#68 - Section 68

The twin brothers and Percy. Ethan had already seen them sneaking out of the auditorium, probably because they felt it was too embarrassing.

A Howler. You might not even get one of those a year.

Ron, why is it that you're the only screw-up in the Weasley family!

After breakfast, Ethan and the others prepared to go to class.

The first class today was Herbology.

Herbology class was held in the greenhouses outside Hogwarts.

Professor Sprout usually arrived early to tell the young wizards which greenhouse to go to.

But today, Professor Sprout was nowhere to be seen.

As class approached, Ethan saw Professor Sprout walking across the lawn with a rather unpleasant look on her face.

She had many bandages draped over her arm, and behind her was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Lockhart.

Ethan didn't know if Professor Sprout was annoyed by Lockhart or because she had discovered that the branches that had fallen from the Whomping Willow were missing.

Judging by the bandages on Sprout's arm, she probably wanted to reattach the branches.

But all this preparation was now in vain.

[Thank you to the big boss, Thunder Westbrook, for the monthly ticket, thank you big boss!].

Chapter 94: Transfiguration Class

This morning, there were two full periods of class.

After Sprout angrily saw Harold off, she took the young wizards to Greenhouse Three, collected the homework first, and then began the lesson.

There wasn't much Herbology homework, and the content was all in the textbook, so it was considered very simple.

Today's lesson was an introduction to Mandrakes and how to repot them.

The Mandrakes that needed to be repotted today were not yet mature. Mature Mandrakes can kill with their voices and look like extremely ugly babies.

According to Professor Sprout's explanation, it wasn't that difficult.

It's just that these things didn't want to be pulled out of the soil, nor did they want to go back, and they weren't very cooperative throughout the process.

This made the operation a little difficult.

Helpless, Ethan had to cast a silent, wandless Loosening Charm to make it behave.

Unsurprisingly, Ethan's team of four was the first to complete the repotting, earning Ravenclaw ten points.

The second class was Transfiguration.

Similarly, the homework was collected first, but the Transfiguration homework was an essay, which was much more difficult than the Potions homework.

This led to many students having obvious worries on their faces.

Some wrote nonsense, some borrowed from classmates, and some borrowed from other Transfiguration books.

After collecting the homework, Professor McGonagall moved on to today's topic.

Beetle to Button!

After Professor McGonagall demonstrated, she displayed the principles on the blackboard.

Then, she gave each person a beetle, which was today's prop.

Ethan really didn't know how to criticize Hogwarts' educational level.

Textbooks and the like must also be reviewed, they can't just teach whatever they come up with.

They don't understand gradual progress at all.

Most students can't even perfectly transfigure inanimate objects yet, just like the final exam last year, only a few could get an O. They can't even walk steadily, but they want to run.

Now, they have to transfigure living things, and ensure that the thing is still alive after the transfiguration is undone.

Isn't this making things difficult?

Ethan's tablemate, Michael, looked at the exquisite gold button that Ethan was tossing up and down, his eyes full of envy.

"Ethan, how do you do it?"

The difference in talent is really too great. He doesn't have a clue, but Ethan just points his wand and it's done.

It even transformed into a gold button, covered in fine lines, which looked quite high-end.

And he had just picked up his wand, preparing to transfigure according to what Professor McGonagall had said, but found that he couldn't construct the details of the beetle in his mind at all, and turn it into a button.

"I learned button-to-beetle first. Beetle-to-button is relatively simple if you don't need to track whether the beetle is still alive. First, analyze the beetle's body structure, observe it carefully, and outline the transformation between the two in your mind."

Magic is subjective; there's no specific formula for you to follow, so Ethan can only explain it this way.

Last year, Ethan's Transfiguration was only completed with the help of Professor McGonagall.

Ethan turned to look at the other tables and found that the situation was basically the same as Michael's. Everyone was pointing their wands at the beetles, muttering incantations.

Some directly poked the beetles to death, and some even blew them up.

People went to Professor McGonagall from time to time to apply for new beetles.

"Mr. Adrien, the first to complete the transformation, Ravenclaw gains ten points."

Professor McGonagall also noticed Ethan here.

She didn't even come over to look, and directly announced the result. Ethan went to her office several times last year. How could she not know his Transfiguration level?

Hermione from Gryffindor raised her head and glanced at Ethan, then went back to wrestling with the beetle.

Harry and Ron weren't deducted points for yesterday's incident, which inspired her. It's not impossible this year!

In the last class, she also added ten points to Gryffindor because she raised her hand to answer Professor Sprout's question about Mandrakes.

The other students were already used to it. If Ethan didn't add some points in Transfiguration and Charms class, they would feel something was wrong.

It wasn't until the end-of-class bell rang that many young wizards breathed a sigh of relief. They had been busy wrestling with the beetles all class, and made no progress at all.

It was even worse than the match-to-needle in the first Transfiguration class.

Only a very few people had made some progress.

Transfiguration classroom, on the way back to the dormitory.

"Ethan, can I borrow your quill?"

George and Fred were specifically blocking here, waiting for Ethan.

They had originally planned to come find Ethan this morning, but they had to flee the scene because of the Howler.

Although Ron was the most embarrassed, followed by Ginny, because she was also mentioned at the end.

But as members of the Weasley family, they weren't much better off.

The matter of borrowing the quill could only be postponed.

"I'll get them for you guys after lunch in the dorm later."

Ethan naturally wouldn't refuse. What might harm others wouldn't apply to the twins.

They didn't have any grand ambitions or pursuits, just a desire to graduate normally.

After all, Hogwarts allows you to graduate even with poor grades, as long as you don't break any rules and get expelled. Besides, the twins' grades aren't bad, especially in certain subjects.

Their goal is to open a joke shop and work hard towards it. They put more effort into spells, potions, alchemy, and ancient runes than the average good student.

Graduating and becoming bosses, without needing to take any certification exams, directly becoming superior people. (The twins have three O.W.L.s).

"Ethan, we can help you sell this! It'll be even more popular than Pepperup Potion!"

They were desperate for money. They still owed Ethan Galleons, and not many people bought Pepperup Potion at the start of the school year.

They urgently needed a new source of income. The pygmy puffs had just laid two clutches, and they couldn't be sold until they grew up.

Other prank products didn't sell well, and they didn't dare set prices too high, so they didn't make much money. Right now, they were just doing it for the love of it.

Take the quill, for example. They invented one that looks exactly like a normal quill, but it sprays ink on your face when you use it.

People only buy this when they want to play a prank. Other than that, it has no other use, which means sales are destined to be low.

Ethan's quill is different. Every young wizard who doesn't want to do homework needs it.

Gryffindor alone accounts for at least 70%, and Slytherin and Hufflepuff probably won't be less than 30%. Ravenclaw definitely has some, but they probably can't bring themselves to buy it. Ethan is an exception.

Also, the quill has a lifespan. Depending on the intensity of writing, you need to replace two or three quills a month.

"The professors at Hogwarts won't allow something like this to appear. It's equivalent to cheating, and it doesn't improve oneself at all. We can just use it ourselves."

Ethan had naturally thought of this, but quickly rejected it.

Some money can be earned, some can't, especially since Ethan is still at Hogwarts.

If he graduated, he could be unscrupulous and earn this money.

But Ethan is still a student at school. If you dare to openly disrupt the order like this, with a large number of students involved, just wait and see if Dumbledore and the professors will cause trouble for you.

Don't think you can really hide many things from them. It's just that they don't want to interfere.

"Alright, let us use it later. We still have a few assignments to write."

Seeing Ethan say this, Fred didn't insist.

Anyway, his brain can't compare to Ethan's, so he'll just listen to him. It's not like he'd refuse to earn money.

They originally planned to finish the assignments due today on the train yesterday. They could finish a little each day, and they would be done. Over the years, they had become familiar with this process.

Unfortunately, Ron directly disrupted their plans. After what happened yesterday, they weren't in the mood to write on the train at all.

"How is Mr. Weasley? The Howler this morning said he was detained by the Ministry of Magic for investigation."

Ethan saw that the two seemed fine. Could the matter have been resolved?

"It's fine now. Dumbledore went to the Ministry of Magic last night. He intervened, and my dad was released this morning. Then he was fined three months' salary. Percy's owl just brought the news back."

"Three months' salary, and a car was also damaged. Mr. Weasley must be heartbroken."

Ethan knew how much Arthur treasured this car. He spent a lot of time on it after work every day to modify it.

"Who says he isn't! My mom almost charged into the school!"

George shuddered at the mention of this.

"By the way, this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is Gilderoy Lockhart. His classes are also terrible. He only boasts about his experiences and introduces his books, but he's popular with the girls."

"Li made him look bad in class, saying that he's a fraud like Quirrell last year."

Their first class this year was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

After attending his class, they became increasingly convinced that Gilderoy Lockhart came to Hogwarts to sell books. In reality, he's completely unqualified.

"We also have Defense Against the Dark Arts class this afternoon. We'll know then."

Ethan didn't care about this. Anyway, he didn't expect the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at school to teach anything.

Arriving at the Ravenclaw table, Ethan directly sat between Cho Chang and Penelope Clearwater. They had already saved him a seat.

"Cho, what's wrong?"

Looking at Cho Chang, who seemed preoccupied, Ethan asked curiously.

"Malfoy, he donated seven Nimbus 2001s to the Slytherin Quidditch team today."

"Ethan, do you want to join the Quidditch team?"

Among the four houses, Ravenclaw was almost always at the bottom. Now that Slytherin has updated their equipment, the gap is even bigger.

If they could recruit Ethan, maybe their performance would be better. He was the best in the first-year flying class, followed by Cassandra and Harry, whose flying skills improved rapidly, and then Malfoy.

As members of the Quidditch team, they were quite concerned about the flying class performance of first-year students.

Every year, seventh-year students graduate and leave the Quidditch team, and talented second-year students fill their spots. This is an old tradition.

"I can't. I don't have time. Maybe Ginny will participate."

Ethan refused without hesitation.

This Malfoy is just a big fool, spending money without a purpose!

He'll register next week, and he'll participate normally. Cassandra won't compete with him anyway, so it's really unnecessary.