Chapter 212: Catnip

Allen also realized something was wrong, but the pleasure was too intense, robbing him of control over his limbs; he wanted to stand but was powerless to do so.

Hermione also came to her senses; she wanted to push Allen away, but her strength was limited. Even if she could push him, given Allen's current state, he would likely be knocked straight to the floor. And since Allen's behavior now looked very much like an illness, pushing a sick person to the ground left her momentarily at a loss.

Others in the common room also noticed this scene and watched it quietly...

The gaze of others made Hermione panic.

"Why are you just standing there staring? Hurry and help! Allen seems to be having an episode!" Hermione glared at Harry and Ron, who were sitting opposite her mindlessly watching the show.

"Oh! Alright..."

Harry and Ron, as if waking from a dream, rushed over to help prop Allen up onto a lounge chair in the common room.

Once he could no longer smell that peculiar scent, the pleasure in Allen's mind gradually faded, and he slowly regained control of his body.

Now it was his turn to feel awkward; recalling the scene just now, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Allen, what's wrong with you?" Hermione asked, seeing that Allen had come to his senses.

"Don't come closer!" Allen said hurriedly as he saw Hermione approaching him.

Then his gaze lingered for a moment on Hermione's robe at her chest, and the expression on his face became even more awkward...

Hermione also noticed Allen's gaze; she looked down and found a wet patch on her chest. Recalling the situation, it was very likely Allen's saliva...

She let out a cold snort and quickly used a book to cover the wet spot on her chest.

"You had a peculiar scent on you just now; I smelled it and turned into that..." Allen said, trying to draw everyone's attention back.

Everyone's attention was indeed diverted.

"Scent? I never wear perfume," Hermione said proudly, a flush still lingering on her face.

"There really was. Could it be some potion you brewed recently?" Allen still felt a lingering fear; the feeling of losing control just now had been terrifying.

"Let me smell it!" Harry volunteered.

"Be careful; that potion is likely effective only on males," Allen warned, earning only an eye-roll from Hermione.

Harry approached Hermione cautiously, sniffing the air repeatedly. "It does seem to have a different scent, like fresh grass with a slightly pungent aroma," Harry said, sounding somewhat uncertain.

This scent did not cause Harry to lose control like it had Allen.

Ron also stepped forward and smelled the scent Harry had mentioned.

At this moment, Hermione seemed to realize something too; she took a small pouch from her pocket containing some dried grass leaves. The pouch was not sealed, constantly releasing that peculiar scent.

As soon as Hermione took out the small pouch, Allen felt the scent in the air grow stronger again; he quickly stepped back several paces to avoid the assault of that smell.

"Yes, that's the scent! Could this be some kind of magical plant?" Allen asked while covering his nose; he still felt the catnip was quite tempting.

"That's catnip I bought for Crookshanks!" Hermione said, half laughing and half crying.

Harry and Ron burst out laughing immediately...

Allen also chuckled sheepishly; he hadn't expected the truth to be this. His cat nose turned out to be so sensitive to catnip...

Allen had been frequently visiting the abandoned girls' bathroom recently because he had already placed the basilisk in the tunnel leading to the Chamber of Secrets after the term began.

The basilisk's injuries had healed almost completely, and now it slept there all day long.

Allen often went to modify its memory while cautiously testing the basilisk's level of obedience to him; from what he could see, the basilisk's obedience to him was increasing.

On the first day of the new term's Potions class, Professor Snape did not follow the textbook's order of instruction.

Instead, he taught the Wolfsbane Potion in the very first class and assigned an essay on werewolves as homework.

This left the young wizards quite confused. They knew that although Professor Snape was very unpleasant, he was rigorous in his teaching; such a disruption of the teaching order was a first.

What also surprised Allen was the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, where the sickly Professor Lupin won the young wizards' favor in just one lesson.

Allen was utterly moved; for three years, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had finally turned out to be a normal person...

The first Defense Against the Dark Arts class was a practical session; this was the first practical Defense Against the Dark Arts class Allen had attended in three years.

In this class, Professor Lupin taught about Boggarts, a type of shapeshifting creature that could see into your heart and transform into whatever you feared most.

Allen was very interested in Boggarts. Although the Boggart's shapeshifting was merely superficial, the ability to transform into so many things was already remarkable, and shapeshifting was Allen's core ability.

Allen even thought about checking later whether there were any magical materials produced by Boggarts; he wanted to see if he could acquire the Boggart's ability to transform at will through his innate shapeshifting talent.

Of course, before doing that, he would consult Mr. Scamander's opinion.

The first practical session made everyone very happy; the young wizards lined up one by one to face the Boggart, letting it transform into whatever they feared most, then using a spell to defeat it.

Only when it was Harry and Allen's turn did things go wrong.

Harry was because the Boggart transformed into his greatest fear—a Dementor. This fake Dementor caused a commotion among all the young wizards.

Allen was because the Boggart, when facing him, did not immediately transform into anything and rush out of the cupboard; then Allen understood what was happening.

The prerequisite for a Boggart to transform is its ability to see into the heart of the person facing it, and Allen's heart was simply not something it could penetrate.

Allen quickly opened his mind, imagining his greatest fear as a bear, and a huge brown bear immediately rushed out of the cupboard.

Allen cleanly and decisively cast the "Riddikulus" spell, turning the ferocious brown bear into a cute panda, which caused a scream from the young wizards.

In short, everyone had a very pleasant time in this class, and many people fell in love with Defense Against the Dark Arts because of it.

When class ended, everyone left the classroom reluctantly.

At that moment, Professor Lupin suddenly called out to Allen, who was about to leave.

Allen was completely baffled by Professor Lupin's action; he knew he was not familiar with Professor Lupin.

"No need to be nervous," Professor Lupin said with a smile; his smile was very approachable.

"I just heard Professor McGonagall say you joined the Shapeshifting Club and are preparing to become an Animagus?"

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