As soon as Draco finished speaking, his words, tinged with anger, Olivia beside him shook her head very slightly.
In her view, it was hardly a wise move to provoke a stalker who took pleasure in creating chaos with such emotional provocation.
Such actions only needlessly increase the unpredictability of the situation and create unnecessary risks, making a calm and measured approach far more prudent.
Neville, who was already pale with fright, turned as white as a sheet of paper.
He instinctively shrank back, muttering unconsciously, "Oh no... don't do that, Draco... let's run, Peeves is not someone to mess with..."
Hermione, who had felt a strange emotion rising in her heart when Draco stood up to protect her, now frowned and looked at Draco with disappointment.
She sighed inwardly: It was him after all. He was still that Malfoy family scion with a belligerent streak etched into his bones. When faced with a problem, his first reaction was still to solve it with violence and provocation.
As expected, Draco's words not only failed to intimidate Peeves, but instead completely ignited the ghost's excitement.
He burst into an even sharper, more ear-piercing laugh, his round body even swelling slightly with ecstasy, bobbing back and forth in mid-air.
"Looking for death?! Hahahaha! Young Malfoy said I should be looking for death!"
Peeves laughed so hard he did several somersaults in the air, his red and green hair bouncing wildly.
Then it scoffed, "I'm just a ghost! Are ghosts afraid of death? What a ridiculous joke!"
Draco said disdainfully, "You're just a piece of trash that everyone at Hogwarts hates!"
"What do you know!" Peeves immediately bristled and stopped his somersault.
It stood with its hands on its hips and shouted, "They don't hate me, they're afraid of me! Afraid, you little brat!"
Draco glanced at his arrogant demeanor, a sly glint flashing in his eyes.
He suddenly dropped the coldness on his face, instead revealing a panicked expression, and pointed behind Peeves.
" Peeves, behind you..."
Even his voice trembled slightly.
Upon hearing this, Peeves scoffed disdainfully and made a face at Draco:
"You little brat, trying to scare me? I, Peeves, have scared more people at Hogwarts than you've eaten potatoes! You think you can fool me with such a simple trick?"
Draco, however, seemed not to hear him, and the fear on his face deepened.
His voice trembled even more violently. " Bloody Baron! It's Bloody Baron! He's here to settle scores with you!"
The moment the words "Bloody Baron" were uttered, Peeves's expression changed instantly.
Even though he was fearless, he had a deep-seated dread of the Slytherin ghost.
It whirled around almost reflexively, yelling, "Where? Where's Bloody Baron?"
The moment Peeves turned around, the panic in Draco's eyes vanished.
He swiftly reached out and grabbed Hermione's forearm, hissing, "Go!"
At the same time, he grabbed Hermione and turned to rush towards the corridor outside the Entrance Hall.
As he ran, he didn't forget to shout to Neville and Olivia, who were still standing there in a daze, " Neville, Olivia, come on! What are you standing there for!"
The moment Hermione grabbed Draco's arm, her body stiffened abruptly, and she instinctively tried to break free.
She has never liked having overly close physical contact with others, let alone with Draco.
But Draco's movements were so fast that she didn't have time to react.
However, after a brief moment of surprise, Hermione immediately realized that this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of Peeves.
So she stopped resisting and immediately started running in sync with Draco's rhythm.
Olivia, who was already quite perceptive, instantly understood Draco's intentions.
Without any hesitation, she hissed at Neville, "Run!"
After saying that, he rushed off in another direction.
"Wait for me!" Neville stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.
But seeing that Draco and Hermione had already run far away, the instinct for survival and herd mentality instantly overwhelmed the fear in his heart.
He staggered to catch up with Olivia.
As they ran, Hermione urgently called to Draco, "Left! Go to the side corridor of the Great Hall! There are many forks in the road there, Peeves won't be able to catch up easily!"
At this moment, the Peeves, who had been tricked, finally realized what was happening.
It turned around abruptly and saw the empty Entrance Hall, not a soul in sight.
Peeves, enraged, let out an even more ferocious scream, "You lied to me! You little viper! I'm going to turn you into a pie! I'm going to turn you all into pies!"
However, no matter how loud his roar was, it could only fall on empty air.
Draco and his three companions had already run a short distance, and their figures quickly disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
The students who had been watching the commotion in the Entrance Hall were now completely dumbfounded.
Some of the younger wizards, terrified by Peeves ' roar, scattered and ran away.
The Gryffindor students couldn't help but burst into laughter, finding the scene far more entertaining Peeves's one-sided pranks.
" Merlin's beard! Malfoy tricked Peeves!" a Gryffindor boy exclaimed, slapping his thigh.
"Look! They've run away! Peeves is chasing them! This is going to be interesting!" another girl chimed in.
After running for about fifteen minutes, the roar of the Peeves behind them seemed to be getting closer and closer.
Clearly, the ghost was thoroughly enraged and was now using its spectral advantages to move freely through the walls and floors.
In a short while, Peeves's multicolored head suddenly popped out from the wall in front of them, blocking their way.
"Damn it!" Draco cursed under his breath, and without hesitation, he grabbed Hermione, turned around abruptly, and ran back the way they came.
As he ran, he shouted to Neville and Olivia, who were not far behind him, "Split up!"
The command rang out clearly in the chaotic corridor.
Without any hesitation, Olivia immediately pulled Neville around and shouted, "This way!"
After saying that, she grabbed him and rushed towards a downward-spinning stone staircase on the right.
Neville stumbled as he was pulled along, but his survival instinct made him follow, albeit unsteadily.
Although his face was filled with panic, he still couldn't help but turn back and glance at Draco and Hermione in horror.
Draco, meanwhile, grabbed Hermione and rushed down a corridor opposite to Olivia and the others.
At this moment, neither of them cared about etiquette. Hermione could clearly feel that Draco's palms were slightly damp from nervousness and running.
The tactic is very clear.
The idea is to spread out the targets, preventing Peeves from chasing everyone at the same time.
However, Peeves ' maniacal laughter echoed like a leech between the cold stone walls and vaulted ceiling.
No matter how fast the two ran, the sound seemed to be right next to their ears.
"Split up? Clever, so clever!" The shrill voice of the Peeves darted left and right, up and down, making it impossible to pinpoint his exact location.
"But Master Peeves loves playing hide-and-seek! You can't escape!"
The two of them mustered all their strength and rushed into the narrow corridor on the left, which was filled with portraits.
This corridor is rarely visited on weekdays, and its sides are covered with dusty portraits. Most of the figures in the paintings have their eyes closed and seem oblivious to the noise outside.
But the two had only run less than twenty feet when a strange wriggling sound suddenly came from an oil painting of fruit still life on the wall in front of them.
Immediately afterwards, the pear in the painting suddenly bulged out, Peeves's colorful head suddenly popped out from it, almost face to face with the two of them!
"Found you! The little weasel and the Muggle girl, you two!" Peeves shouted triumphantly.
It hovered in front of the two of them, hands on hips, laughing wildly.
"Run! Keep running! No one has ever escaped from under my nose! You'll all just have to wait and see how I trick you!"
Hermione's chest heaved violently from running and tension, but her eyes remained sharp.
She quickly surveyed her surroundings and said urgently to Draco:
"It's no use, he can walk through walls! We need to find an open area, or a place with solid cover, to restrict his movement..."
"Oh ho ho ho! Did you hear that? Miss Bookworm is using her brain!" Peeves interrupted Hermione with a laugh.
He then said jokingly, "What a pity, it's useless! In this corridor, I am the king!"
Draco looked at the smug Peeves in front of him, but a playful smile suddenly appeared on his face.
He stopped and released Hermione's hand.
He then gave a mocking smile and said, "Actually, I didn't intend to run away."
The Peeves's laughter stopped abruptly, and he looked at him suspiciously.
"I was just kidding you, do you believe me?"