Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Water Margin

Chapter 68: Proficient in all kinds of skills

Chapter 69 Master of All Skills

Snape, it is said, was a brooding character who rarely showed his emotions.

But when he saw the guardian deity devouring the soul monster, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and his heart, liver, and lungs nearly jumped out of his throat.

He was skilled in a powerful Guardian Charm and considered himself knowledgeable, yet he had never seen a Guardian that had swallowed a Dementor whole.

After scrutinizing the large, white-browed tiger for a long time, Snape said coldly, "Not bad, Mr. Potter. After knowing you for almost two years, you've finally caught my eye."

"Even though your guardian spirit is special, using the 'devouring and digesting' method to eliminate Dementors."

As the saying goes, only the person drinking the water knows whether it's hot or cold. Snape, however, merely watched from the sidelines, observing coldly, and naturally couldn't grasp the key points.

The large, white-browed worm was summoned by Harry, and the two were connected at will. Harry knew that the Dementor had not been completely destroyed, but was merely curled up inside the worm's belly, behaving quite obediently.

Harry thought to himself: I remember when we were at Erlong Mountain, my senior brother Zhishen said to me that anyone who was killed by the tiger would have their soul become a courier, helping the mountain king. This is exactly what is meant by "serving the tiger as a courier".

The soul-devouring monster before me was swallowed whole by my guardian deity, but instead of turning to ashes, it left behind a whole corpse. Could it have transformed into some kind of soul-devouring monster?

He wanted to incite the Dementor to cause trouble, and the worm seemed to understand his intention. It opened its mouth and spewed out a thick cloud of black mist, which then transformed into the shape of the Dementor and rushed straight towards Snape.

Snape, seeing the truth, paled. He hastily called for the Patronus, summoning the doe to defend himself, and angrily said:

"Potter! What have you done?!"

"Oh dear, Professor, please don't be offended, I don't know either."

Harry feigned surprise and went to Snape's medicine cabinet. Upon closer inspection, he saw a large, antique-looking padlock on it.

The cabinet was locked, but Harry remained calm. He plucked a strand of hair from his temple, twisted it straight, and then inserted it into the keyhole, swinging it with effortless grace.

Poems as proof:

Prick up your ears and listen intently to the sound of the lock; twist your fingers through the black silk to probe the lock's core.

Lightly flick and lift three times to the left and four times to the right, then skillfully return by lifting up and pressing down.

The hair seemed to possess a spirit, moving like dragons and snakes between the reed and the copper clasp. With a soft "click," the lock suddenly opened, even faster than a key could be used.

Sir, if you ask how Harry learned these lowly tricks of picking locks and breaking into houses, it turns out he actually started his career at Liangshan Marsh.

In that lake lived a cunning and ruthless man named Shi Qian, nicknamed "Drum-Flea." He was truly a master thief, capable of scaling walls and leaping across rooftops.

During the attack on Zengtou City, when Shi Qian was captured while spying on military intelligence, it was Scarface who, with a knife and on horseback, broke through the encirclement to rescue him.

The two became sworn brothers, and Shi Qian was determined to repay their kindness. He knew that Harry was a studious man, absorbing everything from classical texts to everyday slang.

Therefore, he imparted all his skills of flying and disappearing into the ground, and of stealing with his bare hands.

Harry pulled off the lock, opened the cabinet, and saw countless lacewings, sapworts, dried snake skins, and so on.

He was dazzled by the variety of ingredients and didn't know which ones were needed for the compound decoction, so he simply picked up a little of everything and stuffed it into his robe.

Then, he took out a bag of gold coins containing over a hundred Galleons and tossed it into a corner.

After it was over, the doe also caused the Dementor to retreat repeatedly, its soul scattered. Seeing this, the worm simply opened its mouth and swallowed all the black mist that filled the office.

"Potter!" Snape stormed forward, furious. "What tricks are you playing?!"

"I've never seen a Patronus capable of imprisoning Dementors!"

Harry cupped his hands and said, "I learned this Patronus Charm from the professor. But now it's causing some strange trouble. Instead of reflecting on his own actions, why is the professor bothering me?"

"Very well," Snape sneered. "So you're questioning my teaching abilities?"

"Professor, you are mistaken. I did not mention a single word of that."

Harry shook his head and seemed clueless, like a complete idiot. Snape had no interest in discussing the strange Patronus with him.

He waved his wand, causing the office door to swung open, and said coldly, "Please leave, Mr. Potter. Next time we meet, we should be practicing Occlumency."

"I hope that by then, you can keep all your little thoughts hidden in your head!"

Harry snorted, cupped his hands in greeting, and headed straight for the Gryffindor common room.

Upon entering the room, they saw two figures curled up beside the hearth; it was Ron and Hermione, dozing off by the embers.

Hearing the footsteps, the two rubbed their sleepy eyes and roused themselves, hurrying forward to speak with Harry.

"Harry, what did you and Professor Dumbledore talk about this time?"

"Was the Chamber of Secrets really opened? Was it done by the heirs of Slytherin?"

The two of them were talking at once, asking a barrage of questions that Harry couldn't keep up with. He first stopped them, then took the potion ingredients from his robes.

Hermione was astonished when she saw all the medicinal herbs. "Harry, where did you get all these ingredients?"

Harry chuckled, "It's in Snape's medicine cabinet, of course."

He recounted how he picked the lock and stole the medicinal herbs, leaving Hermione and Ron speechless with astonishment.

Harry's abilities are too diverse!

First he commanded battles, then he slaughtered pigs, later he could identify the murder weapon and the murderer just by looking at the wounds, and now he's added theft to his list!

Ron's expression was complicated as he said, "Harry, you're not really some ancient wizard reincarnated, are you? Haven't you completely forgotten your memories of your past life?"

Harry laughed out loud, "I certainly have never drunk that Meng Po soup."

The two continued chatting and laughing, but Hermione paid them no heed. She carefully checked the medicinal herbs, breathed a sigh of relief, and said:

"We are really lucky to have African tree snakeskin, two-ear grass, and some of the rarest materials."

"If all goes well, we should be able to finish the compound decoction around Christmas."

Harry exclaimed in surprise, "Why does it take so long? A whole month?"

Hermione held up the copied recipe. "There's no other way; the lacewings need to be cooked for twenty-one days."

Harry looked at it and thought: This Polyjuice Potion is a real time killer. By the time it's made, the thief who opened the Chamber of Secrets will probably have already killed all the students.

A sense of unease and impatience rose within him. After exchanging a few words with Ron, he headed straight to his dormitory to rest.

The next day at noon, Harry immediately took his knife and cane and went to the headmaster's office.

The two gargoyle stone beasts hurriedly opened the door for him, and Harry called out, "Professor, have you found out anything? Is Dobby connected to the Malfoys?"

Upon seeing Harry, Dumbledore slightly raised his eyes and nodded, saying, "You guessed right, Harry, Dobby is indeed a Malfoy family house-elf."

The secret connection was clear even before the compound decoction was opened. The headmaster, with his keen insight, saw that the Malfoys harbored a hidden genius. To find out what happens next, stay tuned for the next installment.

P.S.: Something unexpected happened. My family dragged me to a wedding early this morning. We had agreed I didn't have to go, but they dragged me there anyway.

I only start writing around 9 o'clock.

I'll start with one chapter today, and I'll definitely be updating a lot more tomorrow!

Don't run away

I kowtow to my dear readers.

(End of this chapter)