Daily News: The Prophet of Hogwarts

Chapter 38 Turmoil and Duel

"Professor Quirrell hasn't taught any classes these days, not for any grade. And when the young wizards go to the school infirmary to see him, Madam Pomfrey stops them, saying that Professor Quirrell needs to rest. They can bring gifts, but they can't disturb him."

"I wonder what happened to Professor Quirrell."

Inside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the unsupervised little wizards chattered away.

Everyone is discussing the recent hot topics surrounding Hogwarts.

"I heard from the upperclassmen that there's something wrong with the Defense Against the Dark Arts class; a mysterious person has cursed the position!"

"But Professor Quirrell was also the professor who lasted the shortest time."

Harry and Ron sat at a table. These days, thanks to Harry's persuasion, Ron had stopped bringing up the matter of "Ryan bullying the new professor." However, whenever someone mentioned it, Ron would enthusiastically join in.

At this point, Harry hoped that the young wizards in the classroom would not bring it up, so as not to give Ron the opportunity to start making up the Nth version.

But things rarely go as planned. Before Harry could finish his prayer, he heard a voice: "It must be Ryan's doing! He first defeated our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, preventing us from learning protective spells, so he could easily purge unqualified students!"

This statement was agreed upon by many young wizards, who exclaimed: "That's right, that's right, that makes sense!"

First-year wizards rarely have the ability to make judgments. They don't think about even the simplest things: why doesn't Ryan, who has the power to defeat the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, just eliminate the unqualified students instead of going through all that trouble?

Harry cast a hopeful glance at Ron, then gave up. He saw Ron's face turn red, even his ears were bright red, a sign of being carried away by passion.

Sure enough, the next second he heard Ron's voice: "Lane Welsh is definitely plotting something! He must be hoping to control Hogwarts and the wizarding world by suppressing those who refuse to obey him!"

Harry closed his eyes, and for a fleeting moment, he really had the idea of ​​knocking Ron unconscious.

How could Ron think of Ryan like that! Ryan clearly doesn't have any such ambitions at all!

Harry was indignant. He felt that if Ron had just been willing to talk to his brother Percy, he wouldn't have had such thoughts!

"He's going against Hogwarts! Against the wizarding world! Against Mr. Dumbledore! Unfortunately, he's deceived the professors, making them overlook his enormous ambition!" Ron stood up, raising his arms and shouting!

Bathed in approving gazes, Ron trembled; this was the spotlight he had always dreamed of!

Harry was exasperated. He really wanted to see what was going on in Ron's head. Couldn't Ron see that only a few students agreed with his theory, while the rest were just watching the drama unfold?

"Oh, Harry, I don't think he really can tell," Hermione said from across the hallway. "And, you just blurted out what was on your mind."

Harry felt his face burning hot, and he could compete with Ron to see who was redder. He felt that the crack in the ground near his feet looked like a good hiding place.

"But it's strange," Hermione frowned. "I don't know Ron very well, but I don't think he would say what he just said."

"Harry, you're his roommate, you know him, what do you think?" she asked.

Harry was incapable of calm thinking at the moment; his mind was filled with the scene of him blurting out his innermost thoughts. Besides, he couldn't really hear anything wrong with it, so he said, "I don't know, but I think it should be fine. After all, Percy, George, and Fred are all very capable."

"Maybe." Hermione tossed her hair and opened a thick book to read.

"Aren't we going to do anything about it?" Harry asked.

"No need," Hermione said, buried in the book. "Only a few people agree with this view, and we can't persuade or change their minds no matter what."

She said, "Laine told me that people who try to change things that aren't worth changing are just wasting their energy."

Harry found these words wise, but he couldn't let go of his good friend. In that instant, he intuitively grasped what "mental friction" really meant.

When they passed the bulletin board after class, they found a new notice on it, and quite a few people were already gathered around it.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the principal had said that all teachers and students needed to go to the Great Hall during dinner that evening for an announcement regarding the upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"Perhaps Professor Quirrell has recovered?" Harry said.

"It's also possible that Quirrell can't be cured." Malfoy, who appeared out of nowhere, stood in front of Harry with two henchmen.

Although their relationship improved slightly after the Adventurers' Club incident, they still found each other disagreeable.

"See! The headmaster must have discovered Ryan's plot and is going to kick him out of Hogwarts!" Ron interjected.

Harry and Malfoy both looked at Ron.

The former was in despair, the latter astonished.

"Oh, Potter, this is your friend!" Malfoy exclaimed. "Merlin, this looks like another Weasley. It's a pity there isn't a Mr. Weasley among 'us.' I don't think the other Mr. Weasleys would agree with him."

"Malfoy! If they don't approve of me, why would they approve of you?!" Before Harry could even speak, Ron's face flushed red as he shouted, "Your Malfoy family is rotten to the core!"

Harry really didn't know what was wrong with Ron today. Why was he being so brave? He had never seen him have such courage before.

Besides, Malfoy and Ron have never had a direct confrontation before!

He expected Malfoy to fly into a rage, but to his surprise, Malfoy suppressed his temper and said with a gloomy expression, "Ron, let's have a wizarding duel, and I'll show you what Malfoy is!"

"I'm ready anytime!" Ron stepped forward, his tone menacing. "My assistant is Harry. Who's your assistant?!"

What wizard duel? What assistant? How did things suddenly escalate to this point...? Harry was completely bewildered, feeling out of place between the two of them, like option C in an exam, something other than options A and B, like the plate in a hot dog, something other than the bread and sausage.

"My assistant is..." Malfoy hadn't finished speaking when an elegant voice rang out, "I am Draco's assistant. See you tonight at eight o'clock in the prize room."

Harry saw the senior who had somewhat changed his stereotypes about Slytherin approaching.

Malfoy was overjoyed: "Vio-senpai!"

Vio nodded to Malfoy and Harry, then said to Ron, "Mr. Ron Weasley, I hope to see you tonight. Of course, you may also invite the other Weasleys."

He smiled, his demeanor captivating: "I look forward to facing Percy and his team again."

Ron's face turned red again.

On the way back to the common room, Harry was worried that Ron would launch into a long, rambling explanation of Slytherin’s terrible behavior.

Fortunately, no.

............

Dinner time.

The first thing all the students saw upon entering the auditorium was Lane Welsh.

They noticed that Ryan Welsh was not sitting at the Ravenclaw table, but at the head table!

Ryan's look was also quite novel: he wore sunglasses, leaned on a cane, had a sullen face, and his hair was messy.

Sitting next to him was Snape, who also exuded a gloomy aura, with a stern face and greasy hair.

Both of them had labels on them such as "unwilling," "angry," "whoever wants to be in this lousy class can be in it," "Dumbledore misjudged people," and "Dumbledore's rewards and punishments were unfair."

Even when Penelope, Vio, Pablo, and others greeted Ryan, Ryan only gave a weak "hmm."

"What's going on?" Penelope asked after taking her seat. "Why is Ryan at the head table?"

"Looking at Ryan's expression, I'm reminded of the kidnappings I saw on TV when I was a kid," someone said, shrugging.

Upon hearing this, Penelope looked up and carefully examined Ryan.

She said, "It really does feel like a kidnapping."