"Trespassing in the Forbidden Forest at night—Lynn, are you truly unaware of just how dangerous the forest is?"
Professor McGonagall's face was drawn tight. Clad in emerald-green pajamas, she had rushed over the moment she received the news, not even taking the time to change.
"Professor Dumbledore emphasized this at the start of the term: students are absolutely forbidden from entering the Forbidden Forest. This is for your own safety. It is not a game, and it is not a joke!"
Although Lynn, standing before Professor McGonagall, was nearly as tall as she was, he kept his head bowed, obediently accepting the scolding.
"You are clearly a smart and sensible child, so why were you so disobedient today?"
"I was wrong, Professor McGonagall. Please calm down, don't ruin your health over this."
Lynn walked meekly to her side. With a wave of his hand, he transformed a wooden stump—commonplace in the forest—into a soft armchair and helped the professor sit down.
"You've learned wandless transfiguration?"
Professor McGonagall's eyes lit up slightly. Compared to wandless charm-casting, wandless transfiguration was relatively simpler. Transfiguration itself was a special type of non-verbal magic; when performing it, one didn't necessarily need an incantation. What it required more was the wizard's powerful control over their magic. While wandless spellcasting relied heavily on magical control, the wand's greatest role was to assist in exactly that aspect.
The reason wizards from Uagadou were all able to perform exceptionally in transfiguration was largely due to their use of empty hands and hand gestures for casting, alongside methods that helped them strengthen their perception of magic.
"Yes, I learned it a while ago. But without a wand, the precision is a bit lacking. Otherwise, I could have transfigured a more exquisite armchair with openwork carving."
"I found that I could easily control the magic released from my body. This also relates to the technique Professor Flitwick taught me regarding how to use Runic magic without a spellbook."
"Writing solidified runes in the air does indeed cultivate that ability." Professor McGonagall nodded in understanding. Sometimes, old, obsolete things weren't entirely useless; it was just that with the advent of wands, the things that once required practice could now be bypassed for convenience.
"Oh, you child."
Professor McGonagall sighed and patted Lynn's arm. "You are not allowed to run wild like this in the future, do you understand? I am deducting five points from you this time. I hope you will not repeat this offense."
Professor McGonagall was a very fair and just professor. Even though she liked Lynn very much, and even though he had saved a unicorn today, punishment was due where punishment was deserved.
"However, I must also award you twenty points for saving a precious unicorn today and for taking correct and effective measures to do so.
"I hope you remember today's lesson, and I also hope you will always possess a warm heart. Magical creatures are our friends, and kind lives deserve our helping hand."
"But now, I think you should return to your dormitory and get a good rest. Is that clear?"
"I understand, Professor. But can tonight's events remain confidential?"
"Of course." Professor McGonagall revealed a faint smile. "I do not wish to see any reckless copycats following your example. Rest assured, I will only tell Professor Dumbledore about this. Now, goodnight."
"Then I will return to the dormitory, Professor. Sorry to have disturbed your rest tonight. Goodnight."
Turning and walking toward the castle, Lynn had largely predicted this outcome. While Professor McGonagall was strict and severe, she was not unreasonable. Quite the opposite—born of Gryffindor, she possessed the courage and conviction to break conventions deep in her heart. Otherwise, she would have gone to Ravenclaw back then, not Gryffindor.
However, he hadn't mentioned the matter of the black mist figure. If he had spoken of that, the trouble would have been immense, and extricating himself wouldn't have been so easy.
Sneaking into the Forbidden Forest at night was one thing; sneaking in and encountering a Dark Wizard was a completely different matter entirely.
After entering the castle, Lynn's figure vanished instantly into the corridor. The next second, he arrived at the entrance of the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor. The originally blank wall suddenly revealed a door upon his arrival—Harley and the others had undoubtedly left it for him.
Pushing the door open and entering, sure enough, Lynn saw Harley dressed in a Supergirl bodysuit, currently striking a pose and chanting some overly dramatic, anime-style incantation.
"Dragon Slave!"
Harley gave a spirited shout, firing a dark red cannon of light at the target in front of her. Dust flew and a thunderous boom echoed, creating a massive and spectacular scene. However, the actual destructive power merely knocked the wooden target—used for spell practice—apart. These battle-worn wooden frames would have fallen to pieces if someone just kicked them hard enough anyway.
"Lynn, you're back!"
After finishing her cool pose, Harley came bounding over to Lynn. "Wasn't I super invincible cool just now?!"
"Yes, yes, yes, super cool."
"If only we had a few more of these belts. Then we could form a Super Sentai team, and the important task of maintaining world peace could be left to us!"
Harley, who was getting a little too into the game, clenched her fist, her eyes shining.
"If we have that kind of luck, that would indeed be a good choice."
However, Lynn knew in his heart that the "Ultimate Move Belt" was actually a very broken, cheat-like item. Although its direct destructive power was limited—after all, it was a nursery toy, not high-tech magical warfare equipment, so the lethality was certainly controlled—its potential was immense.
If one wrote moves on the "ultimate attack paper" that didn't involve direct destruction—like Supergirl Shizuka's "Apology Wave"—this toy-like object could genuinely achieve mind control. If there were enough sheets of paper, Lynn dared not imagine how perversely powerful his abilities could become.
Perhaps if he just wrote "Mental Trauma Healing Beam" and fired a biu at Neville's parents, they could rise from their hospital beds, fully recovered. Maybe he could even pull off a "Monster Reborn" and drag Harley's mom right out of the grave, or incidentally give old Dumbledore a surprise by returning his sister to him.
Unfortunately, he didn't have any spare sheets of paper, and the thing didn't support erasing and rewriting.
Sometimes, Lynn really hated second-hand goods.
"By the way, how is Nimue's mother?"
"Hagrid has already treated her. Her life isn't in danger. We can go to the Forbidden Forest to see her tomorrow; I don't think Hagrid will refuse."
"As for Professor McGonagall, she deducted five points. Nothing major. But remember to keep this a secret; we have to take this incident to our graves."
"If word gets out, Quirrell will guess it was us, right?" Neville added from the side. "I'm guessing he'll make his move very soon."
"Professor Quirrell... what is he planning to do?"
Cho, who knew the least about this matter, asked curiously. She hadn't met Neville with Lynn and Harley earlier, nor had she seen the Mirror of Erised.
"It's like this."
Neville began to explain, clearly recounting everything he knew to Cho.
"I think I know what Quirrell is looking for," Harley said slowly after Neville and Cho finished speaking. "When I went to Diagon Alley to buy textbooks, Hagrid took us to a Gringotts vault to retrieve a very mysterious object."
Harley's gaze turned to Lynn. "A small package wrapped in brown paper, right?"
"In such a huge vault, that was the only thing there. And I saw in the Daily Prophet that a severe vault robbery occurred at Gringotts."
"But that guy didn't steal anything. The report said—that vault was empty. I'm guessing it was the same vault Hagrid took the thing from."
"Lynn, what do you think it is? What is Quirrell looking for?"
"Does it matter?" Lynn asked in return.
"Doesn't it matter..." Harley paused slightly. "I guess it doesn't. What matters is that we can't let Quirrell get it, right!"
"Whatever it is, once Quirrell gets it, he'll definitely use it to do bad things. He's already attacked a unicorn; who knows what kind of evil he'll do in the future."
Neville also tensed his small face, speaking seriously, "That evil stench on Quirrell is getting heavier and heavier."
"You have a keen nose, Neville."
"It's not really a smell, but a feeling..." Neville frowned, explaining, "It's like an intuition, I suppose. I can't explain it clearly. Don't you guys have that kind of feeling?"
Cho shook her head slightly, but Harley hesitated at that moment.
"If we're talking about feelings... it's not like I don't have any..."
She brushed aside the hair on her forehead, actively revealing the lightning-bolt scar hidden beneath for the first time. Harley didn't like people seeing this scar; aside from Lynn, only Cho had seen it with her own eyes while they were bathing together.
"Harley, you're—" Neville exclaimed.
"Yeah, it's me." Harley nodded. "Occasionally, I feel like this scar... prickles a bit. It's not severe. I used to think it was just an old injury acting up, but now I've figured it out. Neville, if you can sense the evil aura on Quirrell, then the occasional pain in my forehead must be related to him too."
"Just now in the Forbidden Forest, my scar hurt for a moment. Maybe it's some kind of radar? Able to detect evil or something?"
After a brief discussion regarding plans against Quirrell, the topic was temporarily put to rest.
Neville quietly pushed open the door and headed toward the common room.
As soon as he left, Harley grabbed Lynn's sleeve, winking at him with a mischievous expression. "Lynn, I just discovered a huge secret about this room. Do you want to see?"
"What secret?"
"Come with us!"
Harley took his hand and hooked her arm through Cho's, leading them to the wall of the Room of Requirement.
"I found out that the Room of Requirement can't just open a door into the castle, it can also open a door to here—"
A doorway resembling a carriage entrance suddenly appeared before them. Through the water-like curtain of the door, an outdoor scene by the sea was faintly visible.
"Although I haven't gone in yet, I bet it's amazing."
"This is our secret, okay?"
Harley took the lead, walking toward the watery door, with Cho and Lynn following close behind.
A cool sea breeze blew in, carrying the slight, briny scent of seawater.
The crashing sound of waves washing against the sand came from ahead.
"Tomorrow, after we visit Nimue's mom, let's come here to swim!"
Harley spoke cheerfully, "This is the first time I've ever seen the real ocean!"
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