Snape had hurried over upon hearing Potter's name, gleefully proposing the hundred-point penalty. But who could have imagined Malfoy and Potter, sworn enemies, would be caught together? Since when was this their dynamic?
At Snape's intervention, Professor McGonagall gave him a peculiar look but said nothing further.
"If Professor Snape insists... then one hundred points each!" Since Gryffindor had no hope for the House Cup now, she might as well drag Slytherin down with them. No loss either way.
After sternly warning them again and instructing them to report to Filch for detention the following Monday, Professor McGonagall shooed the utterly shell-shocked trio away.
The corridor was now empty save for McGonagall and Snape. Her expression softened slightly.
"Professor Snape, you should retire for the night as well. I trust this punishment will teach them a lesson."
Snape wandered off, dazed.
Whether Malfoy had learned his lesson was unclear, but Snape certainly had.
To this day, he couldn't fathom how those two had ended up together. It was as inconceivable as if he and James Potter had once roamed the halls after curfew.
...
By the next morning, students passing the hourglass displays could scarcely believe their eyes.
They thought there must be some mistake.
Gryffindor's gem column stood empty, not a single stone remaining. Slytherin's was scarcely better, reduced to mere dozens. In stark contrast, the scores of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw towered impossibly high.
What on earth had happened?
Soon, the story began to spread.
The culprits behind this catastrophe were none other than the famous Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, his loyal sidekick Ron Weasley, and their arch-nemesis, Draco Malfoy.
Wherever Harry went, he heard hushed whispers about him. At first, he was too ashamed to leave the dormitory, but eventually, he realised...
Perhaps it wasn't quite as bad as he'd thought?
"Well done, Harry." On his way to Charms class, he ran into the Weasley twins.
Fred slung an arm around his shoulders and whispered approvingly, "Though we lost more points, you managed to drag Slytherin down with us. Worth it."
"No, I wasn't—" Harry tried to explain, but the twins had already given him a knowing look and walked off.
...
During Charms class, perhaps to soften the blow to Gryffindor's house points, Professor Flitwick frequently called on Hermione to answer questions. After she successfully made a pear perform a tap dance, he awarded twenty points in one go.
Having taken the Potential Elixir, Hermione found herself mastering spells with even greater ease.
Noticing Wayne beside her, lost in thought, the young witch discreetly hooked her fingers around his. The boy glanced at her in confusion, only to be met with a playful wink, leaving him utterly baffled.
...
Back in the Great Hall, more and more people greeted Harry and Ron warmly, finally putting them at ease.
If they had been the only ones losing points, no one would have spared them a kind glance. But now, things were different.
The number seven held significant magical power in the wizarding world.
Everyone had long hoped for Slytherin to lose the House Cup—they had won it six years in a row.
Thanks to Harry and Ron's kamikaze tactics, the young witches and wizards from the other three houses could finally see a glimmer of hope.
"Professor Snape helped a lot, too," Ron said, basking in the attention as he dropped a bombshell.
"Professor McGonagall only wanted to dock us fifty points each. Fifty points wouldn't have hurt Slytherin that much."
"Then Snape popped up out of nowhere and made it a hundred."
"Really?" someone asked sceptically. "Apart from that portrait incident, Snape's never taken points from Slytherin before."
"I reckon he lost his temper," Ron said smugly. "He never expected Malfoy to be with us."
A young Gryffindor pressed, "Then why was Malfoy with you?"
Ron faltered slightly. "We just... ran into him on the way. Pure coincidence."
At the Slytherin table, Malfoy remained silent—he had suffered the worst of it. He stole a glance at Potter, surrounded by admirers, and swore to himself that one day, he'd make him pay.
...
The weekend arrived in no time, and Hagrid once again invited Wayne and the others to his hut for tea, seizing the chance to apologise to Harry and Ron.
"Sorry, Harry, Ron. If I hadn' asked yeh ter deliver Norbert, Gryffindor wouldn' have—"
The half-giant's eyes were slightly red-rimmed—oddly sentimental for such a burly man.
"Don't blame yourself, Hagrid," Harry reassured him. "We chose to deliver Norbert, didn't we? It's not your fault."
"Besides, Malfoy got dragged down with us."
"Exactly," Hermione chimed in, feeding Wayne a piece of cake. "No one's blaming Harry, because Slytherin's worse off."
Ron couldn't help grinning while Harry watched Wayne curiously. "What are you doing?"
"Making some healing potions for Unicorns," Wayne replied without looking up, carefully cutting dried nettles into one-centimetre pieces.
Hermione took the opportunity to pop another piece of cake into his mouth, smiling happily. She found feeding Wayne far more interesting than feeding any magical creature.
"There are Unicorns in the Forbidden Forest?" Ron was astonished. He'd never known about such things.
"Aye, quite a few, actually," Hagrid chimed in. "Fer instance, Wayne's adopted two of 'em, which is extra rare, tha' is."
Having interacted with Centaur tribes, Hagrid was aware of Wayne's situation with the two Unicorns.
For reasons unknown, however, the Centaurs hadn't mentioned the conflicts between them, nor the state of the Acromantula.
Ron looked even more bewildered. "But the books say only pure maidens can approach them..."
"Tha's jus' what makes it so remarkable," Hagrid marvelled. "Wayne's a young wizard even Mr Scamander acknowledges—'course he's extra'ordinary."
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, once again feeling the stark gap between people.
...
On their way back, Wayne seemed distracted.
Concerned, Hermione took his hand. "Worried about Hestia and Diana? We could always take them back into the case if needed?"
Wayne smiled gently, squeezing the young witch's hand.
"Not exactly. I was just wondering why the Unicorns got injured. With Ho-Oh around, Hestia and the others will be fine."
He knew it was Quirrell's doing, but there was no need to tell Hermione.
Wayne was contemplating whether to seize this opportunity to confront Quirrell... and gauge Voldemort's strength.
Or perhaps he simply felt restless after prolonged inaction.
This term, Wayne hadn't made any major moves—the Billywig incident didn't count, as that stemmed from students' own curiosity.
But that didn't mean his abilities hadn't progressed.
Nightly wanderings, coupled with occasional minor activities, had yielded four ten-draws since summoning Gardevoir.
After consuming the Potential Elixir, his magical power had increased significantly.
He now possessed 3.6 Snape-level magical power, with over a dozen spells at the Master level.
During this period, apart from training with Gardevoir, he hadn't experienced any other battles.
Quirrell was undoubtedly still searching the Forbidden Forest for Unicorns to restore Voldemort's strength—this presented a perfect opportunity.
Not only could he save the Unicorns, but he could also complete the 'Fallen Professor' quest, all while getting a free sparring partner.
The more he thought about it, the more benefits he saw.
Wayne made up his mind.
He would protect the Forbidden Forest!
Guard the adorable Unicorns!
...
That very night, Wayne arrived at Hestia's dwelling.
Led by two Unicorns—one large, one small—he quickly found the injured Unicorn.
Silver blood had dried on its pristine white coat, a tragic yet strangely beautiful sight.
Wayne extended his goodwill, but after the attack, the Unicorn was extremely wary and refused to let him approach.
Only after persuasion from Hestia and Diana did it gradually relax, allowing Wayne to apply healing ointment to its wounds.
Black mist seeped from the injuries as Ho-Oh appeared, its sacred flames descending with a sizzling sound, fully healing the Unicorn.
"Whinny~!"
The injured Unicorn gratefully nuzzled Wayne.
He took the chance to stroke its horn, but it dodged.
The horn was the hardest and most precious part of a Unicorn's body. Being allowed to touch it meant you had earned its trust.
A single healing session wasn't enough for that level of bond.
Wayne didn't mind. Using his innate ability, he asked if it remembered the appearance of its attacker.
But the answer was no.
After a moment's thought, Wayne stood and placed his hand on the Unicorn's back. White light surged from his body, merging into the Unicorn's form, filling it with comfort and joy while emitting a faint glow.
"If you encounter that Dark Wizard again, channel this energy. I'll come to help you."
"Whinny~!"
The Unicorn nodded lightly before gracefully disappearing into the bushes.
He also left similar safeguards within Hestia and Diana, instructing them to patrol the Forbidden Forest.
With three Unicorns assisting him, the chances of catching Quirrell had significantly increased.
...
Over the weekend, Wayne received another letter from Newt.
The progress of capturing—no, retrieving—Nagini was going smoothly. After the snow melted, it only took Newt half a month to find her.
However, faced with his old friend, Newt hesitated for a moment, allowing her to escape.
What followed was a tense game of chase.
Newt wanted to capture Nagini without harming her, which was a tall order. Even now, the two were still circling each other in the forest.
Wayne wasn't in a hurry—there was still plenty of time.
Since Newt had promised, he would deliver.
And if he couldn't... well, Wayne could always go himself during the summer break. With Ho-Oh and Gardevoir's consecutive Apparitions, plus his own abilities, catching a snake shouldn't be too difficult.
He wasn't afraid of Nagini getting hurt.
...
After breakfast, Wayne planned to read Cho's palm. He'd recently learned a new technique—one that required both hands for accuracy. Cho surely wouldn't refuse to help him improve his Divination skills.
As April approached, Easter was just around the corner. This was the last holiday within the academic year, lasting a full week. After this, there would be the long summer break of two and a half months.
For the students, it was both the final celebration and the beginning of hell. After Easter, time would suddenly speed up, and the young wizards would soon face the pressure of final exams.
The professors would also become increasingly unreasonable, piling on more and more assignments.
In the Great Hall, many were already discussing how to spend the Easter holiday without wasting it.
Since the break wasn't particularly long or short, the school didn't allow the young wizards to go home, restricting their activities to no further than Hogsmeade.
Just as Wayne was about to leave the Great Hall, a red feather drifted down from above.
He instinctively caught it, and the feather promptly turned to ash, forming a line of tiny words:
Please come to the Headmaster's Office.
Wayne: "..."
Using a Phoenix feather—no, a tail feather—to deliver a message? Dumbledore, does Ollivander know you're this extravagant?
Ollivanders hadn't produced a wand made with Phoenix feathers in years.
The last one sold had been Harry's, which had been crafted long ago. And the one before that? Voldemort's.
Even Wayne had received a letter from Ollivander, requesting that he sell some of Ho-Oh's feathers for crafting new wands.
The existence of Ho-Oh was known to the entire school, and once they knew, it meant most of the British magical community knew as well.
Even the Daily Prophet had reported on it, describing Wayne as a lucky young wizard who had somehow gained the Phoenix's favour without even trying.
So it wasn't surprising that Ollivander knew.
Still, Wayne had refused. Ho-Oh wasn't an ordinary Phoenix, and he was very cautious about letting materials like that circulate.
With a sigh, he resigned himself to the fact that since the Headmaster had summoned him, he'd have to postpone his palm-reading session with Cho and made his way to the Headmaster's Office on the eighth floor.
The journey was smooth, and Wayne sat directly across from Dumbledore without hindrance.
Perhaps aware of his arrangement with the stone gargoyle, Dumbledore hadn't even given him a password this time.
"I hope I haven't disturbed your weekend, Mr Lawrence," Dumbledore said cheerfully, looking rather pleased.
"Honestly? A little," Wayne replied bluntly, causing Dumbledore's smile to falter.
Wayne continued complaining, "I was just about to have an academic discussion with Cho when you called me here."
Dumbledore nearly tugged his beard off in exasperation.
'Academic discussion? I'd be embarrassed to call it that!'
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Dumbledore recognised this as Wayne's way of getting back at him for interrupting his plans. Petty little guy.
"I have some good news for you," Dumbledore said, beaming. "Your application for the Order of Merlin has been approved—and it's a Second Class, no less. Fudge put in quite a bit of effort, so you ought to thank him properly when you see him."
Wayne nodded, somewhat surprised.
A Second Class right off the bat? It seemed Fudge and the other two wizarding schools had gone all out.
Dumbledore added, "However, the award ceremony won't be held immediately. Although it has been approved, it still requires signatures from certain individuals.
"Fudge originally planned to come to the school at the end of next month to present it, but I postponed it until after the term ends. I was concerned it might disrupt the other students' exam preparations."
"No problem, as long as it's within this term," Wayne replied breezily, which only piqued Dumbledore's curiosity.
"Why must it be this term? Is there an issue?"
The boy recounted the bet he'd made with the twins, prompting Dumbledore to burst into laughter.
"I must say, this seems an unfair wager. The Weasley twins are rather pitiable."
"Would you be willing to lend me a hand, then?" Wayne blinked innocently.
"Of course," Dumbledore answered without hesitation, mirroring his playful wink.
"After all, I'd love to see the other professors' reactions when two troublemakers suddenly start paying attention in class."
The old fox and the young one exchanged knowing smiles, their understanding unspoken. Watching Wayne's retreating figure as he left the office, Dumbledore smiled warmly.
How wonderful.
Talent hadn't blinded Wayne, nor led him astray on the path of power.
Truly wonderful.
With friends, family, and love in his life, Dumbledore knew such a person would never become the Dark Lord. He would surely lead a far happier life than Dumbledore's own tumultuous one.
The old man's gaze grew distant, as if piercing through layers of obstruction to glimpse the Mirror of Erised, buried deep within the Chamber of Secrets.
From its surface, he saw countless figures waving to him...