After Douglas finished explaining the rules, he offered the Slytherins no promises or incentives. Honestly, he doubted a signed book from him would mean anything to this particular group. He simply mentioned, almost in passing, that their practical lesson would be ranked.
Inside the observation room, when Douglas asked for a volunteer to go first, silence reigned.
As class representative, Draco glanced at Goyle and Crabbe on either side, then, after a moment's thought, pointed to a student behind them.
"Theodore, you're up."
Theodore Nott frowned but didn't protest. He shot Draco a glare, then stepped straight through the entrance.
A smug smile curled at the corner of Draco's mouth. This Theodore Nott, always leaning on his cousin's status as Head Boy, had never shown proper respect to Draco as class rep. Every time Draco pressed him to recite assignments, Theodore would act as if he couldn't care less…
Truth be told, this practical lesson put the Slytherin second-years at a disadvantage. Just yesterday, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they'd barely begun learning a Creature Detection Charm. Most of them hadn't even mastered it yet. The spell could sense if there were other living beings within a meter, but it couldn't pinpoint locations—and if there were too many creatures nearby, it was impossible to tell which was which.
But that's what happens when you're at the bottom of the rankings.
As Theodore Nott entered the passageway, he cast Lumos but didn't dare look around. Carefully, he crept forward—until he felt something was following him. A chill ran down his spine.
He didn't need any detection spell to know there was something else in there.
With a cold smirk, he thought: The professor never said we can't attack the creature.
He strode forward a few steps, spun around, and shouted,
"Incendio!"
A weak orange fireball shot out with a crackling bang, scattering sparks. At that instant, he glimpsed a pair of glowing green eyes on the wall behind and to his side…
In the observation room, Douglas frowned as the spell's name flashed across the magical map.
Beside him, Malfoy noticed the professor's reaction and muttered under his breath, "Idiot."
He was, of course, referring to Theodore.
Incendio—the Fire-Making Spell—was a powerful piece of dark magic. Once unleashed, it was notoriously difficult to control. Thankfully, it had only been cast by a second-year student. If an adult wizard had tried it, the entire scene conjured by Douglas's Transfiguration would've been reduced to ashes.
Douglas shook his head in exasperation. What are these pure-blood parents thinking, teaching children dark magic? Don't they realize that long-term use of such spells can have dire effects on a wizard?
He entered the passage and doused the feeble, stubborn flames. After checking to make sure nothing had been damaged, he let out a sigh of relief.
Then, with a quick "Mobiliarbus!," he floated Theodore out of the passage—but didn't immediately release the Full Body-Bind Curse. He simply propped him up against the wall.
"Who's next?" he asked.
Draco scanned the room, finally settling his gaze on Goyle.
Goyle shook his head frantically and backed away.
Draco frowned. He needed to know what was inside so he could clear the challenge in one go.
He turned to the burly Vincent Crabbe.
"Crabbe, it's up to you!"
He even stretched out his arm in mock ceremony, clapping Crabbe—who was half a head taller—on the shoulder with an air of dramatic confidence.
Crabbe said nothing and strode straight for the entrance.
Watching Draco's little performance, Douglas couldn't help but call out,
"Mr. Crabbe, please refrain from using any dark magic."
He remembered Crabbe well—the same boy who, during the final battle, unleashed an out-of-control Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement and ended up burning himself alive.
Crabbe scratched his head. He could barely manage ordinary spells, let alone anything as advanced as dark magic. He nodded and entered the passage.
From the side, Draco reassured the professor,
"Don't worry, Professor. Crabbe can barely handle first-year spells—there's no way he knows any advanced dark magic!"
Douglas gave Draco a sidelong glance. In truth, dark magic was much easier to pick up than regular spells—the more twisted your thoughts, the easier it was to succeed.
But there was no need to discuss that with second-years. Especially not Slytherins.
Once inside, Crabbe cast Lumos.
A small smile tugged at his lips. People always said he was slow, but he'd always thought of himself as someone who could think.
When Professor Holmes explained the rules, Crabbe had actually paid attention.
All you had to do was make it safely through the passage.
So there was no need to fight anything—just keep running forward.
He looked at his feet, then—whoosh—took off at a run.
He might have seemed slow and sullen, but when it came to physical activity, he had some natural talent.
Because he kept his head down and charged ahead, he didn't even notice the rustling sound of the creature behind him.
Soon, he reached the puddles—but he didn't slow down.
He took a huge stride forward, not caring whether he landed in water or on solid ground.
The low-lying stretch was about three meters long. On his third step, Crabbe tripped over a hidden pit.
Luckily, he was built like a troll, and Douglas had lined the area with soft mud on purpose.
Crabbe tumbled, but suffered no real harm.
He clambered out of the puddle and, without a backward glance, rounded the first corner…
The Slytherins watching from outside all shot disdainful looks at poor Theodore, still propped against the wall.
Theodore was furious and humiliated—Crabbe, of all people, had outdone him.
(The incantation for the Full Body-Bind Curse is "Petrificus Totalus." It paralyzes the victim, but their hearing, vision, sensation, and thoughts remain unaffected. Its effect is fundamentally different from true petrification.)
The Slytherins still waiting their turn didn't seem to think much of this, but Douglas was genuinely surprised.
He hadn't expected Crabbe to be the first to reach the second stage—simply by brute force.
But, in truth, Crabbe had stumbled onto a loophole Douglas had left intentionally.
As long as you were fast enough and kept moving, even a slip at the puddles wouldn't let the automaton catch up.
After rounding the corner, Crabbe didn't stop—he kept running.
This part of the passage was littered with rocks, forcing him to dodge as he ran.
After just a few steps, he finally noticed something strange: he didn't need Lumos at all.
Behind him, a torch blazed, casting strong light all the way to the end of the tunnel.
He realized this because he saw a huge shadow on the ground ahead—one that seemed to swallow him whole.
Whatever it was, it was right behind him.
That bizarre shadow, twisting and writhing in the flickering firelight, was unspeakably terrifying.
Crabbe panicked and sprinted for his life.
But after a few steps, he felt something was wrong—the ground seemed to be moving backward beneath his feet.
He didn't dare stop, so he kept running.
Gradually, he realized that a passage that shouldn't have been very long now seemed endless…
The farther he ran, the more suffocated he felt.
It was as if the stone walls on either side were closing in on him.
Crabbe couldn't take it anymore. He let out a shout, spun around, and raised his wand—
But before he could even decide what spell to cast, his entire body went rigid…
~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~
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