A certain broken Hogwarts

Chapter 85 Halloween Eve

Inside the wall-facing space, a white mist gently permeated the surroundings, obscuring the rows of bookshelves and creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.

Owen, who had been deep in thought, suddenly moved. He waved his wand, and an ominous black mist spread through the pure white space, from which a pitch-black shadow emerged, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet.

Owen reached out to his Dark Lord guards, watching the cold black mist and the flowing hem of his cloak swirling gracefully in his palms and the backs of his hands, a deep smile playing on his lips.

A cape flew nimbly over and draped over him, carefully straightening his crooked top hat and shrouding Owen in a thick black fog, obscuring his face completely.

An omnipresent chill and malice enveloped him, gradually calming his inexplicably excited mind. He pulled his cloak tighter around himself, leaned back lazily in his chair, and closed his eyes to rest. When sleepiness finally overcame him, he yawned, and after saying goodnight to Muse the rabbit who had once again huddled in the corner, he went back to sleep.

Curled up on the bed, Melete looked down at him with a disdainful expression the whole time, her golden cat eyes gleaming faintly in the night, like two clear glass marbles. Owen poured her a bowl of milk, picked up the little cat and stroked it all over before releasing the furious little creature and falling asleep on the bed.

The next morning, he was woken up early by Melete's little paws patting him repeatedly. Owen glanced at the faint red paw prints on his cheek in the mirror, rubbed his face, and smiled at the vengeful little guy.

He pulled a piece of paper from the drawer, dipped his quill pen in ink, and wrote a short letter to his father.

"...I'm doing alright at Hogwarts, just a little troubled lately, maybe it's the troubles of youth... I remember there should be a very spacious, seamless stretching charm chest at home. Instead of letting it gather dust at home for over a decade, why not send it over so I can use it for a while? I've found something interesting here, and if things go well, I'll bring you a super awesome birthday present at the end of the school year..."

After carefully sealing the letter, Irving took some time to go to the Owl's Hut and mailed it home.

Life at Hogwarts remained peaceful and warm, filled with laughter and joy. The bright sunlight dispelled the chill of the night and illuminated the figures laughing and playing.

Owen sat among the chatting young wizards, listening to the occasional childish complaints and youthful commotion. Having just done enough to last a lifetime in Azkaban last night, he felt as if he had been transported to another world.

"Owen, you practically didn't come home last night...did you really get a love letter?" Draco leaned closer with a gossipy look, squinting at Owen's barely noticeable dark circles. The surrounding young wizards turned to look, their expressions filled with astonishment.

"Ah, perhaps. I received an invitation from a mysterious person, and then we embarked on a thrilling adventure together," Owen replied lazily, a smirk playing on his lips. He reached out and pressed Draco's blond hair, pushing the boy's increasingly close head away.

"Tell me, who is that person?" Blaise grabbed him by the neck from behind, while Daphne and Harry cast curious glances at him.

"Guess," Irving said with a mischievous grin.

Time slips by quietly in the peaceful daily life on campus, and before we know it, it's Halloween Eve.

Blaise somehow acquired a large swarm of live bats. He waved his wand in the common room, intending to enlarge them, but the spell went awry. The bats tore through the bag that imprisoned them, rampaging through the common room and vomiting green slime, causing considerable discomfort to many people.

The girls, their heads covered in slime, screamed and ran back to their dorm, but the red-eyed bats followed them in. The boys frantically tried to catch the bats, and while they were at it, they secretly punched the culprit, Blaise, a couple of times.

Owen was discussing Transfiguration with Daphne when he leisurely cast an Ironclad Charm above their heads. Then, watching the chaotic scene around them with amusement, he remarked with a nonchalant air, "How full of energy!"

Daphne glanced at Owen, who seemed to thrive on chaos, with a smile, then rested her chin on her hand and gazed at the tranquil, dark lake outside the window. She always possessed a rare serenity amidst the noise, like the brilliant autumn sunshine spreading across the fields.

"The banquet is about to begin, let's hurry up and get there." Owen packed up his homework, put the sleepy-eyed Melett in his pocket, and gracefully walked through the chaotic crowd towards the auditorium.

The Great Hall was decorated in a riot of colors, with low, dark clouds swirling above the dining tables and enormous pumpkin lanterns flitting about in the sky. Countless bats fluttered and flew across the ceiling, causing the young Slytherin wizards, still shaken by Blaise's bat nightmare, to frequently look up and peer around with lingering fear.

The young wizards only settled down after the sumptuous food appeared on the golden platters, chatting amongst themselves as they ate.

Owen glanced at the faculty seating area; several seats were empty, indicating that not all teachers were willing to attend the banquet. Headmaster Dumbledore was enjoying a plate of cream pudding, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were chatting harmoniously, but Snape, Quirrell, and Hagrid were not present.

He glanced again at the Gryffindor table and saw Hermione talking to Neville, indicating she wasn't absent from the banquet.

"Ah, looks like tonight will be a peaceful night." Owen cut a piece of steak and stuffed it into his mouth.

"...I don't know. Mr. Dumbledore just talked to me for a long time about my parents and their affairs..." Harry said quietly, recounting what he had seen in the headmaster's office yesterday. "Also, he told me to come to his office once a week on Saturday nights so he can give me a private lesson."

Amidst the surprised and envious gazes of the young wizards, Harry blushed, but his expression betrayed more nervousness and anticipation.

"Wow, you're going to be Dumbledore's successor, Harry," Owen exclaimed, glancing at Dumbledore with a smile in his eyes. "Maybe he wants to groom you as his successor."

"No way, don't talk nonsense..." Harry hurriedly waved his hands, his face turning even redder. He was actually just as confused, after all, in terms of learning ability, Owen and Hermione were much better than him.

"Don't worry, I'm not jealous of you, because I also have people I consult," Owen said jokingly, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. Although that professor was obsessed with dark magic and harbored ill intentions towards him, his skill level was not bad either.

Before Harry could say anything, the doors to the Great Hall were suddenly kicked open, and Quirrell rushed in, looking terrified, gasping, "There's...there's a monster! In the underground classroom..."

After saying that, he fell to the ground without a sound, his cheek making intimate contact with the ground with a "thud." He fell hard; he's a tough guy.

"Ugh, how unoriginal." Owen swallowed the last piece of steak in his mouth, slowly finished his pumpkin juice, and watched as Dumbledore used his wand to release purple fireworks to calm the panicked young wizards.

"Prefects, take the students from each house back to the common room," Dumbledore said calmly, glancing at Quirrell lying on the ground. He then hurriedly left the Great Hall, the teachers following behind.

The prefects were shouting loudly, the young wizards were huddled together in a chaotic mess, the Great Hall was packed with people, and the sounds of discussion and complaints blended together.

Irving saw the Weasley twins sneak up to Quirrell's side amidst the chaos. After exchanging a glance, the twins grinned mischievously and grabbed the large purple scarf on the back of Quirrell's head.

During this time, although Pippi the Ghost had been trying to uncover the secret on Quirrell's head, Quirrell was on his guard. Despite being thoroughly humiliated, Pippi the Ghost never succeeded.

Peeves wasn't in a hurry; in fact, he was getting more and more excited. But Fred and George were getting anxious. The two of them had started a bet on what was hidden in Quirrell's scarf, and many young wizards had eagerly participated. If the mystery was solved, they could earn at least five Galleons.

But as time passed, Quirrell's secret remained unrevealed, the young wizards' enthusiasm waned, and their bet was on the verge of collapse. Seeing their hard-earned money slipping through their fingers, the two wizards, frustrated with Peeves' lack of ambition, finally couldn't resist resorting to dirty tricks against Quirrell.

The twins each grabbed one of Quirrell's large scarves, nodded to each other with determined expressions, and then pulled upwards together.

Strangely, Quirrell's head seemed glued to the floor and remained motionless, with the huge purple scarf pressed firmly between his head and the floor, preventing the two from pulling it off for a moment.

"Something's not right," George mouthed.

"There's no turning back once the arrow is released. For Galleons, let's do it!" Fred mouthed back.

The brothers' gazes hardened, and they simultaneously assumed a stance of gathering strength before unleashing a sudden burst of power in perfect unison. The tightly wrapped scarf around Quirrell's head finally came undone, flying into the air like a long, purple snake thanks to their combined force.

The two brothers looked down with shining eyes, and the young wizards around them who had also witnessed this scene curiously turned their gazes to them, and were astonished to see what was beneath Quirrell's large scarf—

It was a small purple scarf.

The Weasley twins stared blankly at the scene, then their eyes hardened, and they extended their claws again.

At that moment, Percy Weasley squeezed through the crowd, hands on her hips, and screamed like a girl, "Fred, George, what are you doing? Do you want to get fired? Come back to the lounge with me!"

The twins exchanged a helpless glance, and Percy pulled them out, one in each hand. Before leaving, he secretly stomped on the back of Quirrell's head twice, leaving a few dusty footprints on the little scarf.

"I don't seem to feel anything inside?" George pondered the sensation under his feet.

"I think I felt a 'crack' sound, like I stepped on something brittle and broke," Fred said, clicking his tongue.

The two brothers exchanged glances, their expressions growing even more curious.

Owen, mingling among the young Slytherin wizards, witnessed the entire scene. His lips were tightly pressed together, and a faint blush rose to his pale face. He didn't know whether to mourn for Voldemort or worry about the Weasley twins.

"It seems I've also invested in their gimmicky products? Could I lose everything?" he wondered to himself.

Led by Prefect Gemma Farley, the young Slytherin wizards headed towards the dungeon, as if they were back on the first day of school. Along the way, the wizards whispered among themselves, a mixture of unease and inexplicable excitement, wondering what kind of monster had wandered into the school.

"It might be a fire dragon! Look, Professor Quirrell is so scared he's fainted."

"That's because he's naturally timid. I suspect he'd faint from nervous shock at the sight of a caterpillar..."

Suddenly, a gasp erupted from the crowd: "Look! What's that up ahead?"

The corridor leading to the common room was blocked by a huge, bluish-purple figure. Its ferocious-looking bird face was open, emitting a sharp cry at the group. The creature had the body of a snake and the head of a bird, with enormous wings folded to its sides and two legs beneath it.

"Bird-Snake, a Class 4X magical creature," Owen said, squinting. This was the monster Quirrell released? Or rather, one of the monsters?

"It's Merlin after all! Just how many magical creatures were in that tent he stole from the black market? Did he release them all?" He looked at the ferocious appearance of the bird-snake. The magical creature in front of him was obviously startled by the young wizards and had entered an instinctive defensive and counter-attack state, coiling its body and charging towards the young wizards.

"No! Help!"

"I want to go home... Waaah..."

Some of the younger wizards were so frightened that they burst into tears and their legs went weak. Prefect Gemma, along with several older students, cast spells on the bird-snake, but to little avail; instead, they only further enraged it.

"Wait, oh, let me think, I need a teapot..." Gemma frantically pulled the terrified student back, muttering the textbook's contents in a trembling voice. This magical creature was difficult for even adult wizards to subdue, even though the books clearly explained how to deal with it.

"Run...run!" Draco, who was at the back, was almost crying as he stumbled backward, still clutching Harry and Owen's robes tightly, pulling them both until they staggered. Blaise drew his wand, looked around, and kicked open a door next to him, letting Daphne help Pansy hide inside.

"Watch out!" Harry suddenly shouted, shooting a red beam of light from his wand at Draco's head. A small, bright blue flying insect was knocked into the air and swayed for a moment before flapping its tiny wings on either side of its head and moving with incredible speed to Crabbe's side, its stinger piercing his buttocks.

"Awooo!" Crabbe screamed and jumped up, and then everyone watched as he rose higher and higher, floating on the ceiling like a balloon and unable to come down. His face was pressed against the ceiling, his arms and legs were flailing wildly like swimming, and he was making meaningless gibberish noises.

The bird-snake on the other side was attracted by the small creature above its head and cast a wary yet curious glance over.

"Well, there's no way to slack off these days." Owen chanted a few Ironclad Charms to the people around him to prevent them from being stung by the Billywig bugs. These insects from Australia are not very common, but they have a wide range of uses, and fortunately, they are not very dangerous.

"Owen, do you have a solution?" Harry pushed Draco into a storage room and then frantically tried to help the terrified little wizard.

"Flying around." Owen pointed his wand at Goyle and Crabbe, who was floating on the ceiling. A string of candies, cookies, and desserts swirled out of their pockets and then transformed into bright yellow birds under Owen's transfiguration.

Owen directed them to hover and fly around the bird-snake, chattering away, and then said to Harry and Blaise, "Use the Silent Charm, and stop those little guys from screaming. That will only provoke the bird-snake!" Actually, the bird-snake wasn't very aggressive towards humans—as long as people didn't approach it or scream and annoy it.

Harry and Blaise straightened their faces and began chanting spells at the few young wizards who were shouting the loudest. Daphne also emerged from the room, calmly helping out. Hearing Draco's increasingly shrill cries, Harry coughed lightly and flicked his wrist to cast a Silent Spell. Draco fell silent, but his expression remained one of grief and indignation, as if he had been shamefully betrayed.

Once the screams subsided, the avian snake's mood improved considerably, but it remained wary, coiling its body tightly to block the path ahead. Owen directed the birds to fly in front of the avian snake, their clear chirping drawing its attention like a hungry person spotting delicious food.

Its gaze followed the birds as they moved, then the snake retracted its neck and suddenly pounced on them.

"Owen, over here!" Prefect Gemma, covered in dust, pulled out a large jar and called out to Owen in a low voice.

With a wave of his wand, Owen sent the birds swiftly lining up and scurrying into the jar in Gemma's hand. The bird-snake also nimbly followed, turning and shrinking its body before the narrow opening of the jar, finally disappearing completely into what was, to it, the tiny jar.

Gemma immediately tightened the lid, hugged the still swaying jar tightly, and let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Thanks to you." She tucked her chestnut curls behind her ear, a smile appearing on her pretty face, before looking at the little wizards floating on the ceiling with a headache.

"I only did something insignificant." Owen shook his head, using his wand to pull Crabbe down from the ceiling like a balloon. "Time to tell the students to continue..."

Before he could finish speaking, another deafening roar erupted, a terrifying cry that seemed to come from the abyss, filled with chilling ferocity and bloodlust.

Irving looked behind him with a serious expression. A series of heavy footsteps approached rapidly from afar, shaking the ground.

"Looks like something big has arrived... Damn it, where have all the professors gone?"

(End of this chapter)