"Eh!"
accompanied by a loud vomiting sound, Ron fell heavily to the ground, unable to get up again. Harry looked at his watch and saw that twenty minutes had passed since Ron began his evasion training.
Compared with the beginning, Ron's appearance is much more miserable. He was drenched in the stinking juice of excrements, and vomit dribbled down his cheek to the ground. This nasty juice made Ron try his utmost to avoid it, but the bloating pain in many parts of his body almost deprived him of mobility. Lying on the ground, he could only twitch spasmodically except for that.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and their eyes conveyed more feelings of nostalgia than empathy. After all, Ron's miserable appearance reminded them both of the very beginning of the training.
It's time to stop.
Hermione and Harry communicated with a glance, then they walked over to Ron. Hermione drew her wand, pointing it at Ron who lay on the ground with bruised face, a sheen of sweat on his brow.
"Clean and fresh!"
Following that, as if a piece of eraser had swept over Ron's body, all the dirt on his body was wiped clean. However, this spell couldn't completely make Ron feel refreshed. Sweat still made his clothes wet.
Come on, Ron—
Harry carefully helped Ron, who was on the verge of fainting, to his feet. Then, he crouched down behind Ron and put his hands under Ron's armpits, supporting Ron's body as he slowly dragged him to the chairs that Hermione had stacked neatly under a wall of the classroom with a summons spell.
How are you feeling, Ron?
Harry held Ron's shoulders, for only then could he ensure that Ron would sit on the chair rather than simply collapse. He asked with a concerned expression, but the almost unconscious Ron only mumbled incoherently, his words indistinguishable.
"Have some water, it will make you feel better—"
Hermione aimed her wand at Ron's pale lips, summoning a small stream of water. With the cool, clear water flowing into his throat, Ron seemed to be waking up and was capable of opening his mouth and swallowing the water on his own.
Huff... Sigh...
Ron's gasps sounded like an old but rapidly operated steam chest, and every breath would stimulate his muscles. Under the stimulation of the throbbing pain, his numbed nerves became more sensitive, making him bite his teeth in agony.
How did I do?
After another two minutes, Ron was able to control his movements to some extent. He nodded to Harry, indicating that he no longer needed his support, then leaned back against the handles of the chair with his back and nape of his neck, and asked in a faint, mosquito-whining voice.
"Very good!" Harry exclaimed.
To be honest, if it were Ron from before, even if he didn't immediately give up after experiencing the terrible smell of the excrements, he would have immediately complained or grumbled or shouted about giving up. Now, his first words were asking about his performance, which surprised both Harry and Hermione.
"You've impressed me, Ron!"
Hermione raised her hair in front of her face, revealing a smile, and honestly told Ron.
However, Harry and Hermione's praise did not make Ron overjoyed. He just weakly smiled and then slightly shook his head.
"It's insane. I can't believe you managed to endure it. This crazy training method, and there hasn't been any injury in the physical education class so far, it's a miracle."
"The key is—"
Harry showed a bitter smile.
"Professor Breaton is not easy to get along with. Once the training enters the second phase, he will not allow anyone to quit. Padma is Padmey's sister, and she even wanted to ask Professor Flitwick to intercede and let them escape from physical education class. But in the end, she seemed to have given up this idea."
"Oh—"
Hermione shrugged.
"In fact, Padma did go to see Professor Flitwick. She told him that the intensity of the physical education class made it difficult for her to concentrate on other subjects. And Professor Flitwick also had a private talk with Professor Breaton, but Professor Breaton told him that unless he was expelled from Hogwarts, he would not allow any student who entered the second phase of training to leave his class."
Faced with Harry's startled gaze, Hermione said innocently,
"It was Luna who told me."
To be honest, Ron's performance in the first training session was not particularly impressive. But this was to be expected. Even Luna and Neville, who were considered to have great talent in this training, had terrible performances in their first attempt as well. Ron's ability to not immediately quit after experiencing it was already very satisfactory.
How to deal with the external injuries after training, Harry and Hermione were equally experienced. These injuries seem serious, but in fact, applying some white willow can solve them.
Hermione handed over the white willow she brought to Harry and stepped aside for a moment. Harry helped Ron lie down on the desk they used for the duel theory class, applying the white willow to his back. The rest was left for Ron, who had gained some mobility, to take care of himself.
The sun began to set in the west, and the slight warmth hidden in the sunlight was easily taken away by the howling north wind. Finally, the Black Lake froze completely under extremely low temperatures. The cold forced many little wizards to leave the outdoor field and enter the castle for warmth. However, there were also some bold students who even jumped into the frozen Black Lake to play ice skating, and their cool demeanor won cheers from students watching from the shore.
Harry and Hermione stood by the window watching the students on the Black Lake for a while, until Filch, who was alerted, rushed over and drove all the students ashore. Only then did they retract their sight.
"I feel much better!"
Ron shook his arms for a while, after resting for more than half an hour, he carefully examined himself and breathed a sigh of relief, happily saying.
"Alright, so that's it for the training today—"
Harry glanced at his watch again.
"There's still a while until dinner, so we have enough time to finish our morning run, take a hot shower in the infirmary, and then go back to the dormitory before dinner."
Hermione approved of Harry's proposal, while Ron looked around at the armor that had severely damaged him, expressing fear while still showing a hint of insatiable desire in his eyes. However, he was also well aware that he couldn't instantly turn himself into an 'expert'.
Ron walked to the starting line and picked up his robe and cloak that he had thrown on the ground, as he was slipping the first sleeve over his arm—
Click—
The door of the physical education class was opened unexpectedly, and the three people who were eager to escape the cold rushed in quickly. They discovered that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were about to leave.
Almost at the instant of each other's discovery, the atmosphere in the physical education classroom froze. Ron, whose clothes were halfway on, stopped moving. Harry and Hermione, looking towards the newcomers, their eyes narrowed sharply.
Draco's indifferent eyes fell on Harry, while Pansy Parkinson glanced at Hermione with a sneer, her eyes full of contempt. However, Astoria from the Astronomy family remained calm and did not show any hostility towards the three Gryffindors.
Harry and Malfoy locked eyes, their thoughts drifting for a moment.
Although they met several times a week in different classes, this was the first time they had faced off in private, and it was at the beginning of this semester when the Prophet Daily mistakenly named Weasley as a Death Eater. Malfoy had mocked Ron extensively at that time, and this incident even involved Professor Breaton and Moody, who got into an uninteresting duel in front of everyone. It was not very exciting because Professor Breaton only used a simple spell to make Professor Moody look foolish.
——
Since then, Malfoy seemed less eager to create conflicts as he used to, and not long after that, when Malfoy was at school, he spent more time with Parkinson and Granger rather than with Crabbe and Goyle.
All of these changes originated from Professor Breaton's sports class in the third stage of teaching.
Draco easily noticed the alertness and distaste in Harry's eyes. In Hogwarts, only Harry Potter would look at him with such eyes, which made him feel quite annoyed. However, after lingering in his mind for a few seconds, Draco didn't immediately retaliate. His gaze shifted from Harry to Hermione and then settled on the disgraced pure-blood descendant for just a second.
"What's wrong, Weasley?"
Draco easily discovered some clues and looked at Ron, involuntarily, a mocking smile appeared on his lips.
"Starting to soften up now?"
(Chapter End)
