Chapter 32.
A week had passed since the duel, which was an internal dispute among Slytherin and had not been made known to any students from the other three houses.
Regarding the incident where Soren severely injured Gellert, Snape did not spread the word, as he bore some responsibility in the incident, allowing Soren to escape punishment.
After hearing Soren's declaration, the entire atmosphere of Slytherin gradually changed among the younger wizards.
Every professor at Hogwarts felt, to some extent, that Slytherin was different from before—
Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both noticed that the little snakes were practicing harder than ever, and the quality of their homework had skyrocketed;
Professor Sprout also found that the little snakes were more enthusiastic and proactive than before, often volunteering to help move plants and tools in the greenhouse and tidy up the area; Even in the eyes of the cold Snape, the little snakes were more united and helpful; even Goyle and Crabbe successfully brewed potions with the help of other little snakes.
In contrast, the Gryffindor students appeared particularly mischievous, the Ravenclaw students seemed self-absorbed, and although the Hufflepuff students were diligent and friendly, they were overly dull and passive.
Another thing happened the night after the duel: Daphne quietly went to Soren's private dormitory to have a candid conversation with him regarding his declaration made before the duel.
Daphne was not foolish; on the contrary, as the legitimate daughter of the Greengrass family, she had received extensive training from her family since childhood and was well aware of the power struggles among pure-blood families.
Since meeting Soren, she had sensed that he harboured great ambitions and hidden desires; this 12-year-old boy often displayed maturity and decisiveness beyond his years.
Being perceptive, she did not think that Soren's grandiose words that day were merely for show. It was not difficult for her to deduce that he intended to establish a following for himself, so she wanted to represent her Greengrass family and express goodwill towards him.
At present, Soren still seemed weak and lacked prestige, but having witnessed his talent and potential, Daphne had no doubt that he would one day become a formidable force.
Although Daphne spoke indirectly, Soren fully understood her underlying meaning—
In Soren's own words: the Greengrass family had a very favourable view of him, but given his current display of strength and prestige was far from sufficient, the Greengrass family could only offer him limited support, serving as an early investment in him. If he were to show signs of becoming a strong figure in the future, the Greengrass family would become his solid and reliable ally, providing him with the full support of the entire family.
After reaching a verbal preliminary agreement with Daphne, Soren recalled some questions he had regarding bloodline power and said, "Daphne, I have some questions I would like to ask, and it may touch on your family's privacy, so please don't take offence... I've heard that the women of the Greengrass family bear a bloodline curse; is that true?"
Daphne did not shy away from this topic; after all, while it was not a good thing, it was not a family secret either. "Yes. few century ago, our family encountered a powerful dark wizard, who laid a vicious curse upon us. My mother was also hit by that blood curse; she passed away when I was still young. I am relatively lucky; the bloodline curse has not been activated in me, but my sister... sigh..."
After a moment of silence, she saw Soren staring at her and couldn't help but ask, "Why do you ask this?"
Soren candidly explained that he was researching bloodline-related magic and hoped to obtain the Greengrass family's research notes on bloodline magic. After all, the Greengrass family had borne the curse for a century and must have made many attempts to break it, and the research materials related to bloodlines would certainly be of great reference value to him.
Daphne looked doubtful; she had never heard of any bloodline powers being inherited in the Malfoy family, but she still agreed to convey Soren's request to her family, asking them to send over the research materials related to bloodlines.
Before leaving, Daphne took out a map of the Forbidden Forest from her pocket, as Soren had inquired about various rumors regarding the Forbidden Forest from her and Meredith a few months ago. Wise as she was, Daphne naturally guessed that Soren had an interest in the Forbidden Forest, so she had her family spend some resources to obtain this map, treating it as the first meeting gift from the family to Soren.
[Forbidden Forest Map Obtained!]
On the first Saturday morning after the Easter holiday, this was supposed to be the day of the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, but the match was canceled due to the third attack incident, with the victims being Hermione and Penelope Clearwater, a sixth-year Ravenclaw student.
In the Slytherin common room, Professor Snape announced new measures: "All students must return to their house common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student may leave the dormitory after this time. Each class will be escorted by a teacher. No student may use the restroom without a teacher present. All Quidditch practices and matches are postponed. No activities will be held in the evening."
After Professor Snape left, Slytherin students immediately began chattering.
Draco wanted to smugly mock his hatred toward Hermione, but upon seeing Soren's unfriendly gaze, he could only give up reluctantly.
That evening, Hagrid's hut was very lively, first with the arrival of Harry and Ron under the invisibility cloak, and then the visit of Dumbledore and Minister of Magic Fudge—Fudge was there on behalf of the Ministry of Magic to apprehend Hagrid as a suspect and detain him in Azkaban. Just as Hagrid tried to argue, Lucius Malfoy strode into Hagrid's hut, pulled out a long piece of parchment, and announced a temporary suspension order signed by twelve governors, relieving Dumbledore of his duties as headmaster.
Before Hagrid was taken away, he left clues for Harry and Ron to follow the spiders.
Soren knew that when Harry and Ron actually followed Hagrid's clues to track the spiders to the Acromantula's lair in the Forbidden Forest, they would find that aside from nearly being devoured by the spiders, they wouldn't gain any valuable information.
Ironically, the truly valuable clue was quietly waiting in the hospital wing at that moment.
Taking advantage of Dumbledore, Harry, and Ron not being in the castle, Soren sneaked into the hospital wing using the "Disillusionment Charm" and arrived at Hermione's ward.
To prevent the petrified victims from being completely killed by the attackers, the ward was heavily protected by magical wards—but this clearly did not stop Soren. His invisibility magic was sufficient to avoid all detection spells, and he picked all the locked doors with a Muggle universal key.
Soren scoffed; the wizards' disdain for the habits of other species left too many glaring loopholes, even Dumbledore and Voldemort were no exception.
Soren approached Hermione's bedside and gently took the note from her hand—this way, it would be very difficult for Harry and Ron to guess that the monster was the Basilisk.
After Dumbledore left Hogwarts, fear spread rapidly in an unprecedented form, making the sunlight warming the castle's outer walls seem unable to penetrate the leaded windows. Every face in the school appeared anxious and restless, and every laugh echoing in the corridors sounded jarring, strange, and was quickly suppressed. However, one person seemed to particularly enjoy this atmosphere of terror and fear.
Draco strutted around the school as if he had just been appointed head boy of the hogwarts.
About two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid left, during a Potions class, Soren happened to be sitting behind Draco and inadvertently overheard him boasting to Crabbe and Goyle.
"I knew my father would get rid of Dumbledore," he said, not bothering to lower his voice, "Let me tell you, he thinks Dumbledore is the worst headmaster in the school's history. Now we might finally have a decent headmaster, one who doesn't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long either; she's just a temporary replacement..."
As Snape walked by quickly, Draco loudly said, "Sir, why don't you apply for the position of headmaster?"
"Oh, Malfoy," Snape said, but he couldn't control the faint smile that appeared at the corners of his mouth, "Professor Dumbledore has only been temporarily suspended by the board; he will be back among us soon."
"Yes, that's right," Malfoy said with a silly grin, "Sir, if you apply for this position, I guess my father would vote for you. I will tell my father that you are the best teacher here, sir..."
Snape strode back and forth in the underground classroom, a proud smile on his face, while Seamus Finnigan pretended to vomit into his cauldron, thankfully not getting noticed by snape.
That afternoon in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Soren saw the note Harry passed to Ron that said, "We're making a move tonight," and thus he was sure that these two reckless little brats would be heading to the Forbidden Forest that night.
That evening, Soren donned his Merlin's robes, threw on his Night Star cloak, and took his magical suitcase filled with many bottles and jars, waiting early by Hagrid's hut.
Before long, Harry and Ron appeared, leading Hagrid's dog Fang into the Forbidden Forest, while Soren trailed far behind them—despite his confidence in his abilities, Soren did not want to be surrounded by a swarm of Acromantulas.
After about half an hour, Soren noticed they had strayed from the path, and soon Harry, Ron, and Fang were grabbed by several large spiders and dragged into the underbrush. Soren's invisibility spell worked on the Acromantulas as well, and none of the spiders noticed him hiding nearby. However, cautious Soren decided to prioritise safety and continued to follow at a distance.
After an unknown amount of time, Soren finally arrived at Aragog's lair.
It was the edge of a wide hollow where the trees had been cleared, and the ground, covered in fallen leaves, was now swarming with spiders, each as large as a horse, with eight eyes, eight legs, and dark, hairy bodies, like monstrous creatures.
The giant spider holding Harry descended the steep slope towards a foggy, hemispherical web in the center of the hollow, surrounded by its companions. Upon seeing what it had captured, they excitedly waved their huge pincers, making a clattering sound.
Just as Harry and Ron thought they were doomed to meet a tragic end in the spider's belly, Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia made a dazzling entrance—it rescued the two boys and the dog, crashing through the swarm of spiders, ultimately delivering Harry and the others safely out of the Forbidden Forest.
Soren carefully followed behind, collecting fresh venom from each dead spider's fangs. It should be noted that the venom of Acromantulas could fetch 100 Galleons per pint on the black market, making it quite valuable.
At least a dozen spiders were knocked dead by the Ford Anglia, and although Soren was under pressure from the surrounding spiders and tried to avoid making any noise that might attract them, he still managed to collect 20 pints of venom. Even though Seamus didn't lack any money, the easy gain of 2000 Galleons put him in a very good mood.
[Acromantula Venom Acquired!]
After finishing his collection, Soren left with satisfaction.
*****
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