Chapter 242: The Real Challenge Is Yet to Come!
Over the next few days, Wade, under Sirius's guidance, worked on mastering Animagus transformation.
Initially, transforming was like being constipated; it took a long time to build up, and transforming back wasn't much easier.
But after repeated practice, Wade was finally able to complete the transformation in a few seconds. However, he still couldn't transform as naturally and quickly as Sirius.
"When I was in Azkaban, this is how I kept my mind clear."
Sirius said, "Back then, I spent most of my day in animal form, so my proficiency is naturally different from a novice like you."
Wade was also able to maintain his consciousness for longer periods, but after testing, both adult wizards advised him that for now, each transformation should ideally not exceed half an hour. After a month, he could try to extend this time by three minutes.
"Your animal form isn't very different from other Peregrine Falcons. I'm afraid we might accidentally lose you again."
Lupin said this as if joking, but his attitude was incredibly serious.
Wade naturally agreed. He certainly didn't want to spend the rest of his life as a confused bird, living off other birds and wild rabbits.
When the Easter Holiday ended, Wade bid farewell to Lupin and Sirius and returned to school.
After successfully becoming an Animagus, Transfiguration suddenly became much easier for Wade. He could still make objects transform according to his will, even without using a Spell.
He also began to experiment with human Transfiguration. At first, he just changed the color of his nails, hair, and eyebrows, then controlled their length. Once proficient, he could try transforming other parts of his body until he could change his appearance without Polyjuice Potion.
Of course, achieving that last stage required extremely advanced Transfiguration, and besides natural Metamorphmagi, Wade knew of only two people who could do it.
One was Grindelwald, who had been imprisoned for many years.
The other was Dumbledore, who had never shown this ability, yet no one doubted he could achieve such a feat.
The Maze Challenge also concluded during the holiday, but when Wade returned to school, he found that most students no longer had their previous enthusiasm. Most were sullen or even seething with anger, while only the Slytherin students were very excited.
"Slytherin won the championship."
Michael said glumly, "But they used underhanded tactics! All those Blatch kids brought powerful magical items, and Professor Snape even provided them with a bunch of Potions!"
"But…" Theo said hesitantly, "The rules didn't say we couldn't bring magical items and Potions, right? So they didn't break any rules, they just exploited a loophole."
Michael said, heartbroken, "Theo, I'm sticking up for you Hufflepuffs! Are you really going to undermine me like this?"
"Ah," Theo paused, then lowered his head and said, "Sorry."
Michael was satisfied then and began to complain indignantly about how despicable and shameless Slytherin was, and how they luxuriously used enlarged Magic Golems to knock out their opponents.
"Magic Golem?" Wade asked, catching the key point.
"Yes, your pet also participated," Fred said idly.
They had originally held great hopes of winning, but were swept out of the competition early by a "beast-controlling army."
Surprisingly, the team that came in second this time was Hufflepuff, with the "champion seed team" Gryffindor placing third.
The fourth place was also a team from Gryffindor.
Fifth, sixth, and seventh were all Slytherin, eighth was still Gryffindor, and it wasn't until ninth place that a Ravenclaw team appeared.
It wasn't that Ravenclaw was truly that bad; it was just that team formation wasn't limited to a single house, so several talented students from Ravenclaw had been invited by other teams. As a result, when the final rankings came out, the Ravenclaw students were the most disheartened.
"What's the big deal?" Wade chuckled. "Once the weather gets warmer, we can organize another event. Uh… how about challenging the Ball Python?"
"Ball Python?" Everyone was startled, and Harry couldn't help but ask, "Isn't that the ultimate BOSS? No one has even reached that level yet!"
"According to the current progress, Professor Flitwick predicts that someone will reach the innermost layer by early May at the latest," Wade said.
He was the designer and founder of this activity, so naturally, no one doubted his information. Everyone immediately put aside their previous defeat and enthusiastically began discussing it.
"I know some Potions are specifically for dealing with these cold-blooded creatures, so we'll bring enough Potions in then!" George said happily.
His brothers now sold all sorts of game "merchandise," so they no longer had to worry about not having enough money to buy things.
"It's very large, and its scales can resist most Spells," Fred said. "We'll also need to learn a few specific Spells, like the Eye-Jinx…"
Harry listened for a while, then turned to Neville and asked, "Does the Ball Python have any weaknesses?"
Neville actually knew this.
He loved Herbology and had read many books on plants and animals. After thinking for a while, Neville said, "I remember it should be very afraid of the cold... if the temperature is too low, it won't want to move."
Harry immediately thought of the Weather Charm he had been studying, which he had abandoned halfway through because it was too difficult.
He silently pulled his old notebook from the bookshelf.
Neville added, "Ball Pythons have very specific temperature requirements; it's also not suitable for them to live in overly hot conditions."
Padma asked, "So, would Incendio work against it?"
Neville frowned, hesitating, a look of reluctance on his face.
Wade tapped the table and said, "Listen up, everyone, this Ball Python is actually Professor Kettleburn's pet. It will be leaving the school with him at the end of this semester."
"So…" Fred asked, "We're not actually supposed to kill this BOSS?"
Wade shook his head and said, "Actually, the professor will prohibit the use of damaging Spells and magical items. Challengers must subdue it while trying to avoid injuring it, and also ensure they don't get hurt themselves."
All the Gryffindors collectively looked bewildered, feeling as if the difficulty had suddenly increased by dozens of times.
Wade slowly added, "Though it's difficult, you have about a month to prepare your strategy. Are you still worried about losing to Slytherin then?"
It turns out people don't hate injustice; they just hate when the favoritism isn't directed at them.
Upon learning they'd get to prepare before Slytherin, even Hermione didn't object, immediately diving into the heated discussion.
Wade smiled.
Facing the massive yet docile Ball Python was just a dry run; the real challenge was still to come!
He hoped they wouldn't be too scared when the time came, given how cheerful they were now.
Wade thought this, idly spinning his Pencil Case.
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