The Witch's Dark Magic

Harley followed behind Fred and George as they exited the locker room, heading toward the roaring, cheering stadium.

The stands were packed to capacity, with students from Gryffindor and Slytherin huddled together, forming a sea of red and green.

Students from both houses had even crafted various handmade cheering props, such as red lions and green snakes.

Hermione had reached the highest row of the stands, where she and a few other upperclassmen had fashioned a massive banner that read:

"Gryffindor's Lion Queen, Harley Potter will win!"

Beneath the text was a large Gryffindor lion.

With the magical assistance of the upperclassmen, the lion on the banner moved constantly, opening its mouth to roar from time to time, while the gold and red lettering shimmered incessantly.

On the Slytherin side, they were uncharacteristically refraining from using off-field psychological pressure to distract Harley.

Under normal circumstances, Slytherin loved to boo and create mental pressure whenever a new player from another house took the field for the first time.

However, since this Gryffindor newcomer was Harley Potter—the favorite student of the Slytherin Head of House, Professor Snape—this behavior had been strictly forbidden by him.

Not only that, but he had also demanded that the Slytherin Quidditch team strictly avoid using illegal tactics against Harley, such as elbowing, heavy collisions, or grabbing her broom.

There were, however, no such restrictions regarding the rest of the Gryffindor team.

Under the pressure from their own Head of House, especially his intimidating gaze, the members of the Slytherin Quidditch team had no choice but to grit their teeth and comply.

Harley felt no pressure at all, nor was there any stage fright. She smiled and waved at the stands, striking a confident pose that drew another wave of cheers.

Madam Hooch, who taught flying lessons, was in charge of refereeing the match.

Before the game began, she repeatedly emphasized discipline and cast pointed glances at the Slytherin team.

After the two captains shook hands, Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and fifteen broomsticks shot into the air.

The sound of commentary immediately filled the field; a boy with dreadlocks was holding a microphone enchanted with a voice-amplification spell to broadcast the progress of the match.

He was Lee Jordan, a classmate and best friend of the Weasley twins.

That was why Professor McGonagall was also standing in the commentary box, just in case this Lee student suddenly decided to cause trouble like the twins.

As the Seeker, according to Wood's initial plan, Harley was not required to participate in the team's overall deployment and operations.

There are generally two ways to play as a Seeker: one is to stay completely detached from the team, focusing solely on finding the Golden Snitch.

The other is to integrate into the team's system, coordinating to tear apart the enemy's formation and disrupt their offense while searching for the Golden Snitch.

Wood's original plan was for Harley to focus on finding the Golden Snitch; after all, Harley was a complete novice, and Wood feared that too many demands would place immense mental pressure on her and interfere with her performance.

But after Harley caught the Golden Snitch quickly on several occasions, Wood changed his mind.

"You are a natural-born Quidditch player!" Wood said excitedly. "I feel like you're even better than Lynch from the Irish team!"

Therefore, in this match, Harley was also expected to disrupt Slytherin's offense.

Relying on the speed advantage of her Nimbus 2000, Harley constantly dove into the Slytherin formation and pulled away just as quickly, disrupting their flight paths.

This type of guerrilla-style maneuvering was perfectly suited for a lightweight player like Harley to deal with the heavy tanks of Slytherin.

Even if the Slytherin players wanted to knock Harley off her broom, they simply couldn't catch her.

Not to mention that Professor Snape's warning from before the match was still fresh in their minds, so they dared not use "heavy collisions" or other illegal tactics against her.

Under these circumstances, Angelina of Gryffindor scored quickly, and subsequently broke through the defense of the Slytherin Keeper, Bletchley, time and time again.

Cheers erupted continuously from the Gryffindor stands, and even the students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw joined in the celebration.

After all, Slytherin's illegal tactics had earned them plenty of animosity, and Harley was on good terms with the students of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

Harley once again leisurely dodged an attack from a Bludger, wove through the pincer attack of Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint and player Adrian Pucey, and successfully caused both of them to miss the Quaffle that had been right in front of them.

"Nice move, Harley!" Fred shouted as he flew past her. The Gryffindor stands erupted in cheers once more.

Harley subconsciously scanned her surroundings again, searching for the trail of the Golden Snitch, and prepared to dive into the next round of offense.

But suddenly, her gaze sharpened; she saw the Golden Snitch in the very center of the pitch.

However, the Slytherin Seeker was closer to the Golden Snitch—much closer than Harley.

Fortunately, he was circling with his back to the Golden Snitch, seemingly guarding against Harley, and had not yet discovered its trail.

After a moment of thought, Harley did not accelerate immediately; instead, she flew toward the Slytherin half at a leisurely pace, appearing as if she were merely coordinating with her team's offense.

The Slytherin players seemed to think the same, and their Seeker, Terence Higgs, immediately flew toward Harley.

This played right into Harley's hands, as it put him even further away from the Golden Snitch.

Harley effortlessly dodged the interception by the Slytherin Seeker and leaned back on her broom to avoid a Bludger.

Then, with a slight exertion of her lithe waist, she easily straightened back up.

"Wow!" Lee exclaimed loudly. "What a move by Harley! She's such a fantastic girl! I'm almost tempted to ask her out!"

A chorus of boos immediately rang out from the stands, especially since Lee had just said he wanted to ask out Angelina twenty minutes ago.

Professor McGonagall shouted a warning once again, threatening him with point deductions. Professor Snape also cast a death glare toward the commentary box.

Harley continued to advance, and the Golden Snitch veered off its original path, flying right toward her.

It's close... Harley thought silently, reaching out to gently grasp the Golden Snitch.

Just as she was about to raise her hand to announce her success, she suddenly felt an inexplicable force manifest on her broomstick.

The Nimbus 2000 between Harley's legs began to buck like a wild horse, suddenly thrashing about in an attempt to throw its rider off.

It's not a malfunction with the broom; someone is attacking, there's an external attack! Harley immediately reached this conclusion.

She had no time to search for the source of the attack, so she simply gripped the broom tightly while simultaneously probing the magic attached to it.

Within a mere thirty seconds, Harley realized that the magic clinging to the broom was of a type she had never encountered before.

That magic was incredibly sinister, filled with all sorts of negative emotions that constantly tempted one toward corruption and loss of control.

This is a cursed form of Dark Magic! Harley instantly identified the nature of the spell.

Although she had never studied the Dark Magic of the wizarding world, any magic saturated with resentment and negative emotions could hardly be considered benign.

Combining this with the contents of The Rise and Fall of Dark Magic and her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, it was not difficult for Harley to discern the truth.

"Playing with Dark Magic in front of a Witch? I'll kill you!" A smile curled onto Harley's lips, but it was laced with murderous intent.

She stopped trying to control the broom, instead letting go and choosing to leap off.

At the same time, Harley's black hair grew rapidly, wrapping around her like a silkworm cocoon to ensure she landed safely.

Inside the lightless cocoon, a flash of ferocity crossed Harley's eyes.

Do you really think a Witch is easy to bully?

After landing, Harley did not retract her hair; instead, she quickly pulled out a homemade wand and bit the tip of her tongue.

Harley spat a mouthful of fresh blood onto the wand, causing the dark green wood to emit an eerie red glow.

Simultaneously, Harley began to chant silently in Giant Language.

For some reason, this language, which possessed magical power and could communicate with the world, was still usable, though its potency had diminished significantly, now roughly equivalent to the power she once wielded using Hermes Language.

As for Hermes Language and Ancient Hermes Language, they could barely stir the forces of nature when performing rituals anymore.

As the incantation was uttered, the red light on the wand surged rapidly before suddenly vanishing.

At the same moment, a figure in the stands, wrapped tightly in layers of clothing, suddenly groaned, swaying repeatedly before finally steadying themselves.

Trickles of blood began to flow down from beneath their scarf...