Hogwarts Card System Chapter 165

Chapter 165: Quidditch Catastrophe

With a consumption of 200 experience points, knowledge flooded into Ted’s mind.

Ted carefully reviewed it and discovered it was a world similar to a biochemical mutation.

Humans had fragmented space rocks with nuclear missiles, but suffered unexpected consequences. Radioactive fallout, combined with asteroid debris, caused cold-blooded animals to mutate into terrifying creatures.

Most of humanity was thus extinct, and the surviving humans were forced to hide in underground shelters, barely clinging to life.

This illustrated guide was information about a portion of these monsters, painstakingly compiled by the survivors.

Did it feel useless? Although the monsters recorded within were indeed novel, such as pond-sized toads and centipedes as thick as tree trunks.

But he wasn’t Hagrid… Wait! Perhaps the knowledge within could be used for the magical animal bloodline transformation?

If Neville and his friends could cultivate the magical plants from Plants vs. Zombies, then he could also cultivate the monsters from this guide, right? He even had Pokémon breeding methods! Look at Ansu, isn’t she doing great?

As for now… he needed to cultivate a rooster that could restrain the Basilisk!

Ted knew that he and his friends would probably have to fight the Basilisk eventually, just like facing Voldemort last year. So, it was best to prepare early.

But this year was different; it was even more dangerous.

Because the Chamber of Secrets was not set up by Dumbledore, he could only exert influence indirectly, such as sending Fawkes the phoenix to deliver the Sorting Hat.

And having the phoenix ensure that the Savior wouldn’t be killed by Basilisk venom.

But it was still very dangerous.

After all, if they were stared to death, bitten to death, crushed to death, or swallowed by the Basilisk… the phoenix wouldn’t resurrect them!

In such a world, danger was ultimately unavoidable. It was better to be well-prepared.

…

Ted found time to visit Hagrid.

Hagrid was very happy and insisted Ted stay for lunch, saying he was stewing chicken for noon.

Ted was stunned: What I want is a live chicken! A fighting rooster among roosters! Not to mention a powerful body, it should at least crow loudly. A stewed one won’t do!

“Hagrid, I’m here because I want a rooster!” Ted said.

“A rooster? You’re also after my chickens?!”

“Huh? Who else is after your chickens?”

Hagrid waved his hands repeatedly: “No, no, my… my chickens have all been ruined!”

Ted: ??? Who? Who’s so beastly? An Indian?

Hagrid began to explain from the beginning: A few months after the start of the school year, his chickens suffered a terrible fate.

They were all killed by some unknown person or animal, with no bleeding, but their necks were all broken.

Hagrid and Fang waited for several days but couldn’t find the culprit.

Later, he bought some chicks, and after several months, they finally grew up, but yesterday they were killed again!

This time it looked like they were bitten by some animal!

“It seems like a snake! The wounds look like snake bites!” Hagrid bit angrily into a chicken leg.

Ted stopped his movements and put down his fork: “So, this big pot of chicken…”

“Mm!” Hagrid nodded.

Ted: “I’m full! You take your time eating, I’ll head back first! Remember to find me the fiercest rooster!”

Ted rushed out the door, running far away before frantically rummaging through his small bag: “Where’s the antidote? I remember always carrying it!”

After downing several bottles of potion, Ted finally relaxed.

He didn’t know what had bitten them; it could have been a venomous snake…

Hagrid might be fine eating this chicken, but he himself might end up dead!

He didn’t want the Basilisk to do nothing to him, only to be poisoned by Hagrid!

Hagrid was very efficient. Within two days, he got Ted a large rooster.

How big? Let’s put it this way: when it lifted its head, it was taller than Jerry’s navel!

Hagrid: “I bought it through a black market merchant! How about it? Satisfied? Absolutely majestic and domineering!”

Ted: “Amazing, amazing!”

Jerry: Stay away from me, I’m scared! Please spare me, Rooster Bro! Don’t chase me!

In the following days, Ted kept the rooster in the abandoned classroom and devised a transformation plan for it.

Although a rooster’s crow was the Basilisk’s fatal weakness, Ted dared not be careless. It was better to trust no book than to trust a book completely.

Now, in the abandoned classroom, there were little white mice that had developed magic, long-tailed macaques that had just regrown their fur after being shaved, and now the rooster, with Ansu often visiting… It felt like a zoo.

Time quickly arrived at May 9th. There was a Quidditch match today: Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff!

This year, the young wizards had been thoroughly exhausted. In previous years, there were never so many incidents!

The young wizards usually longed for excitement, but this year they genuinely couldn’t handle it, and were even a little afraid of trouble.

Now, having a collective activity to relieve their anxious and fearful mood was excellent.

However, something happened.

Ted and his friends hadn’t even reached the Quidditch pitch yet. Not long after leaving the castle, Professor McGonagall’s voice suddenly echoed from the sky: “All students return to your common rooms! The match is canceled! Prefects and Head Boy/Girl, organize yourselves! Quickly!”

Professor McGonagall’s voice was stern and anxious, immediately silencing everyone.

The younger students were merely flustered and bewildered, not knowing why the match was canceled. But the older students’ faces changed, realizing something had gone wrong.

Indeed, as Ted and his friends returned to the castle, they saw people gathering at the staircase leading to the dungeons.

Harley had already rushed ahead to see what was happening.

Ted and his friends moved closer and heard crying.

Upon hearing the sound, Ron’s face instantly turned ashen: “Paige?!”

He abruptly pushed aside the students in front of him and squeezed through…

About twenty people surrounded a group, even Professor Flitwick was there.

In the middle of the crowd, Paige Weasley was kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly. In front of her lay a person as still as a stone statue.

It was clear that someone else had fallen victim to the Basilisk! But thankfully, they weren’t dead.

Hermione suddenly covered her mouth, “It’s Penelope!”

Ted moved past Paige’s obstruction and saw the victim’s face; it was indeed Penelope Clearwater, the Ravenclaw prefect!

Ted scanned around and found the reason she was spared death—a shining, reflective suit of armor.

Penelope must have looked at the Basilisk through the reflection of the armor.

However, the situation was far from simple.

Because in the third-floor corridor, another person had been petrified: Pansy Parkinson, a second-year Slytherin!

In such a short time, two students had been attacked!

The match that day was canceled, and all students were strictly forbidden from leaving their common rooms, with prefects guarding the entrances.

The previous victims had already strained the young wizards’ nerves, but now with two victims appearing at once, their nerves snapped.

Moreover, one of the victims was a pure-blood Slytherin student.

Weren’t they supposed to be purging those who didn’t deserve to be in the school? How could they even attack a pure-blood Slytherin?!

For a time, dozens of owls flew from the school to various parts of Great Britain.

Meanwhile, the heads of houses were in the Headmaster’s office, discussing with extremely grim faces…

In fact, when Justin and the Fat Friar were attacked, the heads of houses had already quietly searched the school once.

But just like fifty years ago, they found nothing.

The heads of houses had actually been secretly vigilant, but then Lavender Brown from Gryffindor still suffered.

However, now it had reached two victims in one day!

It could no longer be suppressed!

When Lavender was petrified, people outside had already started inquiring about the matter.

However, Dumbledore, as the greatest white wizard of the century, still commanded enough respect that no one dared to openly question if something was wrong in his domain.

But now, it absolutely couldn’t be suppressed.

That evening, owls brought the Daily Prophet Special Edition, which featured full-page coverage of the events at the school: the Chamber of Secrets, the monster, the petrified students, and even ghosts…

A reporter named Rita Skeeter even pointed her sharp pen at Dumbledore, questioning whether the greatest white wizard and Headmaster was too old and no longer capable of bearing the heavy burden of his position.

Ted and his friends were furious when they saw the newspaper’s contents at dinner.

Neville trembled all over: “Nonsense! How dare that woman insult Dumbledore? She, she…” The poor Savior didn’t even know how to curse!

Harley threw the newspaper down: “What foolish talk? Trash reporter!”

Ron’s face was pale with anger, and Jerry was so upset he couldn’t eat—if it weren’t for Dumbledore, an demi-human like him wouldn’t have been able to enroll, so Dumbledore held a very high position in his heart.

Hermione also frowned: “How can she say that? As a reporter, she should be objective!”

In short, everyone was furious.

Ted comforted them: “Don’t be angry. These mouthpieces are always controlled by a brain. The reason she’s targeting the Headmaster probably isn’t just her personal opinion.”

“What do you mean?” Harley asked.

“Perhaps someone told her to say that. Dumbledore is in trouble now…”

The outbreak of the Quidditch catastrophe directly ignited all the suppressed emotions.

The students were terrified, and many wrote letters home, asking to leave.

The heads of houses and professors also disregarded the impact and immediately conducted a large-scale, systematic search of the castle.

Even Ted’s abandoned classroom was searched.

Ted had already moved the animals to the Room of Requirement beforehand, so he didn’t have to worry about anything else.

This abandoned classroom was actually assigned to him by Professor Flitwick for studying and practicing magic.

The systematic search took an entire day, but still yielded nothing.

…

In this situation, students continuously asked for leave to go home, and in less than two weeks, about a quarter of them had left.

If this continued, the school would have to close.

It was worth noting that fifty years ago, the school was forced to almost shut down, and Hagrid was pushed out to take the blame.

What about this time?

(End of chapter)