Three Broomsticks Inn, in the guest room.
The messy table was covered with discarded parchment.
The reason they were called discarded was that many of the opened parchments only had a single sentence written on them, while the rest of the large blank areas were filled with various cartoon doodles.
In stark contrast to the messy table, the room was exceptionally tidy, as if it was regularly cleaned with household magic. Both the floor and the bed were excessively neat.
The only odd thing was that apart from the messy desk, there were virtually no personal belongings in the room.
Similarly, there was no one in the room.
...
A cobblestone path.
Three or four feet wide and over a hundred feet long, the entire path resembled the extreme cold of the Antarctic Pole.
Both the cobblestones on the ground and the curbs on either side were not only covered with snow but also adorned with many miniature ice sculptures, each standing about ten centimeters high.
These ice sculptures were diverse in form, depicting knights, unicorns, dragons, pythons, and even intricate Whomping Willows.
At the end of the path, Ino sat on the soft snow, his head bowed, still busy.
Not far in front of him stood a larger Whomping Willow, about two or three meters tall and as thick as a water barrel, its entire body crystal clear.
Although this Whomping Willow was no different from the miniatures earlier, a closer look would reveal that this one had a bit more vitality and life.
If one ignored the color and focused only on the form, this Whomping Willow, except for being smaller, was indistinguishable from the one planted outside Hogwarts Castle.
Moments later.
A lifelike ice sculpture of a rabbit appeared, then dashed towards the Whomping Willow.
With a "bang," the rabbit shattered into pieces of ice upon nearing the Whomping Willow.
Meanwhile, the Whomping Willow beside it swayed its branches gently as if nothing had happened.
"Beautiful..."
Ino admired his creation with satisfaction, unable to help but praise it.
Even the recent frustration of being unable to write his Transfiguration thesis dissipated briefly.
Speaking of the Transfiguration thesis, after seeing recent award-winning articles, he realized that Professor McGonagall's expectations were quite high.
Not to mention the award-winning authors' profound professional knowledge and extensive experience in Transfiguration, even the basic application of Transfiguration was currently beyond his reach.
Several days of attempting to write the thesis yielded few serious sentences, but his cartoon drawing skills improved significantly.
Reluctantly, Ino had to temporarily set aside the unattainable Best Newcomer Award.
Spending a lot of time and effort to consolidate his basics in Transfiguration, though not reaching the award-winning standard, was still rewarding.
The Whomping Willow before him was a testament to his achievement.
Previously, he could transform ice arrows into other shapes, even delicate lilies, but those were still inanimate objects.
Through accumulated experience, he developed a new magic using ice arrows as a medium, combined with Transfiguration.
Although Transfiguration can also transform objects into living creatures, once those creatures are destroyed, they immediately revert to their original form.
However, ice was different.
In a blizzard, even if a transformed creature is destroyed, it can absorb nearby ice and snow to restore itself, achieving a certain degree of immortality.
Imagine, amidst a snowstorm, dark wizards in a forest of Whomping Willows, under the assault of countless branches. Forget about the Shield Charm, even a dragon would be firmly bound.
Of course, this required a precondition: the weather and environment.
If there wasn't enough ice and snow around, the ice sculptures wouldn't withstand a dragon's fire for long.
A few minutes later.
Ino slowly stood up and waved the Magic Wand.
The two-meter-high, branch-laden Whomping Willow instantly transformed into an Amazonian anaconda nearly twenty feet long with a diameter as thick as a bowl.
The ice-blue body slithered along the ground, its cold, empty eyes looking terrifying despite not showing any aggression.
The reason he could achieve such large transformations wasn't due to superb Transfiguration skills. The real reason was the omnipresent ice and snow on the path, along with his innate affinity for and control over ice and snow.
A simple example: a young wizard might easily transform an apple into a pear, but transforming a matchstick into a cupboard might only be achievable by Professor McGonagall.
Equal volume transformations are the easiest.
Ino watched the anaconda at his feet, noticing it gradually growing larger as it moved over the snow-covered path. Though not very obvious, it had indeed grown.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, sensing something, Ino disappeared from the path, leaving the anaconda alone to slither along the snowy cobblestone path.
...
Hogsmeade, in front of the Three Broomsticks.
Pansy walked through the door, carrying a large stack of old parchments.
Her purpose for coming this time was to fulfill the promise made on the train. After dinner yesterday, she had already made her request to her parents.
She had expected more effort to convince them, but her father, after seeing Ino's report card and understanding his achievements over the past year, readily agreed to sell the Parkinson family's property in Hogsmeade.
He even offered a very generous discount.
After confirming the situation with the Malfoys via correspondence, Pansy hurried to the Three Broomsticks. Guided by the proprietor, Madam Rosmerta, she reached the corner room on the third floor.
Pansy felt a bit nervous outside the room. After all, traditional English etiquette dictated that a lady should not visit a gentleman's room alone.
But she couldn't afford to care much about that now, as her father's advice after dinner rang in her mind:
"Once you've made a decision, act on it quickly! Procrastination only allows others to do what you intended. Never underestimate others' intelligence. What you can discover, others can too. In this, Draco outperforms you."
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Pansy knocked on the door.
Meanwhile.
Ino, while observing the anaconda, sensed the knock on his room door. Without hesitation, he disappeared from the snowy path.
He was increasingly satisfied with this simple shelter.
Although time passed at a normal rate, unlike stories where no matter how long passes inside, only an instant passes outside, the ability to move at will and perceive the surrounding environment made up for all its shortcomings. Or rather, these features rendered any shortcomings insignificant.
Absolute safety was paramount. He even considered, if resources were sufficient, he could live here indefinitely.
But thinking was one thing. Hearing the knock, Ino promptly opened the door.
---