Chapter 65: The Final Lesson
"Depulso!"
With a flick of his right hand, Russell unleashed an invisible shockwave that slammed straight into Fawley. Caught off guard, he flew backward, his wand skidding away across the floor.
Russell didn't stop.
People like Fawley wouldn't learn their lesson unless they were frightened thoroughly—half-measures would only lead to more trouble later.
After a moment's thought, Russell decided against using a fire spell and chose something comparatively gentler instead.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
After days of relentless practice, his Levitation Charm had finally reached Level Five, unlocking the Epic trait Float, which allowed the spell to affect living beings other than himself.
Just as Fawley scrambled to his feet to retrieve his wand, an invisible force wrapped around his body.
He was lifted clean off the ground and hurled into the air.
"Ah—!"
A sharp, crushing pain exploded across his back. As Russell pressed his wrist downward, Fawley's eyes bulged in terror.
"W-wait! Stop! It was just a misunderstanding—!"
A villain's classic last words.
Russell snorted coldly and ignored him, continuing to drive him toward the floor.
"Enough!"
A sharp, furious voice cut through the air.
"Finite Incantatem!"
Russell instantly lost control of the spell. Turning around, he found Professor McGonagall glaring at them, her face thunderous.
Fawley squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact—only to land softly.
Confused, he opened his eyes to discover a thick magical cushion had appeared beneath him.
"What on earth do you two think you're doing?" McGonagall snapped as she strode over.
"Professor McGona—" Fawley began eagerly, ready to complain—
Only for Russell to cut in smoothly.
"Professor McGonagall, this is what happened."
He recounted the events calmly and honestly, without embellishment. McGonagall, adept at detecting deceit, listened carefully—and believed him.
"Even so," she said sternly, "dueling is strictly prohibited at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw, twenty points—"
She paused.
"…No. Never mind. Just this once, I'll let it go. Don't let it happen again."
Her reasoning was simple: Slytherin already led the House Cup, with Ravenclaw trailing behind. Whether points were deducted or not made no real difference now.
As for detention—tomorrow was the end-of-year feast. She wasn't inclined to be overly harsh. Besides, Russell was one of her favored students. A little leniency wasn't unheard of.
She examined Fawley once more and confirmed that his injuries were minor. Still, to be safe—and to prevent further conflict—she escorted him to the hospital wing.
---
That evening, the Great Hall was redecorated in green and silver, celebrating Slytherin's seventh consecutive House Cup victory. A massive banner bearing the Slytherin serpent hung behind the High Table.
As expected, the House Cup went to Slytherin once again.
It wasn't that Russell hadn't tried—it was simply that Snape had no shame.
Whenever Ravenclaw's points edged past Slytherin's, Snape would gleefully dump huge amounts of points onto his own house during Potions class.
Most professors awarded one or two points at a time—five or ten at most.
Snape, however? Ten points at minimum. Twenty was perfectly normal.
How was anyone supposed to compete with that?
And Dumbledore, as usual, turned a blind eye.
A scandal. An open scandal.
Slytherin's little serpents celebrated enthusiastically, while Gryffindor students slumped in dejection. One Gryffindor first-year even stormed out of the Great Hall without touching his food.
Russell remembered him—Eron Ackerly. The boy who had previously drunk the troll-strength potion.
Ravenclaw's eagles and Hufflepuff's badgers, on the other hand, showed little reaction.
They had long since grown used to this outcome.
After the feast dispersed, Russell made an excuse about visiting Professor Corvey's office and parted ways with James and Rosen. Instead of heading deeper into the castle, he took a detour and went straight outside.
Ever since his last trip into the Forbidden Forest, Russell had been obsessively practicing the Disillusionment Charm—and it had paid off, at least to some extent.
He glanced at one particular line on his status panel, his brows knitting slightly.
[Disillusionment Charm (Incomplete)]
Only a few plain words. No experience bar.
Russell suspected the reason it was labeled Incomplete was because his Disillusionment Charm wasn't stable yet. Every so often, it would malfunction—one part of his body might suddenly become visible.
He'd experienced it firsthand.
Once, while sneaking up behind Cedric to scare him, Russell's head had abruptly popped into view, nearly sending Cedric into cardiac arrest.
Then again, when luck was on his side, the spell could hold just fine.
As Russell approached the castle exit, he noticed two figures ahead of him also heading outside.
The Weasley twins.
Looks like they were planning their final Forbidden Forest night adventure of the term.
Russell didn't disturb them and quietly slipped away in a different direction.
Following the map, he reached a remote corner of the grounds.
"The Whomping Willow…?"
He stared at the massive tree with some unease, unsure whether the combination of Disillusionment and Concealment charms would fool it.
By now, Russell had already figured out what the final marked location on the map was.
Hogsmeade's infamous haunted house—the Shrieking Shack.
He moved forward cautiously, but to his surprise, the Whomping Willow showed no reaction at all. Reassured, Russell walked directly beneath it and soon spotted a concealed tunnel entrance.
Without hesitation, he jumped in.
---
It led into a room—dusty, dim, and utterly trashed.
The wallpaper peeled from the walls, grime coated the floor, and every piece of furniture lay broken as if smashed apart. The windows were boarded up tight.
The thick dust in the air made Russell cough uncontrollably. He drew his wand instinctively.
"Scourgify."
The dust scattered, the filth vanished, and the furniture was instantly cleaned. Russell nodded in satisfaction.
Much better.
Not long after, faint noises came from outside the room.
Acting on instinct, Russell hastily cast both the Disillusionment Charm and Silent Step Charm in quick succession, slipping smoothly into a corner.
He almost laughed at himself—by all logic, the person arriving should have been Professor Corvey. He was clearly on edge.
But when the door opened, the person who entered shattered that assumption.
It was Fawley—his face dark, sharp, and hostile.
Why was he here?
Was Professor Corvey the one who instructed him to come?
Russell's thoughts tangled into a mess, unease creeping in as he watched silently from the shadows.