Young Is Good—You Can Fall Asleep the Moment You Hit the Ground!

While Linley was crafting an Alchemy Formation centered around the "agility" attribute, Malfoy had already set off toward the Prizes Display Room with Crabbe and Goyle.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron also headed for the Prizes Display Room. Hermione failed to dissuade them and had no choice but to follow. On the way, they also conveniently brought along Neville, who had been locked outside the common room.

Before long, the two groups arrived at the Prizes Display Room one after the other.

Inside the Prizes Display Room, crystal glass cases gleamed under the moonlight. Trophies, shields, medals, and statues shimmered with silver and gold in the darkness.

Both groups drew their wands at the same time and pointed them at each other.

"Potter, I didn't think you'd actually dare to come. I thought you'd be hiding in your dormitory, crying for your mummy!"

Malfoy sneered.

Harry refused to back down and shot back, "Really? I thought that was something only you did! Are you sure you're not forcing things you've done onto me?"

Beside him, Ron mimicked perfectly, "I'm telling my father!"

Ron's little performance thoroughly enraged Malfoy. He stepped forward and pointed his wand at Harry. "Come here. It's time for a wizard's duel!"

As he spoke, Malfoy performed the wizard dueling salute with rigid precision.

Harry, meanwhile, awkwardly returned the salute the way Ron had taught him.

"Three! Two! One!"

"Fiery Roast!"

As the countdown ended, Malfoy was the first to fire off a Bumps Curse.

As the son of a Pureblood Family, Malfoy had naturally come into contact with magic early on. While his magical talent was nowhere near as high as Linley's, mastering a few minor jinxes in advance was no great difficulty.

Harry watched the spell shoot toward him and quickly dodged aside.

Harry did not know many spells, so before the duel began, Ron had told him to avoid Malfoy's spells as much as possible.

"Grinning Huala!"

Malfoy cast another spell, and another beam shot rapidly toward Harry.

Harry dodged in a panic as spell after spell struck near his feet.

"Potter, do you only know how to run? Why don't you change your name to Rat?!"

Malfoy laughed wantonly, but Harry, forced to keep dodging, could not respond at all.

But at that moment, Hermione suddenly stepped forward.

Though she was very dissatisfied with Harry and Ron for breaking school rules, she did not want to see her friends getting beaten by Malfoy without any chance to fight back.

"I'm Harry's assistant. Harry isn't feeling well, so I'll take over!"

Hermione shouted.

With Irina absent, she was probably the only one in Gryffindor who could stand against Malfoy.

Harry frowned, wanting to say something, but Ron covered his mouth and dragged him back.

Ron might be a bit dense, but he was not stupid. With a master stepping in, all they had to do was lie back and win!

Malfoy did not care that Harry had changed assistants. In his eyes, he only needed to defeat them all!

Malfoy did not think Hermione was anything special. After all, she was just a Muggle-born!

Thinking this, Malfoy fired his first spell at Hermione without hesitation. "Tarantula Dance!"

Malfoy had cast the Dancing Spell to control Hermione's movements, forcing her to dance and preventing her from dodging the spells that followed. Of course, he also wanted to make a fool of her.

Seeing this, Hermione got angry. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

It was only the most basic Levitation Charm, but in Hermione's hands, it was anything but ordinary. A silver trophy soared high into the air, then smashed viciously into the back of Malfoy's head.

"Ugh..."

Malfoy rolled his eyes and immediately collapsed to the floor.

Being young was great—you could fall asleep the moment you hit the ground!

Hermione's instant takedown left everyone frozen in place.

Crabbe hurried forward. By the rules, he was Malfoy's assistant.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

But even Malfoy had been knocked out by Hermione in one hit, let alone Crabbe!

Hermione casually flicked out a Full Body Bind, pinning Crabbe in place.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Caught up in the excitement, Hermione fired another Full Body Bind, restraining the innocent-looking Goyle as well.

"Hermione, you're my goddess!"

"Sorry, Hermione. I was way too harsh before!"

Harry and Ron's attitude toward Hermione had changed completely. They looked at her with worshipful eyes.

"Hmph! Don't let it happen again. You're not allowed to break school rules in the future!"

Hermione lifted her chin and prepared to return to the group.

"Meow~"

But just then, a meow came from nearby.

A skeletal cat with dark gray fur was sitting at the entrance to the Prizes Display Room, staring at everyone with bulbous, lamp-like eyes.

The next instant, it darted away.

"Oh no, it's Mrs. Norris! Filch must be nearby. Run!"

Ron cried out. He grabbed Harry with his left hand and Hermione with his right, then ran out of the Prizes Display Room. Harry's other hand was dragging the panting Neville along.

At that moment, Filch's voice came from afar. "Mrs. Norris, did you see the little rule-breakers?! I'm coming!"

Immediately afterward, the sound of running footsteps followed.

This frightened the Gryffindors out of their wits. Harry led everyone quietly down a corridor lined with suits of armor.

Fortunately, the restrained Malfoy trio bought them some time. Filch caught the three of them first before continuing his pursuit of Harry and the others.

As Filch's voice drew closer and closer, the timid Neville could not help letting out a scream. He took off running, but tripped, crashed into Ron, and fell onto a suit of armor.

"Run!" Harry shouted as the four of them sprinted down the corridor at full speed.

After who knew how long, Harry and the others reached the end of the corridor, where a locked door stood.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Just then, a heavenly voice came from not far away.

Hermione looked over in surprise. "Irina, why are you here?!"

Irina blinked innocently. "Professor McGonagall just let me out, and then I heard you all wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves over here, so I came to take a look!"

Ron whimpered, "Don't look! We're finished. We're dead!"

Harry explained from the side, "Filch chased us all the way here, but this is a dead end!"

At that moment, footsteps sounded in the distance. Their owner was clearly Filch, who had pursued them all the way here.

"Oh, hurry over here!" Hermione said irritably. She tapped the lock on the door with her wand and muttered, "Alohomora!"

The lock clicked open.

Hermione shoved Harry, Ron, and Neville inside, then pulled the bewildered Irina in as well before closing the door again.

Just when everyone thought they were safe, Irina cautiously poked Hermione.

"Stop messing around, Irina!" Hermione said, panting.

Irina said speechlessly, "I'm not messing around. Please look up!"

Hearing that, Hermione raised her head and froze.

A Three-headed Dog so tall it nearly touched the ceiling filled almost the entire space. It had three heads, three pairs of vicious eyes rolling about, and three drooling mouths that looked as though they could swallow everyone in a single bite.

Compared to the Three-headed Dog, Harry and the others were like tiny snacks—one bite each, crunch!

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By the way, I wonder how many people are reading this book now? I'm thinking about whether there's any need to make a fan group or something.