Chapter 696: Chapter 667: The Assistant from the Ministry of Magic
In the past few days, the most obvious change at Hogwarts was that the material they had to learn beca much harder than before, and the professors seed eager to teach everyone even more knowledge.
But at the sa ti, they were also trying their best to lessen people’s fear of Voldemort—the second Quidditch match, which was about to start, was a good way to do just that.
Because during the match, everyone’s attention would be focused on the field, and with every goal, there’d be cheering and shouting; this was the best way to soothe their fears.
As the match approached, the atmosphere in the castle was also gradually becoming less gloomy.
"Well, what do you think? Confident or not... If we can win the Quidditch Cup again this year, it’ll be an unprecedented five consecutive championships."
That day in Herbology Class, Professor Sprout sought out Kael and said, sowhat excitedly:
"All the other Houses have had five-ti winning streaks, except Hufflepuff. We haven’t had such a dazzling achievent in nearly two centuries. This year is the closest we’ve ever co to success.
"Before this, whenever Minerva and the others talked about Quidditch, I always felt embarrassed to join in."
To be honest, Professor Sprout was exaggerating a little bit; it’s impossible that the professors only ever talked about Quidditch when they gathered together, and besides, only Professor McGonagall was a real Quidditch fan—none of the other professors were particularly interested in the sport.
But Kael could tell that the reason she said this in front of everyone in class was to show how much she valued this Quidditch match. She wanted more people to shift their attention to the upcoming ga instead of constantly thinking about You-Know-Who and those escaped Death Eaters.
"Of course I’m confident, Professor," Kael replied very cooperatively. "We don’t intend to let anyone else have the Quidditch Cup."
Imdiately, two completely different reactions surrounded them.
All the Hufflepuffs cheered and shouted encouragent, but the Ravenclaws, who shared the class with them, just responded with endless boos.
After all, they were Hufflepuff’s opponents; the Ravenclaws definitely didn’t think they would lose.
For a while, the not-so-large greenhouse was filled with tension.
Fortunately, this didn’t last long. Professor Sprout swiftly brought out the plant they’d be learning about today, successfully de-escalating the situation between the two factions.
"Knot Vine," she said. "A very widely used plant—its pods and leaves are essential ingredients in many Magic Potions..."
"And also a snack..." Kael muttered quietly.
Fawkes especially liked to eat these things as snacks. When Harry was studying Occluncy earlier, Fawkes had sohow gotten hold of a whole bunch, sitting in the tree and eating them one after another with a loud crackle, just like eating popcorn.
This class, they needed to learn how to build supports for the Knot Vine and how to make them spit out their pods.
Even though it was snowing heavily outside, the greenhouse was nice and warm. Professor Sprout had set up several special torches around the room that kept the temperature just right for producing the best Knot Vine pods.
Kael was the first to finish the assignnt and was rewarded with a small pouch of pod fruit—perfect to save for Fawkes.
The next day was the weekend. The snow on the grounds was nearly a foot deep; so people chose to stay in their cozy common rooms, chatting and playing chess, but sixth-years had no choice but to put on thick robes and head to their first Apparition lesson.
This special class, only available to sixth-years, was supposed to take place outside, but the snow was so deep they had to move it to the Auditorium,
and the reason it was scheduled for Saturday morning was so it wouldn’t disrupt their regular coursework.
When Kael and Conna arrived at the Auditorium, all the tables and chairs were gone. Maybe it was just their imagination, but the room looked much bigger than before.
Including Professor McGonagall, all four Heads of House were already waiting for them, along with two wizards from the Ministry of Magic.
Everyone gathered in front of them, unable to help glancing at the small, skinny wizard in the middle.
His face was so pale it was startling, his lashes were nearly invisible, and his hair was fine and thin, giving him an unreal look—like a gust of wind could blow him away.
Kael guessed this must be the teacher for their Apparition lessons—his delicate build made him perfectly suited for disappearing. Kael even suspected that his Apparition might not make a sound at all.
As for the other one... Nymphadora Tonks—soone Kael knew well. Only today, she’d changed to more typical black hair, and Kael almost didn’t recognize her.
"Hello, everyone." Once everyone arrived, the short wizard from the Ministry said, "My na is Wilkie Twycross. For the next twelve weeks, I’ll be your Apparition instructor, and I hope I can help you all pass the upcoming examinations."
"I’m Nymphadora Tonks," said Tonks, also taking a step forward. "I’ll be teaching you Disguise. Even though this class isn’t part of the exam, it’s very important—it’s all about whether you can hide your true self in a crowd and shake off any wizard who might be stalking or chasing you."
Disguise class?
The once-quiet Auditorium was suddenly full of whispers again. They’d only gotten a notice about Apparition, no one ntioned anything about a Disguise class.
"Everyone, quiet!" Professor McGonagall said sternly, and everyone imdiately fell silent.
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