The next day, Sunday.
The first-year matches were clearly less exciting; these fledgling Little Wizards hadn't yet developed sufficiently refined spell-casting abilities.
In comparison, fists were much more effective.
And in such a scene, two girls stood out even more.
One was Ginny Weasley; in the grassland terrain, she directly and decisively chose Incendio, covering half the arena in thick smoke and flames, terrifying her opponent, a Little Wizard from Hufflepuff.
The other was Luna Lovegood; Howl was quite impressed by this Little witch.
Having drawn the forest terrain, Luna was still curiously observing the surrounding flowers and plants when a Leg-Locker Curse narrowly missed her side.
Then, she subconsciously cast a Transfiguration spell, turning it into a vine, tripping her opponent and ending the match.
Of course, these were rare highlights, and only from Howl's perspective.
"I knew this was a waste of time." Severus's gaze from below was no different from watching monkeys at a zoo. "The club shouldn't recruit first and second-year students anymore. These guys can't even cast spells properly!"
"Severus, don't be so harsh; they just need more practice. Besides, didn't Harry and his second-year classmates perform quite well?"
"So they'll be third-years when this system is implemented next year," Snape's voice rasped, as if squeezed from his throat.
Clearly, he didn't believe these first-year youngsters would improve much by their second year.
Similarly, in his usual club guidance, he rarely went to the lower-grade areas.
Watching those dueling scenes was simply polluting his eyes.
Giving them guidance felt like casting pearls before swine.
"Severus, it's a club. Don't go for the elite education approach," Howl chuckled. "If you want, you can come to my advanced class and teach them."
He was somewhat tempted.
However, the feeling of being press-ganged made him flatly refuse the suggestion.
"I go next week? The week after, will you be looking for Filius?" Snape said indifferently, "It seems you can start preparing for retirement early."
"Hmm." Flitwick actually considered the suggestion very seriously.
"Howl, are you trying to use this method to avoid or share that…?"
"The Curse?" Howl's mind raced before he understood what Flitwick was referring to.
"No, I just want to diversify and improve the teaching content, and besides… I don't deny what Severus said; I can make things a bit easier for myself.
However, apart from Grindelwald, I really can only consider inviting other teachers to teach in the advanced class.
After all, what teachers say might conflict, and cross-teaching in grades below the advanced class might just confuse the children."
Flitwick agreed with this answer, but he was skeptical about Howl's claim that he had put the Curse out of his mind. He planned to discuss the advanced class curriculum when he had time in a few days.
As for Severus, after Howl admitted his point, his lips curved into a smile, and he began to arrange his own schedule.
The first-year matches were much faster; the second round of qualifiers ended quickly, just an hour after noon.
But the stalls around the arena, resembling a marketplace, still maintained the excitement of the competition.
Not long after leaving the spectator stands, Howl saw Percy hurrying over.
"Professor," Percy said loudly, "a merchant from Diagon Alley sent a letter, wanting to inquire about the specifics of setting up a stall here."
Children's money was always easier to earn, as they didn't need to worry about their spending.
"No need." Howl considered it for a moment, then shook his head.
"Too many people would cause chaos, and you wouldn't be able to handle it. I also don't want the competition I organized to become a channel for contraband to enter the school!"
With that, Howl looked at Percy: "You all have worked hard during this time, and I will prepare some extra gifts for you then."
He didn't mention money; that would cheapen it.
"You overstate it, Professor!" Percy said earnestly, like a soldier reporting to a superior: "We are all very happy to have this opportunity."
Howl was a little afraid that he would perform some strange salute next, so he quickly nodded: "Alright, is there anything else?"
"Nothing else, Professor. I'll go reply to them now." Percy nodded quickly.
After seeing Percy off, Howl returned to his office, put on a record given to him by the Strange Sisters, picked up his paintbrush, and then another person arrived.
Harry.
As soon as he entered the office, he quickly recounted the matter of the snake ring.
Howl nodded, indicating for him to keep it.
He had already known about this last night.
"So, what have you decided about your Animagus?" Howl dipped his paintbrush into some sky blue paint and then asked.
"I want to try," Harry affirmed.
As he spoke, he also noticed the vibrant canvas in front of Uncle Howl.
Yes, vibrant!
This was not an ordinary canvas, but one that had been activated, flowing but not yet completed. It was only half-painted, with the other side merely covered in large blocks of base color.
"A small experiment," Howl noticed Harry's gaze and then explained.
"Running a program while creating and even modifying it. Trying to explore the rules within the painting."
Harry nodded, barely understanding some of it.
Howl didn't explain much, simply pulled out a small bottle from his clothes, containing two verdant Mandrake leaves.
"Then give it a try, but this isn't something that will necessarily succeed just because you say you can. Remember, you must be careful and cautious."
"During this time, if you have any questions, you can ask me, Professor McGonagall, or Dumbledore."
"Okay." Harry nodded solemnly.
"The timing for the prison break is best during the OWLs. By then, Dumbledore, I, and most of Hogwarts will be tied up.
This will also eliminate the possibility of the Ministry of Magic shifting its suspicions to Hogwarts.
It's not a big deal, but fewer flies are always a good option."
"Okay." Harry nodded quickly.
"March is spring, with spring thunder and rain, which is a very good opportunity. By late spring, it's more a matter of luck," Howl explained. "So, the preparatory work for the Animagus Potion must be done very carefully."
"I understand." Harry's expression became much more serious.
"Do you have any candidates now?" Howl then asked.
Harry paused; he hadn't thought Uncle Howl would care about such "trivial" matters.
"Not yet, but I plan to order some special masks from Fred and George, and then get some Ageing Potions.
As for personnel, I haven't decided yet.
According to the information I found, Azkaban is a prison purely guarded by Dementors, with no specific cells inside. However, considering there are likely people on the outside, otherwise, who would be responsible for the prisoners' meals?
So I have prepared several related plans."
"Hmm, having a plan is good." Howl nodded.
"Are there any difficulties now?"
"Yes," Harry said without hesitation. "It's still the same problem: the existing information doesn't detail the specific situation of Azkaban, including whether there are Wizard guards on the perimeter, where the nearest Wizard reinforcements would be, what specific counter-Curses are in Azkaban, and so on."
Howl nodded, already having a general understanding of Harry's situation and problems.
"I recommend someone to you. Go find Aberforth; he should have news of that person."
"Who?"
"Mundungus," Howl said a name Harry found somewhat familiar.
"Mr. Borgin and Burkes seemed to have mentioned him before." Harry recalled his memories; he had heard of this name during his trip to Avalon.
"He's a scoundrel who hangs around the lower echelons of the Wizarding World. Previously, because of me, the Ministry of Magic began raiding Pure-blood families.
This caused these families to sell or move their contraband items. And this man named Mundungus, during that commotion, decided to get into the business of reselling contraband.
Then, somehow, he got his hands on Riddle's diary."
"Riddle's diary?!" Harry was somewhat shocked: "So…"
"Later, he was manipulated by the diary, which he delivered to the school, and then Ron got it, and finally, all these events unfolded—so, you know how to talk to Mundungus now, right?"
"Huh?" Harry didn't react in time.
"Mundungus, an old rogue—you can use his network to find some minor offenders who have been released from Azkaban. From them, you can learn about the real Azkaban.
But similarly, remember, Mundungus is a scoundrel, an old rogue. So, how not to be fooled or tricked by him becomes the problem you need to face."
"Oh!" Harry understood Howl's meaning, then nodded: "I'll be careful."
"But… when should I do these things?"
"You arrange it yourself," Howl said. "I can't let you do this openly, but you can go find Fred and George; they should have a lot of experience on how to sneak out of school."
Soon, Harry left the office.
Howl also redirected his gaze back to the canvas.
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