Ryan and Hermione didn't stop practicing until almost noon. After confirming through the looking glass that no one was outside the door, the two quickly left the Room of Requirement and returned to their dormitory to pack up before heading to dinner.
The Room of Requirement and the entrance to the Gryffindor common room were both on the eighth floor, which meant that after exhausting practice sessions, they could quickly return to their dormitory without having to drag their tired bodies up multiple flights of stairs.
After taking half an hour to freshen up, Ryan and the others headed downstairs to the Great Hall for lunch. As soon as he and Hermione sat down, they saw a black-furred figure walking toward them with a bright lightbulb-like glow above it, accompanied by a small boy who was chattering non-stop.
As they got closer, Ryan realized that the black-haired figure was actually Harry, and the person beside him—his forehead now fully visible—was Ron. The smaller boy who trailed behind them was Colin Creevey, this year's first-year student.
"What happened? How did you end up like this?" Ryan asked in confusion as they sat down.
"You and Hermione disappeared to read again. It's a pity you missed all the action today…" Ron, eager to share their morning's adventure, launched into an excited recounting of the events.
Early in the morning, Harry had gone to the Quidditch pitch for practice, only to find the Slytherin team occupying the field. A heated conflict broke out between both sides. Matters escalated when Malfoy insulted Colin using the term Mudblood, which completely inflamed the already tense relationship between the two houses.
Ron, unable to hold back his anger, cast a Slug-Vomiting Charm at Malfoy. This sparked a full-blown spell fight between Gryffindor and Slytherin players. The battle only ended when someone ran to inform Professor McGonagall, who arrived at the pitch to stop the chaos.
"I tell you, don't look at us like this. The Slytherin lot had it far worse," Ron boasted. "Crabbe and Goyle turned purple and sprouted tiny tentacles, and Malfoy's hair got dyed in every color imaginable."
Just as Ron was reliving his triumph, Hermione interrupted in a calm voice, "How were you punished by Professor McGonagall this time?"
Ron, caught off guard, quickly replied, "Gryffindor and Slytherin both lost 150 points. Harry, me, Malfoy, and their Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint, all got detention for a month."
Still covered in fur, Harry's muffled voice added, "McGonagall also refused to let us go to Madam Pomfrey for treatment. She said since our injuries weren't dangerous, we should keep them for a while to serve as a lesson. Apparently, she hopes this will remind us not to use magic recklessly against our classmates."
Ron groaned, "But honestly, Slytherin started it!"
At that moment, Hermione suddenly recalled something and asked, "What does Mudblood mean?"
Ron grimaced. "It's a horrible insult," he explained between bites of his sandwich. "Some so-called 'pure-bloods' use it to refer to wizards with Muggle parents. They think pure-blood status makes them superior—like the Malfoys. But really, most pure-blood families have at least some Muggle relatives by now. If they only married within their own kind, they'd have died out ages ago. In fact, a few pure-blood families have gone extinct because they were obsessed with blood purity."
Ryan frowned. "Ron, you hexed Malfoy today—won't his father come after you for that?"
"If he wanted to, he'd have to deal with the embarrassment first. Our families have clashed many times before," Ron reassured him. "But you're right—I should write to my dad and give him a heads-up."
After finishing dinner, they returned to the common room. Harry, who was still trying to avoid drawing attention to himself, was about to head straight for the dormitory when Ryan stopped him.
"I might have a spell that can fix your fur problem," Ryan offered. "I'm not entirely sure how well it'll work, though. Do you want to give it a try?"
"Absolutely! These hairs are driving me crazy! My whole body is itchy, and it hurts," Harry exclaimed, grabbing Ryan's hand in desperation.
Ryan pulled out his wand and carefully cast the Rune Ger spell—a rune symbolizing transformation and renewal. This was one of the simpler spells Ryan had developed from his recent research into life magic and rune-based spellcasting.
As the golden magic seeped into Harry's body, his fur suddenly grew even longer—stretching past two meters—before falling off completely. The spell worked, but it also made his robes appear significantly looser.
"Quick, go change into something that fits," Ryan advised.
A few minutes later, Harry and Ron reemerged from the dormitory. Both of them were now completely bald, their smooth heads reflecting the light like polished marbles. Ryan struggled to suppress his laughter.
"Will our hair grow back soon?" Harry asked, rubbing his now-exposed scalp.
Ryan shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I don't know a spell that grows hair. What I did was force the magical effect on your body to trigger all at once, so now the spell has worn off completely. Unfortunately, that means your hair won't regrow instantly."
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, looking disappointed.
Ryan tried to cheer them up. "At least eating and going to the bathroom won't be such a hassle anymore. Also, using too much magic on your hair repeatedly isn't a good idea—it could damage it permanently."
Ron paled. "Really? But my dad told me he used a hair spell all the time when he was younger."
Harry smirked. "And how's Mr. Weasley's hair now?"
Ron hesitated before sighing. "Yeah… maybe it's best not to mess with it too much."
Although the situation hadn't been resolved perfectly, Ryan felt satisfied that he had done a good deed. Unfortunately, his actions hadn't earned him an offset point.
He speculated that this was because he had already gained an offset point earlier when he made changes to the Speeding World. Any subsequent effects stemming from that original change wouldn't earn him additional points.
It seemed that in order to gain more offset points, he would have to make bigger moves. Ryan made a mental note of that as he reflected on the day's events.
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