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HRHL# Chapter 74: Slytherin's Little Secret
🕑 Added 2025-01-19 14:07:32 +0000 UTCIn recent days, the professors at Hogwarts noticed something peculiar: the students from Slytherin were dozing off in class.
It wasn’t surprising if they nodded off during History of Magic or Defense Against the Dark Arts, but even during Snape’s Potions class? One student even fell asleep so profoundly that they knocked over their cauldron, causing a considerable accident.
Professor Snape was furious, his face turning a shade of purple. Never in his wildest nightmares would he have imagined that a Slytherin student would dare fall asleep under his stern gaze.
The result was predictable: despite his usual reluctance to dock points from Slytherin, Snape deducted five to twenty points per student depending on the severity of their infractions.
The unlucky student who lost twenty points had spilled their potion onto a classmate in front of them.
Since Gryffindor shared Potions class with Slytherin, they weren’t spared either. However, Gryffindor students, wary of Snape’s penchant for finding fault, managed to keep their losses minimal.
Even Harry wasn’t immune. For stirring his potion just a tad too quickly, Snape docked him one point.
Under Snape’s scrutinizing authority, both Slytherin’s and Gryffindor’s house points dwindled rapidly, dropping them from first and second place to third and fourth.
To everyone’s shock, Hufflepuff took first place.
Slytherin students stomped their feet in frustration, cursing loudly.
But the most outrageous incident? Slytherin second-year Joseph Rowell actually fell asleep on his broomstick during Flying Class.
“Wow, you really can sleep anywhere, huh, Sleepy Joe?” his classmates mocked.
“Joe” was Joseph’s nickname, and Sleepy Joe didn’t mind the teasing. After all, it was just a small price for the little deal he had with the ever-beautiful Miss Merope.
Miss Merope was stunning...
Why couldn’t she be their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?
Meanwhile, the other professors noticed the peculiar pattern as well. Aside from nodding off in class, Slytherin students seemed unnaturally talented. They mastered spells with ease, as if they had practiced them countless times before.
The professors chalked it up to Slytherins being diligent and reminded them to take care of their health, never suspecting anything amiss.
Thanks to the points Slytherins earned in other subjects, even Snape turned a blind eye to their behavior. He had bigger fish to fry.
Thus, every evening, Draco Malfoy could be found standing near the dormitory door, notebook in hand, meticulously keeping track of the queue.
When a sleep-deprived, groggy classmate emerged from the dormitory, Draco would call out the next name on the list.
Before bedtime, Merope would share a portion of her power with Draco as promised.
Draco had visited the Chamber of Secrets once, though he couldn’t recall what had transpired there. Since then, Merope had stopped asking him to bring notes to the chamber. She simply stayed in the Slytherin common room, showing no intention of leaving.
Draco assumed she had retrieved the "Merlin’s Treasure" and didn’t question it further. After all, he was quite enjoying the benefits of their arrangement.
***
Meanwhile, everything at Gryffindor seemed normal. After Friday’s dinner, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, joined by new members Neville and Seamus, gathered in the Room of Requirement.
Ron was teaching Seamus, while Hermione coached Neville. Harry practiced Expelliarmus chains and offered feedback to Seamus and Neville when needed.
After about ten failed attempts at Expelliarmus—which all turned into hand-blasting mishaps—Harry stepped forward to stop the frustrated Seamus.
“Listen, Seamus,” Harry said gently to the disheartened boy, “I think I see another path for you…”
“Another path?” Seamus looked up, puzzled.
“In the wizarding world, talent is a thing,” Harry explained, placing a reassuring hand on Seamus’s shoulder. “Like Cassandra Malfoy from the books—she was a natural Confringo master. Every spell she cast carried explosive properties…”
“Which book did you read that in?” Hermione asked curiously, walking over.
“From the Restricted Section… I don’t remember which one,” Harry replied casually.
Seamus’s eyes lit up with hope. “Really, Harry? Are you saying… I…”
“Yes, Seamus,” Harry said firmly. “Just like that Malfoy woman, you, my friend, are a natural Blasting Curse master. Maybe we should skip Expelliarmus and move on to explosive spells.”
“Awesome!” Seamus said eagerly.
“Now, watch how I do it,” Harry instructed, demonstrating as he waved his wand at a training dummy.
“Confringo!”
An orange light shot from Harry’s wand, striking the dummy. It exploded in a dazzling burst, scattering its limbs across the floor before dissolving into sand.
“Cool!” Seamus’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Having grown up with a wizard mother and a Muggle father, Seamus had fond memories of watching war movies with his dad. The sight of explosions had always fascinated him.
What boy could resist the allure of blowing things up like a grenade launcher?
But doubt crept in. Remembering his earlier failures, Seamus hesitated.
“Uh, Harry, can I really do this?” Seamus scratched his head nervously. “I read that this is a sixth-year spell, and I’m only a first-year…”
“Trust me,” Harry said, his green eyes full of encouragement. “You can do it.”
Touched, Seamus nodded vigorously and stepped closer to the dummy. He raised his wand.
Suddenly, Harry had a sinking feeling of dread.
Sure enough, Seamus shouted, “Confringo!”
A red light erupted from his wand, striking the dummy with an even louder explosion than Harry’s.
Harry barely had time to conjure a protective shield charm to shield himself.
Hermione and Ron ducked instinctively, crouching in perfect unison.
The dummy’s shattered pieces flew through the air. One arm soared in an arc and landed with a smack—right on Neville’s head.
“Why is it always me?” Neville whimpered, clutching his head with tearful eyes.
