Chapter 126: Diary: ?
The wizard’s cry of pain and the witch’s scolding echoed in the corridor.
This was a staple performance of the Hogwarts portraits. Sir Cadogan often chased the pony into the nuns’ picture frames, eliciting a flurry of screams. The nuns, fed up, later learned from a Gryffindor witch portrait to pick up weapons and teach the knight a lesson.
“Insolent fellow!”
It wasn’t curfew time yet, and the nighttime corridor seemed somewhat lively.
Harry and Hermione kept their heads down silently, quickening their steps to pass by, worried that scrutinizing gazes would hurt Sir Cadogan’s fragile heart, then knocked on the door of the Muggle Studies Office and began tonight’s tutoring.
This time, they finally didn’t run into Malfoy.
Hermione thought to herself while quietly observing the room.
Hogwarts offices were all similarly structured: the inner rooms were the bedroom, storage room, and miscellaneous items room, not open to the public, while the outer area was for office work and receiving guests.
She had noticed on her previous visits that Professor Levent’s furnishings had a strong Muggle style. A record player sat against the wall, and a projection mirror was on the bookshelf—this was just the setup from a television living room, wasn’t it?
Still a sofa and low table, but no dessert this time, only a sheet of torn parchment.
“Welcome to Levent’s after-school tutoring class.” Melvin looked at the two students, eyes full of smile. “Over the past few days, I’ve reviewed some Administration examination records and materials from Professor McGonagall, and I have a rough understanding of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching…”
Hermione sat on the sofa, tilting her small face up slightly, eyes full of seriousness, quietly pulling out paper and pen from her satchel, ready to take notes at any moment.
Harry caught her series of actions out of the corner of his eye, touched his pocket, and realized he had come empty-handed—no notebook, not even a quill. Was this the difference between top students and underachievers?
He could only stare down at the scraps of paper on the table, trying not to let the professor notice him.
“I looked it over; second year knowledge is relatively simple. Out of ten chapters, there are three forest animals, three swamp animals, and the rest are two fish species and two birds—not complicated. Just memorize and recite according to Percy’s Notes; I don’t plan to explain in detail.
“For weekend tutoring time, after teaching you a few special effect spells, I’ll teach you some spells beyond the textbook based on your magical abilities, paired with duelling practice; the progress might be quite fast.
“First, let’s talk about special effect spells for dealing with forest animals, mainly for magical creatures like Cornish Pixies. When casting, pay attention to the emphasis and cadence of the spell.
Melvin watched their reactions. Seeing Hermione pull out notes and Harry instinctively lower his head, he wasn’t too concerned. This was small-class practical teaching; notes weren’t important.
He gestured for them to draw their wands: “Repeat after me: Peskipiksi Pesternomi…”
“Peski… pixi pesternomi…” Harry and Hermione repeated haltingly, not quite adapting to this fast-paced lesson.
“Again, Peski pixi…”
The slightly tongue-twisting spell was a bit awkward to recite at first, but it was ultimately just a second year basic spell—no need to worry about tone shifts or inflections. A few repetitions and it would be memorized.
Lasso Charm. This spell’s effect was more like an improved version of the Levitation Charm; when casting, it was like throwing a lasso to trap the target, making it follow the wand’s trajectory as it swung.
Melvin demonstrated the hand and wand tip movement trajectory during casting: “Casting gesture references the Levitation Charm—aim at the target with a point, then lift.”
Harry and Hermione followed suit.
“That’s right; don’t think this spell is too hard. The practical difficulty lies in Cornish Pixies being pack animals—you encounter them in the wilderness in groups of a dozen or even dozens.
“Don’t panic when casting; stay calm and try a few times and you’ll succeed. Don’t be greedy; lasso them one by one back into the tree hollow, bashing them dizzy.
“This spell works on any animals perched in trees.” Melvin concluded.
Hermione was still a bit unaccustomed to this tutoring style, but Harry felt great and eagerly said: “Professor, can we try it?”
Melvin gave him an approving look. His plan was right; Harry was the hands-on type of student: “No practice conditions in the office. When you have time, you can have Hagrid take you to the Forbidden Forest. Next, I’ll cast Transfiguration on the scraps of paper, turning them into various animals. If you can successfully capture and control them, it means you’ve mastered this spell.”
“Let’s get started!”
Melvin smiled, reaching out to lightly tap the scraps of paper.
The scraps of paper kept expanding and growing, like inflated balloons. With a series of bangs, they burst, and iron-blue little monsters bounced out.
“Cornish Pixies!”
Harry and Hermione exclaimed, quickly backing away.
These iron-blue skinned pixies were only about eight inches tall, with pointed chins, long ears, bared teeth, and shrill, piercing sounds from their mouths. As soon as they appeared in the room, they began chittering and darting about everywhere.
They had seen these things in class before, nearly turning the classroom upside down and making Professor Lockhart flee in panic.
Hermione was initially a bit panicked, worried these guys would mess up the professor’s room, but soon she realized these Transfiguration creations were different from the real ones.
If real Cornish Pixies were pranksters and vandals, these paper creations were polite gentlemen, limiting their activity to a dozen feet around the sofa and low table, not touching the things on the bookshelf at all.
“It’s starting~”
Melvin stood far back, like he was watching a show.
With the professor’s command, these pixies instantly turned into devils, splitting into two waves and lunging at the two with claws outstretched.
【Peskipiksi Pesternomi】
Hermione hurriedly waved her wand. Actually, the Freezing Charm would have been more suitable here, but she kept tonight’s lesson in mind and subconsciously used this spell.
The front pixie smashed head-on into the spell beam, its entire body seized like by invisible shackles, swinging along the wand tip’s trajectory, lifting, swaying, and finally slamming into the ground, losing consciousness.
One spell took out one pixie, but more pixies were already upon her. One grabbed her wand and hung on it; others clambered to pull her hair, pinch her hands, scratch her face.
“Hermione! Get away from them!”
Harry chose a completely different combat style. The instant the pixies lunged, he didn’t cast right away but kicked away the two nearest ones, dodging the first wave, creating distance to tangle with them.
Seeing his companion surrounded, he hurriedly warned while blasting the other goblins closing in with spells.
【Peskipiksi Pesternomi】
The same spell and motion, but Harry’s effect was completely different from Hermione’s. The slightly pale beam hit the goblin, blasting it flying and knocking away several nearby ones.
Hermione didn’t dwell; she jabbed at a pixie’s eyes. In the gap as it clutched its eyes in pain and released her wand, two spells took out the two hanging on her, and she backed away to form a defensive formation back-to-back with Harry.
For the next half hour, Harry and Hermione experienced a completely different Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson: facing the pummeling and clawing of dozens of pixies, dodging and weaving in the cramped space while repeatedly casting the special effect spell against pixies.
Melvin observed from the side, adjusting the attack rhythm.
Perfect coordination kept them from being immediately grabbed by the Cornish Pixies and hung swaying from the chandelier, nor letting the pixies bunch up for a wipeout—aiming for the best classroom practice effect.
Harry and Hermione struggled hard. For these 3X-level dangerous creatures, the Freezing Charm was actually better, but this was classroom practice; they voluntarily limited themselves to spells, repeating the Lasso Charm over and over.
Until their incantations grew faster, completing them in one breath, casting gestures no longer fixated on details, releasing with a mere lift of the hand.
【Peskipiksi Pesternomi】
Harry shouted deeply, wand tip aimed at the last Cornish Pixie, thrusting his hand forward. A ball of white light whistled out, carrying quaffle-like force, slamming heavily into the pixie’s iron-blue belly.
Bang!
The pixie’s eyes bulged; hurled by immense force, it flew back and crashed into the wall with a thud. The Transfiguration could no longer hold, turning back into scraps of paper stuck to the wall.
“…”
Hermione couldn’t help glancing sideways, looking several times.
Why did it feel like they hadn’t learned the same spell?
Recalling the two students’ performances, Melvin waved his hand to dispel the Transfiguration, summoning a whirlwind to sweep all the paper scraps into the trash bin.
Sitting back on the sofa, he smiled and praised: “Congratulations, you’ve mastered the Lasso Charm—one of the key second year Defence Against the Dark Arts exam points.”
Harry’s face showed undisguised smug smile.
Hermione pursed her lips, suppressing a smile at the corners, thinking of Professor Lockhart’s classroom performance. Her eyes darted as she said indignantly: “A second year spell, and Professor Lockhart couldn’t even cast it. No idea how he subdued those dark creatures?”
“That’s indeed a question worth pondering.”
Melvin continued from her words: “Though those books are filled with self-aggrandizement between the lines, the feats recorded are quite detailed. The Daily Prophet interviewed remote village residents, and it matches their accounts.”
If it was mild curiosity before, after the professor’s words, Harry and Hermione’s curiosity turned to suspicion, like planting a seed.
Melvin didn’t water the seed further, shifting back to tutoring: “From the earlier combat, besides the spell, what else did you gain?”
Harry snapped back, glancing at Hermione who was still mulling it over, and answered first: “Combat isn’t a turn-based game of you go then me; it’s a continuous, uninterrupted process where you must always watch for attacks and defense.”
“Anything else?” Melvin gave him an encouraging look.
Harry reviewed the fight: “Facing fierce attacks or ambushes, best not to clash head-on. Defense should consider follow-ups—dodge if you can.”
“Wizard combat isn’t turn-based; well summarized.” Melvin turned to Hermione, who had finished thinking: “Your thoughts?”
Hermione said thoughtfully: “Wizards’ spell attack range is very long, while these animals’ claws and teeth are short. Against this kind of attack, best to keep distance so we can cast spells on them while they can’t reach us.”
“…”
Harry kept his head down silently; he felt close-quarters brawling worked sometimes too.
Melvin handed over some chocolates, nodding: “All sound reasoning. Practical training builds experience, finding your own combat style—practicing single spells is less important. You’ve nearly mastered the Lasso Charm; practice on your own afterward, and submit a thesis next week.”
“Thesis?!” Harry widened his eyes.
“Not on the Lasso Charm and Cornish Pixies, but on combat against small pack animals. Write your insights, no length limit. That’s it, class dismissed.”
“…”
After seeing off the two tutees and waiting for the footsteps to fade, Melvin returned to his desk, pulled out an old diary, and while waiting for the quill to absorb ink, reviewed the two students’ performances tonight.
In learning spell efficiency, meticulous Hermione was faster than Harry.
But in combat, Harry had near-instinctual battle sense; facing sudden attacks, he always made the optimal choice without thinking, while Hermione was a bit slower in that regard.
Melvin rubbed the ink bottle, pondering follow-up tutoring plans.
Have them practice these simple spells privately from now on. More important is boosting combat ability with intensified practical drills. Venues don’t have to be limited to the office—could use the Room of Requirement, Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets…
The quill had absorbed enough ink. Melvin exhaled; time for him to tutor in Dark Magic too.
…
「I’ve mastered Fiendfyre; time for the next Dark Magic.」
Melvin drew a circle in midair with his wand, and orange-red flames surged out. The fierce, violent fire didn’t spread wildly but stayed confined to a small spherical area, constantly shifting forms: fire dragon, python, sphinx…
The diary remained silent for a long while, and 16-year-old Tom Riddle began doubting himself.
After this time together, he realized this guy’s talent was terrifyingly high—mastering a Dark Magic almost daily, and from the writing, his psyche was barely affected.
Melvin paused his pen slightly; he realized this learning performance was a bit outrageous.
He tried to cover: 「I’m pure-blood; family has many dark wizard relatives. Learned some as a kid.」
Not sure if the diary bought it: 「About the Chamber of Secrets, have you thought it over?」
「I’ve been researching materials lately; wait a bit more.」
Melvin cast delay magic again, using Dark Lord and Death Eater news to keep senior Riddle patient: 「By the way, I saw something in The Daily Prophet recently—their star reporter published exclusive news on Voldemort.」
「Tell me!」
「Rita Skeeter reports she suspects Voldemort’s relentless pursuit of the Potter couple stems from some unknown emotional entanglement between them…」
「?」
A question mark slowly emerged on the diary.
