After much struggle, Harry finally managed to break free from the Devil's Snares around his leg and dodged the two charms Neville had cast.
"You actually ambushed me?!"
Harry looked at Neville in shock, knowing that Neville was usually the most rule-abiding in the Duel Club.
"...Pay attention."
Neville didn't waste words, nor was he used to trash-talking during duels—Harry, on the other hand, was a master of trash talk, which did not make him popular in the Duel Club because he could always precisely stab at his opponents' hearts with words as sharp as knives, not to mention his considerable strength—
Thus, Neville decided to render Harry speechless.
Surely this trick would work on those bastards too—
A wave of green surged from the pure white snow towards Harry, while a bellflower-blue flame emerged from Neville's sleeve. Two fire salamanders, like the Heng and Ha Generals, landed by his side, followed by chomping cabbages falling onto them—
Next, the seemingly harmless fire salamanders ignited the cabbages that fell on them, and then these flaming cabbages rebounded off their tails, hurling towards Harry like fiery meteors plummeting to the earth.
"Is that how you use Chomping Cabbages?"
Harry widened his eyes at the simultaneous assault of "waves" and "meteors," instinctively casting a charm, creating a transparent shield that rushed towards the "waves," slowing the Devil's Snares by half, but the meteor in the sky—
"Diffindo!"
Harry continuously cast the charm, causing the fireballs flying in the sky to burst open quickly, but the cabbages did not explode into pieces as Harry expected...wait, weren't cabbages supposed to bite? If ignited, wouldn't they just be simple fireballs? But that would be less...so...
Harry widened his eyes, watching the milky white bodies emerge from the cabbages.
"Explosive Snails!"
Harry despairingly shut his mouth.
Those Explosive Snails had grown quite a bit since the start of the school year. They had developed a layer of grayish-white, shiny armor-like covering, and looked like a cross between a giant scorpion and an elongated crab, appearing even more disgusting. They could shoot fire from their tails, though given they had no heads, it was difficult to determine which end was the tail.
Harry attempted to use the Impediment Jinx to knock the Explosive Snails away, but as soon as he raised his wand, their tails started to...explode.
Yes, literally. With a series of crackling vibrations, the Explosive Snails propelled themselves like cannonballs with the aid of their explosive rears.
"Protego!"
Harry hurriedly raised a light curtain to block the cannonballs, but while the Explosive Snails were keeping him busy, the "wave," neglected for so long, finally reached Harry under the cover of snow. The dark green vines reared like serpents—
"Wait!" Harry shouted in despair.
"Who commissioned this bondage play?"
William had somehow appeared beside Hagrid, looking at the boy bound in mid-air by the Devil's Snares, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Help me, senior—"
Harry wailed, while Neville looked somewhat flustered. He tried to direct the Devil's Snares to release Harry, but the usually obedient vines were rebellious today—even attempting to intimidate them with the fire salamanders didn't work.
"Protego Diabolica."
William waved his wand, enveloping himself in blue-white flames. As he approached, the Devil's Snares began to tremble, and soon, Harry was rescued from his inverted position by William.
"You were a bit heavy-handed; don't let your emotions control you, Longbottom."
William observed the state of the Devil's Snares and then looked at the dejected Longbottom and Harry standing together. The former felt guilty for almost losing control and hurting Harry, and the latter was simply upset for losing the fight.
"I understand, senior."
Neville nodded and turned to Harry, speaking sincerely, "Sorry, Harry, I've not been in a good state lately, I shouldn't have agreed to your—" Magic is a mysterious thing, just like William, after destroying the entire United Kingdom's poacher strongholds and rescuing hundreds of magical creatures, was inexplicably bestowed with the "Druid" aura—
Neville's method of controlling these plants and making them obey was equally difficult to replicate.
Even the boy himself couldn't fully explain it; it seemed like an innate talent. After carefully tending to the plants for a while, they would suddenly seem to gain sentience and obey every command Neville issued.
The magic of this world is somewhat idealistic; a wizard's unleashed potential cannot be ignored, and any changes they undergo naturally affect their magical state.
For instance, a person who undergoes a dramatic change might find their Guardian God shifts from a dog to an unrelated rabbit.
And Neville's recent emotional fluctuations had clearly affected his "magic."
"Uh, I..."
Though he had lost and now had to be "comforted," Harry felt a bit defiant. But seeing Neville's sincere apology, he could only nod.
Meanwhile, he became curious about what exactly was wrong with Neville.
"Alright, we should go now."
William nodded, not giving the curious Harry a chance to ask further, and then he turned to Longbottom.
"Wait a minute, senior."
Seeing everyone looking at him, Neville paused, his voice trembling slightly, "I want... Harry, would you like to come with me?"
"...Alright."
Harry was startled for a moment, then nodded directly. He didn't ask what Neville was going to do with William, but just nodded firmly.
Neville was also stunned, instinctively looking toward the others again—
"If, you are willing to let us join you?"
Hermione, having stepped out of the cabin at some point, smiled gently and said.
"Of course!"
Neville hurriedly nodded, tears unknowingly streaming down his cheeks.
Ah, what a group of good kids...
Watching the group exhibiting their "trust" in each other, William couldn't help but smile. Who would've thought that a "d-毛" like him could teach such a kind group of children... Yes, William was always self-aware, and while he couldn't stand jerks like Snape, that didn't mean he was entirely a good person either.
Yes, one must be strict with others and lenient with oneself.
...
In front of Taotao Limited Company, an elderly woman dressed in ancient attire, wrapped up tightly, stood on the street corner with a face full of concern.
Passersby often cast curious glances at her, puzzled as to why the elder was standing in front of an abandoned department store. However, the moment the Muggles turned their gaze away, they quickly forgot the thoughts that had briefly lingered in their minds and started pondering what to have for lunch instead—
Eventually, after about an hour, a pitch-black Muggle car stopped in front of the old lady. Then, every Muggle on the street instinctively turned their gaze elsewhere, and moments later, the rear car door, which appeared to only accommodate one or two people standing side by side, was opened from which descended four or five people, including one nearly twelve feet tall giant—
But the Muggles seemed not to notice, continuing to focus on contemplating their dinners.
"Good morning, are you Neville's grandma?"
William signaled the group behind him to stay silent, then extended his right hand towards the elder standing in front of the abandoned department store.
"Augusta Longbottom, are you a professor at Hogwarts? Impressive at such a young age..."
The old woman appeared more respectful, instinctively scanning Hagrid and William before responding and shaking William's right hand.
"Not yet—"
"But Neville said you are—"
"I'm their Duel Club mentor, ma'am. I haven't graduated yet, and Dumbledore currently doesn't let me mislead the students." William smiled, attempting to ease the elder's tension with self-mocking words, but she shook her head repeatedly, "How could it be misleading? I'm aware of the help you've provided to Neville—"
Although only learned in the past couple of days, Augusta was well aware of this because of her personality. Neville seldom confided in her, so her knowledge of the boy's situation lagged.
The reason why her originally bad-tempered self was so respectful to a seemingly youthful boy like William was naturally because of a certain headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, who had written a letter to Neville's grandmother upon learning that William wanted to check if Neville's parents could be saved.
Hence, the kind of web drama plot like "a group of people doubting William's medical skills, then William acting humble but secretly superior, followed by everyone's shocked reaction, ending with William successfully impressing everyone" had no chance of occurring... which was quite a shame.
After a brief exchange, Augusta turned around, nervously clutching her handbag, and spoke to the mannequin in the window of the abandoned department store, "We're here to visit Frank Longbottom and his wife."
The next moment, the mannequin nodded, and Augusta strode towards the glass window, with ripples akin to water waves forming on the glass.
The elder's figure disappeared from sight.
"Just like Platform 9 3/4—" Harry heard Ron mutter.