Run Malfoy Over: Bonus Chapter for the Guardian Knight of Sky and Earth

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gathered around "Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History," the pages turning with a rustling sound.

Hermione shooed the two away, annoyed that they were blocking her from turning the pages of the book. "What a hassle! I should really memorize this book so I don't have to flip through every page to find the information about the Chamber of Secrets!"

Harry and Ron trembled as they looked at the massive book, thicker than their fists. Was this what a top student was like?

"Right here!" Hermione, familiar with the entire book, quickly located the section about the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets, in the section about the legends and tales of Slytherin.

Harry and Ron immediately pushed Hermione aside and eagerly pressed their eyes against the pages of the book to examine it.

"Slytherin and Gryffindor had a heated argument over whether to accept Muggle students, with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff siding with Gryffindor on the issue. Slytherin Slytherin left the school, and before leaving, he built a secret room in the Castle, unknown to the other founders."

"Slytherin sealed the Chamber of Secrets, which can only be opened by his true successor to release the horrors inside, to purify the school, and to eliminate all those who are unworthy to learn magic."

After Harry and Ron each finished reading their passages, they looked up at Hermione with complicated expressions. She was the Muggle-born young wizard whom Slytherin rejected.

"I've known all along that Salazar Slytherin is a crazy old lunatic!" Ron looked up and said with a deep expression. "Hermione, don't go anywhere alone lately. It's best to have Loren with you at all times."

Harry, remembering that Loren was also Muggle-born, added, "We'll always protect you, don't worry."

Hermione was both annoyed and amused. She rolled up her Four-Foot-Eight-Inch History of Magic Essay and gave each of the two dimwits a whack on the head. "See the title of this chapter? It's Legend! Legend!"

Ron covered his head and muttered softly, "Legends do have some basis in fact, don't they?"

"Does it say what the terrifying thing in the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets is?" Hermione didn't want to waste any more time with the two of them, so she grabbed the big book and found a short note at the end of the chapter. "Some kind of monster that only the Heir of Slytherin can control."

"Monster?" Harry looked at the word with confusion. "Is it related to the strange noise I heard that night?"

"Only you can hear it, no one else can, don't you understand? Harry." Hermione suddenly lowered her voice and looked around nervously, wary that someone might hear their conversation.

A bone-chilling cold suddenly enveloped Harry, colder than the Commemoration Feast. His hands and feet were icy, and his throat felt constricted, making his voice hoarse. "You mean, Parselmouth..."

Ron suddenly looked enlightened and stared at Harry in horror.

"Let's find an empty classroom to talk."

Hermione closed "Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History," put the paper into her bag, and walked briskly towards the door.

Ron's gaze was fixed on the paper, watching her retreating figure with longing. "I still have two inches left to write."

"Let's go!" Harry hurriedly crumpled everything into a ball, stuffed it into his backpack, and pulled Ron to follow.

The three of them went into an abandoned classroom in the right corridor of the Library.

"With the ability to petrify and belonging to the serpentine family, I'll soon be able to find out what kind of monster is in the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said confidently.

Ron kept repeating the same thing. "I knew Salazar Slytherin was a crazy old lunatic."

Harry felt a heaviness in his heart; he felt his cold hands and feet becoming as heavy as his heart. He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Parselmouth, the Heir of Slytherin...

Harry had never doubted himself so much. The Sorting Hat had seriously considered placing him in Slytherin. A year ago, when he put the hat on his head, the small voice speaking in his ear suddenly became clear, "You will achieve great things, you know, in your heart, Slytherin will help you to glory, without a doubt..."

He wondered if he was truly Heir of Slytherin.

Believe in yourself, believe in your friends...

Dumbledore's gentle voice drowned out the Sorting Hat's introduction of Slytherin, which made Harry feel a little better.

Then he became puzzled. Had Dumbledore already anticipated that he would doubt him?

"And spiders!" Ron emphasized the clue about the monster. He had a very strong impression of spiders. "The spiders in the Castle were so scared that they all ran away. Voldemort didn't have this much of a threat in the Castle last year."

Hermione noted down the clues. "Spiders, petrification, snakes..."

Harry looked at his two friends, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, "Do you believe I'm not the Heir of Slytherin? I mean, I speak Parselmouth, and the Sorting Hat wanted to sort me into Slytherin House."

Ron looked at him strangely, seemingly very puzzled. "Why don't you believe me? Weren't we together all night?"

Hermione seemed to sense his worry, but didn't say much, "I'm going to the Library to look up some books on monster atlases. If you two are free, come and help me organize the information."

With that, she got up and walked out of the empty classroom.

Harry felt the weight that had been pressing on his heart suddenly lift off his shoulders, and his breathing became easy and smooth again.

With a carefree laugh, he caught up with his friend. "I think there's something wrong with what Malfoy said; he was the first to jump out..."

On the other side, Dumbledore led Loren to the Headmaster's office.

The round office was still the same as Loren knew it. The long-legged table was decorated with many exquisite silverwares, which spun around and emitted small puffs of smoke. The portraits of the old male and female principals were all dozing off in their respective frames.

Fawkes the Phoenix seemed to be sick. It leaned weakly against the gilded branch, a third of its feathers had fallen out, revealing a bald, ugly patch of skin with dense pores that looked like small bumps that made one's scalp tingle.

Loren already thought Fawkes was a bit ugly, but now he looks even uglier.

Sensing his impolite gaze, Fawkes mustered his spirits and barked a few times at him, his voice dry and hoarse, as if he were suffocating.

Realizing his voice had changed, Fawkes suddenly became depressed, folding his wings and claws and shrinking into a corner, looking at Loren with a sorrowful gaze. His pitiful yet comical expression was one of distress.

In the blink of an eye, the Phoenix had shed a few more feathers. Loren looked at the principal. "Is Fawkes really alright like this?"

"Well, I've been urging it to hurry up and complete its rebirth, but it doesn't want to revert to its childhood form." Dumbledore gave a helpless smile. "I guess it'll have to wait until around Christmas."

Dumbledore sat down in the high-backed chair behind his desk, poured two cups of tea, handed one to Loren, and held it to his lips, but hesitated to drink.

He seemed to be hesitating about something.

Loren waited silently.

After a long silence, Dumbledore opened his mouth. "Loren, you already know about the Horcrux, don't you?"

So all you did was say this?

"Yes, Headmaster, I know the Diary is Voldemort's Horcrux, and the Diadem is also Voldemort's Horcrux. If nothing unexpected happens, he has many more Horcrux. Don't worry, I've kept it a secret for you, and it hasn't been leaked." Loren chattered on and on.

The creation of Horcrux also falls under the category of Alchemy. It's perfectly normal for him to know about Horcrux, given that he studied under one of the most learned Alchemy in centuries. Adding to that the Diary incident before the start of the semester, even without knowing the plot, he could easily deduce these conclusions.

Dumbledore had anticipated this situation, and upon hearing it, he felt somewhat relieved. He leisurely began to recount what he had to say, "During the summer holidays, I visited Mr. Bob Ogden, who used to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He was handling cases related to Voldemort's mother's family. Mr. Ogden is quite old and not in very good health, but thankfully, when I found him, he was still lucid enough to speak with me."

Loren picked up his teacup and took a sip... Dumbledore Grawp a whole bunch of things, but he only remembered a guy named Bob Ogden who was dying.

"From him, I learned that there might be clues about Horcrux in a certain place, or even that Horcrux were hidden there. I originally intended to go there alone to investigate."

Yes, Dumbledore has found Gaunt Shack.

"However, on a moonlit night, I was adding chocolate to Hot Cocoa cocoa. You know, the House-elf don't put enough chocolate in their Hot Cocoa cocoa at night because they think it's unhealthy."

Loren sipped his tea expressionlessly, his eyes vacant, watching Dumbledore's mustache move with each sip of his lips.

"After finishing that cup of Hot Cocoa, I suddenly felt I should take you with me," Dumbledore said, taking a small sip of tea.

Loren had finished his tea. He put down the cup and looked at Dumbledore with disdain. "Headmaster, next time you talk about things, you can skip the process and just tell me the conclusion."

"As you get older, you tend to become a bit long-winded without realizing it," Dumbledore. "Do you have any other questions?"

"I don't have any questions about Voldemort, but—if it's possible to leave the Castle, Headmaster, could you take me to Windsor Castle? I haven't gotten the Unicorn Horn there yet," Loren said.

In a corner of the Library.

"Polyjuice Potion!" Loren looked at the three of them, somewhat bewildered.

I was only gone for half an hour, not half a day, right?

How come you've already identified Malfoy as a suspect just because he was a little late?

"Even if they're not Malfoy, they must be a Slytherin House student. If we can sneak in, we can gather information," Hermione replied.

Ron, his hands propped on the table, exclaimed excitedly, "Yes! Hermione came up with the idea! We can use Polyjuice Potion to transform into Malfoy's two henchmen and extract information about the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets from them!"

Harry nodded. "That's right, Hermione calculated it, we probably only need to break fifty rules."

Only by violating school rules, Article 50...

Loren silently repeated these keywords, then leaned closer and stared at Hermione with narrowed eyes. "Hermione, blink if you're being threatened."

"Stop joking!" Hermione pushed his face away, grabbed a piece of parchment and carefully considered, "The recipe for Polyjuice Potion is in the Restricted Section of 'Moste Potente Potions. ' We need to find a way to get a professor's autographed note so we can borrow that book from the Library."

She scribbled and drew on the parchment, muttering to herself as she made her plans:

"But we have no reason to borrow that book."

"If we pretend to be interested in this theory, maybe there will be some hope."

"But no professor would be fooled so easily..."

Looking up, Hermione noticed the three of them staring at her strangely. She instinctively shrank closer to Loren. "Is there a problem?"

"Hermione— " Loren sighed, "Since you've decided to break the school rules, why don't you just sneak into the Restricted Section at night and steal the formula?"

Ron nodded in agreement. "Yes, I remember we saw that book during our night tour last year."

"..."

Hermione remained silent.

Hermione is still too young when it comes to breaking school rules; subconsciously, she's still a proper little wizard.

Harry noticed Loren's choice of words and looked at him questioningly. "You mean 'you guys'?"

"Yes, you guys! I'm a law-abiding student, I don't want to go out at night with you. Not reporting you is already more than I've done." Loren's face was full of righteous indignation, and he seemed to be shining with light.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron:???

Do you abide by the law?

Who encouraged them to go out at night for the first time?

Who lured Hermione to the Restricted Section of the Library?

The three exchanged a glance, nodded in unison, and reached a consensus in the exchange of glances.

Midnight.

In the boundless darkness, witnessed by the bright stars and moon, the world ushered in a new day. The Common Room was empty, and in the dormitory, the young wizard who hadn't fallen asleep could hear the gentle tolling of bells outside.

In a boys' dormitory in Gryffindor, Neville's snoring filled the room, while Seamus was curled up under the covers, fast asleep.

Harry and Ron climbed out of the four-poster bed, exchanged glances in the darkness by the moonlight, and tiptoed silently to Loren's bedside.

The two carefully grabbed the four corners of the blanket, suddenly pinched them together, and tightly wrapped the person inside the blanket.

"Ugh—you guys—wait—you're all dead!"

Loren mumbled "mmm" under the covers, but these sounds were drowned out by Neville's snoring and didn't cause a ripple.

Together, the two of them carried the crumpled blanket down the spiral staircase and arrived at the Gryffindor Common Room. A few embers flickered in the fireplace, making the armchairs appear as dark, indistinct shadows.

A lamp flickered on, and Hermione, dressed in a sky-blue nightgown, waited for them in a chair.

"It's up to you." Harry said to Ron, put down the blanket, and walked towards the Portrait Hole to open the door to the common room.

"This is outrageous! They actually want to force me to join them in their evil ways!" Loren, having broken free of the blankets, immediately saw Hermione standing beside him.

He lamented, "I thought you were a good student like me, but I never expected this, Hermione Granger, you with your thick eyebrows and big eyes..."

Before he could finish speaking, Hermione, whose face was usually expressionless, could no longer tolerate this troublemaker. She grabbed Loren's shoulder and pulled him out. The advantages bestowed upon her by Gryffindor were on full display at this moment.

An unnamed fragrance wafted from the girl's pajamas, Loren immediately fell silent. However, he still stubbornly held his neck, indicating that he was being forced out of the lounge.

"You are a beautiful woman... with the strength to uproot mountains..."

Loren kept muttering to himself, but Harry and Ron pretended not to hear. If Hermione got impatient, she would tighten her grip on his arm slightly, and Loren would feel the pain and stop making noise.

The Library was pitch black. Hermione skillfully lit the lamp and made her way to the Restricted Section, took down "Moste Potente Potions" from the shelf, and copied the page on Polyjuice Potion.

"Gillyweed simmered for twenty-one days, Bubotuber harvested at the Full Moon, Unicorn Horn, African Tree Snake Skin..." Loren looked at the recipe while reviewing the function of each medicine.

Yes, he had learned Polyjuice Potion from Snape last year and knew it by heart, able to recite it backwards.

He hadn't said anything before because he wanted to tease Hermione, but now that they were in the Library and Hermione had already completed more than half of her copying, he dared not tell her, for fear of getting a beating.

"Bang!" A very slight sound came from behind a bookshelf.

Hiding furtively behind the bookshelves, it couldn't be the professors or Filch; it must be someone or something else.

Loren and Harry turned to look at the bookshelf almost simultaneously, their hands on their wands, the spells for the Piercing Charm and Disarming Charm on their lips, ready to unleash a powerful attack at any moment.

Ron and Hermione didn't notice anything amiss, but seeing the two men's wary movements, they reacted and gripped their wands tightly.

Loren glanced at Harry and gestured slightly to him. Having confirmed each other's intentions, the two of them moved slowly toward the bookshelf, one to the left and the other to the right.

In the dark and desolate Library, their breathing echoed in each other's ears.

As they slowly approached, the two simultaneously sped up, leaping out of the bookshelf and pointing out the wand.

"Nothing at all?" Harry looked at the empty space in front of him with surprise and doubt.

Hermione stepped forward and examined the books carefully for a while, then reached out to touch the books on the shelf before pulling her hand back. "I heard it too. But this is the Restricted Section; perhaps it was these strange books making the sound."

The books in the Restricted Section are always strange, and many of them can make sounds.

With no other abnormalities, the group accepted this explanation and returned to their original spot to continue copying the formula for the Polyjuice Potion.

Loren turned his head and looked thoughtfully at the source of the soft sound. That sound just now seemed somewhat like the sound of Apparition appearing.

He shook his head, dismissing the idea. Only Dumbledore in the Castle could teleport; clearly, he was overthinking it.

After finishing copying, Loren, Hermione, Harry, and Ron left the Library, discussing what to do next as they returned to the common room.

"Gillyweed, leeches, Bubotuber, and Bifurcated Grass," Hermione pointed to the ingredients one by one, "These are all easy to get; they're in the student lockers in the Potions Master classroom, and we can take them ourselves..."

"There's also something on the target." She paused, then continued reading the ingredients, "Powdered Unicorn horns, and fragments of African Tree Snake skin. These two materials are hard to obtain; we need to think of other ways."

Harry and Ron hadn't even noticed what materials were in the student lockers, and could only watch helplessly as Hermione tried to come up with a solution.

"There must be some in Snape's storeroom. Let's find a way to get some." Hermione's bright eyes darted around.

"Professor Snape is currently researching a new Potions recipe and has collected all the Unicorn horns and stored them separately. Even if you sneak into the storeroom, you won't find them." Loren sighed helplessly. "Fine, I'll find the ingredients for Polyjuice Potion."

Hermione smiled and said, "Didn't you say you wouldn't go along with us?"

"I obtained the materials through legitimate means and did not violate any school rules..."

"You went out at night."

"You're coercing me!"

The group returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, laughing and joking. After crawling through the hole, Harry glanced back strangely, having had a peculiar feeling of being watched the whole way.

There's someone behind me, someone in an unseen corner or shadow...

He often had this feeling when walking at night or when he was alone, but he just thought the Castle was too cold and lonely at night and didn't pay it any mind. This feeling disappeared after he entered the lounge, as if the gaze that had been following him had been blocked outside the Portrait Hole.

The next day, in Moaning Myrtle's Girls' Bathroom.

"Crucible, stirring spoon..." Loren took out a complete set of equipment needed to brew the Polyjuice Potion from his suitcase, and then took out ten portions of the Polyjuice Potion ingredients.

No one asked him how he got it; everyone knew that Loren and Snape were on good terms.

"Bubotuber, Bubotuber, every single one of these was Bubotuber on the day of the Full Moon." Hermione counted the materials, a satisfied smile on her face.

She had long harbored resentment towards the practical aspects of Potions class; any Potions could only be prepared once, and there was no second chance regardless of success or failure.

Now we have a full ten sets of materials; we've never fought such a well-funded battle before.

"Excuse me, why are we brewing Potions in the women's restroom in broad daylight?" Ron leaned against the wall, his eyes scanning the surroundings, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

I have a feeling that someone might burst into the women's restroom at any moment and find the four of them perverts.

wrong.

Three.

Hermione is a girl, so she won't be seen as a pervert.

"Because no one will bother us here." Hermione had already set up the cauldron, added water, and started boiling the Gillyweed.

Harry, seemingly unfazed, looked at the cauldron beginning to steam and asked, "How long will it take to prepare?"

Hermione recalled the cooking process in the recipe and estimated, "The Gillyweed need to be cooked for twenty-one days, well, including the others, it'll take about a month."

"A month?" Harry unconsciously raised his voice, then lowered it again when he remembered they were in the girls' restroom. "Hermione, if Malfoy really is the heir, a month is enough for him to send half of the Muggle wizards to the Hospital Wing."

"It's alright," Loren reassured her. "The Hospital Wing can accommodate you."

Hermione couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Harry's lips twitched. "Was I discussing with you whether the Hospital Wing could accommodate everyone? I was talking about the young wizards!"

Ron walked over and put his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Hey Harry, there's no other way right now. Let the professionals handle the professional matters. You should focus on preparing for Saturday's Quidditch."

Harry's eyes widened, and he grabbed Ron, trying to pull him outside. "I forgot we had Quidditch practice today! Wood must be frantic right now!"

"If you can send Malfoy to the hospital during Saturday's game, we won't have to worry about this."

"Use the Lansky feint..."

They are genuinely considering the feasibility of this plan.

Loren watched Hermione holding a notebook in one hand and stirring clockwise in the crucible with a stirring spoon in the other, and fell into a deep silence.

It's confirmed, Snape was talking about you.

He knelt down and took Hermione's hand, guiding her to master the rhythm of stirring. "You should pause for three minutes after every 15 turns of stirring, which will reduce the cooking time by three days."

Rotate, pause...

Rotate, pause...

Wait a minute, Hermione belatedly realized. "Do you know how to brew Polyjuice Potion?"

"That's right. Snape taught me how to brew Polyjuice Potion last year, but Potions I made were used to pay off debts."

Hermione's fist hardened again. "Then, Mr. Morgan, why didn't you say anything during your nighttime stroll last night?"

"You didn't ask."

Hermione was so angry she could barely contain herself and punched him right in the chest. She threw the stirring spoon at him, saying, "Then you cook it!"

Loren took the stirring spoon. "This is a time-consuming Potions. Even if I were to brew it, it wouldn't take much longer. I'd rather guide you so you can gain experience."

So Hermione snatched the stirring spoon back.

Loren was instructing Hermione on how to brew Polyjuice Potion in the girls' restroom, while Ron accompanied Harry during Quidditch training, and also plotted to knock Malfoy into the Hospital Wing.

Days passed by like this, practicing spells, memorizing Transfiguration rules, and occasionally getting beaten up by the herbs in the Greenhouse during Herbology Class. The young wizards were all busy with their own things, and the commotion caused by Mrs. Norris's attack quickly subsided, with the school returning to its usual tranquility.

This peaceful period continued until Saturday, the first Quidditch Match of the school year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

Harry woke up before dawn and tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall back asleep. He stared out the window at the sky, watching the dark expanse turn gray, and then the gray gradually fade...

As soon as the first rays of dawn shone into the dormitory, he got up, dressed, and went downstairs for breakfast early.

When he arrived at the Great Hall, he found that the other Gryffindor Quidditch Team players were already sitting around the empty long table, including the Twins, who were all silently stuffing bread into their mouths without saying a word.

Looking at them, Harry silently vowed in his heart: We must win!

The brewing of Potions requires human intervention, so Loren and Hermione couldn't be there to cheer on Gryffindor. However, while having breakfast in the Great Hall, Loren didn't smack his lips as usual.

Like every young Gryffindor wizard, he wanted his players to be in good spirits before going on the field.

Harry felt dizzy, perhaps because he had gotten up too early. One moment he felt that time was passing so slowly and unbearably, and the next moment it was time for the game to start.

He followed the team into the locker room and put on the bright red Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

Wood gave a long speech in the locker room to boost morale, and Harry only caught four words—"We must win!"

The air in the stadium was humid and stuffy, and the stands were filled with cheers and applause for them. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff both hoped to see Slytherin defeated. The sound waves surged into Harry's ears from all directions, somewhat distorted.

Madam Hooch's voice. "Listen to my whistle, three—two—one—"

Malfoy's voice. "Are you alright, Scarhead?"

Fred's voice. "Someone tampered with the Bludger!"

For the rest of the match, the sound of the Bludger around him, cutting through the air, followed him closely. Then came the sound of raindrops falling, pouring down, a torrential downpour...

The burning pain from the Bludger breaking his arm made his head even more sluggish, and he heard Lee Jordan's commentary. "Slytherin Quidditch Team takes the lead, sixty to zero."

In the misty rain, Harry caught a glimpse of a golden light ahead, and only one thought crossed his mind: rush toward Malfoy.

In a daze, his fingers seemed to have grasped the Golden Snitch, followed by a long yet brief feeling of weightlessness, and the sounds that followed became even more indistinct.

The sound of Colin's camera.

Wood's voice. "We won!"

"Don't worry, Harry. I'm going to heal your arm." Lockhart's voice trailed off, and a strange, very uncomfortable sensation shot through Harry's shoulder like lightning to his fingertips, as if his arm was being ripped out.

Then he fainted...

That afternoon, Loren and Hermione, who had spent the day Potions, returned to the Gryffindor Common Room and heard several versions of the story.

Harry's arm was broken by the Bludger and he fell from a height, resulting in a comminuted fracture. Fortunately, Professor Lockhart knew a rare spell that allowed Harry to quickly remove the bone fragments from Harry's arm, preventing them from flowing back into his heart and causing Harry to die suddenly.

This is the version circulated by Lockhart.

Lockhart kept a type of bone-eating Indian Caterpillar, and these caterpillars ate Harry's bones.

This is the version that Luna released.

The last version of the truth was told to them by Ron, who had just returned from the Hospital Wing: "That idiot Lockhart! Lockhart's spell pulled out Harry's hand bones. Originally Harry was just a simple broken bone, Madam Pomfrey could have set in a Harry. Now he needs to stay in the Hospital Wing all night."

The next day, while Loren and Hermione were brewing Polyjuice Potion in the bathroom, they saw Harry, who had been brought by Ron, with one arm drooping.

"After I was injured, you didn't even come to see me in the Hospital Wing." Harry looked at the two of them with a wronged expression; his physical injury made him somewhat sensitive.

Loren and Hermione were momentarily at a loss. Loren said blankly, "I didn't think spending a night in the Hospital Wing was a serious injury. I mean, we spent much longer last semester."

That being said, this was indeed not the most serious injury Harry had ever suffered, but he still felt wronged. "You don't even care whether my bones have healed or not?"

Ron shook his stiff, newly grown arm and said through gritted teeth, "Get to the point!"

"Remember Dobby House-elf who intercepted my mail before school started? He came to see me last night."

Harry composed himself, perked up, and began to recount the news he had heard the previous night. "He said something terrible was going to happen at Hogwarts, history would repeat itself, and the Chamber of Secrets would be opened again. To prevent me from being killed, he sealed off the station walls, and he also tampered with the Bludger during the Quidditch match, trying to injure me and force me to leave the school."

Hermione seemed thoughtful. So... the Chamber of Secrets had been opened before...?

Ron roared angrily, "He's the one who got me locked up for a month, and my hands were cramping from cleaning the trophies! And Bludger, how did he prevent you from being killed? By killing you first?"

Harry wasn't very angry; he couldn't muster any anger because of something else that had happened last night. "Colin was attacked on his way to the Hospital Wing to see me. He's lying stiff in the Hospital Wing now, just like Mrs. Norris."

"Huh?" Ron was stunned for a moment.

Hermione's hand, which was stirring the crucible, paused for a moment, disturbing the calm eddy within.

Seeing the sorrow on Harry's face, Loren stood up and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, it's alright, Dumbledore will heal him."

"Now," Loren turned his shoulder to face the exit, "Go and reunite with your teammates and enjoy the fruits of victory! You know, George and Fred postponed their celebration party by a day for your sake."

He gestured to Ron to take Harry away.

"There's one more thing!" Harry turned around at the door and looked at Loren seriously. "The person in the Library that night was Dobby. He can teleport in the school. He also told us to be careful, that there are other House-elf in the school."

On Monday morning, news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying dead in the Hospital Wing spread like wildfire throughout the school, causing widespread panic. Rumors flew, everyone was paranoid, and even going to the toilet during breaks required going in groups of three or five.

And so, amidst the invisible, spreading panic, the day arrived at the Friday that Loren and Dumbledore had agreed upon.

Dumbledore said to be prepared, but Loren felt that traveling with Dumbledore meant there was no need for preparation. The best way to avoid danger was to hide behind the headmaster; if that didn't work, then no other preparation was of any use.

The middle-aged version of Dumbledore stood beside the perch behind the door, and when Fawkes wasn't looking, he plucked its feathers, attempting to hasten the Phoenix's rebirth in this way.

As Loren walked into the office empty-handed, he saw this scene and silently complained to himself, "Fawkes has entrusted the wrong person."

Dumbledore casually picked up the black velvet derby hat hanging on the branch and smiled at Loren, "Let's go."

Finally completed