242- Ravenclaw: Is she really a Slytherin!?
"Here's what happened..." Harry quickly summarized everything they'd encountered so far for Hermione, keeping it as brief as possible. anwhile, Daphne's face was full of impatience.
She didn't want to waste even a second more—she would have much preferred a more direct solution.
If that earlier barrage of spells had managed to take down Hermione and Neville, then they wouldn't have had to waste ti like this. Unfortunately, Hermione's dodging and counterattack speed had exceeded her expectations, forcing her to pay a price for underestimating her.
After hearing Harry's explanation, Hermione still leaned toward getting a professor involved.
"But.. I don't even dare to count how many school rules this breaks..."
Hermione's words made Daphne so frustrated she nearly drew her wand again to settle things with force.
She just wanted to get to the Forbidden Forest as soon as possible, investigate the abnormalities there, and help lighten the burden on Rhys—she didn't have ti to waste going in circles with Hermione, debating whether to inform a professor. Not to ntion those absurd school rules.
"So where's Rhys? Why haven't we seen him?" Sensing the tense atmosphere, Harry quickly changed the subject.
"He has more important things to deal with and can't co for now, but he also hopes we can resolve the issue," Astoria answered Harry's question.
Daphne, cheeks puffed in frustration, added, "We're facing an unprecedented crisis. This is not the ti to worry about school rules!"
Astoria chid in from the side, "Harry already tried going to the professors, but it didn't help. Right now, we can only rely on ourselves."
Hermione furrowed her brows and looked down at Neville, who was still lying stiffly on the ground, without saying a word.
Daphne didn't want to argue any longer. She grabbed her sister's hand and started heading toward the castle gates.
"Forget them. Let's go take care of that creature in the Forbidden Forest first—if she wants to run to the teachers and snitch, let her. I'm going to the forest right now!" Daphne's tone was resolute.
She had already prepared herself for the possibility of being expelled.
Hermione was left standing there in a daze.
Her worldview had taken a hit.
In her understanding, school rules held supre authority, and everyone would follow them obediently. Breaking the rules ant punishnt. But now, she had just seen two people who would rather face severe consequences than give up on sothing they believed in.
It completely overturned her expectations.
By the ti she snapped out of it, Daphne and Astoria had already run more than ten ters away, with Harry following close behind.
At that mont, Daphne's words echoed in her ears again: "If she wants to snitch, let her." Hermione's face flushed red.
They were all hot-blooded young people—how could she swallow that kind of insult? If she backed down tonight, wouldn't that also confirm her role as the "snitch"?
With that thought, Hermione hesitated no more. She quickened her pace and followed after them. She wanted the Greengrass sisters to see clearly—she was not soone who would run off to the teachers and report them.
And truth be told, she was quite intrigued by that so-called "world-devouring" crisis Harry had ntioned.
…
After the four had left, Rhys's figure appeared from the shadows in the corner.
"Salazar, you sure taught your students well—so this is the Slytherin way of education?" Rowena's tone was full of teasing.
After all, when Daphne had chosen to ambush Hermione and Neville, even she had been surprised: that move was completely uncharacteristic of a Slytherin. If anything, it reeked of Godric's influence.
"Cut her so slack—she's a descendant of Adrian," Rhys replied, not surprised in the least.
In fact, he thought it was very Slytherin. To achieve one's goals, sotis one had to be ruthless. If Daphne had done anything wrong, it was failing to take Hermione down in one blow. If it had been him, he might've used sothing a little more vicious than soft spells like the Stunning or Petrification Curses.
At the ntion of Adrian, Rowena suddenly understood. Right—if she was Adrian's descendant, it all made sense.
"You wanted to give the kids more burdens, but they didn't agree to it." Rowena chuckled softly.
Rhys rolled his eyes. That's only because Hermione managed to withstand that round of attacks—if Daphne and the others had taken her down here, let's see if you'd still have the nerve to keep chatting with .
What a pity!
At that thought, Rhys couldn't help but feel a little regretful—if Hermione had gone down here, Rowena's expression would've been absolutely priceless.
Just as Rhys was about to leave, he caught sight of Neville lying unconscious on the floor out of the corner of his eye.
"..."
He let out a sigh. The kids had gotten too worked up and hadn't even thought to clean up the scene.
With Neville just lying there, it wouldn't be long before a patrolling professor or Filch discovered him, which would only cause more trouble.
At the sa ti, he felt a flicker of sympathy for the unconscious Longbottom—this was the price of not being strong enough. If Hermione had been just as ordinary as Neville, then the two of them would both be lying here tonight.
"Let's hope that next ti, you'll be able to take part in the adventure, not lie helpless on the cold ground."
With a flick of Rhys's wand, Neville's body vanished.
…
"According to the intel Harry provided, that monster is located in the lair of the Acromantulas. Our first task is to find their nest!"
Daphne said, beginning to strategize their approach to the mission Rhys had given them as they made their way to the Forbidden Forest.
Harry had already caught up by now, walking briskly, with Hermione following closely behind, slightly out of breath.
Daphne glanced at her but didn't say anything. Still, the fact that Hermione had chosen to follow made Daphne feel quite satisfied.
Astoria frowned deeply. "But entering the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night will severely limit our visibility. It'll be extrely difficult to locate the spider nest—if we're ambushed by spiders again like last ti, the consequences could be very serious."
There was one thing she didn't say aloud: this ti, they didn't have Rhys covering for them.
"There was a last ti?" Hermione couldn't help but mutter sarcastically.
Daphne and Astoria ignored her.
Hearing the difficulty they were facing, a bold idea suddenly popped into Harry's mind. He spoke up, his voice trembling with excitent: "Maybe I can help you."
Daphne, Astoria, and Hermione all turned to look at him.
To be honest, none of them quite believed it—after all, Harry hadn't shown anything particularly remarkable over the past two years, whereas the three of them each had their own backgrounds and strengths.
"Give a broomstick, and I'll fly up and look for the spider nest from the air," Harry said, speaking faster and faster. "I have very good eyes! With the help of the moonlight, it should be easy to spot the nest from above—I can guide you from the sky."
The three girls fell silent at the sa ti, ntally calculating the feasibility of what Harry proposed.
"Yeah.. he is a star seeker after all. He can probably spot the nest quickly. I think it's doable," Hermione was the first to speak. "Most of the magical creatures that hunt in the air are dormant after nightfall. The airspace above the Forbidden Forest isn't that dangerous at this hour—it's perfectly reasonable for Harry to go up and scout."
Her assessnt was t with unanimous agreent from Daphne and Astoria.
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