Avada Close Defense Cannon

There were few people in the Hogwarts Great Hall on Saturday morning. Most students had no classes, so they chose to sleep in.

Harry and Ron were discussing the Gringotts break-in they had seen at Hagrid's hut yesterday.

A Snowy Owl flew in through the window toward Harry Potter, clutching a letter.

"Hedwig." Harry wondered who had written to him and was just about to reach out and take the letter.

To his surprise, the Snowy Owl flew straight over his head toward Horatio, who was sitting not far away, and even gave Harry a disdainful look.

"Isis." Horatio caught the Snowy Owl, took the red letter from her leg, patted Isis on the head, then shot Harry a similarly disdainful glance.

Harry awkwardly withdrew his hand. When he turned around, he found another Snowy Owl standing on the table, staring at him resentfully.

Only after paying with some beef and several pecks to the head did Hedwig finally let Harry off.

Meanwhile, Neville spotted the red letter in Horatio's hand and cried out, "That's a Howler! I'd suggest opening it. The last time I forgot to open one from my grandmother, something terrifying happened."

Horatio recalled how Pheobe had written to him a few days ago, inviting him to spend Christmas with her in France.

Horatio had written back to refuse. Maybe his wording had not been entirely appropriate. It was all Snape's fault—after spending so long around him, Horatio had learned to speak in that snide, sarcastic way too.

Snape, who was gambling on rough stones in Myanmar, sneezed.

"Pfft, you think I'm scared of her?" Horatio cast Incendio!, burning the letter under Neville's admiring gaze.

After burning the letter, Horatio suddenly felt a chill run down his back and shivered. "Pfft, I don't believe Pheobe can barge into Hogwarts and one-shot me."

Then Horatio leaned over toward Harry and Ron. "What were you two talking about just now? Were you talking shit about me?"

Harry and Ron hurriedly shook their heads. Who would dare talk shit about him?

Harry then told Horatio about what they had discovered at Hagrid's hut yesterday afternoon and produced the Daily Prophet he had swiped from Hagrid.

Horatio glanced at the newspaper. It read:

"Latest Report on the Illegal Gringotts Break-In

The investigation into the illegal Gringotts break-in is still ongoing. So-called experts believe it was the work of an unidentified dark wizard.

Zola, the goblin manager of Gringotts, stated that nothing had been stolen. The underground vault searched by the intruder had, in fact, already been emptied earlier that day.

The goblins in charge of Gringotts stated: 'What was stored in the vault is confidential. It would be best if you did not interfere in this matter.'"

"Damn it, I knew those Gringotts goblins were unreliable." Horatio slammed the newspaper onto the table. "No, I need to set up some defenses myself."

With that, Horatio rushed out.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, then helplessly continued eating breakfast.

That afternoon, Harry ran into Hermione, who was looking for Horatio.

"Harry, have you seen Horatio? Professor McGonagall told me his detention isn't over yet, but now no one can find him," Hermione said.

"No, but this morning..." Harry told Hermione what had happened that morning.

Hermione thought for a while. "Maybe we can get a clue from Hagrid."

So Hermione and Harry headed to Hagrid's hut together.

When they arrived at Hagrid's hut, they found Horatio there just as expected. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and took out some kind of communication device, seemingly contacting someone.

Horatio handed Hagrid a key and a silvery-white cube. "Hagrid, take this key to Vault 9527 at Gringotts for me. Put this cube in the vault, then press the red button on it. Oh, and withdraw 2,000 Galleons for me while you're there."

"Horatio!!! Do you know you still have detention today?" Hermione shouted at Horatio.

"Detention? What a joke. Even if I starve to death today, even if I'm crushed to death by Galleons, I'm not going to detention." Horatio replied disdainfully.

When he noticed Harry Potter standing with Hermione, his eyes lit up. "Harry, I remember you have a vault at Gringotts too, right?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"Look, Gringotts' goblins are completely unreliable. We have to add our own anti-theft measures." Horatio said, "I asked around beforehand. Gringotts allows customers to set up their own security measures."

He then pulled another silver cube from a cloth bag and showed it to Harry. "This is an anti-theft system I made myself. Only 1,000 Galleons. Harry, you don't want your vault to get robbed and end up a pauper like Ron, unable to even afford owl feed for Hedwig, do you?"

Harry looked at the silver cube. "What is that? What does it do?"

"Excellent question. Allow me to formally introduce this groundbreaking product." Horatio pressed the red button on the cube.

The silver cube expanded and shifted, eventually transforming into an imposing close defense cannon.

Ignoring everyone's stunned expressions, Horatio continued, "This is the Terminator MK14 Avada Close Defense Cannon, developed by the newly established Quibble Group. It can fire Avada Kedavra beams at a rate of 4,500 rounds per minute.

Its built-in soul-recognition system effectively prevents friendly fire. Since it identifies souls, it can also effectively stop intruders disguised as allies through Polyjuice Potion and similar methods. It currently supports up to five soul records. Our company will later provide additional record slots for 100 Galleons each. Buy ten, get one free.

If you don't want to use Killing Curse beams, our company can replace them for free with various curse beams, such as the Imperius Curse, Cruciatus Curse, Stunning Spell, and Petrification Curse. By activating our company's premium membership later, you can upgrade to spells even more advanced than the Killing Curse. However, since Harry is not currently a premium member, he cannot view the detailed list.

This machine only needs one of our company's energy stones per year to maintain normal operation. Attack mode consumes one energy stone every five minutes. Energy stones cost 10 Galleons each. Buy five, get one free.

Before this machine's overwhelming firepower, all I can say to intruders is that they're as laughable as their Shield Charms."

"Oh, is that so powerful? Then would my Transfiguration work on it?" A woman's voice sounded from behind Harry and Hermione.

Horatio did not realize what was happening and replied, "This machine currently does not come equipped with an anti-spell system, but customers can spend 500 Galleons to unlock our Sky Shield S03 Defense System..."

Horatio finally realized what was going on. Looking at the icy-faced Professor McGonagall behind Hermione, he calmly put away the machine and patted Harry on the shoulder. "Haha, I was joking. It's just a toy."

"Mr. Horatio's toy is rather interesting. Could you lend it to me to play with?"

"No, no. This toy is just right for young Wizards, but it's far too childish for a professor like you."

"That's alright. Mentally, I'm still a young wizard. Let me test this toy's power—on you, Mr. Horatio."

"Professor, you'll be sent to Azkaban..."