Scott lay motionless among the weeds at the bottom of the Black Lake, listening to the two girls' conversation through the bat he had smuggled in.
Jasmine Travers sounded more and more impatient.
"Soon. That Mudblood Trollope will soon be disgraced. The so-called Ravenclaw Transfiguration prodigy! Mudbloods should stay groveling in the muck!"
Morgan Avery might have come by her skills naturally. She had completely settled into the role of a follower, and immediately began fawning over her young mistress.
"Of course, a Mudblood could never be a genius like you, Jasmine."
Her tone was almost obsequious. She was clearly deep in character.
"If you ask me, it's all because Dumbledore is too fond of Muggles. The atmosphere at Hogwarts has grown more and more depraved! It's unbelievable that someone like that could be hailed as a genius!"
"Enough." Jasmine waved her hand dismissively. "There's no need to bother with those ignorant fools."
If not for the smugness in her voice, you might have thought she was genuinely unruffled.
But to Scott, the two girls' little performance was no more than children playing pretend.
"It would be nice if you could teach Trollope a lesson yourself, Jasmine," Morgan Avery said regretfully. "If it were you, you'd beat him with your magic even if he were a fourth-year!"
I'm looking forward to it too.
Scott couldn't help laughing when he heard that.
Unfortunately, Avery's young mistress was a little childish and a little melodramatic, but not quite that stupid.
Jasmine Travers shook her head, as expected. "No. Trollope isn't someone you can punish at will, like Jacob. If he's the one I'm up against, even I would have a hard time doing it without anyone noticing."
Morgan Avery immediately agreed. "That's true. Trollope may be a lowly Mudblood, but drawing Dumbledore's attention would do us more harm than good."
"Tomorrow," Jasmine Travers said. "Caitlin Rowle will make her move tomorrow."
"Then I'll spread the news through our group as quickly as I can!" Morgan Avery added excitedly.
"Soon, all of Hogwarts will know that Scott Trollope, a fourth-year Ravenclaw, is a filthy scumbag in disguise!"
At that, she broke into another clucking, hen-like laugh.
Jasmine Travers laughed too. Both girls were thrilled as they discussed their plans, even beginning to look forward to tomorrow.
They couldn't wait to see the show they had planned unfold.
To be honest, Scott was a little disappointed.
He had thought the plot against him would be something interesting, but in the end, these two little witches were discussing the same old trick.
It was exactly the same as their plan to deal with Jacob: they would have Caitlin Rowle, whom Jasmine Travers had thoroughly manipulated, use a self-injury scheme to frame their target.
This time, though, they planned to go further and paint Scott as a pervert who would force himself on younger female students.
Unfortunately for them, their plan could never work.
Thanks to Scott, Caitlin Rowle, the one meant to carry out the scheme, would be confined to a hospital bed for a while starting tomorrow.
Of course, even if Caitlin Rowle had been perfectly fine, and even if Scott knew nothing about this, he was sure he would never have fallen for such a trap.
At that moment, Scott even began to regret it.
It was already the end of September, and the Scottish Highlands, where Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stood, were cool at the best of times. He probably had no need to soak in the freezing lake at night just to eavesdrop on such an old-fashioned plot.
As soon as he thought of it, Scott, who hadn't noticed the cold before, suddenly felt it bite to the bone. He had been at the bottom of the lake for a long time.
He glanced once more at the two little witches inside the glass window, then turned and swam farther away before pulling out his wand.
"Ascendio."
Scott cast a spell on himself, and his body shot straight up toward the surface at incredible speed.
When he burst through the water, the little boat he had made from his shoes was still floating on the lake.
He shook his wet hair and wiped his face with one hand, then swam to the boat and climbed aboard. He rowed all the way to shore in one go.
Once ashore, Scott first changed his shoes back, then spent some time drying his clothes and hair with the Hot Air Charm.
Finally, he put his shoes on and cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself again. Once his body blended into the night, he headed for Ravenclaw Tower.
Scott thought those two little Pure-blood witches ought to be grateful for Hogwarts Castle's protection.
After hearing so many remarks about "lowly Mudbloods" through a single window, if he hadn't been unable to break through the castle's magical defenses, he would have given those two girls a night they would never forget.
Still, there was no need to rush to teach them a lesson tonight.
Scott walked briskly beneath the moonlight, looking forward to tomorrow just as much as those two little Pure-blood witches.
He gave the Weasley Twins and Filch a wide berth as they played their "joyful" game of hide-and-seek, and made it back to Ravenclaw Tower without a hitch.
By the time he returned to his dormitory, his three roommates were already asleep.
Scott quietly took off his robes, found a bottle of Pepperup Potion for colds, and gulped it down. Before steam began pouring from his ears, he grabbed his pajamas and hurried into the bathroom.
As hot water from the shower poured over him, steam began shooting from Scott's ears too.
After his hot shower and a change into dry pajamas, Scott felt much more comfortable.
The side effects of Pepperup Potion usually lasted for several hours, so Scott went to sleep with steam billowing from him.
The next morning, Ravenclaw House descended into chaos.
A first-year girl had only meant to wake her roommate, Caitlin Rowle, but she was badly startled when she drew back the bed curtains.
Then the first-year's piercing scream startled every member of Ravenclaw House.
When Eva Taylor, a fifth-year Prefect, used the Levitation Charm to carry Caitlin Rowle out of the dormitory, everyone in the Common Room saw the state she was in.
"Oh, Merlin!"
"Good heavens!"
Gasps and cries rang out one after another.
"Please, make way!" Penelope, a sixth-year Prefect, had arrived too. "We need to get poor Miss Rowle to the Hospital Wing!"
Scott was standing at the top of the staircase leading from the Common Room to the dormitories, looking down at the chaos.
Caitlin Rowle floated in the air, barely breathing. Every patch of exposed skin was covered in dense rashes, accompanied by countless spots of blood.
She looked so horrifying that the other students were afraid to go near her. Even the two Prefects who had to take her to the Hospital Wing seemed eager to keep their distance.
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