Strike First

Sean tugged at his blue and white striped Ravenclaw tie, then straightened his slightly wrinkled Wizarding Robes, and said with a smile to Hoffman, "Thank you for the compliment, sir, this senior from Newmontgard?"

Hoffman's eyes were practically blazing with fury.

For Sean, his principle of doing things is very simple: once he is certain that someone is definitely not on the same path as him, there is no need to save face for each other anymore.

Moreover, he always believed that his temper and manners were quite good, and that he was tolerant enough that even an annoying kid like Malfoy could be treated as a classmate after he had taught him a lesson.

Hoffman listened to the laughter beside him, but the anger on his face slowly subsided. He licked his lips, his voice somewhat sinister. "Boy, didn't Hogwarts teach you to maintain basic rationality when facing a strong opponent?"

"Thank you for reminding me, but I have excellent grades and often get extra points, so you don't need to worry about Hogwarts ' education." Sean still wore that elegant smile that made Hoffman's eyes twitch.

"Do you think you're safe at Hogwarts?"

Charlotte's eyes suddenly turned dangerous. "Are you threatening our school's students?"

Even Sterling frowned. Their provocations were all carried out with Professor Newmontgard's tacit approval, yet his foolish teammate had dared to threaten a first-year wizard in public, intending to sabotage him later.

"Brainless idiot..." Sterling didn't say anything. Hoffman was, after all, a student of Newmontgard, but he would definitely teach him a lesson later.

Sean looked puzzled. He rested his chin on his hand and thought for a while before finally realizing what was going on. "Oh, you mean you're planning to trip me up at Hogwarts? Or find a secluded corner and secretly use Stunning Spell to knock me out and teach me a lesson?"

"I didn't say that, I was just offering a friendly reminder, junior." Hoffman gave a sly smile.

He didn't care whether he would be put in solitary confinement afterward; Newmontgard wouldn't expel him just because he taught a Hogwarts brat a lesson.

Sean blinked and took a step forward. "Oh, I see. Well then... come and hit me, you idiot."

"You!" Hoffman's anger, which he had barely managed to suppress, suddenly burst forth from his eyes. He raised his wand, but after his lips moved slightly, he still didn't dare to utter the evil curse.

Because he saw that more and more people were gathering around.

Sterling glanced at the idiot, then turned and left without looking back.

His provocation failed, and he was even outmaneuvered by a first-grader. The longer he stayed here, the more embarrassed he would become.

Seeing that his classmates had all left, Hoffman glared at Sean with hatred, but his last bit of rationality told him: the other side outnumbered him.

"You just wait."

He rudely pushed through the crowd and strode away.

Sean shrugged. Even harsh words are so pointless.

"Sean, well done." Although it was just a verbal battle, Charlotte still patted Sean on the shoulder with great satisfaction.

However, Sean raised an eyebrow, then flashed a big smile, "Charlotte, do you know where the students of Newmontgard live?"

"I know, what do you want to do?" Charlotte asked hesitantly. She always felt that the young wizard she had recruited into Hogwarts had a dangerous look in his eyes.

"Call more people...and then do this..." Sean leaned over and whispered a few words in his ear.

Charlotte frowned. "That's a possibility, but they won't let it go easily, and the professors will have a hard time dealing with it then..."

Sean blinked. "It's okay, we'll just betray me later..."

"You?! That won't do."

"Believe me."

Hoffman walked alone on his way back to the Newmontgard Common Room. His face was still gloomy, and his knuckles were white from gripping his wand so tightly.

The thought of Sean's annoying smile made Hoffman's breathing quicken.

Last year, Hoffman, who was extremely dissatisfied with not qualifying for the Triwizard Tournament, was already quite arrogant. Unexpectedly, he was humiliated today by a mere wizard.

Hoffman had already decided that he would definitely find an opportunity to teach that annoying kid a lesson.

Then, I'll ambush him on his way back, preferably at a secluded corner where hardly anyone passes by, with curtains nearby large enough to hide him...

Hoffman stopped in his tracks. There was a dark corner in front of him, and the thick curtains along the wall gave off an eerie feeling in the darkness.

He raised his wand towards the curtain, and after finding no movement there, he chuckled self-deprecatingly, "You're overthinking it..."

"Stupefy!" A red beam of light shot out from the shadows.

Hoffman, who had barely dodged, immediately retaliated, his angry voice echoing down the corridor. "How dare you?!"

"Stupefy! (Stupefy)"

The answer was a dozen or so Stunning Spell.

Hoffman, who was already under attack, had no room to dodge. He was struck by the red light and slammed heavily against the wall.

A large group of Hogwarts upperclassmen emerged from their hiding place, each with a malicious smile on their face.

Sean pushed his way through the crowd, crouched down, and glanced at Hoffman, who was completely unconscious.

Unfortunately, he had only planned to recruit a few people, but when Charlotte started recruiting, the students who were already dissatisfied with Newmontgard showed unprecedented enthusiasm for signing up.

Dealing with an annoying idiot and then having someone else take the blame afterwards? What a joke!

Sean stood up, pointed at Hoffman on the ground, and chuckled, "Beat him up!"

Led by Gryffindor and supplemented by Hufflepuff, the older students unleashed powerful punches, while Ravenclaw students would occasionally slip into the crowd and deliver a kick.

Sean leaned against the stone wall. "Yes, over there, the flesh is thicker over there."

"Hey, senior, haven't you had dinner yet?"

"Senior, even when you're hitting someone, your movements are so graceful."

Sean yawned and called out to everyone only after confirming that even Hoffman's parents couldn't recognize the person on the ground.

"Throw it at the entrance of the Newmontgard Common Room, let's retreat."

Having finally breathed a sigh of relief, on the way back, the older students looked at Sean with even more enthusiasm.

"Sean, wanna go out and have some fun during the holidays?" A bold and sexy senior student had already given Sean a flirty wink.

Sean gave a shy smile, "Of course I'd like to, but I'm still young, I need to go back and rest quickly. Growing up is more important, bye-bye—"