"Unprecedented!"
In the school hospital, Professor McGonagall's harsh rebuke drowned out the sniffling of young witches and wizards, Pomfrey's flustered chatter and the heads of each house trying to comfort them. Headmaster Dumbledore and Amortas stood outside the hospital, facing an angry McGonagall, their expressions strained.
In the corridor, many senior students tried to pass by as though nothing was amiss, on their way to glean some exciting details about Professor Brenn's "Practical Defense Against Dark Arts" class this afternoon. However, they were all scared away by Professor McGonagall's fierce gaze.
"From the establishment of Hogwarts School, there has never been a teaching incident as serious as this, Professor Brenn. Perhaps your unconventional teaching methods are novel enough, but I think you need to stop. Unless you want to send all the children home first and become that successor!"
Dumbledore blinked, interested in the telescope hanging from the ceiling, as though he had no intention of taking up McGonagall's query.
"...You know, Professor McGonagall, we took extensive precautions to ensure nothing would go wrong. Headmaster Dumbledore himself placed several powerful containment spells on the two skeletons... no one would be hurt..."
Amortas struggled to make a defense of himself,
"I just wanted to... um... toughen them up..."
"Do you think it's just about injuries, Professor Brenn!"
Professor McGonagall's eyes glowed with terrifying intensity, as she angrily stared at Amortas.
"Not to mention a group of children. How many adult wizards can survive the scare of a reanimated skeleton?"
"That is the problem, Professor McGonagall..."
Amortas sighed helplessly,
"No one is born a hero, if we want those children to be able to quickly and accurately respond to dangerous situations that could threaten their lives, we must train them, exercise their courage, test their determination. Professor McGonagall, if with such thorough protection in place, the children can't even handle two skeletons that can be easily dealt with by a simple spell... please forgive me for being blunt, but isn't the purpose of Hogwarts education for young witches and wizards to pass two meaningless exams?"
"Meaningless exams?"
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, staring at Amortas with sharp eyes like an eagle.
"Do you really think so, Professor Brenn? Those are two tests that decide their fates. Alright, let's not talk about that for now... Perhaps your intentions were good, but I believe they are still too young. You could wait... "
"When?"
Amortas smiled in response,
"Wait until the danger is right at their necks before teaching the children how to use wisdom and courage to fight against it?"
As the argument escalated into a quarrel, Dumbledore finally ceased standing by idly. He walked to the middle of Professor McGonagall and Amortas and said something to the point,
"In my opinion, why not give the decision-making power of this issue back to the children themselves?"
Due to time constraints, only half the number of young witches and wizards who participated in the trial today were present, and none of them thought of how to deal with the reanimated skeletons.
A significant portion of them cried and turned back as soon as they entered the maze, completely giving up. Among those who persevered, not even a single one successfully met up like Harry and Draco had.
Hermione unfortunately fell into the small stream while passing it, and when she was struggling to climb out by holding onto a turned-over piece of wood, she inadvertently discovered a pair of eyes covered in white mist. After a scream that broke her eardrum, she suddenly fainted.
And her groupmate Daphne Greenglass, who was scared by the skeleton falling from the ceiling and ran in the wrong direction, also failed the trial.
To everyone's surprise, the most impressive performances came from the first-year students, Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom.
Ginny, with her sharp wit, discovered that there was something wrong with the wood. She used a charm to activate it and, after discovering that it was actually a corpse, she didn't run away but instead endured her fear and froze the bank of the stream with the Freezing Charm. The inept corpse was unable to get out of the water, but unfortunately, Ginney didn't know how to kill the corpse and ultimately failed because she ran out of time.
And the Nervous Nerd that everyone has seen in front of them, Neville Longbottom, never expected to be a daredevil. Like Hermione, he fell into the stream... Then, while being terrified and screaming loudly, he played "mutual knockout" with the skeleton in the stream... Finally, he was pulled out of the water by Severe Snape who had a deathly pale face.
Mrs. Pomfrey had just given everyone a pot of chocolate milk with the Happy Slurp potion, making the atmosphere in the school hospital much better than it was at first. Due to the magical contract of Amortas, no one could discuss what happened in that classroom this afternoon.
"What did the flowers... bear?"
Loharate, who was lying on the hospital bed with Colin and Justin, stretched his head as if he was a squirrel, trying to keep his head up as much as possible. He constantly asked questions, but Hermione, who was the closest to him, never paid attention to him.
"We can't possibly deal with that thing..."
Hermione was obviously still in shock from her fear. She curled up in the blanket, her body trembling slightly, with tearful eyes staring blankly into nothing.
Harry lay next to her, and his condition looked quite good, except that his face was a bit pale. However, he didn't know how to comfort Hermione, with his empty gaze pointing to the white ceiling. He was thinking about what Malfoy had said earlier today - the dark wizard, the heartless and ruthless Professor Brenn who operated secretly?
What does Malfoy know?
"Potter..."
Malfoy, who had been staring at Harry's face since entering the school hospital, opened his mouth with a sly expression on his face.
"What advice do you have, Malfoy?"
As Harry's most prominent rival at school, it was impossible for him to reconcile with Draco after a failed collaboration. While deep in thought, Harry unconsciously gave Malfoy a resentful glare.
Offended by the insult, Malfoy pursed his lips and his cheeks turned red visibly. He glared at Harry with hatred before turning his head to the side.
However, a few minutes later, Malfoy couldn't hold back his curiosity and gazed straight at Harry's cheek.
"Why did you do that this afternoon?"
Harry understood what Malfoy wanted to ask, but he didn't know how to answer. In that life and death moment, the decision he made was completely driven by instinct. Even when he realized it later, he found it absurd and laughable.
As if he would choose to save Malfoy, the most hated wizard among all the young witches and wizards in this school?
"...If you're willing to tell me what you meant by your comments about Professor Brenn, Malfoy, perhaps I can be completely honest with you about why I made that foolish decision."
"Potter!"
This time, the slight unease in Malfoy's heart, which was born out of gratitude, disappeared completely. He glared at Harry with a fierce expression as if he were a threatened hyena.
"Do you think I would be grateful for your trivial help, huh? In fact, you've done nothing more than everyone else!"
"Ha! Thank you!"
Harry also perked up. He sat up from the bed, with his eyes sharp as well.
"I've never dared to expect your gratitude... Seriously, Malfoy, I seriously doubt you actually understand what the word means."
"..."
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