Capturing the Poltergeist

There are 24 days left until the first competition.

Skylar wasn't worried about the upcoming competition at all.

If everything unfolds as depicted in the original story, that would be ideal; he's already prepared. Even if the plot deviates and the First Task isn't the Fire Dragon, it doesn't matter. He'll overcome any obstacle with brute force and absolute strength.

He was absolutely confident that if he went all out, he would be the strongest among the four contestants.

This wasn't arrogance on his part, but rather because his strength far exceeded what a student should be capable of; he wouldn't be intimidated even by an ordinary adult wizard.

Successfully qualifying for the Triwizard Tournament meant he had achieved his first goal for the semester at Hogwarts: exemption from end-of-semester exams, giving him more time to pursue his plans. Furthermore, using the tournament preparation as an excuse, he could legitimately seek guidance and clarification from his professors on advanced learning.

The situation was quite the opposite for Harry.

Once classes resumed, he could no longer hide from the other students at the school, and apparently the students from the other houses all thought that Harry had signed up for the Triwizard Tournament on his own, which they seemed to think was not very honorable.

After all, Harry isn't Skylar.

Whether you like Skylar or not, whether you like the House of Malfoy or not, no junior wizard can deny Skylar's abilities.

Not to mention, after killing the Basilisk and fighting the Dementor, Skylar and Draco's feat of defeating Mad-Eye Moody is already widely known, as is his ability to break free of the Imperius Curse simply through willpower.

Although Skylar was only a fourth-year student like Harry, everyone had high hopes for him, hoping he could win this honor for Hogwarts. No one thought his selection was undeserved.

And what about Harry?

Most of the young wizards seemed to believe that Harry had used dishonorable means to cheat the Goblet of Fire and participate in the Triwizard Tournament, purely to satisfy his selfish desire for fame and attention. Don't forget, Harry has a history of arriving at school in a flying car.

In their view, Harry was stealing Skylar's honor and damaging Hogwarts' reputation by doing this.

Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley, who used to get along quite well with Harry, stopped talking to him, even though they were all transplanting Bouncing Bulb on the same tray—but when a Bouncing Bulb wriggled out of Harry's hand and slapped him hard in the face, they all laughed gleefully, which was quite unsettling.

Ron also stopped talking to Harry, because he thought it was very unfair of Harry to have secretly signed up for the Triwizard Tournament without his knowledge. Hermione sat between the two of them, managing to find some words to try and ease the tension between the trio.

It's worth mentioning that Hermione this semester has matured considerably compared to her character in the original books. At the very least, she has learned to accept differences in values between herself and others, and she has also learned to weigh and compromise.

She began to reflect on her personality. She realized that she had been too self-important in the past, or to put it bluntly, self-centered with zero emotional intelligence. She liked to impose her own thoughts, values, and ideas on others without considering the reasons and intentions behind their actions.

This time, she didn't criticize Ron for his childishness and pettiness, but tried to understand Ron's feelings of betrayal and distress.

She understood Ron's feelings and tried her best to understand and guide him from Ron perspective.

She told him that everyone is special and has their own place—there's no need to deliberately become what others want you to be, because she knew that as the youngest son, Ron had been under too much pressure from his older Ron. And most of that pressure was self-inflicted.

So her relationship with Ron gradually improved.

What Hermione didn't notice was that Ron, when she wasn't looking, was secretly watching her, and his gaze was beginning to show strange emotions.

Similarly, although she was very dissatisfied with the treatment of House Elf, she did not impose her sense of justice on others. She listened to Hagrid's advice and decided to treat them kindly within her power, instead of trying to liberate them without considering their feelings, as in the House Elf story.

She abandoned the idea of founding Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare and instead devoted more of her Gnome to her studies.

If you want to get things done, in the end, you still need strength and influence!

Occasionally, when she was lost in thought, she couldn't help but wonder if this was the responsibility that the boy in her heart had always shouldered, if this was what drove him to pursue knowledge and fame every day, and if this was the biggest difference between her and the boy in terms of their positions...

It seems I really haven't understood you all along...

Let's get back to Skylar.

Skylar is currently focusing on finding Merlin's Chamber, since Peeves is an obvious clue.

Contrary to popular belief, Peeves is not Ghost, but a Poltergeist.

The name "Poltergeist" comes from German and literally means "noisy ghost." It is an invisible entity that can move objects, bang on doors, and create other sounds, movement obstacles, and even have a physical form enough to fit chewing gum into its nostrils.

Poltergeist have never been living people. This characteristic indicates that, like Dementor and Boggart, it belongs to the category of "non-beings" or "non-existent beings." It has never died, nor can it die, because it has never lived.

Skylar deliberately went out for a night stroll during curfew, confident that Filch and his cat couldn't do anything to him.

As he expected, he was indeed spotted by Peeves.

Just as Peeves was about to loudly report Skylar swiftly waved his wand, and Peeves suddenly found his mouth sealed shut and his tongue tied, unable to utter a sound. The cunning and experienced Peeves immediately knew he had messed with a formidable opponent and turned to flee.

Skylar pointed his wand in the direction Peeves had fled and whispered, "Spirit-Seizing Soul-Chasing!"

Peeves suddenly found his body out of control, seemingly being pulled towards Skylar by an extremely powerful suction force. He struggled desperately, but it did nothing to help him in the current situation.

After Skylar forcibly captured Peeves with the Soul-Seizing Charm, he flipped his other hand and took out a specially made bottle container, then used his wand to force Peeves inside.

Just then, he heard Filch and his cat rushing towards him. He calmly cast Invisible Phantom Charm on himself, then walked past Filch and Mrs. Norris without incident and returned to his dormitory room unharmed.

Back in the dormitory, as soon as Skylar released Peeves immediately rushed towards the wall, trying to escape before Skylar could react. However, it discovered that its Ghost body had been bound by a magical chain emitting an eerie red glow, rendering it unable to move even a finger. The other end of the magical chain was connected to the end of Skylar's wand.

Peeves angrily retorted, "Peeves has really lost this time, and I accept it! Why are you still holding me?"

Skylar said slowly, "No rush, no rush. I want to ask you about someone. If you can give me a satisfactory answer, I will not only let you go, but also give you some prank toys, how about that?" After saying that, Skylar pointed to a box of Dungbomb on the desk.

"Alright, alright! Deal! Tell me, who do you want to know? Peeves will tell you everything he knows!"

Skylar smiled and slowly said, "Merlin!"