gotten to it yet.
Hermione lifted her proud little head. "Explain the use of hellebore."
"Hellebore can cleanse sins and protect livestock from evil curses. When ground into a powder, it can cure blindness. It can also be used as a calming agent in potions." This was a third-year topic. From this question, it was clear that Draco knew his stuff. But unfortunately, their duel had just begun…
"Where does Exploding Fluid come from?"
"Exploding Fluid is a liquid secreted from the horns of an Erumpent. Any object that is injected with this fluid will explode."
"Please state the uses of the Alihotsy tree."
"The Alihotsy is a magical tree, also known as the hyena tree. The leaves of this plant can cause hysteria and uncontrollable laughter, and the sap it produces can be used as an antidote for Alihotsy leaves."
…
For the next ten minutes, the two of them went back and forth, fighting for over a dozen rounds. But from the looks of it, compared to Draco, who was on the verge of not being able to answer several times, Hermione's fluent replies were clearly a lot easier.
"State the Three Laws of Gamp!" This round was Hermione's turn to ask, and she said a term that none of the onlookers had ever heard of.
Draco was also stunned to hear this question.
The Three Laws of Gamp? What was that? He had never heard of it!
Draco frantically racked his brain, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. But the worst part was that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember what this so-called law was. In the end, Neville looked at his watch and said, "Time's up! Draco, you lose!"
"Damn it!" Draco waved his fist in frustration. He really hadn't expected to lose, especially in the field he was most proud of. He pointed at Hermione in exasperation and shouted, "That's not fair! I'm sure I've never seen that Gamp's law in any book!"
"Not having heard of it just shows how lacking your Potions knowledge is!" Hermione lifted her proud little head and began to explain. "When we studied Magical Drafts and Potions in first year, the foreword already had a detailed explanation of Gamp's Three Laws."
"Gamp's First Law: For any single-ingredient potion, there must be a potion that can produce the opposite effect. Two single-ingredient potions that can cancel or weaken each other's effects are mutual antidotes."
"Gamp's Second Law: Any single-ingredient potion can have several different antidotes, and vice versa, but a compounded potion does not necessarily have a corresponding antidote."
"Gamp's Third Law: The antidote for a mixed potion is greater than the sum of the antidotes for each individual ingredient."
Hermione held up three fingers and explained the exact concepts of the three laws one by one.
"The Three Laws of Gamp are the cornerstone of the field of antidotes, and they are mandatory topics on the Ordinary Wizarding Level tests, O.W.L., which has existed for the past hundred years. However, this law is usually only known and used by those who enjoy researching new potions. For students like us who are still in the basic stages of Potions, knowing this is completely unnecessary, which is why Snape never mentioned it in class."
Hearing that Hermione was already studying for her O.W.L. exams in her second year, the other members of the Fairy Tail Guild were dumbfounded.
"Penelope, do you know this law?" Scarlia looked at Hermione with sparkling eyes, her quill in her hand still moving, and she asked her fellow Ravenclaw prefect. Penelope was in her fifth year and was just beginning to prepare for her O.W.L.s.
"I know the concept, but I can't recite it completely like Hermione can," Penelope replied, a look of admiration on her face.
"Sonia, do you know it?" Scarlia then turned to the cold, aloof girl next to her.
"I don't," Sonia shook her head. "Potions is not my strong suit."
"Then Zoe… forget it!"
"What do you mean, 'forget it'?!" The girl named Zoe Matisse immediately stomped her foot. She was a first-year Hufflepuff, the most mischievous person in the Fairy Tail Guild, and also a good friend of Luna's who loved magical creatures. She had long orange-yellow hair that reached her waist, with a slight gradient of purplish-pink at the ends, and she had a petite, youthful figure, just like Scarlia.
"You have the worst grades here. It's pointless to ask you," Scarlia rolled her eyes.
"That's an insult!" Zoe pointed at Scarlia, furious.
"Then repeat the Three Laws of Gamp!"
Facing Scarlia's provocation, Zoe did the opposite, but this little trick was no match for the little Ravenclaw. Scarlia opened her small notebook and simply repeated the contents of the Three Laws of Gamp that she had just copied down. It was completely normal for someone who had the title of 'top student' in Ravenclaw to carry a notebook and jot down new information they heard.
"You're cheating!" Zoe pointed at Scarlia's notebook, mortified.
"Hmph! If you're so clever, you can cheat like me too!" Scarlia continued to taunt her.
"I… I'm going to get you!!!" Zoe finally couldn't take it anymore and lunged at Scarlia, gritting her teeth. And just like that, another pair of frenemies were brawling on the dueling platform.
"Everte Statum!"
"Finite Incantatem!"
"Tarantallegra!"
…
Spells flew across the dueling platform. Meanwhile, Draco left the platform with a dejected look, wanting to go find Harry to regain some of his confidence.
That's right, besides Zoe and Scarlia, there was another pair of frenemies in the guild: Harry and Draco. The two boys would also mock each other every now and then and would often go to the dueling area to fight without a word. So far, they each had their fair share of victories.
Hermione also got off the dueling platform. She looked around and didn't see the person she was looking for in the guild. She then asked Penelope, who was nearby, "Penelope, do you know where Victor is? I need to find him for something!"
"I saw him in the Great Hall before I came to the guild. He seemed to be heading towards the Astronomy Tower!" Penelope replied.
"The Astronomy Tower? What's he doing there?" Hermione was very confused. Ever since the guild was established, Victor hadn't gone to the Astronomy Tower to practice his magic in peace anymore. So, after finding out where Victor was, Hermione quickly left the guild, jumped out a window in the corridor, and flew curiously toward the Astronomy Tower.
Meanwhile, in the Hogwarts Great Hall, since it was Halloween, the place was decorated for the occasion. A thousand bats fluttered and swooped on the walls and ceilings, and another thousand, like low-hanging storm clouds, swirled above the dining tables, making the flames of the candles inside the pumpkins flicker.
As was customary, the school ghosts would perform at the end of the Halloween feast. They would appear from the walls and tables and slide around in various formations. But this year was a bit different.
Dumbledore, for some reason, had invited a skeleton dance troupe from outside to liven up the feast. The students who were helping to decorate the venue watched the rehearsal on the stage: bones were flying around chaotically in midair, two skeletons were fencing with their own leg bones, and the winner would then press the loser's bones to their own.
To be honest, the students felt that this was not their kind of show, and they felt that no one at Hogwarts would appreciate it either!
What was worse was that when the skeleton dance troupe passed through the school, it reminded many of the students of their time in Silent Hill last Halloween.
To balance out their wounded souls, many of the students who hadn't entered the pumpkin head on the first floor were knocked unconscious by their friends. As a result, Madam Pomfrey's stock of cheering potions plummeted throughout the day.
As time went on, it was now evening, and the sunset was casting a brilliant golden light across the sky.
At the top of the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower, Victor was gazing at the distant sky, lost in thought. He had come here because he wanted to confirm something, something important that he had been preparing for since the beginning of the school year.
The time was coming, and it was arriving much faster than he had expected, tonight, on Halloween.
And it was then that Hermione suddenly flew over from a distance.
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