Chapter 3: Rock Code of Potions Class
The dungeons of Hogwarts were perpetually shrouded in damp shadows, where the pine smoke and cauldron steam intertwined beneath the stone arches, forming a perennial mist.
Leonard stared at the Yuegui leaves before him, his blade suspended in mid-air—this was his third attempt to cut the Potion ingredients using "Geo Lord's Spear: Mimicry." The previous two attempts left too obvious Geo patterns on the surface, and when Professor Snape's hawk-like gaze swept over them, Leonard could almost hear the scores on the parchment screaming.
"Mr. Norton," Professor Snape's voice hissed from behind him, like a venomous snake's tongue, "if you continue to practice 'Air Slicing' with your wand, I suggest you find a butter knife in the kitchen.
At least it won't make the Yuegui leaves smell like they were just chopped from the Forbidden Forest."
Suppressed chuckles rippled through the room.
Leonard took a deep breath, concentrating to condense the Geo element into a translucent blade at his fingertips.
This time, he deliberately restrained the Geo patterns, leaving only a faint stony sheen on the cut surface.
As twelve paper-thin Yuegui leaves fell into the cauldron, he heard Hermione gasp from diagonally behind him—her shorthand quill was furiously recording the blade's trajectory.
"The key to a Calming Draught," Professor Snape paced around the desks, his black robes billowing around his ankles like stagnant water, "is to make the magical frequencies of each ingredient resonate.
And your Yuegui leaves," he poked Leonard's cauldron with the tip of his wand, "have frequencies as chaotic as a dulcimer string trampled by a Troll."
Leonard stared at the slightly whitish liquid in the cauldron, knowing it was a side effect of Geo element residue.
The amulet at his collar grew hot, reminding him that the magic consumption from his first public use of dual elements (Wings of Wind for calm, Geo Lord's Spear for precise cutting) was approaching its critical point.
"Perhaps," Hermione suddenly raised her hand, her voice laced with suppressed excitement, "Mr. Norton's cutting technique aligns with the 'Leyline Synchronization Rate' mentioned in 'Gargoyle Carving and Magic Resonance'?"
She pushed up her glasses, "The book says ancient stonemasons would infuse Geo element when carving, allowing the Gargoyle's joints to resonate with Hogwarts' leylines—"
"Miss Granger." Professor Snape turned, a dangerous glint in his dark eyes.
"If you are willing to study Gargoyles outside of 'Advanced Potion-Making,' I suggest you take 'History of Magic.' Now," he pointed to Leonard's cauldron, "tell Mr. Norton why his Calming Draught is corroding the bottom of the cauldron."
Hermione's ear tips instantly turned crimson, but she persisted, "The 'Bones of the Earth' characteristic of the Geo element neutralizes the plant magic of the Yuegui leaves, causing the Potion to calcify."
She pulled out her wand and drew a counter-clockwise triangle above the cauldron, "Adding three drops of mistletoe juice can balance—"
"Sit down, Miss Granger." Professor Snape interrupted coldly, "Mr. Norton needs to learn to solve his own problems, not rely on someone else's wand."
He waved his sleeve, and the liquid in the cauldron suddenly turned black.
"Ten points, Norton.
Because you remind me of Gargoyle vomit."
When the class bell rang, faint grey Geo patterns had appeared on Leonard's hand, like tiny stone cracks crawling across his skin.
Hermione pretended to tidy her bag, secretly slipping him a parchment with shorthand notes: "Geo pattern frequency 120Hz, consistent with the vibration frequency of the dungeon's stone walls! Go to the North Tower corridor after class, I found that the Gargoyle's eyes there track your amulet."
The corridor outside the dungeon was cold and damp.
Leonard followed Hermione around three bends, stopping before a Gargoyle standing with crossed arms.
Its stone eyes suddenly rotated, a faint glow flickering deep within its sockets—exactly the same as the Geo pattern sheen when he cut the Yuegui leaves.
"Look!" Hermione held up a magnifying glass, "The armor patterns on the Gargoyle's arms are identical to your hand movements when cutting the Potion ingredients.
'Gargoyle Neural Synapse Theory' states that these patterns are ancient Geo element conduction pathways, and your amulet is activating them!"
She suddenly grasped his hand, pressing his Geo-patterned hand against the Gargoyle's chest, "Feel it, isn't there a slight vibration? It's consistent with your heartbeat!"
Leonard held his breath; the tremor from the stone surface indeed synchronized with the amulet's hum.
The Gargoyle's fingers suddenly moved, drawing a shallow mark on the ground—a miniature septagram pattern.
"This is a contract mark." Hermione's voice echoed in the silent corridor, "When the Granger ancestor participated in its construction in 1612, each Gargoyle signed a guardian contract with an envoy of the Seven Gods.
And you, Leonard, are reactivating these contracts."
She pulled out her notebook; the latest page showed an anatomical diagram of a Gargoyle, with "Geo element Resonance Node" marked at its joints.
The sound of a prefect's footsteps approached from a distance, and the two hastily separated.
Leonard watched the Gargoyle return to stillness, suddenly realizing that every stone in Hogwarts told an ancient story, and the amulet in his hand was the key to awakening these stories.
"To the library tonight." Hermione whispered, "I found a fragment of a 15th-century 'Geo God's contract Book' with a star chart that perfectly matches the back of your amulet.
Also—" She hesitated, "I tested your blood and found it contains trace amounts of starsilver, the same material as the Gargoyle's 'heart'."
Leonard touched the lingering Geo patterns on his wrist, suddenly recalling his mother's dying words: *"The Norton bloodline flows with starsilver, a gift left by the Seven Gods for humanity."*
At the time, he thought it was delirium, but now it was gradually becoming clear like a puzzle.
"Are you afraid?" Hermione suddenly asked, her eyes behind her glasses glowing amber in the wall lamp, "Knowing you might not be an ordinary Wizard, but some kind of… heir to an ancient contract?"
Leonard looked at the faint reflection in the Gargoyle's stone eyes, recalling the dream filled with cyan flowing light the moment he touched the amulet on Earth—Hogwarts Castle rotating in the starry sky, each tower connected to a different element domain.
"No." He finally spoke, "What I fear is that when the amulet's power fully awakens, the Gargoyles of Hogwarts will open their eyes, and we won't be ready to answer their questions."
Hermione's pen tip paused on her notebook for half a second, then she suddenly wrote: "Fear is the best catalyst.
Tomorrow in Potion Class, I'll bring mistletoe juice—this time we'll let Professor Snape know that the Geo element isn't Gargoyle vomit, but the heartbeat of the earth."
The dinner bell rang from the end of the corridor.
Leonard watched Hermione hurry towards the stairs, the amulet gently vibrating against his chest.
He knew that from the moment he used the Wings of Wind on the platform, his destiny had been tightly bound to this girl, to every rock and every wisp of wind at Hogwarts.
And what awaited him might be the blessing of the Seven Gods, or the gaze of the abyss—but at least, he was no longer a lonely transmigrator.
As he turned, the Gargoyle's stone eyes rotated again; this time, the flickering light in its eye sockets held a hint of almost contented warmth.