The Silent Bookstore Manager at Hogwarts

The Slytherin reinforcements that came to their aid were all wiped out. A dozen or so Slytherin students lay on the ground without any regard for aristocratic decorum, some groaning in pain, others simply falling into a peaceful sleep. Harry was very restrained; at least he didn't break any bones or anything like that. They just felt pain for a while and were fine again, able to get up and be normal again.

"Well, thank you for coming to help, but my advice is that you all start running away immediately. If either Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape finds out what's going on here, they'll definitely be furious."

Harry gave this advice. In fact, he only used the 'Expelliarmus' spell once throughout the entire incident, which was even considered a self-defense spell release. So as long as he wasn't caught in the act, Harry could say that he had ample room to defend himself. After all, today's incident was originally caused by Slytherin people gathering to cause trouble, but they were just unlucky and none of them stood up.

No one questioned Harry's decision at this moment. Everyone silently followed Harry's advice, coming and going in a hurry, leaving behind a group of Slytherins who had slowly recovered and stood up with faces full of shame.

"Where did that monster come from...?"

A second-year student couldn't help but speak up. He had never seen Gryffindors like this before. Despite being wizards, their movements were like those of ghosts. Their spells simply couldn't hit them. The few spells that did hit were blocked by a wave of his arm, making them impossible to have any real effect. In fact, when things got heated, some of them even used some high-powered spells, such as Shatter and Blaze, but it was all for naught.

These second-year students didn't even consider their control over the spells; they were only focused on increasing the power and casting speed. As a result, the spells were naturally crooked and didn't even manage to brush against Harry's clothes.

And then there was that ever-present long staff. In fact, all the Slytherins were still feeling a dull ache in their arms. Harry had given each of them a wand-holding ...

Malfoy, the instigator, was also horrified. He couldn't understand why Harry had become so terrifying. He had heard about Harry's feat of slaying the troll, but to be honest, there were many ways to slay a troll. Harry might have just gotten lucky and used some kind of magic to incapacitate the troll. So before today, Malfoy had never believed the rumors that Harry had won a one-on-one hand-to-hand combat against the troll.

But now, he couldn't help but believe it. Harry's monstrous close-combat abilities would be a massacre against them, the young wizards, in such a confined space. And now, the perpetrator of this "massacre" could even swagger away. After all, if the professors found out about this, only the Slytherin students would lose face, as a dozen people couldn't defeat one.

So the Slytherin students could only swallow their anger and help each other leave the already quiet corridor. Fortunately, no other students would pass by at this time, otherwise they would have been discovered.

Meanwhile, Harry was once again surrounded like a hero. The Gryffindors, including Neville, who had been temporarily called in to provide reinforcements, were welcoming their greatest hero today: Harry, the absolute powerhouse who had single-handedly defeated more than a dozen Slytherins to help his classmate.

Harry was the only one secretly groaning. He only appeared very relaxed; in reality, he felt that his wrists and arms were completely numb, and many parts of his body were aching. Harry's body was telling him that he had reached his limit. This was also the reason why he pretended to be so calm in front of the Slytherins. He didn't want to let people know that he was at his limit.

"Red, it's so unethical of you to betray me at this time..."

Harry thought helplessly, thankfully Reid hadn't completely lost his conscience; at least he knew to remind Harry of the professors' whereabouts before leaving and offered to hold off Professor McGonagall, which allowed them to escape safely without encountering any professors.

Of course, the iron rod used as the murder weapon was also casually conjured by Red using shapeshifting magic. It was said that he plucked a handful of feathers from who-knows-where, but in any case, only the two of them knew about it.

"Harry, you went to do this without telling me!!!"

Ron was one of the few who complained to Harry about how Harry hadn't even invited him, his good friend, to help him save his classmates from those wretched Slytherins. Ron even suspected that Harry didn't consider him a friend at all.

"Ron, look at me standing here, I'm actually a little unsteady on my feet... You don't really think facing a dozen or so classmates, or even a second-year wizard, is easy, do you?"

Harry showed Ron his own hands, and Ron paused for a moment.

"I wasn't really sure at all, which is why I didn't call you. It would be a real sin of mine to send you to the infirmary because of my idea..."

This wasn't entirely a lie. Harry was absolutely certain he could take down the Malfoy trio, but the Slytherin students who arrived later were something he hadn't anticipated. Fortunately, he and Red assessed their fighting ability and decided they could handle them, which is why they stayed there to use them as punching bags for training. Otherwise, Harry would have already dragged Neville away with him.

"And you know, if this kind of thing gets discovered, we'll both be locked up in solitary confinement, which would be the least of our worries... You don't want your mom to send another yelling letter, do you?"

Ron snapped out of his daze and nodded. He really didn't want to hear Roaring Letter's roar anymore; it was just too terrifying.

Of course, before going to bed, Harry asked Ron to help him with some treatments for his body, so that he wouldn't wake up the next day in so much pain that he couldn't even get out of bed.

"Hagrid's dragon will hatch in a few days, right?"

Ron and Harry turned off the lights in their dormitory, but they still chatted for a bit before going to sleep, as usual.

"Hmm..." Harry felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him, his eyelids heavy. He just mumbled a few words in response before closing his eyes and falling asleep peacefully.

He dreamed of many things. The war woven from tangled barbed wire seemed to have haunted his dreams again, but this time, he was able to observe every corner of the battlefield with equanimity.