Chapter 191

Tuesday morning was filled with History of Magic, just as dull as what Harry had heard at Hogwarts; when Harry opened his sleepy eyes, Ron reminded him it was lunchtime.

"I have no idea what's the point of French History of Magic," said Zhang Qiu. "But I'll admit, it's better than sleeping on the train."

"Let's skip History of Magic from now on," Ron yawned. "Afternoon's Magical Creatures and Transfiguration—we can sleep till noon and still make it to class, feeling much better."

Over lunch, Harry met Donna again; she had chosen Ancient Runes, so Harry and his two companions still had to attend Magical Creatures class on their own, barely piecing together what the professor was saying through Harry's poor French and Ron's vivid imagination.

The professor of Magical Creatures at Beauxbatons was a capable, short-haired middle-aged witch; from her still refined features, it was easy to see she must have been beautiful in her youth.

"She says her name is Sarah Jane," Harry translated the parts he could mostly understand. "This class, she's introducing Grindylows."

"Grindylows?" Ron blinked. "Didn't Lupin cover those?"

"Option one is to sit through it again and see how the two schools' teaching differs," said Zhang Qiu. "Option two is to skip and head to the library to cram French."

"I think…" Harry hesitated aloud, but his hand had already shot into his chest and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak.

"I think we've already figured out where Beauxbatons' 'Hagrid's Hut' is—so we've already achieved the purpose of this class," Ron said, making excuses.

"Oh right, I just remembered—we can go find the professor," Harry said as the three of them walked toward the palace under the Invisibility Cloak. "Barty Crouch Jr. teaches English here—he must be able to teach us some French too."

"Let me check," Ron pulled out a nearly new notebook. "English at Beauxbatons is a two-period compulsory course—he has to teach all seven year groups, at 2nd period every morning, 1st period every afternoon, and 2nd period every afternoon except Friday. So right now, he's probably not free."

"Ron?" Harry blinked. "That's not like you."

"Hermione summarized Beauxbatons' entire schedule and made me copy it," he said, slightly embarrassed. "She told me a good personal assistant must be able to provide these kinds of basic facts instantly and accurately."

"Alright, but then who should we go to?" Zhang Qiu asked.

"What about Muggle Studies?" Harry asked.

"Muggle Studies is a two-period elective, only taught to five year groups—exactly 1st and 2nd period every morning," Ron flipped through his notes. "So there's no Muggle Studies class this afternoon."

With nervous anticipation, Harry led his two companions to the door of the Muggle Studies professor's office and gently knocked.

"Come in," came a voice both familiar and strange.

"Oh, Harry, I can't believe you've grown so big," Clara greeted him warmly.

"Uh, Professor Clara," Harry scratched his head awkwardly. "I can't believe you're actually a professor in the magical world."

"Ah, don't be so tense—have a seat," Clara glanced at Ron and Zhang Qiu and explained. "You might not know, but when Harry was little, I was his private tutor."

"I was doing research—I taught at a Muggle middle school for three years, then applied to be a private tutor," Clara continued. "That helped me write a highly sensational academic paper, which earned me the professorship in Muggle Studies. Come to think of it, I owe Sir Crowley for giving me that opportunity."

"Highly sensational… academic paper?" Ron looked surprised.

"Indeed," Clara said. "It's obvious that most Muggle-borns outperform pure-blood wizards. This has long troubled nobles who believe in blood purity. But through systematic teaching practice, I reached a conclusion: it's not bloodline that gives Muggle-borns superior magical ability—it's the Muggle knowledge they've learned."

"After systematically studying math, physics, and chemistry, pure-blood wizards often experience a leap in magical ability," she said, pouring tea for all three children. "Moreover, Muggles are entering an information age—their brains process four to five times more information daily than pure-blood wizards', making their souls stronger. On average, Muggle-borns have soul strength 1. to 1. times that of children from pure-blood families."

"That explains it," Zhang Qiu mused. "My master often says academic subjects are as important as magic."

"But why?" Harry asked, puzzled. "I can understand soul strength—but how do math, physics, and chemistry improve magical ability?"

"A simple example," Clara asked. "If I cast a Levitation Charm and make an object float, do you understand how that works?"

"What do you mean, how? Isn't that just magic?" Harry said, bewildered.

"I mean, physically, the Levitation Charm essentially applies an upward force to the object, correct?" Clara prompted again.

"I suppose so," Harry nodded.

"But this is the best version we've developed after countless generations of refinement. Ancient casters used Levitation Charms that altered an object's density, making it lighter than air to make it float," Clara continued. "From the perspective of mass-energy conservation, the former merely performs mechanical work with force, while the latter annihilates countless neutrons within the object—clearly, the latter consumes far more energy."

Harry sweated nervously, half-understanding and half-agreeing, while Ron just blinked innocently with wide, clueless eyes.

"So, a wizard who uses the 'apply force' method to cast Levitation Charm can, once proficient, more quickly grasp the Summoning Charm and even higher-level Wizard's Hand, because they're all fundamentally about generating an invisible force," Clara smiled broadly. "But those who merely float objects? They'll probably only ever learn to float objects."

"That makes perfect sense," Harry suddenly understood and patted Ron's hand. "I think we shouldn't just learn spells and gestures—we need to learn how they actually work."

"You've also solved a secret of Charms: how spells should be directed and improved," Zhang Qiu marveled. "A single professorship is far too small a recognition for such a great discovery."

"Ah, so my Muggle Studies course uses Muggle theories to explain wizarding spells—this greatly helps wizards master their spells," Clara said, slightly proud. "You're welcome to audit."

"Oh, I just remembered," Harry suddenly realized. "We came here originally to ask you about French."

"Oh, right," Clara blinked. "Shall we start with phonetics?"

For the entire afternoon, the three of them crammed French under Clara's guidance, skipping Transfiguration entirely—it was highly productive; at least Ron and Zhang Qiu could now pronounce "hello," "thank you," and "damn it" perfectly.

By evening, after dinner, at exactly half past five, Zhang Qiu suggested they invite Cedric and wait near Sara's cabin.

"Arriving early shows you take the meeting seriously," she said. "If other champions arrive late or are slow, it'll put psychological pressure on them."

"But I promised Hermione I wouldn't play tricks… oh well, this isn't really a trick," Ron rubbed his nose.

Sara's cabin was far more refined than Hagrid's—uniformly sized logs formed neat walls, the carved wooden door gleamed from polishing, warm light glowed through the sunken bay window, and several animal pelts hung before it: gray wolf fur, brownish-red fox fur, white short-tailed weasel fur. A medium-sized gray-black dog lay quietly in its small nest, ignoring passing students.

"Looks like no one's here yet," Harry said slowly, scanning the silent, empty surroundings.

"By the way, have you thought of a combined name?" Cedric asked once they stopped.

"It depends on what order we go in," Harry hesitated. "I only know the task involves dragons—maybe going first is more dangerous."

"But how do we deal with dragons?" Cedric mused. "If we use brooms, we'd better go early. We all fly well, but Krum is especially skilled. If he also plans to use a broom, the one who goes first will likely score higher than the one who goes later."

"You're right, but I have another way to handle dragons," Harry had already hidden the Seven Sins in Zhang Qiu's storage bag. "So if Krum plans to go early, that means he intends to rely on his broom to maneuver against the dragon. I believe my method will outshine his broom."

"You really think…" Ron started to speak, then suddenly changed expression and raised a finger to his lips. Zhang Qiu swiftly slapped a Disillusionment Charm on each of their foreheads.

"Why did you tell her? I can't understand this at all," came a clear, bell-like voice, laced with anger.

"She asked, so I told her—it's not a secret anyway. Karkaroff will find out soon enough and tell Krum," replied another soft, sweet voice.

"I know you're eager, but don't rush," came Hermione's unmistakable voice. "I think this is actually good—Renata might grow overconfident, and our most important tactic hasn't been revealed yet."

"Actually, I think Renata is testing us," Harry stepped closer and saw it was Fleur. "She probably learned the first task involves dragons, so she came pretending to ask me casually—because after getting her answer, she showed no surprise or gratitude, only suspicion…"

"So now everyone knows what the first task is, right?" Suddenly, two figures materialized from thin air—Krum and Renata.