The Rules Were on My Side

Dumbledore quietly cast several spells, but none of them detected anything. After a moment's thought, he made his decision:

"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, you insulted your fellow students and started a fight, attacking a girl no less. According to the school rules, you deserve to be punished.

"Since you haven't been sorted yet, I won't take away any House Points. But once you've been sorted, all three of you will have to serve a month of detention with your Head of House.

"Once your sorting results are in, I'll explain the situation to your Head of House and let him decide what to do."

Hearing Dumbledore's decision, Harley's lips curled into a slight smile.

As expected, as long as I follow the rules, they're on my side. Dumbledore is nothing but a prisoner of the rules, too.

Dumbledore continued, "I'll also write to the parents of everyone involved in the fight and give them a full account of what you did."

As he spoke, Dumbledore glanced at Harley and the others. Harley looked shaken, but in truth, she didn't care at all.

The Dursleys wouldn't care whether Harley had been involved in a fight, and besides, they didn't have the nerve to scold her!

Ron also held his head high, looking rather proud, as if he wasn't afraid of getting told off by his parents at all.

Neville, however, didn't feel the same way. He stood frozen in place, then started to tremble a little. It was hard to tell what he was afraid of.

Malfoy was obviously unhappy, but didn't dare say anything in front of Dumbledore. He only opened his mouth and said, "My father..."

His voice dwindled until it was inaudible, and he fled the compartment at top speed with Crabbe and Goyle.

Dumbledore gave Harley one last look, then patted the bird perched on his shoulder. "The train is nearly at the station. You'd better change into your uniforms. Fawkes, let's go."

The golden-red bird was leisurely preening its feathers. At Dumbledore's words, it let out a soft cry.

Man and bird instantly turned into a flash of fire and vanished.

Ron rubbed his arm and dropped back into his seat. Crabbe had punched him hard there.

He didn't even bother to check his injury. Instead, he asked Harley excitedly, "Harley, what spell did you just use? You froze Malfoy and the others in an instant!"

Harley was wiping her wand with a handkerchief. Without looking up, she answered Ron's question. "It's a talent. I was born knowing how to do it!"

Ron's eyes filled with unmistakable envy. "That's amazing! I've heard that some wizards are born with extraordinary talents and can use certain spells from birth.

"I wish I could do that, too. Then I could beat Malfoy and the others up whenever I wanted."

Hermione, who had been ignored for a long time, cut in. "Amazing? How can you say that!"

The girl looked furious. "You're breaking the school rules! You haven't even started school yet, and you're already breaking them!"

"Oh, Miss Granger, then let me ask you this: what would you have done? Talked them into leaving?"

Ron's voice dripped with sarcasm. He was clearly unhappy that Hermione hadn't taken his side earlier.

"Of course I'd wait for a professor to handle it! It was wrong of them to hit you, but you broke the rules by hitting back!"

Harley smiled silently as she put her cleaned wand back in her pocket. Hermione had such a typical ordinary person's mindset: when in doubt, go find a professor.

As a powerful Demoness of the Sequence, skilled at reading people, Harley could already tell that Miss Granger was in for a rough time.

"Miss Granger, would you mind leaving our compartment?" Harley put away her luggage, then asked gently.

"Why? I haven't finished speaking!" Hermione planted her hands on her hips, looking like an angry lion.

"No, I mean I need to change into my uniform." As she spoke, Harley pointed at her long dress.

Hermione was at a loss for words. In the end, she quietly left the compartment. Neville had already left at some point.

Ron whistled. "Nicely done, Harley! You got rid of that annoying girl so easily!"

Harley gave Ron a strange look. This red-haired boy was awfully familiar. Had she given him permission to call her by her first name?

"So aren't you going out?" Harley pointed at the door. "Or do you want to watch me change?" A hint of menace crept into her last words.

Ron suddenly realized that the person in front of him was a girl!

"I'm going now." Ron gave an awkward laugh, grabbed his uniform, and left the compartment. Harley nodded in satisfaction.

The train reached the station. It was pitch-black outside and bitterly cold.

Thanks to the Assassin Sequence, however, Harley had not only gotten rid of her glasses but also permanently gained an eagle's eyesight and night vision. Her physical abilities had been greatly enhanced, too.

So the harsh conditions outside didn't affect Harley at all.

A booming voice rang out. "First-years! First-years over here! Harley, are you there? Come this way, all right?"

Harley looked toward the voice. A giant, three and a half meters tall, stood there with a lantern in his hand.

A human with giant blood? Or a dwarf among the Giants? Harley wondered as she walked over.

"Hello, may I ask who you are?" Harley squeezed in beside the giant's feet. "I just heard you call my name."

The giant looked down at Harley with a grin and reached out to ruffle her hair, but she dodged him.

The giant didn't seem to mind. He introduced himself to Harley. "My name's Rubeus Hagrid. I'm the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.

"I was supposed to take you to Diagon Alley back then. I begged Professor Dumbledore for ages, but in the end, Professor Dumbledore took the job himself."

As he spoke, Hagrid sighed, then shouted, "Are all the first-years here?

"Come on, follow me! Watch your step!" With that, Hagrid set off.

The group made their way slowly along a narrow, steep path. Hagrid chatted with Harley, inviting her to visit his little hut after the school year began.

Harley was eager to learn more about Hogwarts from this Half-blood giant, so she readily agreed.

Hagrid led the first-years to the lake, where they were to cross by boat. Each boat could hold four people.

Harley vaguely remembered that Hogwarts, A History recorded how the Four Founders had first reached the land where Hogwarts stood: by boat.

If Harley remembered correctly, this was a kind of mystical ritual—by repeating and imitating the actions of certain great beings in the past, one could borrow their power or form a contract.

And Harley could indeed feel an intangible contract taking shape, though its terms were still unclear.

Besides, were the Four Founders all great beings? For this kind of ritual, the ones being imitated had to be at least Grounded Angels—powerful beings at Sequence One or Sequence 2.

Harley sat in the boat, trailing her fingers through the water as her thoughts wandered. Hogwarts really was a wondrous place. It held so many secrets.