Old Dumbledore, Are You Telling Me How to Do Things?

With Professor Snape as his witness, Filch had no choice but to shut up.

Just then, Dumbledore also walked in from the inside of the Entrance hall.

He first waved his wand to remove Mrs. Norris from the wall, then examined her with magic before looking up and saying, "Don't worry, Argus, Mrs. Norris isn't dead. She's been afflicted with a Petrifying Spell —a rather advanced form of Dark Arts that even I am powerless against."

"This also proves Harry's innocence; it's impossible for a first-year student to have access to such Dark Arts," Dumbledore added.

"My cat, my cat!" Filch's face was contorted with rage. "Someone has to pay for this!"

"But this cannot make innocent people pay for it, Argus," Dumbledore said in a deep voice. He then turned to Harry, "And Harry, you will also be punished for your actions—next Thursday night, you and Hagrid will patrol the Forbidden Forest."

"Given that Professor Snape has already deducted points from Gryffindor, I will not impose any further punishment," Dumbledore said again.

"Yes, Headmaster," Harry said, bowing slightly. "But I don't think I did anything wrong."

The students' eyes went from shock to admiration. They never expected that after beating up a school staff member, Harry would refuse to admit his mistake to the Headmaster.

If it were any other student, they would have already kowtowed to the Headmaster and admitted their mistake, right?!

And this person? This person actually said to the Headmaster's face, "I did nothing wrong."

This is no ordinary courage!

"Oh, of course not." Dumbledore smiled meaningfully at Harry. "Harry, your mistake was using a spell in front of others."

Harry glanced at his junior and felt like he was being taught how to do things.

but...

"I do acknowledge that," Harry nodded in agreement.

He understood the Headmaster's unspoken meaning: if no one saw it, it wouldn't be considered a mistake.

"Alright, Prefect, take your students home," Dumbledore said to everyone. "It's getting late."

After this little incident, Harry and his friends gave up on the idea of Room of Requirement.

After all, Harry had just deducted fifty points from Gryffindor, and he had also beaten up the castle gatekeeper in front of the entire school. Going for a night stroll at this time was somewhat inappropriate.

Who knows if Professor Snape will be keeping a close eye on them and will severely deduct points from Gryffindor if he catches them?

Back in the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry expected to be berated by his classmates—after all, for whatever reason, he had deducted fifty points from Gryffindor.

But to his surprise, he received a hero's welcome.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I even saw a few Hufflepuff Badger in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Harry, you're this one!" Lee Jordan was the first to speak, baring his white teeth, which shone brightly against his dark skin, like the moon in the night.

It's too bright...

Harry was puzzled. He glanced at Hermione clapping for him, then at his cheering classmates, and asked, "Didn't I just deduct fifty points from Gryffindor? Why are you all...?"

"Points deducted?" the Weasley twins exclaimed in unison. "My God, Harry, you managed to get three points for Gryffindor from Snape, that's something we can brag about for the rest of our lives—"

"I agree with that," Percy said, straightening his back seriously and applauding Harry, but still added, "But I have to say, Harry, you clearly had a better way to handle it..."

"Oh my god, Percy, don't spoil the mood." The Weasley family Twins rolled their eyes together.

Their words were echoed by all the Gryffindor students, and even the Hufflepuff nodded in agreement.

"We brought Butterbeer and cookies," said the tall, handsome Hufflepuff boy. "Let's throw a party to help Harry defeat that wretched Filch!"

It's Cedric Diggory, Harry knows him.

"Yay!" the students exclaimed.

"I have some Muggle snacks," Harry said. "You can share them."

"I'll go, Harry," Ron volunteered.

It got hot soon, and Ron came out dragging Harry's suitcase.

Harry's eyelids twitched.

You little rascal, you're trying to empty my coffers!

However, he did not stop Ron, as such an opportunity to quickly bridge the gap between classmates was extremely rare.

"Oh! For our Lion King!" Fred shouted, standing on a stool.

"Potter! Potter! Potter!" the crowd cheered.

"I don't understand," Hermione asked Angelina Jansen, an older student, through the noisy crowd. "Why is everyone so happy, as if it's not Gryffindor who got the points deducted?"

"It's regrettable that Gryffindor lost points, but Filch getting a beating is definitely exhilarating news!" Angelina exclaimed. "You know, when I was a freshman, I was put in detention for something trivial, Filch actually tried to hang me from the rafters and spank me!"

"I've been threatened too!" "Me too!" "Me too!"

The people around Hermione complained to her, their gritted teeth clearly indicating a deep-seated hatred for Filch.

"His cat is just as annoying as him, with a nose even sharper than a dog's," one student complained. "I'm absolutely fed up with both of them, neither the cat nor Filch gets any sympathy from me! Not a single one!"

"However," Hermione suddenly said, "Headmaster Dumbledore wants to put Harry in detention, and in the Forbidden Forest... I remember at the beginning of the School Opening, Headmaster Dumbledore warned that the Forbidden Forest is a very dangerous place, and young wizards will never be allowed to go there... Won't he be in danger?"

"Danger?" Angelina picked up a Coke. "Hmm? This... how do I do it?"

"Let me help you." Hermione took the can of Coke, popped the tab open, Griphook handed it back to Angelina.

"It's delicious." Angelina took a sip and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

She put down her Coke and said to Hermione, somewhat exaggeratedly, "My God, Hermione, how could you even think that... Our the Savior has already proven his strength. What you need to worry about now isn't whether he's in danger, but..."

"The question is whether the Forbidden Forest is dangerous," Alicia Spinnet continued.

Although her classmates all said so, Hermione was still a little worried.

Harry is just a first-year student. Can Hagrid really protect him from the dangers of the Forbidden Forest?

(Thank you everyone for your monthly votes!)