Torches in the Forbidden Forest

Summer was slowly creeping over the land around the castle. The sky and lake had turned periwinkle blue. Flowers the size of cabbages were blooming in the greenhouses too, clustered behind the glass windows as though peeking at the world outside.

As the Chamber of Secrets petrification incidents grew more severe and the rumors spread wider, the whispers in the corridors became louder by the day.

That day, the trio finally erupted into a fierce argument in the Great Hall.

At the Gryffindor table, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat facing one another.

Harry suspected Hagrid. He said Hagrid had raised spiders, dragons, and a Three-Headed Dog before. He had raised every kind of dangerous monster, so perhaps the monster in the Chamber of Secrets had been released by Hagrid without him even knowing it.

Hermione and Ron, meanwhile, blamed Harry for not telling everyone about the diary so they could investigate it together.

Harry roared at them, "Listen! I didn't know I could speak Parseltongue! I did have that diary! You ask me what else I don't know? Maybe it's possible that you've done things... even terrible things, without knowing anything about them! I just—I... I only saw Hagrid in there! That's why I suspect him!"

Even Su Yu could no longer stand listening to it. He rose to his feet and walked toward the Gryffindor table.

Su Yu reached Harry, grabbed him by the collar of his robes, lifted him from his chair, and slapped him.

The slap was not hard, but the area around the Gryffindor table fell silent. Harry's head tilted to one side, his glasses crooked, and a red handprint slowly surfaced on his face. Ron stood up, and Hermione did as well, but neither of them moved.

Su Yu had tolerated Harry for far too long.

"Tell me, what do you mean by suspecting Hagrid?" Su Yu said coldly. "What fine Gryffindors. Your own people suspect your own people, spread rumors about your own people, stab your own people in the back. Look at you trash—specializing in targeting your own, yet claiming that's what courage means?"

Every Gryffindor student rose to their feet. Dozens of them glared angrily at Su Yu; some clenched their fists, some gripped their wands, and some had already opened their mouths to curse back.

But the Slytherins stood even faster.

Nearly a hundred people rose in unison, wands already in hand. No one spoke or shouted. They simply silently pressed every Gryffindor student against the tables, wand tips aimed at their heads, green light flickering at the tips.

Su Yu smiled mockingly at the little Gryffindor lions still glaring at him. "What, with this bunch of crooked rejects? Even if you dragged the other two Houses and every professor here, do you think Slytherin would be afraid? How ignorant and laughable."

The students from the other two Houses hurriedly backed away as well, afraid the conflict would spread to them.

Su Yu gave the other two Houses a disdainful glance, then lowered his head and looked at Harry.

"Do you know what your biggest mistake is?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry remained stubborn. His face had turned even redder, fire burning in his eyes, but Su Yu held him down so he could not move.

"You don't know yourself well enough. You don't have the brains or the ability to solve this. But you think you're clever, you think you're strong, and you keep trying to prove yourself, making things worse and worse. If you'd told Dumbledore or me about the diary sooner—even if you'd told Hermione—this would have been resolved long ago. But you didn't. You wanted to investigate on your own, yet found nothing. And now, at this point, you're still suspecting Hagrid..."

Su Yu's voice grew louder and louder, every word driving into Harry's ears like a nail.

"Just like your classmates suspected you. They kept spreading rumors about you and doubting you. And you keep spreading rumors about Hagrid and doubting him. You're already suffering terribly, yet you insist on forcing this onto Hagrid and making him suffer too. You won't even spare him the slightest friendship. Think about it—who first helped you understand the wizarding world? Who has always watched over you? Who worries about you every day? Ask your own conscience: did a dog eat it?"

The Great Hall was so silent that the wind against the windows could be heard. The Gryffindor students lowered their heads, while the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws did not even dare breathe loudly.

Su Yu turned and called, "Malfoy!"

"I'm here, Prefect." Malfoy said, holding his wand against Ron. Its tip pressed against Ron's head. Ron's face was pale and his lips trembled, but he did not move.

"If one day your father were suspected of murder, even if you knew it was true, what would you do? Tell Harry!"

A cruel smile appeared on Malfoy's face, carrying a bloodthirsty air that seemed to seep from his bones.

"I'd snap the necks of the people spreading rumors, then stop my father. Even if I had to imprison him, I would never let others spread rumors about him or suspect him. Only I, Malfoy, can judge members of the Malfoy family! To hell with the Ministry of Magic. At worst, I die!"

Someone in the crowd of Slytherins gave a low cheer.

"Did you hear that, Harry? Did you hear that, Gryffindor?" Su Yu's voice returned to its lazy drawl, but every word seemed dredged up from an ice cellar. "That is where Malfoy is better than you. When you start doubting and spreading rumors, you only dare whisper behind people's backs. You only know how to play at isolating others. You secretly play those petty schemes you claim to despise, then turn around and call Slytherin evil and devious. Even if these little Slytherin snakes lose five hundred points today, as long as he believes he did the right thing, no one else will say a bad word about him! But what about you? A pack of scum, yet you feel like you're justice itself? You think Harry deserves to be isolated?"

"Sorry, everyone, but is Harry even fit to be a Slytherin? Slytherin would never produce a stupid lion who only knows how to charge into fights alone without a brain!"

With that, Su Yu released Harry.

"Think about it properly. Think carefully about why your House is called the House of Lions!"

Su Yu led the Slytherins out of the Great Hall. Nearly a hundred people followed behind him, robes billowing behind them, their footsteps as orderly as an army's.

The Nine-Tailed Fox walked at Su Yu's feet, her tail held high, never once looking back.

Harry caught his breath and coughed, while Hermione and Ron comforted him beside him. Hermione placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, and Ron straightened his glasses.

The other Gryffindor students also silently gathered their things and slowly left the Great Hall. As they departed, they all looked at Harry with complicated expressions, but in the end no one spoke. They simply left in silence.

Grindelwald stood in the third-floor gallery, silently watching the farce below. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his trousers, silver hair glinting in the candlelight.

His eyes remained fixed on Su Yu, while the smile on his lips grew wider and wider. It was as if he saw his younger self.

Grindelwald had decided on this successor.

Fortunately, over the next few days, more and more little lions began apologizing to Harry.

As their numbers grew, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws gradually began joining them as well.

A Hufflepuff girl gave Harry a box of homemade biscuits as an "apology." A Ravenclaw boy stopped Harry in the corridor and said, "I said bad things about you behind your back before. I'm sorry." Harry stood there holding the biscuits, his expression one of blank confusion, as though asking what had happened to the world.

In Herbology, Professor Sprout had them trim the dead fig trees.

When Harry climbed onto a pile of fertilizer to dump the harmful withered branches, he happened to come face-to-face with Ernie. Ernie stood on the other side of the pile, holding a large pair of shears.

Ernie took a deep breath and said very formally, "I just wanted to say, Harry, I'm sorry I suspected you. I apologize for what I said. We're in the same boat now, and let's make up—" He held out a plump hand.

Harry shook it. Ernie's palm was covered in sweat, but his grip was tight.

"Do you think it could be Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked, his voice lowered as though afraid someone might overhear.

"No," Harry answered so firmly that Ernie and Ron both froze for a moment.

When class ended, Professor Sprout sent them off to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Lockhart bounced into the classroom, and the whole class stared at him. The other teachers had all been calmer and more serious than usual, but Lockhart lacked none of his optimism.

"Let's begin," he called, smiling around at them. "Why are you all pulling such long faces?"

The students exchanged irritated looks, but no one spoke.

"Have you not realized," Lockhart said slowly, as though they were all rather dim, "that the danger has passed? The culprit has been taken away."

"Who?" Dean Thomas shouted.

"My dear boy, if the Minister for Magic were not one hundred percent certain that Hagrid was guilty, he would not have taken Hagrid away," Lockhart said in the tone of someone explaining that one plus one equaled two, then winked.

"Oh, yes, he would," Ron said, much louder than Dean.

"I believe I know a little more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," Lockhart said smugly.

Ron wanted to say he did not think so, but after Harry kicked him hard under the table, he swallowed the words.

But Lockhart's disgusting enthusiasm, his usual belief that Hagrid was no good, and his confidence that the whole matter was over greatly enraged Harry. It even made him want to smash A Walk with Ghouls into Lockhart's stupid face.

Instead, he hurriedly scribbled a note to Ron to comfort himself: "Let's do it tonight, but this time we need some help."

Ron read the note, swallowed, and passed it to Hermione. The three looked at one another, and that look strengthened their resolve.

At night, as soon as Harry and Ron heard the doors of the two dormitories close, they grabbed their cloaks, covered themselves, went into the common room, picked up Hermione, and climbed out through the small hole behind the Fat Lady's portrait.

Their journey through the castle went as before. They avoided every teacher. Finally, they reached the Great Hall, quietly moved the bolt on the oak doors, slipped through the gap without letting the doors make a sound, and stepped onto the moonlit grounds.

"The route," Ron suddenly said as they strode across the dark grass. "Maybe when we get to the Forbidden Forest, we'll find there's no trail at all. Those spiders might not have gone that way. They seemed to be heading in that general direction, but... where are the teammates we agreed on?"

At that moment, an annoying voice rang out.

"Woohoo! Look over here!"

One torch, then two, then three... twenty torches suddenly appeared in the Forbidden Forest. Firelight shone across face after face, turning Malfoy's pale face red.

Malfoy stood at the front, with twenty Slytherin students behind him.

"Two special Slytherin squads, all present." Malfoy and those behind him gracefully waved their wands and bowed to Hermione. "Theodore once promised you that Slytherin would become your support, Miss Granger. Tonight, you are in command. Don't worry, we will charge ahead of you. Just do what you believe is right."

Harry and Ron stared wide-eyed at Hermione, their looks seeming to say—Weren't you supposed to call Su Yu? What are all these people? And how did so many of them get out? Isn't there a curfew?

Malfoy seemed to have joined their private conversation channel and said disdainfully, "This place is not worthy of Prefect Su Yu's presence. Any Slytherin can treat this place as home. What ignorance. And curfew? Do you think Filch would dare say a word if he saw us?"

Hermione did not dwell on it further. She knew just how terrifying these older Slytherins were, especially after the Nine-Tails Cloak was activated. She said nothing more and led everyone deeper into the Forbidden Forest, bringing Hagrid's dog Fang along to lead the way.