Hogwarts: Oh no, I've become Voldemort!

They had been there for at least an hour. Cyrus could tell Ron was getting impatient. All they could see was Riddle standing in the doorway, peering through the crack, waiting like a statue.

“Don’t be impatient. The person who opened the secret room was hiding here. He was with the monster he was raising.” Cyrus’s words forced them to calm down.

Just as their patience was about to run out, there was a commotion outside the door.

Someone was moving quietly in the passageway. They heard the person pass by the underground classroom where he and Riddle were hiding. Riddle, as silent as a shadow, slipped through the crack in the door and followed. Cyrus led them over.

They heard a door creak open, and then someone spoke in a hoarse voice.

Come here...come out, come up here...come here...come into the box...

"This is the heir? This person's voice seems somewhat familiar," Hermione said, frowning.

They saw the dark figure of a large boy squatting in front of an open door, with a large box beside it.

They soon understood why they felt familiar, especially after the argument between Riddle and Hagrid in their memories—

"Good evening, Rupert," Riddle said sternly.

"It's over," he said. "I have to report you, Rubeus. They're discussing closing Hogwarts if the attacks don't stop."

I know you didn't mean to kill. But monsters aren't ideal pets. I guess you just wanted to let it out for some exercise, so—

"It didn't kill anyone!" the big boy said, taking a few steps back and leaning against the closed door. Harry could hear a strange rustling and clattering sound behind him.

Riddle moved closer. "The dead girl's parents are coming here tomorrow. Hogwarts can at least guarantee that the guy who killed their daughter will be killed..."

"No, it's not that!" the boy roared, his voice echoing through the dimly lit passageway. "It can't! It absolutely can't!"

"Get out of the way," Riddle said, drawing his wand.

This action immediately put Harry and the others on edge. They were looking forward to a spectacular duel, but also worried about Riddle's safety.

Riddle's spell illuminated the corridor with a sudden burst of fire, which also illuminated the face of the enormous boy.

"It's Hagrid!" the young wizards exclaimed in unison, but none of them wanted to believe it was true. "How could it be Hagrid?"

The memory did not falter because of their surprise.

Riddle's spell slammed Hagrid against the opposite wall, simultaneously knocking open the door behind him.

A huge, hairy, low-lying body darted out quickly, so fast that its shape was almost invisible!

Riddle raised his wand again, but it was too late. The monster fled in panic, knocking him to the ground, then dashed down the corridor and vanished.

Ginny and Hermione were terrified, but Cyrus knew that Riddle had deliberately let the giant spider escape. The people killed by the giant spider looked completely different from those killed by the basilisk.

Riddle stumbled to his feet, watching its retreating figure; he raised his wand, but Hagrid lunged at him, snatched the wand, and knocked him to the ground, shouting:

【No--!】

Hagrid's rough voice shattered Riddle's memories.

Cyrus stood silently in the dark space with several young wizards. They seemed unable to shake off the "truth" they had just witnessed. After a long while, Hermione frowned and tried to excuse her friend:

"Mr. Riddle, could it be that you've got the wrong person?"

“He probably didn’t do it on purpose, but you know he has a thing for huge monsters,” Cyrus said, trying to distract Hagrid and focus their attention on the monster. “That monster escaped back then, and maybe someone has brought it back now.”

“But—” Harry opened his mouth, wanting to defend Hagrid, but knowing that Cyrus was telling the truth.

During their time at Hogwarts last year, Hagrid had tried to keep a dragon in his hut, and the three-headed dog he called "Fluwell" was something they couldn't forget for a long time.

Back then, if Hagrid, still a boy, had heard that a monster was hiding somewhere in the castle, Harry knew he would have done everything in his power to see it. Hagrid probably thought it was absurd to keep the monster imprisoned for so long and that it should be given a chance to stretch its legs; Harry could even imagine thirteen-year-old Hagrid wanting to put a leash and collar on the monster. But Harry also believed that Hagrid would never intentionally kill anyone.

“I’m afraid that’s the truth. Ron, do you remember the book you lent me, *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*?” Ginny asked. “The Ministry of Magic marks the most dangerous creatures as xxxxx. You wrote on it, ‘or whatever Hagrid likes.’”

Ron tried a different angle.

“You sound just like Percy—after all, who told you to report Hagrid?” he complained.

“But the monster killed people, Ron,” Cyrus said, feigning helplessness. “I know Hagrid is your friend, he’s a good man, so Dumbledore was willing to vouch for him. But he’s just… I can’t just stand by and watch more attacks happen.”

“The attacks have stopped since Hagrid was expelled. If they close Hogwarts, I'll have to go back to a Muggle orphanage. I believe you understand that my desire to stay here is understandable…”

Harry understood, of course.

Everyone fell silent. After a long silence, Hermione hesitantly raised the most difficult question: "Do you think we should ask Hagrid about this?"

“That was a pleasant visit,” Ron said. “Hello, Hagrid, tell us, have you let any of those savage, hairy creatures out of the castle lately?”

So they decided to say nothing.

Chapter 52 Staffless Spellcasting

The truth seemed to have been revealed, but it had become another secret that could not be spoken. The group felt a heavy weight in their hearts, almost unable to breathe.

Except for Cyrus.

He returned to the Slytherin common room, intending to find time to continue his attack plan.

'I remember the fourth and fifth attacks happened almost simultaneously, and it was because of these two attacks that the school was nearly forced to close,' Cyrus thought.

Now is not the time to close the school. We must proceed gradually, making them believe that the situation is not too serious, and ideally, allowing Dumbledore to leave the school smoothly. Things will be much easier then.

"We still need to keep in touch with Lucius."

Cyrus muttered to himself as he sat alone on the sofa in the common room, crossing his legs.

A short while later, a tall and muscular man walked over, looking from a distance like a giant green gorilla.

“Malfoy—” Marcus Flint frowned. “Why are you still here? Go practice Quidditch! If we win the match against Ravenclaw, we’ll still have a chance to win.”

Last semester, Slytherin lost to Gryffindor in a Quidditch match, despite having the most advanced brooms and a clear advantage. However, Malfoy was so busy mocking Harry that he forgot he was still in the match and missed the chance to get the Golden Snitch first.

Marcus Flint was very unhappy with Malfoy after that incident. But what could he do? Malfoy's father was a member of the school board, and the Slytherin brooms were donated by his family. Even if he was unhappy, he could only endure it.

According to the tournament format, each house actually plays a match against the other three houses, and the final championship is determined by the scores achieved during those matches. They've lost one match, but if they surpass Ravenclaw by 300 points, they still have a chance to advance to the finals.

In reality, their chances of winning are very high; the gap between brooms is difficult to bridge.

The problem is that Draco Malfoy seems to have lost interest in Quidditch ever since the loss to Gryffindor. He still trains regularly, but he's not putting in any effort.

Even the team's most important player, the one who seeks the ball, has this attitude, so the other players inevitably start to slack off as well. With this kind of attitude, it's really hard to win!

Therefore, when Marcus saw Malfoy doing nothing, he immediately became angry and questioned him.

"Malfoy! I made an exception and appointed you Seeker, not so we could lose!" He strode up to Cyrus, his angry face contorted like a gorilla's. "Because of you, our team's Seeker is far inferior to those of other teams! And we can't possibly pull ahead of the other teams by more than 150 before the Golden Snitch appears, understand?"

"If you continue with this attitude, I will definitely kick you out of the team!" Marcus became more and more agitated as he spoke, and finally even stuck his finger hard into Cyrus's chest.

This angered Cyrus.

"Snapped!"

Cyrus coldly slapped Marcus's hand away.

"Don't point fingers at me, Marcus Flint. Or do you want me to hang you on the ceiling?"

Not to mention that he himself dislikes being told what to do, the owner of this body, Draco, is actually his "close friend"! How could he let himself be bullied like this?

"How dare you humiliate me?!" Marcus's gorilla-like face immediately turned bright red.

He felt humiliated. Ever since the fight club incident, everyone knew that he had been literally beaten up by a freshman, and he had been the subject of much ridicule.

Of course, he simply used brute force to shut those people up in response to their mockery!

But now, even a tiny Draco Malfoy dares to reopen his wounds and rub salt into them?

So what about the Malfoy family?

Who isn't a purebred of twenty-eight?

"Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson, Malfoy!" he said menacingly, drawing his wand. "How about I cover your face in pockmarks and make your teeth longer than that Mudblood from Gryffindor?"

Upon hearing this, Cyrus, who had been a little angry, suddenly laughed.

These inherently evil Slytherin little devils are nothing special after all; the most wicked thing they could think of was just to make people grow some pockmarks. How ridiculous!

You see, Cyrus had just planned to hang Marcus up first, then take off his pants and shove his head into the toilet.

"Then let's do as you say."

"What--"

"Expelliarmus!" Cyrus didn't even draw his wand; he simply unleashed a crimson beam of light with his bare hand, knocking Marcus's wand from his grasp.

He casually caught the other person's wand and held it in his hand.

The wand was made of blackthorn wood, and the core didn't quite resemble unicorn hair. Cyrus gave it a light shake and found it much easier to use than Draco's awkward wand. He thought the core might be a dragon's heartstring or the nerves of a dragon.

then--

"Your front teeth are as big as a stick!"

A curse struck Marcus instantly, and then his two front teeth began to grow wildly, turning his once beautiful gorilla face into a rabbit's. Unfortunately, he wasn't as cute as a rabbit.

Marcus was overwhelmed by the pain of teething; the ever-growing teeth forced his mouth open, rendering him unable to utter a single word. He could only let out whimpering cries.

Meanwhile, others in the common room had already witnessed this scene. They panicked and rushed out to find Snape.

Cyrus ignored it; he never took such a minor conflict to heart from the beginning.

Instead, he mercilessly unleashed another spell at Marcus.

Now, his face was covered with countless black dots, like a sky full of blooming stars.