A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 640 Solutions to the Problem

As night fell, the corridors of Hogwarts Castle were deep and silent. The torches on the stone walls burned stubbornly in the cold wind. Two figures passed by, casting flickering, unpredictable shadows, like restless ghosts dancing on the walls.

Having just left Umbridge's suffocating pink office, Gerard and Pedro trudged along, their faces etched with the lingering resentment and bitterness of punishment.

Each of them wore a striking pink magic bracelet on their wrist, which was quite exquisite and cute.

It was a monitor specially made by Umbridge, glowing faintly, which would emit a piercing shriek if the two were less than ten feet apart.

“It’s all your fault,” Gerald said through gritted teeth, his body tense, deliberately maintaining that irritating distance. “If you hadn’t attacked like a monster that day…”

"I made the first move?" Pedro pushed up his slipping glasses, his voice sharp with suppressed anger. "You were the one who acted like an idiot first, implying that she only likes tall, brainless guys!"

Just as the struggle was about to reignite, a remarkably clear cough came from the shadow cast by a massive stone pillar nearby.

Ron slowly emerged from the shadows, the prefect's badge gleaming coldly on his chest.

He crossed his arms, his face devoid of its usual affability and dazedness, replaced by an unfamiliar sternness.

"Have you two had enough?" Ron's voice was as cold as the snow on a northern mountain peak. "Do you know that because of your childish brawl, which was like a snail shell exploding, Umbridge has issued a new decree: all male and female students must maintain a distance of six inches at all times!"

"Now, all the couples at Hogwarts are in turmoil because of you!"

Gerald and Pedro opened their mouths almost simultaneously to argue, but Ron decisively raised his hand, coldly stopping them.

“I don’t care who threw out the stupid thing first, or who cast the curse first,” Ron’s gaze swept over the two pale-faced third-year students like an ice blade. “Your pointless war has affected the whole school.”

"This is the end of your mess. If you continue, I'm afraid someone will put a sack over your heads and beat you to death."

“You can ask Peeves; something like that happened at Hogwarts a few years ago.”

Gerald yelled as if his tail had been stepped on, pointing his finger directly at Pedro and shouting, "Unless he promises never to come near again..."

Pedro's glasses instantly fogged up, and he shouted, "Dream on! You want me to quit? Unless..."

"I'm not here to discuss this with you!" Ron roared, silencing everyone around him.

He took a deep breath and took a step forward without warning.

The flickering firelight illuminated his face, which was grim. His usually smiling blue eyes were now as cold as knives, sending chills down one's spine.

The two third-grade students were forced to retreat in unison by the sudden sense of oppression until their backs hit the cold stone wall, the chill seeping into their robes and piercing their skin.

“Listen,” Ron’s voice lowered, almost a dangerous whisper, “I’m giving you only one choice!”

"Saturday night at 8 p.m., The Room of Requirement, a fair one-on-one duel."

"The loser must give up on pursuing her forever, understand?"

Just as surprise and resistance appeared on their faces, Ron took another step closer, his eyes widening, and the shadow cast by his tall figure swallowed them up like a black tide.

“Otherwise,” his voice was so soft it seemed to dissipate, yet it pierced the heart like an ice pick, “I guarantee you will regret ever receiving a letter from Hogwarts.”

"Have you heard of the invisible monster in Hogwarts Castle? It roams around Hogwarts, grabs students and eats them. Those who are eaten disappear from this world forever, including from everyone's memory!"

"It appeared in the girls' bathroom the year before you came to Hogwarts..."

Gerrard's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

Pedro's glasses slipped down to the tip of his nose, but he didn't even have the courage to lift his hand to push them up. He could only stare at Ron in horror through the blurry lenses.

"Do you agree or not?" Ron's lips slowly curled into a sinister smile.

The two third-year students were as if under a spell, unable to do anything but nod frantically, their faces as pale as ghosts floating on the wall.

Saturday night arrived quickly, and the House of Requirement transformed into a huge, ancient circular stone chamber.

Torches blazed across the cold stone walls, their orange flames leaping wildly and casting distorted, dancing shadows onto the ground and the dome.

In the center of the room was only a heavy stone table, on which lay an ancient contract that glowed with a faint green light, the words written like a flowing river.

“Sign it.” A figure wearing a red mask with large, colorful ears and half-faced features—undoubtedly Ron—said in an unquestionable tone. “The rules are simple: no deadly or permanent damage spells are allowed, and you must not reveal tonight’s events to anyone—friends, professors, ghosts.”

Gerard and Pedro's fingers trembled slightly as they signed their names, almost shaking, under Luo's cold gaze.

The ink shimmered with an eerie light before being swallowed by the parchment.

After signing, they were silently directed to the changing rooms that quietly appeared on either side of the stone chamber.

When the two emerged again, they had changed into black robes without any academy markings and wore blank masks that covered their entire faces, revealing only a pair of eyes filled with tension.

But as soon as they stood still, they were completely stunned.

The once spacious stone chamber has disappeared, replaced by a towering giant octagonal iron cage, welded from rough iron, as sinister as a beast's den.

Blinding light poured down from the top of the cage, illuminating the interior as bright as day.

Outside the cage, all was plunged into deep darkness. In the darkness, one could vaguely see figures wearing various masks sitting on the tiered stands, their whispers humming like a surging tide. A loud "click" came from behind—the only cage door had been firmly closed.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A loud voice, amplified by magic, suddenly rang out. Ron stood outside the cage, his face covered by a mask and clad in a wizard's robe that shimmered with dark gold. "Welcome to tonight's 'Reconciliation' duel!"

Two spotlights shone brightly on the two stiff boys in the cage, the intense light causing them to raise their hands to shield their eyes.

"Blue door—tall and long-armed, our 'giraffe'!" Ron shouted.

Gerald instinctively and stiffly waved his hand.

“Red door—agile, our ‘cowboy’!” Ron introduced again.

Pedro was startled and moved awkwardly.

Another parchment, glowing with magical light, floated through the iron bars and landed at their feet.

"The second mandatory contract! The loser must abide by the promise made before the duel; any breach will result in the consequences of the contract! Now, press your handprints!"

The two men bent over and pressed their seals like puppets. The parchment burst forth with a blinding blue light, then burned into stardust and disappeared without a trace.

"Then, let the duel begin!"

Gerald moved almost instantly, waving his wand and chanting the spell: "Yugadim Leviosa!"

He tried to lift the other person off the ground.

Pedro swiftly stepped aside to avoid it, waving his hand behind his back: "It's scorching hot!"

The red light grazed Gerrard's shoulder, then struck the iron cage, sending sparks flying.

"Frozen Imprisonment!" Gerald changed tactics, a chilling current surging from the tip of his staff, striking his opponent like an ice snake.

"Melting Break!" Pedro was not to be outdone. A burst of scorching red light erupted, and the two forces collided violently in the air, exploding into a dazzling shower of sparks.

"Tarantella dance!" Gerrard changed tactics again.

Pedro was hit, and his legs started to twitch wildly as if pulled by invisible threads, making it almost impossible for him to stand.

Even amidst his disheveled dancing, Pedro gritted his teeth and brandished his cane: "Grinning and swishing!"

The spell struck precisely, Gerald's body stiffened, and then he burst into uncontrollable hysterical laughter, the magic power he had just gathered suddenly dissipating.

The two stood a few steps apart, their chests heaving violently, sweat soaking through their skin beneath their masks, each breath echoing heavily in the confined space.

"The final blow!" Pedro roared, "Petrify them all!"

Gerrard yelled almost at the same time, "I'm knocking out!"

Two beams of light, one red and one blue, streaked across the intense light like arrows released from a bow, striking their respective targets.

Gerrard stiffened and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Pedro, on the other hand, was overwhelmed by drowsiness. His eyelids felt heavy as lead, his body swayed, and he eventually collapsed to the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

The entire audience fell into a deathly silence, with only the heavy breathing from inside the cage and the crackling of the torches.

The iron cage door slowly opened with a scraping sound. Ron went in to check and found that everyone was alive.

Half an hour later, Ron gently closed the wooden door of the school hospital.

Although Mrs. Pomfrey was skeptical of the explanation that "colliding on the stairs" had caused one person to fall into a coma and the other to become stiff, and could tell at a glance that it was a fight, she still began to treat them.

The prefectural leaders' offices were quite lively today.

“A rather ingenious solution,” a girl wearing the Slytherin prefect badge said to Ron, a hint of admiration in her voice. “By the way, you got them to sign a magical contract?”

Another Hufflepuff prefect nodded in agreement, saying, "This is definitely more effective than those useless punishments at Umbridge."

"However, will the losing side really abide by the agreement?"

Ron removed his mask, revealing a tired but satisfied smile, and said, "The magical contract will ensure he obeys, otherwise..."

He shrugged and continued, "The spell that enforces the contract is particularly powerful. A spell that would normally disappear in an hour takes three days to weaken."

The prefects present exchanged knowing smiles, with Malfoy laughing the loudest.

Hermione remained silent, simply staring blankly at Ron.

She felt that this was wrong, but she couldn't find a better way, so she could only get involved with the other class leaders.

“Perhaps this method should be promoted,” the seventh-year prefect of Ravenclaw said thoughtfully, “it’s better than letting Umbridge take the opportunity to issue more educational decrees.”

Many people nodded.

(End of this chapter)