The Return to Hogwarts

“Nonsense,” Harry said through gritted teeth.

“Mr. Blaine is an investigator sent by the Board of Governors and a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Headmaster Dumbledore will know everything that happens here, and Professor Snape is also outside!”

Harry refuted Malfoy's absurd reasoning, but at least he believed one thing: there was probably a similar corpse on the other side he had come in from, but he just hadn't noticed it.

It's that piece of wood.

After a moment's thought, Harry realized that the chained corpse Malfoy was referring to was the 'log' floating in the middle of the canal, which had been awakened from its eternal slumber because he had stepped on it.

Now, Harry is in a predicament where his path forward and backward are blocked by two moving, seemingly biting corpses. He and Malfoy are caught in the middle, and in about thirty seconds, they will be facing the two corpses head-on. His only 'teammate,' Malfoy, seems to have given up on resisting.

"Damn it!"

Harry jogged over to Malfoy and dragged him from outside the archway into the small crypt. Throughout the whole process, Malfoy didn't resist at all, only trembling and muttering things like "I'm doomed."

"No, I have to do something."

As he gradually heard the clear rustling sounds and the crisp sound of chains sliding on the ground, Harry paced anxiously back and forth in the small tomb, racking his brains to think of any decent way to resist.

The best way is to use two large stones to block the arched doorways on both sides of the tomb. Although the two zombies look evil and dangerous, they don't seem to be very strong. If he can seal the room, he and Malfoy can save their lives!

However, he is not Professor McGonagall, who teaches Transfiguration, and does not have the magical ability to turn beetles into teapots with a simple wave of his wand!

Harry was still thinking, but the two infernals weren't going to wait for him to come up with a perfect solution. Soon, they came into Harry's view one after the other after turning the corner, and were only about thirty feet away from the small room.

"All petrified!"

As death drew near, Harry abandoned thought and surrendered his body to instinct. Without hesitation, he hurled a spell at the corpse whose face was swollen and covered with fine, crisscrossing cracks, dressed in prison clothes, and whose hands and feet were bound by two chains.

Harry first encountered this spell last year when Hermione used it against Neville. At that time, Neville was turned into an immobile statue for several hours under the effect of this spell, and Harry hoped that his own petrification spell would produce the same perfect effect.

Unfortunately, his spell failed. The petrification curse did cause the walking corpse to stagger slightly, but it did not completely immobilize it!

"Except your weapons!"

Harry tried again on the female walker on the other side. The Disarming Charm was the only useful thing Harry learned from Lockhart's dueling course, and it was Snape who taught him it.

A brilliant red light shot out from the tip of Harry's staff, striking the walker precisely in the chest. The power of this spell was considerable; even the walker was forced back several steps by the disarming spell's light!

But this didn't solve the problem; the female zombie, having regained her footing, once again approached the small room.

Two consecutive failures left Harry in despair. Malfoy, leaning against the wall, even closed his eyes, seemingly waiting for something to bite through his neck.

What should we do?!

Large drops of sweat rolled down Harry's forehead and onto his cheeks, which were as red as a boiled lobster. He now seemed to believe what Professor Blaine had said in his office last night: power is power, and no extreme emotion can help you gain the power to defeat fear in an instant; at most, it can only strengthen your determination to pursue power.

"Think of something, Malfoy, what other methods can we use to stop them from getting closer!"

With his life hanging in the balance, Harry no longer cared about criticizing Malfoy's disappointing performance. He yelled at Malfoy, hoping to get some inspiration.

"We're dead, Potter."

Harry's two failed spells seemed to encourage Malfoy a little; he stood up shakily, leaning against the wall, his eyes still glistening with tears.

"There is no magic spell that can defeat the dead!"

Gazing at the two infernal corpses that were now only ten feet from the front and back doors, Harry's two emerald green eyes, having been through a baptism of fear, once again shone with a resolute light.

"Listen to me, Malfoy, listen to what I say, and don't ask why, because I myself don't know why I'm doing this!"

After a quick assessment, Harry's gaze fell upon the Infernal, bound by chains, breathing heavily.

"I'll try to take down this chained guy with a tripping charm right away. If that fails, I'll rush out and shove him aside. While he's biting my neck, you go around him. And please call Professor Snape in before I die!"

Malfoy froze, staring at Harry with his mouth agape, as if he were seeing him for the first time.

Harry didn't give Malfoy a chance to ask a question. After saying that, he immediately raised his wand, his still-childish face radiating fearlessness.

"Wait, Potter, why?"

"It's over, Draco and you, Potter. You can put down your wand now."

Before Malfoy could finish speaking, another calm voice suddenly rang out in the cramped room.

Upon hearing this sound, the two corpses froze in place as if they had received a signal, and did not take another step forward.

God be my witness, Harry had never been so happy to see Professor Snape. He was so excited that he even gave Snape a relieved smile as he walked out of the wall!

Snape's expression towards Harry was different from all the previous times. He didn't rush to show that cold smile. Instead, his expression was complicated, and a hint of sadness was revealed in his dark eyes.

"professor."

Snape's appearance frightened Harry. He looked up at Snape and asked in a cautious voice,

"Did we fail in our challenge?"

Snape answered the question with a nasal tone, then took out a pre-prepared potion from his pocket and roughly shoved it into Harry and Draco's hands, watching them drink it.

Under the influence of the euphoric drug, Harry and Draco's bluish faces were no longer so tense.

After the external pressure was removed, a wave of exhaustion from within swept over their consciousness. Just as they were about to fall to the ground, Snape caught them with lightning speed and tucked one of them under his arm. However, when he picked up Harry, Snape almost slipped and dropped him to the ground.

"Let's go."

Finally, Snape glanced at the two Infernals who were already walking back to their original positions, then passed right through the wall and vanished in a flash.

Speaking of new books that are on the same recommendation list as mine, how do they manage to have tens of thousands of books with fan value on the reader list?

Chapter 66 Night at the School Hospital

"Unprecedented!"

Inside the university hospital, Professor McGonagall's stern rebuke drowned out the sobs of the young wizards. Madam Pomfrey's frantic shouting and the heads of the houses' attempts to soothe them were all humiliating. Headmaster Dumbledore and Amos Tower stood outside the hospital, facing the furious Professor McGonagall, their expressions somewhat embarrassed.

In the corridor, many upperclassmen tried to pass by casually, hoping to find out the exciting details of Professor Blaine's Defense Against the Dark Arts 'practice class' that afternoon, but they were all scared away by Professor McGonagall's 'fierce' gaze.

“Never since the founding of Hogwarts has such a serious teaching incident occurred, Professor Blaine. Perhaps your whimsical teaching methods are innovative enough, but I think you must stop, unless you want to send all the children home before that heir!”

Dumbledore blinked, taking an interest in a panoramic telescope on the ceiling, as if he had no intention of answering Professor McGonagall's questioning at all.

"As you know, Professor McGonagall, we've taken extensive precautions to ensure there won't be any problems. Headmaster Dumbledore himself has also cast several powerful restraining spells on those two Inferi. No one will be injured."

Amosta offered a wry smile as he defended himself.

"I just wanted to toughen them up."

"Do you think it's just a matter of injury, Professor Blaine?"

Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed with a terrifying light as she glared angrily at Amosta.

"Let alone just a bunch of children, how many adult wizards can withstand the fright of an undead?"

“That’s the problem, Professor McGonagall—”

Amosta pursed his lips in exasperation.

"No one is born a warrior. If we want those children to be able to quickly and effectively respond to dangerous situations that threaten their lives, we must train them, cultivate their courage, and test their resolve. Professor McGonagall, if, with all these precautions in place, the children can't even handle two infernals that could be dealt with with a simple spell, then, with all due respect, is the purpose of Hogwarts' teaching simply to have young wizards pass two meaningless exams?"

"A meaningless exam?"

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, staring at Amostella with eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

"Is that what you think, Professor Blaine? Those were two exams that would determine their fate. Well, let's not talk about that. Perhaps your intentions are good, but I think they're still too young. Maybe you can wait."

"When?"

Amosta smiled and asked in return.

"Should we wait until dangerous fangs are at their necks before teaching children how to use wisdom and courage to resist danger?"

Seeing the argument escalating into a quarrel, Dumbledore finally stopped standing there. He walked between Professor McGonagall and Amosta and said incisively,

"In my opinion, why don't we hand over the decision-making power on this issue back to the children?"

Due to time constraints, only half of the young wizards participated in the trial this afternoon, and none of them had any ideas on how to deal with the Shadow Corpses.

A significant number of them cried and turned back shortly after entering the maze, giving up completely. Among the young wizards who persevered, none of them managed to reunite like Harry and Draco.

Hermione unfortunately fell into the ditch while crossing it. As she struggled to climb out, clinging to a piece of overturned wood, she inadvertently discovered a pair of eyes covered by a white film. After a piercing scream, she promptly fainted.

Meanwhile, Daphne Greengrass, who was in the same group as her, was so frightened by the infernal corpse falling from the ceiling that she ran in the wrong direction and failed the trial as well.

To everyone's surprise, the most remarkable performances were actually from the first-year students, Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom.

Ginny cleverly noticed something amiss with the piece of wood. She activated it with a minor spell, only to discover that it was actually a corpse. Instead of fleeing, Ginny suppressed her fear and used a freezing spell to freeze the canal bank, causing the clumsy inanimate corpse to spin in the water, unable to surface. Unfortunately, Ginny didn't know how to kill the inanimate corpse and ultimately failed because time was up.

Neville Longbottom, who had always been seen as somewhat timid, turned out to be a reckless daring fellow. Like Hermione, he fell into the canal and, screaming in terror, engaged in a brutal fight with the Inferi. Finally, a livid Snape pulled him out of the water.

Madam Pomfrey had just fed everyone a can of chocolate milk laced with euphoria, and the atmosphere in the school hospital was much better than before. Because of Amostella's magical contract, no one could discuss what happened in that classroom that afternoon.

What did Huahua grow?

Professor Lockhart, who looked like a squirrel with swollen cheeks, lay on the innermost bed in the school hospital with Colin and Justin. He kept craning his neck and asking questions, but Hermione, who was closest to him, ignored him completely.

"We have no chance against that kind of thing."

Hermione was clearly still reeling from the shock; she huddled under the covers, her body trembling slightly, her tear-filled eyes filled with confusion and helplessness.

Harry lay beside her, and he seemed to be doing alright, though he was a little pale. However, he didn't know how to comfort Hermione. His empty gaze was fixed on the white ceiling as he pondered what Malfoy had said that afternoon—the dark wizard, Professor Blaine, who was ruthless in private.

What exactly does Malfoy know?

“Potter.”