HP: Wizards at Hogwarts

It's 11:30 PM.

The time Harry and Malfoy had agreed upon had arrived.

Elaine slipped out of Hufflepuff's dormitory and went up the spiral staircase. When he reached the third floor, he saw Harry and Ron waiting there.

Besides the two of them, there were two other people who shouldn't have been there—Hermione and Neville.

At this moment, the two were trying their best to persuade Harry and Ron.

"I really don't understand why you chose this time to duel!"

Hermione grabbed her long, flowing hair and hissed in a low voice, "We can't wander around the school at night! Think about how many points Gryffindor will lose if you get caught! And you're definitely going to get caught. You're being so selfish!"

Harry looked exasperated: "This really has nothing to do with you or Ravenclaw. You didn't need to come along at all."

Ron frowned, looking at Hermione, and complained, "You're even more nagging than my mother!"

"I'm a Gryffindor too, so this must concern me, right?"

Neville stepped forward, trembling. "I think Hermione's right, Harry, Ron, let's get out of here!"

Harry didn't say anything this time, but he still stubbornly shook his head.

"Navie, you don't need to say anything more!"

Ron said, "Now at least half the house knows about this duel. Do you want Slytherin to think Harry and I are cowards who didn't dare to fight?"

Upon hearing this, Neville knew that further persuasion was useless, so he could only stomp his foot and stand aside to keep watch for the others.

"So noisy!!"

"Your place is the noisiest in the whole corridor!"

"Are they afraid Filch and Mrs. Lorris won't hear them?!"

Elaine suddenly appeared and immediately reprimanded the group.

The four were startled, their bodies trembled, and their faces turned deathly pale. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that it was Elivin who appeared.

"Oh, it's Elaine!"

"Good brother, I knew you'd come!"

Harry excitedly greeted him, "But could you at least make some noise next time you walk? You almost scared me to death!"

"Of course not."

"The reason I didn't make a sound was to scare you!"

Harry: "..."

Why don't you just say that?

You're not acting at all, are you?

"I'm asking you, why did you choose the prize display room as the venue for the duel? Wasn't there a better option?"

"You know, this place contains all the trophies and banners won by Hogwarts students throughout history. If you accidentally damage them, it will be a real problem!"

Harry explained, "Malfoy said that the Prize Room was the only place in Hogwarts that was never locked, so they chose it."

Hermione stepped forward: "Elevit, you've come at the right time! Come with me and try to persuade Harry and Ron to go back!"

Ron immediately said, "What are you thinking? Elivin is our invited duel assistant!"

"What?!"

Hermione gasped instinctively, staring at Elaine in shock. "Aren't you afraid of getting caught and losing points for Hufflepuff?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she realized something, slapped her forehead with her right hand, and said with a wry smile, "I almost forgot, of course you're not afraid of losing points! You Hufflepuff people don't care about losing points..."

"Elevit is such a loyal friend! He always agrees to help us whenever we ask!"

Ron glanced at Hermione with pride. "Unlike you, who only ever makes us look like cowards."

Hermione blushed instantly, tears welling up in her eyes, feeling wronged: "I was only doing this for your own good! If I didn't consider you friends, I wouldn't bother with this at all!"

"True friends should stand by us to the end, instead of always standing by and hindering us."

"Anyone who befriends someone like you is truly unlucky!"

Ron didn't back down at all, continuing to retort, "Speaking of which, it's been so many days since we started school, and I don't think I've seen you go to get out of class or eat with any of the Ravenclaw students. Do they all dislike you and not want to be your friends?"

Ron regretted it as soon as he said it.

He noticed that Hermione's imposing manner instantly deflated, and her eyes turned red.

Even someone with low emotional intelligence and slow reaction time would know that seeing this scene is a sign that their sore spot has been hit!

Ron did realize he had spoken too harshly, but words spoken are like water spilled; how could they be taken back?

Furthermore, out of a sense of pride as a boy, he simply couldn't bring himself to apologize, so he stubbornly stood there.

A moment's hesitation, and it was too late to make amends.

Hermione didn't say a word, turned around angrily and ran away, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

"This...this..."

Ron was dumbfounded and turned to Harry, Elaine, and Neville, wanting to ask for help.

The three of them quickly turned their heads away.

"Wow, look! The moonlight is so beautiful tonight!"

"Yes, yes, the moon is so big and bright, it looks just like the pumpkin pancakes we'll be having tonight."

"By the way, are you guys hungry? Let's go to the kitchen for a late-night snack after our duel!"

Ron: "..."

The air was silent for several seconds.

In the end, Harry was the first to soften, stepping forward and patting Ron on the shoulder: "Ahem... well, Ron, what you said earlier was indeed a bit harsh. I think you should find some time to apologize to Hermione, after all, she really considered us friends before doing this."

Ron nodded subconsciously, but said firmly, "We'll see."

Time ticked by, but Malfoy still hadn't appeared.

"Malfoy is late; perhaps he's too scared to come," Ron said.

Harry was incredulous: "Malfoy values ​​his family's honor above all else; he wouldn't avoid a fight, would he?"

Elivin murmured, "He might not even know that this duel is 'risking his family's honor'!"

That's right!

Harry and Ron turned sharply to look at each other, finally realizing what they had overlooked.

Tonight, when they were spreading the news, they deliberately avoided them to prevent the Slytherins from reporting it to the professor.

So logically speaking, if Malfoy still thinks this is a little secret between them, that no outsiders know about it, and that it hasn't escalated to the point of 'family honor', then there's a high possibility that he stood them up!

Just then, Hermione, who had run away earlier, turned back.

The little witch's face was still wet with tears, but now it was filled with panic.

Upon seeing that Elaine and the others were still in the same spot, she immediately shouted, "Run! Run! Filch is coming!"

Before the words were finished, heavy footsteps, accompanied by increasingly clear lights, appeared at the other end of the corridor.