All the protective magic that Bryan had cast over his office had been dispelled by his own hand, and the feeble starlight from the night sky once again filtered through the curtains that fluttered in the gentle breeze. On the back of his leather chair, he gazed at the speckled light and shadow on the dark wooden floor, his face showing signs of fatigue and weariness.
Before he decided to read his own memory, Bryan had expected to find some intriguing information, but no matter how rich his imagination was, he had not anticipated such astonishing revelations to be hidden in his 'erased' past.
"Harry Potter–"
He muttered after a long silence, closing his eyes with a bitter smile on his lips.
The memory under the dormitory floor had nothing to do with the plot of the original story, but it was more crucial than the plot. It could even be said that this was a memory that affected the "future direction" of the wizarding world.
"It's no wonder I made such comprehensive protection back then—"
Bryan whispered softly, the bitter smile at the corner of his mouth gradually turning into a dark one, and his eyes flickering with not only relief but also doubt.
"–Am I still involved? But, why do I have to go to this point. Is it really possible?"
The content of the memory itself made Bryan understand why there was such a thing as this memory, and why the clues of this memory would only emerge when he returned to Hogwarts and met Harry Potter, but its existence also gave Bryan deeper doubts, which were currently unsolvable, and only by following the flow of time step by step would the mystery be unveiled one day in the future.
"——it seems that my appearance still makes the problem more complicated?"
Bryan twirled the magic wand at her fingertips, and cast a glance at the bookshelf. The pale pink voodoo doll that represented his connection to Voldemort's Curse had already shown signs of decay, and he could already feel that this doll could not last long under the ravages of the Dark Lord's power, which meant that his time at Hogwarts was about to enter the countdown.
"It's about time for the heat—"
Bryan sniffed and let out an inexplicable laugh, he already smelled the scent of 'freedom'.
He got up from his chair and walked towards the door, ready to start another day of teaching.
"Eight-eyed spiders–this is an extremely aggressive dark creature that lives in large colonies. So far, it has not been found that there is any kind of creature that is not liked by eight-eyed spiders as food. Of course, this also includes human flesh."
Bryan's explanation made all the young wizards who 'legally' entered the edge of the Forbidden Forest calm their excitement slightly, and turned their attention like a runaway horse back to the juvenile eight-eyed spider behind Professor Watson.
The spider was about the size of a small dog, with eight red eyes staring at them menacingly. Its hairy body was covered with black and yellow stripes, and its fangs dripped with venom.
"You can tell from its size that this is a magical creature with excellent speed and strength. It is especially important to note that the venom of an adult eight-eyed spider can even incapacitate a fire dragon."
Facing a group of little wizards who looked at him with admiration and curiosity, Bryan talked eloquently,
"However, it is still not difficult to deal with, because the eight-eyed spider's weaknesses are as prominent as its advantages. In terms of spell resistance, the eight-eyed spider's magic resistance is about the same as that of a wizard, which means that even a first-year wizard, as long as he can make his own spell hit the eight-eyed spider, then he can defeat this creature!"
"Professor Watson!"
Katie Bell of Gryffindor raised her hand eagerly, her voice was mixed with excitement and fear,
"If we are bitten by an eight-eyed spider, will it lay eggs in our body?"
"Why can't you ask a less disgusting question, Katie?" Arya said disapprovingly.
She was standing next to Katie, holding her wand tightly in her hand. She had always been interested in dark creatures, but she felt a chill when she saw the spider's fangs.
Bryan smiled slightly and shook his head.
"No, Katie. Eight-eyed spiders don't lay eggs in their prey. They prefer to wrap them in silk and store them for later consumption."
He saw some students shudder at his words.
"But don't worry. As long as you follow my instructions and keep a safe distance from it, you won't be bitten by it."
He said reassuringly.
Click, click, click.
The sound of the eight-eyed spider's chelicerae clacking together echoed in the air. Bryan laughed. He waved his hand and lifted his petrification spell on the creature. He instructed the young wizards who were eager to try their skills,
"Quickly retreat three hundred feet and form a line before the monstrous eight-eyed spider charges at you. You must try to petrify or stun it with your spells before it sinks its fangs into your flesh and injects its deadly venom.
Let me remind you once again, everyone, at this distance, it only takes less than five seconds for the eight-eyed spider to reach you. That means you only have time to cast two spells at most. Are you really willing to stake everything on this gamble? Do you realize that if you fail, you will have to face the dire consequences by yourself, because I will not lift a finger to help you. You should be grateful to the first and second grade students, because I have lowered the difficulty of the practice class to a level that even Filch can handle! "
Facing a group of eager little wizards, the eight-eyed spider closed its eyes in 'despair', as if it had already foreseen its own doom. This was the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson for grades three, four, and five. What happened in the practical class, under the fierce protest of Professor McGonagall, Bryan had to scrap the original plan of using a sealed classroom to simulate the environment of the Forbidden Forest. Instead, he let the little wizards face the eight-eyed spider one-on-one in an open field.
However, this challenge seemed to be just right for most little wizards, who enjoyed it immensely.
Some of them had both courage and skill, such as the Weasley twins. Cedric of Hufflepuff was even able to toy with the poor eight-eyed spider with ease! In the Gryffindor common room that night, when Fred and George boasted in front of everyone that they had used the petrification spell and the Blasting Curse to sever two of the eight-eyed spider's thin legs, Ron, who was already anxious about tomorrow's practical class, suddenly felt a surge of relief.
"Anything is better than spiders! "
Ron's quivering words made Harry and Hermione exchange a glance. They knew that Ron's confidence would only last until the Defense Against the Dark Arts class at best. Professor Watson would make Ron learn what it meant to be "wicked"!
"Listen–"
Ron munched on a piece of pumpkin pie, furrowed his brow and said to Harry and Hermione, who had been lost in thought no matter what they were doing in the past two days,
"Have you two figured out anything yet? Hearing this, Harry slumped on the sofa, and Hermione also put aside her transfiguration homework and sighed,
"It's harder than we thought, Ron. I think you have to brace yourself." Although Professor Watson's words in the hospital wing were encouraging, it was not easy for us who lacked practical experience to achieve what he said, right? "
Hermione looked at Ron who seemed to have resigned himself to his fate and said, "That's not something that can be solved by knocking someone out with a levitating spell. "
Ever since Professor Watson agreed to give everyone another chance to quit at the hospital wing that night, most of the little wizards who had witnessed the necromancy had chosen to back out. And many of those who had planned to enter the maze for the second time had changed their minds.
In fact, Ron also had the idea of quitting in his heart, but seeing that Harry and Hermione kept on trying, even Neville spent all day squatting in front of the fireplace pondering what simple spell could be used to defeat the dark creatures in the maze. Ron had no choice but to bite the bullet and stick with it.
"After tomorrow, Professor Watson has scheduled the next practical class for next Thursday. Before then, I hope I can come up with some solution."
Hermione said resentfully,
"Since Professor Watson has allowed everyone to quit, why can't he let us look up some information? "
Author's Note: Spiders have chelicerae, which are jaws with sharp edges or fangs that attach to their venom glands. Spiders use their chelicerae to seize, immobilize, and chew their prey.
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