"G-good afternoon, P-Professor Flitwick, Mr. Kettleburn, and P-Professor Westeros," Professor Quirrell stammered, his voice trembling and his gaze was darting around.
Professor Flitwick responded with a warm smile, "Professor Quirrell, what a surprise to see you here. Would you like to join us for a drink? We were just discussing some interesting matters."
Quirrell hastily waved his hands, "Oh, n-no, thank you. I... I have something to do. I n-need to get back to the school quickly. I have something to attend to."
He forced another smile, then turned shakily and quickly walked toward the exit.
Professor Flitwick watched him leave, his brow slightly furrowed, and said quietly, "Quirrell wasn't always like this. He used to be an excellent student, very intelligent, especially in theoretical classes."
Kettleburn nodded in agreement and sighed, "Yes, people do change. Quirrell was indeed an outstanding student. I heard that ever since he returned from the Dark Forest, he's been like this..."
At this moment, Adrian wasn't paying attention to their conversation.
He felt as if someone was staring intensely at him, that feeling of being watched made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Instinctively gripping his butterbeer tighter, Adrian looked toward the door.
Sure enough, shortly after Quirrell left, another person completely wrapped in a black cloak, with their face covered, also followed him out.
'Hmm, it must be Snape.'
That cold gaze directed at him earlier was all too familiar to Adrian.
"What's wrong, Adrian?" Professor Flitwick noticed his unease and asked with concern.
Adrian came back to his senses and shook his head. "Nothing, Professor."
The Three Broomsticks was certainly very lively today.
Time passed by and for the next week, apart from teaching and preparing lessons, Adrian spent the rest of his time training those Chomping Cabbages.
It turned out that Chomping Cabbages weren't very intelligent—which was normal, considering they didn't have brains.
Training these creatures, which operated almost entirely on instinct, was no easy task.
Of course, controlling them to attack and stop went very smoothly. The difficulty was that if not given clear orders to attack a specific target, they would attack almost anything in sight, even a pair of shoes.
Adrian deliberately made the training dummies in two colors, instructing the Chomping Cabbages to attack the red dummies and protect the green ones.
Unfortunately, every time, regardless of whether they were red or green, all dummies met the same fate of being torn to shreds.
In the end, Adrian had to focus on trying to "mutate" the Chomping Cabbages.
For example, he wanted them to acquire the "intelligence" trait of the Devil's Snare.
So, Adrian borrowed some vines from the Devil's Snare and used them to brew a large cauldron of growth potion.
...
Thursday afternoon.
Once again at the front of the Black Lake.
"Last one."
Adrian crouched on the grass, holding a bottle of potion emitting a faint green glow, which he poured into the mouth of a Chomping Cabbage.
The Chomping Cabbage opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and gulped down the potion.
Seeing the Chomping Cabbage looking unsatisfied, Adrian casually tossed the empty potion bottle into its mouth as well.
"Professor, are you sure this potion will make them smarter?" Harry, standing nearby, asked. His glasses reflected a faint light in the sunshine, his face showing a hint of curiosity.
Harry had encountered Adrian half an hour ago. Since there were no classes that afternoon, Harry had been watching Adrian train the Chomping Cabbages.
"Who knows?" Adrian shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to try."
After all the Chomping Cabbages had drunk the potion, they fell into a dormant state, snoring loudly in place.
"Well, let's wait patiently for a while," Adrian wiped the sweat from his face, sat down under a tree, then turned to Harry and asked, "By the way, Harry, how is your Chomping Cabbage doing?"
"I'm keeping it on the windowsill in our dormitory. It seems to really enjoy sunbathing; it just lies there all day without moving," Harry sat down next to Adrian and replied, "Except for the first day when it bit through Ron's robes."
Adrian nodded. It seemed that Harry's Chomping Cabbage was much more intelligent than these ones.
After all, when planting these Chomping Cabbages, he had paid much more attention to Harry's one.
You could say that Harry's was the "favorite" son and others were well….
"And then?" Adrian continued to ask.
Harry shrugged helplessly, "Ron was jumping mad at the time, and almost wanted to throw it out the window. But fortunately, Percy fixed his clothes for him when we were in the common room."
"I suggest you spend more time with the Chomping Cabbage. Once it gets familiar with you, it will listen to you," Adrian advised.
"Alright, Professor," Harry nodded. In fact, he had been doing just that, and the Chomping Cabbage had started to become more affectionate toward him.
After this, Harry reported to Adrian about his progress in classes, and also...
"The Slytherins are all a bunch of annoying fellows," He complained to Adrian. "Malfoy often bullies other students."
"Malfoy?" Adrian's mind conjured the image of a child with pale blond hair.
Harry continued, "Just this morning, Malfoy stole Neville's Remembrall—he's so annoying. Fortunately, Professor McGonagall stopped him."
A Remembrall is a device that lets you know if you've forgotten something. When you hold a Remembrall, if it turns red, it means you've definitely forgotten something. Unfortunately, it can only tell you that you've forgotten something, not what you've specifically forgotten.
It's a terrible invention...
"Sounds like a troublesome student," Adrian smiled, then continued, "Each house at Hogwarts has its own unique culture and character. Slytherin students might seem arrogant, but that doesn't mean all of them are like Malfoy. What's important is that you learn how to deal with them without letting their behavior affect your emotions."
"I'd like to punch him," Harry said with furrowed brows.
"..."
Adrian was taken aback and muttered softly, "Typical Gryffindor, always so direct in solving problems."
"What did you say?" Harry seemed not to have heard Adrian clearly.
"Ah," Adrian ruffled Harry's hair, knocking his glasses awry, "That's also a way to handle it, but you need to think about the consequences."
"Professor McGonagall might deduct points from me, or give me detention," Harry thought for a moment, then added, "But I think Malfoy probably can't beat me..."
"That's not the issue..." Adrian was somewhat speechless.
After chatting with Harry for a while, Harry left for his flying lesson.
As for Adrian, he continued to stay and observe the Chomping Cabbages.
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