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Chapter 12 - Mudblood! The Wrath of the Giant Squid!

When the train pulled up to the station marked "Hogwarts," the first-year students were the first to disembark. They entered the school via a different route than the older students. Ryan was forced to say goodbye to Cho and the Weasley twins.

But during their farewell, a small mishap occurred.

"See you later, mate—"

"You'll definitely be sorted into Gryffindor!" the Weasley twins chimed in, as if looking at like-minded friends. "When you join us, we'll definitely be the ultimate prankster team!"

"Hey, don't speak so quickly," But Cho, standing by, was still certain that Ryan, intelligent, studious, and highly skilled in Charms, would be sorted into Ravenclaw. "Didn't you see Ryan's spells and the books in his suitcase? I'm sure he'll be a Ravenclaw!"

"Sure? Cho, I'm sure you're wrong."

"Yeah, you also think Hector Lamont would be a great Seeker!"

"You..." Cho, furious, began arguing with the twins. Before Ryan could stop their argument, he heard a booming voice from the distance.

"First-years, come here! Come to me!"

"Sorry, I have to go!" Ryan decisively made his escape, sprinting into the group of first-year wizards. Then, he saw a giant man carrying an oil lamp and wearing a tattered fur coat emerge from the other side of the platform. The first-years gathered before him looked as tiny as toys in comparison.

"My God, he's so tall!" His presence naturally drew gasps of surprise from the crowd, but Ryan, looking at him, murmured, "Half-giant?"

The giant quickly introduced himself. He was Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper and key keeper at Hogwarts. "Put your bags away; someone will take them away," he announced in a booming voice, ensuring the young wizards had their belongings safely stowed.

"Next, I'll lead you to the castle—stay with me!" he said, turning and leading the way. The young wizards followed like a flock of ducklings, soon arriving at a lake. Moonlight shone on the pitch-black water before them. Curiously, they gazed at the lake and the castle in the distance, a scene replaying itself year after year in the long past.

Ryan, likewise, gazed at the ancient castle perched atop the distant cliffs. The bright moonlight shone upon the towering castle, and Ryan seemed to see the lines of time-stained brickwork on its walls—or perhaps it was his memories playing tricks on him.

"Hogwarts."

It was a name he would never forget.

Upon reaching the Black Lake, the young wizards had to board a small boat to reach Hogwarts.

"This is the Black Lake. You will repeat the journey of the four founders of the house, crossing the lake to the castle—each boat can only carry five people... otherwise, they'll sink! There are only four of the four founders, so why five people?" But now, one of the young wizards asked curiously.

A familiar voice—though Ryan couldn't see it clearly, he was certain it was Hermione Granger, the one he'd seen on the train. "Oh... well... maybe they brought some luggage."

Hagrid clearly didn't know the story, but Ryan did. There were indeed five people on that ship—the four founders and him. "Great," Ryan's mood suddenly brightened.

While he had no idea why the first-years were undergoing this strange ritual, he was clearly pleased with it. It made him feel as if he were gradually merging with a shadow of his past. After Hagrid's introduction, the young wizards began boarding the ship in batches.

Joining Ryan were four other young wizards, one boy and three girls.

"I'm Ryan Elias," Ryan introduced himself. After all, they would be classmates for seven years, and even though they were still just kids, it was a good idea to build rapport.

"My name is Seamus Finnigan!" said the somewhat short boy.

Besides him, there were two identical young witches on board. They were both beautifully dressed, with long black hair and pretty Asian features. Ryan already knew their names from the introductions upon boarding the ship.

Parvati Patil and Padma Patil, twins.

As for the last, a little witch with short black hair and a slightly haughty expression. "I wanted to be on the same ship as Draco," she muttered, somewhat discontentedly. After everyone else introduced themselves, she raised her head proudly, "Pansy Parkinson."

Then, she turned and looked toward the other ships, as if searching for someone. A spoiled little girl—Ryan instantly formed a clear judgment of her. But he was, after all, a fully grown wizard, so he wasn't about to get angry with a little girl.

So, he casually picked up his wand, which shone with a brilliant white light. He observed the lake around him in the light. A thousand years hadn't changed the Black Lake much, at least not on the surface.

Ryan continued reminiscing—in the early days of the castle's construction, he'd loved sitting alone by the Black Lake, watching the ripples created by the wind and the gentle gurgling of the waves...

"Hey!" Ryan's recollection trailed off. He turned to see the young wizard named Seamus Finnigan staring at him. "You look really good!" He said enthusiastically, pointing to the glowing wand in Ryan's hand. "Is that a spell? Have you learned one?"

"Yes—Lumos, the most basic spell." Ryan nodded.

Even among the commonly simplified spells of this era, this spell was truly fundamental. In fact, Ryan found it hard to believe... Were young wizards of this era truly incapable of mastering even this kind of spell?

"Cool!" Seamus said, his voice growing even more excited. "I've never cast a spell before—my mother tried to teach me, but I made a complete mess and even blew my dad's hair off... Are you from a wizarding family? Amazing!"

It wasn't hard to tell from his words that he was a half-blood wizard. This caused Pansy Parkinson, standing nearby, to snort in disdain.

"No, actually, I'm Muggle-born too," Ryan shrugged. "I don't even know which of my parents was a wizard—but considering they both died in a fire, I guess neither one of them was."

"Oh." Seamus's excitedly raised eyebrow instantly dropped. The eleven-year-old hesitated for a moment before saying, "Sorry, I didn't know..."

Okay, I've heard enough. But at this moment, Pansy Parkinson, who had always acted so arrogantly, said dissatisfiedly, "That troll Hagrid was so stupid! How dare he let me share a ship with two Mudbloods?" Even though she was young, she didn't hide her malice, and her arrogant and disdainful tone made Ryan frown.

Mudblood—he had occasionally come across this word in the books he had been reading recently. It symbolized extreme hostility towards Muggle wizards and witches, and it was an extremely bad word. What kind of education had this classmate received? Did her parents and family not know what etiquette was?

"Miss Parkinson..."

But just as Ryan was about to speak up and teach the young witch a lesson...

Buzz!

A dull, horn-like roar echoed through the pitch-black moonlit night. This thud shook the young wizards aboard from their initial excitement and novelty.

"What's that sound?"

"Where's it coming from?"

"That sound is incredibly loud!"

They were still unaware of the problem, but Hagrid, sitting in the bow boat, seemed to have realized something.

"That sound, this is..." He ignored everything else and shouted, "Everyone, hold onto the side—hold on now, don't let go!" But before he could finish his words, the young wizards, in the falling moonlight, had already spotted something beneath the lake's surface.

In the moonlight, the Black Lake's waters shimmered like pearls in the darkness. A dark figure slithered through the water, like a giant water snake. But the sharp-eyed young wizards could see that it wasn't just a snake, but... a gigantic tentacle!

Buzz!

The deep sound echoed again, but this time it was even clearer, almost deafening, almost as if one could discern the emotion within. It was furious!

And then...

Boom!

The water heaved like a mountain, the surging waves swirling the small boats. If the boats hadn't been enchanted to prevent them from sinking or capsizing, most would have sunk! Even if they hadn't sunk, many young wizards, unable to react, were flung from their boats by the waves!

Glowing in the moonlight, amidst the crashing waves, everyone saw the massive creature rising from the Black Lake. Its massive body, at least seventy feet across, towered like a mountain, its eyes gleaming eerily in the moonlight. Even Hagrid, a half-giant who towered over the young wizards, was a mere dwarf before it!

It was a squid, or more precisely...

"That Giant Squid from the Black Lake!" Hagrid exclaimed, watching the young wizards plummet from the sky into the Black Lake like dumplings. It simply extended its massive tentacles and grabbed a young wizard who had been flung away—Pansy Parkinson!

But the giant squid ignored most of the young wizards. The young witch, flung away, could only let out a sharp scream. She watched the tentacles closing in on her—perhaps the monster would drag her into the water and devour her, like the children in the story!

"No! You can't..." Hagrid frantically reached out, trying to grab his umbrella—which held his wand.

He was too nimble to grasp it, yet his attempt failed. But someone else reacted faster. Hagrid clearly saw a small figure from a small boat pull a wand from its sleeve. In the moonlight, the wand, gleaming with four colors, was dazzling. He cast a spell at the giant squid that Hagrid had never heard of.

"SHUJA'AH!"

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Author's note

If you want to read more chapters of this story, please visit patreon/achmz . You can read this story up to chapter 32! Thank you for your support!

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