Chapter 391 Abe's highlight moment, facing the exploding-tailed skrewt?
Harry, Ron, and Hermione sent a letter to Percy, asking about Crouch's recent condition.
For a while after that, besides regularly sending food to Sirius via owl, they were just waiting for Percy's reply.
In Transfiguration Class, Hagrid finished teaching about Unicorns.
This time, he brought out some more boxes, and just as everyone was worried if they contained newly hatched Blast-Ended Skrewts, Hagrid triumphantly opened the boxes.
Inside were many creatures resembling platypuses; they had black fur and flat front paws like shovels.
"Is this… a Niffler?"
"Very observant, Mr. Gaius," Hagrid praised, "They can usually be found in mines. Nifflers love shiny things the most…"
Just then, the Nifflers in the box seemed to smell something.
Dozens of Nifflers suddenly leaped out of the box and rushed towards Aaron.
"Holy crap!"
Aaron subconsciously blurted out a curse.
Before he could react, Abbey jumped out of his arms, snarling as she went to meet them.
The fourth-year students of Slytherin and GryffindorHouses had their eyes opened. Except for a few who knew Abbey's species, to everyone else, this was a story of a cat battling dozens of platypuses.
Abbey was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, rapidly waving her claws and tail, thoroughly slaughtering all in her path, the black Nifflers being flung away one by one by the white Saint Dragon.
Two minutes later, only a white cat stood proudly in the center of the field, one of her front paws pressing down on a Niffler, and another held in her mouth.
"That's, that's amazing, this class was really worth it," Seamus exclaimed, clapping involuntarily.
Everyone else did the same, and applause thundered for a moment.
Abbey became the brightest star of the show, completely reclaiming the spotlight that had been stolen by the two Unicorn foals. If the occasion hadn't been so inappropriate, she would have had the urge to let out a long howl to the sky.
Bang!
A large hand directly pressed on her dragon head, lifting her up.
The two subdued Nifflers, as if granted a great pardon, quickly ran to Hagrid's side, clearly knowing who there had the ability to protect them.
"Hagrid, I'm sorry," Aaron said sheepishly, then waved his wand, and all the Nifflers in the field flew into Hagrid's box.
"Uh… it's okay, it's really okay," Hagrid said excitedly.
He loved dragons the most, and being able to watch Abbey fight up close was quite thrilling.
Besides, Abbey had been very careful, and his Nifflers hadn't suffered any harm.
Aaron looked at Abbey with a displeased expression, "Explain yourself!"
"Don't make it difficult for her, I might know what's going on," Hagrid said with a chuckle, "Nifflers' favorite thing is gold coins, so it must be what's in Abbey's pocket that attracted them."
Hearing this, Aaron's mouth twitched slightly.
Abbey, however, kept nodding. Last year, her master spent a lot of gold coins buying those magical creature feathers, which made her heart ache for a long time.
Although she was reluctant that time, she had nothing to say, but this time, it was absolutely unbearable.
A group of platypuses actually dared to covet her wealth, and even dared to brazenly rush up to steal it. Did they really think a Saint Dragon had no temper?
"Continue with the class. Nifflers are famous treasure detectors, you can have a blast today," Hagrid said with a smile, then pointed to a large area of newly turned earth, "I've buried some gold coins there, and each of you can pick a Niffler.
Whoever's Niffler digs up the most gold coins will get a prize from me.
You need to be careful to remove all your valuables, or a Niffler might steal them if you're not paying attention."
The students all took off their watches, necklaces, and emptied their pockets of money before coming forward to collect a Niffler.
These magical creatures, resembling platypuses, were not as dangerous as Blast-Ended Skrewts, nor as wary of humans as Unicorns; on the contrary, they were very docile and affectionate towards humans.
Soon the treasure hunt began. The Nifflers dug earth as fast as marmots, and gold coins were unearthed one by one, then held in their mouths and handed to their masters.
Ron had the most. The Niffler he chose dug up several times more gold coins than anyone else, and he got to experience the joy of being rich for once.
Aaron had the least, because his Niffler would dig a few times then look back at Abbey's pocket, clearly indicating that a good beating still couldn't stop its love for gold coins.
At the end of class, Hagrid collected all the gold coins and gave Ron a large chocolate bar as a reward.
"I really want to buy one as a pet," Ron said from the bottom of his heart.
"It's best not to," Hagrid said, "Nifflers are excellent at treasure hunting, but they're also top-notch at wrecking homes. I don't want your mum writing to scold me."
Ron gave a sheepish smile, reluctantly returning the Niffler.
In the following weeks, everything seemed particularly stable, except that Hermione often received malicious letters accusing her of toying with others' feelings, which pushed her patience with Rita Skeeter to its limit.
As the Easter holiday was nearing its end, Harry's owl Hedwig flew back, bringing Percy's reply.
Harry called Aaron, and they opened the letter in the Transfiguration Class classroom.
His letter was not long, only a few lines, but it seemed quite impatient.
Mr. Crouch is working too hard, I haven't seen him in person, many instructions are sent by owl, but I would never mistake my superior's handwriting.
Currently, I am swamped, so unless it's urgent, do not disturb me.
"Hmm…" After reading the letter, Aaron stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, "My gut tells me that Barty Crouch is probably in trouble."
"But Percy said his handwriting was fine," Ron said, puzzled, "Maybe he really is seriously ill and bedridden."
"Perhaps! But I still trust my intuition."
"It's best not to speculate without definite evidence," Hermione said seriously, "Mr. Crouch is after all a Head of Department at the Ministry of Magic, and we are just a few fourth-year Wizards; no one will believe us for no reason."
Aaron was noncommittal, then looked at Harry, "No matter what Crouch's situation is right now, we can't do anything about it. It's you who needs to prepare early."
"I understand," Harry nodded, then said gloomily, "But the last task of the Triwizard Tournament hasn't been announced yet, so even if I wanted to prepare, I wouldn't know how."
"Then find a way to improve your strength. The last task will definitely be related to the Champion's strength."
"Are you so sure?" Ron said, somewhat doubtfully.
"Do you remember what Hagrid said the first time he brought out the Blast-Ended Skrewts?" Aaron said meaningfully, "They were being prepared for a big task."
The three looked at each other, then, realizing something, they all swallowed hard.
Hermione frowned, her face grave, "Are you saying the Triwizard Tournament Champions might have to face Blast-Ended Skrewts?"
"Correction, adult Blast-Ended Skrewts.
If nothing unexpected happens, they should grow to over three meters tall."
Hearing this, Harry's face turned pale. He didn't think he could defeat such a monster.
"It's… it's fine!" Ron forced a smile, his face stiff, "Most of the Blast-Ended Skrewts are dead, there shouldn't be many left now, right?"
"I don't deny that, but that only further indicates that the third task isn't just about Blast-Ended Skrewts; there might be other dangerous creatures, at least enough to ensure one for each of the five Champions!"
Harry pursed his lips with difficulty, saying weakly, "Any suggestions?"
"Hehe!" Aaron's mouth twitched, and he said speechlessly, "I won't talk about offensive spells, you know some of those, but defensive ones…"
"Shield Charm?" Hermione said without hesitation.
"Exactly. You have almost two months, you'd best learn this spell.
It's somewhat of a safeguard for your life."
Harry Potter: … Time flew by, and in a blink, it was the last week of May.
That day, Professor Snape told Aaron to go to the Quidditch Pitch at nine in the evening; Mr. Bagman would tell the Champions what the third task was.
That night, Aaron left half an hour early and met Harry and Cedric in the entrance hall.
"What do you think it will be?" Cedric asked, interested, "Fleur said it would be underground tunnels, and she thinks we have to search for treasure."
"It was probably Madame Maxime who told her," Aaron said, shaking his head with a smile, "A while ago, we learned about Nifflers in Transfiguration Class, so it seems Madame Maxime misunderstood something."
"The situation might be more difficult than you think," Harry subtly glanced at Aaron, and seeing no reaction from him, continued, "If nothing unexpected happens, we might have to deal with Blast-Ended Skrewts."
"What?" Cedric immediately lost his composure, "You're not joking, are you?"
Although he was a seventh-year, he knew a little about Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts; Rita Skeeter had also written about the ferocity of those creatures in the newspaper.
"Not certain, but highly probable."
The three crossed the lawn and entered the Quidditch Pitch.
But as soon as they entered, Harry and Cedric became enraged; the Quidditch Pitch seemed to be gone.
The pitch was no longer flat and smooth, and the goalposts had been completely dismantled, replaced by an expanse of green foliage plants.
These plants formed walls, intricately connected, winding and extending in all directions.
"This is interesting," Aaron said half-jokingly, "But I don't really like this kind of obstacle course, it's too winding."
"Especially with all sorts of monsters inside," Harry added with a wry smile.
"You're here," Bagman shouted from the center of the pitch, with Krum and Fleur standing beside him.
The three exchanged glances, walked through the not-so-tall plants, and reached the very center.
"I believe you must have guessed what the last task is, right?"