Tuesday was an ordinary and unremarkable day. After my conversation with the Headmaster and Lady Greengrass, I still hadn't come to any conclusions about... About everything. The students' enthusiasm for the champions did not even think to subside - after all, only a couple of days had passed.
I still attended classes: I told the teachers that I would practically not attend them in connection with the tournament and took assignments for each subject. The exception was potions. Yes, you can learn them by yourself, but for that, you need ingredients and other things, and without practice, all theoretical knowledge is an empty sound. As in ordinary magic, potion recipes carry a certain individual flavor. One wizard can make a good potion, and another can make an excellent one with the same recipe. Many nuances of the preparation can be learned and realized only in practice, and I am not going to miss this practice, which is the class. Anyway, in a week, I plan to attend all the classes and take all the assignments for the semester. Or as many as they'll give me.
At the end of the last class for today, I took Hermione under my arm, and together we went to the abandoned classroom where we had studied yesterday. Once inside, we immediately noticed the obvious changes - there were only two desks left, and they stood right up against the teacher's desk. There were five golem dummies, the kind of schematic people, and Delphine was sitting at the desk in her leather and obscure combat pantsuit, taking notes.
"Ah, already?" Lady Greengrass surveyed us with a smile. "Come in."
With a wave of her hand, Delphine closed the door behind us, on which several different charms appeared at once.
"Lady Greengrass," we greeted Delphine simultaneously.
"It is a pleasure that you are familiar with etiquette, but I have made sure of that before. Let's save each other some time and keep it somewhat simple. Max, come here. I've prepared a contract. Take a look at it."
Sitting down at my desk, I got two copies of the contract in my hands and began to study.
"Don't just stand there idly, Hermione. Why don't you change for class in the meantime or repeat some topic?"
The girl nodded and went into the adjoining room, which had probably belonged to the teachers before. A couple of minutes later, Hermione returned in her blue tracksuit, took the desk nearby, and started making some notes in her notebook. I, on the other hand, finished studying the documents.
"I agree."
"Fine," Delphine pulled a Blood Quill from her desk. "Shall we sign?"
After signing the documents, we each took one copy and put it in our own bags.
"So. For starters, you're probably curious, why exactly are you two here, and not just Max? It's simple. I need an assistant. I have many limitations in this castle, one of which is the spectrum of knowledge allowed to be applied. Don't be surprised, Max. Hogwarts, after all, is a school, not a mansion in the middle of nowhere - everything is under control here. I'm not going to involve teachers in your training, and the fewer people know about my presence here, the better for everyone. So, in the practical classes that will take place between now and bedtime, Miss Granger will be assisting me. She will, right?"
"Yes, I will."
"Fine. You can learn a lot for yourself, too, in terms of practice."
"Lady Greengrass," I interrupted this conversation. "What if there is a room beyond the administration's All-Seeing Eye?"
"That would be great, but I'm not aware of any. During my time at Hogwarts, I paid attention not to its mysteries and magic, but to fashion and other girlish whims."
"Then, everyone, follow me," I got up from my desk, and we all headed to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
Delphine wasn't surprised by anything - you never know where there might be a hidden passageway. Why shouldn't it be a bathroom? She wasn't surprised or gave no sign, even when I hissed at the sink and when the passage downward opened.
"The only problem is that I do not know how to properly go down."
"Hmm..." pondered Delphine, not aristocratically fiddling with the braid thrown over her shoulder, deadly pale in the dim light from the moon outside the window. "There's a problem with levitation charms. I remember a friend of mine wanted to make a belt based on charms, like a broomstick. But something didn't work out for her. So we jump."
"Exactly," I nodded and stepped into the opening.
The winding, wide pipe once again brought me into a gloomy, dark hall with a floor of bones. Nearby stood the incomprehensible composition of bones that Wormtail had tried to make. I took a step to the side, waited for Hermione to fly out of the opening silently, and caught her in my arms and immediately set her down. A moment later, Lady Greengrass flew out of the pipe just as silently, allowing me to catch her. She allowed it because, judging by the look right at the exit from the pipe, she would have done an excellent job herself, but since I was catching her, why not?
As soon as the lady returned to the vertical position and I hissed in Parseltongue so that the passage at the other end was closed, we silently conjured Lumos, sending balls of light to fly over our heads, and went further along the large circular corridors of the dungeons.
"I've never been here before. As I understand it, this is Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets?"
"Exactly."
"Pretty cold place. That's good."
"Why?"
"It won't be hot."
"But won't it be uncomfortable to study in the cold?" asked Hermione a reasonable question.
"We'll just put up a tent, that's all," Lady Greengrass pointed out, as a matter of fact, giving me a sharp headache from my own inconsideration.
"Haven't you thought about it?"
"I've only been here once. Under... Emergency circumstances," Hermione said defensively, and Delphine's gaze locked on me.
"I'm a fool. I'm allowed."
"Don't say that. In the magical world, words have a surprisingly nasty way of affecting reality."
"Ah, then I'm smart. I just wasn't paying attention."
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