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Both boys jolted awake, blurting out sleep-muddled nonsense that left Ian utterly baffled. What on earth had they been dreaming about?
"What's going on? It's not even dawn, is it?" Michael groaned.
"Oh, Ian, my savior, thank you for waking me!" William gasped dramatically.
Ian rolled his eyes and tossed their robes at them. "The professors are gathering everyone in the Great Hall. Hogwarts is in trouble— again."
"Why do you say 'again'?" Michael asked, still groggy as he fumbled for his extension bag. William, on the other hand, snatched up his magic-powered lantern, gripping it like a lifeline.
They followed Ian into the common room, where the air was thick with nervous chatter. The two Ravenclaw Prefects were on guard, wands at the ready, as they counted students.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
A flash of light shot across the room as a senior student struck an Ashwinder emerging from the fireplace, freezing it mid-slither just before it could lunge.
Hogwarts' curriculum might be rigorous, but this was no ordinary classroom exercise. Though upper-year students had honed their combat skills, the sudden attack left younger students reeling in fear.
"How did this even happen?! Ashwinders— here, of all places?!"
"My dad lost an arm to those things! We're doomed!"
"I thought Hogwarts was the safest place in the world! I want to go home!"
"Where's my sister?! Is she already dead?! Waaaah! And she had all the Galleons Dad gave me! I still need them for Professor Ian's classes!"
...
They were all like greenhouse flowers.
Faced with sudden chaos, the younger students were utterly terrified. A few had already been attacked in their dormitories and were now crying and clinging to the group in fear.
Fortunately, the older students remained composed.
"Something's not right," Ian muttered, frowning as he took in the sight of several lifeless Ashwinders strewn across the common room floor.
Ashwinders weren't supposed to be this aggressive.
Their purpose was to lay eggs and perish shortly after.
By nature, Ashwinders avoided confrontation, seeking only dark, warm spaces to reproduce. Yet this group was acting unnaturally, slithering out of every possible crevice to attack students.
"Someone must have put some sirt of curse on them," Came a quiet but firm voice beside him.
Ian turned to see Penelope Clearwater approaching cautiously with her wand in hand.
"Can you handle this?" She asked, eyeing him with an unreadable expression.
"Of course." Ian drew his wand without hesitation. The Full Body-Bind Curse was somewhat effective against the creatures, but he doubted it would be enough to neutralize the threat entirely.
"Inflatus!"
With a flick of his wand, Ian targeted an Ashwinder slithering in through the window. In an instant, the creature swelled grotesquely before bursting in a mist of dark ichor.
"?????"
Penelope flinched, gripping her wand more tightly. She opened her mouth as if to say something— then wisely shut it. Had that been an Inflating Charm or a Severing Charm?
Several upper-year students cast wary glances his way.
The younger students, on the other hand, looked at Ian with awestruck admiration.
"Everyone's accounted for! Stick together— older students, keep the younger ones safe!" Prefect Dietrich called out, ushering the group towards the exit.
Leading the charge, he appeared both tense and... was that excitement in his expression?
Many of the senior students wore similar looks of exhilaration.
"They're eager to put their studies into practice," Ian noted, not particularly keen on fading into the background when a golden opportunity presented itself.
'Play the fool?'
'Who wanted to play the fool?'
One didn't need to act weak to hide one's fangs.
"Inflatus!"
"Inflatus!"
…
As Ian cast spell after spell, his proficiency in the Inflating Charm naturally improved. The technique refined itself in his mind, and before long, he found himself executing it non-verbally. Another step forward in magical mastery.
Even the immobilized Ashwinders, frozen in place by other students' spells, weren't spared— Ian made sure to finish them off.
After all, who knew how long the stunning effects would last? A single lapse and the creatures could scatter, laying dozens of eggs in mere moments. Ian was simply helping the seniors clean up their unfinished work.
However…
"This… do you… have some rather unorthodox preferences?" Penelope eyed him warily as she asked.
"Huh?" Ian turned his head in confusion, just as another Ashwinder erupted in a shower of mist. He had just saved another student— his conscience had never felt clearer.
"...Never mind." Penelope decided against pressing further, instead shifting the topic. "Dumbledore asked me to pass on a message. The twin you're looking for— it's him."
Ian's eyes widened in disbelief as he heard this.
In his moment of distraction, his fluctuating magic caused an Ashwinder to swell to monstrous proportions before bursting into an even larger explosion.
Splatters of dark ichor rained down on the upper-year students standing nearby.
"What do we do? I want to hex him... but what if he explodes me instead?"
The affected students quietly wiped their faces, swallowing their irritation.
"Indeed, such a talented student. And so handsome. It was obviously just an accident. I should let it go... I wouldn't want to leave a bad impression."
Their expressions grew conspicuously neutral, as though competing to appear the least fazed.
"Has Ian been secretly practicing?"
Cho Chang, watching from the crowd, whispered to her dormmate.
"Not really. He sleeps earlier than William. Ah, I wonder how Rebecca is… Is she hurt? How could something this dangerous happen at Hogwarts?"
His thoughts were entirely on his younger sister.
"Someone from Slytherin or Griffindore is probably behind this," Cho Chang muttered darkly. She wanted to ask Ian's other roommate, but William was too preoccupied to respond.
"Brilliant! Ruthless! Intimidating! He must be the future right-hand of a secret society! My ancestors must be watching over me to assign me such a legendary roommate!"
William, trailing behind Ian, practically vibrated with excitement.
At that moment, his roommate's figure seemed impossibly tall, exuding an aura of prestige. His family's pride and his own future prospects flashed before his eyes.
"Damn those house elves!" he thought bitterly. "If not for them, I could do so much more for Ian! I'd wash his shoes, his socks, his robes— anything to prove my loyalty!"
There was not even an ounce of concern for the Ashwinders in his mind.
"If I could hold Ian's wand for him, polish it, carry it for him, I would!"
…
Poor child.
He is only eleven years old and he had already conditioned to idolize others.
"Boom!"
Lost in their own thoughts, no one was prepared for the sudden explosion up ahead.
As they neared the Great Hall, another violent blast rang out.
An Ashwinder attack.
A Gryffindor student had foolishly attempted to toy with a serpent and ended up losing half his arm in the process.
He was screaming in agony.
Madam Pomfrey rushed over to administer emergency treatment, while Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, and others were fending off Ashwinders attacking from all directions.
(To Be Continued…)