While Lynn was refining the alchemy circle with the "agility" attribute as its core, Malfoy had already led Crabbe and Goyle to the trophy room.
Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were also heading to the trophy room. Hermione had failed to dissuade them, so she had no choice but to follow. On the way, they also grabbed Neville, who had been locked out of the Gryffindor common room.
Soon, the two groups arrived one after the other at the trophy room.
In the trophy room, the glass display cases sparkled in the moonlight, and the trophies, shields, medals, and statues gleamed with silver and gold in the darkness.
Both groups drew their wands at the same time and pointed them at each other.
"Potter, I didn't expect you to actually show up. I thought you'd hide in the dorm and cry for your mom!" Malfoy taunted.
Not to be outdone, Harry replied sarcastically, "Really? I thought that's something only you'd do! Are you sure you're not just forcing things with all the trouble you've caused me?"
Ron mimicked dramatically, "I'm going to tell my dad!"
The sight of Ron's imitation drove Malfoy into a fury. Malfoy stepped forward and pointed his wand at Harry. "Come here, it's time for a wizard's duel!"
As he spoke, Malfoy strictly followed the formal rules of a wizard duel.
Harry awkwardly performed the duel salute, as Ron had taught him.
"Three! Two! One!"
"Pepper breath!"
When the countdown ended, Malfoy took the initiative and cast a spell to curse Harry's face.
As a pure-blood wizard, Malfoy had been exposed to magic from an early age. While his magical talent wasn't as high as Lynn's, he had no trouble mastering a few minor curses ahead of time.
Harry watched as the spells flew toward him and quickly dodged them.
Harry wasn't very good at magic, so before the duel began, Ron had advised him to dodge Malfoy's spells as much as possible.
"Rictusempra!"
Malfoy cast another curse, and a bolt of light shot toward Harry.
Harry dodged clumsily, and several more spells narrowly missed his feet.
"Potter, can you just run? Why not change your name to Mouse?" Malfoy laughed maniacally, but Harry, who was forced to keep dodging, couldn't respond at all.
But just then, Hermione stepped forward.
Although she wasn't pleased with Harry and Ron breaking school rules, she didn't want to see her friends getting hit by Malfoy's spells without being able to defend themselves.
"I'm Harry's assistant. He's not feeling well. Please, let me take over!"
Hermione said with a bit of a flourish.
In the absence of Irina, Hermione was probably the only one in Gryffindor who had the strength to fight Malfoy.
Harry frowned, about to say something, but Ron covered his mouth to silence him.
Even though Ron wasn't strong, he wasn't stupid. If a teacher stepped in, they'd have to win!
Malfoy didn't care that Harry had changed assistants. In his mind, all he had to do was defeat the opponent!
Malfoy didn't believe Hermione was strong, after all, she was just a Muggle!
With that in mind, Malfoy cast the first spell at Hermione without hesitation: "Tarantallegra!"
Though Malfoy's dancing curse was meant to control Hermione's movement, forcing her to dance instead of dodging further spells, it was also meant to humiliate her.
Seeing this, Hermione grew angry. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Though it was just a basic levitation charm, in Hermione's hands, it was extraordinary. A silver trophy flew high into the air and struck Malfoy in the back of the head.
"Well..."
Malfoy rolled his eyes and collapsed to the floor.
Being young is great, just fall asleep!
The instant defeat of Malfoy left everyone stunned.
Crabbe quickly stepped forward. According to the rules, he was Malfoy's assistant.
"Petrificus totalus!"
However, even Malfoy had been knocked out by Hermione in one blow, let alone Crabbe!
Hermione simply cast another body-bind curse, immobilizing Crabbe in place.
"Petrificus totalus!"
In a cheerful mood, Hermione cast the same curse on Goyle, who looked innocent.
"Hermione, you're my hero!"
"Sorry, Hermione, I was too harsh earlier!"
Harry and Ron's attitudes toward Hermione completely changed, and they looked at her with admiration.
"Hmph! If I don't do this next time, I won't be allowed to break school rules again!"
Hermione raised her chin and prepared to return to the group.
"Meow~"
But just then, a meow was heard.
They saw a skinny cat with dark gray fur crouching at the door of the trophy room, staring at them with bulbous eyes.
In the next moment, it quickly scampered off.
"Uh-oh, it's Mrs. Norris. Filch must be nearby! Run!"
Ron exclaimed. He grabbed Harry with his left hand, yanked Hermione with his right, and ran toward the trophy room. Harry's other hand pulled along the panting Neville.
At that moment, they heard Filch's voice coming from a distance. "Mrs. Norris, have you seen the little wizard who broke the rules? I'm coming right now!"
The sound of running footsteps followed.
This alarmed everyone in Gryffindor, and Harry led the group quietly down a corridor filled with suits of armor.
Fortunately, the trio of Malfoy had been immobilized, giving them time to escape. Filch first arrested Malfoy's trio, then continued pursuing Harry and the others.
Realizing Filch's footsteps were getting closer, the timid Neville couldn't hold back a scream. He stumbled, collided with Ron, and fell into an upper suit of armor.
"Run!" Harry shouted, and the four of them sprinted down the hall.
It wasn't clear how long they had been running, but eventually they reached the end of the corridor, where there was a locked door.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Just then, a voice like the sound of nature came from not too far away.
Hermione looked surprised. "Irina, what are you doing here?"
Irina blinked innocently and replied, "I heard you all crying and howling when Professor McGonagall let me out, so I came to take a look!"
Ron groaned. "Stop looking! We're done for, we're doomed!"
Harry explained from the side, "Filch has been chasing us the whole way, but it turns out this is a dead end!"
At that moment, the sound of Filch's footsteps grew louder, and the owner of those footsteps was clearly Filch, who had been chasing them all along.
"Oh, come here quickly!" Hermione was a bit irritated. She struck the locked door with her wand and shouted, "Alohomora!"
The lock clicked, and the door opened.
Hermione pushed Harry, Ron, and Neville inside, then pulled the confused Irina in and quickly closed the door behind them.
Just as everyone thought they were safe, Irina carefully pushed Hermione aside.
"Enough, Irina!" Hermione gasped.
Irina looked speechless. "It's not me, look up!"
Hearing this, Hermione looked up and froze.
They saw a three-headed dog, tall enough to reach the ceiling, filling almost the entire space. It had three heads, three pairs of fierce eyes, and three slobbering mouths that looked ready to devour them all.
As large as Harry and the others were, they looked like snacks in front of the three-headed dog!
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