Underground, in a spacious, disused classroom.
A dummy stood quietly in the center, and then, the ground suddenly twisted like rubber, transforming into chains that shot out, intending to coil around the dummy.
However, the chains merely grazed the dummy and flew high before suddenly losing power, flopping limply onto the dummy's shoulder.
"No, still no," Draco gritted out.
Although the floor and chains were inanimate objects, controlling them freely increased the difficulty exponentially.
"If your goal is control, why not transform the floor into something like a swamp?" Harry asked, a hint of confusion in his voice as the white mist in front of him dissipated.
"Impossible," Draco shook his head.
Harry pushed up his glasses, inexplicably feeling that Draco's reason for refusing was that Gemma Farley had just used that particular method.
"You could try Lord Voldemort's method," Harry suggested.
At the mention of the name, Draco instantly trembled like a sieve, then gritted his teeth and said, "What?"
Harry didn't answer, but instead pointed his wand at his robe's hem, which gradually twisted and stretched, forming a sharp spike that lunged towards Draco.
"My clothing isn't suitable for this kind of operation... From what I see, this should be the application of basic Transfiguration.
You're wearing robes, so you should be able to try to replicate it, using your clothes as flexible weapons... And this can also train your flexible application of Transfiguration, can't it?"
"Transfiguring clothes?" Draco hesitated, then pointed his wand at his robe.
"Vera Verto—"
The next moment, his robe flowed, but very quickly, it went limp again.
"How is this supposed to work?" He instantly froze, "I can't transform it at all."
...
"Didn't you already achieve partial Transfiguration?" Harry looked at him with an expression that suggested he was dim-witted.
"For this magic's Transfiguration, you need to divide it into two stages.
The first stage is to make the robe completely agile and flexible.
The second stage is to control them to transform into whatever shape you desire."
Draco was silent for a moment, his face twitching.
This sounded so troublesome.
"Keep practicing... You chose Transfiguration yourself," Harry smiled, remembering what Draco had said a few days ago.
"I saw the Snake-Summoning Charm once and cast it, if I'm not a Transfiguration genius, who is?!"
And then he chose to focus on Transfiguration.
Afterward, he turned around and continued to practice the Patronus Charm alone.
The Patronus Charm requires a sufficiently happy memory.
Undoubtedly, the memory of the lightning striking the Norwegian Ridgeback, and then himself falling through the air only to be caught by a meteor, was irreplaceable.
The joy of being rescued, the feeling of riding a flying broom for the first time, the dragon, the magic—all these deeply memorable and captivating moments converged in that instant.
It would definitely be his excellent choice for casting the Patronus Charm.
Draco also stopped, watching Harry's movements.
He had always been curious what Harry's Patronus would look like.
"Expecto Patronum—"
A white glow swirled around his wand, gradually spreading outwards.
Then it abruptly stopped.
Both could clearly see the swirling white mist churning, attempting to condense into a concrete form.
But in the end, it still dissipated.
They practiced until evening, when they could hear the noisy discussions from the Castle through the classroom door, before finally leaving the abandoned classroom and heading to the Great Hall.
In the Great Hall, he quickly saw Hermione.
The Little witch came running over and said, "Professor Jones wants to see you."
Harry, who was enjoying his dinner, nodded, "Okay, I'll go right away."
With that, he hastily shoved his food into his mouth, grabbed two napkins from Draco, and quickly left with Hermione.
"When did Mr. Jones want to see me?"
"Just now, no need to rush," Hermione quickly said, afraid Harry would choke.
"By the way, what have you been doing lately? Why can't I ever find you, and you don't go to the library anymore?" Hermione asked, puzzled, "I thought I'd have to look for you in the training classroom. Honestly, meeting you in the Great Hall is already a stroke of luck."
"Nothing much," Harry said, "Just practicing the Patronus Charm and such."
"Harry!" Hermione suddenly whispered, "The Patronus Charm is a very advanced spell. You don't need to force yourself to learn it.
And where would you even find a Dementor to use it on in daily life? If you're talking about using it for everyday situations, it's like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."
"It's just... challenging myself. Remember? Uncle Howl has already planned to include the Patronus Charm in the seventh-year curriculum."
Harry explained casually.
"No," Hermione shook her head, "This past week, besides class time, you've been virtually impossible to find. If it were just like before, I'd believe you, but now—"
The Little witch seemed intent on getting to the bottom of things.
"Harry!" Hermione suddenly said seriously.
"Tell me honestly, have you heard any news about your parents!"
Hermione looked very earnestly into Harry's green eyes behind his glasses.
"This past week, besides inexplicably practicing that Patronus Charm, you haven't cared about Sirius, Peter Pettigrew, or your parents anymore."
As she spoke, Hermione's pupils flickered, and she said with some fear, "Tell me, are you trying to go to Azkaban—"
Harry stood rooted, looking at Hermione's panicked face, and took a deep breath.
He had never imagined Hermione would think of that.
"How could that be—" Harry gave an awkward laugh.
"Anyway, you dared to trouble You-Know-Who last year, so doing these things wouldn't be too strange, right?" Hermione said crossly, her eyes fixed on Harry.
"Uh, well, that's what I was thinking." Harry nodded awkwardly. Hermione was too strong-willed; he figured he wouldn't get anywhere by not telling her, and he couldn't fool her either.
"Are you crazy?!" Hermione's voice suddenly went up an octave, and some people around them looked over, their faces showing signs of gossip.
The two quickly quickened their pace and walked forward.
It wasn't until they reached the third floor that Hermione regained her composure: "Harry, you really are... No, what are you thinking? Oh my goodness, how could you? This is simply preposterous..."
"It's fine, Hermione," Harry comforted her.
"What do you mean 'it's fine'? We're going to Professor Jones's office right now." Hermione grabbed Harry's wrist and walked towards the office.
"I don't know what news you heard about Sirius, but your behavior is still too exaggerated. I must tell Professor Jones."
"..."
"Hermione, don't rush..."
"Harry, there's no discussion about this. I must tell Mr. Jones." Hermione said righteously, "Even if you don't want me to, I have to do it."
With that, Hermione knocked on the office door.
"Come in," Howl's voice sounded.
Then, Hermione pushed open the door and pulled Harry inside.
"Mr. Jones, Harry, he... he wants to go to Azkaban to find Sirius."
"Mr. Jones?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
Howl nodded with a slight solemnity, "Didn't he ask you to come along?"
Then, Howl looked at Harry, "Harry, although I don't know who you've gathered for your makeshift team right now.
But I personally believe that Hermione can definitely participate in this operation. Although it's a bit dangerous, it would absolutely be an excellent training choice for her."
Then, Howl emphasized, "You cannot refuse her participation in this activity just because of your subjective concern about her encountering danger."
"Ah?" Harry and Hermione made the same sound.
After a long while, Hermione realized that the suggestion to go to Azkaban had been made by Howl.
Just like bothering Lord Voldemort last year.
Then, Hermione still expressed her doubts—her attitude wasn't aggressive, it was purely out of concern for Harry.
"Of course," Howl nodded naturally, "You're already in your second year, and you still can't break out of prison?"
Harry also nodded very seriously.
"But... isn't that what bad people do?" Hermione still asked, somewhat unsure.
"We're not even sure if the person locked in prison is a bad person yet," Howl smiled.
"And, the reason for using this method... there are also some confrontations related to the Ministry of Magic.
It's a bit complicated to explain. If you're willing to understand, you can ask Harry."
With that, Howl stood up and walked out of the office, "Let's talk about these things later. I need to take Harry to do some serious business first."
"Okay," Hermione nodded, then looked at Harry, "So Mr. Jones said you put together a makeshift team? But! You never told me?!"
"No, no! I didn't tell anyone! I haven't decided yet!" Harry quickly explained, then hastily followed Howl to make a quick escape.
Late at night, Hogsmeade.
Harry had never truly walked through here. At this moment, not having obtained permission to enter as a third-year, he curiously looked around.
"Uncle Howl, where are we going?" Harry asked.
"Pigs Head Bar," Howl said, "Nagini has a special situation, and she needs your Parseltongue to help out."
Soon, the big and small figures arrived at the Pigs Head Bar. The bar was still dirty and greasy. Upon seeing Howl, the patrons looked at Harry with some surprise, his lightning scar unusually striking, making everyone turn their heads.
Howl ignored their gazes and led Harry directly upstairs.
"You're here!" Aberforth quickly walked to the stairs as soon as he heard footsteps and saw the two.
"How is she doing?" Howl asked unhurriedly.
"Something's very wrong. She keeps switching between two states, and I was afraid she'd have a breakdown, so I hit her with a Stupefy this morning," Aberforth said quickly.
"Uncle Howl, what's going on?" Harry asked, a bit confused.
"Come inside," Aberforth said, gripping a dirty rag.
"Last week, Dumbledore began organizing the scattered 'human memories' from Nagini's mind and re-injecting them into the 'new soul' I shaped," Howl explained slowly, emphasizing the special terms.
"Mhm," Harry nodded quickly, indicating that he understood so far.
"So, since then, Nagini has been able to successfully transform into a human. She has retrieved some human instincts!"
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