Harry Potter: I started checking in from Diagon Alley

Snape sneered, “Clean the entire castle’s washrooms, without using magic.”

Dumbledore said, “Let them go and help Hagrid explore the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid recently reported to me that something seems amiss in the Forbidden Forest, and he needs manpower. With Eric there, I can rest assured.”

Snape glanced at Dumbledore and reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Eric had no objection to the decision.

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Then that's settled. I hope you can accept it, Eric."

Since Dumbledore had said so, Eric had no choice but to accept it, whether he wanted to or not. He shrugged, smiled, nodded, and left. The two watched Eric go.

After a long while, when Eric's figure had completely disappeared, Dumbledore said, "Let me see."

Snape reached up and pulled up his left sleeve, revealing his left forearm, where a red skull was displayed—the Dark Mark, a symbol unique to Death Eaters.

At this moment, a glass-like crack appeared around the black mark, extending to the elbow, and just looking at it was excruciatingly painful.

Dumbledore exclaimed in surprise, "This is..."

Snape, sweat beading on his forehead, forced back the pain: "It was your good student Eric who did it. During the duel just now, I accidentally got hit by his spell."

This wound was caused purely by a breakthrough in magical power.

Dumbledore stared blankly at Snape's hand, as if he were mesmerized.

Chapter 104 Ambush

Dumbledore and Snape's secret conversation went unnoticed by anyone. Meanwhile, after Eric left, he didn't immediately return to the Great Hall. Instead, he chose another direction, heading down the spiral staircase towards the infirmary in the main tower of the castle.

Reaching the second floor, Eric casually turned around in front of a portrait of a wizard wearing a pointed hat, lifted the portrait, and opened a hidden, narrow passage.

This secret passage is short and provides quick access to the school infirmary; Eric discovered it on the Marauder's Map.

As soon as Eric emerged from the secret passage, he heard a scream from the end of the corridor, followed by the sound of something falling to the ground.

Eric waited a few seconds, then heard a flurry of footsteps, but he didn't see anyone pass by.

“Harry!” Eric suddenly said.

Suddenly, a figure appeared out of thin air; it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all wearing invisibility cloaks.

Harry exclaimed excitedly, "Eric, we did it! We each landed a heavy blow on Malfoy!"

Hermione sighed, this was just too much.

The plan was provided by Eric, relayed by Hermione, and then executed by Harry and Ron.

While in the Great Hall, Eric noticed that Malfoy wanted to leave, so he called Hermione over and asked her and Harry to wear the Invisibility Cloak and quickly pass through the secret passage to ambush at the entrance of the infirmary.

Ignore everyone else, keep an eye on Malfoy, and make your move as soon as he arrives.

Harry asked, "Eric, how did you know Malfoy would take this route?"

Eric said, "Malfoy just got beaten up in front of everyone, which made him lose face and did him no good. Plus, he's in pain, so he'll definitely choose a less conspicuous path to the infirmary. Almost everyone in Gryffindor has been attending the dueling club lately, so he'll most likely take this route."

There are two routes to the school clinic. Starting from the auditorium, one is closer, which leads directly through the spiral staircase of the main tower to the school clinic.

The other route is a longer detour, passing through the Gryffindor Tower, which is essentially a huge detour.

It's self-evident which path Malfoy, a man so concerned with his image, would choose.

The secret passage that Eric and his friends took connected the spiral staircase to the entrance of the school infirmary, saving them time by avoiding a longer route.

Harry and his friends entered the secret passage, allowing them to retrieve the Invisibility Cloak from their dormitory before Malfoy, and then lie in ambush outside the infirmary.

Hermione shook her head and said, "Just this once, Harry. There won't be a next time."

Harry retorted, "Hermione, you were just as excited."

Hermione said, "That's because the object of affection is Malfoy."

Eric smiled. Hermione had an adventurous spirit and always advocated following the rules, but in crucial moments, she broke the school rules just as often as anyone else.

When influenced by others, Hermione's adventurous spirit is ignited, and then it becomes unstoppable.

Especially in situations like this where she's adventuring with friends, most people, knowing they can't stop Harry, might choose to tell the professor or stand by and watch. But Hermione is different; if she can't stop her friends, she'll choose to act with them.

Eric had a sudden inspiration and told Hermione about his revenge plan against Malfoy. Hermione wouldn't refuse; on the contrary, because she also harbored resentment towards Malfoy, she would help Harry refine the plan and keep an eye on him so he wouldn't go too far.

Without Hermione by their side, Harry and Ron, with their boundless audacity, might have beaten Malfoy to the point of being unable to take care of himself.

“By the way, Ron, Professor Dumbledore just informed me that our confinement will remain in effect. After Christmas, we are going to explore the Forbidden Forest,” Eric said.

“Oh no.” Ron’s face turned ashen.

Chapter 105 Coincidence?

After Malfoy suffered a humiliating defeat, none of Eric and the others paid him any attention, and Eric didn't ask Harry and the others what spell they had used on Malfoy.

As long as I don't get caught.

Ron was disqualified, Harry and Hermione returned to the Great Hall to continue their dueling club matches, and Eric, having nothing to do, wandered around.

Geniuses always receive preferential treatment.

Because of his direct confrontation with Snape, Eric received a significantly different treatment than Ron.

Ron was disqualified from the competition, while Eric, after this incident, became widely known, and no one suggested disqualifying Eric as well.

Even Ron had no objection to the punishment.

Rita Skeeter, her face flushed with excitement, frantically snapped photos of Eric, her quill pen working at full capacity.

After the duel between Eric and Snape, those still in the Great Hall are clearly no longer focused on their opponents.

The competition in the auditorium was among all the younger students, who were also Eric's direct competitors.

Having witnessed Eric's performance firsthand, many were disheartened and felt it was impossible for them to reach the top three, so they voluntarily withdrew from the competition.

Eric was able to fight the professor to a standstill, and some of them couldn't even pronounce the spells clearly.

The gap was so large that most of those remaining in the stadium were third or fourth graders.

Following Harry, Hermione's brooch also started to heat up, and she was assigned a second-year Gryffindor girl as her opponent.

Hermione easily defeated such an opponent and advanced to the next round.

Apart from Harry and his friends, Fred and his group were all in the upperclassmen group, and the match was held at the Quidditch pitch.

Eric went for a walk, and nothing unexpected happened.

Fred and his teammates were already quite strong, and after attending Eric's pre-match curse training course, their overall strength was significantly higher than their peers. As long as they didn't draw each other and it became an internal battle, advancing wouldn't be a problem.

Among his acquaintances, the one who surprised Eric the most was Cho Chang.

"A bye? Three rounds in a row?" Eric exclaimed in surprise.

Qiu Zhang nodded helplessly: "I don't know what's going on. Everyone around me has gone through at least two rounds of competition, but I still have a bye."

What? This guy is incredibly lucky!

Eric was speechless, because his duel with Snape had triggered a wave of forfeit, and now only eighteen people remained in the lower grades. These eighteen people had to compete for the last six final spots left for the lower grades.

In other words, Qiu Zhang didn't have to do anything to get to the point where he was just one step away from the final round.

Qiu Zhang shrugged. She wanted to play, but luck wouldn't allow it.

Cho Chang asked, "Why did you fight with Snape just now?"

She was quite far away when it happened and was unaware of the details.

Eric casually replied, "Because of Malfoy."

"What?!" Cho Chang was shocked, his mind racing with unbelievable scenarios. Snape was willing to fight Eric for Malfoy? What was the relationship between Malfoy and Snape? Why was he in such a hurry? There was no precedent for this; Snape actually cared so much about someone…

Eric could tell from Cho Chang's expression that she was overthinking it, and quickly said, "It's not what you think."

Qiu Zhang remained unmoved, gave a perfunctory nod, and left to continue waiting for further instructions.

After that, rumors began to circulate in Hogwarts Castle that Malfoy was Snape's illegitimate son, which angered Snape so much that he deducted a lot of points from those who spread the rumors.

……

The competition in the senior group is more intense and more exciting.

Many of the senior students are nearing graduation and facing employment issues. With reporters present, it's quite normal for them to have a desire to stand out.

Many people hope that Rita Skeeter will capture their best moments.

Not everyone resists fame.

In this situation, the competition among senior students is exceptionally fierce, and the possibility of unexpected events increases significantly.

The biggest surprise happened in the afternoon when one of the twins, Fred, was eliminated.

When Eric arrived at Fred's match venue after receiving the news, the match had already ended.

Cedric, Wood, and George all surrounded Fred.

Fred looked rather pitiful; he had a minor fracture in one leg and would likely have to stay in the school infirmary for a while.

Eric asked, "What happened? Did we run into an opponent?"

Fred is considered one of the stronger students.

He and George were both quick-witted, and although their grades weren't great, they often had surprising effects when used in duels.

Furthermore, with Eric's guidance, their skills have improved even further, and there are few people capable of defeating them.

Only someone like Cedric, a figurehead of the academy, could reliably defeat Fred.

But how many Cedrics are there?

Fred grimaced. "No, it was my own carelessness."

George gloated from the sidelines: "He tried to test our product during the duel, and his opponent seized the opportunity."

Cedric asked curiously, "What product?"

George produced a strangely shaped pointed hat: "The first edition of the anti-curse hat, with a simple protective spell on it. According to our design, it should be able to resist some evil curses."

Cedric asked, "So it didn't work?"

“No, it’s blocked,” Fred said. “But our protective range is set too narrow; it only protects the area above the shoulders.”