Hogwarts: The Witch Education Handbook

The next day, when the Gryffindor students passed by the giant hourglass that recorded the House Cup scores, they thought something had gone wrong.

How could they suddenly have 150 fewer points than yesterday?

Then, the story slowly spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, the hero of two Quidditch matches, caused them to lose so many points, along with two other foolish first-year students.

Harry, who was once one of the most popular and respected figures in the school, has now suddenly become the target of everyone's hatred.

Wherever Harry went, people pointed at him and said insulting things to him without lowering their voices.

On the other hand, whenever he walked past the Slytherins, they would always clap, whistle, and cheer: "Thank you, Potter, you've done us a great favor!"

For a time, Harry even wanted to quit the Quidditch team—during practice, the other players wouldn't talk to him, and if they had to mention him, they would call him "The Seeker."

Hermione and Ron were also in pain.

Their lives weren't as difficult as Harry's, because they weren't as famous as him, but few people were willing to talk to them anymore.

Hermione stopped showing her face in class and always kept her head down, studying quietly.

Fortunately, as the final exams approached, the atmosphere at the school gradually became tense, and the busy young wizards temporarily forgot about Harry and his mistakes.

Harry was deeply grateful to his beloved Professor Sean for this.

Ever since Professor Sean reiterated in class that young wizards who achieve outstanding results in the final exams will receive their own wizard cards, the students have been frantically reviewing their knowledge of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Harry even witnessed someone walking into the toilet with a Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook in hand.

This enthusiasm also inspired other professors.

Professor McGonagall offered to grant the young wizard's wish with a Transfiguration Charm as a reward for outstanding performance in her class.

Professor Philius Flitwick also offered a few interesting spells as a reward.

Professor Sinister's reward was to provide free prophecies for outstanding young wizards.

...

Even Professor Snape...

What are you thinking about?

The arrogant Snape had no interest in such a boring trick. He didn't care whether the students wanted to take his class or not; any young wizards who failed would receive his "special attention."

Since losing his grades, Harry has been subjected to scorn and contempt, and he has almost forgotten that they are going to be put in solitary confinement.

This morning, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all received notes at the breakfast table.

The three slips of paper were exactly the same:

Your confinement begins at 11 p.m. tonight. Find Mr. Filch in the foyer.

Professor McGonagall

...

So at 11 p.m., the three of them went downstairs to the lobby.

Filch was already waiting there—and Malfoy too. Harry, too, had forgotten that Malfoy was going to be in detention.

"Come with me," Filch said, turning on a lamp and leading them outside. "I think you'll have to think twice before breaking school rules again, won't you?"

He glanced at them sideways and continued, "Oh, yes... if you ask me, I'd say work and hardship are the best teachers... it's a shame they abolished those old-fashioned forms of punishment... hanging you by the wrists and suspending you from the ceiling for days on end."

"I still have those chains in my office. I oil them regularly; they might come in handy someday... Alright, let's go. Don't even think about running away. If you do, you'll be in even worse shape."

They strode across the dark ground, Harry unaware of what punishment awaited them. It must be terrible, otherwise Filch wouldn't have sounded so cheerful.

The moonlight was bright, but clouds kept drifting over and obscuring it, plunging them into darkness.

Harry could see the windows of Hagrid's hut that were illuminated by the light.

Then they heard a shout coming from afar.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I'm leaving."

Harry's heart leaped with joy; if they were to work alongside Hagrid, it wouldn't be so bad.

But Filch seemed to know they were thinking that, and he suddenly said, "You probably thought you'd have a good time with that idiot, right? Think again, kid—you're going to the Forbidden Forest! If you come out unscathed, I'll say I was wrong."

Upon hearing this, Malfoy abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"The Forbidden Forest?" he said, his voice far less calm than usual. "We can't go in at night—there's anything in there—I've heard there are werewolves."

"You only have yourself to blame, don't you?" Filch said, his voice smug. "You should have thought about these werewolves before you got into trouble, shouldn't you?"

As they were talking, Hagrid strode towards them from the darkness with Tooth, carrying a giant crossbow in his hand and a full quiver of arrows hanging from his shoulder.

Standing next to Hagrid was someone who surprised everyone—Sean.

Upon seeing that familiar figure, Hermione, who was closest to Sean, couldn't help but call out, "Professor Sean!"

Sean smiled at the cute little witch, then greeted everyone present in turn, "Good evening, everyone."

"Professor Sean, what brings you here?" Filch asked, quite puzzled. He hadn't received any prior notice of Sean's arrival. Then, he added coldly, "We shouldn't be so polite to them, Professor Sean. After all, they're here to be punished."

Before Sean could speak, Hagrid, standing to the side, frowned and couldn't help but say, "So that's why you're late, is it? You were lecturing them the whole time, huh?"

"I've been waiting here with Professor Sean for half an hour! This isn't the place for you to lecture people. Your task is complete; from now on, I'm in charge."

Filch paid no attention to Hagrid's complaints, but if a proper professor were added to the mix, he would have to take them seriously.

So he softened his tone and expressed his apology, but as he was leaving, he couldn't help but continue to frighten the young wizards.

"I'll be back at dawn," Filch said, "to clean up their wreckage."

He finished speaking fiercely, turned and walked toward the castle, the lamp swaying and disappearing into the darkness.

But seeing Sean's appearance, even Malfoy, who understood the terror of the Forbidden Forest, was no longer as afraid as before, so Filch's last words had no effect on them.

Even the carefree Ron was already planning to treat this confinement as a fun adventure, memorizing all the managers from tonight so he could brag about it to his two brothers when he got back...