Chapter 96 Busy Summer Vacation

After capturing Nagini, Schelling became even busier.

He temporarily put aside the study and learning of black magic books, alchemy books, and wizard laws, and devoted himself to the study of Nagini.

The entire study was conducted in the laboratory in the suitcase space. Nagini was set up with an irresistible ban, and could only lie powerlessly on the laboratory table, allowing Schelling to use various methods to study her.

The research process was not without dark and cruel steps, and for the sake of readers' mental health, I will not describe them one by one. Nagini suffered a lot of damage during the research process, and the hissing screams of snakes were often heard in the laboratory. Of course, no one else heard it except Schelling-Aquila was an excellent research assistant and helped a lot in the whole research process, but it was not a human.

Neither Schelling nor Aquila felt any pity for Nagini's plight. After all, after Nagini completely turned into a snake, she had long lost her memory and emotions as a human being, and could no longer be considered a human being. In the original book, she was still a big villain, killing many innocent people, such as the famous historian Bathilda Bagshot.

Just when Nagini was tortured to death by Schelling, Schelling's research on the blood curse was finally completed. A piece of flesh and blood cut from Nagini was successfully suppressed by the sealing technique and turned back into human flesh.

During the long research process, Schelling also found some unexpected surprises.

In his second year, he entered the restricted book area of ​​Hogwarts and consulted Merlin's research notes on increasing magic power by implanting the blood of magical creatures. He found that Nagini's blood seemed to have the function described in the notes, but because he had taken a magic enhancement potion containing basilisk venom, Merlin's magic enhancement method might not work on him. He planned to use it on his followers after a thorough study.

Time soon came to August.

Dumbledore was very busy.

This summer, the International Confederation of Wizards held a conference. As the president, he was responsible for mediating issues in the wizarding world of various countries.

With a series of events last year, Dumbledore's prestige has declined, but this still cannot shake the fact that he is the greatest wizard at the end of this century. Of course, not everyone agrees with this view, such as Rita Skeeter, a special reporter for the Daily Prophet. She mercilessly mocked Dumbledore as an "obsolete dingbat" in her article.

In addition, as the headmaster of Hogwarts, he has to prepare for the new Triwizard Tournament of the Goblet of Fire with the International Cooperation Department, the Sports Department, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. This is the first time that this event has been successfully restarted since it was suspended in 1792. It can be seen how important it is and it can't be missed. As the organizer, the responsibility of Hogwarts is even more important.

The 1792 competition was also held at Hogwarts. Although he was not yet born at that time, he knew clearly what kind of disaster that competition ultimately brought - a Cockatrice went out of control and injured three school principals and three external referees. The principal at that time was Dexter Fusco, and it was for this reason that he was expelled from the school board, which tarnished his reputation and the reputation of Hogwarts.

(Note: Kokkis is a monster with a chicken head and a dragon body, with two dragon claws and a pair of dragon wings. It is a close relative of the basilisk. Its gaze can be fatal or petrified. The breath it exhales is highly toxic. In early European folklore, it is very different from the basilisk, but it is set in many video games, especially Dungeons & Dragons, and is designed as a combination of chickens and snakes. Therefore, People's Publishing House mistranslated it as a chicken-body snake-tail monster. In fact, it has no snake characteristics at all)

(Note: Between the terms of the two principals Devonte and Moore, there were two principals, Evra and Fusco. Since Evra is one of the two most popular principals in the history of Hogwarts, the author let Fusco take the blame)

At the same time, he had to convince his old friend Alastor Moody to come to Hogwarts to teach. This is not over yet. The recruitment of teachers at Hogwarts is no longer his own opinion. He must get the approval of the Faculty Recruitment Committee. There is no problem with the two deans, and Ron Weasley has no problem. There are only three seats in total, which does not exceed half.

Since last semester, the relationship between Amelia of the Bones family and him has become inexplicably alienated. Dumbledore has been turned away several times in a row, and finally had no choice but to find Gareth Greengrass.

Compared with the Malfoy and Selwyn families, although Greengrass also believes in pure blood supremacy, it is far less extreme than the former two. After paying some price, Dumbledore finally let Moody's review pass.

The root cause of all these troubles is the case of Hagrid and Mrs. Zabini.

Dumbledore smelled the smell of conspiracy.

At first, he thought it was Lucius behind the scenes, ostensibly targeting Hagrid, but actually targeting himself. After all, the Malfoy family is a villain, and they hate him, so they have to be the first to take the blame for anything.

However, after he launched an intelligence network investigation, he found that the whole thing had nothing to do with the Malfoy family. Mrs. Zabini had no grudge against him, and there was no profit behind her actions. You know, it is not easy to manipulate public opinion. The Daily Prophet and many British media have backers behind them. Dumbledore couldn't help but worry about this matter. It must not be that simple...

(Author: Dumbledore's intelligence network is very powerful. Various portraits, the Hog's Head Bar, the Florin Ice Cream Shop, etc. are all his sources of intelligence. In the second part, his intelligence network told him that Voldemort was in Albania. In the sixth part, it was even more powerful. He turned over the entire history of Tom in one go, and even found a remote cave by the sea. It was too easy to find Mrs. Zabini)

Voldemort was also very busy.

After losing Nagini, he had to force Peter Pettigrew to hunt more venomous snakes for him to refine equally strong venom. At the same time, when Peter Pettigrew went out to gather intelligence, he happened to meet Bertha Jorkins who came to visit relatives in the hotel.

Jorkins was an employee of the Sports and Physical Education Department of the Ministry of Magic and a subordinate of Ludovic Bagman. But one day when she went to Crouch House to find old Barty Crouch to sign several documents for her, she was released with a powerful forgetfulness spell because she discovered the latter's secret, and she became confused and forgetful from then on. It didn't take much effort for Peter Pettigrew to trick her into the jungle and bring her to Voldemort.

Knowing that he was tricked, Jorkins struggled in vain and was captured in two moves. When Voldemort used Legilimency on her, he keenly sensed the traces of the Oblivion Curse. He had a hunch that the memories erased by the Oblivion Curse would be very useful to him.

So he showed Peter Pettigrew another little-known use of the Cruciatus Curse - digging out the memories hidden in the soul by creating pain. People's memories are generally stored in the brain, but deeper memories are actually hidden in the soul. The Fidelius Curse uses this principle to keep secrets.

Voldemort tortured Jorkins continuously for a whole day and night before he successfully broke the Oblivion Curse that Jorkins was hit with, and she recalled all the lost memories. At this point, it must be said that Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse is really very profound. He grasped the degree of torture just right and just right, which can not only break the Oblivion Curse, but also will not torture her crazy.

Under Voldemort's interrogation, he successfully got out the secret that Barty Crouch Jr. was still alive, Dumbledore's plan to hire Moody, and the Triwizard Tournament. A new conspiracy gradually formed in Voldemort's mind.

Afterwards, Bertha Jorkins, who had no other use, was squeezed dry by Voldemort - she was killed by a killing curse.

Then, Voldemort chanted an ancient and mysterious spell in a low voice, and then he suddenly let out a long and screaming scream, as if his soul was torn apart, and Peter Pettigrew, who was hiding and hearing it, was frightened to the point that his face turned pale and his whole body trembled.

Compared to the busyness of others, Harry was the most leisurely.

Since the Dursleys knew that he had a murderer godfather, Harry's quality of life has greatly improved. He spent the entire summer vacation at home leisurely, and during this period he exchanged letters with Sirius twice. The letter was delivered by a colorful tropical bird, which meant that Sirius had left Great Britain and hid on a tropical island in southern Europe.

Hermione became much quieter during this summer vacation. Except for meal time, she stayed in her room almost all the time reading books. Interestingly, when Mrs. Granger knocked on the door several times to comfort her, she found that the book on her daughter's table was always open to the same page.

Mr. Granger told a few jokes at the table but couldn't make his daughter smile. Of course, we can't expect Mr. Granger, a dentist, to have much humor.

The person who knows daughters best in this world is usually the mother. The attentive Mrs. Granger keenly noticed that her daughter was worried, so she stopped her husband's childish jokes with her eyes.

After dinner, the mother and daughter chatted alone in Hermione's bedroom.

"Baby, are you unhappy about something?" Mrs. Granger's voice was very gentle.

Hermione opened her mouth, subconsciously wanting to say "I'm fine", but suddenly realized that she couldn't hide it from her mother.

"Mom, I..." Hermione didn't know where to start, but she couldn't help sobbing.

Mrs. Granger hugged her daughter in her arms, "It's okay, wait until you're ready! Mom just wants you to know that mom loves you and will always support you."

Hermione wiped away her tears, "Mom, I want to ask you, have you ever quarreled with dad?"

"Silly, of course, but-" Mrs. Granger smiled mischievously, "I know where the bottom line is, and I know how to coax your dad back."

"Listen, baby, because of different backgrounds and experiences, differences in thoughts and ideas between people are inevitable. Even the two closest people cannot avoid quarrels and fights. All you can do is take the initiative to accept it."

"Take the initiative to accept it?" Hermione blinked and asked unwillingly.

"Of course, if this person is important to you, you can also take the initiative to save the relationship, which may require you to make some changes and compromises. As for whether it is worth it, it depends on how you measure it. Our Hermione is so smart, she must know what to do, right?" Mrs. Granger said with a smile.

Hermione fell into a trance, and the past scenes replayed in her mind...

The boy stood in front of her and defeated the troll... The boy told her the identity of Nicolas Flamel... The boy persuaded her to write a letter to Dumbledore for the ignorant Ron on the train... The boy grabbed her hand in public on the platform, and that was the first time she successfully released the Patronus... The night she cried, the boy comforted her in the toilet... The day Buckbeak was sentenced to death, the boy agreed to help without any excuses...

Finally, the picture in her mind was frozen on herself, Harry, and Ron surrounded by more than a dozen Slytherin students, and the boy ruthlessly said the words of breaking up... Hermione bit her lower lip, and seemed to have made a decision in her heart.

At the beginning of the summer vacation, Meredith moved to Greengrass Manor. As three semesters passed, Meredith had taken off the shackles of the past and put down those meaningless pride. She chose to let her family depend on Greengrass, which was the best decision for both her family and herself.

Mr. Greengrass was also very kind to her. Of course, this was influenced by Daphne, but he had a close relationship with the late Mr. Shafik, and Meredith was the orphan of his old friend. In the end, he decided to take Meredith as his goddaughter, and call him father and daughter, and call his two daughters sisters. He also asked her and her house-elf Dino to move to the manor to live together and become a real family.

Meredith, Daphne and Astoria have a very important task this summer vacation - learning brain blockage.

As the future left and right arms, Sherin has already strictly instructed them that brain blockage is a necessary skill. Otherwise, they may become Sherin's flaw and leak Sherin's secrets. What's more, the use of brain blockage is not only to fight against Legilimency, it can also help wizards resist the control of the Imperius Curse.

After Voldemort's comeback, the situation in Britain could fall into chaos, and the Imperius Curse was the biggest culprit. Whether it was Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade Village, the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, or even the major wizarding families, people controlled by the Imperius Curse might appear. Learning the brain block can effectively prevent yourself from being controlled.

Schelling had already told them the principles and experience of the brain block, and even got a Boggart on the black market for them to practice.

The three sensible girls also knew the seriousness of the matter and did not dare to neglect it. Since the beginning of the summer vacation, they have been practicing diligently every day, and finally achieved a small success before the end of July. Maybe it is not enough to deal with the master-level Legilimency or Imperius Curse, but it is no longer a level that a Boggart can do anything about.

The Cruciatus Curse is an official setting to break the Oblivion Curse, although many fan fictions ignore this point. Original text (Chapter 35 of Book 4): "One night, he came to my house in the arms of the servant Wormtail. My master learned that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He tortured her and made her reveal a lot of information. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament and that old Auror Moody was going to teach at Hogwarts. The master continued to torture her until he broke the forgetfulness spell that my father had cast on her."