Chapter 59: This Must Be a Curse!
Chapter 59: This Must Be a Curse!
The minor incident with Harry and Ron did not dampen Sherlock's mood for his walk to clear his mind.
Every year around Christmas, when the temperature drops low enough, the surface of the Black Lake freezes over with a thick layer of ice.
From the upper floors of the castle, it looks as if a mirror has been embedded in the snow.
When Sherlock arrived at the lakeside, he felt an urge to take a spin on the ice.
However, with a few students milling about, he had to suppress this desire to maintain his image.
As he strolled along the lake, he reached the spot where the Whomping Willow had been damaged by Harry and Ron at the start of the term. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a student argument ahead.
"What are you doing here, Weasley?" a mocking and flippant voice rang out.
It was Draco Malfoy, with his ever-present cronies, Goyle and Crabbe, by his side.
The person he was taunting was Percy Weasley, the third son of the Weasley family.
Percy was visibly outraged by Draco's words.
"You need to show some respect to a prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!"
Draco sneered.
"You're a Gryffindor prefect, but you don't need to throw your weight around with me."
His voice suddenly dropped, and a note of pleasure crept into it.
"You must know that your father was fined 50 Galleons for your idiot brother. That's probably all the money your family has, isn't it? How pitiful. So, what did your mother send you for Christmas? A cold sandwich? Ha ha!"
Goyle and Crabbe joined in with laughter.
Seeing Percy's face contorted with anger, Draco felt much happier.
Ever since Sherlock had punished him with the task of cleaning the first-floor toilets of the castle until January 1st, he hadn't had many good days.
Even when he begged Snape to intervene and lift the punishment, Snape had coldly told him he deserved it, which only made Draco's mood worse.
A few days ago, due to Harry and Ron arriving at Hogwarts in a flying car, the Ministry of Magic, under the influence of Draco's father, Mr. Malfoy, had finally penalized Mr. Weasley.
Though they didn't expel him as Draco and his father had wished, Mr. Weasley was fined 50 Galleons (about three months' salary).
Encountering Percy today made Draco unable to resist bringing up this incident to vent his frustration.
"It's a shame the Ministry of Magic didn't fire your father. Otherwise, your whole family would be out on the streets!"
Draco channeled all the anger he had built up over the past days into vicious words, cursing Percy.
"The heir of Slytherin needs to change his mind. It's not just about purging Hogwarts of those with impure blood; it's also about getting rid of you pure-bloods who have disgraced your lineage. You and your four foolish siblings, you all deserve to die!"
Percy's face had turned beet red. Even his normally rule-abiding nature couldn't tolerate such an insult. He angrily raised his wand and pointed it at Draco.
"Stupefy!"
A red beam of light burst from his wand, streaking through the air at a speed too fast to see, heading straight for Draco!
Draco had not expected Percy to suddenly attack. Seeing the spell flying towards him, he was filled with terror and had no time to react.
Fortunately, Crabbe, standing nearby, quickly grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to the right, narrowly avoiding Percy's spell.
The Stunning Spell whizzed past Draco's ear and struck a pane of glass on the castle's outer wall, shattering it with a sharp crack.
"You actually dared to curse me!"
Draco's voice became shrill with disbelief.
Everyone knew Percy Weasley was the most rule-abiding of the Weasley brothers, always following the rules, which is why Draco had felt safe in provoking him.
But whether it was because Percy's words were too harsh or because he had been in a bad mood recently, he actually violated the school rules and initiated an attack on Draco first.
Once they realized what was happening, Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe all pulled out their wands with grim expressions.
Although Percy was three years their senior, Draco's group had the advantage in numbers and were not afraid to exchange spells with him.
Just as Percy was about to be cornered, a cold voice rang out from the side.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Draco and his two companions froze in the act of raising their wands. They glared at Sherlock, who was walking over with a dispassionate expression, and accused him.
"Professor! It was that Weasley who attacked us first! You have to take points from him! And make him clean the toilets!"
"Are you telling me how to do my job?"
Sherlock's voice was cold, like the ice on Black Lake, so icy it could freeze a person to death.
Draco was instantly intimidated by his presence, pursing his lips and falling silent.
Sherlock had observed the entire conflict from start to finish. When Percy cast a spell at Draco, he didn't intervene, hoping to teach Percy a lesson. Unfortunately, the spell missed, and Sherlock stepped in to defuse the situation.
According to school rules, Percy had struck first. If Sherlock were to punish Draco, Percy would also be in trouble.
So, Sherlock simply said coldly,
"What are you still doing here? Do you want me to take points from Gryffindor and Slytherin?"
Draco shot Sherlock a hateful glance and then led his two cronies toward the castle.
Percy, feeling dejected, also headed toward the castle. As he passed Sherlock, he whispered a quiet thank you.
"Thank you, Professor Forrest."
Sherlock nodded but didn't say anything more.
Watching them leave, he finally shook his head in exasperation.
As a fully enclosed boarding school, Hogwarts was no stranger to conflicts among students, and there were occasional signs of bullying.
But Sherlock had only been at the castle for less than half a year, and there was little he could do. He could only help the victims a little when the opportunity arose.
He raised his head and squinted, looking at the spot where Percy's Stunning Spell had finally hit—a window on the eighth floor of the castle.
It seemed to be
Dumbledore's office!
Putting down his quill, the elderly Dumbledore stretched his stiff body, which had become rigid from sitting for too long.
He frowned at the paperwork on his desk, which he had been pondering for a long time without making any progress. He reached into the candy box beside him and popped a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean into his mouth.
"Ugh!"
He had barely chewed it a couple of times before he spat it out in agony.
This was the seventh time; the box of beans he had chosen seemed to be entirely filled with pepper and earwax flavors, with hardly any normal ones.
Ever since he opened his Christmas gifts that morning, Dumbledore's luck had taken a downturn.
First, he had stumbled and fallen while descending the stairs, and then he returned to his office to find a pile of letters from the International Confederation of Wizards.
On Christmas Day, a mess of problems awaited him!
Not only did the candy taste wrong, but a real cockroach had even crawled into the Cockroach Cluster that Sherlock had given him, nearly making him eat it!
Just as the unfortunate old man stood up from his chair, intending to walk around his office for a bit,
"Bang!"
A bright red spell suddenly shattered the glass in his window!
Dumbledore stood motionless in front of the broken window, the cold wind buffeting his wrinkled face as if mocking his bad luck.
With a serious expression, he drew the Elder Wand and carefully examined his body.
Something was very wrong today; perhaps someone had placed a curse on him!
(End of Chapter)
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