Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 89 The Screaming Shack

Historically, the left side of a ball is always the loser, but Ike wasn't worried at all. He even had the energy to tell Hermione to leave quickly.

This kind of battle was clearly not something she could get involved in right now, and Hermione knew that. She got up from the ground, ran quickly past Ike, and only said, "I'm going to find the professor," before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

A cruel glint appeared in Rita's eyes, her voice shrill and unsettling: "She went to find the professor, Ike. Are you sure you want to fight me here?"

"There's nothing wrong with this place." Ike continued to output magic power.

"Aren't you afraid they'll discover your secret?"

"I never intended to hide it."

Ike flicked his wrist, the red light slicing the green light aside. With a quick movement of his feet, he leaped to the side, unleashing a shattering spell with a wave of his hand.

Rita didn't go to catch Ike's shattering spell. Instead, she ducked and rolled on the ground, dodging the spell and the flying rubble.

Seeing this, Ike didn't even flinch. He raised his hand and cast another disarming spell, while simultaneously moving his left hand slightly, casting a silent freezing spell right after.

Rita received the Disarming Charm this time, but was hit squarely by the Freezing Charm, causing her body to stiffen. Ike seized the opportunity, waving his right hand and casting another Disarming Charm, knocking Rita's wand away.

"A soul-stealing curse?"

Ike caught the flying wand with his left hand, his eyes fixed on Rita.

Rita suddenly burst into laughter, the sound shrill and her face unconsciously contorted.

"Ike, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ike cast a stun spell on Rita, who immediately collapsed to the ground unconscious. With a casual wave of his hand, a rope suddenly appeared and bound Rita tightly.

be cheated!

Coming to his senses, Ike turned and ran in the direction Hermione had gone.

There was only one professor's office on the second floor of the castle, Professor McGonagall's. A short while later, Ike arrived at Professor McGonagall's office door and saw Hermione still banging on the door.

"Alright, Hermione."

With such a commotion in the hallway, it was impossible for the professors not to know. Hermione had been knocking for several minutes, but Professor McGonagall hadn't opened the door, and Ike knew perfectly well why.

That contract that Dumbledore mentioned!

"Stop knocking," Ike said. "We have more important things to do."

"us?"

Ike nodded and replied, "That's right, us."

As she spoke, she grabbed Hermione's arm, threw the wand into the air, and after the wand spun a few times in the air, the tip of the wand pointed straight in one direction.

"Go that way, we need to hurry, if he gets away, it will be too troublesome to find him again."

Hermione stumbled as she was pulled along, but quickly ran a few steps to catch up with Ike.

They ran through the corridor and straight to a window. Ike didn't slow down at all; he swung his left hand forward, and the glass shattered. Without slowing down, he grabbed Hermione and jumped out, then flicked his fingers twice to cast shock-absorbing spells on them.

Hermione gasped, but Ike seemed not to hear her and continued running in the direction the wand was pointing.

"Stop, Ike! Stop!" Hermione shouted. Fear filled her eyes; the approaching Whomping Willow terrified her, and she could already picture the two of them being mashed to pieces by the enraged Whomping Willow.

"Don't be afraid, it won't hurt us!" Ike said casually. To Hermione's horror, the Whomping Willow did not rage as he had said. Its roots even twitched, making way for a hidden path.

Ike patted the thick roots of the Whomping Willow, then ducked and crawled inside. Hermione, who had been pulled along, resignedly followed.

The two quickly passed through a narrow passage and came out to find a dilapidated shack sitting alone in an open space.

"This is... the Screaming Shack?" Hermione looked at the dilapidated house in front of her, which looked like it would collapse at any moment, and immediately called it by name.

"That's right, the Screaming Shack." Ike released his right hand, which had been holding Hermione's arm, and paced back and forth in the open space. Seeing that the tip of his wand was pointing at the dilapidated house in front of him, he then raised his hand and took the wand.

"Looks like this is the place."

"Ike..." Hermione stared intently at Ike, her tone somewhat unfriendly, "Shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

"Of course, Hermione," Ike replied casually, "but not now..."

"When was that?!"

Ike paused for a moment before replying, "I'm sorry to have dragged you into this, but the moment Rita attacked you, keeping you by my side was the best way I could think of to protect you..."

"Remember, no matter what happens later, don't leave my side!"

With that, Ike walked to the door of the shed first. He raised his wand to his brow, held it loosely in his left hand, and then pushed it.

"Stay close to me!"

A shattering spell smashed the rotten wooden door open, and Ike shouted as he went inside. Hermione stomped her foot in frustration, but finally followed closely behind.

The screaming shed was pitch black, with bits of wood scattered on the floor and the walls covered in marks that looked like they had been damaged by the claws of wild beasts, making it look quite terrifying.

"Come out, Tom! I know you're here!"

Ike spoke loudly, cautiously looking around at his surroundings. He didn't rashly push open any of the doors inside the house, but simply stood in the center of the empty living room.

"Heh heh heh, Ike, you still managed to find your way here..."

A somewhat gloomy voice rang out from somewhere, making it impossible to pinpoint the speaker's location.

"Stop with those little tricks! You can't escape this time!"

boom!

A door suddenly opened, and a young man dressed in Slytherin attire emerged, with black hair and a somber expression. At the same time, a putrid stench wafted out.

"I must admit, finding you wasn't easy." Ike shielded Hermione behind him with his left hand, while his wand remained pointed at Voldemort in his right, showing no sign of letting up. "But you still slipped up."

"Life-extending potions, contracts, curses—I admit I underestimated you back then, and you've caused me a lot of trouble."

"But now that I've found you, you have no chance!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dazzling red light emanated from Ike's wand and arrived in front of Comrade Xiao Fu in the blink of an eye.

Comrade Xiao Fu remained completely calm, blocking the attack as if he were casually waving his hand.

"No chance? Heh heh heh," Comrade Xiao Fu suddenly laughed, his laughter grating. "Ike, you know nothing about magic!"

"You're saving that damned Mudblood, aren't you?"

"So you also need to protect the person behind you, right?"

"You're so smart, why didn't you think of that...?"

"If I don't want you to find..."

"Can you find it?"

(End of this chapter)