Before them floated five stretchers, arranged in a neat line, and on each lay an unconscious student. Everyone's heart jolted as they hurriedly examined the faces on the stretchers…
"Marcus?!"
The moment they recognized the tall, broad-shouldered figure lying there, Baron, Harry, and Cedric all cried out in shock at the same time—there was no mistaking it. It was Marcus Flint, captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team.
"Wait—there's more than that…"
Baron's voice began to tremble. "All five of the students who collapsed… they're all from Slytherin!"
"What?!"
Even the Gryffindors, who were usually at odds with Slytherin, recoiled in disbelief. Only then did they notice that nearly all the students gathered around Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were wearing robes lined in green.
"Baron? You're here too?"
Someone in the Slytherin group recognized Baron and greeted him with a grim expression.
"What exactly happened?" Baron hurried over and asked anxiously.
"Ah, Mr. Shafiq."
Before the Slytherin student could answer, Dumbledore turned to Baron, his expression grave. "As you can see, the incidents of unconsciousness have occurred again—this time, all at once."
"According to the portraits, the five of them had just left the library and were heading to an empty classroom to practice magic. When they reached a corridor, one of them suddenly lost consciousness. The other four collapsed one after another shortly afterward. It wasn't until other students passed by that they were discovered. Before that, there was no sign of anyone else in the corridor."
"An attack…"
Baron's eyes nearly spat fire.
"While we can't draw a definitive conclusion yet, it's highly likely," Dumbledore said, nodding slightly in agreement. "If the previous three cases could still be explained as accidents or coincidences, then five upper-year students being taken down almost simultaneously makes human involvement far more probable."
"This afternoon, I will issue a school-wide alert. Students will be required to observe a strict curfew, move in pairs or groups, and the professors will increase patrols. Let us hope there are no further victims…"
The group fell silent, nodding faintly.
"However, it's not all bad news," Dumbledore continued with a sigh. "Professor Snape and Professor Sprout have been working tirelessly on a treatment, and they're close to a breakthrough. According to them, within a week at most, they should be able to develop a potion to awaken the students."
"At that point, not only will those already unconscious be able to wake up, but any newly affected students can be treated immediately. And we'll be able to question them about how they felt before collapsing, which may provide further clues… All right, everyone, please return to your dormitories now. Don't disturb the other patients."
Under Dumbledore's gentle but firm urging, the crowd gradually dispersed in small groups. Yet one person lingered, stopping at the entrance to Avada's ward.
"Sorry to bother you—are you Ken?"
"That's me. Is there something you need?" Avada looked up, a little puzzled, his thoughts interrupted.
"I remember you were the first one to collapse. But the professors said your case was different from the others… is that true? Do you really have no other clues?"
"…I'm sorry. My collapse was purely an accident. I can't provide any useful information."
Avada shook his head apologetically. The Slytherin student—likely a close friend of one of the unconscious—looked utterly crestfallen at the answer.
"I see," he said quietly. "Sorry to disturb you… goodbye."
"Take care."
Avada turned back, watching as Madam Pomfrey guided the five stretchers away until they disappeared from view. He pressed his fingers to his temples, a dull headache throbbing.
Just as Dumbledore had said, those students were indeed simply unconscious due to severe mental instability. Other than that, there wasn't a single abnormality anywhere on their bodies. The damage to their mental energy wasn't even severe—no memory loss, no madness, none of the usual signs of a psychic attack. Rather than an assault, it felt more like careless students who hadn't worn proper earmuffs while repotting Mandrakes.
But that still didn't explain why students kept collapsing one after another—this time, five at once.
After the others had left, the group remaining in Avada's ward exchanged looks in silence, every face dark and heavy.
"Let's just follow the professors' instructions for now," Cedric said with a deep sigh.
"I should remind Ginny not to wander around at night under any circumstances," Ron muttered worriedly.
"Eight students unconscious in just over a week—and five of them all at once," Baron said, tugging at his hair in frustration. "If this really is an attack, what kind of attack could knock out five upper-year students without any resistance? I don't know about the others, but Marcus's Defense Against the Dark Arts grades are excellent. Whenever the professor was unreliable, he was the one tutoring the Slytherins!"
"Who knows…" Avada murmured. Then a thought struck him. "But if this continues, out of the eight unconscious students, at least six are from Slytherin, right? What about the other two? Could someone be targeting Slytherin specifically?"
"No," Shabby answered immediately. "One of the others is a fourth-year Gryffindor, the other a second-year Ravenclaw. No Hufflepuffs so far."
"That sounds more like indiscriminate attacks, then… Do the unconscious students have anything in common at all?"
"Nope. The students have gone over it countless times—house, gender, grades, blood status, background, acquaintances, recent locations… everything's been cross-referenced. Still nothing."
"I'm starting to think Professor Trelawney might actually be onto something," someone muttered. "What on earth is going on…?"
"Don't overthink it," Hermione said with a sigh. "In a situation this strange, the best we can do is protect ourselves and not add to the professors' burden. And didn't Professor Dumbledore say the restorative potion would be ready in a week? Snape may be awful to students, but with so many Slytherins affected, he can't possibly ignore this. And Professor Sprout is involved too…"
"You're right, Hermione," Harry said, nodding as he stood up. "I should head back. I need to tell the others as soon as possible and warn them to be careful."
"Yeah, this needs to be spread quickly," Cedric agreed, rising as well.
Baron stood as well, followed by the rest. "Take care, Ken. And get well soon."
"Thanks… I will."
Avada rubbed his temples again as he watched his friends leave. Once the ward was empty, he stared at the ceiling, sinking into a long, heavy silence.
"What exactly… is going on?"
(End of Chapter)