Wild child

It has been more than three months since the start of school, and the weather is getting colder and colder.

Fanny felt that the passage of these three months seemed to be just a blink of an eye, and recalled that similar days were all mixed together, becoming a small part of the fuzzy puzzle she called memories.

For those with good enough grades, the choice of courses in the sixth grade is completely free.Fanny took Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbal Medicine, Potions, and Muggle Studies, which she considered much later.

Needless to say, the first few courses are basic courses for various occupations.The last one is purely out of interest.This course covers the Muggle life of all walks of life from all walks of life around the world after the advanced course. At the same time, it also involves some psychological knowledge to help deal with Muggles. Muggles are even more comprehensive.At least, that knowledge would be of great help if Fanny planned to take a look around in the future—confusion and mnemonic spells along the way were not her favored form of travel.

Equally important, the course's fundamentals-based exams are indeed easy to pass.

Fanny did not participate in the new round of Quidditch selection. The new Quidditch captain Harry proposed to let her participate in the training as a substitute batsman, but Fanny refused without hesitation.Of course she knew that Harry's proposal was mainly out of human considerations, and she had quite a few supporters, but she really didn't have a tendency to masochistic.Gryffindor has never been short of athletes—according to someone, she has well-developed limbs and a simple mind. When she is not a wheat waiting to be threshed, why bother every day? Hit yourself hundreds of times.

After a year-long hiatus, the passion for night tours has also faded from her heart. She is already familiar with both the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade. If there are no new clues, it is necessary to explore the unknown with passion. After she graduates.

During employment counseling last year, Fanny said that her plan for the future is to "walk around and have a look", so in the back of the classroom amid Umbridge's sweet girlish laughter, McGonagall's mouth became a line parallel to the ground. thin line.

Thinking of this, Fanny really didn't know whether she should cry or laugh. Now it seemed that she could realize the future that she thought she had no chance at all—she never doubted that this was the future she longed for.

Needless to say, those training programs that are more tossing than Quidditch are completely unnecessary now.Of course, she would still read those bibliographies, but she only chose the parts she was interested in instead of studying them systematically. After getting started, many of them seemed very interesting-and it was obviously time-consuming and labor-intensive.Sometimes when I look at her, I will sigh, rich people really know how to play.

There are three fewer classes than before, no pressure from major exams, and several time-consuming and labor-intensive activities have left her schedule, but it is clear that Fanny has not lived a leisurely life.

She felt that the busy life of vomiting blood last year might have caused her to suffer from a disease called "restlessness".

The library was fully open to the sixth graders, and the few notes with Snape's signature but blank titles kept by Fanny announced her retirement, and she began to carry books into the dormitory one pile after another openly.Mrs. Pince seemed to be relieved by this, and all the approval slips given by Fanny in her place, except for the title of the book, could be published as a book.

Even Hermione was amazed at Fanny's reading volume and speed. For about a month, she unilaterally competed with Fanny, and asked Fanny's reading progress every day. It became a record of the bibliography recommended by Fanny.

But, of course, Fanny would never turn into a puny nerd.There is also a job of more than ten hours a week that requires her to maintain the strength, agility, speed and endurance of a batter.

Originally, she intended not to take the herbal medicine course but only to take the NEWTs examination of herbal medicine, but Sprout expressed the hope that she could appear in the class.Now Fanny is very happy that she made the right choice at the beginning. She has become a model student of herbal medicine, and is often asked to demonstrate difficult moves such as grabbing pods with pimple vines for the whole class-it feels great to be bathed in the admiration of the whole class up.

And after class, she spent almost all of her spare time on weekends in the greenhouse.Thanks to Lucy's graduation, Neville is now her semi-regular partner while helping out in the greenhouse.This guy surprised her with his agility with plants, and he was nothing like the fool who burned two cauldrons a month by fifth grade.However, the comparison is not so clear now. After the incident with the Ministry of Magic last year, his character and strength have changed—but the essence has not changed.

As the saying goes, things of a kind flock together and people are divided into groups. Fanny thinks it depends on the situation.The trio of Smith, Harry, and Mrs. Conwell circling around her were basically simple and easy-to-deceive things, and now Neville was added.This is obviously just because she is lazy, and dealing with these people is a no-brainer.

Draco and Hermione had both said she looked like a Slytherin, and she felt that way sometimes herself.But she was sure that whichever house suited her better, she wouldn't have as much ease in Slytherin as she had in Gryffindor.People here have intense emotions and distinct likes and dislikes. If they are not careful, they may be criticized by others, but at the same time, she also saves the trouble of judging the truth. Whether objective or not, what they say can represent their attitude.

But Fanny doesn't always put this in the "Advantages" column.

At the age of 16, even if Fanny does not participate in "girls' whispers" at all and has a rough nerve that few people can match, she can still feel the changes in the surrounding atmosphere.The boys have ended the voice-changing period and have become taller, the girls have also taken shape, and everyone's eyes on the opposite sex have become different.

To put it simply, the common feature that everyone shows is to show off their feathers like flowers and birds in courtship season.

For example, Lavender, after school started, she didn't know which tendon was hooked, and Ron giggled when he spoke, as if he was shouting "I'm interested in you!".

So they went up after the first inning of Gryffindor Quidditch, went straight to third base in front of hundreds of people in the common room, rolled in armchairs, tangled and scored. Clear you and me.

"I think he needs to improve his technique, he looks like he's biting her face." Ginny, who had just been reprimanded by her brother for kissing in public, commented calmly and objectively.

Fanny couldn't help silently agreeing, it's not that she hasn't experienced it, even if she is inexperienced and enthusiastic, Ron's appearance is too exaggerated-did he find Lavender's mouth?

Hermione's attitude was also very clear, and that night, Ron was replaced by a group of golden birds—real birds—for a layer of skin.

After days of watching her roommate and sweetheart make out, she invites Ron's goalkeeper rival, Cormac McLaggen, to Slughorn's Christmas party.

In fact, everyone could see that Ron had a quarrel with Hermione before he pulled Lavender to show revenge. However, falling in love obviously made Lavender's little observation and judgment flow out of his ears. Or maybe she is confident enough in her own charm.How else can we say that there is no reason for love? There have been many boys who have asked her out before, and two or three official boyfriends have made it. It is fair to say that Ron is not very competitive in attracting the opposite sex, but Fanny has never seen him. Lavender was such a fanatic.This also means that the ears of the roommates have been devastated. With Fanny's aesthetics, I really can't see how beautiful the freckles are.

"You know, I seldom regret anything," Ginny sighed one night to Fanny, who was reading next to him, as Ron and Lavender kept shouting, □□ sound. "But I really think I should have kept my mouth shut that day when my dear brother accused me of kissing Dean instead of shouting at him that Hermione and Krum made out."

"No wonder, why did you yell at him?" Fanny finally understood the reason.

"As if anyone hasn't known about them since fourth grade," Ginny sneered.

It was a big truth, and even if some people didn't get it back at the fourth-grade prom, the trio made it known to everyone now.

Lavender and Hermione made no secret of their hostility, rivals met, and the atmosphere in the dormitory was wonderful.The two of them often turned their backs to each other with obvious or non-obvious personal attacks in their mouths, but they kept the same sentence, as if they would turn around and draw out their wands at any time to start a duel.Fanny, who was forced to sleep in the Room of Requirement, felt that sometimes it is actually a good quality to know how to pretend to be friendly and submissive.

People with clear attitudes bothered her, and people with unclear attitudes bothered her.Horace Slughorn, current Potions teacher and former Slytherin head - also didn't know if it was customary for Potions to be handed over to Slytherins.This professor who looks like a walrus and wears a belly that seems to be able to blow the buttons of his vest away at any time has the same attitude towards Fanny in the first few Potions classes as he did to Ron, that is, he almost ignored him. Enter Hermione and Harry for compliments.But since the fourth class, he has become very friendly to Fanny, highly praised Fanny's herbal medicine skills, and kindly invited Fanny to join his "Slug Club" activities.

Fanny declined on the grounds of being a helper for Mrs. Sprout, and followed Harry's example—this loyal brother specially chose this time to do Quidditch training so that his buddies would not be left behind—every time she came to Slughaw En ran to the greenhouse during the party.

After you asked me to run around, Slughorn's Christmas party invitation was delivered directly to Sprout.

"Just listen to what he has to say, and it won't kill you to go there once. Horace is... still kind of cute and funny."

As she spoke, Mrs. Sprout was using her cane to push back the vines of the man-eating black brambles so that Fanny could sprinkle the manure on its roots, and Neville was taking a long-handled spoon from the fertilizer bucket further outside. Pass it over by ladling dragon dung.The three of them are as careful as clearing mines, because there are black flowers with petals as smooth as silk all over the place, and those flowers will stay open until they are fed, and the three of them will turn into vines if they touch any of them delicious meal.

"Those parties are really interesting sometimes." Compared with Mrs. Sprout's calmness, Neville's cultivation level is far worse, his lips are pursed, and his round face is covered with sweat. Venog-Jones..."

"That's great, but I've never heard of it..." Fanny took the ladle. "Wipe off your sweat, buddy. It's dripping on that flower at your feet."

"Be careful not to spill it on the flowers." Mrs. Sprout gave Fanny a mild look, reproaching her for bullying her partner again.

"It's...not complaining, ma'am. Actually, I quite like it." Fanny carefully sprinkled the fertilizer on the designated spot, "But why don't you just use the levitating spell or something to complete the work?"

"Why, don't you know?" Mrs. Sprout paused gravely, "because I quite like it, too."

The curious Neville almost dropped the spoon.

"Taking care of these little cuties with your own hands will give people an unparalleled sense of accomplishment, don't you know?" Mrs. Sprout's eyes sparkled, "Don't you like it too, Fanny?"

How dare she say that she intended to do this for fun... Fanny could only chuckle twice.

She had just helped Mrs. Sprout put a scarf and gloves on the Mandrake two days ago.

Fanny didn't like working with mandrakes very much, and the thought of those fat crying baby-like roots growing up and being sliced ​​and boiled made her sick, as if thinking of Frank.But every year when the mandrakes are picked in May, Mrs. Sprout will pull out their "hair" with great agility, cut them into three pieces with two knives, and throw the head, body and legs into three baskets, etc. After two or three hours of complete silence of their cries and movements, they are sliced ​​and dried and sent to the storage room.

So when Mrs. Sprout talked about the "incomparable sense of accomplishment" of "taking care of these little cuties by herself", Fanny only felt the cold wind outside the house whistling with snowflakes getting louder.

It was snowing heavily outside the window, but the three inside were sweating and caring for tropical plants in the suffocatingly hot greenhouse. Fanny once again felt the magic of magic.

Exhausted, she left the greenhouse and returned to the dormitory. The moment she opened the door, Fanny felt the strong wind that she had gotten rid of when she entered the tower building whizzing past her face—it was like this again, and there was no end.

Her four roommates were divided into two small groups, and in each group, half of the people dragged the other half.

Hermione tugged at Amelia.

"...you know what? He's really good, I mean like a man. Sure, he's kind of impulsive, but he's strong and active, and he's thinner than some redheads with pimples all over their faces." The dry stick is much stronger..."

Lavender tugged at Parvati.

"...cute and funny, with a sharp tongue. He wasn't very good at kissing at first, but that was just inexperience, and with my 'help' he's making a big difference. It's the feeling, you know? It's like Under the happiness spell and the vertigo spell..."

Amelia's self-cultivation is quite good, so it's just a stiff expression. Parvati's rolling eyes over there may be able to knock down the Thestrals above the castle.

Even though she was always faced with such a scene when she returned to the dormitory recently, Fanny still felt that the whole person was not very good.You know she's just finished listening to Sprout describe Slughorn as "cute and funny" and putting the second half of Lavender on the old slug...

"Fanny!! Do you know how to get along well with centaurs?!" Parvati threw off Lavender and rushed up to grab Fanny's hand, and at the same time saved her and Fanny from the terrible situation.

"Well... they are not easy to get along with as a group, but Firenze is easier to talk to than most humans." Fanny followed the trend and pulled Parvati to sit on her bed, "But I think he is still a horse person in his bones. You must be very careful when speaking to them. There can be no imperative sentences, and the tone cannot be more euphemistic. Last year, Hermione was almost hanged by them for this. You must not reveal that you think humans are superior to centaurs. They are very proud of their race , some extremists treat humans like humans treat elves—most humans." Sensing Hermione's dissatisfied gaze, Fanny added half a sentence.

"Oh, you really understand them." Parvati's bright eyes instantly made Fanny feel that she had made a mistake, "Then do you know what kind of girls the horsemen prefer?"

"Uh... so far there is no precedent for a centaur to like a human girl." Fanny said stiffly, this girl is not going to come for real, is she?

Parvati's radiant expression suddenly dimmed.

"But that may also be because they seldom leave the Forbidden Forest and lack opportunities. It's not that they hate human girls." Fanny said resignedly, "If you plan to come for real, let me give you some advice—— Don’t look at me that way, I don’t promise it will be useful. First of all, it’s companionship. Firenze was kicked out of the Forbidden Forest and ethnic groups he was familiar with, and came to a society where many people regard him as a monster or livestock. He must be very happy. Lonely. Secondly, he dislikes the bragging of human beings the most, so don’t talk nonsense when talking to him, and don’t have nothing to say when you are cold. You can ask some really valuable questions about divination and show your wisdom.” If you really have.

Parvati's head clicked like a chicken pecking rice, and then hesitated, "...you seem to know him very well."

"I strayed into the territory of the centaur a few times, and Firenze persuaded the other centaur to let me go." Fanny sighed, the girl's intentions were too obvious, "I also talked to him after he came here. A few times. Don't worry, I'm loyal to my boyfriend."

Or an ex-boyfriend.Fanny was a bit sad, and couldn't help saying to Parvati, "Are you sure you want to do this? He's a centaur."

"And he's a handsome centaur!" Parvati nodded his head.

Why are you nodding your head!Fanny took a deep breath, why is it so hard to talk to this girl.

"I mean, you're planning a relationship with a four-legged creature. You're of a completely different race, culture, and living environment."

"But I like him!"

"The chances of you having a future are slim to none."

"There must be a future, so what's the point of being in love! I like him, and I want him to like me too, that's enough!" Parvati said very disdainfully, "Besides, don't I have a future if I don't pursue him? The mysterious man is just outside the walls of the castle! There are dead people everywhere outside, and Katie has entered St. Mungo's, who knows if I will be the next one? There will be no Dumbledore's protection after graduation, and I am I will never surrender to the black wizard! If I don’t do it now, I might lose my chance!”

As she spoke, Parvati's voice grew louder, echoing in the silent dormitory.

Fanny, Hermione, Amelia, and Lavender were all stunned by this declaration.

Of course, under surprising circumstances, Fanny is always the quickest and strangest to respond: "OK. You won. But the measures must be taken well, the human body structure is not suitable for breeding centaurs."

The atmosphere instantly relaxed, or froze in another form, and then Fanny was attacked by her own pillow.

Parvati didn't ask how she knew all this, because her night tour was an open secret.Now that Fanny has stopped covering it up, the questions about the Forbidden Forest in her ears have greatly increased.The students’ imaginations are quite rich. Fanny said that she had seen werewolves——Lupine barely counted—centurans and giant spiders, but she had never found any dragons, sphinxes, or horned snorers— — Luna is obsessed with the creature, despite Hermione's insistence that it doesn't exist.

There are more eyes on her now, and when Parvati said that several boys were inquiring with her about her schedule and preferences—she didn’t hide her slight jealousy when she said this— Fanny quickly told her that she didn't know.Of course she agreed with Hermione that the warning was useless given Parvati's personality.

Hermione was wise when Ron wasn't involved.

One thing is for sure, no matter how fantastic the students' guesses are, no one has ever guessed that there is a car living in the Forbidden Forest, which makes Fanny feel that she is full of mystery and superiority from head to toe.

Just kidding, Fanny was thinking about Parvati's words before she cleared her mind before going to bed.

If you don't do it now, you might lose your chance.

Would she still be able to do this after seeing the path ahead?

Maybe she could, but...it wasn't her business alone.

Right or wrong doesn't matter at all, especially with this one she's struggling with.She knew she was not in a position to ask him to do anything for her or make any changes.

Passion comes quickly, giving people the illusion that the world will be destroyed if they leave each other, just like Ron and Lavender.

But the feeling fades, like Parvati and the French boy, Hermione and Krum, her and Mark.Just like a ripe fruit, the other party leaves, and your life is completely your own again.

Fanny never pretends to be selfless and noble, she is quite realistic.So she won't say things like "I don't deserve you" or "I don't want to drag you down". In her opinion, since the other party doesn't dislike you, saying such things is pretending, or implying "Come on Follow me and we still have a chance."If there was a day when she had to make it clear, she thought she would tell Draco, "I don't want to be dragged down by you."

She made her choice, he made his, clean and tidy.

Just how long can they wait for that "natural" separation?

For a permanent fix and a bit of curiosity, Fanny, one of the few unaccompanied bachelors, attended Slughorn's Christmas party.

The party was held in Slughorn's office. When she entered the door, she had a premonition that it was a "worthy trip". Such a luxurious teacher's office is not common.It looked as though Slughorn, whoever he was, was at least rich.

Whether by nature or by magic, Slughorn's office was much larger than the average teacher's room.The ceiling and walls were hung with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, making it look like a large tent.The room was crowded and stuffy, glowing red from a golden lantern hanging in the center of the ceiling.There are real elves flickering in the lamp, each elf is a bright point of light.From a far corner came loud mandolin-sounding singing; a few old warlocks were chattering away with pipe smoke hanging over their heads; , holding heavy silver trays, covering their bodies, looking like little roaming tables.

Good-looking is pretty good-looking, and Fanny was thinking about how Hermione would feel about this behavior of enslaving elves, but found that Hermione seemed to have no time to pay attention to this.

"...then the 37th, which was a really good save, almost as good as the 58th - save a suspense, I'll get to that later. I was saving my first Thirty-six tight saves, still in front of the right post before getting back to the center. The Chaser Wollman was a real cunning, carrying the ball like a viper straight to the left goal, at a very— (He gestured at a very small angle with his thumb and index finger that were almost close together) - very tricky. It was too late to say it, and I yelled..."

The muscles on Hermione's face were almost cramp under her stiff smile, and she obviously regretted her impulsive choice of McLaggen.

Fanny really wondered how McLaggen could go on bragging so gleefully, if he was paying any attention to his female companion.

It seemed that Ron didn't need to worry about it for the time being.

There was actually a vampire named Bloody at the party, and Fanny had to admit that this made Slughorn add a lot of image points to her heart.Regardless of the criteria by which Slughorn lumped together such people—individuals, to be exact—wealth or achievement was a much more uncertain factor than race or parentage.

"Oh, our charming Miss Fanny finally has time to patronize my little party?" The voice came first before anyone arrived.

Then there was the belly, fortunately Slughorn had gotten used to the mode of action against it, the slightly drooping ellipse came to a trembling stop an inch in front of Fanny.

Then a passionate slap slapped Fanny's shoulder.

"Good evening, Professor." Fanny looked sideways at the reflective shining top of her head, which was two feet horizontally from her.

She must study how Slughorn could still walk when she had the chance.

"Don't be so restrained, Fanny." The slap slapped twice again, "I've heard about your outstanding talent in herbal medicine, of course you are also very talented in my subjects... Come on, Let's sit down and talk."

A chair creaked suddenly, and Fanny blinked and sat across from Slughorn.

The warm greetings were nothing more than praising Fanny for being outstanding and bound to become a great weapon.After a few back and forth, the topic was brought back to the greenhouse, and it seemed that we were finally getting to the point.

"I have to admit that I don't know much about herbalism...I heard that there are several wonderful plants that are in flowering period, right?" Slughorn asked "casually".

"Yes." Fanny wanted to stop talking like this and wait for him to ask urgently, but after thinking about it, the other party was also a professor, "There are cassia, man-eating black thorns..."

"Yes, yes! That's it!" said Slughorn cheerfully. "The man-eating blackbriar, what a wonderful and charming creature!"

"They are indeed very cute." Fanny nodded, and she probably guessed the direction.

"Do you know how attractive they are? Their nectar alone can fetch 500 Galleons a pint in the market!"

"Wow, that's really... a lot of money." Fanny couldn't help but marvel at the price.

"Of course!" Slughorn evidently thought he had found his comrades. "I know it's a little risky, but as long as you cast a little Freezing Charm on the vines around the flower... unfortunately Pomona is here I was never allowed near the conservatories after I raised it once. She loves them too much, but we both know that a tenth of the vine dies down and it doesn't do them any harm - oh, here comes the new guest .Think carefully about my proposal, Fanny!"

Watching Slughorn trot towards the door to greet Harry and Luna who had just arrived, Fanny couldn't help laughing: it seems that she added a pint of nectar for 500 Galleons and was not as attractive as the Saviour. star.

Consider this proposal?Aside from her own fondness for those plants, she didn't want to be immobilized by Mrs. Sprout for months, and the holidays were enough.

Fanny shook her head, and took all the mead on the table from the tray held by the elf beside her.Probably because of Hermione's nagging, she is not very used to this kind of scene now.However, she also knew that "go to rest" and "rest for a while" meant to the elves a negation of their labor, so she said to the surprised elf: "Don't worry, I can finish my drink. Thank you. "

"Very... very honored, miss!" The frightened little elf ran away immediately.

Fanny took a sip from one of the glasses of wine, and then a half-joking voice came.

"Would you mind if I share this table full of wine with you, beautiful lady?"

"……mark?"