"Now, who can tell me what the properties of a mandrake are?" Professor Sprout continued.

"Hearing the cries of a mandrake kills people."

Hermione saw that Maca didn't react, so she had to answer herself.

"Exactly, plus ten points." Professor Sprout said, "You see, our mandrakes here are still very young and have no lethal effects yet......

She pointed to the row of deep-bottomed flower pots in front of everyone and introduced them to everyone, and everyone looked carefully into the pots, which was a kind of green and purple seedling.

"Everybody comes up and gets a pair of earmuffs." Professor Sprout said.

The boys scrambled to squeeze forward, after all, no one wanted to get a pair of pink fluffy ear tips.

Maca followed behind, also picking out a random pair in it.

"When I tell you to put on the earmuffs, you must cover your ears tightly," Professor Sprout said, "and when it is safe to remove them, I will give you two thumbs up." OK – put on the earmuffs! ”

About the lethality of the mandrake cry, only after it has matured. And as long as you don't force it out of the soil, it won't cry.

In general, during the day, wild adult mandrake plants will always bury themselves in the soil in an open place such as a grassland; And until evening, he pulled himself out again and wandered around the grassland all night.

Maca had dealt with it many times before, and it was a breeze for him to make such a small matter as changing their pots.

The ear tips are so powerful that you can't hear any sound when you put them on. When Professor Sprout had demonstrated it, she motioned for everyone to remove their earmuffs and begin assigning tasks.

"Four people in a pot, there are a lot of empty pots here. Compost in the bag over there – beware of the poison tentacles, it's teething. She slammed a spiky crimson plant, causing it to retract into the tentacles that crept over her shoulder.

With that, she beckoned everyone to put on the earmuffs again and started today's lesson.

The students just saw that Professor Sprout was doing it with great ease, but it wasn't like that at all.

The mandrake was reluctant to be pulled out of the soil, but it seemed reluctant to go back. They twisted their bodies, kicked their feet wildly, waved their little pointed fists, and gritted their teeth.

The other three students assigned to the maca group were clearly the least labor-intensive.

Maca picked up a small shovel from the edge of the pot, loosened the soil around the mandrake a little, and then easily pulled it out.

Its rhizome resembles a very ugly baby, and the leaves are born right on his head. Probably because it is still a child, its skin is still light green, with a few sporadic spots on it.

The little guy opened his mouth wide open, apparently shouting at the top of his lungs, but after putting on the earmuffs, everyone couldn't hear him at all.

Maca took it in her hand and directly covered the place where the leaves on the top of its head grew with her other hand, but when she saw that the little guy's mood immediately calmed down.

"Oh! How do you do that? The Hufflepuff schoolgirl next to Maca asked.

"It makes it think as if it's back in the dirt," Maca said calmly, "and it only works for juvenile mandrakes." ”

He stuffed the little one back into another pot and buried it again with the new soil that had been mixed with fertilizer.

By the end of class, most of the students were sweating profusely, with a sore back and covered in mud. Only Maca's group looked the most relaxed, not even a bit of Saturn.

Professor Sprout habitually praised Maca and added 10 points to Hufflepuff. Beside Sprout, Maca had a happy smile on her face, but if you looked closely, there was no smile in his eyes.

Hufflepuff's next lesson was a Charms lesson, and Professor Flitwick's approach was still as casual as it was. Obviously, everyone is relieved about this.

But such a comfortable atmosphere disappeared directly in the afternoon.

Not to mention that Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class was always so strict, and the most important thing was Gilderoy Lockhart's Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

As soon as he entered the classroom door, a smile spread across his face, and his shiny teeth were so neat that one wondered if there was any magic on it.

"I ......" he casually picked up the textbook on the front row of students' desks and pointed to his photo, which was the one he was blinking.

"Gilderoy Lockhart, 3rd Class Medal of the Order of Merlin, Honorary Member of the Anti-Dark Arts League, five-time winner of the Wizarding Weekly > Most Charming Smile Award - but I don't talk about that, I don't use my smile to exorcise the ghost of Wanlun!"

He said this very smoothly, presumably because he had practiced it many times.

"I see that you all bought my full set of books – good. I think we're going to take a quiz today, don't be afraid, just see how well you read and how much you understand......"

After handing out the papers, he returned to the pulpit and said, "Give you thirty minutes, now...... Begin! ”

Maca flattened the test paper on the table:

"1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color? 2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition? 3. What do you think is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date......

Maca just glanced casually and frowned.

There are 54 questions in total, and all of them are asking Lockhart some detailed information. Maca wanted to throw it aside, but after a moment's hesitation, he still filled in some random answers.

"There's no need to make more trouble." Maca thought faintly.

And the rest of the class is even more irritating.

Probably because the group of Cornwall elves prepared for the little lions in the last class was too messy, this class actually read the novels he wrote to the little badgers on the spot.

When he read about the rise, he even pulled the students to perform together. Maca sat in the back and wrote her Potions research notes to herself, not even glancing at the podium.

At night, while everyone else was asleep, Maca leaned against the window by herself. He looked at the cold moonlight outside and couldn't help but recall what happened after the opening dinner.

That night, he immediately went to the Ravenclaw Tower to find the Bronze Kitty Eagle. But no matter what he called, there was only the emotionless questioning voice of the bronze knocker. For some reason, the Bronze Kitty didn't show up, let alone take him to Royna's Chamber of Secrets.

“…… Is it because of my current state? ”

In fact, Maca is well aware of her current state.

In the past, as a petty liar who relied on deceiving people to eat, his best skill was undoubtedly to cover up his true emotions and put on different masks when facing different people.

But because of this, he understands better that he does have his own emotions.

It was only after that journey that Rowena brought him that his emotions were completely gone!

"I'm afraid it's a curse, but it doesn't seem to be bad—" Maca thought naturally, suddenly shaking her head again, "No, I'm afraid it's also because there is no emotion, and the judgment is based on reason alone." ”

That night, he leaned against the window and pondered for a long time, but the more he thought about it, the more difficult it was to clear his mind.

Reason told him that this feeling was very good, not only would it be of great help to his research assignments, but he would also seem more sensible in dealing with things.

For example, he has decided not to be involved in any events in his second year, not even the trio of lion cubs, and he wants to avoid the mutation as much as possible like last semester.

While he will always be at Hogwarts and will influence everyone who interacts with him, it is still necessary to minimize the magnitude of change.

It's always scary to be completely out of control. Besides, these things have nothing to do with him, what he cares about is the mission left by Rowena, and the improvement of his own magical knowledge, nothing more.

But is this really the right idea? Maca didn't know, or rather, that he had lost the perspective he was best at.

After a long while, Maca finally lay back in bed, but the experiences after being taken away by Rowena were still haunted and lingering in his mind.

……

“…… Alani, this is your first mission after completing your training. You are the smartest and most powerful of the Guardians, and I want you to carry out every mission that comes with the will of my faction. ”

At the window of the castle, an old man in a robe spoke slowly with his back to this side, in his deep voice.

Maca stood in the middle of the room, frowning, constantly checking what was happening in front of him.

"What was Rowener's purpose in bringing me here?" Maca turned her gaze at the old man, but out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the room.

“…… Alani, take the mission away! Set off from the eagle's nest today, I await your good news. ”

The old man turned around, his face kind, but his gaze was as sharp as that of a vulture, and he was directed at Maca.

"Yes." Maca subconsciously lowered her head and buried her face in the shadows.

He glanced at the table in front of him, where a roll of parchment lay silently, firmly held in place with blood-red lacquer in the middle.

After picking it up and nodding slightly, Maca left the room without saying a word.

It wasn't until he walked out of the room that Maca's mind suddenly flooded with memories that didn't belong to him. For a moment, the dizziness made him have to lean against the wall of the hallway, and after a long time, he was relieved.

"B-Tahir Alani? Assassins of the Assasins? Maca's face was full of doubt, "Does this have anything to do with the Scroll of Truth?" ”

Although still full of mush, Marka at least knew what was going on—he guessed that he might be in a state similar to Dumbledore's meditation basin.

It's just that compared to the meditation basin, the effect of this formation composed of regular runes is obviously much more realistic.