Chaotic Hogwarts

Lin Du's new rules had consequences far beyond anyone's expectations—

Ravenclaw was the most overjoyed of all.

They had been stuck in second place in the House Cup for several years, and now, because Harry had just won a crucial Quidditch match for Gryffindor, Gryffindor happened to be exactly fifty points ahead of Ravenclaw.

This meant that as long as Ravenclaw came out on top in this Monthly Exam, they could use those precious fifty points to surge past them in one stroke and finally touch the House Cup they had long coveted!

How could the crown of wisdom be allowed to slip away again? The Ravenclaws threw themselves completely into the grind.

The lights in the Common Room stayed on all night long, within curfew limits, while the sound of recitation echoed through every corridor, declaring their determination.

The other Houses could no longer sit still.

The Hufflepuffs were the first to face reality. Upholding their "middle path," their goal was clear and practical:

Stay in the middle. Never come last!

At some point, a hand-drawn poster had appeared outside their Common Room. It showed an honest-looking badger, accompanied by the words: "Hold steady, we can win! (As long as we're not last.)"

The Slytherins tried to make use of their "traditional advantage," probing Lin Du from every angle about the exam material. They soon discovered that this Eastern professor could neither be persuaded nor pressured. His smile was gentle, but his lips were sealed.

Although Gryffindor had Hermione and Percy, the two kings of grinding, leading the charge, their overall strength still struggled against Ravenclaw's collective intelligence.

Since they could not surpass Ravenclaw in sheer dedication, some "clever" young wizards began entertaining crooked ideas—

If they could keep their competitors from studying in peace, wouldn't that indirectly improve their own rankings?

Thus, a massive "anti-grind" campaign quietly unfolded throughout the castle, targeting book-carrying Ravenclaws and top students from the other Houses.

In the corridors and outside the library, dungbombs, Tarantallegra, the Leg Locker Curse... all manner of prank spells appeared without warning.

For a time, the vigilance of Hogwarts students and their proficiency with Protego visibly improved by leaps and bounds.

Professor McGonagall was furious!

Almost every day, she saw good students—especially Gryffindors from her own House, who had also become targets, and Ravenclaw students—plagued by all kinds of nasty curses, sometimes even carried into the hospital wing.

Professor McGonagall first gave Slytherin a severe warning, convinced that they were accustomed to using such "despicable" tactics.

Professor Snape was deeply displeased by this. For several days straight, the low pressure radiating from him seemed to make even the candles in the dungeon corridors burn dimmer.

However, the slap in the face came swiftly.

Three days later, Snape himself caught two Gryffindors red-handed at the dungeon entrance as they tried to ambush a fifth-year Ravenclaw with the Leg-Locker Curse!

"It seems the reputation of certain Houses for poor discipline is not entirely unfounded, Minerva." Snape's lips curled in undisguised mockery.

Professor McGonagall's face turned livid. On the spot, she deducted fifty points from those two disappointing Gryffindors!

That deduction immediately knocked Gryffindor, who had been in contention for first place, down the rankings and invisibly sent Ravenclaw to the top for the time being.

The Slytherins, who had been taking the blame all along, exploded at once!

Well, well, Gryffindor—crying thief while being the thief!

Old grudges and new were settled together, and the inter-House brawl officially began.

Thanks to Lin Du's earlier brutal training in Impedimenta and Immobilus, even the lower-year students could now use them skillfully, while the upper-years had developed all sorts of tricks with them.

The corridors became battlefields:

"Impedimenta!" a fifth-year Slytherin roared, raising a barrier.

"Shattering Curse!" a seventh-year Gryffindor tried to break through it by force.

"Protego!" A passing Ravenclaw calmly shielded himself and continued walking with a book in hand, reading as he went while muttering, "...thus, a werewolf's increased aggression during the full moon is related to Magic Power tides..."

Madam Pomfrey's School Hospital was packed to capacity. She stormed off to complain to Professor McGonagall, who had practically become Hogwarts' human patrol post, catching rule-breakers until her hands went numb.

The Ravenclaws, too, were finally completely enraged.

Previously, they simply could not be bothered to argue. But under the dual provocation of the House Cup and repeated ambushes, once this group of exceptionally intelligent students got serious, their combat power was astonishing.

They even began applying military tactics—

They set magical traps around corridor corners, used Transfiguration to create decoys that lured in enemies, and formed "anti-ambush mutual aid groups" that used magical mirrors to report "enemy movements" in real time.

Hogwarts had completely descended into chaos.

Students no longer traveled alone. Even when going to the Restroom, they practically wanted to form a reinforced platoon.

During nighttime wandering hours, the castle became even more chaotic. Filch had completely given up—

Rumor had it that the caretaker had recently become obsessed with knitting, selectively turning blind and deaf to the bangs echoing through the castle and the occasional flashes of spell-light.

Most absurdly, even the Common Rooms were no longer safe.

No one knew where the Weasley twins had gotten the password to the Slytherin Common Room. Rumors claimed they had kidnapped a lone Slytherin and had a "friendly" conversation with the help of Veritaserum acquired from who knew where. They led over a dozen Gryffindor raiders in a surprise attack. Although Professor Snape quickly suppressed them after hearing the news, the incident badly frayed the Slytherin Head of House's fragile nerves.

Professor Snape trembled with rage during Potions Class. Looking at his own disappointing students, he nearly wanted to start teaching "Defense and Countermeasures Against Dark Magic: Special Edition" on the spot.

But whenever he could not resist explaining how to cleverly break an Obstruction Charm, he would see several Gryffindors—especially Potter and Weasley—listening more intently than anyone else. It left him choking on his anger, nearly ready to perform a "Cauldron Explosion Spell" right there.

Amid this school-wide celebration—melee—the only people who remained calm were perhaps the headmaster and Lin Du.

Once, Dumbledore saw two students trading Impedimenta and Immobilus back and forth in a corridor. He actually smiled at the iron-faced Professor McGonagall beside him and said, "Look, Minerva, how quickly their practical combat skills are improving! This is more effective than any simulated training."

Professor McGonagall adjusted her glasses, which were nearly crooked with anger, and could not say a single word.

As for Lin Du, the instigator behind it all, he looked with satisfaction at the dramatic improvement in the quality of his students' essays and turned a blind eye to the chaos throughout the castle.

He even offered a seemingly casual reminder during one lesson: "In fact, fighting real opponents is the best kind of practice. After all, dark creatures will not show you mercy."

The moment he said that, the fighting escalated once again.

By the time the Monthly Exam arrived at the end of the month, students from the three Houses were already exhausted from wearing one another down.

Hufflepuff, however, unexpectedly took first place with their steady performance, earning fifty points for the House.

While the other Houses were still stunned by the result, someone knocked on the door to Lin Du's office.

Curious, Lin Du opened it and found Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing outside.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger? What is it?"

Before he could finish, his gaze fixed on Hermione, and surprise entered his voice. "Miss Granger, your face..."

Hermione Granger's face, usually so full of intelligence, was now covered in thick ginger cat fur. Behind her glasses, her eyes seemed rounder than usual, with a more amber hue.

She desperately tried to hide it with her scarf, but the signs were far too obvious.

Ron stood beside her, pale as a sheet, while Harry wore the expression of someone facing the end of the world.

Lin Du instantly understood. He sighed softly and stepped aside. "I think you had better come in and explain."