Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 52 Snape's Taboo

Ike leaped forward, landing a left hook on Goyle's face. He then ducked, sweeping his leg to trip Clark, who was dancing, before casting a Disillusionment Charm to disappear from sight. When he reappeared, he was behind Malfoy.

Malfoy had joined the fight at some point, his face bruised and swollen, but he was much better off than Ron, who was still spitting out snot in pain. But the moment Ike appeared behind him, it was all over.

"Mr. Malfoy, you still owe me an answer." Ike's sinister voice rang out, and Malfoy, who was about to throw a spell at Harry, froze on the spot, goosebumps rising all over his body, and cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

Just as he was about to turn around, Harry seized the opportunity and threw a petrification spell, which knocked Malfoy to the ground.

Ike revealed himself, pursed his lips, and waved a disarming charm behind him, knocking away the Slytherin who was attacking from behind. He then slapped away the disarmed wand, put on an armor charm, and disappeared back into the crowd.

The feeling of punches landing with flesh is definitely more satisfying than using magic to send someone flying.

Unfortunately, just as Ike had delivered six punches and eight kicks, he heard a voice filled with suppressed rage.

"What are you doing! Stop it all!"

Professor McGonagall suddenly appeared on the Quidditch pitch, and with a wave of her wand, three red beams of light shot into the chaotic crowd. They nimbly weaved through the crowd, binding and pulling the young wizards aside one by one, and in no time the three houses were perfectly separated.

"Hmph!" Professor Snape appeared a little later next to Professor McGonagall, looking at the group of strange little wizards in front of him, and his whole demeanor became even colder.

Slytherin was the worst off. They were already outnumbered, and their leader, Marcus, was knocked unconscious at the very beginning of the battle. Without a leader, the snakes were basically no different from a disorganized mob.

Although Gryffindors fight by sheer recklessness and lack of strategy, the addition of several hawks nearly turned it into a one-sided victory. Unfortunately, everyone got carried away towards the end, resulting in a lot of friendly fire magic damage, which is why the people from all three houses ended up looking so miserable.

Of course, compared to the others, the little snakes are the most pitiful.

Professor Snape was clearly too angry to speak. The fight itself was bad enough, but the fact that he'd lost was what infuriated him most. Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, was different. In her view, fighting was wrong. Having caused such a huge incident, no one present should be allowed to escape.

"Gryffindor -150 points! Slytherin -150 points! Ravenclaw -150 points!" Professor McGonagall's face was frosty. "Everyone will be placed in solitary confinement until the Christmas holidays!"

The young wizards were like frightened little quails, not daring to breathe, while Professor McGonagall was like a lion king surveying his territory, with complete silence in sight.

"Now tell me, why did you point your wands at your classmates?!" With the punishment over, it was time to find out the cause. Professor McGonagall looked around; with everyone else transformed into bizarre, unidentified creatures, Ike, whose clothes weren't even wrinkled, stood out conspicuously.

"Mr. Streid, you speak!"

Ike cursed himself for being stupid, but having been called on, he had no choice but to step forward and reply, "Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, actually Slytherin..."

Before he could finish speaking, several shouts came from the Slytherin crowd: "You were the one who struck first!"

"Is that so, Mr. Strayed?" Professor Snape's gaze swept over him like a knife.

"Yes, Professor Snape." Ike didn't intend to hide this; it was impossible to conceal such a thing, so he might as well admit it openly. "However, I had my reasons for taking action."

"Even if there's a reason, it's still wrong of you to strike first. Ravenclaw, deduct 20 points!" Professor Snape's voice was cold.

"Alright." Ike tilted his head slightly. "But Professor Snape, I think you need to know why I intervened. It's very important."

Before Professor Snape could speak again, Ike continued, "Mr. Malfoy of Slytherin said a very nasty, very impolite word to me and Miss Granger of Gryffindor..."

"Mudbloods, that's what he called us mudbloods!"

"Good heavens!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, covering her mouth in disbelief. Looking at the wretched Malfoy on the ground, her eyes held a mixture of bewilderment, anger, and frustration. "Slytherin, deduct 50 points! I will write to your father and tell him about this. You need to watch your words, Mr. Malfoy!"

Professor Snape didn't speak, but Ike could tell from the bulging veins on his forehead that he was struggling to control his anger.

Based on what Ike knew of him, Snape had two things he regretted most in his life: one was when he was humiliated by James Potter and others by being hung on a book with the Upside-Down Bell Charm at school, and was rescued by Lily Evans who happened to be passing by. Because he was embarrassed in front of the girl he liked and was saved by her, he was so ashamed and angry that he said the word "Mudblood" to the only person he ever loved; the second was that he told Voldemort part of the prophecy, which led Voldemort to believe that Harry was the child of the prophecy, and then cruelly killed Harry's parents.

Lily Evans was Snape's lifelong pain. He hated himself for not protecting his beloved Lily, but he hated even more the word he had uttered.

Now, as the head of Slytherin, Snape was filled with disappointment and anger that his students had publicly insulted him with such vile words.

"Mr. Malfoy..." Snape's voice was deep, the last syllable drawn out like a devil's whisper, "You have disappointed me greatly. I will ask your father to come to the school so I can speak with him about your problems in person..."

"And you, you need to learn properly what rules are, what manners are..."

"School rules, one hundred times: no help from others, no use of automatic writing quills, you must write it all yourself, word by word!" Snape glared at Malfoy. "You only have one week!"

Professor Snape was indeed punishing his own students. Professor McGonagall remained silent, but after Professor Snape finished speaking, she instructed the young wizards who had come to watch the commotion to move the group of wounded to the school hospital.

Ike also contributed; his Lv6 levitation ability proved invaluable in this situation. With a wave of his wand, Roger, Cho, Stuart, and others, along with Hermione and Harry, floated up and slowly made their way towards the school hospital.

As for Ron, he was still spitting out slugs, which was absolutely disgusting. Even using magic, Ike felt it would taint his wand.

The school hospital hadn't been this lively in a long time. Madam Pomfrey was furious. While instructing the young wizards to help put the injured on the beds and treat them, she kept complaining. Eight out of ten of her complaints were about how daring the young wizards were these days, and the remaining two were about how Dumbledore shouldn't have abolished those strict school rules.

After settling Roger and the others in, Ike went straight to Hermione's bedside. The little witch was in relatively good condition, except that half of her hair was burned and her front teeth were protruding. Ike hadn't been able to find Hermione during the chaos of battle, only later discovering that she was well protected by the lion cubs.

For some reason, Ike felt a weight lifted from his heart and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Nek..." Hermione stammered, her words barely audible. Ike, seeing this, quickly pulled out his wand and cast a counterspell.

Hermione covered her mouth, and was pleasantly surprised to find her front teeth had retracted. But her expression immediately changed, and she said, "Ike, you shouldn't have acted impulsively..."

Ike reached out to interrupt Hermione, tucking the blanket around her, and replied, "Don't overthink it. Malfoy insulted me too, and I hit him. It's between him and me..."

Looking at the little witch's half-burnt hair, Ike smiled and said, "What you need now is rest. Perhaps you could consider cutting your hair off; this half is clearly beyond saving..."

"Of course, I recommend cutting it all off. Mrs. Pomfrey's hair growth serum works really well." Ike stood up and waved. "I'm going to check on Stuart and the others. They're not as lucky as you; looks like they'll be staying at the school hospital for a while..."

This is my first update, I'm too ashamed to ask for votes.

I've been quite busy lately, I'll catch up this weekend.

(End of this chapter)