HP: Azkaban's Outstanding Graduate

She lunged forward, her heavily made-up face almost touching the barrier, her voice carrying a morbid, self-absorbed fervor:

"—Despite your attempts to intimidate me, Rita Skeeter, I will never be afraid to uncover the truth! I will never compromise!"

Her last few words were almost screamed out, sounding particularly jarring in the now silent, enclosed room.

The surrounding flashes went off even more frantically because of her "heroic" pose, as if recording the moment when she was about to become a "martyr".

A suffocating tension filled the air; everyone could feel something... being completely ignited.

Chapter 98 "Out of Control" Monster?

Sagres's gaze turned completely cold. His eyes were devoid of any warmth, as if he were looking at a noisy insect.

He chuckled softly, then looked away from Rita and did not respond to her shouts.

Just as Rita thought he was speechless and was preparing to launch an even fiercer verbal attack—

A sudden change has occurred!

That dreadful, fleshy monster that had been dormant for so long suddenly moved without warning!

Instead of the slow wriggling motions of before, several thick, blood-red tendrils covered in mucus and eyeballs suddenly shot out like venomous snakes that had been lying in wait, moving faster than anyone could react.

"Ah—!" Rita Skeeter only had time to let out a short, shrill scream that was so distorted it was almost unrecognizable.

The fleshy tendrils precisely wrapped around her waist, her legs, and her flailing arms, and the immense force instantly dragged her off the ground, pulling her toward the monster's crimson, twisted body.

Her shorthand quill traced a meaningless path in the air in terror before being easily snatched away by another fleshy tendril.

The other reporters at the newspaper screamed in terror and scrambled backward.

"Well--!"

Fudge let out a shrill scream that went so far as to turn distorted, his face instantly draining of all color. The Aurors around him instinctively raised their wands, but they didn't have time to aim.

"Stop!" Dumbledore roared, and a torrent of molten magic erupted from the tip of his wand, sweeping out with the force to tear rocks apart.

However, the moment the magic touched the monster, it was immediately devoured and absorbed by the writhing, churning, filthy flesh!

Only then did the Aurors begin to act, unleashing a torrent of deadly spells of various colors upon the monster.

But the monster remained unharmed. Instead, its nauseating flesh swelled and spread wildly, making a sickening "gurgling" sound. Then, in full view of everyone, its size suddenly increased by another size, emitting an even stronger and more pungent bloody smell!

Everyone was taken aback by this sudden turn of events.

Under the horrified gazes of the crowd, Rita Skeeter's face, thickly covered in makeup and etched with horror and disbelief, along with her piercing screams, slowly merged into the fleshy monster's body, like a stone sinking into water...

"Gurgle..."

A muffled, chilling swallowing sound echoed in the deathly silent chamber, striking everyone's heart with its clarity.

The monster twitched slightly, a few strands of Rita's signature golden curls and a small patch of her brightly colored clothing peeking out from the edge of its viscous body before being slowly swallowed up.

On that "face" covered with eyes and cracks, there seemed to be a strange sense of satisfaction.

The secret chamber fell into a deathly silence, with only the occasional sickening digestive groans emanating from the monster's body and the heavy, suppressed breathing of the group.

"what have you been doing?"

The board member spoke again, but before he could finish speaking, a thick tentacle wrapped around his waist and abdomen.

Before the well-dressed, white-haired, pure-blooded old wizard could even cry out, he was pulled toward the tall body of the fleshy monster by the sticky tentacles.

The next second, countless fine, living, scarlet blood vessels shot out from the monster's body, instantly covering his entire body and completely enveloping him in a writhing blood cocoon before merging back into his body.

"you you……"

Fudge was trembling so badly he could barely stand, and cold sweat soaked the brim of his top hat.

Almost at the same moment, another, thicker, fleshy tentacle with a cold glint at its end, with a shrill screech that tore through the air, extended out from Fudge's side without warning and quickly climbed up his arm!

"Pfft—!"

With a muffled thud that sounded like bone cracking and flesh separating, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge's arm, clad in an exquisite woolen coat, was cleanly severed from his shoulder blade!

It was Dumbledore who saved him; the old headmaster cut off Fudge's arm, which was entangled by tentacles, in time.

The severed arm flew into the air, spraying blood in arcs. Fudge's scream was choked by the excruciating pain, leaving only gasps for breath. His body staggered forward and fell due to the remaining force.

Before the severed arm even hit the ground, it was precisely "caught" by a gaping wound in the monster's body, flowing with viscous fluid, and swallowed whole like a giant python devouring its prey.

The Aurors' hands, gripping their wands, trembled uncontrollably. They dared not move their wands pointing at the monster, fearing they would be the next target.

The board members were pale, and the reporters collapsed to the ground. Malfoy's sneer froze on his face, his eyes revealing genuine fear. Even the four deans held their breath in shock.

Sagras stood still, slowly raising his eyes. His deep gaze swept over the faces contorted with fear, finally settling on Fudge and the Aurors.

His voice was eerily calm, as if stating a simple fact:

"Now, quiet!"

He paused, his gaze piercing Fudge as if it were a physical stab. "Minister, do you, or your Auror, have a different opinion on my explanation?"

Fudge's lips trembled, unable to utter a single word. He stared in horror at Sacramento, then at the monster that seemed even more "vivid" after devouring flesh and blood, and finally at Dumbledore standing there silently. A tremendous fear gripped him.

"Looks like there aren't any left!"

Sagres nodded, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the group until they all lowered their heads, at which point he withdrew his eyes with satisfaction.

Only Dumbledore's gaze kept darting between Sargeras and the monster, his eyes filled with an unprecedented solemnity and inquiry.

Sagres seemed oblivious to the palpable fear around him, casually pointing to the flesh-and-blood monster that had just finished its "devouring," his tone as relaxed as if he were commenting on an antique:

"It seems that Salazar Slytherin's creation of flesh and blood truly lives up to its reputation!"

He paused, then said somewhat casually, "And even if Voldemort's memories were completely erased, the ruthlessness and bloodlust that remained in his bones would still be extremely dangerous..."

Sargeras blatantly and casually attributed this bloody attack to "Voldemort's residual instincts" and "Slytherin's creative characteristics."

Whether others believe it or not is not important.

He figured that given Slytherin's personality, she probably wouldn't care about such trivial matters. Besides, Ravenclaw was a very powerful prophet; she must have told Slytherin that her reputation would be ruined a thousand years later... right?

Sagres turned his gaze to Fudge, who lay paralyzed on the ground, his face ashen, then swept it over the pale-faced members of the school board behind the crowd, his voice filled with deep regret:

"This is truly regrettable, gentlemen. Even if I hadn't warned you, you shouldn't have provoked it."

He shook his head and continued, "I deeply sympathize with your two unfortunate wizard colleagues who perished, and with Your Excellency the Minister... regarding your lost arm. However..."

He abruptly changed the subject, his tone tinged with a chilling "thank goodness," saying, "—Luckily you still have one, so handling official document signing... shouldn't be a problem!"

His gaze slowly swept over the faces that had just been filled with doubt and accusation towards him, and his smile became "tolerant" and "compassionate":

"Although I feel somewhat indignant about your doubts and accusations, I am always kind and magnanimous. Therefore, I will not only forgive and forget, but I will also personally help you solve this problem."

As he spoke, he raised his wand, the tip pointing towards the standing, fleshy monster.

"Blood Vortex Frenzy!"

As the cold incantation was cast, the hard ground beneath the flesh-and-blood monster instantly boiled.

A huge, viscous vortex of blood appeared out of nowhere. The flesh monster was like a wax figure thrown into boiling water in this violent vortex. Its tough flesh was eroded, peeled off, and dissolved at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The monster let out a silent roar, struggling to be swallowed by the surging waves of blood. In just a few breaths, its thirty-foot-tall body was completely engulfed by the vortex, leaving not a trace.

The ground returned to its normal level, as if the monster from before was just a collective nightmare.

Sagres gracefully withdrew his wand, his tone relaxed:

"Alright, as you can see, after a difficult struggle, the problem has finally been solved."

Then he shook his head regretfully, "It's a pity that our 'brave and fearless' and 'uncompromising' Ms. Skeeter probably won't be able to write this wonderful report herself. However..."

He couldn't help but chuckle softly. "...War correspondents have always been in a high-risk profession. Wasn't she just shouting that she would do anything for the truth? I think she's probably gotten the truth she wanted by now."

His gaze, like cold icy thorns, swept across the crowd without emotion, and he pointed his wand at the group of school board members who had just been gesturing wildly:

"And another rather 'active' member of the Board of Governors, it seems, also sacrificed his precious life for Hogwarts in this tragedy? What a pity."

His voice carried undisguised sarcasm, "But you needn't be too sad, after all, Hogwarts still has eleven 'enthusiastic' school board members left..."

Finally, he turned to Dumbledore, who had been silently watching him, and his tone returned to its previous calm:

“Well then, Headmaster Dumbledore, this matter is settled. I think you can handle the follow-up arrangements properly, and I don’t need to interfere further.”

After saying that, he ignored the silent crowd, strode forward, and headed straight for the exit of the secret room.

Chapter 99 Reduced to a Tool

After leaving the secret room, Sagres returned to his office and carefully placed the hourglass back in place.

Then he unscrewed the bottle and released the mischievous Pikachu, who had been imprisoned for a long time. The troublemaker only mumbled a couple of things, and surprisingly, it didn't cause any trouble. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a blurry gray shadow and fled in a panic.

After a short rest, Sagres then leisurely made his way to the safe house in the Forbidden Forest.

"The Forbidden Forest has everything!"

Hagrid said this to Sagres during his student days. He used to think the statement was somewhat exaggerated, but after encountering a dilapidated car on his way to the safe house, he became somewhat skeptical.

If he didn't have something else to deal with, he really would have liked to go and see what was going on.

Arriving at the open space in front of the safe house, Sagres quickly waved his wand, and a blood-red magic circle immediately appeared on the ground.

The space at the center of the magic circle twisted and expanded, accompanied by a sickeningly loud groan of flesh and blood, and suddenly the enormous fleshy monster appeared on the magic circle.

At the same time, a painful roar burst forth from deep within the monster's churning body:

"What...did you...do to me?!"

The sound wasn't a single tone; rather, it was like a noisy echo of a group of people talking at the same time.

"I?"

Sagles smiled and said casually, "Of course I saved you!"

He took a step forward and casually pointed his wand at the fleshy monster. "After all, you just killed a reporter from the Daily Prophet in front of everyone, devoured a distinguished Hogwarts Board of Governors, and even the Minister of Magic lost an arm because of you. If it weren't for me, you would have been dealt with by Dumbledore and those Aurors long ago, leaving not even ashes."

In reality, offensive spells only nourish the opponent's flesh and blood, making it stronger and stronger, so dealing with it might be a bit difficult. But if he doesn't say so, how would anyone know? Especially for a monster that has just been "formatted".

Sagres doesn't usually lie, but luckily the other party isn't human either, so he doesn't feel any guilt when he lies.