Chapter 170: Bowtruckle
Shalling's character is absolutely not pure. In fact, Slytherin boys basically have no chance to get close to unicorns. It's good enough if they are not killed by their horns.
However, Shalling knows human transformation, and with his attainments, he doesn't need to use a wand or recite a spell to perform human transformation.
Without anyone noticing, Shalling walked slowly in the snow. With each step, his temperament was slightly different. When he walked in front of the unicorn, he was already filled with the most holy feminine breath. This breath is insensible to human eyes and five senses, but creatures like unicorns with "telepathy" can feel it the most deeply.
The unicorn made a gentle cry, and its whole head gently leaned against Shalling's chest, rubbing gently up and down.
"Well done! Slytherin plus ten points for Mr. Malfoy's pure heart!" Professor Gra-Plan showed an admiring look and couldn't help saying.
This time, not only the little wizards of Slytherin, but also the little wizards of Gryffindor gently applauded for Sherin.
"How is it possible?" Ron whispered in Harry's ear, "Don't joke, a cunning and vicious Slytherin, a member of the Malfoy family, can be pure in heart? I bet he must have secretly used some magic to confuse the unicorn."
Well, Ron is worthy of being right, he really got it right, but except for Harry, no one else seemed to believe him. Including Hermione, who was staring at Sherin with admiring eyes and clapping her hands gently.
"Professor, I want to try it too." Ron was unwilling to let Sherin take the limelight, so he mustered up his courage and volunteered to be the second person to try.
As a result, not surprisingly, he was hit in the chest by the horn of the unicorn, fell several meters away, fell on his face, and his mouth was full of white snow.
After seeing what happened to Ron, no other boy was willing to try to approach the unicorn, and the class ended.
"I really hope she can stay, this female teacher!" said Parvati Patil. The class was over and everyone was on their way back to the castle for lunch. "This is the Care of Magical Creatures class in my mind... decent animals like unicorns, not monsters..." Parvati's voice was not small, even the little wizards in Slytherin could hear it.
"What about Hagrid?" Harry asked angrily.
"What about him?" Parvati said coldly, "He can still be his gamekeeper, right?" Ever since the ball, Parvati has been very cold to Harry. Poor Harry always thought that Parvati had a good time at the ball that day. He also thought that it was Parvati's own problem. He didn't realize how much psychological damage he had caused to the girl by neglecting his dance partner at such a romantic and grand occasion as the ball.
Parvati was born in a noble family, and she was attracted to Harry, who was small and plain-looking. To be frank, it was mostly due to Harry's reputation as a savior and his identity as a warrior, which allowed his partner to be the first to dance and enjoy the feeling of being the center of attention. As a result, their dance group was treated as invisible, and Harry almost never looked at her, and didn't even say a word to praise her dress.
What is this? Treat her as a tool? Then don't blame her for her bad attitude now.
That night, Harry and his team tried to find Hagrid, but Hagrid seemed to be avoiding them. Harry and his team knocked on the door of Hagrid's hut for a long time, but didn't get any response.
They didn't see Hagrid for a whole week. Hagrid didn't show up at the staff table during dinner, and they didn't see him performing his duties as a gamekeeper on Hagrid's grounds. Professor Grum-Plan continued to serve as a substitute teacher for the Care of Magical Creatures class.
In mid-January, the students went to Hogsmeade Village for fun.
Sherin led the members of the Sleeping Dragon Society who were in the third grade and above to the Three Broomsticks to gather again to enhance mutual communication and friendship. There were already 31 members of the Sleeping Dragon Society, 12 of whom were Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw wizards who had just joined the society. They were surprised to find that the Three Broomsticks had so many food and drinks in addition to butter beer, and all the expenses were paid by the generous Sherin. They were surprised by the welfare of the organization and had a greater sense of belonging.
During the party, Sherin saw Harry and his group came to the Three Broomsticks in a depressed mood and sat at a table to chat. At the same time, in a dark corner, Ludo Bagman sat with a group of goblins. Bagman lowered his voice nervously and said something to the goblins quickly. The goblins crossed their arms and looked aggressive.
At this moment, Bagman glanced at the bar, saw Harry, and stood up. Bagman hurried towards Harry and led him to the end of the bar away from Madam Rosmerta. The two talked in low voices for a long time, and finally Bagman said goodbye and left with a look of disappointment and annoyance. The two thought they were talking very secretly, but they didn't know that all this fell into the sharp eyes of Sherin who was sitting in another corner.
It was a Saturday in late January. It was a sunny day, which was rare in Scotland in January.
By the endless black lake, Sherin, Daphne and Astoria were all waiting there quietly. Not long after, the figures of Murray, Zhang Qiu, Luna and Susan appeared in the distance.
To Xie Lin's expectation, Luna did not appear in her usual fancy clothes. Today, Luna was dressed very...normally. You know, this is very abnormal for Luna. Luna was wearing a simple, well-fitting light yellow plain dress, with long, soft light golden hair flowing in the wind, and a necklace with flowers of various bright colors strung around her neck. When she saw Xie Lin a few meters away, her eyes were filled with tears. He glowed with a strange look, and a bright and moving smile appeared on his lips unconsciously.
"Good morning, beautiful ladies," Sherrin wisely did not make any comments about Luna's dress. "I invited you here today to explore a wonderful place in Hogwarts."
"Xie Lin, where are we going?" Susan looked left and right, but couldn't see anything interesting nearby, so she couldn't help but ask.
Xie Lin smiled, took out his wand and waved it gently, and a thick dead tree was summoned to him. Then he pointed the wand at the dead tree and released a transformation spell. The dead tree suddenly turned into a small boat. He smiled. He said: "Let's experience rafting on the Black Lake today!"
Several girls got on the boat, and Schelling was the last one to board. The structure inside the boat is quite simple, but it does not appear crowded. Several girls are sitting on the benches leaning on both sides of the boat. Xie Lin stands alone on the bow of the boat, using his wand to release the Cyclone Curse and control the boat. The boat slowly moved towards the center of the black lake.
Several girls were enjoying the surrounding scenery while laughing and chatting softly. For a while, their feelings gradually warmed up.
After about an hour, the boat docked on a small island in the black lake. Luna showed a curious look. She had never known that there was such a place in the Black Lake. She asked in a dreamy tone: "Ah! Where is this place?"
"This place -" Xie Lin deliberately put it off, "is a very interesting place. You will know if you come with me... There is no need to be nervous, there is no danger here, just treat it as a wild outing."
Several people followed Xie Lin's footsteps onto a muddy path and entered a vast forest.
"These trees are..." Daphne frowned slightly, she seemed to have noticed something extraordinary about this forest.
"Magical Rowan..." Luna said in a trance, staring at these tall trees without blinking. "It has many names - exorcism tree, protector tree, holy spirit tree... People who touch this tree can avoid being attacked by dark creatures; if its branches are made into amulets, they can drive away evil spirits and bad luck..."
Xie Lin's eyes showed admiration, even though every girl here comes from a family with a long history of education - Zhang Qiu is good at transfiguration, Susan is good at law, the Greengrass sisters are good at magical animals, and Murray is good at Soothing (of course, she doesn't know yet that she is a descendant of the Rochiel family and is good at elemental magic); but when it comes to understanding magical plants, Luna is still the best among the people here.
"You're right, it's a magical sorbus, but pay attention to the branches at the top. They are the most special kind of magical sorbus - epiphytic sorbus. This kind of sorbus cannot survive alone and must be attached to it. It can only survive if it grows on other sorbus trees, so it also has another nice name——"
"Flying Rowan."
(Note: Epiphyte in English is Epiphyte, which is a parasitic plant that relies on nutrients from other plants to survive.)