The End of the Show

The wind of the wilderness blew from the dark distance, fluttering the hems of clothes and the ends of hair, rustling loudly on the dimly lit tower. Strands of black, brown, red, and pale gold hair were immersed in the wind.

Inside the Castle, Harry and Ron would exchange a few words with Malfoy. Outside, everyone fell silent, waiting for something to arrive.

Mrs. Norris appeared first behind the group, followed by Mr. Crabbe, who looked like a bear, and Filch was hunchbacked behind him.

Malfoy's gaze swept back and forth between the two sides, and finally he picked a good spot to watch the show behind Mr. Crabbe, and casually walked over to prepare to watch the spectacle.

Although Mr. Crabbe was surprised to see the Malfoy family boy with them, he said nothing and tacitly agreed not to make things difficult for Malfoy.

Filch's sinister gaze followed him; the Castle caretaker didn't want to miss any student who was out at night.

"Keeping Fire Dragon, roaming at night, and I suspect you're conducting evil research into Dark Arts." Mr. Crabbe's eyes were fixed on Harry. "You're going to be locked up in Azkaban."

Loren raised an eyebrow. "In fact, only professors can punish students."

Mr. Crabbe, who looked like a bear, split his mouth to the sides, revealing a hideous and terrifying smile, with his fleshy face writhing.

"Yes, but I'll catch you first and let you experience what pleasurable torture is before the professor arrives!" Mr. Crabbe said as he approached them.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron couldn't help but feel a little nervous and pointed their wands at the bear.

Would this Death Eater really want to harm students at school?

Loren didn't touch his wand; far from being flustered, he was even somewhat expectant. Out of the corner of his eye, a blazing red light flashed on the high walls of the distant Castle, blinding him.

I knew Dumbledore wouldn't miss this big show, but couldn't he tone down his Magic Power a bit? He's like a little sun in the middle of the night.

Now that Dumbledore is here, Snape and Quirrell are probably somewhere too. He doesn't believe that a mere cannon Death Eater could harm a student at Hogwarts.

Mr. Crabbe moved slowly, like a cat chasing a mouse, and he enjoyed the despair of his prey waiting to die.

"Alas! Maintain a safe distance!"

Several red beams of magical energy suddenly struck the floor in front of Mr. Crabbe, and a lively shout suddenly rang out in the silent air near the tower.

Four brooms descended from the darkness, and four energetic young men appeared on the tower.

One of them laughed at Ron and said, "Ha, I can tell at a glance that you are Charlie's brother."

Before Ron and the others could answer, the remaining three also spoke up one after another.

"The situation is different from what we expected; it's more lively than I imagined."

"It's been a long time, Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris."

Others greeted Filch; they also appeared to be graduates of Hogwarts.

"Long time no see, Professor McGonagall!"

The last greeting was unexpected; Professor McGonagall emerged from the Castle staircase with Vincent Crabbe (Malfoy's sidekick).

When Loren realized what was happening, Crabbe and Son split up into two groups: one group captured them and wanted to torture them, while the other group went to ask Professor McGonagall to catch them in the act.

Professor McGonagall's eyes swept across the crowd, surprised by the many young wizards roaming at night, and furious at the Fire Dragon that was nowhere to be seen.

She said to the graduates in a low voice, "If you want to come back to visit your school after graduation, you should do it properly, not just barge in with a broom."

She certainly knew these students who had graduated a few years ago, some of whom had come from Gryffindor.

One of Charlie's friends, the first to greet Ron, quickly snatched the small box from Loren's hand and winked at him.

Then, raising his voice, he said to Professor McGonagall, "We'll do it next time. To prevent you from locking us up again, we're leaving now!"

Charlie's friends were all cheerful people, and they immediately mounted their brooms and flew away.

Professor McGonagall watched them disappear, her anger growing increasingly intense, her eyes practically spitting fire. "I can't believe it was you guys. Vincent Crabbe said you came to the Astronomy Tower. Don't forget it's one in the morning. Explain yourselves."

Before the others could speak, Vincent Crabbe's father, Mr. Crabbe, preemptively replied, "They keep Fire Dragon and practice Dark Arts; they should be arrested and interrogated."

"I have evidence." As he spoke, he awkwardly began to reach into the pocket of his dress.

All eyes were on him.

But after searching for a long time, he found nothing, like a comical monster.

"Enough! Hermione, tell me what happened!" Professor McGonagall was even angrier.

For the first time, Hermione couldn't answer a teacher's question, and it was Professor McGonagall. She didn't dare look Professor McGonagall in the eye, afraid of seeing disappointment in her.

"Ahem," Loren said. "It's like this, we heard that dark wizards were out at school at night, so we decided to investigate. But this Mr. Crabbe chased us all the way here."

"We thought he was the dark wizard who had Mr. Filch under his control. Luckily, we 'coincidentally' ran into some senior students here, and we held out until you arrived."

Harry, Ron, and Malfoy looked at Loren with admiration. "How could you come up with such a perfect lie in such a short time?"

Hermione looked down at her shoes, motionless like a statue.

Crabbe and Son stood frozen in place, at a loss for words; their only piece of evidence was nowhere to be found.

"The box, that box from before!" Mr. Crabbe cried out frantically, as if grasping at a straw.

"Oh, that box was originally part of the Astronomy Tower. I think it must have been the senior students' luggage; they left it here to visit the Castle, and we just happened to find it." Loren easily delivered the decisive blow.

"You don't actually think such a small box can hold Fire Dragon, do you?"

If there were a combination of Legilimency and Amplifying Voice spells that could project the inner voices of several junior wizards, it would elicit a unified cheer.

Malfoy believed that the Sorting Hat must have made a mistake. To manipulate people's hearts so elegantly with lies, it must be Slytherin. How could someone be sorted into Gryffindor?

Loren is an orphan; he must be a child from a Pure-blood Families who was lost to the world.

Professor McGonagall had a feeling that something was off about what he was saying, but she couldn't find any evidence. Loren's account matched what had happened that night.

Mr. Crabbe wants to torture the young wizard, which is possible given his past as a Death Eater.

"After breakfast tomorrow, the six of you will come to my office to receive your punishment. Now, go back to sleep," Professor McGonagall said, clearly furious and needing some time to calm down.

Loren, pulling the timid Hermione along, nimbly bypassed the bear and darted back up the stairs. The other young wizards followed, with Malfoy and Crabbe joining in.

After the young wizards had left, Professor McGonagall looked at Mr. Crabbe and said in a flat voice, "I will tell Dumbledore about this, and from now on, the Board of Governors shall not interfere in the management of the school. Visits must be applied for in advance."

"Professor McGonagall! This needs to be discussed in a meeting," Mr. Crabbe said urgently.

This time, it was because he received Crabbe's letter that he realized there was an opportunity to deal with the boy who had brought shame to the Dark Lord, which prompted his urgent visit to Hogwarts.

After hearing about Harry Potter's unusual hospitalization from her son, she realized something was amiss and found evidence in the Hospital Wing.

They thought they could expel Harry Potter from Hogwarts and gain some prestige within the Pure-blood Families, but this is the unexpected outcome.

If the Board of Governors finds out that he has messed up and that the professors have taken back his already limited power, then the Crabbe family will have to compensate him in other businesses.

"I, Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts, have the right to do so." Professor McGonagall finished speaking, glanced at Filch, pursed her lips without saying a word, and turned to leave.

On the way back to the lounge, Vincent Crabbe kept a gloomy face and didn't say a word. Malfoy wanted to talk to Loren, but there were too many people, and he couldn't find an opportunity.

Harry and the others wanted to speak, but considering there were other people around, they all chose to remain silent.

At the fork in the road, the two groups, one heading to the Gryffindor common room and the other to the Slytherin Common Room, separated.

The atmosphere around Loren immediately relaxed.

"This was the most exciting night of my life!" Ron exclaimed, beaming with excitement. He was determined to etch this memory into his mind.

"You wouldn't believe it, my legs went weak when the big bear came over."

"I want to punch him in the nose."

Having just experienced something exciting, Harry and Ron were still not calm, and they discussed what had just happened.

Hermione was still somewhat uncomfortable about deceiving Professor McGonagall, and she walked with her head down. Suddenly, she felt a chill under her feet, and upon closer inspection, she saw a head.

"Ah!" Hermione screamed in fright, clutching Loren's sleeve tightly.

"Ha ha! Sir Nicholas, yet another scare!" Nearly Headless Nick floated up from under the floor.

"Nearly Headless Nick, thank you so much for holding off that Death Eater." Harry said gratefully. If Nearly Headless Nick hadn't bought them time, they might not have had a chance to find Loren.

"Not only am I stalling for time, I've also hidden a gift in the front armor!" Nearly Headless Nick laughed heartily.

Harry and Ron found a letter in the boots of the armor; it was Charlie's reply that had been left in the book.

"Fantastic! No wonder he couldn't produce any evidence." Ron kissed the letter, which was the cause of all the trouble. Ron vowed to burn such things after reading them from now on.

Loren circled the Nearly Headless Nick once, confirming that he was just an ordinary ghost, not a physical being like Peeves.

"How did you do that?" Loren asked curiously.

"Keep it a secret! Remember, the ghost is also the master of this Castle! Also, you owe me a favor..." Nearly Headless Nick voice drifted away with him.

"I'll never call him ' Nearly Headless Nick ' again!" Harry said.

"It's ' Nearly Headless Nick,'" Ron retorted, putting the letter away so he could throw it in the fireplace later.

The four continued their journey back to their dormitory.

"Loren, what about your trunk?" Hermione asked.

"We can do it later." Loren didn't care much. If you have the skills, why worry about not having the materials?

"Please, Loren, make one for me too."

"Me too."

Harry and Ron quickly went over to them.

"No!" Hermione snapped. "That violates the Ministry of Magic's rules."

I silently added to myself, "Mine isn't even done yet."

On the other side, Malfoy and Crabbe were walking back to the Slytherin Common Room, one after the other.

"Why are you helping those Gryffindor, those Mudblood!" Crabbe's words were accusatory.

Malfoy didn't even turn his head. "None of your business."

"Have you forgotten the glory of Pure-blood?"

Malfoy stopped, but didn't turn around. "I didn't."

"Don't you want to teach them a lesson?"

"I said, it's none of your business!" Malfoy's voice carried a hint of impatience.

Crabbe shut up, and the way he looked at Malfoy became the same as how he looked at Harry, filled with intense resentment.

He noticed Malfoy's unusual intimidation of Harry and Ron, and wrote to his father, wanting revenge for the humiliation he suffered in the stands.

But Malfoy messed all of this up.

His father always told him to curry favor with Malfoy because of their family's wealth and power, and because their family had seized more benefits under the Dark Lord's influence.

At the start of the school year, he tries to get to know the "The Boy Who Lived" who framed the Dark Lord, and later he gets close to the filthy Muggle-born.

He had no idea about the glory of Slytherin, no idea about the glory of Pure-blood.

Damn it, Malfoy!

It was a sleepless night; some lights and candles went out, while others came back on.

In the Headmaster's office, all the portraits on the walls were turned face down, and the people in the portraits were all asleep.

Inside a top hat on the shelf, a slender snake coiled itself around Sapphire, the grid-like patterns on its back scales reflecting a dark red light.

"Minerva, would you like something to eat?" Dumbledore, dressed in a blue nightgown and wearing crescent-shaped glasses, rummaged through candy.

Professor McGonagall was tense, and she was extremely annoyed. "I say, Headmaster Dumbledore! Don't you really know what happened tonight?"

"Hmm... I know a little bit." Dumbledore pulled out half a bag of Nougat. "Have some, it'll help you sleep."

Professor McGonagall slammed her hand on the table, her fingers turning white. "These Death Eater have no remorse. They are still keen on torturing others, even underage wizards."

"Minerva, I know." Dumbledore took out a teacup and poured hot tea from the empty teapot. "There was a reason why we let this group go in the first place. The reconstruction of wizarding society requires the support of Pure-blood Families."

Professor McGonagall looked at the tea and subconsciously thought of the "Five Exceptions to the Pumble's Transfiguration Law," then came to her senses. "They've already taken control of the Board of Governors. Hogwarts needs full management authority."

Dumbledore nodded, put the Nougat in, shook it a few times, and handed it to Professor McGonagall. "I know you always care about your students and want what's best for them. And I agree with your ideas, but this needs to be done slowly."

Dumbledore said with a hint of sarcasm, "They always arrogantly think that others are eyeing those insignificant powers."

Professor McGonagall's anger was calmed by Dumbledore's actions, and she slowly sat down. "Don't spoil your students too much. I know you can catch them out at night. They definitely weren't telling the truth this time. The only honest one, Miss Granger, didn't even dare to look me in the eye."

"Don't dwell on small mistakes." Dumbledore, realizing that the little ones' mistakes might not be small at all. "Perhaps a little unconventional teaching method will help them learn more."

"I'm really worried that they'll corrupt Miss Granger."

"Haha, on the bright side, Granger can influence them too."

I kowtow to my dear readers. I spent my time revising what I wrote earlier; I feel like I wrote too fast yesterday and it fell apart a bit.

I'll post 4k tonight, and another 4k tomorrow morning at 8 AM.