Hogwarts: I will not become the Dark Lord

The next morning, the storm quietly receded, but thick, blue-gray clouds still lingered and churned on the ceiling of the Great Hall.

As Jerry entered the hall, Harry, Ron, and Neville were sitting together, intently discussing the new semester's course schedule, while Hermione was buttering her bread and flipping through her textbooks for the semester.

"Giving up so soon?" Jerry walked over and sat down next to Hermione, teasingly, not expecting Hermione to say 'I love it' so quickly!

"After a night of deep thought, I realized that there are better ways to advocate for the rights of house-elves," Hermione said, looking up with a confident smile, adding another layer of jam to her bread.

"Ah, right, right!"

Just then, a slight rustling sound appeared above the Great Hall, and hundreds of owls streamed in through the open windows, carrying the first batch of letters and packages of the morning.

The owls circled in the air, then accurately delivered the letters and packages to their respective owners.

Harry suddenly raised his head, his eyes darting through the room full of brown and gray, but he failed to catch a glimpse of the white figure he was hoping for.

A particularly conspicuous tawny owl glided towards Neville, gently placing a package on his lap. Neville always forgot things when packing, and on the first day of each semester, Neville's grandmother would send him the things he had left behind by owl.

"Why hasn't Sirius replied to my letter yet? Could it be... something happened to Hedwig?" Harry's voice was tinged with sadness and worry.

"Come on, Hedwig is an owl, she delivers letters by flying," Jerry said, taking a sip of porridge, "You think she's delivering instant emails? How could it be so fast!"

"Yeah, Jerry, you're right." Harry forced a smile, trying to dispel the heavy sense of loss in his heart.

"Email? What's that?" Ron and Neville asked, puzzled.

Harry then explained some Muggle technology to them, and Ron and Neville looked incredulous, like they had never seen anything like it.

George and Fred, with triumphant smiles on their faces, strode into the Great Hall.

"What are you two so happy about?" Ron asked the twins, his eyes full of confusion and curiosity, "Don't tell me you're still figuring out how to sneak into the Triwizard Tournament? Professor Dumbledore made it clear that students under seventeen are not allowed to participate."

"Oh, that," George said with a sly smile, pretending to be mysterious, "We have our own clever plan! In fact, just a few drops of Aging Potion will do the trick..."

"That's right," Fred chimed in, his eyes gleaming with cleverness, "The selection of champions isn't up to Professor Dumbledore alone. The judge's job is just to pick the champions, as for their age, he won't look into it too closely. The real obstacle, preventing us from easily signing up, is actually Professor Dumbledore."

Harry even imagined himself winning the championship. He stood on the Triwizard Tournament arena, holding the trophy high, filled with the joy of victory, facing the enthusiastic cheers and screams of the entire school, even Snape would have to applaud him.

Most importantly, in this boiling cheer, Cho Chang's face stood out from the blurred crowd, her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkling with genuine admiration and appreciation for him...

These beautiful fantasies made Harry smile foolishly, and his cheeks flushed red.

"Wake up, it's not even dark yet, why are you already dreaming?" Jerry's voice sounded in time, pulling Harry back from his fantasy.

Harry suddenly came back to his senses, only to find that his companions were looking at him with a subtle and slightly teasing look, and his cheeks immediately burned red.

"But Professor Dumbledore warned us, how much misfortune that tournament caused in history!" Hermione's words were full of worry, "We are too young, participating in such a competition is too dangerous!"

"That's right, but that's all ancient history." Fred shrugged dismissively, "Besides, if there's no adventure in life, what's the point?"

With that, the twin brothers each grabbed two slices of bread and hurried towards the classroom. Harry, Ron, and Neville also got up one after another, preparing to go to Herbology class.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Jerry comforted softly, "Do you think their little tricks can really fool Dumbledore?"

"You're right! What George and Fred can think of, Dumbledore must also be able to think of, they can't succeed!" Hermione nodded and walked towards the Herbology classroom.

...

As Herbology class ended, the Gryffindor students quickened their pace, walking quickly along the gently sloping lawn towards Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"Too bad, we're with Slytherin again!" Harry complained, the second class in the morning was Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures, and they had to take it with the Slytherin students.

The group arrived in front of Hagrid's hut, but unexpectedly found Jerry standing at the door, frowning, his face full of displeasure and disgust, as if he had encountered something extremely tricky.

"Jerry, what's wrong? You don't seem quite right." Hermione saw this and quickly stepped forward to ask.

"You guys should see for yourselves!" Jerry's tone was somewhat helpless, and he pointed to several half-open large wooden boxes not far away.

When Harry and the others curiously approached, the wooden boxes were making bursts of strange "crackling" sounds, occasionally mixed with weak explosions.

Curled up inside the boxes were twisted, shelled, pale, and viscous creatures. They resembled enlarged lobsters but had lost their original shells, looking extremely bizarre. Numerous slender legs extended in a chaotic manner, and their heads were hidden within, making them difficult to identify.

Each crate was densely packed with about a hundred of these creatures, each roughly six inches long, piled on top of each other, wriggling and climbing within the confines, occasionally bumping clumsily against the sides, producing dull thuds. Adding to the unpleasantness, the crates emanated a strong stench, a nauseating blend of rotting fish and shrimp.

“What are these things?” Harry and the others, filled with trepidation, quickly retreated to Jerry's side, asking in unison.

“Hagrid calls them ‘Blast-Ended Skrewts,’ the result of his crossbreeding experiment between a manticore and a fire crab…” Jerry explained, shaking his head, utterly bewildered. He couldn't fathom how a manticore and a fire crab could produce such a thing!

Others researched spells, potions, and alchemy, but Hagrid was focused on crossbreeding magical creatures. This path was not only niche but downright… unique (perverted)!

Just as everyone was discussing, Hagrid's voice rang out with a hint of pride: “Harry, you're just in time! Look, these are the newly hatched ones. You'll have the privilege of witnessing their growth!”

“Why must we participate in this absurd nurturing process?” A cold, cutting voice interjected. It was Draco Malfoy, approaching with Crabbe and Goyle, a look of disdain on his face.

Although Jerry and Hagrid were on good terms, this time he sided with Malfoy. The creatures Hagrid bred were simply unsettling to look at.

Faced with Malfoy's question, Hagrid was taken aback.

“I mean, what are these creatures even capable of?” Malfoy pressed, “What practical purpose do they serve?”

Hagrid opened his mouth to speak, his brow furrowed, clearly searching for an answer in his mind.

After a moment of silence, his booming voice filled the air: “Malfoy, that's what we'll be discussing next lesson. Today, your task is to feed them, try different foods. I've never raised these creatures myself, so I'm not sure what they like. I've prepared ant eggs, frog livers, and diced boomslang, planning to test them one by one to see which they prefer.”

Out of affection and trust for Hagrid, Harry unhesitatingly grabbed a handful of slimy frog livers, carefully placing them into the crate, attempting to attract the Blast-Ended Skrewts' attention.

In contrast, the others seemed hesitant, as the Skrewts in the crate occasionally shot sparks from their rear ends, accompanied by sharp popping sounds, propelling them forward a few inches, a sight that inspired fear.

“Ouch, that hurt!” Dean Thomas suddenly cried out.

Hagrid quickly rushed to his side, a look of concern and unease on his face.

“Did its tail explode?” Dean indignantly showed Hagrid the scorch mark on his hand.

“Ah, yes, these Blast-Ended Skrewts can be a bit unpredictable when they explode,” Hagrid said apologetically. “I forgot to mention, be careful!”

“These things are disgusting!” Lavender Brown started complaining again from the side. “Hagrid, what are those sharp things on them?”

“Oh, those,” Hagrid's tone suddenly became excited. “Some Skrewts do have spikes. I reckon those spiky bits might be like suckers. I even suspect they can suck blood.”

“I see,” Malfoy interjected pointedly, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “It seems we really have to take good care of these ‘pets,’ after all, they can burn you, sting you, and maybe even bite you!”

“Just because they don't look appealing doesn't mean they're worthless,” Harry retorted reasonably. “They may be insignificant now, but given time, once Hagrid figures out their diet and nurtures them, who knows what their future holds?”

“Like Acromantulas, their venom has extraordinary uses!”

In fact, Hagrid had raised an Acromantula. He favored large and wild creatures, and the more dangerous, the more he enjoyed them.

“At least these Blast-Ended Skrewts are still in their infancy, that's something,” Ron said as they returned to the castle an hour later.

“Indeed, maybe Hagrid will find a unique use for them,” Harry added hopefully.

“Harry, stop kidding yourself, you know you only said that to contradict Malfoy,” Hermione said, shaking her head.

They settled down at the Gryffindor table and indulged in the delicious aroma of lamb chops and soft potatoes. Hermione was eating unusually fast, almost ravenously, attracting surprised glances from the surrounding students.

“Hermione, no one's going to take it away from you!” Jerry was startled by her voracious appetite.

“It's okay, I just want to finish eating quickly so I can go to the library,” Hermione mumbled, her mouth full of food, clearly impatient.

“What?!” Harry, Ron, and Neville exclaimed in disbelief, “Hermione, it's the first day of school! There's not even any homework yet!”

Hermione simply shrugged, seemingly unconcerned by their surprise, and continued to devour the food on her plate at an astonishing pace.

“Slow down, Hermione. I'll help you look up information about house-elf rights after dinner,” Jerry offered, trying to get Hermione to slow down.

“No need, Jerry.” Hermione said, wiping her mouth and standing up, darting towards the library like an arrow. “See you at dinner!”

“Jerry, I thought Hermione had given up!” Harry said, watching Hermione leave.

Jerry smiled and shrugged helplessly.

…

In the afternoon, as the bell for the last class faded away, Ron, Harry, and Neville walked side by side towards the Great Hall, Ron complaining about Professor Trelawney, “How can she assign so much homework on the first day of school!”

“Professor Trelawney assigned a lot of homework?” Hermione caught up from behind, sounding slightly gleeful, “Professor Vector in Arithmancy didn't assign any homework today!”

“Where's Jerry? I haven't seen him,” Hermione asked, looking around.

“Jerry? After Divination, we saw him leave the classroom in a hurry, like he had something urgent,” Harry said, scratching his head. “I thought he went to find you!”