As the culprit behind the so-called “Dark Magic incident,” Ivy Doom had just finished sending dozens of upper-year Slytherin students into extremely unpeaceful sleep when Professor Severus Snape finally arrived and interrupted his moment of self-satisfaction.
“Ivy Doom!”
Ivy could practically hear Snape’s teeth grinding together.
“What exactly have you done?”
“Hm…” Ivy decided to tell the truth.
“A friendly magical exchange.
Relax—I merely put them to sleep.
Absolutely nobody suffered any fatal injuries during this magical discussion.”
The moment Snape heard the words fatal injuries, he immediately crouched down to inspect the unconscious students.
After confirming none of them were in mortal danger, he stood back up, his expression once again settling into its usual emotionless calm.
“I was unaware you possessed this level of capability, Mr.
Doom,” Snape said in a voice barely above a whisper.
Then came the verdict.
“Due to your reckless conduct during this…
‘magical exchange,’ you, Ivy Doom, will serve detention for the entirety of this semester.”
Kind-hearted as ever, Professor Snape still couldn’t bring himself to deduct points from Slytherin House.
Instead, he merely announced punishment for Ivy personally.
“That sounds acceptable,” Ivy replied calmly with a nod.
“At least Slytherin didn’t lose points.”
“So,” he added, raising a brow, “may I return to my dormitory now?”
“I must say, today has been exceptionally eventful, and I’m rather exhausted.”
“Especially after such intense ‘magical exchange.'”
“Hmph.”
Snape rejected the request immediately.
“As the first assignment of your detention, you will transport these students to the hospital wing for Madam Poppy Pomfrey to examine.”
“Only after that may you return to your damned bed.”
“Of course,” Snape added coldly, “I will be supervising you.”
“Wingardium Leviosa.”
Ivy raised his wand and cast an enormous-area levitation spell, causing every collapsed Slytherin student to float into the air simultaneously.
Then he conjured a long rope and tied them all together.
“Shall we go, Professor?”
Holding the rope connected to several dozen human balloons, Ivy politely gestured toward the exit.
Snape offered no reply.
His black robes billowed dramatically as he turned and strode out of the common room.
Before leaving, however, he noticed the first-years still frozen in place. This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
“Have your brains been damaged as well?”
“Get back to bed immediately!”
“And I strongly suggest none of your professors inform me tomorrow that you arrived late to class.”
The moment their Head of House finished speaking, the first-year students scattered like startled birds.
“Fred!
Look!”
“There’s a whole bunch of Slytherins following Snape!”
George Weasley pointed excitedly at the cluster of names tangled together on the Marauder’s Map.
“That’s…” Fred Weasley leaned closer, squinting at the tiny writing.
“The Slytherin dungeons?”
“What are they even doing?
Why are so many people moving together?”
George immediately grew curious.
“I bet Snape’s finally snapped after never getting the Defense Against the Dark Arts position,” Fred guessed wildly.
“He’s leading a student protest to the Headmaster’s office!”
“No, no—it’s worse than that!” George declared dramatically.
“Snape wants to become Headmaster!”
“This is war!”
“Slytherin versus Gryffindor!”
“Why Gryffindor?” Fred asked blankly.
“Because Dumbledore’s a Gryffindor, obviously!”
George folded up the map.
“Either way, we have to go investigate.”
“Well, obviously.
But we still need to avoid Filch and that horrible cat of his.”
Fred peeked carefully around a corner before continuing.
“I saw them patrolling the second floor earlier.”
“Maybe we can circle through the hospital wing.
School just started, so there probably aren’t any unlucky patients in there yet.
Madam Pomfrey won’t be expecting trouble.”
“Perfect!”
George hurriedly stuffed various prank items into his pockets.
Originally, they’d intended to welcome the new school year by assaulting Filch with a few stink bombs.
But uncovering “Snape and Slytherin’s conspiracy” clearly took priority. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“We really need an invisibility cloak,” George muttered.
“Would make this sort of thing much easier.”
“Forget it—we can’t afford one,” Fred replied.
“Besides, those things lose effectiveness after a decade or so.
The Disillusionment Charm’s way better.”
He cautiously checked the hallway again before whispering:
“We have to learn that spell this year.”
Since Ivy was dragging such an absurd number of floating students behind him, limbs constantly became tangled in decorations along the castle corridors.
Some knocked paintings off the walls.
Others got caught on decorative suits of armor and spear racks.
To avoid waking the entire castle, Snape and Ivy were forced to stop every few steps and untangle somebody.
As a result, their progress was painfully slow.
By the time they finally climbed the last staircase leading out of the dungeons, Fred and George had already been waiting for quite some time.
“Merlin’s beard…” Fred whispered.
“Those students are unconscious?”
“Did Slytherin start a civil war?”
Hidden across from the dungeon exit, the twins had obtained a perfect view of Snape’s secret midnight procession.
Then both boys simultaneously realized something terrible.
“We need to leave right now!” George hissed.
“Snape’s obviously taking them to the hospital wing!
If we stay here, we’re dead!”
Since the twins had approached through the hospital wing route, their hiding spot happened to sit directly along Snape and Ivy’s path.
Fortunately, Fred and George were about as agile as Bludgers.
The moment Snape turned to glare at Ivy again, the twins slipped silently from hiding and escaped.
Using their superior knowledge of the castle, they relocated to a second-floor corridor in the main academic wing.
“So what exactly knocked all those Slytherins out?” George whispered.
“Spending the very first night of school in the hospital wing…”
“Even we haven’t managed something that impressive yet.”
Before Fred could answer, a familiar meowing echoed from the far end of the hallway.
Mrs.
Norris.
“I only know one thing,” Fred muttered.
“If we don’t run now, we’re going to spend the first night of school in detention.”
And so the two human Bludgers hurried back toward their beds at maximum speed.
(End of Chapter)