Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 98 Saturday, a lively night tour

The school clinic is located on the second floor of the castle.

As evening approached, the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the transparent glass windows, casting a golden cloak over the white sheets of the hospital bed.

At that moment, Ron was staring blankly out the window.

A thousand thoughts raced through his mind: he was worried about his friends being expelled and annoyed that Harry had used a Stunning Charm on him.

The poison on the dragon's teeth caused him excruciating pain; it's truly baffling how Charlie endured it.

"Ron, we've come to see you."

Ron turned around, his eyes a little puffy from sleeping too long.

Loren looked Harry up and down. He seemed to be fine except for a minor bump. The swelling around his eyes was probably due to Harry's Coma Spell.

Ron was also looking at his friends; they had smiles on their faces and didn't look like they were about to be fired. He felt relieved; things seemed much better than he had thought.

Ron greeted them cheerfully, "Loren! Hermione! You're here!"

The fact that he wouldn't call Harry by his name amused Loren and Hermione. The two sat side by side on the hospital bed next to each other, silently watching the show.

Harry was influenced by Professor Quirrell for a whole class and now felt that he was incredibly strong-willed, and that this slight was nothing to him.

He sat down on Ron's hospital bed, as if he hadn't heard what had just been said, and said casually, "You probably don't know, but Ms. Pomfrey didn't even notice the fire dragon. I thought I was going to be fired."

Ron still didn't seem inclined to engage with Harry: "Is that so? Maybe it's because I told her it was a dog bite."

"Smart!" Harry exclaimed dramatically, slapping Ron's bandaged hand.

"Aww~"

Ron, caught off guard, could no longer keep up the act: "Enough, Harry, I haven't settled the score with you for using the Stunning Charm on me."

The three couldn't help but laugh out loud; this was the Ron they knew.

Ms. Pomfrey entered upon hearing the laughter and warned, "No sudden movements."

This is to prevent the wound from reopening. In the magical world, ordinary physical wounds can be healed directly with potions. However, Ron's wound contains an "unknown toxin" and can only be healed naturally.

Ms. Pomfrey told the group that thankfully they were brought in in time, and the wound wasn't seriously aggravated. He only needed to stay in the school clinic for two days and could be discharged tomorrow.

Ron counted on his fingers: he'd be discharged tomorrow, which would be just in time for Snape's Potions class on Friday.

He looked up, a pitiful expression on his face. "Dear Ms. Pomfrey, I feel pain all over my body, not just in my hand. Could I stay another day to rest?"

Upon hearing this, Ms. Pomfrey glanced at the three people beside her.

Loren, Hermione, and Harry sat upright, their backs ramrod straight, their faces all bearing an expression that said, "Why are you looking at me? It's none of my business."

I've never heard of any damage caused by dragging.

Ms. Pomfrey finally nodded in agreement to Ron's request, and looked at the three culprits beside her, "You have five more minutes. The patient will need to rest in five minutes."

After saying that, he left through the door.

"Yay!" Ron cheered, "No more Potions class with the old bat!"

Generally, Hermione would scold Ron at this point, telling him that with finals approaching, he should be studying harder in class.

But not this time. Hermione, along with Loren, reluctantly praised it as a clever move, saying it might reduce Gryffindor's points deduction by Snape, and Ron might even have contributed to Gryffindor's House Cup victory in the end.

"Fire dragons are truly dangerous creatures," the three said, feigning concern.

The naive little dragon Norber is currently eating a mouse, unaware that he has been unfairly blamed.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was Friday morning.

As soon as Loren and the others entered the restaurant after Potions class, they saw Ron stuffing roasted chicken legs into his mouth, his cheeks bulging.

The bandages on his hands had been removed, and purple medicine was still applied to the wound.

"Ronnie, my little darling, I heard you got bitten by a dog~"

"We were even planning to visit you!"

George and Fred joked as they each restrained Ron with one hand, carefully examining the wound on his hand.

"It's nothing now. I just wanted to skip a couple of classes," Ron said hastily, trying to cover it up. He wasn't sure if the twins could tell anything from the wound, since they had both seen the dragon wounds on Charlie's body.

After confirming that Ron was alright, the twin brothers exchanged a suspicious glance, released Ron's hand, and whispered in his ear:

"Hey, I advise you to stay away from the Forbidden Forest in your first year."

"We're not sure when Mom's yelling letter will arrive."

Before Ron could react, the twins had already retreated.

Seeing that they weren't bothering his wound, Ron breathed a sigh of relief and started chatting and laughing with the young wizards around him.

Loren slowly savored his steak, carefully removing the bone from the meat with his fork, overhearing the twins' conversation.

The twins were not exactly well-behaved students; their reputation for nighttime outings was well-known among the first-year wizards, but they had never been caught. Most of their demerit points were for pranks.

Harry and Ron's frequent use of invisibility cloaks to enter and leave the common room late at night may have been detected by the twins using the Marauder's Map.

Loren was very interested in the alchemy techniques on the Marauder's Map, which involved magic related to names.

It's quite interesting that such advanced magic and alchemy techniques were mastered by the "Raiders" group during their student days.

Upon closer examination, their Animagus also contributes to their remarkably high success rate.

There are only seven registered Animagus in the whole of Britain, and all three of them succeeded, including Peter Pettigrew, who wasn't particularly talented.

They may have mastered advanced theories of human transformation, which would greatly help Loren on his path to biotransformation.

Hogwarts Castle always holds endless mysteries waiting to be discovered.

Loren wiped the salty-sweet meat juice from his mouth and made a mental note of it.

Meanwhile, Seamus told Ron in a low voice about the recent rumors: "According to the portraits in the corridors, a Slytherin wizard who has already graduated has sneaked into the castle. He is a cruel and evil dark wizard."

"They would torture the kidnapped body and destroy his soul in the dead of night, in some unknown classroom."

"Actually, this has happened before, which is why Hogwarts forbids young wizards from going out at night."

Loren listened to the ghost stories with great interest while eating. It turns out that even magic schools have scary tales circulating; I wonder if Hogwarts Castle was built on a cemetery.

As night fell, Loren went to the basement as usual to complete Snape's weekly quests.

It's been almost a year now. In the beginning, Snape gave Loren a reading list for him to read on his own, which helped him build a basic knowledge system of Potions and understand some rudimentary principles of potions.

Making snake venom and having him carefully pick out the flower stamens seemed more like a test of his character.

After Snape shared some of his thoughts on the greatness of potions and the elixir of immortality, the two became much closer during that period. The most obvious sign of this was that Snape stopped using the title "Mr. Morgan."

Loren accepted Snape's kindness and treated him as his own teacher.

Occasionally, when Snape did something that seemed malicious, he would just make a comment and not take it to heart.

Then they started building a foundation, learning about the properties of various materials and methods for processing herbs. Occasionally, when Snape was concocting some simple potions, he would have Loren help out.

Recent teaching content has focused on processing herbs, with an emphasis on the rational processing and utilization of herbs under various conditions.

Also, there's the Divine Sword Shadowless Curse.

For Loren, Snape was no longer just an NPC.

Pushing open the door, Snape sat behind his desk, looking somewhat tired, and didn't react to Loren entering.

"Professor Snape, what shall we do today?" Loren asked tentatively.

"We won't be dealing with herbs today. I'll answer some of your questions about potions." Snape spoke more slowly than usual, his tone flat.

The two exchanged questions and answers about potions, and during this process, Snape's mind gradually shifted back to instructing Loren.

After the lesson ended, Loren didn't leave. He found Snape's appearance strange. He had seen Snape before in moments of melancholy, anger, and arrogance, but this was the first time he had seen him so exhausted.

"Professor, what's wrong?"

"Tomorrow, Mr. Crabbe will be visiting Hogwarts with documents from the Board of Governors."

"What's it to you?"

The headmaster of Hogwarts is Dumbledore, and the deputy headmaster is Professor McGonagall. You, a Potions professor, aren't just trying to infiltrate and climb the ranks? And it seems you actually did eventually rise to power.

"He is—" Snape stopped there. Why tell a first-year Muggle wizard this? He wouldn't understand anyway.

After Voldemort's downfall, some Death Eaters cleared their names, and on the surface, they appeared to have done nothing wrong.

Or, to put it another way, they use various methods to prevent the Aurors from finding any evidence that they have done wrong. There are also some highly skilled individuals who, even when caught as Death Eaters, manage to get the Ministry of Magic to admit their innocence.

This group of people still live a respectable life in the wizarding community.

This group all believed that Snape was one of them, and the most successful one at that, as he fooled Dumbledore and became the Potions Professor and Potions Master at Hogwarts.

Those driven by greed want to use this opportunity to build relationships and make some shady deals.

Snape wouldn't have bothered with these people at all. But for Dumbledore's so-called mission, and for what might happen in the future, he had to make plans.

Snape found it somewhat amusing; why was he telling Loren all this? He then dismissed Loren.

Those bastards will eventually pay the price for their schemes. He needs to think carefully about how much to increase the price of this batch of potions, or perhaps add some delicious seasoning.

Loren couldn't hear what Snape was thinking, but it seemed that Snape had figured it out and there wasn't a big problem.

His alchemy array was nearing completion, and he was now working on inscribing the third pair of runes. Loren had a gut feeling that the third pair would go more smoothly than the previous two.

Harry's long-awaited Saturday finally arrived.

The weather was not good that day; the sky was gloomy, the wind was howling, and the sky was covered by thick clouds.

Obviously, the nightlight will be blocked. If it were Wednesday, Hermione would be interrogating Loren about his stargazing report again.

But today is Saturday, and Harry and Ron think it's a good day for them to get going.

During the day, they pretended to be studying in the library. But only Hermione was actually studying seriously; Harry and Ron were restless.

Harry repeated, "The twelve known uses of dragon blood include oven cleaner, spot remover, wart treatment..."

In Ron's mouth, it became Norber's blood. Its twelve known uses include...

"Hermione, where did Loren go?" Harry couldn't concentrate on his reading anymore, so he tried to find something to say.

"Fiddling with his gadgets, remember? You told Hagrid about it." Hermione paused, then added, somewhat indignantly, "He really should study harder; his exams are coming up soon."

She had previously practiced the Unseen Stretching Charm with Loren, but after catching up with Loren's progress, she hadn't yet put it into practice due to the Ministry of Magic's regulations. However, Loren seemed to really intend to do so.

Every time Hermione tried to persuade him, she would repeat the same question: "Are you going to report me?"

Utterly despicable.

Harry wasn't listening at all. Hearing Hagrid's name reminded him of a dragon, and he mechanically repeated, "Yes, yes, little thing."

"Look, Professor McGonagall," Ron said, pointing to the doorway.

Hermione looked up and saw Professor McGonagall and several faculty members accompanying a tall man on a tour of the library.

The man was wearing an ill-fitting suit and was trying hard to straighten his back, like a bear trying to be a gentleman; he looked quite comical.

Upon seeing the restricted area with its ropes, the man's expression turned to disgust, and he shouted, "If you ask me, Hogwarts shouldn't be keeping these books about dark magic."

Mrs. Pince, the librarian, suddenly appeared beside the group, ignoring them completely, and angrily waved a feather duster, shouting, "Get out! Get out!"

Those nearby quickly tried to persuade Mrs. Pings to stop.

The man looked at Professor McGonagall with a sullen expression.

Professor McGonagall frowned. "Mr. Crabbe, you know the rules of Hogwarts, and they haven't changed over the years. I still have some work to do; you can tour the place yourself."

"If you wish to visit Professor Snape, he is in his office." With that, he left with several faculty and staff members.

Seeing that Mrs. Pince looked like she was about to explode at any moment, the man also left.

"Who is this?" Harry asked Ron in a low voice, looking down.

They had important business to attend to today, and the sudden appearance of a stranger at the school made him somewhat uneasy.

"One of the hypocrites, Mr. Crabbe, the father of Malfoy's henchman."

Ron explained to Harry and Hermione what hypocrites (those Death Eaters who have been whitewashed) are.

Harry's face showed disgust. He already knew that his parents' deaths were due to Voldemort and his Death Eaters: "For someone like that to visit Snape, Snape is definitely not a good person."

Why didn't Dumbledore send them all to Azkaban?

"Actually, it's quite complicated..."

At this moment, in the Room of Requirement, Loren had already ruined more than a dozen boxes with his drawings.

Looking at the box in front of him that had been burned through by the alchemical array, Loren rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. "It's definitely not a problem with the array. I can draw arrays with my eyes closed right now."

Just last night, he completed the sketching of three pairs of runes. Inside the alchemy lab, he created a spatial box using a briefcase and unicorn hair that Flamel had created virtually.

I arrived here early this morning to verify this in the real world. The House of Requirement could only provide a briefcase, and the unicorn fur it produced was actually the fur of some unknown animal. It was white, but it didn't have any magical properties.

He had no choice but to use the unicorn hair Hagrid had given him—a huge clump, countless in number, enough for him to wreak havoc.

Fortunately, the suitcases were fine. They even came in all sorts of styles—luxurious, exquisite, and crude.

Loren also saw the marks of pure-blood families on some of the suitcases. He wasn't sure if these were left behind by teachers and students over the past few thousand years, or if the House of Requirement had materialized them with magical power according to Loren's needs.

The bottom of the leather-lined box had black scorch marks and some particulate impurities.

Loren roughly knew where the problem lay: within the Book of Fantasy, the virtual materials were all high-quality unicorn hair. Although the magic wasn't abundant enough for a wand core, it was also free of impurities. Such impurities wouldn't cause a short circuit within the magic circle.

In fact, this situation proves that the magic circle was drawn correctly. The heat is to remove any impurities inside; an ordinary suitcase wouldn't withstand such a high temperature and would get burned through.

"You need fresh unicorn hair of sufficient purity, or a suitcase that can withstand this temperature."

"Do you want a suitcase made of a special material?" Loren shook his head.

Who knows what problems might arise during the process of making the suitcase? Maybe I just wanted to make a space device at first, but it ended up turning into a handcrafted alchemy lab.

It's impossible to find unicorn hair in the Forbidden Forest. Unicorns only love pure young girls, and there's nothing he can do about it; there's truly no way to do anything about it.

A box, a high-temperature resistant box.

Loren's mind flashed back to the box of frozen pears Malfoy had given him; it seemed to contain some kind of freezing magic, which might be able to fulfill his needs.

Back in the Gryffindor Tower, some young wizards were passing the time in the common room, while many more were outside the castle searching for traces of summer.

The dormitory was empty, just what Loren wanted. A light touch of his finger caused a flash of silver light, and his consciousness entered the Book of Fantasy.

"Flamemer!"

He told Flamel about the problem with the impurities in the unicorn hair.

Flamel's expression was strange: "It was my oversight. Nico hasn't used unicorn hair with impurities for centuries. So I didn't consider that issue."

Flamel pondered for a moment: "Do you want to learn how to remove impurities without damaging the unicorn's fur?"

"This involves a very classic spell array, which requires learning about 73 pairs of symmetrical runes and 151 asymmetrical runes."

"At your previous pace, you should be able to finish before graduating from Hogwarts."

Loren remained expressionless. "Do you want to hear what you're saying?"

He mentioned his idea of ​​using a box with refrigeration magic and asked Flamel for his opinion.

"You can give it a try."

Having received an affirmative answer from Flamel, Loren withdrew from the Book of Fantasy and rummaged through the empty box under the bed.

The box is slightly larger than a regular suitcase, but not quite the size of a full suitcase. The outer layer is made of an unidentified black leather, with a wooden frame supporting the main body. The clasp is made of gilded metal and decorated with peacock patterns.

Opening the box released a chilling aura. A ring of blue, gold-plated patterns adorned the side of the box. The gold plating style was likely modern, primarily decorative; the chilling effect was mainly due to the box's material.

The leather of the box is made from some magical animal from the snow-capped mountains or polar regions, and its constant temperature and refrigeration function is enhanced by magic and alchemy.

With the current comprehensive laws protecting magical creatures, it must be worth a fortune. Back then, Malfoy was so arrogant that he told him he didn't have to pay it back. I wonder if old Malfoy ever disciplined that spendthrift.

Loren returned to the Room of Requirement and began his experiments...

The light gradually dimmed, and night fell in complete darkness, with dark clouds gathering.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione split up. Hermione waited in the tower to make sure they didn't miss Charlie's friends; Harry and Ron slipped out of the castle to Hagrid's hut to bring Norbert over.

The night was dark, and the calls of unknown animals could be heard from time to time in the forbidden forest.

Harry and Ron stood by and watched Hagrid pack Norbert into a large crate.

They arrived at Hagrid's cabin a little late, as Peeves was playing badminton against the wall in the foyer, so the two of them had to wait for him to leave.

"I prepared a lot of mice for him, and some brandy." Hagrid's voice was deep; he liked this little cutie, like a little rabbit.

"Maybe I should put its teddy bear in there too, so it won't be lonely on the way."

The little dragon banged its tail inside the box, making the box rattle and creak.

"See, it thinks so too." Hagrid opened a partition on the box and threw the teddy bear made of cloth strips through the opening.

A tearing sound came from inside the crate, followed by a burst of fire. Clearly, the teddy bear was dead.

Ron seemed to feel it as if he were experiencing it himself, and he shuddered, feeling a dull ache in his right hand.

Harry felt a chill run down his spine. Damn it, there must be some kind of dark magic involved in the dragon egg, otherwise why would he have been so foolish as to support Hagrid in hatching it?

After Hagrid said goodbye to Norbert, he used a levitation spell to lift the crate, allowing it to follow behind him and Ron.

Once the invisibility cloak was on, the two men and a large box vanished into thin air. In the pitch black, no one knew they were smuggling a fire dragon.

In the tower, Hermione was alone in the dark night.

She knew illumination spells, fire-starting spells, and hundreds of ways to light up the place. But no, that wouldn't work; it would attract attention.

"That wretched Loren, of all times he has to be gone." Hermione tightened her robes, a gesture that brought her some comfort.

She forced herself to review the material, but her mind kept wandering. Finally, she gave up and chose to focus on venting her anger at someone.

Just as Hermione was making fun of a certain unreliable guy for the 101st time, Harry and Ron's bodies emerged from below, and they successfully reunited.

Although Hermione has many flaws and is not easy to get along with, Harry and Ron felt a sense of security the moment they saw her.

The Levitation Charm was very easy to use; everything went smoothly except for Norber occasionally throwing a tantrum inside.

"We're so lucky, there are no obstacles along the way, and maybe we can even see the stars," Ron said.

No one paid any attention to Ron's lame jokes. The three of them guarded the box, waiting for Charlie's friend to arrive.

Summer hasn't arrived yet, and some chill still lingers in the night; in the darkness, this coolness is even more pronounced.

I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly a blond figure appeared at the tower entrance.

"Malfoy! What are you doing here?"

All three wands were pointed at Malfoy at the same time, and a surge of magic rippled within them.

"Fools, I'm here to help you." Malfoy glanced back, seemingly worried that someone was following him.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, seething with hatred. This guy had been scaring them for almost two weeks.

"Why not put a binding spell on him and remove it tomorrow?"

"A Stunning Curse would be more suitable."

Only Hermione wasn't blinded by greed; Malfoy's appearance meant their plan had been exposed.

She needed more details: "Explain clearly."

"Let's go first, we can talk as we go," Malfoy said somewhat anxiously.

Harry quickly retorted, "Why should I believe you?"

"I'm really going to report you. You should bring the professor with you now." Malfoy wanted to curse. "Let's go, Crabbe and his father are coming."

"Death Eaters!" This statement threw Harry and his friends into a panic.

Hermione made Norbert's crate float again, Ron pulled Malfoy into the Invisibility Cloak, and Harry's wand remained aimed at Malfoy.

They went back into the hallway and listened carefully to the sounds coming from the stairs below.

The sound of armor clattering to the ground came from downstairs, followed by Sir Nicholas's hearty laughter.

Harry was the first to realize: "Headless Nick is helping us."

Although Sir Nicholas always intimidated them, he had a good relationship with Loren.

Despite the ghost's help, the sounds below were getting closer and closer, and they didn't dare to breathe.

"We have invisibility cloaks, they might not be able to spot us," Ron said.

"Meow!" A cat's meow came from above; it was Mrs. Loris.

Crabbe and his son bribed Filch!

"Nober's scent can't possibly escape that cat's nose." Harry's mind raced, trying to find a solution to this predicament.

"Come with me quickly." In her panic, Hermione thought of a place they couldn't find.

Harry and Ron immediately pulled Malfoy along to catch up.

"Where do we go?" Harry asked, as they were now stuck upstairs.

"Go find Loren."

"What do you mean?"

Loren should be in his dorm right now. Did he go out for a night stroll again?

"Just come with me."

Hermione didn't want to take them to the Room of Requirement.

That was where Loren celebrated her birthday, like a birthday gift from him. The two spent many weekends at the Room of Requirement, a secret hideout known only to the two of them.

But the situation is critical now, so we have no choice but to take a few people with us.

The group followed Hermione quietly.

Malfoy began to recount the events: "When Mr. Crabbe was visiting the school infirmary, he found a book with a reply from Charlie Weasley inside."

Ron's hand holding the wand trembled. "I forgot, I put the letter in the book."

"Fool." Malfoy was happy to whip Ron's self-reproachful heart.

Harry and Hermione didn't blame him; it was all a coincidence. No one would have expected someone from outside the school to suddenly visit Hogwarts, let alone the infirmary.

Malfoy then recounted the aftermath, explaining that a single letter was insufficient to convince Professor McGonagall, and that the Crabbe father and son planned to catch them red-handed, so they went up to the tower to arrest them after lights out.

"Once you're discovered with the dragon, just like that big oaf, you'll all have your wands broken and be expelled from Hogwarts," Malfoy said, his voice turning gloating.

"Expel him!"

"Hagrid's wand has been broken!"

Hermione and Harry had different focuses, but they both quickened their pace.

"Why are you helping us?" Hermione asked.

"Ha! I only did it because I felt sorry for you."

Since the last incident in the stands, Crabbe has become estranged from him and no longer obeys his orders as before.

Malfoy felt that he was only trying to thwart this lackey's scheme and teach him a lesson; the great Malfoy family would never tolerate betrayal.

As for Harry, he just got incredibly lucky.

He wasn't really in a hurry; even if he were caught, the Crabbe father and son wouldn't do anything to him. Although Crabbe dared to disobey him, his father certainly wouldn't dare to disobey another Malfoy.

Malfoy considered this a unique adventure, examining the invisibility cloak with great interest, and considering that perhaps he should buy one himself.

On the other side, Sir Nicholas's joking voices rose higher and higher as Filch and his men approached.

Her feet kept moving, and the silly painting was just behind that corner. Hermione's mind was filled with unspeakable thoughts, and the closer she got to it, the weaker her legs became.

But the commotion behind them forced them to get closer.

"To be honest, I was quite surprised that you were working with Malfoy."

A mocking voice suddenly came from ahead, where Loren stood carrying a box. His eyes gleamed with a bright blue light, and a playful expression graced his face.

"Loren!" Hermione felt a huge weight lifted from her heart and rushed to Loren's side, wanting to say something but unable to find the words.

Harry and the others came up to Loren and told him about his current situation.

No one noticed one problem: how Loren discovered them under the invisibility cloak.

Sir Nicholas's voice grew louder and clearer, as if it were pounding on their hearts.

"I didn't expect it to come in handy so soon." Loren opened the box from which blue ice crystals were emanating. Inside the box, there was a white six-pointed star pattern on the bottom, with a symbol on each corner.

The occasional swirling silver light added to the mystery of the magic circle.

Loren dragged the floating crate, struggling to shove it toward the magic circle. Like a black hole, the crate gradually shrank upon touching the circle, slowly disappearing inside.

The box was closed, and the little box bounced a few times on the ground before settling down.

Harry and Ron watched in disbelief, their mouths agape. No wonder Hermione said she wanted to find Loren; although Loren was misled by Snape, he was incredibly reliable most of the time.

"This is the box I'm giving you!" Malfoy exclaimed excitedly.

He had certainly seen the Unseen Stretching Charm before, but this box certainly hadn't had that function before. This was so cool; Loren was nothing like those stupid Gryffindors.

Hermione was conflicted. This violated the Ministry of Magic's regulations, but avoiding expulsion was more important right now.

"Just finished, now there's only room for one crate." Loren shrugged, unable to squeeze anyone in; the punishment for wandering the night was still unavoidable.

He was quite satisfied with the box and believed it could be improved in the future.

Once the fire dragon is hidden, the rest isn't a big problem. Getting caught out at night just means a few points will be deducted, and with luck, you might not even be put in solitary confinement.

Completely evading them is unrealistic. With Lady Lorris around, the invisibility cloak won't be very effective. They managed to fool Filch last time, but they might not be able to fool the Death Eaters this time.

Letting the smell disappear in front of the House of Requirement is not a good solution.

They planned to return to the tower and hand Norber over to Charlie's friend. Since they were out at night, meeting with someone from outside the school wasn't a big deal, and giving a friend a small box was perfectly normal.

As long as the dragon isn't caught red-handed, losing points is better than being expelled for breaking a wand.

In just a few minutes, Loren's arrival changed everything. The group strolled back to the tower openly and casually, as if taking a walk. They had never felt so comfortable taking a nighttime walk before.

"To be honest, Malfoy, I thought you'd love for Harry to get expelled," Loren teased.

"Indeed, that's what I think. This time it's just to get revenge on Crabbe." Malfoy raised his head proudly. "Malfoy cannot be betrayed."

Ron pursed his lips, but this time he was indeed grateful for Malfoy's help, so he couldn't bring himself to say the sarcastic words that were on the tip of his tongue.

8k, one chapter short of 10,000, I'll try again tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)