A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Felix said nothing more and led the three back to the castle.

“Let me think…” As Felix spoke, the three men’s faces turned pale. “Ten points deducted from each of them, and a week of confinement.”

The trio returned to the common lounge as if they were sleepwalking.

Seeing Hermione's upset expression, Ron comforted her, "It's nothing, it's even better than I imagined. I originally thought we'd each lose fifty points and be locked up until Christmas."

Harry nodded in agreement. If they fell into Snape's hands tonight, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Lying in bed, Ron suddenly said to Harry, "That's so cool, isn't it?"

"what?"

"Professor Hyp, whoosh whoosh whoosh! You can't even see his movements. If you ask me, he's definitely much stronger than Snape, even stronger than Dumbledore!"

“Headmaster Dumbledore is the strongest,” Harry said without hesitation.

“That’s not necessarily true. The headmaster hasn’t made a move in many years. If it were decades ago, I certainly wouldn’t have suspected anything…” Ron muttered to himself before drifting off to sleep.

Harry, however, couldn't sleep. Images of Professor Hyp casting spells kept flashing through his mind, from the first spell Professor Hyp cast to his sudden appearance as black smoke. Every action was broken down and replayed in his mind.

He saw clearly.

The next day, Hermione was still a little sad, but she quickly cheered up and even started discussing the clues to the secret room with them.

The little witch said with a stern face, "It seems that Professor Hyp is not Slytherin's heir."

Ron said, "Don't be so hasty. We've only temporarily dispelled one doubt, although Professor Hyp is indeed a good person." He also admitted this.

Harry quickly changed the subject, feeling that their behavior of following the professor last night made Hermione, as his assistant, feel somewhat ashamed.

"I think Malfoy is more likely."

“That’s right,” Ron replied.

"But how do we get information out of him? He won't just openly admit that he's the heir to Slytherin."

Hermione nodded and whispered, "Perhaps we need Polyjuice Potion."

"what?"

“The compound decoction can turn you into another person,” Hermione explained to them.

The two of them still looked bewildered.

Hermione said somewhat angrily, "Don't you all listen to the lesson? Snape mentioned in class that the process of brewing this potion is very difficult and requires many precious ingredients. Its recipe is recorded in the book 'Potions of Power'."

The three of them discussed in hushed tones.

But then they got stuck on the first step.

The formula for the compound decoction was hard to obtain because the book containing it, "The Powerful Medicine," was in the restricted section of the library.

There is only one way to borrow books from the restricted area: obtain a note personally signed by a professor.

“We have no reason to borrow that book,” Ron said. “It’s not something our age should be touching.”

“I think,” Hermione said, “that if we pretend to be interested in this theory, maybe there’ll be some hope…”

“Oh, come on, the professors won’t fall for that so easily,” Ron said, “unless they’re incredibly stupid…”

Saturday morning.

After breakfast, the trio went to the ancient rune professor's office to complete their solitary confinement.

Harry lamented that the first Quidditch match was about to begin, but he couldn't participate in training, much to the displeasure of Quidditch captain Wood.

When they knocked on the door, the three were surprised to see Draco Malfoy there as well.

Malfoy was hunched over a table, a thick book in front of him, the last dozen or so pages turned. He was writing furiously with his quill pen, a drop of ink still clinging to the tip of his nose.

Harry suddenly remembered that Malfoy had been punished by copying books.

Professor Hyp closed the door and said in a relaxed tone, "I originally intended to separate you, but after thinking about it, it was too much trouble. I asked around, and Mr. Malfoy doesn't mind sharing the same table with you."

Ron suddenly chuckled. Judging from Malfoy's expression, he didn't seem to mind. He was starting to look forward to this confinement.

Felix conjured three chairs and placed them in front of them. "I'm going to find the materials you need to copy," he said, and then he left.

The four people in the office stared at each other blankly.

Harry teased, "Malfoy, your detention isn't over yet? That's no small price to pay."

Malfoy tilted his head back. "Harry Potter!" He glanced at the three of them, and when he saw Hermione, he seemed about to say something, but he quickly held back.

He said with a touch of arrogance, "At Professor Snape's suggestion, Professor Hyp has allowed me to take a leave of absence so that I won't miss Slytherin's Quidditch practice. Potter! I will beat you on the field!"

Harry's mood suddenly soured. With the financial backing of the Malfoy family, the entire Slytherin Quidditch team had switched to Nimbus 2001 brooms, which made them extremely fast, like seven pale green shadows on the pitch.

Ron taunted, "A real game is all about skill. Even if you get the ball through back channels, you'll only become a laughingstock and a spendthrift!"

"Shut up, Weasley. Do you even have a single Galleon left in your vault?"

Ron's face flushed red, even his ears turned hot. He pulled out his wand and shouted, "Say it again! Malfoy, say it again!"

Harry and Hermione quickly pulled him away. Putting aside the consequences of fighting in the professor's office, even if Ron did it, what would happen if he threw up slugs all afternoon?

Felix returned carrying a thick stack of parchment. Harry and Ron, seeing the stack of materials that was over a foot high, lost all interest in arguing.

“I asked Professor McGonagall, and she had a batch of materials that were too outdated and needed updating, so I took on the task,” Felix said with a slightly lively tone. “It just so happens to be related to your behavior—the student blacklist and its punishments.”

Felix placed the materials on the table with a "bang," kicking up a thick cloud of dust. He waved his wand and "Cleaned Up," a gust of wind carrying the dust away. "Let's begin, children."

Felix sat in a corner of the office, seven or eight meters away from them. "Turn your ears and plug your ears," he said, pointing to himself with his wand. Then he opened a thick book and began to enjoy his leisurely weekend.

On the other side, Harry, Ron, and Hermione resignedly sat down. Ron strongly resisted sitting with Malfoy, so Harry had no choice but to sit next to him.

Harry opened a piece of parchment and began copying information using a quill pen dipped in ink.

Malfoy whispered, "Potter! You know you're going to lose..."

“Shut up, Malfoy!” Harry hissed softly.

Chapter 40 Malfoy

Harry found solitary confinement awful because Malfoy kept whispering and provoking him. This caused his efficiency to plummet; by noon, he had only copied ten sheets of parchment.

It's not even as thick as a little finger.

At lunchtime, Harry complained to Hermione and Ron about it. He said, somewhat exasperated, "I never expected him to talk so much, just buzzing around and around."

Ron suggested to him, "You could harass him too."

Harry was speechless; he and Malfoy didn't have much to say to each other.

Hermione seemed thoughtful. "Perhaps you could provoke him and take the opportunity to ask him if he is the heir to Slytherin."

"Don't be ridiculous, how could he possibly say that, unless it's someone close to him?" Ron retorted.

Harry also thought the idea was unreliable and might easily alert the enemy. "By the way, Hermione, what about the autograph?"

“Why don’t you go see Professor Hyp?” Ron suggested.

“That’s not a good idea,” Hermione sighed. “He’s not like Professor Lockhart, he’s not like that…”

“—Like a fool,” Ron retorted, earning a glare from Hermione.

“However, I can try tonight, but I can only say I’ll try.” Hermione did not give a definite answer.

After lunch, they returned to the ancient script office to continue their copying tasks.

Harry also had to endure Malfoy's provocative gaze. Several times he wanted to draw his wand and cast a curse on him, one wasn't enough, he'd rather cast three spells at once like Professor Hyp, leaving him defenseless...

In the afternoon, Felix looked at their work and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. The three of you can finish the task by tomorrow afternoon. Mr. Malfoy, you're progressing even faster, only seven or eight pages away."

Draco Malfoy almost burst into tears, realizing how much he had paid for his momentary lapse in judgment—two entire tomes, completely handwritten.

It took almost two months in total, although he skipped a lot of confinement to attend Quidditch training...

Malfoy then wrote furiously, ignoring Harry, and finally finished copying all the contents before dinner.

Felix couldn't help but praise him, "Very good. Well then, Mr. Malfoy, your confinement is over."

“Yes, Professor,” Malfoy said in a low voice.

Seeing him tidy up his stationery, Harry and the others were very envious; they still had a whole day of detention tomorrow.

“Oh, right, Mr. Malfoy,” Felix called out to him, startling Malfoy.

Will you assign him a few more books?

Fortunately, Felix wasn't thinking about that. He waved his wand, and a thick stack of parchment flew out from the corner—covered with dense writing. Under his magic, the parchment split in two and quickly bound together in mid-air.

Two book covers flew out of the suitcase, wrapping the parchment, with gold-embossed lettering slowly emerging on the cover, making it look like two books.

"Mr. Malfoy, this is the fruit of your labor. Here it is as a gift for you."

Two books landed in front of him, startling Malfoy.

Felix said, “Although you are of noble pureblood descent and exceptionally talented, Muggles are not without their merits, and I think you already know that.” He pointed to the two handwritten books in front of Malfoy.

"Through this confinement, I hope you can remember one thing: weakness or strength is not an obstacle to survival; arrogance is."

Malfoy held the two books, his lips parted, but he said nothing.

After he left, Felix said to the other three who were watching the show, "Alright, your mission for today is over. We'll continue tomorrow."

Hermione asked Felix in a low voice, "Professor, can I continue studying runes with you tonight?"

Felix was somewhat surprised. He thought for a moment and said, "In principle, I don't object, but your homework..."

Hermione said happily, "It's okay, I've finished all my homework." She looked as if she had won the lottery.

As the three of them left the office and headed to the cafeteria, Ron looked at Hermione with disbelief: "You really finished your homework?"

"Of course!"

"When did you write this?" Ron seriously doubted that his time was different from Hermione's. Did Hermione have a few more hours of work each day than him?

Hermione was in a very good mood. She said with a hint of arrogance, "Now that we know we'll be in detention on the weekend, of course we should finish our homework in advance. Isn't that common sense?"

Ron remained silent, while Harry looked ashamed.

……

Malfoy returned to the Slytherin common room and put down his bag.