When the four of them arrived, Hagrid had already packed Norbert into a large crate.
"I've put in plenty of rats, and some brandy—enough to last the journey," Hagrid said in a heavy voice. "I even gave him his teddy bear… so he won't feel lonely."
Right on cue, a tearing sound came from inside the crate—probably the teddy bear's head being ripped off.
"Goodbye, Norbert…" Hagrid sniffled. "Mummy will never forget you!"
Hearing that, Lewis felt a chill run down his spine.
No male mother energy. Absolutely not.
Harry was about to cover the crate with the Invisibility Cloak, but Lewis stepped forward first.
Grabbing the edge of the crate with one hand, he pointed his wand at himself with the other.
In an instant, both he and the crate turned transparent.
"Y-you really can use the Disillusionment Charm!" Harry exclaimed. "No wonder we couldn't find you that night!"
"Mm-hmm, that's right. Just don't tell anyone," Lewis replied casually, not bothering to explain the difference between his spell and the standard charm.
Then he noticed Hermione doing the same—pointing her wand at herself and vanishing from sight.
"You… you both can do it?!" Ron burst out, clearly indignant. "Why didn't you teach us when you learned it?!"
"That assumes you could learn it," Hermione shot back before Lewis could speak. "Even upper-year students struggle with this. If you manage 'Exceeds Expectations' in every subject this term, I might believe you can."
Ron immediately deflated.
All subjects above average… his goal was just to pass.
"Uh… I was just saying. Just saying…"
He awkwardly slipped under Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
Meanwhile, Harry quietly made up his mind—he'd do better this term.
Not because he wanted to learn the Disillusionment Charm—the cloak was already better—but because he didn't want Lewis to look down on him.
Even if their relationship had grown a little distant, Lewis was still his old friend.
And now that Lewis had become so capable, Harry didn't want to fall behind.
The four of them made their way to the tower smoothly, though there was a small hiccup along the way.
At the base of the tower, they ran into someone unexpected—
Professor McGonagall, in a tartan dressing gown and hairnet, dragging Malfoy by the ear.
"Detention!" she barked. "Twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering the halls at this hour—how dare you—!"
"But Professor, you don't understand! Harry Potter's coming—with a dragon!"
Malfoy sounded desperate, completely unaware that his targets were standing less than five meters away.
"Rubbish! How dare you make up such nonsense! Come along—I'll let Professor Snape deal with you!"
And just like that, the four watched as McGonagall dragged Malfoy away.
They felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
Like eating something irresistibly crunchy, sweet, and refreshing all at once.
Serves you right, Malfoy.
At the top of the tower, they dropped their invisibility and met Charlie's friends.
When Harry and Ron handed over the crate together, they both looked at Lewis with a mix of awe and fear.
"Can I ask something?" Harry said cautiously. "How did you carry that crate all the way up without even breaking a sweat? Did you use magic?"
"Impossible," Hermione answered immediately. "You can't use magic while under… the Disillusionment Charm."
"So… he did it with pure strength?" Ron stared at Lewis's not-particularly-bulky arms, suddenly terrified.
He had never imagined someone like Lewis could be that strong.
At that moment, he was extremely grateful he had apologized earlier.
Otherwise, Lewis might not even need magic to deal with him.
Well, of course—Bull's Strength: +5 Strength.
Perhaps they had relaxed too much after everything went well.
On the way up, everything had been perfect.
On the way down—things went wrong.
Turning a corner, Harry and Ron ran straight into Filch.
And they had left the Invisibility Cloak on the tower.
Lewis reacted instantly. He grabbed Hermione and pulled her back.
Seeing her look at him, he whispered quickly:
"Better them than us. They're already caught—no point getting dragged in too. At least this way fewer points get deducted."
Hermione hesitated for a split second—then nodded.
The two of them cast invisibility on themselves and fled without a trace.
No hesitation. No loyalty. Just survival.
The next morning, Lewis went to the Great Hall for breakfast as usual.
The atmosphere was… strange.
He quickly spotted Harry, Ron, and Neville at the Gryffindor table—looking utterly miserable.
Neville's eyes were swollen like walnuts. Hermione sat beside them, quietly comforting them.
So it had spread.
Lewis glanced at the giant hourglasses tracking House points.
The Gryffindor one now held only a thin layer of red gems—
Yesterday, it had been nearly full.
Now it looked pitiful compared to Ravenclaw's overflowing blue.
For Gryffindor, this was a devastating blow.
They had been in second place—only behind Ravenclaw's sudden rise.
At the very least, they had been ahead of Slytherin.
But now?
They had dropped to last place.
Even catching up to Hufflepuff seemed unlikely.
And soon, everyone learned why—
Harry Potter and his two foolish friends had cost their house 150 points in a single night.
Even if they couldn't beat Ravenclaw, surpassing Slytherin had still been something to aim for.
Now? All gone.
Each of them had lost fifty points—Harry and Ron caught red-handed, Neville caught trying to warn them.
Professor McGonagall had shown no mercy.
Harry, once Gryffindor's pride, became its disgrace overnight.
No one wanted to sit with them.
No one wanted to talk to them.
And the insults weren't even whispered.
Meanwhile, every time Slytherins passed by, they clapped, whistled, and cheered mockingly.
Sure, Malfoy had lost twenty points—but Slytherin had no hope of winning the Cup anyway.
In their eyes, trading 20 points for Gryffindor's 150 was an incredible deal.
They had effectively risen above Gryffindor because of it.
A brilliant trade.
As for Hermione—
She felt both guilty and relieved.
If she hadn't listened to Lewis…
She would be standing there, humiliated alongside them.
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