From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Seeing her companion fall, another Hufflepuff seventh-year student ran out from where she was hiding, and before Hermione could do anything, she cast the Ironclad Charm on herself.

On the other side, the third student in charge of the track, protected by the Disillusionment Charm, kept his wand firmly aimed at Hermione, ready to attack directly if anything went wrong.

"What are you doing?"

The Hufflepuff seventh-year student shouted angrily at Hermione as she ran.

The three of them had been in this environment filled with the stench of giants for almost a day. If it weren't for the head-soaking spell and the corner that the professor had created to block out most of the smell, they would have given up long ago and ended up being attacked by people who came to take the exam.

"what…"

Hermione finally realized something was wrong—even if there were Boggarts, they couldn't possibly impersonate Percy. Usually, it was the three Gryffindor prefects who dealt with the girls; she had completely attacked the wrong person.

“I’m sorry, I was so nervous,” she said, her head bowed in shame. “I’m sorry, I thought he was Boggart in disguise.”

"Boggart?"

The seventh-year students at Hufflepuff were almost laughing in exasperation—it would be understandable if a professor came out and cast a sleeping spell, but why did Boggart turn into Percy?

If it were one of his Hufflepuff students who did something so stupid, he would have reported it to the professor to verify the student's perfect score and apply for solitary confinement. But this girl was a Gryffindor, and he really couldn't manage her.

"never mind…"

He shook his head and began to break the curse on Percy. In less than half a minute, Percy struggled to get up from the ground.

After learning a little about the situation, Percy was both amused and exasperated—being scared by two Boggarts the whole way was just too much…

"Alright... I won't report it for now, but I'll tell the professor later and see how he handles it—go and enjoy the cheers with your spoils."

He summoned a broom and handed it to Hermione, telling her to go report to the professor first.

“Um, I’ll tell the professor what happened…” Hermione said to Percy with a guilty look on her face after mounting her broomstick. “I’m willing to accept detention.”

-

"Really..."

After Hermione left, Percy shook his head helplessly at his companion, "To get taken down by a third-year student—I really wanted to beg her not to tell anyone about this embarrassing incident..."

"Then why not do it?"

After confirming that Percy was alright, the other two acquaintances became dangerous. "She seems very guilty. If you ask her to keep it a secret, she might listen."

"She'll keep it a secret, but what about you?"

Percy shook his head irritably. "Let's get back to our positions. It won't be fun if the next guy to be tested comes—he's still on the track, so he'll probably be here soon."

His judgment was correct—within a few seconds, a disheveled third-year student appeared at the entrance, his entire body covered in marks from various traps, except for his chest and head, which were protected by basic protective gear.

'It's too late…'

The three seventh-graders present simultaneously exclaimed in surprise—just as they made their judgment, the stone ball on the troll's neck clattered to the ground and shattered into several pieces.

Percy then looked at the student over there.

"Ron?"

Yes, that red-haired man is his younger brother.

"Oh—no…"

Ron screamed, swung his wand, and snatched the wooden stick from the troll's hand. Then, in retaliation, he began to swing the wand and stick wildly.

In the chaos, the troll's tiny head, as it tried to regain control, was slammed off by a club. The troll froze, then crashed to the ground with a devastating force—the entire battle had lasted less than a minute…

"Are you kidding me?"

Side Story 3: From Hogwarts to Azkaban (3)

"A forbidden spell for dueling?"

They even gave out spellbooks with the Avada Kedavra curse at the start of the school year, and forbidden spells too…

Herbert wondered if he'd slept through his brain, but he still asked instinctively, "The Avada Kedavra curse, which is forbidden for everyone to have?"

"It's not like everyone gets one—you have to pay a lot of money to get one, and nobody's forbidding that. The main thing to be prohibited now is Li Huo and throwing books in other people's faces!"

"Book?"

"Yes, now there's a rule that monsters can only throw one monster book at a time. If they throw multiple books at the opponent's face, they will be disqualified from the duel for cheating."

What kind of trash duel rules are these—first-year students can already use curses and throw books in each other's faces? Are you freshmen who just enrolled?

"Okay, okay, you're not allowed to burn down the castle with Fiendfire, and you're not allowed to throw multiple Magical Creatures Protection textbooks at the other side's face. I think I understand."

Herbert gestured with his hands, forcing himself not to press the matter further about this joking rule.

"Okay, so what if, I mean, what if I used the Avada Kedavra curse on a student?"

“That’s not a behavior to be encouraged, Herbert. If you do it repeatedly, you’ll get a warning letter from the school!”

"A warning letter from the school? What about the Ministry of Magic? The Ministry of Magic doesn't handle these things?"

"What does this have to do with the Ministry of Magic? Only self-funded students who don't pay tuition get warned or even expelled by the Ministry of Magic. We're all on government scholarships, why should we worry about this?"

Is this a question of whether or not a fee is charged?

Moreover, so many people know Avada Kedavra, yet there are no restrictions. Can you really leave this dormitory?

He doesn't even know Avada Kedavra yet. If he goes out and gets shot, wouldn't that be a terrible injustice?

"Are you kidding me?"

"What joke?"

"It's the Avada Kedavra curse!"

“What’s so funny about that—look at that spider over there.”

His roommate gestured with his hands, then waved his wand.

“Avada Kedavra!”

A flash of green light, and a tiny spider flipped itself over.

"Ever since the academy gave us the giant eight-eyed spider as a pet, the dorm room has been full of little spiders—seriously, they're from different species!"

His roommate flicked his wand, sending the dead spider flying into the trash can.

...

Herbert fell silent.

He used to hear pure-blood wizards boast about how wonderful it was to freely learn dark magic, but now it seemed that wasn't the case at all. Everyone knows the Killing Curse, so what's the point of me learning dark magic!

"Won't you die if you're cursed?"

The moment the question was asked, Herbert wanted to scold himself—what a stupid question!

"Why would that be? It's based on magic power. A weak wizard casting a spell on a strong wizard might at most cause them to bleed from the nose! We knew this from the first day of school! Even if we accidentally kill a few, we can just send them to Azkaban and spend some money to cure them—what are you worried about?"

"Can Azkaban be resurrected?"

"You have to pay!"

"That black magic?"

Herbert wanted to ask what the definition of black magic was, since resurrection was possible, but his roommate seemed to have misunderstood.

"You have to pay to learn those things too!"

"Alright, alright, pay up—then how about food, sleep, and learning other magic?"

"You all have to pay!"

His roommate spread his hands, "Why would you ask such a silly question? We're on government scholarships, that's why we don't have to pay. Self-funded students have to pay! We have to pay for everything except breathing!"

Chapter 357 Sirius's Dilemma

Cornwall, a town so small it wouldn't even be marked on a map. Sirius sat hesitantly in a chair at the town's only hotel.

“Gold Coin,” he called to his newly recruited house-elf, “do we need some feedback?”

"I think we can try harder to find it, Master."

The little elf hesitated for a moment, then responded in a somewhat uncertain tone.

"But what else can we investigate?"

He spread his hands. “We found the village that was rumored to be haunted, but now there are other residents in the village who are unwilling to cooperate with the investigation. Even if we use some clever methods, we can’t get the information we want.”

As Sirius spoke, he leaned back and said, "Even the most ingenious magic will leave no trace after a decade or so. The new town residents are unwilling to cooperate because they want the land they've acquired."

"If we had known earlier, we might have been able to figure something out. But more than a decade has passed. Forget about disappearing; even if someone were truly dead, it wouldn't stop those who need the village's land..."

"I've made up my mind, Gold Coin, I'm going to write to Moonface for help!"

Sirius Black said with great conviction, "He's a bit better at identifying problems than we are. To be honest, if he weren't a teacher, I would have even considered getting him involved!"

Without further ado, Sirius spread out the letter paper and began writing with great enthusiasm.

Dear Moonface;

How have you been lately? But I don't think there's anything seriously wrong—a professor can't possibly be put in solitary confinement.

Okay, speaking of this, I always think of Professor McGonagall… She’s as stern as ever, and she makes you feel guilty just by looking at her…

To be honest, I've run into a little trouble lately—everything's fine at the firm, and the income is decent, but the cases just haven't been very satisfactory…

...

……

Yours, faithfully

Bigfoot

"It seems a bit too much like asking for help... but it doesn't matter... we've both seen each other's furry side."

After Sirius finished writing the letter, he muttered to himself, then sealed the letter and began calling his owl.

-

"Ah...finally...I had a good night's sleep."