Midnight Duel (Part 1)

As everyone knew, Hogwarts had no secrets. Not long after Malfoy and Harry Potter agreed to a wizard's duel, the entire school knew about it.

What young wizard had never had a hot-blooded moment? A wizard's duel was the most elegant, respectable, and prestigious way to settle things.

But a duel between first-years could hardly stir anyone's interest. The newly enrolled young wizards could barely manage a Lighting Charm, let alone those highly difficult offensive spells.

So while children's wizard duels might start out looking somewhat proper, they would inevitably end in a farce of throwing punches at each other.

Although everyone knew about it, very few wanted to watch in person. Wasn't there anything better to do late at night? They had heard that the mysterious ghost who prowled at midnight and always caught wandering students to scare them had stopped appearing. At last, everyone could happily sneak around at night.

Compared to exploring mysterious Hogwarts, watching a few first-year kids duel was unbearably boring.

The Hogwarts students had no idea that the utterly wicked ghost was Zhang San. Of course he had to put on a disguise when doing bad things—if he showed his true face, everyone would gang up on him. He was only a pitiful, weak, helpless first-year who had just become a ghost. How could he possibly have any bad intentions?

The first-years, however, were extremely invested in the wizard's duel between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. One was the top dog among Slytherin's new students, while the other was Gryffindor's hottest rising star.

Both houses hoped their own freshman would win. The tradition of Slytherin and Gryffindor competing against each other had a long history. Whether it was Malfoy or Potter, if either lost to the other side, their house would lose face.

Thus, at midnight, Harry and Ron, fully prepared for battle, received a hero's send-off from their Gryffindor classmates. Naturally, the same scene was playing out in Slytherin.

At first, Malfoy had actually intended to trick Harry Potter. He would tell the caretaker Filch that Harry Potter was going to the Trophy Room, and that old cripple would naturally go make trouble for Harry Potter.

He had never expected the news to spread so quickly. The entire school knew about the wizard's duel. If Malfoy became a coward and failed to show up, he would not even need Harry Potter to mock him—the Slytherin upperclassmen would step in to clean house themselves.

Slytherin could put interests first, assess the situation, and show an appropriate degree of contempt for the rules... but at the heart of it all, honor came first. If Malfoy dared not show up for the duel, Slytherin House's centuries of honor would be ruined by him.

So Malfoy had to go whether he wanted to or not. In the end, with no other choice, he put on his cloak, took Goyle and Crabbe with him, and left the common room, sneaking toward the Trophy Room.

"Which damned bastard spread the news of the duel all over the school?" Malfoy cursed bitterly. He practically hated that person to death.

His brilliant plan to thoroughly screw over Potter had died before it could even begin, and now he had to personally duel Potter. How could the noble young master Malfoy duel a Gryffindor brute? It was utterly undignified!

"Of course I told the ghosts! Once ghosts know something, they'll definitely let the whole school know during meals," Zhang San said smugly.

He was a ghost, and all the ghosts of Hogwarts could barely be considered his kind. He could communicate effectively with them, and whenever the ghosts chatted with Zhang San, reason instantly seized the high ground of their souls.

Bloody Baron in particular was always hovering beside Zhang San like a nagging old woman, endlessly rambling about his Hogwarts love story. He talked about how deeply he regretted killing Helena Ravenclaw, and how, if he were given another chance, he would be willing to give everything he had to make amends, and so on.

Driven nearly mad by his pestering, Zhang San gave Bloody Baron a bouquet of offering flowers and told him to give them to Helena Ravenclaw. Saying ten thousand words to Zhang San was not as good as saying "I'm sorry" and "I love you" to her once. They had been dead for nearly a thousand years, yet he still could not manage even that.

The moment Bloody Baron received the flowers, he chickened out. He did not dare face Helena. The guilt and fear buried deep in his soul made it impossible for him to control himself.

That was what made Zhang San different from ordinary ghosts. His mind was clear enough. Aside from having a different form of life, Zhang San was just a normal person.

The ghosts were different. They were genuinely obsessed. Bloody Baron and Helena Ravenclaw's melodramatic love story had happened over a thousand years ago, yet Zhang San still had to listen to that guy repeat it over and over.

It was torture!

Harry and Ron crawled out through the hole behind the Fat Lady's portrait. Before they had even steadied themselves after landing, they spotted a blurry figure in the corridor.

The discovery scared the wits out of them. Oh no, had a professor been lying in wait? That ghost loudspeaker was indeed unreliable—the professors even knew about this!

Just as they were about to turn around and glare angrily at Zhang San, he had already emerged from the wall.

He was a ghost, and darkness could not weaken his vision. Zhang San recognized the person hiding there at a glance. It was her, it was her, it was our friend, Miss Know-It-All—Hermione Granger.

Harry and Ron also noticed that the person was about their height, so they gathered their courage and approached. Once they saw who it was, they asked in confusion, "Hermione, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, obviously," Hermione said irritably. "I can't believe you're actually doing this..."

She looked over the two boys and one ghost before her. With these three in Gryffindor, this year's House Cup would probably belong to Slytherin again.

Hermione sighed helplessly. "You can't go. This violates school rules. The professors definitely know about you and Malfoy planning to duel. They'll surely be waiting in the Trophy Room for you to walk right into their trap."

Harry pointed at Zhang San. "We have the best scout. If there are professors waiting in the Trophy Room, Zhang San will find them and tell us to retreat."

Zhang San waved at Hermione. "I'm a ghost, so I can pass through walls. All the ghosts in the school are my eyes and ears. No matter where the professors are, I'll know in advance. So don't worry!"

"You still can't go!" Hermione said urgently. "Malfoy comes from a wizarding family. He must have learned magic before starting school. You haven't even studied magic systematically yet. Having a wizard's duel with Malfoy is far too dangerous."

Harry Potter scratched his head. Today, he had been so focused on making Malfoy angry that he had not considered that he might genuinely be unable to beat him. That was the nature of a pure Gryffindor brute—whether he could win or not, he would fight first and worry later.

"With me here, Harry and Ron will be fine," Zhang San said.

"You're only a ghost," Hermione said without the slightest politeness.

Zhang San: ...

What was wrong with being a ghost? Had ghosts eaten her rice? This little girl really had a nasty way of talking!

Perhaps Hermione had meant well, but it did not sound pleasant coming from her mouth at all. No wonder Hermione had not made any friends in Gryffindor even though school had been in session for nearly a week.

Very few people could stand Hermione's personality at this point. Her "You're only a ghost" nearly broke even good-tempered Zhang San.

What did she mean, "You're only a ghost"? Explain it. What the hell did she mean, "You're only a ghost"?

Zhang San flipped the table in a fit of rage.