My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 27. Ian Campbell

First-year astronomy classes are held every Wednesday at midnight, at the top of the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower.

The Slytherin and Ravenclaw wizards, yawning, climbed the Astronomy Tower. Astronomy Professor Aurora Sinesta was already there waiting for them.

"Ian Campbell!"

Professor Sinister frowned and called out the name of a new Ravenclaw student, but none of the young wizards responded.

The professor looked very upset; the fact that a young wizard had skipped class in the very first period had put her in a bad mood.

"Ravenclaw loses 10 points. We'll have class now, and I'll inform Professor Flitwick of this tomorrow."

"Today is a full moon; be careful not to let the moonlight affect your judgment..."

Lynn was setting up his binoculars as instructed by Professor Sinister. He still remembered the Ravenclaw guy named Ian; he was the arrogant white-haired boy who carried an umbrella on a sunny day.

He seemed to have some secret, but Lynn wasn't interested in it.

At that moment, Lynn's three roommates, Hubert, Michel, and Mark, suddenly appeared in front of him.

Lynn has been either reading or sleeping whenever she returns to her dorm these past two days, without exchanging a single word with them. Their arrival at this time clearly indicates some kind of ulterior motive.

"What's wrong?" Lynn looked away from the binoculars and towards them.

Hubert seemed a little hesitant, but his two friends kept encouraging him to move forward.

Lynn squinted and watched their performance silently.

Hubert finally seemed to have mustered up a great deal of courage and bowed to Lynn.

"I was wrong, Belloc. I shouldn't have mocked you like that. Please forgive me."

Lynn stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled and helped him up, as if she had completely forgotten the unpleasant things that had happened before.

"Didn't I already say that I've already forgotten about that little misunderstanding? From now on, let's straighten out our capsized little boat of friendship and stay together forever."

Hubert didn't understand Lynn's ramblings, but he could tell that Lynn seemed to have genuinely forgiven him.

He immediately became happy.

"That's wonderful! To celebrate our reconciliation, I used my allowance to order a batch of desserts from Honey Duke Candy Shop. Would you do us the honor of joining us for a meal tomorrow afternoon?"

Lynn's smile widened, as if she were delighted by the sincerity of Hubert's apology.

"Of course I'd love to, my friend!"

After receiving Lynn's affirmative reply, Hubert and his companions did not leave, but instead stayed with him to observe the planet's trajectory through a telescope.

The four of them chatted and laughed until the end of astronomy class, and Lynn's dormitory relationship suddenly became so harmonious.

"Lynn has really made Slytherin proud these past few days. Even those stupid Gryffindor lions have lost a lot of confidence when they talk to us..."

Even before going to sleep, Hubert was still chattering on about Lynn's glorious achievements, as if he and Lynn were the closest of friends.

A friendly evening has passed.

At four in the morning, Lynn's biological clock forced her to wake up, even though she hadn't slept for four hours.

He washed up, changed into his robe, and left the dormitory as usual.

He hadn't given up his morning run habit. Cedric usually arrived at Black Lake at five in the morning, and Lynn had been jogging around the lake for less than an hour before that.

At five o'clock in the morning, Cedric arrived on time. He circled around Lynn, who was resting on the lawn, and looked quite surprised.

As they spent more time together, Lynn lost the politeness she had shown him at the beginning.

"Never seen a handsome guy before? What are you looking at?"

Cedric scratched his forehead and said uncertainly.

"I remember first-grade astronomy class was every Wednesday at midnight, right? Why are you up so early today?"

Lynn also seemed a bit listless.

"I'm used to getting up at this time every day. Anyway, I don't have classes in the morning, so I can just go back and catch up on some sleep later."

At this point, Lynn seemed to suddenly remember something and perked up.

"Would you curse me?"

Cedric was puzzled as to why Lynn would suddenly ask this, and he drew his wand.

"Many young wizards at Hogwarts know a few bad curses; after all, in certain situations, these spells can actually be quite useful. Locomotor Wibbly (weak legs)"

As he spoke, he demonstrated by casting a curse on a frog by the lake.

After being cursed, the poor frog immediately slumped to the ground, croaking weakly.

Lynn recognized that he had used the Leg-Lowering Curse, a curse that was also recorded in the Book of Wicked Words that Professor Fox had given him yesterday. At the same time, the Tongue-Sealing Choke he used on Hubert on the first night of school also fell into the category of curses and was recorded there.

"Then let's practice this today." Lynn took out his wand and confirmed his target.

"Why would you suddenly want to learn evil curses?" Cedric asked, as if he had figured out the reason himself. "Well, you're a Slytherin, and basically Slytherins and Gryffindors all have a thing for these evil curses."

"Why is that?" Lynn raised an eyebrow.

Cedric explained, "Because your two houses often get into brawls, the curse will make the other side suffer a little but won't cause too serious consequences."

Lynn was speechless. So, in the eyes of the junior wizards of the other two houses, Slytherin and Gryffindor were just two gangs of scoundrels.

This morning, Lynn witnessed his talent in dark magic. Dark spells are essentially spells related to dark magic. Cedric only had to demonstrate the evil spells he knew once, and Lynn was able to use them successfully on his first try without any mistakes.

Cedric only knew three evil spells, all of which Lynn learned in one morning and could use proficiently, giving him a long-lost sense of frustration.

"Okay, I admit it, you're the fastest little wizard I've ever seen learn spells."

Lynn didn't think he was being praised at all: "How many junior wizards have you met? If Professor Dumbledore had said that, I might have been excited for a while."

Just as Lynn and Cedric were chatting idly by the lake, a boy strolled leisurely along the lakeside not far away.

They all saw the boy's appearance clearly: striking silver hair, frighteningly white skin, and a tattered robe that made him look quite disheveled.

Lynn recognized the boy; he had skipped Professor Sinesta's astronomy class the night before. He was a Ravenclaw freshman named Ian Campbell.

Ian staggered past them, as if he hadn't seen them at all.

Cedric frowned and tried to step forward, but Lynn grabbed his arm.

"He looks like he needs help," Cedric said, looking at Lynn.

Lynn shook his head and said, "His current state might involve his privacy, and it seems he doesn't want us to help him with anything."

Upon hearing Lynn's words, Cedric hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not insist.

Ian eventually limped into the castle and disappeared from their sight.

"Alright, that's enough for today. It's time for breakfast now."

Lynn and Cedric put away their wands together just as they entered the castle.

A sharp, piercing scream suddenly rang out in Hogwarts.

(End of this chapter)