Ron's face was ashen, he admitted, he was terrified by Harry's words—deeply terrified.
"Stop it, stop it..." He waved his hands repeatedly.
"It's okay, Ron." Harry said with a cheerful smile, "Now the Gryffindor Common Room is guarded by a Sphinx. Do you think Peter Pettigrew can escape its gaze?"
Hearing this, Ron breathed a sigh of relief.
He used to find the Sphinx annoying; if you couldn't solve the riddle, you couldn't enter the dormitory.
But now he didn't think of it that way anymore. He felt that the Sphinx was almost like a magical creature Savior, saving him from the attacks of a bald old rat.
"This information is important. Thank you, Katie." Harry said softly to Katie, "As for those gloves, I suggest you destroy them—never mind, just give them to me."
Katie obediently handed the gloves over to Harry.
Suddenly, black and gray flames ignited on Harry's hand, completely consuming the gloves.
"What kind of flame is this?!" Katie exclaimed in surprise, "Why is it this color? Merlin's socks!"
"Fiery Fire," Harry replied. "Though it is Dark Magic, it possesses extraordinary effectiveness against dark creations—sometimes I think some Dark Magic can help us, wouldn't you agree?"
"Is this your reason for refusing to teach us Dark Magic?" Ron suddenly asked, "I wanted to ask you about Fiery Fire before, but you changed the topic."
"Back then it was different, Ron." Harry shook his head, "At that time you were only in third year, too young, Dark Magic is too deep for you to grasp."
"What about now?" Ron asked, "Can I learn now? I think I've reached the age."
"If you want to learn, I can teach you this magic at the next Dueling House meeting," Harry said, staring at Ron. "But I must warn you first, this flame is extremely difficult to control, if you wish to use it, make sure it's when I can see you, lest you get burned yourself..."
"Okay, okay, I understand." Ron answered happily upon receiving Harry's definite reply.
Sometime later, Ron and Hermione's relationship thawed once again. The two not only stopped ignoring each other like before, but even became closer.
"I think I worried too much about them." Harry said in a low voice to Neville and Seamus, watching the two deeply in love.
"I think you worried too much as well." Seamus nodded seriously in agreement, "I'm telling you, don't interfere in their relationship, it's good you didn't side with one of them, otherwise you'd be caught between them now."
"No, I think I'm already caught between them." Harry said.
After all, he had nodded continuously when Ron was complaining about Hermione, and also hadn't opposed Hermione's complaints about Ron.
Potter! Your double-faced nature doesn't surprise me.
"But," Seamus continued, "I think you're actually quite a qualified friend, Harry—if I ever fight with Lavender, I'd definitely look for you for help..."
"I think you better not say that prematurely." Harry rolled his eyes, "You and Lavender aren't even officially a couple yet, and you're already thinking about fighting. I can't even imagine what you'll think once your relationship is confirmed."
Neville laughed beside him, looking quite schadenfreude.
"Do you have someone you like?" Harry looked at Neville, "I think you can't continue being single, Neville. Look at the four of us from our dormitory: Ron has Hermione, Seamus has Lavender, now there's only you left."
"What about you?" Neville asked.
"I have Vivi, Cassandra, Pabi, and Annie." Harry shrugged, not feeling embarrassed at all.
"You're really awful!" Neville said through gritted teeth.
"What are you talking about?" Ron, having just finished spending time with Hermione, came over and asked curiously, "Why say Harry is awful?"
Neville repeated Harry's words from earlier, and Ron looked at Harry with a complex expression, finally saying—
"You're really awful!" He also said through gritted teeth.
The next morning was Herbology class. All four from the dormitory chose this class, including Hermione.
After all, Professor Sprout's requirements weren't high, and she was quite good-natured, making Herbology a top choice for everyone.
Unlike Magic Potion Class, Neville just outright didn't choose that class.
Even if he did choose it, Professor Snape might not accept him, probably not wanting to suddenly hear a magic potion start boiling nearby and explode all over the ceiling during class.
—destroying the classroom might be fine, but what if that magic potion splashes onto someone? Don't you think?
The weather was fairly sunny, the gale on the weekend trip to Hogwarts had subsided, and the exterior temperature wasn't as cold as it was last weekend.
This class was about Gnarled Vine, which looks like a harmless tree stump but when provoked uses thorn-covered vines to lash out—however, the essence of Gnarled Vine is actually a green pod cultivated within the stump.
They worked in groups of five, gathered around the gnarled vine's scarred root, and began putting on protective gloves.
Grouping wasn't limited by number, but Seamus defected to Lavender's group, so the four of them had no choice but to stick together.
"Don't forget your protective glasses." Neville reminded Ron, "You don't want this thing to scratch your eyes, do you? I'm saying this is a very dangerous plant, you'd best not let your guard down."
Ron immediately put on his glasses, and he also helped Hermione put on hers.
Meanwhile, Harry had Annie helping him with his glasses, leaving Neville the only one begrudgingly putting his on himself.
"I really shouldn't have joined your group." Neville muttered, regretting his choice immensely.
Why did he have to come and watch their lovey-dovey actions?
"Be careful."
Harry also helped Annie put on her goggles, gently rubbing her head.
The hair was soft and fragrant.
"What should we do?" Harry looked at the stump and asked, directing the question at Neville.
Back a hundred years ago, Harry hadn't had the chance to learn this before getting blasted into a time warp by Lanlock.
It's quite regrettable, missing out on lessons from that pretty lady, Professor Garrick...
This was no challenge for the little Herbology genius, Neville.
"Tie the vines in a knot." He said, "Help me out, I'll handle it and you guys assist—"
Saying this, he reached out a hand already clad in dragon skin gloves to grab two squirming tentacle-like vines.
Those were the two largest vines, likely the main stems.
Immediately, the other vines seemed to receive a signal and frantically began lashing towards Neville.
"Don't just stand there!" Neville shouted.
Ron snapped out of his trance, grabbed scissors, and started helping Neville fend off the vines. Harry also grabbed scissors and swatted away a vine about to strike Neville's face.
Neville tied the two main vines into a knot, revealing a small opening among the tentacle-like branches.
"Now's the time!" He shouted: "Quickly reach in and grab the pod!"
Harry clapped his hands, simply adding a protective magic spell to his hand, then reached into the small opening.
However, the opening suddenly seemed to come alive, and it snapped shut on Harry's arm.