Thestral Geraldine

## Chapter 170: Thestral Geraldine

In that moment of crisis, an unusually old House-elf suddenly appeared beside Harry, grabbed his arm, and instantly apparated him away.

At the same time, three or four Spells struck the attacking Thestral, freezing it in mid-air.

One of the Spells came from Wade.

He held his Wand, jumped off the Thestral's back, and ran over to examine it.

Immediately after, Professor Sprout and Snape also appeared nearby.

"What happened?" Snape said, his face dark, his gaze dangerously fixed on the terrified girls.

"Something invisible... it attacked Harry Potter!"

One of the little girls said in a panic, looking like she was about to cry.

"A House-elf took Harry away!"

Wade glanced at the girl's red hair… another Weasley.

Hagrid also rushed over, looking at the Thestral frozen in mid-air, and said with worry and confusion, "But Geraldine is a gentle, good creature... it has never attacked anyone before..."

"What did that idiotic Gryffindor do beforehand?" Snape asked coldly, "He provoked the Thestral!"

"Harry didn't do anything!"

Ginny Weasley bravely met the Potions Class professor's gaze and said loudly:

"He just helped us chase away a Grindylow, and then he was suddenly attacked!"

"I don't think it was Harry's fault, Professor."

Wade suddenly said, "Look at this Thestral, it has a wound on its back."

Snape walked over and saw a long, thin wound bleeding on the Thestral's back, near its hind legs.

He approached the Thestral, his hooked nose twitching slightly.

"Khat."

"Khat?" Ginny subconsciously echoed.

"Look at your textbooks!" Snape glared at her and said, "Khat can be used to brew Confusing Concoction. It can cause fear, palpitations, and even hallucinations and manic tendencies in the user."

"So... someone fed this Thestral a Potion?" Wade's expression was serious. "Did they want to use the Thestral to harm Harry, or to create chaos at Hogwarts?"

Professor Sprout pried open the Thestral's mouth and looked inside, saying, "It's not a finished Potion... there are still plant fibers between its teeth. It looks like someone directly fed it a large amount of Khat."

"I remember this plant is mainly produced in East African and Arabian countries, and its transport and sale are prohibited in most countries..."

Wade recalled what he had read in books: "But... uh... it's allowed to be sold within certain limits in the UK and New Zealand, though it's generally not easy for ordinary people to get their hands on it."

"As long as there's a way, getting it is much easier than you think. More importantly... who could have attacked a Hogwarts Thestral..."

Snape mused.

Hagrid said angrily, "If I find out who did this, I'll make them regret it!"

Ginny stood by, watching the others discuss, unable to get a word in for a long time.

Her friend tugged on Ginny's arm, wanting to leave, but Ginny's feet seemed rooted to the spot, refusing to budge.

Only when the conversation paused for a moment did Ginny cautiously say, "Professor, Harry was taken away..."

"The House-elf will take him to the Hospital Wing, if that's what you're asking," Snape said.

His tone was cold and he seemed very impatient, but compared to the treatment other Gryffindors received from Snape, he was remarkably gentle with Ginny.

Wade thoughtfully looked at the bright red hair.

"Thank you, Professor."

Ginny didn't feel like she was being treated specially; she just found Snape as terrifying as ever.

The girl quietly thanked him, then pulled her friend and ran off.

By this time, Dumbledore had also arrived on the scene.

The reason he was a step late was that he had gone to check on Harry first, and there was still some blood on his sleeve.

"How is Harry, Dumbledore?" Hagrid asked anxiously.

"Just some superficial wounds, Madam Pomfrey will heal him quickly."

After Dumbledore finished speaking, he lightly waved his Wand and also examined the Thestral. Professor Sprout told him what they had discovered.

Dumbledore nodded slightly.

"Hagrid, take all the Thestrals back to the stables. I think we need to conduct a thorough examination."

"What about Geraldine, sir?" Hagrid asked nervously, "I know it hurt Harry, but it wasn't on purpose. Geraldine has always been a good creature..."

"Of course, it was merely used by someone with malicious intent," Dumbledore said. "You will look after it until the Potion wears off."

"Alright, Professor." Hagrid sniffled, picked up the frozen Thestral with one arm, and carried it away.

"Dumbledore!" Snape said disapprovingly, "A beast that has attacked someone cannot be kept..."

Professor Sprout frowned. "There's a difference between intentionally harming someone and causing harm involuntarily, Severus. It was under the influence of Khat and didn't know what it was doing."

Dumbledore didn't make an immediate decision. Instead, he asked, "Mr. Gray, what do you think?"

Wade paused. Snape and Professor Sprout both looked at him.

Under the gaze of the two professors, he thought for a moment and said, "I think we should first have the students who participated in the challenge leave, and temporarily suspend the event to check if any other creatures have been tampered with."

"As for what to do with the Thestral named Geraldine... why not ask Harry for his opinion? After all, he's the victim."

Dumbledore nodded and said, "Then we'll do it that way."

Snape immediately huffed, looking at Wade with apparent displeasure.

Everyone present knew that given Harry's personality, and his relationship with Hagrid, he certainly wouldn't press the matter further.

Wade simply pretended not to notice.

Professor Snape was always like that anyway—never giving a pleasant look or saying a kind word, but he would always answer questions and always help if asked.

In all his time at Hogwarts, Wade had only seen him praise Malfoy once.

Of course, this might also be because they hadn't had Potions Class with the Slytherin students; otherwise, they might have witnessed Professor Snape's elaborate ways of praising Slytherin.

But for over a year, Wade had asked Professor Snape questions about Potions, even some advanced topics, and always received answers.

After he moved to the Room of Requirement to brew Potions, he stopped practicing in the dungeons.

He was mocked twice by Professor Snape when they met, and it took Wade a while to realize he meant, Why aren't you continuing to practice? Don't give up halfway!

Wade: "..."

So, after the next Potions Class, he brought his recent work for the professor to review and explained—

He had recently changed his practice location because some Potions took too long to brew, and he didn't want to monopolize the Potions Class classroom.

He then received comments like "mediocre" and "don't get carried away."

Chapter 2 might be out tonight

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