Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 27 Midnight Duel

In the dining room, Harry was in a turmoil, his mind racing with thoughts.

When he woke up in the morning, he belatedly realized how Loren knew about Cerberus and how to deal with it. What was this method?

In response, Loren tore bread into pieces and added it to the pumpkin porridge, then added a spoonful of honey and stirred it well, replying, "I saw it in a book, but I forgot which book it was." His tone was extremely perfunctory.

Harry just wanted to dump the pumpkin porridge on Loren's head.

"Harry Potter, enjoy your last weekend at Hogwarts. I've already written to my father, who's on the Hogwarts Board of Governors, and you're going to be expelled." Malfoy's provocative voice rang out, still as annoying as ever.

"Now that you're back on the ground, and with your little friends by your side, you're much braver." Harry, whose thoughts had been interrupted, was quite blunt. Professor McGonagall had said that the fault didn't lie with him, and he trusted Professor McGonagall more than his father, the Malfoy school board member, whom he had never met.

The Gryffindors around them laughed at the opportune moment. The main seat was full of teachers, and Malfoy and his two henchmen dared not make a scene. They could only keep their faces gloomy and crack their knuckles.

"I'm always ready to duel you one-on-one," Malfoy said. "If you have no objections, tonight. A wizarding duel. Wands only, how about it?"

"I bet you've never heard of a wizard duel before, have you?"

Ron stepped forward: "Of course we know. I'm his assistant. Who's your assistant?"

Malfoy ultimately chose the taller, more menacing-looking Crabbe. "How about midnight, the trophy room?"

After they made their agreement, Malfoy left triumphantly with Crabbe and Goyle.

Ron tells Harry about wizard duels, where two people fight using magic, and if an assistant dies, the assistant takes over. However, since both are first-year students and have only been in class for two weeks, they can't use any powerful spells.

"The best course of action is to simply throw away the wand, aim for his nose, and deliver a powerful punch!" This was Ron's final conclusion.

"Excuse me, I overheard you and Malfoy talking." Hermione couldn't help but interrupt them.

"Malfoy is a pureblood, so he might know some curses you don't. In hand-to-hand combat, the two of you combined wouldn't be able to beat Crabbe."

"Most importantly, you absolutely cannot wander around the school at night. Think about how many points Gryffindor will lose if you get caught, and you'll definitely get caught anyway. Don't be so selfish."

Loren, standing nearby, let out a satisfying burp: "I think Hermione has a point."

But Harry and Ron felt this had nothing to do with them, and the two went back to the common room to discuss their battle plan.

At 11:30 p.m., the dormitory quieted down. Ron and Harry quietly slipped out of the dormitory and went up the spiral staircase to the common room.

A few embers flickered in the fireplace, making the armchair appear as a dark shadow.

Just as they were about to reach the portrait aisle, they heard someone speak from the nearest chair: "I can't believe you actually did this, Harry!"

A lamp flickered on; it was Hermione, wearing a pink nightgown, her brow furrowed.

"I'm going to tell your brother Percy—he's the prefect!"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, then, ignoring everything else, pushed aside the fat woman's portrait and climbed out of the hole.

Hermione was furious and followed them out: "Don't you care at all about the House Cup scores? I earned them bit by bit from the professors!" She spoke like an angry lioness.

"This is none of your business!" Harry thought this person was being too nosy.

Suddenly, a wheezing sound came from the shadows.

"Could it be that Mrs. Lorris discovered it from the start?" Ron held his breath.

It wasn't Mrs. Lorris, it was Neville, curled up on the floor, fast asleep. He was jolted awake as the group approached. "Thank God, I lost the note with the password on it, and I've been locked out for hours!"

This was something that used to happen often. Harry and Loren would check if Neville had returned before going to bed. If not, they would come out and open the door to check. Occasionally, the Weasley brothers, who were out for a night stroll, would bring Neville in.

However, this hadn't happened since Neville got the Memory Orb, but it happened again today.

"Keep your voice down, Neville. Today's password is 'Pig Nose,'" Harry said, turning to look at the portrait of the Fat Lady.

The figure in the portrait by the door was gone, leaving only some background on the canvas. He exclaimed in a low voice, "The fat lady has gone visiting again."

The group wasn't too worried. The older students had told them that when few people were home, the plump lady often went out to visit other people's homes, exchanging ideas about opera and bel canto singing with other artists. She would usually return in less than an hour.

"Ron and I will go duel first. Hermione, keep an eye on Neville and don't interfere in our affairs anymore," Harry decided.

Hermione disagreed; she wanted to keep an eye on them so they wouldn't get caught by Filch or break any more school rules. Neville didn't want to be alone either.

Ultimately, the four decided to go together, which would also prevent Malfoy from taking advantage of their numbers.

Under the dim light, a group of people tiptoed along, holding their breath and not daring to breathe loudly.

Even so, the journey was far from peaceful, with screams erupting from time to time. The Blood Man Barrow always managed to frighten Neville, as well as Sir Nicholas, who deliberately hung upside down from the ceiling with his head drooping.

Even Neville would want to curse if he saw this.

In the end, the four of them arrived at the prize display room without any major incidents.

The exhibition hall was pitch black at night. The gilded trophies and medals reflected a few scattered lights, barely making out the outlines of the objects.

Loren, who had been waiting behind the display case for a long time, finally saw the group of people, but he did not say anything.

The four moved close to the wall, their eyes fixed on the doors at either end of the room. Harry held his wand in case Malfoy suddenly burst in.

There was still no movement after a long time.

Loren, chin in hand, strolled over to them and uttered a guess, "Do you think Malfoy might be playing a trick on you two?"

A sound suddenly came from where they thought no one was around, and the four people in the room were startled, all looking at Loren in alarm: "What are you doing here?!"

Loren made a wronged expression, "You guys didn't take me on your team-building night trip, so I came by myself."

Hermione is going crazy. Five Gryffindors went on a night out together. If they get caught, their House Cup score could be reduced to negative.

Harry knew things weren't that simple: "What happened?"

Loren then half-truthfully revealed what he had done: "I overheard Malfoy's plan in the toilet."

"They plan to lure you here, then report you to Filch for going out at night, to teach you a lesson."

"So at dinner, I told Malfoy that you should change the duel location to the first floor."

Ron shouted angrily, "That despicable Malfoy! So despicable! He doesn't respect the rules of wizard duels at all!"

"Loren, why didn't you just tell me this!" Harry was also very angry; he had almost been fooled like a fool.

Hermione started berating Harry and Ron: "I knew it, I knew it! If it weren't for Loren, you two simple-minded guys would have made us lose points!"

"I think night tours are really interesting!" Loren pulled out some nuts and handed them to the group. "We've never done a night tour before, so this is a good opportunity."

Such words, such behavior, and the presence of nuts and snacks stunned everyone.

How can you so confidently say you want to go for a night stroll! And why are you dragging us along with you!

Why are you so well-prepared?! You even have snacks!

(End of this chapter)