A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts C.402: Hourglass

Felix scanned the area, but Moody was nowhere in sight.

Indeed, this wasn't the best setting for him to appear. Perhaps a firecracker might go off suddenly, turning the young wizards within his line of sight into animals representing their respective houses.

Hmm... Felix imagined the scene—tiny lions, serpents, badgers, and eagles scrambling around the Great Hall while house elves rushed in with baskets to gather them up...

"Ha, amusing!"

"Are you referring to the dog? Quite amusing indeed..."

Snape's eyes gleamed maliciously. Following his gaze, Felix spotted a large black dog that had sneaked in unnoticed, snatched a piece of meat from the table, and settled in a corner, eyeing Harry.

When their eyes met, the large black dog waved its paw in a human-like manner, juices dribbling down its mouth.

"He's quite adept at being a dog. I had no idea Azkaban had this type of training..." Snape remarked leisurely.

...

The celebration lasted into the night, skipping even dinner, exhausting the house-elves in the kitchens with the constant traffic in the Great Hall.

Outside the Gryffindor common room.

Yawning, Harry returned, and Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, inquired eagerly, "Heard you got hold of the dragon's egg?"

As she spoke, her gaze fixed unblinkingly on Harry—beneath his arm rested a gleaming golden egg.

"Yeah... just nonsense," Harry said, reciting the password.

"It's not!" Violet retorted.

"He said the password... nonsense," the Fat Lady interjected, pushing her friend out of the frame, turning and revealing the entrance to the common room.

There were few people inside. Harry wandered into the dormitory, finding it still deserted. Placing the golden egg on his bed, he lay on his pillow, lost in thought. The afternoon's events seemed vividly present, though he had hidden his worries well during the day. But now that it was over, the dragon didn't seem so daunting.

He recalled Hagrid's words, retrieving from his robe pocket the magical lamp of the Hungarian Horntail. Tapping it gently, the small dragon inside fluttered its wings, emitting a soft glow.

Quite adorable indeed... Hagrid's words made sense...

He absentmindedly picked up the hourglass from the bedside table. It was a Snidget given to him by Professor Hagrid, placed haphazardly among a pile of wizarding cards. When Crookshanks had entered earlier, it had knocked over the cards, scattering them along with the hourglass. He had only gathered the cards then, later realizing the hourglass was on the floor when he accidentally stepped on it before bed.

He had worried it might have broken, but surprisingly, the hourglass was sturdy, unscathed.

At that moment, Hermione peeked in from the doorway. "Harry, are you in?"

"Here—"

"Let's examine the golden egg," Hermione said abruptly, her attention fixed on the egg.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked casually while keeping her eyes on the egg.

"He's not back yet, probably with the younger students... you know, he's been quite stressed lately," Harry said, avoiding mentioning Ron's boasting.

As they huddled around, contemplating opening it...

During the celebration in the Great Hall, Roger Davies had opened his golden egg, hoping to peek inside. Instead, he found it oddly heavy and utterly empty. Suddenly, a horrific, piercing scream echoed from within, more terrifying than any ghostly band Harry had ever heard, or even the banshee's hysteria. His heart almost stopped.

Consequently, the once-curious Lisa Turpin and the twins refused to touch it again. Harry entrusted it to the large black dog, slipping him two sausages on the sly. And it was at that moment—

"Is this yours?" an ethereal voice asked.

Harry turned to see Luna, accompanied by a string of whimsical magical lamps floating around her. A tiny dragon-like flame hovered above her unkempt hair.

"Oh, uh... yes," he stammered.

Sirius extended a paw, offering it to Harry. Harry nervously shook it, "You see... he can shake hands, I mean... it."

"Many believe black dogs herald disaster. Some even wrote a book about them," Luna said softly, her gaze avoiding others as she spoke. "But I don't see it that way. He's a loyal friend."

"Uh, thanks," Harry said.

He wasn't sure if Luna had noticed anything, but she merely greeted him and left as unexpectedly as she arrived.

...

Finally, Hermione reached out, tracing a subtle groove in the middle of the golden egg and pried it open.

A shrill scream resounded in the common room, startling Ron as he entered, causing him to plop down on the steps, much to the Fat Lady's annoyance.

Hermione forcefully shut the egg. "No... it's not... seems everyone's eggs are the same."

"What do you think?" Ron caught the second half of her sentence as he joined them, taking a vacant seat.

"I read that in past tournaments, champions received different clues," Hermione explained matter-of-factly, visibly shaken by the sound.

It was truly an eerie scream...

Ron shrugged, tapping the egg, "What if we charm it... like Scourgify, or Scourg—"

"Scourgify Formulation Charm."

"Exactly," Ron affirmed confidently.

"That's for potion analysis," Hermione retorted dryly, contemplating, "but it's not entirely impossible. This approach... we could try an alchemical method."

"Out of us three, who knows this stuff?" Ron asked, glancing expectantly at Hermione, and then Harry, waiting for an answer.

"Nor do I," Hermione said, raising her hands. "But I know Professor Snape does. Um, I can learn."

"Isn't that complicated?"

"Not at all. We have three months; if we crack the puzzle within one, we'll have enough time to prepare," Hermione asserted confidently. "Plus, it's an additional skill. Alchemy and wizarding lore go hand in hand—you both can benefit."

Harry felt a pang; keeping up with the increasingly challenging wizarding lore club activities was taxing enough. The only good news was, the club never assigned homework. He glanced at Ron, whose expression mirrored his own thoughts.

"Leave the golden egg to you, Hermione," Ron said with conviction.

Hermione's stern gaze fell on him, prompting him to quickly change the subject, looking around frantically before exclaiming, "Oh, Harry, why did you bring it out?"

Harry paused, realizing Ron was pointing at the hourglass, absentmindedly taken out in a moment of urgency.

"What's this?" Hermione asked, feeling a sense of familiarity with the object.

"It's the Snidget Valen exchanged with me. I told you about it," Harry explained.

"You did mention it, but I never really..." Hermione snatched the hourglass from Ron's hand, pondering. "I'm sure I've seen something similar somewhere..."

"Is it an antique?" Ron asked eagerly. "You've read books on this?"

Hermione toyed with the hourglass, occasionally holding it up to the magical lamp hovering above, making peculiar sounds.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, knowing it was best

not to interrupt her at this moment, as she had delved into a fervent research mode.

"I remember!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "I know where I've seen this hourglass, not in books. I was mistaken... it's from Egypt!"

"Egypt?" both Harry and Ron asked in unison.

"Yes, Egypt. Oh!" she laughed suddenly, akin to a fox eyeing its prey, gleefully saying, "No wonder Professor Hagrid had a class about Valen. It has quite the history."

"What exactly is it, Hermione? Stop keeping us in suspense," Ron urged eagerly.

"This hourglass comes from a greedy goblin at the Gringotts, no, wait," Hermione held her breath, whispering, "it comes from a nefarious Greek dark wizard, the despicable Herpo!"

>

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