New Enemy

Skylar's reaction was incredibly fast; his wand slid from his pocket into his hand in a fraction of a second. However, Gemma, as Prefect and elite student, was a fraction faster than Skylar due to her strategic thinking and unpreparedness. Skylar's wand was knocked away, and he was sent flying, crashing into the trunk of a large tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He could feel several of his ribs breaking.

Skylar gave a bitter smile. "I've always thought I was infallible, but I never imagined I'd fall into your hands Gemma... What do you intend to do with me? If you want to kill me, then prepare to face the House of Malfoy's revenge!" After uttering these harsh words, Skylar coughed up another mouthful of blood, appearing extremely weak.

Gemma shook her head. "I won't kill you. We just need to cast a Memory Charm on you to rewrite your memories, and then you can join us and become one of us... You are the most talented wizard I've ever seen, enough for me to follow you wholeheartedly. I believe that as long as you join us, the Ghosts Society will definitely be willing to train you to be the next Dark Lord. After Dumbledore dies of old age, this world will be ours..."

Skylar seemed to change his expression instantly, regaining his usual calm demeanor, and sneered, "You've certainly made a good plan, haven't you? Too bad, I, Skylar Malfoy, have said it before: the only thing that can ride on my head is Skylar hair!"

Silent and Wandless Magic!

A blinding light erupted from Skylar's body, like a human-shaped flashbang—it was the Flash Charm! In this pitch-black environment, the Flash Charm's effect was especially powerful. Although Gemma was prepared for Skylar's move, the fact that Skylar had lost his wand and appeared seriously injured lowered her guard, resulting in her being blinded and unable to open her eyes.

At the same time, a small, bright red stone slid into Skylar's left hand pocket, and a large amount of life force instantly flowed into his body, instantly healing all the external injuries he had just suffered; at the same time, his right hand made a grasping motion and gently grabbed in the air, and the wand that had been knocked away earlier instantly flew back into his hand.

Skylar already knew that someone was targeting him, and his immediate priority was to escape with his life, so he didn't intend to get entangled with Gemma any further—even though he should have a chance of winning against Gemma, if she had outside help, it would be too late for him to escape.

Skylar cast an Invisible Phantom Charm and a Silencing Charm on himself, and activated the ability of his Supreme Robe to conceal his aura, scent, and body temperature. He hurried into the depths of the Forbidden Forest, stopping to rest after about half an hour. He believed that even if the enemy had reinforcements, they wouldn't be able to search such a large area as the Forbidden Forest in time. He could leave safely once dawn broke.

Although this trip nearly landed him in enemy hands, it was undeniably fruitful. While Skylar was initially off guard because of Gemma, which caught him off guard, he was wearing his masterpiece Supreme Robe. If Skylar wanted, even without his wand, he could have activated the robe's multiple layers of protective magic during the sneak attack, preventing him from suffering such serious injury.

He chose to risk his life in order to uncover the enemy behind the scenes and find out their purpose.

As the saying goes, it's easy to defend against a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. Knowing that the Ghosts Society exists as an enemy makes things much easier—so what if it's mysterious?

Many years had passed since Tom Riddle graduated, Skylar didn't believe that Dumbledore, with his cunning and experience, wouldn't have discovered the existence of this underground organization. He figured Dumbledore had simply turned a blind eye and let it run rampant. Besides, as long as it needed to continue recruiting new people to keep operating, it would always leave clues.

As for the person who hired the Ghosts Society to deal with him, Skylar knew with his toes that it must have been Gallup Lestrange and his group of Pure-blood diehards who didn't want the House of Malfoy to grow too powerful. Even if it wasn't Gallup himself, it was definitely related to him.

Although his body was virtually unharmed thanks to the Sorcerer's Stone, the excruciating pain of being knocked away and having his ribs broken was real. Skylar had no intention of letting the matter rest. There's a Muggle saying, "Revenge is best served cold" (meaning a gentleman's revenge is never too late). Both Ghosts Society and Gallup Lestrange would have to face his retribution!

What Skylar found particularly regrettable was that Gemma was one of his few friends, and the next time they met, they would be enemies, not friends.

The next morning, Skylar appeared in the Great Hall as if nothing had happened. Gemma sat at one end of the long table, eating breakfast expressionlessly, as if nothing had occurred.

Skylar sat down at the long table. The observant Meredith watched Skylar closely and asked softly, "Did something happen? Your expression is a little off..."

Skylar gave a wry smile. "I sneaked into the Forbidden Forest last night and almost didn't make it back."

After much deliberation, Skylar decided it was best not to drag those around him into this mess. Judging from last night's experience, the Ghosts Society should have a small number of members, but they were all Prefects or elite upperclassmen. Moreover, the organization had a mysterious leader responsible for teaching Dark Arts. The power of Dark Arts, amplified by malice, was definitely stronger than ordinary magic. Although Meredith and the others were quite outstanding among their peers, they were still far from being a match.

(Note: Elite here refers to those who rank in the top 5 in academic performance, and has nothing to do with magic power or battle record.)

Daphne asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Skylar smiled slightly and said, "Of course it's alright, luckily I made several preparations beforehand—" Then he sneered, "However, I think someone will be in trouble soon!"

Halfway through breakfast, an owl delivered various letters, and Skylar received one as well—just that morning, when he left the Forbidden Forest, he had sent a letter to Lucius through the school's owl, informing him of the events of the previous night and his speculations about the House of Lestrange. This letter was clearly a reply from Lucius to him.

Opening the letter made Skylar frown— Lucius told Skylar to do nothing and abandon any thoughts of revenge against Lestrange!

Of course, the letter included an explanation: the House of Lestrange insisted that Skylar's attack had nothing to do with them, while other Pure-blood families stepped forward to express their support, with the House of Avery, Carrow Family, and Nott Families making particularly loud noises.

But the attack on his beloved son wasn't something Lucius could easily quell his anger. What truly made him swallow his anger was the intervention of several usually low-profile Pure-blood families — Lucius Yaxley, who held a high position in the Ministry of Magic Corban; the enigmatic Lady Selwyn; and Dolfin Rowle, who had close ties with the Werewolf in Knockturn Alley...

(Note: Corban Yaxley could control Pius Thicknesse with the Imperius Curse, which obviously gave him a lot of opportunities to come into contact with the higher-ups in the Ministry of Magic. It is quite reasonable for the author to set him up in a high position in the Ministry of Magic.)

No matter how angry Lucius was, he knew that his House of Malfoy alone had no chance of winning against the combined might of seven families. Moreover, in this kind of internal strife among the younger generation of Pure-blood families, his allies, the Burke Family and Parkinson Families, probably wouldn't stand firmly on his side.

Most importantly, the attacker in this whole affair was Gemma Farley, Skylar had absolutely no evidence to prove that Lestrange was involved.

Often, things are like this: you know it's him, I know it's him, and they all know it's him, but unless there's evidence to prove it, the House of Malfoy is not in the right without any proof.

Skylar gritted his teeth. Since he couldn't go after Gallup, targeting Ghosts Society would be a better option. It seemed he'd have to find an opportunity to ask Snape for information.

As for Gemma, Skylar didn't want to have too much contact with her for the time being. Besides, he didn't want to alert her, and given Gemma's shrewdness and the Ghosts Society's tight organization, it was impossible that she hadn't made preparations to target Skylar.

This feeling of having nowhere to vent one's anger is indeed very frustrating and unpleasant, but having lived two lives, Skylar quickly adjusted his mood and returned to his daily life.

The monotonous days repeated themselves one after another, and time quickly came to April.

Skylar was engrossed in studying advanced magic. Three months had passed since he took the Magic-Boosting Potion after the Christmas holidays ended.

After tireless research and practice, Skylar finally finished reading the profound Book of Arbatel Volume I. His understanding of mental magic reached a new level. At the same time, through repeated and diligent practice, he mastered all the House of Malfoy's inherited spells and was able to cast them silently and Non-verbal Spellcasting a wand in an instant.

He was confident that he was second to none in the realm of mental magic, including Snape, Legilimency. Perhaps the only exception was Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, whose abilities were unfathomable.

During this time, he also trained Daphne and Meredith very seriously. He now deeply understood the disadvantages of being outnumbered and outmatched. Even the House of Malfoy, as one of the most powerful families in Britain, could only choose to back down when faced with several families joining forces to support them.

Daphne and Meredith were quite skilled in spells, but having been pampered since childhood, they lacked practical experience. If I hadn't helped them through the professors' challenges in their first year, their combat performance might not have been as good as Harry's.

On this day, in the space inside Skylar's Suitcase Space.

Skylar took out two skeleton models and used Engorgement Charm to make them the height of adults, so that Daphne and Meredith could practice fighting them.

Under the effect of the Animation Charm, the skeletons, though unable to cast spells, could wield weapons such as swords and bows, possessing both ranged and melee combat abilities. Moreover, under Skylar's powerful mental manipulation, their various attack, defense, and dodge movements were extremely agile and nimble. Therefore, this sparring session was not easy for the two women who lacked practical experience.

After several sparring sessions, although the skeleton man nimbly dodged most of the two women's attacks, some scattered spells still managed to land on him. However, these scattered attacks did not cause any real damage to the skeleton man. On the contrary, Daphne, drenched in sweat and disheveled, had been shot in the right shoulder with an arrow and cut in the left leg.

Of course, the skeletons' attacks all used illusory weapons that could only leave marks; Meredith was not much better off, as she was stabbed twice in the back by the skeletons with their swords, and even the hand holding her wand was injured.

Skylar quickly called a halt.

Skylar said with a serious expression, "Look at your performance. In a real battle, you would all be dead by now. Now, do you understand the difference between actual combat and practicing spells?"

Seeing the two women nod knowingly, Skylar continued, "You have mastered quite a few attack spells, your casting speed is fast enough, and your shooting accuracy is not lacking, but your spells can't hit the skeletons. Do you know why?"

Skylar first let them think for a while, then answered his own question, "That's because your attacks lacked planning! You relied too much on combat instinct, so every spell was aimed at the skeleton, without considering what to do when the opponent's evasion ability was higher than your hit rate. A skilled combat wizard would plan and strategize for the next round of attacks while fighting, for example—"

With a flick of his wand, Skylar chanted, "Avis!" A flock of birds materialized where the wand pointed. Then, he pulled the Skylar down and chanted, "Oppugno!" The birds, like bullets, rained down on the skeleton.

Faced with a barrage of flying birds, the skeleton dodged and defended, eventually being cornered by Skylar. To keep the skeleton firmly in the corner, Skylar cast several Fire-Making Spells around it, preventing the skeleton from breaking through and slowly compressing its movement range. Finally Skylar easily pulverized the skeleton with Reducto.

"As you've seen, the Bird Conjuring Spell and the Oppugno can be used together. This spellcasting technique is called a 'Combination Spell.' With this combination spell, I created a dense attack of birds charging at high speed. To withstand this impact, I successfully forced them into a corner. Then, I used the Fire-Making Spell to continue suppressing them, reducing their range of movement. With no room to dodge or maneuver, I could easily finish them off with a Reducto."