"Here, this is what I was talking about."
He reached out, picked up a fat, pale grub that was still pupating, and turned to the camera, introducing, "This is the larva of a rhinoceros beetle. You can eat them raw straight away—of course, you can also choose to use a magic spell to conjure a fire and roast them. I'm serious, once they're roasted they're an absolute delicacy… But obviously, if we're being hunted down by Dark Wizards, using magic would expose our position, so that's when you need to eat it raw."
He tossed the still‑pupating grub into his mouth and chewed with a pained expression.
"Mm, tastes like chicken," he said. "But it kinda feels like it's bursting with juice in my mouth. Anyway, doesn't matter. The protein content of these grubs is five times that of beef—that's something I learned from Muggles!"
"Ugh!" Ron groaned, a wave of nausea surging up from his chest. "What the hell is that? Why is it so terrifying?"
"Oh." Harry looked up and paused the video. "This is Bear Grylls, he's one year above Bill. He's an adventure vlogger on a video site… At first he didn't have many viewers, but once he started showing real wilderness survival skills, look—"
As he spoke, Harry held his phone out for Ron to see. The screen showed that the video actually had a hundred thousand views.
For the Magic World, that was already a pretty terrifying number—that figure was more than the number of Wizards in the entire British Magic World!
And this Bear's fans numbered over a hundred thousand too, already a sizeable following.
"It's really freakish." Ron rubbed his chest and said, "Share it with me, I've got to really see how this bloke survives in the wild—disgusting, yeah, but it looks seriously addictive… Besides these bugs, what else does he eat?"
"Loads." Harry shrugged. "Aside from insects, he'll eat sheep eyeballs raw, and all sorts of meat, he even squeezes undigested food out of a camel's stomach to try to get water… Basically, if you can imagine it, he can eat it…"
Ron had a vivid imagination; he already had the mental pictures forming.
But strangely, even though his instincts were screaming that it was revolting, he still wanted to try watching it to see what was really going on.
Classic little glutton.
"No way, once we get back I absolutely have to watch and see what's going on." Ron said, his face set with determination.
Back in the dorm, Harry handed out the souvenirs, giving one each to Seamus and Neville.
The two of them were naturally delighted, but Harry said that as roommates and members of the Dueling House, they deserved gifts like this.
Of course, Harry hadn't forgotten the graduates either—Cedric and Megan each got a set as a present.
The result of all this was that the entire dorm got up very late the next morning.
Harry and Ron didn't care; they didn't have class for the first two periods anyway. But Seamus and Neville were doomed—they had to haul themselves out of bed and sprint to the Great Hall for breakfast.
With the start of the new term, the sixth‑years got a surprise: a big notice had been pinned up on the common room bulletin board the previous night.
Apparition Class
If you are already seventeen or will turn seventeen by August 31st, you may enroll in a twelve‑week Apparition course taught by an Illusionary Appearance instructor from the Ministry of Magic.
If you wish to take part, please sign below.
Tuition: twelve Galleons.
"This—Illusionary Appearance," Ron scratched his chin and asked Harry, "should be pretty fun, right? I remember Fred and George basically stopped using their legs the minute they learned this spell—they just Illusionary Appeared upstairs and downstairs all day long… Right, you can do this spell too, can't you?"
"Yeah." Harry said curtly. "But this spell is a bit dangerous—if you're not careful, it can cause you to split your body… Of course, now that you're old enough, I can also coach you on Illusionary Appearance outside of what the instructor covers in class."
"That's brilliant!" Ron said excitedly, then suddenly hesitated. "I remember you telling me back in first year that Apparition wasn't allowed in the school, right?"
"That's right." Harry nodded. "But if you have the help of a Phoenix, you can Apparition Displace freely within the school."
"No wonder." Ron said, suddenly enlightened. "No wonder Professor Dumbledore can always come and go as he pleases—he's got a Phoenix!"
Ron wasn't the only one excited about learning Illusionary Appearance. All day long people were talking about the upcoming course, really looking forward to being able to disappear and appear at will.
"How cool would that be, if you could just—" Seamus snapped his fingers to represent vanishing. "My cousin Figo uses that trick on purpose to wind me up. Once I learn it… he can kiss his peace and quiet goodbye…"
He was so lost in his daydreams that he swung his Magic Wand a bit too hard, and the trickle of clear spring water they were supposed to be Transfiguring for Spell Class homework turned into a Water Dragon, shot up to the ceiling, ricocheted down, and splashed right onto Professor Flitwick's face.
Professor Flitwick waved his Magic Wand and dried himself off. He was clearly a bit angry and ordered Seamus to copy out "I am a Wizard, not a baboon that waves sticks around" a hundred times.
The result was that Seamus earned himself a new nickname: "Curly‑Haired Baboon."
Because his hair was a bit naturally curly—even though he kept insisting it wasn't from an explosion, Harry remembered very clearly that Seamus did not have naturally curly hair.
Come on, mate, we know you too well. And you're still claiming that mess of curls isn't from an explosion?
"You're really getting good now, Seamus." Neville delivered a deadly roast from the side, landing a critical hit on Seamus. "Look at you, you're great with both water and fire—explosions on one hand, waterspouts on the other…"
Seamus was furious. He hooked Neville's head under his arm and dug his palm heel hard into Neville's forehead a few times.
"So," once he'd finished roughhousing with Neville, Seamus asked curiously, "Harry, can you tell us what Apparition Displacement feels like? You know we're all dying to find out…"
"Honestly, it doesn't feel that great, not when you're still inexperienced." Harry shrugged. "Leaving aside the risk of splitting yourself if you fail, the first time you Apparition Displace it feels like you're being squeezed through a really narrow rubber tube—this intense pressure crushing in from all directions, you can't breathe, your chest feels like it's clamped tight in iron bands, your eyeballs feel like they're being pushed back into your brain, and your eardrums feel like they're about to explode."
"It's… that awful?" Everyone nearby gasped.
"Of course." Harry chuckled. "Otherwise, why do you think they set the age limit for Apparition Displacement at seventeen?"
"How far can you Apparition, at most?" Seamus asked.
"I don't know the exact limits, but I do know that the longer the Apparition Displacement distance, the harder it gets—intercontinental Illusionary Appearance can only be done by extremely skilled Wizards, or you risk splitting yourself, serious injury, or even death." Harry said frankly.
"What about you?" Neville asked. "What's the farthest you can Apparition Displace?"
"You know," Harry shrugged, "sometimes I like to spend the weekend in Vienna with Vivi, then Displace back on Sunday—"
"That far?" Neville said in astonishment.
"You just need to keep practicing." Harry said cheerfully. "I was just telling Ron, aside from the school's Apparition Class, I can also teach you some little Apparition Displacement tricks… But only after you've actually mastered the spell. I'm not about to let you start running before you've even learned how to walk, got it?"