Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying!

No one noticed him; everyone was staring at the blond boy curled up on the ground. Pansy Parkinson wanted to do something, but Michael immediately stopped her with a grin and pointed his wand at her.

“I don’t usually hit girls, Pansy—don’t make me an exception—” Michael said in a gentle tone.

Theo and Ryan stared at the other Slytherin, looking ready to pounce.

No one was actually doing anything, not even Malfoy's two fat henchmen. They just stared blankly at Malfoy on the ground, not even thinking of helping him up.

Malfoy scrambled to his feet, clutching his head. He glared at Wade and shouted, "Don't think I'm afraid of you, Wade Gray! Do you know who my father is?"

Vader simply kicked his wand at him and said, "Go on."

Malfoy picked up his wand, his arm trembling slightly. He was filled with anger and resentment, but his strongest emotion was fear.

The Vader Grey before me was no ordinary bookworm like Granger; it was said he knew more spells than some fifth-graders—

“Ah, I think I forgot to count down from three,” Wade said sarcastically. “After all, I’m a Mudblood myself, and I don’t really understand your pure-blood wizarding etiquette—”

The term "Mudblood" felt like a slap in the face to the Slytherin students, leaving them all looking somewhat embarrassed.

"—If I remember correctly, count to three, Malfoy, and then the first spell—"

Malfoy gritted his teeth, his eyes gleaming.

"One...two..."

Before he could even count to two, Malfoy swung his wand forcefully and shouted, "Stand still, die!"

Vader, who was prepared, began to dodge the moment Vader opened his mouth. The beam of light from the spell struck Nott, who was pretending to be invisible. Nott's legs immediately stuck, and he fell to the ground with a thud!

"three--"

Vader calmly counted to three, then waved his wand again: "Tarantella Dance!"

Malfoy's legs immediately began to twitch, as if he were dancing a lively dance, but he still wanted to attack Wade, his lower and upper bodies twisting completely in opposite directions. He quickly followed in Nott's footsteps, snapping at his waist and falling to the ground.

Even so, his legs continued to twitch rapidly in the air, aggravating his twisted waist and causing Malfoy to let out a loud wail.

The sight was so comical that even some of the Slytherin students couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Malfoy's pale face turned red, and he glared at them with murderous eyes. But from his angle, everyone in his field of vision seemed to be just a jumble of colors. The once familiar faces had become strange and cold, and he couldn't tell who was mocking him.

Wade deliberately waited a while longer, and the Slytherins just watched. To the other unrelated students, it looked as if they were the ones in cahoots, bullying the lone Malfoy.

When Malfoy was almost sobbing uncontrollably, Wade finally went over and lifted the spell. He knelt down beside him and earnestly asked the sweating, disheveled Malfoy—

"Is bullying someone fun?"

Malfoy looked at him with fear in his eyes, breathing heavily, and said nothing.

Wade smiled and stood up. The Slytherin students automatically parted to watch him leave with the others.

No one spoke, and no one stopped them.

Chapter 76 The Villain Accuses First?

"Harry... let's go too..."

Ron tugged at Harry, pulling him quickly down the corridor in the direction Wade and the others had left. The two who had been in the center of the battle were no longer paying attention, and they managed to escape unscathed.

As Harry turned the corner, he saw Pansy and Goyle trying to pull Malfoy away, only to be forcefully swatted away. The once proud blond boy was now covered in dust, angrily wiping his nosebleed, while the other Slytherins gathered around, laughing and comforting him.

Harry could see the hypocrisy and nonchalance on their faces even from across the hallway.

Harry had always thought that, apart from Snape, Malfoy was the worst person he had ever met, even more so than his cousin Dudley. But now he suddenly realized that Malfoy wasn't as influential as he had previously thought; he didn't seem to have any true friends in Slytherin.

Then, the wall blocked his view.

"What are you looking at?" Ron asked curiously.

“It’s nothing—” Harry turned his head and said, “I was just thinking that if I were facing an enemy I couldn’t defeat, you and Hermione would definitely stand by my side and fight alongside me.”

“Of course!” Ron thought he was talking about Malfoy and the others bullying Neville, and immediately said indignantly, “Slytherins have always been so annoying, we will never give in! We can’t let them get too cocky! Neville is just too cowardly, he needs to be brave.”

"He was brave, didn't you remember? He beat up Malfoy with you, for Hermione's sake—he punched that guy in the nose!"

“Oh, right!” Ron was still excited as he recalled what had just happened. “Neville is finally acting like a Gryffindor! Did you see Malfoy’s expression just now? I think he was about to cry!”

Ron's words made Harry uncomfortable—although Malfoy absolutely deserved it, the scene always reminded him of the time when Dali and his men chased and beat him.

As they spoke, they spotted Wade and his group in the distance. Standing together, these ordinary classmates seemed to create a unique aura that made it difficult for others to join in.

Harry suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Ron—”

"what?"

“They are the SSC—the one Hermione recommended I join—the extracurricular study group—” Ha said in a very soft voice.

Ron suddenly became uneasy, and the smile vanished from his face. He stammered, "Y-yes—"

“I want to join,” Harry suddenly decided. “I want to learn real skills, practice real spells, instead of just reading textbooks with Quirrell in class!”

“That’s good—I mean—you really should go—you might even join the ranks of the top students in the future—” Ron didn’t look at Harry, and his tone didn’t sound like his own.

"Aren't you going, Ron?" Harry asked in surprise.

“I wasn’t invited—Hermione only recommended you—” Ron forced a smile and said, “You go ahead, I might… I think I need to go to the infirmary—I suspect Crabbe might have broken my ribs—”

"—Maybe Hermione just forgot to mention it, let's go ask her together!" Harry pulled Ron toward the group.

"No—Harry—"

Ron looked somewhat reluctant, as if Harry had been dragging him along rather forcefully, so Harry pulled him over without much effort. A faint hope lingered in Ron's heart—perhaps Hermione had simply forgotten to mention it? After all, he and Harry were inseparable, and people always assumed they were on the same side; maybe they felt there was no need to elaborate…and just now, they had fought alongside Neville…

As the two walked over, they heard Wade telling the others, "Neville, you need to go to the infirmary to see Madam Pomfrey. Your arm might be fractured—everyone be careful of Slytherin's retaliation during this time, don't get separated from yourselves..."

"Wade, what about you?" Theo asked with concern.

“I’m going to Professor Flitwick to take my punishment. I’ll use a spell on my classmates in the hallway. I’ll definitely get a detention in the end,” Wade said.

“You go—oh—” Michael was surprised at first, then nodded in agreement: “That’s how it should be.”

"Why?" Ron asked, approaching in confusion. "If the professor didn't see it, it's as if nothing happened. Why turn yourself in?"

Harry and Theo both nodded in agreement, while Ryan seemed thoughtful.

"You don't think Malfoy suffered such a huge loss and didn't report it, do you?" Michael reminded him. "It's better to confess to Professor Flitwick than to be punished by Professor Snape later."

“That’s true. If it were Professor Snape, he might deduct several points and put him in solitary confinement for a month.” Neville nodded with lingering fear. In Potions class, Professor Snape was always very harsh on Neville, which caused Neville to have a psychological aversion to Professor Snape.

“Then let’s go together!” Ryan said. “We can’t let the professor think it’s all your responsibility.”

“You didn’t lay a hand on him.” Seeing Neville open his mouth to speak, Wade shook his head and said, “Neville, you were the one who was bullied. It would be too unfair to punish you for this. Go to the school infirmary and see Hermione while you’re at it.”

He waved his hand and turned to leave.

Harry opened his mouth, intending to ask Ron if he could join the SSC, but found he didn't have a chance to speak. Seeing that Wade had already left, he could only say, "Then let's go together."

Only now did he realize that he was in excruciating pain all over his body, and he was surprised that he hadn't noticed it before.

……

Wade knew that Professor Flitwick should be in the faculty lounge at this time. He went down to the first floor of the castle, knocked on the door, and soon heard Professor McGonagall's voice: "Come in."

At the same time, the door opened automatically.

When Wade saw that Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Flitwick were all in the common room, he stopped in his tracks, somewhat hesitant.

Professor Flitwick was grading papers when he looked up and saw Wade, immediately smiling: "Wade? What's up? What questions are there today?"

Wade walked in, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Uh... I do have some questions, but more importantly—Professor, I'm here to receive punishment for violating school rules."

"To be punished?" Professor Flitwick's face was full of surprise, and the other two professors also looked over.

In all their years of teaching, they had never seen a student voluntarily confess after making a mistake—unless they had ulterior motives.

“What have you done, Wade?” Professor Flitwick asked gently.

Wade hesitated, glancing at the other two professors—not because he was afraid of getting into trouble with Professor Snape, but because this would make his attempt to avoid trouble seem like he was tattling on a child.

Suddenly, Wade felt as if the words "the wicked accuse first" were flashing above his head.

—He's not a bad person at all.

Professor McGonagall sensed something was amiss and her expression immediately turned serious: "Mr. Gray, I believe all professors have the right to know about students' violations of school rules."

“Alright,” Wade had no choice but to say, “It’s like this, Professor—”

Chapter 77 Groups and Individuals

Wade recounted everything in detail, without embellishment or attempts to cover up his mistakes.

Even so, Professor McGonagall was furious, her nostrils flaring as if she could breathe fire at any moment. She angrily declared, "Bullying classmates… and using such insulting names… we will not tolerate this—Severus, I'm giving Mr. Malfoy at least a month's detention!"

Professor Snape, lost in thought, his face pale and vacant, paused for a long moment after hearing Professor McGonagall's words before slowly saying, "Of course...you're right...Minerva...let's do it this way..."

“Very good!” Professor McGonagall exhaled, and when she turned to look at Wade, her stern expression finally softened.

“Mr. Gray—”

“Yes, Professor.” Wade lowered his head. “I know I shouldn’t use spells on students in the hallway…”

"Ahem." Professor Flitwick coughed twice. "Yes, too impulsive. What if you got hurt? For your recklessness and rashness, I'm going to deduct one... uh..."