Detention

"How are you here? Didn't Filch fail to catch you?" Hermione said after coming back to her senses.

Oren said, "Of course I came here myself."

"Aren't you afraid Professor McGonagall will give you detention too?"

"Impossible. I reported it to Dumbledore ages ago. Since he didn't object, I took that as consent."

"Oren, do you think we'll be expelled?" Harry asked weakly.

At the thought of expulsion, Hermione's face went pale as well.

"Don't worry. Based on my years of experience, you won't be."

"Phew..." The two little ones breathed a sigh of relief.

"Most likely, Gryffindor's points will evaporate on the spot, and you'll get a brutal detention."

The breath the two had just let out was promptly sucked back in.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Footsteps sounded outside. As they drew closer, Harry and Hermione's faces grew even paler. The little witch trembled as though she had vibration mode turned on.

"Neville, why are you here?" Harry asked in surprise.

"I wanted to warn you. Malfoy was looking for you. What did he say again? That you were raising a dragon." Neville spilled everything for Harry the moment he opened his mouth.

Harry frantically waved his hands and blinked at Neville, trying to signal: Roommate, you really shouldn't be saying that.

"Let me guess. You must have lied to Mr. Malfoy and told him you had a dragon. I never expected Mr. Longbottom to believe your lie as well."

"Oren, why are you here too?" Professor McGonagall asked in confusion.

"I guess I'm part of their nighttime wandering group too," Oren said, completely unapologetic.

Professor McGonagall nodded, thinking, Not bad. He's made friends. His mischief is much like that of other young wizards, at least there's no trace of that Fiendfyre little demon king anymore.

Professor McGonagall said, "Miss Granger!"

The little witch shrank like a quail.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom, because of your nighttime wandering, Gryffindor will lose fifty points. You will also serve detention."

"Fifty points?!" Harry and Hermione felt as if they were about to suffocate.

Professor McGonagall said, "Fifty points each!"

"Professor, please!" ×2

Oren put an arm around Neville's shoulders. "Don't learn from those two embarrassing idiots. The points are already gone, and detention is happening anyway. At this point, you might as well show some backbone."

"You're right, Oren. At this point, we should just go back and sleep," Neville said, on the verge of tears.

"Go back and sleep immediately, all of you!" Professor McGonagall chased the four of them out of her office.

"Oren, you go back to sleep too."

"Alright, you three, stop looking like someone died," Oren said, dusting himself off. "This punishment is much lighter than getting Norbert discovered."

"But it's one hundred and fifty points! I don't even dare imagine how people will react when they find out we lost that many points," the little witch said despairingly.

Oren said, "My suggestion is, since the charges are already confirmed and the punishment has been handed down, you might as well spread the word that you lost points because you had a dragon."

"Would people forgive us then?" Harry asked hopefully.

"No, but the charge sounds more respectable," Oren said mercilessly, crushing Harry's fantasy. "Alright, common room. Go back to sleep."

The next day, in the Great Hall.

"Did you hear? Harry Potter, Longbottom, and Granger cost Gryffindor a whole one hundred and fifty points because they were out at night."

"But I heard they were raising a dragon."

"Who cares why? That's one hundred and fifty points. We can forget about the House Cup now."

Hermione's face was bright red. She was so ashamed she practically wanted to crawl under the table.

Oren looked at the dark circles under the three of their eyes. "Did you three not sleep last night? Do you hate sleeping that much?"

"Sigh..." Harry sighed. "One hundred and fifty points! How was I supposed to sleep?"

"There's Quidditch training later. How am I supposed to face them?"

Ron, who had just been discharged from the hospital wing, comforted him. "I'll go with you."

Harry looked at Ron gratefully, his eyes seeming to say, Brothers for life.

"Neville, where are you going later?" Oren asked.

"Back to the dormitory to hide."

"Uh, alright," Oren said, taking a bite of his steak.

"Bang!" The little witch finally snapped under everyone's pointing and whispering. She threw down her utensils, grabbed Oren, and ran.

"Wait! Wait! I'm not full yet! I'm not full!"

On the way to the Library, Oren could barely stand to look at Hermione sneaking around like a rat in the street.

"Is this really necessary? Haven't you earned more than fifty points for your House?"

Hermione tugged at her hair in frustration. "But I still cost Gryffindor points, didn't I? I still dragged the team down in the end."

"Oren, if you were me, what would you do about all this gossip?"

Oren's mouth twitched wildly. "Team? What bullshit team? Put them all together and they still wouldn't be enough for me to beat up."

"Hermione, you need to understand that you're attending a magic school. The knowledge you learn can genuinely become spells you use. If they have a problem, then use spells to communicate."

Hermione...

"Isn't this Miss Granger? You, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Longbottom have done us Slytherin a huge favor in the race for the House Cup."

The little witch lowered her head and retreated behind Oren.

Oren glanced at the Slytherin snake taunting them right in their faces, then quietly stepped closer.

"Crack!" Oren stomped on the guy's foot.

"Ow, ow, Owwwwww!"

Hey! That scream really had thirty percent of Professor Tom Cat's skill.

Seeing this, Hermione hurriedly dragged Oren away.

"Won't this cause trouble?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"What trouble could there be? He only broke a few bones. He'll just spend half a day in the hospital wing," Oren said indifferently.

"But will you really not lose points?"

"No!" Oren answered firmly.

What a joke. He hadn't sent the guy off with a blast of Fiendfyre. Even if Dumbledore found out, he would praise him for being kindhearted and a good boy.

"But Oren, aren't you afraid Snape will come looking for you?"

"Not afraid!"

Oren complained inwardly, Even if Snape comes, he'll have to take a few punches before he leaves. Come to think of it, I haven't dueled Snape in a long time. My hands are itching.

Hermione said, "Oren, how do you manage to sound so tough when you talk?"

"You want to know?"

"Mm-hmm, I want to know!"

"Not telling you."

Hermione...

Oren said, "So why did we come to the Library?"

"What else could we do? Since things have come to this, we should study."

In the common room.

"Are you sure you don't want to go study with Hermione and Neville over there?" Ron asked hesitantly.

"No! I already studied in the Library all afternoon. Can't I enjoy myself for once? Keep going!"

"Are you really sure? You've lost ten games in a row already," Ron advised.

"Keep going. I'm going to become a Wizard's Chess master!"

Ron's set of Wizard's Chess was incredibly obedient when facing its creator. Not only did the pieces refrain from trash-talking, they kept giving Oren advice, saying things like, "Young master, place your piece here. I know a fast winning strategy."

Even with Ron and the chess pieces constantly going easy on him, Oren still did not win a single game. Ron now felt that Oren had a certain talent when it came to losing at chess.

"Sigh..." Ron sighed and continued playing. After all, his superb skills and foul-mouthed chess pieces had already made him infamous throughout Gryffindor.

"Snape must have succeeded!" Harry rushed over. "I heard Professor Quirrell crying outside just now!"

"I'd bet ten—no, even twelve Philosopher's Stones that Snape got the method for breaking through the obstacle Professor Quirrell set up."

Hermione said, "And Fluffy?"

Oren said, "And Dumbledore?"

Ron said, "Maybe Snape has already found a way past Fluffy. With such a huge Library, it shouldn't be hard to find a way to deal with a three-headed dog."

Hermione came over and tugged on Oren's sleeve. "Maybe you should tell Dumbledore about this."

"But we have no evidence," Harry said anxiously. "Headmaster Dumbledore definitely trusts Snape more, and Professor Quirrell has already been scared out of his wits by him. He definitely won't testify for us."

"Besides, we can't explain why we know about the Philosopher's Stone."

Hermione looked at Harry in surprise, as though stunned by how clever he was.

After casually making a move, Oren said, "Don't be so anxious. All the professors helped design the obstacles. How could Dumbledore fail to guard against someone with bad intentions?"

"The Headmaster must have set up some defensive measures too. Maybe that person will clear all the obstacles, only to get stuck on Headmaster Dumbledore's final safeguard."

"So just keep an eye on the Headmaster. As long as he isn't suddenly called away, the Philosopher's Stone is safe."

"And don't think about investigating in private again. You just got punished, and you want to cause trouble again? Even if you ate a bear's heart and a leopard's gall, you shouldn't be this reckless!"

"You don't want to go home carrying an expulsion notice and a rolled-up bedroll, do you?"

Hermione seemed to imagine the scene. Her face turned deathly pale, even more effective than any whitening cosmetic product.

After hearing Oren out, Harry calmed down considerably. "That's right. Snape must be more anxious than us now. We just need to wait for him to make a mistake."

"Exactly. With this kind of thing, you need to catch thieves with the stolen goods, catch adulterers in bed... cough, cough. When the time comes, we can just block the fourth floor and catch him," Oren said calmly.

Hermione nodded in agreement. "Headmaster Dumbledore must have taken precautions too. That person with bad intentions might really get stuck there."

After their round of analysis, they were no longer anxious or panicked, and they all felt much better.

"Cough, cough," Oren said. "I think you're celebrating too early."

"Why?" ×3

"Have you forgotten something?"

"What?" ×3

"You two still haven't served your detention. So, how does it feel? Excited for your first detention?"

The two little ones' smiles vanished instantly. Well, they had not exactly vanished; they had simply moved onto Oren's face.

The powerful flapping of owl wings rang out, and the young wizards nearby expertly ducked for cover.

With no one left to crash into, the owl Mige could only land beside Oren, its plump face full of displeasure.

"What does the letter say?" Hermione asked, poking her head out from under the table.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a grand gesture. Your detention starts right away!"