October Turmoil

The weather was terrible throughout October, with torrential rain and strong winds lasting almost until the last few days of the month.

The day after the "Justice Inquisitorial Squad" were formed, McLaggen became even more arrogant and domineering. Many younger students were caught and reprimanded by him in the hallways for issues such as clothing and appearance, and he had become a second Filch.

In fact, Filch's mental state was deteriorating, and he was appearing in front of the students less and less, which allowed McLaggen to quickly take his place and become the students' most hated character.

As for Harry's side, he seemed to be stuck in a dilemma. He couldn't find a suitable place to serve as the headquarters of his new organization. The place had to be large enough to accommodate 26 people for combat magic training, and it also had to be well hidden so that Umbridge wouldn't find it easily.

Skylar was speechless at the incompetence of Harry, and his trio.

In the original story, Harry only Dobby Dobby's constant, unsolicited help because of his protagonist status. Now, without Dobby telling Harry about the Room of Requirement, Harry can't even find a place to hold secret gatherings.

The formation of "Dumbledore's Army" is related to Skylar's future plans, and the Secret Passage in the Room of Requirement that connects to the Hog's Head Inn is also a channel for Hogwarts students to safely hide and escape during the final battle, thereby increasing their chances of survival. Therefore, this main storyline must happen no matter what.

Left with no other option, Skylar took matters into his own hands and secretly cast a Memory Manipulation Charm on Ron from behind while he was in the bathroom, implanting the memories of the Room of Requirement into his mind.

Sure enough, not long after, Cho Chang reported to Skylar that Harry's organization held its first gathering that evening at 8 p. m., at the Room of Requirement.

Harry was officially elected as the leader, while Hermione and Ron became his deputies. The organization also officially received its name, exactly as in the original books. "Dumbledore's Army."

That gathering was for practicing Harry's signature Expelliarmus. Although Zacharias Smith, a troublemaker, raised some objections, everyone obeyed Harry's instructions and practiced under his strong pressure, which gave Harry an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

Having experienced the thrill of controlling others, his desire for power began to grow wildly within him.

Throughout October, Dumbledore's Army four practice gatherings. Their training progressed smoothly— Neville successfully disarmed Hermione; Colin Creevey mastered the Impediment Jinx; Parvati Patil successfully used the Reducto to turn a table full of Sneakoscope to dust...

In the dark, Chamber of Secrets, the air was so heavy it seemed to have solidified, with only the faint candlelight casting flickering shadows on the cold stone walls.

Ludo Bagman knelt on the cold ground, trembling all over. His hands gripped the ground tightly, his forehead pressed against the rough stone bricks, cold sweat trickling down his temples, dripping onto the ground, mingling with his trembling breaths.

Voldemort stood high above him, his face terrifyingly grim. His scarlet eyes glowed eerily in the shadows, like will-o'-the-wisps burning in the abyss.

His fingers gently caressed his wand, his expression unusually calm, and the calmer he was, the more terrified Bagman, kneeling on the ground, became. He knew that the most terrifying anger was never a violent roar, but this kind of suppressed silence that could erupt at any moment.

"You actually let me witness such a defeat." Voldemort's voice was deep, with a sinister, serpentine hiss that echoed in the Chamber of Secrets.

Bagman didn't dare look up, desperately trying to explain, but his throat was dry, and he couldn't even utter a complete sentence. He had thought this plan was foolproof—

He successfully used the Imperius Curse to control Broderick Bode Bode, the Ministry of Ministry of Magic's Unspeakable, and attempted to use him to infiltrate the Department of Mysteries Ministry of Magic. However, he never expected that Bode, after passing through the Level One Defense Gate, would coincidentally run into his colleague who was also there to work overtime—Saul Croaker, an Unspeakable from the same department.

Originally, Bode planned to get rid of Croaker quietly, but who could have imagined that this seemingly ordinary colleague was actually a ruthless character hiding his true strength.

Not only did Croaker sense something amiss, but he also managed to launch a counterattack the instant Bode was ambushed, severely injuring him with some kind of spiritual magic, rendering him incapacitated on the spot.

When the Magical Criminal Interrogation Force arrived and took over, they found that Bode had mental problems and they couldn't get any information out of him. In the end, they had no choice but to send him to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

The truly worrisome thing is that, although Bode is currently unable to clearly articulate what happened to him, the failure of this mission has raised suspicions, and the Ministry of Magic will certainly conduct a further investigation into the matter.

"Master... I... I can rearrange it..." Bagman finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, but his voice trembled violently with extreme fear.

Voldemort's gaze slowly swept over the kneeling figure, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Rearrange?" His voice was soft, almost gentle, but his wand was already raised, its tip flashing crimson.

"Cruciatus Curse."

A piercing scream shattered the silence of the Chamber of Secrets. Bagman abruptly curled into a ball, as if engulfed by invisible flames. His limbs convulsed violently, a painful howl escaped his throat, and his fingers clawed helplessly at the ground, grasping nothing. Voldemort's gaze was cold and merciless, as if admiring a burning insect, devoid of any pity.

A moment later, the spell was broken, and Bagman collapsed to the ground, soaked to the bone, as if he had just been pulled back from the brink of death. His chest heaved violently, and he barely managed to raise his trembling hand, but dared not beg for mercy again.

Voldemort leaned down slightly and whispered, "If it happens again... you know what will happen."

Bagman nodded with all his might, even though he was in so much pain that he was almost unconscious, he dared not let Voldemort doubt his loyalty any further.

Let's turn the scene back to Slytherin.

Throughout October, aside from their regular schoolwork, Draco and Pansy were busy with Quidditch training. Except for mealtimes, the two of them had almost no chance to speak to Skylar.

The training at the Sleeping Dragon Society is also progressing rapidly—in the Dragon Head Group, all the third and fourth-year wizards have mastered the Sonic Boom Charm and the Flash Charm, and have begun training in combination spells. Meanwhile, the first and second-year wizards have mastered rapid spellcasting techniques and have begun training in group combat.

With Bole's assistance, the new members of the Dragon Eye Group have begun to familiarize themselves with the procedures for various intelligence missions, making the operation of the entire group smoother and significantly reducing Susan's pressure.

The Dragon Tail team, responsible for logistics, made far greater progress in Potions reserves than expected. They not only fully replenished Skylar's consumption during the summer vacation, but also went a step further, allowing the Sleeping Dragon Society to surpass the Hogwarts Hospital Wing's storage warehouse in both quality and quantity of various healing potions.

Today, their work is no longer limited to the preparation of conventional potions, but has begun to develop more complex and strategically valuable Potions, such as Strengthening Solution that can enhance physical strength, Polyjuice Potion for disguise and infiltration, and Veritaserum that are indispensable for interrogation.

The Dragon Soul Team, responsible for research, is also keeping pace, with a series of good news about research breakthroughs. It seems that the invention of the Growth Potion is just around the corner, which will allow the Sleeping Dragon Society to achieve a qualitative leap in overall strength.

Besides their daily tasks at the Sleeping Dragon Society, the 11 group leaders and Phoebe Delacour also didn't slack off in their training. They would dedicate at least an hour almost every day to practicing with their respective Hebridean Black, constantly building synergy, and strengthening their trust and cooperation. As time went on, their progress was clearly visible; their riding skills, combat coordination, and control and command of the dragons were far beyond what they had been at the beginning.

Skylar was not idle either.

During the summer vacation, he had already read through the entire collections of books belonging to the Selwyn, Yaxley, Avery, and Lestrange families.

After that, he acquired Mr. Weasley's Alchemy Notebook, the Hohenheim Family's Human Alchemy, Durmstrang's Library's Forbidden Books, Abatair Volume 5, Beauxbatons' Library's Forbidden Books, the private collections of Beauxbatons' past headmasters, and the Hogwarts Restricted Section, which he had only recently acquired.

It can be said that he had a wealth of learning materials at his disposal, which he could take advantage of during this peaceful period of school life at Hogwarts to study and digest little by little, absorbing a vast amount of magical knowledge every day like a sponge drinking water.

Of course, there's still one thing worth mentioning amidst the ordinary days --

Skylar finally made contact with the two international students.

Sazerus brought Skylar unexpected news: during the summer vacation, the situation in the Italy wizarding world was also changing— the Vongola Family, a behemoth that had almost dominated the Italy underworld since the Italy Civil War in the 17th century, was facing a challenge.

The family that challenged them was a newly rising Mafia family— the Millefiore Family.

This wouldn't have been a problem originally. After all, the Vongola Family had deep roots in the wizarding world, their influence covered the entire Italy, and they had been quietly building up their strength since the Italy Civil War. Their true power was not something that any newly established family could challenge.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and an unexpected turn of events occurred. Sazerus's second uncle, who is also the younger brother of the current head of the Vongola Family, Mugard Vongola, secretly colluded with outsiders, betrayed the Vongola Family, and led his confidants to start an internal strife.

Although the rebellion was eventually suppressed and the enemy was successfully repelled, the Vongola Family suffered heavy losses, especially Sazerus's eldest brother, the first in line to inherit the Vongola Family. He was severely injured in the battle and remains in a deep coma; it is unknown whether he will wake up.

The Vongola Family has an ancient tradition: each head of the family must designate two successors, and then the two candidates must go through an ancient ritual called the "Ring Conflict" to determine the final ruler. But now, the only competitor has fallen, and Sazerus has naturally become the family's only hope for the future.

While the Vongola Family sent Sazerus to Britain primarily to strengthen their alliance with the House of Malfoy, it's likely that they also considered having Sazerus join the powerful House of Malfoy, keeping him away from the conflicts in Italy, and thus ensuring Sazerus personal safety.

Skylar readily accepted this offer.

The alliance between the House of Malfoy and Vongola Family has a history spanning centuries, with an extremely close relationship, arguably making them the most important international allies. Now that Sazerus has been sent to Britain, it's tantamount to entrusting the family's future hopes to them, Skylar is naturally happy to accept. Moreover, if Sazerus is willing to join the Sleeping Dragon Society in the future, it would be even better for Skylar —after all, an ally who could potentially control the entire Vongola Family in the future is far more important than simply adding combat power.

Subsequently, Sazerus challenged Skylar to a contest.

He had long heard of Skylar's exploits and was curious about his formidable strength. Not long ago, he also learned of Morozov's defeat at Skylar's hands, which greatly shocked him.

He was very familiar with Morozov's strength and the infamous Russia Dark Arts "Rampant Tree". In his opinion, Morozov, who had cast "Rampant Tree" in the dense forest, was almost invincible. Under normal circumstances, he would need to send at least 20 of his family's elites to fight against him. He simply couldn't imagine how Skylar had managed to break through with just a few people.

After a friendly contest, Sazerus was completely convinced of Skylar's superiority.

He keenly sensed that the boy before him, who was even younger than himself, probably already possessed power approaching that of Grand Sorcerer.

Skylar also developed a slight appreciation for Sazerus, whose fighting style was completely different from traditional wizards—in addition to being able to cast spells with a wand, he was also extremely skilled at using alchemical firearms modified from Muggle, possessing a variety of endless attack methods. Several times, Skylar was about to defeat him, but Sargeras always managed to turn the tide with his strange firearms.

This shows that he is a rare talent who can effectively complement the existing combat system of the Sleeping Dragon Society.

Meanwhile, Skylar finally managed to meet Akabane Sakura privately.

Over the past month, Akabane Sakura has finally witnessed the popularity and prestige of her pen pal, Skylar, at Hogwarts. Although their correspondence has never ceased over the past few years, Skylar has never had the habit of boasting about such things.

The two reunited after a year apart and naturally had a lot to talk about. Skylar kept his promise and warmly served as a host, taking Akabane Sakura to explore every hidden corner of Hogwarts Castle whenever they had free time. Apart from the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets of the Sleeping Dragon Society and the Room of Requirement, which had been occupied by Harry, the two explored almost all the Secret Passage.

Akabane Sakura hopes to stay in Britain to pursue her career. She majors in Magizoology and Charm Studies (a branch of alchemy), and hopes to develop magic that uses charms to unleash the potential of Fantastic Beasts.

For example, the little pet she brought all the way from her hometown that looks a bit like a golden wolfhound, she named it Fluffy Tail because it has six fluffy dark brown tails.

However, according to Akabane Sakura, her ancestral bloodline can actually be traced back to the legendary nine-tailed white fox (Kyuubi), an existence comparable to the Japan demon god "Yamata no Orochi". Unfortunately, she has never been able to find a way to enhance the power in her bloodline with magical creatures.

In this regard, Skylar was arguably Great Britain's foremost expert. He had modified numerous dark and magical creatures and had even successfully evolved Silver Fang and Beowulf. He casually offered a few ideas and promised to accompany Cherry Moon on this research whenever he had time.

The research lab wasn't a problem at all; he just had to ask Snape, and he couldn't see any possibility of being rejected.