With a loud BOOM that seemed to explode right beside their ears, the floor jolted violently. The young snakes and badgers were jolted awake instantly, instinctively thinking someone had attacked Hogwarts.
Hufflepuff prefect Gabriel Truman grabbed a robe and wrapped it around himself, not even bothering with shoes as he stumbled out of the dormitory and rushed toward the source of the noise—the common room.
Behind him trailed several Hufflepuffs in pajamas, clutching their wands with pale, frightened faces.
"Merlin's beard…"
The moment Truman burst into the common room, he froze.
The once warm and cozy room, fragrant with earth and plants, was now choked with dust. The thick stone wall connecting the Hufflepuff common room to the kitchens had been blasted open, leaving a massive hole.
Through it, they could see the kitchen—and the bewildered house-elves inside.
The elves clearly had no idea what had happened. Some still held frying pans, staring in complete panic.
Amid the wreckage lay Nymphadora Tonks, half-reclining in a pile of rubble, her face blackened with soot and looking utterly miserable.
"Tonks!"
Truman jolted forward and rushed to check on her.
Tonks weakly reached out a dust-covered hand and grabbed his sleeve. A trace of blood lingered at the corner of her mouth.
Her voice was faint and shaky.
"Gabriel… please… help me…"
Truman's heart seized. Thinking she was about to deliver her dying words, his eyes reddened as he squeezed her hand.
"Tell me! Tonks! Whatever it is, I promise I'll pass it on to your parents! Hang in there!"
Tonks inhaled deeply and, using the last of her strength, forced out a single sentence:
"…Don't tell Professor Sprout."
Truman's grief froze instantly on his face.
Unfortunately for Tonks, things did not go as she hoped.
Only five minutes later, a pale-faced Professor Sprout rushed into the common room in her nightgown, followed by Dumbledore and several other professors.
William, dressed in silk sleepwear and clearly dragged from bed, arrived last. He had barely fallen asleep when the commotion began.
Before even entering, he caught the sharp smell of vinegar in the corridor and saw the shattered barrels outside the entrance.
But the moment he stepped into the devastated room and saw the massive hole, he sniffed again.
A very unfriendly scent hit his nose—something fermented and unpleasantly familiar.
A bad premonition formed instantly.
His gaze landed on Tonks, who stood trembling and filthy before Dumbledore.
That was one of his alchemical puppets.
To keep costs down, the puppets he gave students weren't made of metal. Their main material was clay mixed with processed dragon dung.
Yes, dragon dung was an excellent magical conductor. Cheap and effective.
Because he disliked the smell, William had coated the puppets with deodorizing herbs and then covered them in shiny silver powder so they wouldn't look like lumps of dirt.
Now the unmistakable scent filled the air.
Which meant the puppet had been blown to pieces—its "filling" included.
William silently stepped back and covered his nose with his collar.
He had a pretty good idea what the young witch had done.
---
The Next Day...
Though Dumbledore restored the common room and kitchens in seconds with extraordinary magic, the impact of the explosion lingered.
In the Hufflepuff common room, a group of upper-year students sat in tense silence.
Gabriel Truman held a thick copy of Hogwarts: A History and read solemnly:
"According to recorded history, only three students have ever lost more than fifty points in a single incident."
"1890. Gryffindor's Garreth Weasley—for creating an explosive potion mixture. Fifty points deducted."
"Tonks did something similar. Why was he only docked fifty?" someone asked.
"Unclear," Truman said. "Perhaps blowing up a common room is worse than blowing up a dungeon."
"1910. Slytherin's Leta Lestrange—for using dangerous Dark Magic on classmates. One hundred points deducted… Oh, and another hundred for 'escaping Professor McGonagall.'"
"That must've taken effort."
"What does 'escaping Professor McGonagall' mean?" someone asked.
"No idea. You can ask her yourself."
He continued:
"1986. Gryffindor's Ben Copper—for entering the Forbidden Forest to harvest Acromantula venom. Fifty points deducted."
He closed the book and sighed.
"Looks like we witnessed history yesterday. Nymphadora Tonks will be recorded as the first Hufflepuff to be punished for attempting to blow up the castle."
The Hufflepuffs groaned collectively.
Professor Sprout had been shaking with rage and deducted eighty points.
At that moment, the round entrance opened.
Tonks entered, her hair a dull muddy grey. She looked like she'd barely escaped a Dementor's Kiss.
Students crowded around her.
"How did the school handle it?"
Tonks collapsed onto a sofa and buried her face in her hands.
"It was supposed to be a full year of detention… but because of my N.E.W.T.s and Auror training, Dumbledore reduced it to half a year."
"Half a year?!"
"Three times a week. Trophy polishing with Filch… or potion ingredient prep for Professor Snape."
She paused miserably.
"Professor Sprout refused to reduce the points. She said it was to teach me a lesson."
Silence fell over the room.
Eighty points. Hufflepuff was effectively out of the House Cup.
After a long pause, a boy tried to comfort her:
"Look on the bright side. Our ranking didn't change after the deduction."
Tonks buried her face deeper in her hands.
That did not help at all.
=================
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