The Rules Are on My Side

Dumbledore quietly cast several spells, but detected nothing. After a moment of thought, he made his judgment:

"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, you insulted a fellow student and initiated a physical altercation, and furthermore, you bullied a female student. According to school rules, you should be punished.

Considering you have not yet been sorted, I will not deduct house points. However, after the sorting ceremony, the three of you will report to your Head of House for a month of detention.

Once your sorting results are out, I will inform your Head of House of the specific circumstances so that they may make a final determination."

Hearing Dumbledore's decision, the corners of Harley's mouth curled up slightly:

As expected, as long as one acts according to the rules, the rules stand on my side. Dumbledore is nothing more than a prisoner of the rules himself.

Dumbledore continued, "I will also write to the parents of everyone involved in this fight, providing a complete record of what you have done."

As he spoke, Dumbledore swept a glance over Harley and the others. Harley wore a look of lingering fear, but in reality, she did not care at all.

In any case, the Dursleys would not care if Harley had been involved in a fight, and they certainly lacked the courage to reprimand her!

Ron also held his head high, looking quite proud, seemingly unafraid of any parental reprimand.

Neville, however, did not think so. He stood frozen in place, then began to tremble slightly, though it was unclear what he was afraid of.

Malfoy was clearly unconvinced, but lacking the courage to speak up in front of Dumbledore, he merely opened his mouth: "My father..."

Then, his voice became too soft to hear, and he fled the compartment rapidly with Crabbe and Goyle.

Dumbledore took one last look at Harley, then patted the bird on his shoulder: "The train will arrive soon; you had better change into your school robes. Fawkes, let's go."

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

Man and bird instantly transformed into flames and vanished from the spot.

Ron rubbed his arm and plopped back into his seat. That was where Crabbe had punched him hard.

Ignoring his own injuries, he asked Harley excitedly: "Harley, what spell did you cast just now? You froze Malfoy and the others in an instant!"

Harley was wiping her wand with a handkerchief. Hearing Ron's question, she replied without looking up: "Talent. I was born with this!"

A look of clear envy appeared in Ron's eyes: "That's so cool! I've heard that some wizards are born with special gifts, able to cast certain spells from birth.

If only I could do that, then I could beat up Malfoy and his cronies anytime, anywhere."

Hermione, who had been ignored for a long time, interjected: "Cool? How can you say that!"

The girl's expression seemed extremely angry: "You are violating school rules! You haven't even started school yet and you're already breaking the rules!"

"Oh, Miss Granger, then I'd like to ask, what would you do? Talk them away with your mouth?"

Ron said sarcastically, clearly dissatisfied that Hermione had not stood on their side earlier.

"Of course, wait for a professor to handle it! It was wrong of them to hit you, but you retaliated, which is a violation of school rules!"

Harley smiled silently as she tucked her cleaned wand back into her pocket. Hermione truly possessed a standard civilian mindset—when in doubt, find a "professor."

As a powerhouse of the Witch sequence skilled in manipulating hearts, Harley could already foresee that Miss Hermione's future days would certainly not be easy.

"Miss Granger, could you please leave our compartment?" Harley finished packing her luggage and said softly.

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

"No, I mean I need to change into my school robes." Harley said, gesturing to the long dress she was wearing.

Hermione was momentarily speechless, and finally left the compartment in silence. Neville had already left at some point.

Ron whistled: "Well done, Harley! You got rid of that annoying person so easily!"

Harley looked at Ron strangely. This red-headed boy was certainly familiar; had she given him permission to call her by her first name?

"So, aren't you leaving?" Harley pointed to the door, "Or do you want to watch me change?" The last sentence carried a hint of killing intent.

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

"I'm going, I'm going." Ron said with a dry laugh, clutching his school robes as he left the compartment. Harley nodded with satisfaction.

The train arrived at the station. Outside, it was pitch black and very cold.

However, thanks to the Assassin sequence, Harley had not only removed her glasses but also solidified eagle-like vision and dark vision, and her physical fitness had been greatly enhanced.

Therefore, the harsh environment outside had no effect on Harley at all.

A booming voice rang out: "First-years! First-years over here! Harley, are you there? Come over here, would you?"

Harley looked toward the direction of the voice; a giant over three and a half meters tall was standing there, holding a lantern in his hand.

A human with giant blood? Or a dwarf among giants? Harley guessed as she walked over.

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

The giant looked down at Harley, grinned, and reached out to ruffle her hair, but Harley dodged it.

The giant didn't mind and introduced himself to Harley: "My name is Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.

I was supposed to take you to Diagon Alley originally; I begged Professor Dumbledore for a long time. It's a pity Professor Dumbledore took the task himself in the end."

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

Come on, follow me! Watch your step!" With that, Hagrid began to walk in one direction.

The group slowly made their way along a narrow, steep path, with Hagrid chatting with Harley and inviting her to visit his cabin after the school term began.

Harley happened to want to learn some information about Hogwarts from the half-giant, so she naturally nodded in agreement.

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

Harley vaguely remembered that Hogwarts: A History recorded that when the four founders first arrived at the land where Hogwarts stood, they had done so by boat.

If Harley remembered correctly, this belonged to a type of mystical ritual—by repeatedly imitating the past actions of certain great beings, one could borrow the power of those beings or form a contract.

Harley indeed felt an invisible contract forming, though the content of the contract was not yet clear.

Moreover, were these four founders truly great beings? To use such a ritual, the object of imitation needed to be at least an Angel of the Earth, which meant a powerhouse at the level of Sequence 1 or Sequence 2.

Harley sat in the boat, trailing her fingers through the lake water as her thoughts wandered. Hogwarts was truly marvelous; there were far too many secrets hidden here.