Bride of the HP Dragon

When Blaise and Hermione rushed from the library to the activity greenhouse, a group of students had already gathered outside the greenhouse.

The weather isn't great for outdoor activities, but that's exactly why the course is here.The weather has been unusually humid since the morning, and dark gray-blue clouds hang over the heads of everyone in the castle who seem to have been hungover, heralding the coming heavy rain.The air is filled with a silent and depressing atmosphere, and occasionally a few breezes blow the leaves on the edge of the forest.

The sparkling water of the lake, which was usually pleasant to look at, was now dead, dark blue, as waveless as a mirror.Dragon-shaped fireflies, ink bugs and sand mosquitos happily flew around the sweaty and anxious students.The muddy pond by the river and its smell did not arouse any interest from the students.Apparently the giant squid gave up its intention of submerging in the cool water to escape the sweltering heat. It climbed up the muddy shallows and took a mud bath, rolling and sliding non-stop.

As usual, the students were automatically divided into two groups according to the college.Even in the sweltering heat, the Gryffindors huddled together, chattering enthusiastically in a very preppy way, most of them shedding their school uniforms as much as Professor McGonagall would allow (if she If you have a chance to pass by here).The students had their sleeves rolled up and their shirt buttons unbuttoned around their necks.

Slytherins, meanwhile, generally wore crisp school uniforms and remained silent, save for the occasional odd blowing nose noise from a fever.

"Here she is," said Harry, staring up at Hermione as she approached.Harry was in a relatively good mood today, as he had just managed a successful Quidditch practice session in the morning.Harry's most pressing wish was to graduate as Captain of Gryffindor Quidditch, and to preserve the tradition of his game long after he graduated and left Hogwarts.

Most of the recent practice consisted of reviewing Porter's game-specific techniques and pep talk "make it or break it."The team is trying to get a new Chaser, the inauspiciously named Emma SnotScotter in fifth grade, but she has a pair of thick, powerful Arm, since the Weasley twins graduated, this is the first time such an excellent arm has appeared.

Harry waved at Hermione with a big smile on his face. He and Ron were standing in the little shade of a tree.

"You missed lunch again, and we were going to send someone to find you." Harry looked pointedly at Seamus, who was staring at Ron with his arms folded.

There was clearly a difference of opinion between Seamus and Ron, which had become more frequent between him and Ron since Seamus's idea of ​​Ginny was in plain sight. "I'll add that Harry means they want me to search the whole castle and fetch you dinner," Seamus sounded reluctant. "In this heat," he added.

Ron slapped a sand gnat to death: "If you were smart, Finnegan, you should have looked it up in the library, but you're not."

"The air pressure is really low today," Lavender Brown echoed Ron tactfully.

Ron turned to face her, and Lavender had boldly unbuttoned two of her school shirts and was fanning with Parvati's bright pink notebook.

"It seems that the benefits are good." Ron declared, staring at the small yellow flower pattern on Lavender's bra, the scenery was showing through Lavender's sweaty shirt.

Lavender grumbled in disgust, then put his hands across his chest.

Harry and Hermione exchanged glances, and it took Hermione a while to realize that besides being a steadfast, dependable friend, Ron also had the opposite sex side.It's not that he has become unreliable and unreliable recently, it's just that when he pays attention to the body of a female classmate—of course, Hermione feels that the word "concern" is very pertinent, and it's easy for him to lose concentration.

Dean Thomas frowned at the sky: "If Lupine doesn't show up soon, it will rain soon, and we will all be drowned before get out of class is over."

Lupine tried to open the rusty door of the greenhouse. The recent wet weather had caused the wooden door frame to swell, and it was difficult to bring all these students into the shade of the abandoned greenhouse.

"I'm in trouble." He pulled the door again in vain.

Harry coughed, and the Slytherins whispered excitedly.Remus Lupine's identity as a werewolf became a well-known secret when he was reappointed as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.But as far as his own intention is concerned, he doesn't want to show his different side to his students in front of his students.

It's probably because Dean and Seamus are always screaming, "Beat the other professors!" or "Aren't your arms really strong?"

Hermione only had the honor of seeing a first-hand impression of Remus Lupine's combat prowess.It was when she had just joined the Order of the Phoenix, and she saw a well-built Death Eater being thrown out of a glass window whole, which was so impressive that she didn't want to see it again.

Despite his differences, there was no doubt that Lupine was a popular professor.When he was awarded the teaching position, Dumbledore said he would be his right-hand man.Even the Slytherins made an effort to show some degree of respect, an achievement that Snape could have had in the first place.

But unlike Snape, Lupine didn't threaten to poison students every week, just to see if they could brew a usable antidote within the allotted time.

With the creaking and scratching sound of the wood, the door finally moved away. Lupine wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, and led the students in.

"Now," he said apologetically, "I know it's hot outside this afternoon, but Professor Sprout has been giving me a problem lately, and I've had to get the seventh graders to do some volunteer work."

Lupine's hazel eyes flicked cheerfully across the students, and finally settled on Harry, who was rolling the stones with his feet, smiling at Lupine too.

"Who hasn't arrived yet?"

In fact, three students have not yet arrived: Neville accompanied Professor Sprout to Diagon Alley, helping to purchase teaching supplies as a quasi-apprentice; He was taken home from school by his parents after taking the NEWTS exam; and Draco, in Hermione's meaningful relief, was absent for no reason.

"Don't worry, we'll finish it in an hour." Lupine snorted against the damp air, "Unless it doesn't start raining within five minutes..."

Lupine dragged out a large wooden box from the corner of the greenhouse, then flipped through his notes and said to the students: "Professor Sprout gave me a problem. Shipped out. Unfortunately, the bird in charge of the post met a... er, accident southeast of the castle. The package was lost and we've tried to get the seaweed back as best we could. But due to the recent warm weather, the giant seaweed is The edge of the Forbidden Forest is rampant. We've had several complaints from Hogsmeade residents who have been stung."

"Sir, what's the matter with the bird?" Dean Thomas asked sharply, laughing broadly.

Virtually everyone knew what happened to that poor macaw from Burma.Because there is really not much gossip for entertainment in the final year, students always expect something strange to happen.

Hagrid had been killing parasitic vampire bats for the past two months in order to get a batskin shawl for his lover, Madame Maxime, whom he had been in love with for two years.

Given Headmistress Beauxbatons' size, this required a lot of bat, so occasionally Hagrid would miss.

Lupine maintained a very numb expression: "Dean, the bird is dead."

"How did you die, sir?" asked Gregory Goyle.

Well, it seems that not everyone is aware of this gossip.

"It doesn't matter how we die," Lupine emphasized. "The question is what we do with the giant algae. That's our task this afternoon." He dragged the box across and opened the lid.

The students gathered around.

A group of [-]th graders huddled together with a grown werewolf can be damn hot.Harry ran one hand through his hair and wiped his steamy glasses with his sleeve.A thick tuft of black hair sticks up straight, forming a perfect equilateral triangle.Hermione smiled very gently at Harry when she saw the stubborn black hair, and a very harmonious atmosphere immediately rose between the two of them.

But Harry suddenly seemed calmer. Harry had spent his third-year summer at 14 Privet Drive battling the hedges constantly, so he immediately realized the usefulness of the contents of the box.

"Um, you want us to weed?" Harry asked, seeing lots of gloves and a scary little trowel: "Are you sure these are good against Dark Arts?"

"Maybe these are just black magic weeds," Lavender suggested, "like devil vine, you know."

"Giant kelp isn't a weed," Blaise replied with a sardonic look at Lavender, a look he's very good at: "It's actually a plant-like animal that was mistaken for its lack of sensory nerves." categorized."

Lupine nodded. "Very well, Blaise, that's a very accurate answer. But before we get any further, I want you to find a partner to pair up with, and get a pair of gloves, a shovel, and a bucket."

Merlin proved that Lupine had an uncanny degree of diplomacy, causing the students to accept the pairing request with little resistance.Girls and boys, Slytherins and Gryffindors, just the right number.

Dumbledore was very appreciative of this approach, given his dedication to ending conflict within the House.Professor Snape and McGonagall, however, were convinced that the students would only be arguing with each other and becoming distraught.

Hermione, feeling a little guilty, found it a little pleasurable that Neville wasn't constantly relying on herself in class as usual.But if Crabbe's hygiene habits grew as much as his muscular arms, she'd find her DADA class more enjoyable.

And Neville, paired with Malfoy, would have fared worse.Aside from being constantly held back, Malfoy always approached homework with a professional attitude, because Lupine was smart enough to always award the credit to the duo rather than to an individual.

But with Neville and Draco absent, and Crabbe gone for unknown reasons, Hermione had no partner.She walked over to Lupine, who was counting his gloves, and he stopped smiling at Hermione, but the smile faded quickly.He blinked, maybe it was just Hermione's own delusions, but he could have sworn he just... sniffed her.

"professor?"

"Hermione," Lupine began, as if trying to shake off his momentary distraction.He stared at her with empathy. "Yeah! I forgot Crabbe wasn't with us anymore, now you're going to be my partner."

Hermione thought it was an excellent idea, and she was about to accept a pair of gloves from Lupine when the temperature in the greenhouse seemed to drop suddenly, and goose bumps appeared on her skin.

She sensed Malfoy before she saw him.

They hadn't been this close since Sunday afternoon when he found her napping in the castle vestibule.Suddenly and disconcertingly, she seemed to sense everything he did.

This feeling seemed to be integrated into his body for a while, then quickly collected information, and then fled out suddenly.Malfoy, unsurprisingly, was hot, sweaty, hungry and tired.But beneath the layers of the surface, Hermione had a very tangible premonition.

She didn't dwell on these strange sensations, took a quick glance calmly, and focused on her folded arms.

"I'm sorry," Draco said to Lupine, sounding breathless, "I was unavoidably late due to some essential duties."

"Okay, Draco," Lupine said, looking at the other students, "let's see..."

Hermione gritted her teeth, oh no, please don't...anyone but him: "Very good! Hermione lacks a partner!"

Draco didn't even look at her. "Better than Longbottom, anyway," he said, before he tossed the schoolbag off his shoulder and threw it at her. "What are we going to do?" Draco asked.

"Weeding." There was a slight hint of provocation in Lupine's usual gentle tone.

Draco sighed: "Then get rid of it."

"Before we get started, I thought it would be a good idea to brush up on giant kelp. Yes, Blaise, I think we should have taught it last year, but there's always something to be learned from the past. If you accidentally get pricked by one of their quills Well, that hurts."

The students watched as Lupine pulled a roll of drawings out of a box and unfolded it with his wand, showing a graphic representation of a tropical giant seaweed.A wizard figure is standing next to the gigantic creature, slashing it with an ax from time to time.

"Is this in real life proportion?" Ron asked immediately.

Good question, because the giant algae in the picture are fully twice the size of the wizard.

"Yes, but what we're dealing with is just a few days old algae, no bigger than a cabbage. Pull them out quickly and hard, but be careful not to touch their barbs," Lupine explained. It is recommended that you approach them quietly, because they basically sleep during the day and become very aggressive when they wake up. Fantastic creatures, giant seaweed." He commented, looking at the monster in the picture hitting the wizard with its tentacles head, and then attempted to lift him up by his ankles.

But the students couldn't share Lupine's enthusiasm, and Millicent took a pair of moldy gloves out of the box, and threw them back with a loud "pooh."

"Weasley," she lured Ron up, "you can pull out the algae." Ron rolled his eyes and went to collect their tools.When he came up, he gave Hermione a very genuinely annoyed look.

"Hermione, if you want to have a mysterious and talkative accident with your new partner, all you have to do is say so," suggested Ron.The words were clearly aimed at Draco, who looked at Ron as if he were an annoying little lint on his sleeve.

"It's a pity you're only late, I hope you don't come to class this week," Hermione whispered to her partner when Lupine began to bring up other matters.

"Fourth grade." Draco said just a few words.

Hermione pretended not to know what he was talking about.

He picked up a pair of gloves and a shovel from the box: "Today you appointed me to put those annoying bastards in detention during my lunch break."

She gave him a big smile: "I did it."

"And you've been avoiding me." Draco's voice was low, he looked straight into her eyes, and as usual, Hermione felt that her calm self-control was leaving her.

"You're just noticing now? I've been hiding from you for years, Malfoy."

"That's right," Draco admitted, lowering his voice as he followed the others out of the conservatory: "For the Head Girl, if you don't want to be found, you can't be blocked In the corner. I should be angry with you, because you assigned me tasks that the junior prefects don't even bother to do, but I did have some unexpected gains."

"Like?" Hermione realized her mouth was already asking the question before her sanity kicked in.

"Carmen Melephron," Draco said with a lewd smirk, "a mischievous and jovial fourth-year Slytherin with unabashed ambition, just like I was at that age."

Hermione wanted to retort out of sheer disgust, but Lupine cut him off: "Draco, can you please do more with less?"

Lupine was busy explaining to Pansy that no matter how quickly her mother's letter came, she couldn't use it as a reason to avoid this afternoon's class.

"No problem, Professor." Draco smiled sincerely like a wand salesman.He stared at the dirty, muddy glove in his hand, as if he had just realized that he could hold such a thing.

The expression on his face suddenly became funny: "Granger, you are in charge of weeding."