Snakes at Hogwarts

Life in the orphanage seemed much more boring than in the Leaky Cauldron.

At least it is connected to Diagon Alley. When you are bored, you can go to the shops selling strange and weird products to feast your eyes on it.

Of course, Andros also knows that with his current financial resources, he can really only look at it. He can't afford anything now.

Although poverty does not limit his imagination, it still tightly controls his purchasing power.

Alas, I really don’t know when I can go shopping freely.

Andros shook his head helplessly.

I hope that after returning to school, my plans can be carried out step by step.

That way, theoretically speaking, I wouldn't be as embarrassed as I am now before the second grade starts.

No matter what, even if you just don’t buy it, it’s still better than sitting in an orphanage!

He doesn't have many friends here. In fact, Andros doesn't want to have much communication with those little brats who don't understand anything.

There is a huge gap in the thinking and vision between the two sides.

Especially after he enrolled in Hogwarts, and this time he came back and saw these little brats fighting over a few pieces of steak when Nanny Nancy wasn't paying attention, Andros had to do it even if he didn't want to. admit.

They are already people from two worlds.

In any case, after spending the night at the orphanage, the next morning, Andros felt that he couldn't stay any longer.

He couldn't wait to sneak out of the orphanage on the pretext that he had made an appointment with his friends.

Next, let’s go to our cabin in the forest.

Walking on the path leading out of the city, Andros happily hummed an unknown ditty he learned from Aunt Nancy.

He is in a very good mood now.

Not only because he no longer has to waste time in the orphanage, but also because his attempt yesterday achieved very good results.

Last night, after releasing the expansion spell, Andros waited in the house for a long time, but in the end he did not wait for any letter mailed by the owl.

This can only explain one problem.

At this point in time, the officials of the Ministry of Magic have not placed the ghost thing called trace silk on themselves.

In other words, Andros is still a black figure in the magical world. He can cast spells freely without worrying about being monitored by Ministry of Magic officials through the magic network.

In fact, according to Andros's guess, this may also be regarded as a loophole in the rules.

Those Ministry of Magic officials are likely to only focus on the long summer vacation after the first-year semester ends, which makes them often subconsciously ignore the current Christmas vacation.

You know, students are also away from school at this time of year.

Of course, they may have discovered this, but felt it was not worth modifying.

After all, these are just some freshmen. Even if they find out that they can cast spells freely during this period, what can they do?

They have only been studying at Hogwarts for four months!

Most people can probably only cast a few simple spells.

So what's the use?

After carefully thinking about the description of those Ministry of Magic officials in the original book, Andros felt more and more that his guess was probably correct.

And they certainly didn't expect that monsters like Andros would emerge from this freshmen class.

Yes, monster. With his unique magical talent and hard work that far exceeds that of a first grader, Andros has successfully mastered most of the spells that lower grade students can learn from textbooks.

This means that he has considerable maneuverability after discovering the loophole in this rule.

Thinking of this, Andros's mind began to become more active.

He just felt that this was a rare opportunity, and it would be a pity if he didn't do something.

He knew one thing very well, no matter how useless the officials of the Ministry of Magic were, the Trace Silk would definitely be quietly placed on him before the end of the semester.

By that time, he will never be as free as he is now.

Look at the subsequent savior. After being attacked by dementors, he was forced to release a Patronus Curse, which almost caused him to be expelled from Hogwarts.

But, what should I do?

....................................

Andros's secret cabin is located deep in the forest. Even with an excellent sense of direction, he almost got lost in the vast white forest.

Because the paths that Andros was familiar with had long been completely covered with snow, it took Andros a long time to find a long-abandoned sewage pipe.

Yes, it was the exit of the underground waterway that he walked through with Ivar when he met Ivar for the first time after a routine scavenging at the end of Chapter 3.

It was at that time that Andros first learned that he was a wizard and that this was a magical world.

In a blink of an eye, half a year has passed.

Time flies so fast. This sewage pipe that used to discharge sewage all the time seems to have been abandoned and out of service.

Although it has been abandoned, there is still a faint stench in the air. Even if the pollution has stopped, the damage to this forest is irreversible.

Andros stopped for a while, then put away his thoughts and walked along the upper reaches of the stream that had already frozen into ice not far away.

After walking for almost another hour, he finally found the small shabby house that was completely covered with white snow.

In other words, I found a part of the small shabby house, the part that is still standing.

The rest has either collapsed or been buried in snow.

When Andro returned to his secret stronghold again, only ruins were left here.

This was not unexpected. After all, Andros knew very well that the raw materials he used to build his house were not very strong.

It would be fine if it was a normal season, but it is completely reasonable for it to collapse under the weight of snow in winter.

Looks like he has his hands full.

With a helpless sigh, Andros leaned against a big tree. After feeling that his strength was almost restored, he took out the wand from his lower back and pointed it at the hut buried in the snow.

"Whirlwind sweeps away!"

The whirlwind condensed by magic power swept across quickly. Under Andros's control, this airflow was thrown into the bushes not far away along with the wrapped snow. He quickly cleared an open space.

With the help of magic, many things become much simpler.

Otherwise, whether an 11-year-old child can survive a night in the winter forest is a question worth thinking about.

Without magic and sufficient preparation, he would not dare to enter the forest at this time.

Then the next step is to start sewing and mending.

Looking at the darkening sky, Andros took a deep breath.

I don't know if I can finish it before dark, so I have to hurry up.

.....

"The flames are blazing!"

When it got completely dark, Andros also lit a crackling bonfire.

Outside the hut, which was barely capable of collapsing or leaking, Andros was sitting on a rocking chair conjured by transfiguration, warming himself comfortably by the fire.

Looking at the dark forest around him, he closed his eyes slightly with some comfort.

At this moment, Andros had already taken off his contact lenses, and his pair of yellow eyes reflected a few reflections from time to time under the illumination of the flames.

Perhaps, finding a place to stay quietly by himself, perhaps this is his favorite feeling.

Not only do you stay away from those noisy little brats, you no longer need to pretend, and you carefully put on different masks when facing different people.

Really, I am only 11 years old, how can I live so old-fashioned?

"Hiss~ You are not alone, boss, you and I are here too!" The unique hissing sound of snakes rang in Andros's ears.

By the way, there is also this little guy Ivar.

Thinking of this, Andros looked at the little snake not far away with some humor.

Beside him, Ivar, who was slowly waking up, had returned to its original size. At this moment, the little snake was coiling its body next to the fire, swallowing a piece of freshly heated meat steak in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

Those were originally Andros's rations, but he also kept some for himself before giving the meat gift package to Aunt Nancy, just for this situation.

"I said, be careful and don't get yourself involved in the fire. I'm already very full and I don't want to eat another meal of snake meat." Looking at Ivar who was very close to the bonfire, Andros couldn't bear it. Zhu reminded.

"Hiss~ Do you think I'm a fool?"

After bickering with Ivar every day, Andros couldn't help but take a deep breath. He was a little tired.

If I remember correctly, today is still Christmas Eve?

It doesn’t sound like a bad thing to spend this special night in such a place that is completely your own?

The forest was very quiet, except for the occasional breeze and the crackling sound of firewood.

In that case, tomorrow is Christmas?

I wonder if I will receive it and what kind of gift I will receive?

It is worth mentioning that when cleaning up his secret stronghold, Andros used many magic spells in succession, but the result still did not exceed his expectations.

There was no owl, no Ministry of Magic Auror who suddenly appeared beside him and raised his wand to ask him to lower his weapon.

This made Andros more certain of his thoughts.

Yes, those losers who only work and eat must not know that they secretly use magic outside of school.

Since he is now a black man who can cast magic at will in name.

Well, it would be a shame not to do something about it.

It’s time to do the big deal!

"Hiss~ Boss, take me with you when you get into trouble!"

"Nonsense, how could I not take you with me? It's getting late, it's time to go in and sleep."

............................

The next morning, amid the flapping sounds of wings outside the hut, Andros slowly opened his eyes.

To be honest, he didn't sleep well at all last night. The hard wooden bed was definitely not as comfortable as the soft big bed in the guest room on the second floor of the Leaky Cauldron.

After relaxing aimlessly, Andros quickly returned to his cabin.

This cabin can be said to be a haven in his heart, a place that is truly his own.

It was precisely because of this that he insisted on coming back here, even in the snowy winter, to enter the forest and live in this hut for a day.

After extinguishing the bonfire outside, Andros quickly rekindled a strong fire in a simple fireplace built with several large stones in the house.

This was a temporary installation he made while cleaning up the house during the day. Even with the help of magic, this was not an easy task.

This special growth experience of growing up in an orphanage and having to fight for anything he wanted with his own hands gave Andros a hands-on ability far beyond his peers.

This may be one of the reasons why he has never practiced but always successfully completed the potion configuration.

Apart from anything else, how difficult can those first-year basic potions be?

Most of them don't even require more than five magic materials, and those preparation methods are too simple in Andros' opinion.

But even so, why are there still so many young wizards who can't even make such a simple magic potion?

There is indeed an old bat's bad breath attack here, but it's not that important, after all, isn't it because their hands-on ability is so bad?

Sorry, Neville, I didn't mean it to you.

I know that your difficulty in configuring potions is mainly due to your own memory problems.

...

In addition to his hands-on ability, Andros also has a relatively rich knowledge of wilderness survival.

This made him understand what a burning fire meant on such a cold night alone in the depths of the forest.

This was also the main reason why he didn't sleep well last night.

Andros always needs to add a few more firewood to the simple fireplace from time to time to keep it burning vigorously.

Although he can easily create a flame with magic, if there is no firewood, the flames burning through magic will be completely extinguished in a short time.

This is the only heating device in this hut. Once the fire goes out, the temperature in the hut will drop to a temperature where snakes cannot survive in minutes.

In that case, when he woke up, Ivar might have been frozen into a lifelike ice sculpture.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

Andros's thoughts were interrupted by a violent banging outside the window.

He almost forgot that there was a group of owls outside the house, and it was their flapping wings that woke him up from his sleep.

These little guys are truly a bunch of amazing creatures.

I have gone deep into such a dense forest, how can they still find me?