Chapter 141: The Smokescreen Spell

Outside the corridor, raindrops the size of bullets had been hammering away for several days.

Minerva McGonagall keenly sensed a wave of hostility, though she remained unclear as to its cause.

Her stern expression flickered with a hint of confusion before she precisely spotted the half-exposed potion within those voluminous robes—it was precisely a Pepperup Potion for treating colds.

As if realizing something, she shifted slightly to the side.

Following that gaze, Snape knew immediately what the other had discovered; he swept past Professor McGonagall with an expressionless face:

"I said—I will take responsibility."

Then, his voluminous black robes billowed as he moved with elegant urgency straight toward the Great Hall.

All the young wizards along the way, who had been playing and watching the rain, shrank their necks and made way.

Inside the Great Hall.

Jia Jia Siting steadily supported Xiang Xiang Xien.

Hermione had just entered the Great Hall and, before even managing to eat, hurriedly cleared a path ahead, simultaneously scolding both of them indiscriminately:

"Merlin's beard! So hot—Xiang Xiang Xien! When it comes to being stubborn, you truly are..." "And another idiot actually needs a sick person to tell him what to do!" "Professor Snape was right; the two of you should be hung on the wall!" while also muttering in self-reproach, "...It's also my fault; I should have noticed sooner; his complexion was already very bad yesterday..."

The expression on Jia Jia Siting's usually gentle face was unreadable as he lowly answered, "Mm."

Soon, they reached the entrance of the Great Hall.

A loud footsteps approached, and a figure clad in black robes slowly drew nearer to them. Jia Jia Siting looked up, only then realizing it was Professor Snape.

Jia Jia Siting felt neither fear nor nervousness; along with Hermione, he stepped to the right and lowered his head, intending to pass by.

Unexpectedly, a shadow once again enveloped them.

"Give him to me."

A chilling voice sounded simultaneously.

Jia Jia Siting lifted his head, stepping to the right again as if triggered by a reflex; at this moment, only "go to the hospital wing" echoed repeatedly in his mind, to the point where he could no longer comprehend even the professor's words.

"He should go to the hospital wing, Professor Snape."

Hermione stated bluntly.

"Heh—clever Miss Granger,"

Snape's cold sneer made a group of young wizards nearby tremble,

"then you ought to know what potion wizards should consume when they have a cold in the hospital wing..."

As Snape spoke these latter words, his complexion darkened completely; he had noticed that the young wizard being supported seemed to hear nothing.

His emerald eyes were slightly open yet devoid of spirit, and every tremor of his lips was accompanied by exhaled hot breath.

"Make him drink it, now! Immediately!"

He suddenly roared.

A bottle of potion landed in Hermione's hand.

Hermione froze, her eyes widening, then without wasting a single second, she made Xiang Xiang Xien consume it.

The Pepperup Potion produced immediate results; smoke billowed out of Xiang Xiang Xien's ears—it looked just like the steam rising into the clouds from the Hogwarts Express.

At the same time, he gradually regained consciousness; he saw the small McGonagall before him transform into a large Hermione, and then saw something resembling a black bat fly away,

oh right, that large black bat had also dropped a bottle of Pepperup Potion.

Inside the practice room.

Having recovered some of his spirit, Xiang Xiang Xien nervously opened the door from the inside.

Amidst the owl Mr.'s peculiar tone of "Filius, it's you again, for the sake of Ravenclaw, hurry up and go in—", a short professor with a smile overflowing on his face entered through the door.

"So glad—Mr. Green, to see you much better—"

Professor Flitwick naturally stood upon the rough-hewn wooden table; upon seeing his arrival, the squirrels in the room panicked and fled out the window,

"but my dear Mr. Green, sometimes rest is also for the sake of greater progress; are you certain you wish to study now?"

Xiang Xiang Xien pondered for a few seconds, recalling the description in *Dark Forces: A Making Guide to Self-Protection*:

[I advocate that young wizards should at least learn the following spells to cope with the darkest aspects of magical power.

Green Sparks;

Red Sparks, red sparks;

Knockback Jinx;

Smokescreen Spell;

Lumos]

Among these practical spells, he had only the Smokescreen Spell and the Knockback Jinx left to learn;

his notes for Defense Against the Dark Arts were sufficient for the theoretical portion, but he still lacked the spells required for the practical portion.

These two spells were the final pieces of the puzzle.

With only two days remaining until Friday, he had to grind them to the introductory level, so he nodded firmly.

As if he had expected this, Professor Flitwick sighed, then immediately regained his enthusiasm:

"Very well, Mr. Green, I will not lower my standards because of this, especially for those children with outstanding talent—"

The Smokescreen Spell, a typical defensive spell for wizards, functions by releasing a cloud of smoke to obscure vision; this spell is quite useful in duels as it makes it difficult for the opponent to aim.

Garrick Ollivander was an excellent practitioner of it.

Yet Xiang Xiang Xien discovered that this cloud of smoke seemed... to be subjective smoke.

"Fumos!"

[You practiced the Smokescreen Spell once to the introductory standard; Proficiency +3]

Xiang Xiang Xien waved his wand, and dark smoke that obscured everything generated around his body.

Yes, it obscured everything.

When Xiang Xiang Xien desired it, not only could no sound escape from the smoke, but light itself would be swallowed up as well.

Its utility far exceeded Xiang Xiang Xien's expectations, much like Lumos.

Lumos appeared in the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook; at first glance, this seemed unreasonable, but the book provided an explanation.

Besides being used for illumination, Lumos could be employed to repel ghosts and other spectral enemies, such as the Gytrash, a dark creature resembling a dog with a forked tail and pale skin and fur, which is fast and dangerous.

This creature inhabits the forests of Great Britain; in fact, Gytrashes are distributed within Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest.

Xiang Xiang Xien suddenly recalled a sentence by Madam Miranda Goshawk from *Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1*:

[When a wizard has a need, the spell will appear; those spells that seem impractical have greatly aided wizards throughout magical history.

Therefore, I sincerely remind every wizard learning spells—there are no useless spells, only useless wizards]

When Professor Flitwick left satisfied, an ice pack was still applied to Xiang Xiang Xien’s head; indeed, the lack of energy hindered spellcasting, and after an entire afternoon, Xiang Xiang Xien had barely mastered the Smokescreen Spell, and—

[Proficiency]

[Smokescreen Spell: Apprentice Level (150/300)]

However, with a bit more effort, he would reach the introductory level by evening.

Friday, Friday...

Xiang Xiang Xien had always been looking forward to this time of harvest.

Through Xiang Xiang Xien's persistent efforts, time flew by in the blink of an eye until Thursday morning arrived.

After his illness, Jia Jia Siting and Hermione became even more concerned about Xiang Xiang Xien's condition.

And soon, they discovered a fact that was not difficult to guess.