Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

0670 New Training

Professor Watson's self-deprecating joke triggered a wave of relaxed smiles across the classroom. The laughter rippled through the rows of students like a gentle breeze, easing away the fear and uneasiness these mostly underage children had about the discussion of potentially law-breaking magic.

Amidst the fading chuckles and sidelong glances between the students, Bryan leaned forward slightly, and his expression shifted toward something more earnest and educational.

"What I want to tell you all," He said, his gaze sweeping across young faces, "is that if you expose yourself to danger without any preparation—if you blunder into dangerous situations with nothing but blind courage and your wand—then the probability of successfully escaping with your life intact is very low.

So-called risk avoidance isn't about cowardice or fear. Rather, it means that before you intend to do something potentially dangerous, you should properly anticipate what specific threats you may encounter and prepare corresponding countermeasures."

"The wizard who survives isn't necessarily the one who casts the most powerful spells," Bryan added. "Often, it's the one who has the foresight to plan three steps ahead and carries the right tools for unexpected circumstances."

Professor Watson's words could be considered words of wisdom. Even Harry, who tended to disregard danger on a whim, nodded thoughtfully.

"When I had just graduated from Hogwarts..." Bryan continued, his voice taking on a more personal nostalgic tone.

"At that time, I lacked both a comprehensive understanding of the vast and Wizarding world and genuine confidence in my own magical. I always fantasized about how I should escape if I encountered truly powerful wizards—"

Bryan rummaged in his pocket for a while, then, under everyone's curious gaze, took out two things. One was a sealed glass bottle containing a solidified purple-black paste, while the other was a hard-shelled fruit the size of a green apple.

He first showed the fruit to everyone. "Who can tell me what this is?"

Hermione squinted, trying to identify it but couldn't recognize what it was.

"It's Finnish bayberry, Professor Watson!"

The confident exclamation came not from Hermione but from the back of the classroom where the sixth-year students were.

Cedric had risen to his feet and continued to say, "Professor Sprout covered this in our advanced Herbology course last term,"

Cedric continued to explain with genuine enthusiasm. "She told us that mature Finnish bayberry is a catalyst for brewing Blood-Replenishing Potion…. However, the one you're holding was harvested when it was still immature. In this premature state, the bayberry has completely different properties."

His voice took on a more serious tone as he reached the most relevant part of his explanation. "If an immature bayberry suffers a violent impact or crushing force, it will immediately secrete a large amount of hallucinogenic gas that induces extreme dizziness, disorientation, and temporary blindness in anyone who inhales it."

A murmur of impressed interest rippled through the classroom as students realized the strategic applications of such an item and several of them like Weasley Twins exchanged meaningful glances.

"Very good indeed, Mr. Diggory. Five points to Hufflepuff—" Bryan smiled and nodded at Cedric, who then lowered himself back into his seat under the admiring gaze of Cho Chang.

"This shows exactly what I've emphasized to you before. If anyone has forgotten those words, I am happy to repeat them," Bryan said solemnly as he observed the attentive students. "Pay close attention to every magical subject at Hogwarts—Charms, Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, and yes, even subjects that might seem less immediately practical such as Astronomy and Ancient Runes..."

He paused meaningfully before continuing with more emphasis. "Your complete mastery of these foundational magical subjects will ultimately determine how high you can rise in your magical careers and, more importantly, how effectively you can protect yourselves and others when confronted with genuine danger. Every subject contains knowledge that could one day save your life or the lives of those you care about."

From his seat between Ron and Hermione, Harry subtly curled his mouth into a frown of reluctant agreement. While he logically acknowledged the wisdom in Professor Watson's words, he couldn't help just want to throw Potions out of the professor's examples.

"And this potion I'm holding," Bryan continued, "is a specialized toxin I invented myself. It has roughly the same practical effect as the immature Finnish bayberry. When isolated from air, as it is now, it presents as a solid. However, once exposed to air, it will volatilize into a large cloud of highly toxic gas within a short time."

The moment these words left Bryan's lips; a sudden noise of alarmed reactions echoed through the classroom.

Clang! Clang!

Several students jerked backward in their seats with such force that their desks shook and scraped against the stone floor. Some students stared at the glass bottle in Bryan's hand with horror and instinctively leaned as far back as possible.

"Hehe, you obviously understand how to use these two items when facing danger, don't you—" Bryan said with a knowing smile. "That's right. At certain critical moments—I mean, specifically when you find yourself entangled by a troublesome opponent who means you genuine harm—you can use these or similar tools."

His expression grew more serious as he added an important warning.

"Of course, I must emphasize that it's not that you can't use these means to gain a temporary advantage in a formal duel or confrontation. These tools have their place in various scenarios. But I must warn you, if the one causing you trouble is a wizard with magical skills and power far surpassing your own then you cannot realistically expect these relatively simple tricks to actually defeat such a powerful opponent.

At most, they can create a brief window of opportunity, a few moments of breathing room for you to use for escape or to signal for help."

"Guess how many lives Watson has on his hands?" Blaise Zabini from Slytherin asked Theodore in a low voice, his eyes flashing with a faint light as he tilted his head slightly.

"I bet--" Theodore replied expressionlessly, his lips twitching, "no fewer than your father--"

"In the next stage of our theoretical lessons," Bryan said, his tone brightening as he carefully returned both the Finnish bayberry and the potion bottle to the deep pockets of his robes, "I will share with you many similar little tricks and tactical advantages...Oh, and just like how I discussed but did not demonstrate the creation of Portkeys, I won't teach you how to specifically make these particular gadgets. My intent is just to inspire your thinking and encourage creative problem-solving—"

He clapped his hands sharply effectively reining in the students' increasingly wild imaginations before they could venture too far into uncertain territory.

"Next, we will enter my spiritual world for some practical application of these concepts. Please get ready, everyone—"

Usually, for Friday's lessons, Bryan would have the young wizards practice fundamental defensive skills such as dodging incoming spells/dung-bombs or train their magical accuracy against moving armor. He typically avoided conducting actual dueling training on Fridays, saving those more intensive exercises for other sessions.

The transition began and Harry felt a familiar yet always confusing moment of dizziness, as if the world around him had suddenly lost its substance. His body felt light, as if gravity had decreased its hold on him, and the classroom seemed to dissolve into swirling mist before his eyes.

Having experienced this transition multiple times, Harry had developed a technique for maintaining his balance during the transfer. The instant his feet made abrupt contact with solid ground again, he had already stabilized his body with ease, avoiding the embarrassing stumbling like before.

Blinking to clear the momentary disorientation, Harry pulled his gaze aimlessly around him, expecting to see the familiar endless stretch of pure white that typically formed the base environment of Professor Watson's spiritual world before it was shaped into a training scenario.

However, in a single sweeping glance, his expression transformed from casual readiness to startled amazement.

The surrounding environment was not the usual blank white space but instead was a scene as richly detailed and colorful as the real world itself—perhaps even more so.

Harry found himself standing on a wide stretch of Rocky Mountains that extended to the distant horizon in all directions. A massive crimson sun hung above the western horizon. The terrain surrounding them was similar to the arena where the champions had faced dragons during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament with oddly-shaped stone spikes protruding out every so often on the ground.

"What's going on?" Harry murmured to himself. This level of detail and complexity far exceeded the usual training environments Professor Watson created. There was a sense of vastness and authenticity to this place that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

After appearing in this unsettlingly realistic version of Professor Watson's spiritual world, the members of Harry's regular training team quickly gathered around him. Hermione arrived first. She was followed closely by Neville, whose usually hesitant movements were even more obvious in this unfamiliar environment. Ginny appeared last.

They united near Harry, forming a circle almost instinctively. Ginny glanced at Harry, her gaze was colder than usual, while Neville widened his eyes and stared around, looking extremely uneasy.

"Another new training scenario?" Hermione whispered, her mind already attempting to categorize and understand their situation. "The level of detail is extraordinary... I've never seen Professor Watson create something this complex before."

All around them, other students emerged from streaks of white light that momentarily illuminated the landscape before fading away. Each new arrival showed similar reactions of astonishment and disorientation as they took in their surroundings.

Hannah Abbott squatted down curiously and pinched a bit of dust from the ground between her fingers. She rubbed it thoughtfully, her expression one of wonder as she felt its texture and consistency. "It's so incredibly real,"

She wondered aloud to Susan Bones beside her. "If we didn't know beforehand that this was Professor Watson's creation, we absolutely couldn't distinguish this from the actual outside world!"

Her words captured the sentiment shared by many as they tested various aspects of the environment.

While the young wizards were still absorbed in their astonished exploration of the surroundings, Bryan had already silently appeared above a raised flat rock formation approximately twenty feet from where most students had gathered.

"The specific training exercise for this final stage will be arranged as follows—" Bryan raised his voice, drawing everyone's attention. A white smoke ring floated out from his wand, rapidly expanding in the wind to become a circle large enough to encompass approximately half the area of a Quidditch pitch, with the rock where Bryan stood marking its center.

Bryan nimbly leaped down from the rock and said to the bewildered students, "I will not participate in this stage of training. You will complete it entirely on your own--"

"But what exactly are we supposed to do?" a student asked.

Bryan smiled slightly. "This new stage of training is specifically designed to test your ability to resist coordinated attacks while under pressure and to escape from complex danger scenarios that require both individual skill and team coordination."

He gestured toward the smoke he had created. "The exercise will function as follows: The group taking the initial challenge will position themselves at the center of the smoke ring—right here."

He stamped his foot once on the ground beside the flat rock to indicate the starting position.

"Simultaneously," he continued, sweeping his arm in an encircling gesture around the perimeter, "three additional groups will be selected to take specific positions at three different points along the smoke ring's boundary. The exact locations around the perimeter are chosen freely by those three groups."

Bryan began walking slowly around the center point as he explained on the rules. "Both the challenging team and the perimeter teams can freely enter and exit the smoke ring during the exercise. However, the three perimeter teams share a single objective—to prevent the challenged group from leaving the smoke ring."

He paused, allowing this information to register before delivering the final piece. "The challenged group is considered to have successfully completed the exercise if they manage to break out of the encirclement and exit the smoke ring."

Looking at the students frowning in concentration, Bryan chuckled. "Who wants to volunteer to demonstrate for everyone?"

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