[HP] Astringent

Beauxbatons came first, and they descended from the sky in a powder-blue carriage drawn by twelve winged horses.Madame Maxime—a handsome woman taller than Hagrid led her students out of the carriage.After greeting Dumbledore, the Hogwarts students cleared a passage and let them walk up the stone steps.

When everyone was trembling and looking up at the sky helplessly, a loud noise came from the black lake, a huge splash was made on the handsome face, and a huge ship that looked like the remains of a sunken ship emerged from the water.Durmstrang's headmaster, headmaster Karkaroff in a fur cloak came over with his students also in fur cloaks.His voice was mellow and sweet, just like Lucius Malfoy, it was as nauseating as being forced to eat three big cakes.

Everyone is here, and everyone walks back to the auditorium together.The spell didn't make Vanessa feel hot, in fact the spell broke automatically when she walked into the hall.

When returning to the staff table, Vanessa found five more empty chairs, placed on either side of Dumbledore's chair.Two are reserved for two school principals, and I don't know who the other three are waiting for.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and - especially - distinguished guests," said Dumbledore with more enthusiasm and force than usual, "it is with great joy that I welcome you Come to Hogwarts!"

Exotic dishes filled the dining table, and the house-elf seemed to be pulling out all the stops.Vanessa liked the bouillabaisse tonight so much that she couldn't resist drinking an extra bowl.

"Hi, how is Vanessa?"

Vanessa raised her face from the bowl when she heard someone say hello.Blake's familiar face was beside him.

"Ah, it's all good. Why are you here?" Vanessa noticed that all the vacancies were filled, and Ludo Buckman and Barty Crouch also came.

"Come and see Harry and you," Black happily waved his hands below, then turned back, "By the way, I will be responsible for the security work of the Triwizard Tournament."

"Sirius, old man, do you need me to change places with you?" Moody muttered dissatisfiedly because Black blocked him and couldn't get the steak and kidney pudding.Blake greeted him as if he had just seen him.

Vanessa was afraid that he would really accept the offer—she didn't want Snape and Black to be accidentally hurt one day while he was still exchanging spells, and hurriedly said, "Go back to dinner, it's almost dessert. "

"Let's talk later." He waved his hand and sat back.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and when she was about to fill up some more miscellaneous fish soup, she found that the pot had bottomed out, and the last bit was in Snape's bowl.She peeked at the steaming bowl resentfully, and smacked her lips.

After the desserts were swept away, Dumbledore put down the tableware and announced happily: "The moment has finally arrived, and the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin. I want to explain a few words before bringing the box in— I would like to explain our program of events for this school year. But first allow me to introduce three guests, this is Mr. Barty Crouch, Director of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Magic,"-- the sparse applause was recalled in the auditorium- — "This is Mr Ludo Bachman, Director of Sports and Sports at the Ministry of Magic," the applause was much louder this time — "and Mr Sir Sirius Black, Honorary Minister of the Auror Command." —The applause almost lifted the ceiling It was gone, and even the few French girls who were holding high and arrogant all had smiles on their faces and applauded accordingly.

Dumbledore continued: "Mr Filch, please bring up the box."

No one noticed that Filch had been lurking in a corner of the Great Hall just now, and now he was walking towards Dumbledore, holding a large wooden box studded with jewels, which looked very old.Some students sitting on the side simply stood on the chairs in order to see more clearly.

"Mr. Crouch and Mr. Buckman have carefully reviewed the specific events of the Warriors' competition this year, and they have made many necessary arrangements for each event. There are three events in total, which will be held at different times in this school year. , they will test the warrior in many different ways...their prowess with magic, their guts, and their powers of reasoning—and, of course, their ability to overcome danger."

Hearing the last sentence, the auditorium became silent.

Dumbledore continued to say calmly: "There will be three warriors representing their schools. We will grade them according to the quality of each event they complete. After the three events are over, the warrior with the highest score will be awarded three The Strong Cup. It is an impartial selector who is responsible for selecting the warriors, and it is the Goblet of Fire."

Having said this, he drew his wand, and tapped three times on the lid of the box.The lid opened slowly.He took out a large, rough-hewn wooden goblet.The quilt itself was inconspicuous, but blue and white flames danced inside.

Every student who wants to participate must throw a note with his or her name and school name into the goblet within 24 hours. In order to prevent students who are underage from participating, Dumbledore personally drew a circle around the age No one under the age of seventeen can cross the boundary.

The dinner party was over, and everyone was discussing matters related to the Triwizard Tournament non-stop, and everyone slowly moved towards the door.Karkaroff was about to go back to the ship with what he had learned.They happened to be at the door at the same time as Harry, Ron, and Hermione.Harry stopped to let Karkaroff go first.He glanced casually at Harry and was completely dumbfounded.He turned his head back to Harry, staring intently at his forehead as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

Vanessa was right behind them, and Blake had just slipped through the crowd and came to her. They all noticed the movement ahead, looked at each other, and walked over.Before they could speak, with the sound of wooden legs hitting the ground, an angry voice said, "That's right, that's Harry Potter!"

Karkaroff turned sharply, and Mad-Eye Moody was standing right behind him.His face turned pale, with a hideous mixture of anger and fear.

"It's you!"

"It's me," said Moody darkly.

"Harry, are you okay?" Black also walked over and gave Harry a firm hug.Then he turned to look at Karkaroff.Karkaroff flinched.

"Unless you have some urgent business that needs to be settled at the door, hurry up and block the door." The students behind made way for Snape to come to the front.

These few people didn't want to see each other, so they turned their heads.Moody looked at Black, and the two said a few words around Harry, praising Harry's outstanding performance against the Imperius Curse.Karkaroff smiled at Snape: "Where did I ask the students to go for mulled wine, do you want to have a drink together on the boat?" dodged.

Vanessa looked at their backs worriedly.Moody's magic eyes turned on them too and watched them closely until they were out of the castle.

The six of them walked up the marble stairs, and Vanessa asked Black in a low voice, "Karkaroff used to be a Death Eater?" Black was chatting with Harry and the others and didn't hear her.

Moody leaned over and replied through gritted teeth, "That's right, they don't have any good things."

Vanessa corrected dissatisfiedly: "Only Karkaroff. Professor Moody, I think you should learn to trust people Dumbledore trusts."

"Trust an ex-Death Eater, you're a brave Gryffindor," he sneered.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't forget how your fiancé died, do you?" Moody said. "I was in charge of hunting down the Death Eaters who caused that accident."

Vanessa stopped in her tracks: "What did you say?"

Moody cornered her and stared at her unblinkingly, with a cold light in his eyes: "I know who the murderer is."

Vanessa immediately thought of what he meant, and said firmly, "This matter has nothing to do with Severus."

"Heh..." He laughed shortly, "Innocence is not a bad thing, it saves a lot of trouble."

"What are you..."

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, sticking his head out of the railing after the four of them had gone up half a floor.

"Professor Weasley is very interested in my experience before retirement." Moody rolled his eyes and limped up the steps with his wooden legs.

Vanessa grabbed him: "You haven't told me who it is?"

He laughed again, the scars on his face moved like a few bugs: "Go ask someone you trust, and see if he will tell you the truth."

Vanessa felt a chill emanating from her stomach as if she had swallowed a piece of ice.But she didn't want to doubt Snape.It was just the sensitivity and suspicion of an old Auror, she gradually convinced herself.

"Vanessa, Sirius said that he will live in Hogwarts until the end of the Triwizard Tournament!" Harry cheerfully urged Vanessa to follow quickly.

Vanessa also quickened her pace, shaking her head to forget the messy thoughts: "Where do you live, Gryffindor Tower?"

Black shook his head. "Albus has furnished me with an empty classroom next to the tower, not far from your room."

"Can we sit down?" said Harry impatiently.

"Of course," Blake ruffled his hair, then looked at Vanessa again, "Do you want to come together?"

"I..." She was about to refuse, but Ron blurted out: "You will definitely come, right, you'd better bring some snacks like those given out in class, Sirius, you must try it!"

Hermione put her hands on her hips and said, "Ron, that's the fruit of the hard work of the house elves, you can't..."

"Yes, I can't, and I don't have house elves at home." Ron imitated Hermione's appearance just now so vividly behind Hermione's back that Harry had to pinch his nose desperately and gasp for air to keep the laughter from reaching Hermione's ears.Vanessa patted the back of the head of both of them.These two idiots who don't know how to let the girl.

Blake's bedroom is very similar to the Gryffindor bedroom, but because there is only one bedroom, it looks a bit cramped.They couldn't find a suitable place to sit for a while and then moved to Vanessa's office together.Who doesn't love soft sofas and throw pillows and unexpected treats.

Vanessa lit the fireplace, and it didn't take long for the room to warm up.The temperature was too high for Harry and the others, and they all took off their coats.

"Sorry, I'm a little chilly." She added a few ice cubes to the lemon tea for several people, "Is this better?"

Vanessa stood by the bed holding mulled wine, from here she could see the boats parked by the Black Lake, brightly lit.

"Didn't you stop drinking?" Blake asked strangely.

She mentioned these things before, and pondered for a moment: "Because I need to use one thing to get rid of the other." She looked at the ship again, there were no lights around, and she couldn't see if anyone came out at all.

"I heard from Moody that you can break free of the Imperius Curse, Harry?" Black looked at Harry excitedly, like an old father who heard his son call him dad for the first time, with a big smirk on his face.

Harry was so embarrassed that he scratched the back of his head: "Barely, but I have been limping for two days!" During class, Moody insisted that Harry take the test four times in a row, directing him to jump on the table until he could Shaking off the spell completely, he took it and bumped it head-on, falling to the ground.

Vanessa agreed: "Pain is the most effective thing. If you have a few seconds to get rid of the effect of the Imperius Curse, the best way is to hit yourself quickly."

"There's no way to be gentle?" Ron mumbled with his mouth full of potato chips.

"Unless you have a strong enough will," Blake continued, eating a piece of honey mustard-flavored potato chips, "if you can be like Albus, no one can control your brain."

Hermione said affirmatively: "No one in the world will have the chance to cast this spell on Professor Dumbledore, I mean he will definitely stop it in advance." She took out a copy of "The Dark Arts" from her bag, you Never know how many books are in her schoolbag.She noticed everyone's eyes and explained: "Professor McGonagall signed me the note from the □□ section...because I still don't understand the Imperius Curse."

Ron forgot to chew in surprise: "Are you studying black magic?"

"It's Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ron, don't make a fuss." She flipped through the book quickly, and stopped on the page with the Imperius Curse, "We must understand it better before we can learn how to deal with it." It. Are you going to learn it when the enemy uses it on us?" She gave Ron a blank look, and then asked Black, "Can the Imperius Curse control people to do things they can't do?"

"It shouldn't be possible." He thought about it seriously, "For example, if I control you and let you fly to the astronomy tower, you will fall straight down."

"But Neville can't do such difficult gymnastics in normal times. His legs are raised higher than his head!" After Harry finished speaking, he and Ron looked at each other and laughed wildly at the same time.This was what Moody had asked Neville to do in class, and they were stunned.

Vanessa said: "This shows that Neville has potential. I want to treat everyone equally, so don't always laugh at your classmates."

"Vanessa, you're overkill." Blake said disapprovingly, "Don't be so rigid, it's just a little joke."

"I don't agree with your point of view. You don't know if what you are laughing at is what people care about most." Vanessa's tone became more and more severe. She put the wine glass on the table and complained dissatisfiedly with her hands on her hips.

"You're right." Blake rubbed his nose with a dry smile, and slowed down his tone, "Look, don't we look like parents arguing over their children's education?"

When Vanessa lowered her head, the three children were sitting on the sofa obediently, looking up at them.She laughed out loud: "It's really similar. The future Mrs. Black will be pissed off by you, because you know how to make trouble with your children." She smiled and walked around the sofa, making it the farthest distance from Black. on the sofa.Black resentfully made it to Harry's side.

No one spoke for a while, until Hermione cleared her throat again: "I think the reason why Harry can resist the Imperius Curse so easily is that of course Harry has always been very good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but another reason is that he knows Professor Moody put a spell on him."

"Yeah, of course we know, he demonstrated the spell in front of everyone," said Ron nonchalantly.

"Wait...that's a good question." Vanessa also became interested, "If a person doesn't know that he is under the Imperius Curse, he will not be so vigilant when he is controlled by the Imperius Curse. For example, one An individual is asked to eat a food that he does not like, and he will question why he is doing it, but it will not necessarily stop him from doing it."

Black said: "Yes, the hypothesis is established, but who would do such a thing? Usually they use the Imperius Curse to order people to do even more impossible things."

"You're right." Vanessa spread her hands, "But who can give me an Imperius Curse to try? I also want to learn how to resist."

Snape walked back to the castle, a cold and damp feeling enveloped his whole body.Annoyances followed one after another, first Mad-Eye Moody and then Karkaroff and Blake, this year's Hogwarts is destined to be less peaceful than in previous years.

Leaving Moody and Black aside, these two people are Dumbledore after all, and they will definitely not cause any big trouble this year.On the contrary, Karkaroff, like Malfoy, once loyal to Voldemort, and retreated after the defeat, his means should not be underestimated.Maybe he should remind Vanessa to remember to take a detour when she sees him, and let the two Aurors deal with any troubles, after all, this is Dumbledore's intention to find them.

But none of this should concern him, and maybe Black had already reminded her.Thinking of Black's face, the aura around him became colder by two points, like walking in an ice cave, almost frightened and cried several first-years who were also walking towards the Gryffindor tower.

"Houndstooth." Snape said the password without hesitation, and the door didn't budge, and he remembered that this was the password Vanessa used last term.He frowned, his eyes darkened.Just as he was about to knock on the door, there was a burst of loud laughter from inside.

"That's good, let Vanessa do what she wants to do most now." Ron urged.

Blake raised his wand. "Ready? One, two, three—out of body."

Vanessa felt strange, light all over, thoughts and worries swept away from her mind, leaving only a hazy joy.She made up her mind to do something she always wanted to do, even though she couldn't clearly realize what she wanted to do, but all worries were gone, no matter what she did, it was so easy.

"I'm going out for a while," she said, then walked lightly around the sofa and toward the door.

Snape's hand was hanging in the air, he had already decided to go back, Vanessa just opened the door from the inside.Through the crack of the door, he saw the four people sitting on the sofa happily sharing the snacks on the table.A warmth from the fire came from inside, and was blown away by the wind in the corridor.He stood in the gray hallway, his brows were frosted, his eyes were shadowed.

"Where..."

Vanessa made a mysterious expression, she hadn't shown a familiar side in front of Snape for a long time, and this way easily blocked the sarcasm that Snape was brewing.She turned back and closed the door.With the crisp click of the lock, Vanessa threw herself into Snape's arms, with the aroma of burning pine wood and the warmth, dispelling the cold and the haze that had lasted for more than a month.She rested her forehead on the crest of his neck, wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, and plunged into his arms without distraction.She is like a chick who has suffered too much grievance outside, telling her endless nostalgia.

Did Blake do something, or are those three restless brats causing trouble again?There was a completely different kind of anger in Snape's heart, and another kind of indistinguishable, completely unfamiliar sour emotion, and he naturally raised his arms to protect her in his arms.

Before her hand fell on her waist, Vanessa was competing with herself, and she struggled to utter a few incoherent words: "You... magic wand..."

Her hand slid to his waist and drew the wand from his pocket.Immediately afterwards, she gasped, and struggled to take a step back. There was a deep wound on her wrist, and big drops of blood poured out.She closed her eyes in pain, and returned the wand to Snape: "I'm sorry... this, this was an accident."

The warmth disappeared without a trace in an instant.Snape looked at her actions with a livid face, and was even a little stunned. One second she seemed to have returned to her previous appearance, and the next second she became cold and cold.

"Vanessa, are you okay—" Blake opened the door, "what happened to your hand?"

Black misunderstood the current situation - Snape was holding a wand, looking at Vanessa sternly, and blood dripped down Vanessa's fingertips to the ground.

"Damn it, what did you do to her!" Black immediately drew out his wand, and a red light rushed out.Vanessa blocked Snape almost at the same time, throwing out another armor to protect herself.Snape also immediately threw a green spell.Several rays of light collided together, and Black was knocked back again and again, and a hole was cut in his clothes.

"Are you okay?" Vanessa walked to Blake's side in two or three steps. Fortunately, it was just an ordinary cutting curse. "You misunderstood. I made it myself to break free from the Imperius Curse."

"The Imperius Curse?" Snape narrowed his eyes dangerously.

Vanessa didn't expect such an unintentional move to cause such a big mess, she pushed Black and the three little heads that got out from the crack in the door, closed the door forcibly, and then looked at Snape anxiously: " I want to learn...to be prepared."

"The way to break the Imperius Curse is to cut your wrists and commit suicide. I'm really well prepared." He waved his wand lightly, and the wound on Vanessa's wrist healed automatically. Thank you for the reason you sent me back to Azkaban." Snape sneered, and was about to go to the principal's office, Fudge should still be negotiating with Dumbledore about the specific matters of the Triwizard Tournament.

"No, listen to me." Vanessa anxiously grabbed his wrist.

Snape stared at the white fingers against his black robe, laughed again, and looked at her inexplicably.Vanessa was startled, as if she had been scalded by the edge of a pot, she immediately let go of her hand.

Make him angry again.She pursed her lips, her voice was as thin as an annoying mosquito: "I asked him to use it, don't blame him."

"Vanessa Weasley," he said sarcastically, breaking each word, "you want to help him?"

Vanessa didn't know it, she just thought that Snape was still angry because of her intimate behavior just now and because of Black's sudden appearance.And another guess was thrown out of his mind when he saw Snape's cold eyes.She was silent, which in Snape's eyes strengthened her mind.

"Why should I let him go?"

After a long time, Vanessa suddenly figured it out, she just fell in love with someone who didn't love her, so what's wrong with that, why bother to be so humble.She straightened her back, looked at Snape at the same level, and said, "I promise we won't bother you in the future, how about it?"

Snape's brows widened, the curve of the corners of his mouth deepened, his hands were tightly clenched under the cover of his robe, and he looked at her deeply: "What did Black order you?" His tone became colder, "Let you Are you doing something you hate?"

"Do not……"

"Enough!" Snape interrupted her roughly, "Watch your dog and keep him away from me."

Vanessa nodded without hesitation.

The author has something to say:

Alright, alright, the progress bar of the strategy professor has finally moved forward.

I saw someone say that the professor would be jealous of Vanessa's fiancé. I personally don't think I would eat too much, because I think the professor still despises Muggles in his heart, so even if he does, he won't care so much.Of course other wizards will be jealous, but Gouzi is definitely the one who can irritate the professor the most!none of them!

I really don't want to abuse the professor, I love the professor too much, so let it be.

But selfishly feel that the professor cried for Lily, if we don’t cry for Vanessa once, our Vanessa will never be better than Lily, or Vanessa will never know when the professor loves her more than Lily (previously Darling asked me why I abused the protagonist, and this is the reason why I abused the professor, I am also very reluctant!)

One more thing, am I doomed not to be a sweet writer QAQ with such a preoccupied personality? ? ?