I'll Beat You to Death

Tom wished the Slytherin students would be even more arrogant and outrageous, so that Professor McGonagall could keep holding her breath.

Only then can we accelerate reforms and establish a system for Shadow Prefect.

"Riddle! Riddle!"

On Tuesday afternoon, Tom had just left the Study Space after a boring Defense Against the Dark Arts.

As he savored the intricacies of Durmstrang's version of the Reductor Curse, he heard that voice he loathed so much.

He frowned, utterly baffled as to how many layers of Iron Armor Charm Lockhart had applied to his face.

He's already openly and subtly criticized this guy twice, how can he still shamelessly come up to him again?

"Riddle, come here, I have something important to tell you." Lockhart stepped in, squeezing past Daphne who was standing next to Tom.

Daphne was so angry that she immediately drew her wand, about to unleash a curse, but Tom stopped her.

"Professor Lockhart, what is it now?" Tom's impatience was written all over his face, and his tone was extremely cold.

Lockhart either didn't understand or pretended not to see it, and moved closer to him, saying mysteriously:

"Riddle, I've thought about this for a long time, and I feel that Fantastic Beasts like the Usachi are too dangerous for a wizard your age. You can't handle them."

"Why not let me train you? Don't worry, I'll definitely treat you well. How about five thousand Galleon? If you think that's not enough, we can talk about it further!"

Tom's eyes instantly turned cold.

A calm yet clear voice echoed throughout the corridor:

"Levicorpus"

Before coming to Hogwarts, Lockhart had a well-thought-out plan.

He completely charmed the young wizards with the wonderful adventure stories he made up.

He can not only make money by selling books, but also enhance his status as a professor, and incidentally write another new book to solidify his reputation as a "famous wizard".

But lately, his life has been like Wang Xiaoer celebrating the New Year—getting worse every year.

The students had long since lost patience with his fancy tricks, though there were still some little witches who were completely captivated by him.

But most students genuinely want to learn and improve, especially those facing their final exams in fifth and seventh grade, who are eager to acquire real skills.

No matter who came to ask him for advice, he would just laugh it off.

What's worse, he was humiliated by Tom in front of so many students over the weekend.

His reputation plummeted, and even those who had previously supported him began to waver.

Lockhart is experienced in dealing with such criticism; when his books were questioned in the past, he would divert attention with an even more exaggerated story.

This time was no exception; he set his sights on Rayquaza.

In his view, as long as he could get his hands on Usachi...

It can both cover up the fact that one has no real skills and allow one to take real risks by using the power of this Fantastic Beasts, making the fabricated story more realistic.

He also found out Tom's background: a Muggle-born orphan with some talent.

Having unexpectedly ended up in Slytherin, surrounded by wealthy Pure-blood princes, life is bound to be tough.

Just throw some Galleon, and that'll scare the kid away.

With Albus Dumbledore watching, he didn't dare to go too far, so he quoted a price that he thought was "very fair."

Then, he flew out backwards.

The once noisy corridor instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The young wizards in the corridor seemed to have been put on pause.

Frozen in place, staring blankly at Tom, and Lockhart, hanging upside down in mid-air, kicking his limbs erratically.

Someone rubbed their eyes hard, making sure they weren't seeing things, that the world had truly gone mad!

Tom Riddle, how dare he lay a hand on the professor?

This is completely different from what happened with Quirrell! Quirrell had already resigned and exposed his true nature as a dark wizard, so he wasn't a real professor at all.

Even if Lockhart's lectures are terrible, he's still a genuine Hogwarts professor!

"Tom Riddle! Are you crazy? Put me down!" After a brief moment of confusion, Lockhart finally came to his senses.

It roared at the top of its lungs, flailed its limbs wildly, and desperately tried to break free from the Levicorpus's restraints.

Tom's face turned cold. He waved his wand, and the stone wall beside him suddenly bulged out like a giant mouth.

It swallowed Lockhart whole, leaving only his head sticking out.

Malfoy exclaimed, "Wow! That's the move!"

That's how Tom pinned him against the stone wall and hung him there all night!

"I used to think you were just a noisy fly, a clown on a stage for people's amusement."

Tom strolled slowly up to Lockhart, his tone indifferent yet chilling.

"Only today did I realize that you're just a fool who doesn't know your own mortality, daring to provoke a venomous snake that could swallow you whole."

He leaned down, stared into Lockhart's panicked eyes, and chuckled.

"Trying to take advantage of Usachi? You old liar, where do you get the nerve? With your measly Memory Charm?"

Lockhart panicked completely; with his mouth blocked by the stone wall, he could only make muffled "ooh" sounds.

Tom not only called him a liar, but also pinpointed his trump card. Just how much does this kid know?

Not content with just verbal abuse, Tom's hands were itching to act. He turned and called out, "Rosier, the wand!"

Rosier was taken aback, but immediately realized what was happening and took out his wand to hand it over.

The moment the wand reached Tom's hand, it snapped into a black whip with barbs.

Nott and Zabini gasped.

While envying Rosier for being "recruited" by Tom, she secretly wondered: why didn't she ask them for a wand?

"I'd rather not use my own wand on you; it's too dirty for me." Tom weighed the whip in his hand, grinning wickedly.

"If I don't beat you until you're glowing with gold today, I'm not a Riddle!"

"Smack!"

With one lash, Lockhart let out a piercing scream.

The barbed whip lashed out, and even Troll couldn't withstand it, instantly leaving a bloody, mangled wound.

Tom swung the whip faster and faster, until it became a blur.

The Ravenclaw students huddled together, trembling with fear.

In contrast, the Slytherin students all had fervent eyes and excited faces—this was the true Slytherin spirit!

If you piss me off, even if you're a professor, I'll still deal with you!

"Tom, me too!" Daphne trembled with rage. How dare this old swindler covet Little Ulrich's mantle and try to humiliate her with five thousand Galleon?

Let alone five thousand, her allowance this semester is more than that!

Tom handed her the whip, and Daphne took it, hitting her even harder than Tom.

Lockhart was whipped until he was covered in wounds, his robes soaked in blood, and he looked like a blood-soaked man.

Even the Slytherin students were starting to panic. Were these two planning to beat Lockhart to death?

"Stop!"