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37.37% The Hagrid's son / Chapter 36: Mischievous Blue

Chương 36: Mischievous Blue

The students of Hogwarts were accustomed to having a wide variety of dishes at their disposal during meals, ranging from traditional to more exotic ones. So, when they discovered this morning that every dish on the table contained chicken, they were a bit speechless.

Grilled chicken, chicken stuffed with mushrooms and orange, chicken curry, chicken rolls with cucumber and cream cheese, breaded chicken with cheese, spicy fried chicken…

There was even a chicken and rice smoothie, very nutritious.

Even the salad had tiny pieces of smoked chicken!

No one noticed how Ginny was staring at the chicken on the table...

The vegan students, adhering to their home-taught principle of not wasting food, simply stared at the dishes, sighed, shrugged at each other, and decided to eat like normal people.

That day, veganism lost many believers who never returned, realizing that humans are naturally omnivorous and limiting their diet in such a way made no real sense, beyond satisfying their ego by feeling special.

"Any clues?" Professor Flitwick asked as he ate some spicy fried chicken.

"No, whoever did it was extremely cautious," Barnaby admitted as he took a spoonful of his chicken stew with basil sauce, raisins, and toasted pine nuts.

"I see, well, I don't think it was the twins this time," Flitwick added as he moved on to the next piece of chicken. "If it were them, they would have likely taken the feathers for some prank. Going this far is impossible for them!"

Barnaby agreed with the statement. The Weasley twins had redefined the limits of some of their pranks and were more cautious in implementing them, which simultaneously made it harder to point fingers at them as they left fewer clues behind.

"Barnaby," Flitwick called quietly, "Minerva has asked me to tell you that she would appreciate it if you could stop by Lockhart's class this morning, just in case. It seems he's brought a handful of Cornish pixies for his lesson and, well..."

"Alright. I'll make sure they don't escape the classroom," Barnaby assured after a moment of silence. "But I warn you, I won't clean up the inevitable mess that man makes every time; it would be better to find a qualified substitute next time."

Flitwick nodded, also quite concerned about the safety and studies of the DADA students this year.

"Are my ears buzzing?" The legendary Lockhart popped in between them, holding Flitwick's shoulder in an overly friendly manner. "I always have time for my fans!"

"I was thinking of stopping by your lesson this morning to... appreciate your teaching style," Barnaby commented with a poker face. "I hope you don't mind having more audience."

Gilderoy's eyes lit up at the mention of the word "audience."

"Not at all!" Lockhart straightened up with a big smile. "You can come too, Professor Flitwick, so you can see how modern and successful teachers of today teach. We must be innovative!"

Wow, the lack of respect in this man is astounding.

"I'm afraid I have my own lessons at the same time," Flitwick refuted while the chicken bone in his hand broke under the pressure of his thumb.

"A real shame," Lockhart rubbed his chin dramatically. "Maybe I should write a book about my experience as a teacher?"

"I'm sure it would be a complete success," Barnaby commented as he resumed his meal.

After all, pigs have to eat something. No, wait, on second thought, they'd probably get intoxicated and sick from the amount of rubbish it contains.

Yes, Barnaby took the trouble to borrow one of Gilderoy Lockhart's books from a fourth-year Hufflepuff student, wanting to see his supposed experiences firsthand.

He wasn't going to pay that price for a questionable book!

The result?

He had to fight his urge to set the book on fire after ten pages since it was borrowed. Even when he returned it, he asked for the student's opinion, but she only parroted about Lockhart's smile and his shiny hair.

Barnaby personally checked that there wasn't an intelligence-reducing curse on her but detected nothing unusual, leaving him more confused.

How could anyone believe the nonsense in those lines?

Maybe he wasn't an expert in the field, but he considered himself quite knowledgeable and saw countless errors and absurdities regarding how he supposedly faced various creatures.

Facing a Red Cap with a toothbrush and courage?

Chasing away a boggart with his smile reflected in a mirror?

And let's not even mention the banshee captivated by Lockhart's singing...

But even someone so incompetent should be able to minimally perform in the classes he teaches, right? He just had to use the teaching material from the books to...

Oh, right.

It seems a lot of books were bought for DADA this year, but none were related to the subject in question.

He'd better hurry to the DADA classroom to avoid major problems.

Today was the first lesson for the second-years, and Lockhart introduced himself, showcased his "achievements," and conducted an initial exam to assess the students' level.

For Barnaby, this was unexpectedly professional and appropriate. He would do that himself if he were in Lockhart's place, given the results provided by Quirrell last year.

At least that's what he thought until he read the questions...

-What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

-What is his trademark hair conditioner brand?

-List ten of Gilderoy Lockhart's countless virtues.

Fortunately, thanks to his identity as an observer, Gilderoy was very understanding of his lack of answers, despite his dramatically disappointed face.

"I want to scratch his face," Sanshi said dryly.

"No. Setting aside that attacking a professor is wrong, you can't do it in front of all the students," Barnaby argued through their link.

A dissatisfied growl was the response he got, but Sanshi calmed down.

"Wonderful job!" Lockhart reviewed the answers and nodded with great pride. "Although there is still room for improvement, it's clear that most of you have the most necessary basic knowledge. Let's move on to the practical part!"

After a little time to add drama and unsettle the students, Gilderoy lifted the cloth covering the cage to reveal...

"Cornish pixies?" Finnigan laughed, realizing there was no danger as he had imagined.

Barnaby raised an eyebrow, having a hunch where this was going. The eyes of his staff began to glow faintly before returning to normal.

"Yes, they were gathered by my own hands this morning," Lockhart boasted as he slowly extended his hand towards the tiny door. "Let's see how you handle them!"

He opened the cage door, and everything went haywire.

Barnaby didn't act immediately; he had already sealed doors and windows to prevent any of these mischievous creatures from escaping and causing trouble for others in the castle.

Nor was there any Cornish pixie causing him problems. In fact, it seemed the little blue creatures unconsciously ignored him and didn't come within half a meter of him.

"Wow, Neville must be much lighter than he looks for those two pixies to lift him by the ears and hang him from the chandelier," Sanshi commented, trying to contain her laughter. "Aren't you going to stop them?"

"I wanted to see Lockhart's performance, but I didn't expect him to simply go to his office to lock himself in and leave the chaos he caused to the students," Barnaby shook his head, even more disappointed than he already was.

He prepared to round up the troublemakers, but to his surprise, someone did something useful instead of just dodging, hiding under the table, or hitting the pixies with a book as if it were a baseball bat.

Did they forget they can use magic?

"Immobulus!"

A wave of magic spread out and immobilized all the Cornish pixies, who could only float in zero gravity while their eyes darted around, not understanding why they couldn't cause more mischief.

Ah, he could start to understand why Hermione ended up in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw despite being a "bookworm"; she seems to have the confidence to use magic when the situation calls for it.

Drawing and holding the cage in his hand, Barnaby lightly tapped it with his staff, and a suction force pulled all the Cornish pixies back into the cage before the tiny door closed by itself.

"Good job," he congratulated to Hermione's confusion. "I'd give you five points if I could."

"How long have you been there?!" she asked, startled.

...

"You know what? Forget what I said."


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Chương 37: New wand?

It was a strange start to the school year for the golden trio, but at least things were changing. As for whether it was for better or worse, the results were mixed.

For example, Ron was at his worst. Besides the lifelong punishment waiting for him when he returned home and the embarrassment he had to endure in the Great Hall alongside his little sister, his wand was broken!

He tried to fix it by weakly connecting the pieces using magical tape, but the result…

"It's no good; get another one as soon as possible," Barnaby was blunt after looking at the wand at Harry's request one afternoon in the cabin.

With one glance, he knew it was beyond repair. The wood was incomplete, the inner runes were damaged, and the core was severely worn out.

"Besides, even though my last name isn't Ollivander, I can tell this isn't 'your' wand; I'm sure it's a hand-me-down," he added after a second look.

"You can even tell that?!" Ron confirmed that Barnaby was right. Even if first-year students have a special grant that allows them to buy their first wand for only seven galleons, it's still a huge amount for the Weasley family.

Thinking about it, he was somewhat resentful because Lockhart only worsened the situation with his "mandatory" books, which had to be bought in several sets, preventing Ginny from having first-hand material or him from acquiring a wand he could call his own.

"Not only that, but I can also see that your compatibility with it is terrible!" Barnaby even frowned in disgust. "If you kept using this wand, you'd need to put in five times more effort to get a third of the results others get." He had to resist throwing the wand to Calcifer to eat. "It's almost impressive you've managed to use it up to now!"

"So that's why I have bad grades…" Ron nodded, realizing it wasn't his fault.

"No, that's because you don't study; it has nothing to do with it!" protested Hermione at her friend's vagueness.

"Actually, Ron isn't entirely wrong," Barnaby blocked Hermione without even breaking a sweat, much to the exasperation of the young witch. "I can't say anything about your theoretical or written grades, Ron, but your difficulties in casting spells are definitely due to using a wand like this."

Ron and Harry looked at each other.

So, only half of his bad grades were due to the wand?

That explains everything, definitely!

"Barnaby," Harry took over the conversation before Hermione could blow off steam, "Hagrid said you were an apprentice to Ollivander and you're so good he even offered you to inherit the shop. Do you think you could make a wand for Ron?"

Hermione's expression changed upon hearing that. This annoying guy actually studied with someone as prestigious as Ollivander, got his recognition, and even wanted him to inherit his mantle?

Hard to believe!

Looking at Barnaby's large hands, he didn't seem like someone particularly skilled.

"Yes and no," Barnaby replied as he placed the broken wand on the table. "Am I capable of making a wand for Ron? Sure. But I won't do it."

"Why not?!"

Ron didn't want to give up on a free and better wand!

"Because even though I have a wandcrafting certificate, I don't have the documentation to sell wands," Barnaby explained patiently. "If my father told you that, you should also know I didn't do it to open a wand business."

Hermione silently scoffed as she turned her head with crossed arms.

You learned to make wands but don't want to sell them?

Do you want to have a fancy toothpick?

What nonsense!

"Besides, I'd need proper materials to make it," Barnaby paid no attention to Hermione's attitude. "Leaving aside the wand wood that can be easily bought, do you think the core is easy to obtain?"

The group felt Barnaby was right. Although wand wood was cultivated by various families and could be bought, the cores were a problem depending on what was needed.

Ollivander used phoenix feathers, unicorn hair, and dragon heartstring.

Don't even talk about getting phoenix feathers. Anyone who gets their hands on one will keep it as a treasure!

Dragon heartstring could only be obtained from a dead dragon and was prohibitively expensive, especially from some of the most coveted or powerful species.

As for unicorn tail hair, there's demand but no supply.

That's why poachers make so much profit by risking it.

"Can't you just use one of the unicorn hairs you find in the Forbidden Forest?" Hermione said a bit dissatisfied.

Surely he just wanted to ask for more money!

"No, Ron isn't compatible with that core," Barnaby raised an eyebrow at Hermione, slightly irritated by the behavior she'd been showing since arriving at his house. "Are you on your period or something?"

"You!" Hermione's eyes widened at the unexpected and direct question.

"Somnium."

Hermione went from preparing to scold him to having her head fall against the table with a thud, ending up asleep.

"What's her problem?" Barnaby asked Ron and Harry as he looked at Hermione in disgust. "I know we're not friends, but she's not showing the slightest courtesy."

"The new librarian doesn't let her check out more than three books at a time and has greatly reduced the time she can keep them, so she's been irritable since she found out," Harry explained, weakly defending his friend. "Before, she could check out no fewer than eight and hasn't stopped complaining that this is affecting her studies."

"She'll have to mature and adapt. I reorganized the library system to avoid many problems. The headmaster approved it, and Frieren is just following the rules."

"You did it?" Ron's eyes widened.

"Of course. Do you have any idea how many students request more books than they end up using and how long they take to return them?" He made a not-so-subtle gesture toward the sleeping girl on the table. "Due to that selfish behavior, many other students can't use those books when they need them. And even though the school library is large, it doesn't have too many copies of each book; many are unique!"

After hearing the explanation, Harry felt Barnaby was right. Even he thought Hermione abused the school library a bit by taking so many books for herself. These new measures could actually be good for her.

"Can we get back to my wand?" Ron interrupted the conversation, not very interested in the library topic. "Couldn't you just, you know, gift it? That wouldn't count as selling it, right?"

"Well, you have a point," Barnaby nodded as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "I could send it as a Christmas gift, but I won't work on a wand unless you can provide the materials."

It would be a real danger to make Ron a wand with what he had at his disposal. The young wizard would be completely unable to control it, and some disaster might happen.

"What would you need?" Harry asked curiously.

"For Ron, the best wood would be hornbeam, cypress, or apple," Barnaby reflected a bit as he looked Ron up and down. "As for the core, I think kelpie hair, dittany stalk, or Kneazle whiskers would be the best options."

This was considering the Weasley family's economic situation, the difficulty of obtaining the material, and the compatibility Ron would have with the combinations. It wouldn't be realistic to ask for some better but impossible-to-get materials like Veela hair.

"I can get everything!" Ron stood up excitedly upon hearing the requirements. "My dad knows people from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. It won't be hard for them to give him a Kneazle whisker. As for the wood, we have a magical cypress at home that's used for wands. It was a gift from my uncle."

"Great, make sure the whisker is from a healthy adult Kneazle," Barnaby reminded him. "As for the cypress, a thick branch as long as your arm will be more than enough. If you don't take too long, I guarantee it'll be ready by Christmas."

It would only take a couple of days to make it once he had the materials, so he wasn't lying. It's just that since he didn't have the documentation for selling, he could only give it as a Christmas gift.

Although he didn't know if Ron's broken wand could last another half a year of use, he could only try to perform last-resort maintenance to keep it as functional as possible until it was replaced.


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