Fail Demon King

table, he said slowly: "You have been standing at the door for 10 minutes, Scott, and made a very impolite noise. Can I deduce from this that you have had another magical accident." He squinted Glancing at Owen who was still looking dull, he sneered, "—Or, you just got lost on the Hogwarts Express unfortunately."

--no answer.Owen opened his mouth slightly, and stood there in a daze.

The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor narrowed his eyes slightly. He has always been impatient, so he could throw this stupid student out without mercy.However, the next moment, Voldemort saw Owensko standing at the door touching his nose, and the little owl Victor was standing on his shoulder affectionately and docilely.

The index finger that was tapping on the tabletop stopped.Voldemort withdrew his pale and slender hand calmly, his black eyes seemed to be careless, but they were unusually deep.Nagini, who had been shrunk down on the table, looked at her master curiously, then turned her head and looked at Victor standing on Owen's shoulder inexplicably.

——Over the years, this eccentric little owl has severely pecked many people's fingers.Victor has only ever shown as much intimacy and trust to Owen as he does to Owen, and one of them is Tom Riddle, who is sitting here with an expressionless face.The other is-

That was someone who disappeared.A little-known accident happened many years ago, and since then, no one has dared to mention that forbidden name in front of the Dark Lord.

Owen finally came to his senses, he didn't want to look at the pair of black eyes that always made him suffocate for no reason, so he lowered his head and said dryly: "Sorry, Professor, I didn't mean to disturb you—is this your owl? "

It was the handsome young man who answered Owen, and he walked towards the door: "Yes, it is a noisy little thing. Leave him to me, be careful, he is usually a bit fierce—" He reached out to stroke Victor's feathers, thinking Let the little owl fly over.However, Victor immediately changed his face. He bounced off Owen's shoulder and slapped the young man's face fiercely with the tips of his wings, before flying around Owen chirping.

"I didn't let you talk, Benjamin." Voldemort stood up abruptly, walking as if he were floating, his black robes and silver collar buttons making him look stern and unkind.He walked to the door in two steps, and the young man named Benjamin bowed his head respectfully to make way for him.Now he looked down at Owen, his pale face expressionless.

Owen couldn't help taking a step back. He raised his head to look at those extremely oppressive black eyes, only to find that his own shadow seemed to be reflected in those deep pupils, which made him unable to look away.

After what seemed like a moment, and what seemed like a long time, Owen finally forced himself to speak: "Sorry, Professor—this is your owl..."

That's all he could say—Damn Merlin!Owen felt like a silly, confusing gramophone!

Finally, Voldemort looked away from Owen's face.The latter breathed a sigh of relief just now, but found that the Dark Lord seemed to see something over his shoulder, because his pale lips twisted, and there was a mocking expression on his face that was half a smile.

Owen followed Voldemort's gaze and looked back. The aisle was empty, except for the box that had caused trouble behind him.The coat of arms of the Scott family is printed on it: a dark brown shield, spears guarding both sides symmetrically, rose vines surround it, a silver hummingbird stands on the top, and "Glory Shines" written below.

Owen couldn't figure out what this was about to make the Dark Lord laugh, but his eyes continued to look down, and he understood-the box was cracked and could only barely close, and what emerged from the gap was nothing but the The front page of the Daily Prophet with a large photograph of Voldemort.By coincidence, Owen packed it in his luggage!

Great - and now, the two Dark Lords, one in the picture and the other standing behind Owen alive, were both scrutinizing him with that cold, penetrating gaze.

Owen's ears were burning hot. He'd never wanted to grow another two inches so he could better block the damn box.Gritting his teeth, he picked up the little owl that was still chirping happily, trying his best to maintain a Slytherin demeanor: "...Sorry, professor, this is your owl."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Owen heard the young man standing by the door with his head bowed, laughing as if he couldn't help it.The little owl landed on the table, and he twittered and walked around Nagini, looking back eagerly at Owen.

The Dark Lord in front of him spoke softly, inscrutablely: "I hope you are not the only one to say this."

Owen had nothing to say, he could only touch his nose in embarrassment - well, he knew that he must have been defined by this professor as the biggest fool in the sixth grade.

All in all, Owen never wanted to talk about how he was almost pinched by the box door that was pulled shut in front of him in the end, and how he finally bumped into the sweaty Levins in the aisle—if he hadn’t been met by chance Lucius stopped, his brother almost jumping out of the car in the rain.

It was a very depressing September [-]st, and everything seemed to be dripping with rain—the gloomy and transparent ceiling of the Hogwarts Great Hall, the freshmen who were soaked and almost drowned in the rain, and the faceless The expression on the new professor sitting on the long desk of the teachers - so even the long poems of the Sorting Hat and the whispers on the long desks of the four colleges seemed to be covered with a layer of water vapor.

The wind and rain were raging outside, until returning to Slytherin's warm dormitory at the bottom of the lake, Owen's robes that had been dried by spells were still wet and cold.Owen finally fixed the case, and Lucius was frowning as he packed the two dozen green and silver ribbons in his luggage that his mother, Lucretia Malfoy, had given him to tie up his hair.

"...I didn't expect that big man to act as the dean. Dumbledore said that Slughorn is very busy this semester," Lucius smiled sensitively and clearly, "but I'm afraid everyone knows this Just an excuse. It's been a great year for Slytherin," he paused, "the best year I've ever seen."

--Not always.Owen thought with a wry smile.

His answer, however, was: "May your prophecy come true. Good night, Lucius."

56 An Inexplicable Defense Against the Dark Arts Lesson

The first day of school is always so hectic, waiting for freshmen who are bumping around to remember not to step on the mischievous stairs, or waiting for those children who grew up in Muggle families to pass by the armor that suddenly spoke. It will take a while to be startled.

Lucius's face was not very bright at lunch, which was not surprising, because a freshman had come to him twice in the morning and asked him for the password to enter the common room.For the third time, Lucius, who barely suppressed his impatience, sent him to ask the prefect, but the freshman said in frustration that he forgot what the prefect looked like, and he didn't see any girls with the prefect in the corridor. badge.

"...Forgetfulness and mind-wandering factors are at work in the blood of the Staub family," Lucius snorted, and casually said to Owen who was sitting next to him, "making them all seem to be under the spell of forgetting. Oh—— He seemed to realize something suddenly, put down the knife and fork in his hand, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"What—" Owen was stunned for a moment before he realized, "It's okay." He pushed away the plate without appetite, and was listlessly thinking about today's class schedule.

The first class in the afternoon is——

Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Owen would bet ten pumpkin pies that the Slytherins hadn't been this restless in any class before.It wasn't time for class yet, and the buzzing whispers in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on the third floor were like a swarm of wild bees hovering in the air.

A Slytherin girl who Owen didn't remember immediately joined the group of girls who were discussing enthusiastically after greeting him.Owen accidentally overheard a sentence floating over from them: "...Of course, after all, that professor is our acting dean..."

Then there was a burst of giggles.

The Ravenclaws and a few Hufflepuffs were sitting quietly by the window, and the Gryffindors were also discussing something in a low voice. They chuckled from time to time, but there was something on their faces Disapproval.

But soon no one was laughing.When the class bell rang, everyone seemed to have been put under a silencing spell. The humming suddenly disappeared, and the classroom was completely silent.

——There was a sound of footsteps in the corridor.Getting closer and clearer.

Excitement and restlessness surged in the silence, and the expressions on each face were different.Owen glanced at Lucius. The platinum-haired boy sat upright, his eyes shining like the prefect badge on his chest.For some reason, he himself felt a strange feeling suddenly rising in his stomach. It stirred and twisted, which made Owen feel extremely uncomfortable.Anyway, he has never been so resentful that the grade of the OWLs exam in this course last semester was "excellent" - of course, this matter itself has nothing to do with him, he is an innocent victim - if it is "good" or "pass" , so he doesn't have to sit stupidly in the improvement class, waiting for the Dark Lord to teach him how to defend against the Dark Arts... Oh Merlin, this is so damn funny...

The door was opened, and the tall man in black robe walked in calmly.

Voldemort strode up to the podium, haughty, icy, fixed-eyed, his handsome face completely expressionless - as if this was an empty classroom at all, and the pairs of eager eyes looking at him from below didn't exist.He waved his hand casually, and the classroom door closed.

Those black eyes glanced casually across the upturned faces of the class. I don't know if it was an illusion. Owen felt that the deep gaze seemed to have stopped on his face for a moment, and he shrank silently.

"This is my first lesson for you," Voldemort began, tapping his long index finger rhythmically on the desk, "—Defense Against the Dark Arts, isn't it?" He chuckled , but the eyes that glanced at everyone were still cold, "Okay, whatever it is, I think my first task is to figure out a problem first."

No one made a sound, not even a small grunt.A few candles flickered in the classroom with thick curtains, and Owen shrank back calmly.

"Take it easy," said Voldemort flatly, "I'm sure at least my house won't disappoint me. Lucius—"

Lucius, who was sitting next to Owen, immediately stood up straight: "Yes, sir."

"Tell me, over the past five years, how has this course led you to define black magic?"

"Black magic is a curse or any other man-made magical power that brings harm, misfortune, and pain to people," Lucius replied without thinking, but he spoke at a leisurely pace, not at all ostentatious like many outstanding students. Quickly poured out the answer from his mind, "Its existence has a long history and can be traced back to the origin of the history of magic. In terms of specific categories, it can be divided into spells and potions—"

"Okay." Voldemort interrupted Lucius softly, and it was not clear from his pale face whether he was satisfied with the answer, "Please sit down."

Owen saw that Lucius' wrists were still trembling almost imperceptibly after sitting down, but it was hard to guess whether it was due to nervousness or overexcitement.The next moment, the man in the black robe on the podium spoke unhurriedly: "Thank you Lucius for your answer, you can write the answer just now on the final exam paper. But if you continue to talk, things are bound to become stupid Because—to think that magic has color is itself a ridiculous joke."

He twisted his thin lips mockingly, and suddenly raised his voice slightly: "—now draw out your wand. I see some of you are falling asleep, and it's my fault."

This is not the truth, the whole classroom is silent, but everyone's eyes are wide open.Some of the girls were so flushed that they even blinked so fast to see the person on the podium; the other two Slytherin boys had burning eyes, with a look of great anticipation on their faces.It is not ruled out that some people were suspicious of what Voldemort said just now, but there was a rustling sound, and everyone was busy taking out their wands.

"Excellent. If your enemy is sitting in this room," Voldemort said condescendingly, looking down at the students, his deep voice was hard to hear, but it floated far away in the silent classroom, "at the end of the day , I hope you will master all the curses you plan to use to torture him."

Lucius pulled a smile at Owen, and mouthed something meaningful: Incredible, isn't it?

I hope you don't jinx me at the end of term - Owen glanced at him and responded silently - besides, I thought we were going to study Defense, not Dark Arts.

But if you do learn the Dark Arts - that's welcome news.Owen's defense skills have always been terrible. This is not because his magic power is inferior. The main problem is that he is always prone to distraction when resisting curses.

"As I said just now," Voldemort's deep, thoughtful voice grew longer, "magic has no color, so the distinction between Defense and Dark Arts is not only unnecessary but ridiculous. In my opinion, for example If you want to resist the Inferi, there is no better way than first learning how to control them. Our powers are not black and white, you just need to know how to use them-but unfortunately, for this, I can see that the inside of you Some of the people don't seem to believe it."

Owen's heart skipped a beat, he raised his eyes abruptly, but met the dark gaze.Voldemort glanced at him, twisted the corners of his lips maliciously, and suddenly waved his wand——

"Bang"!A tapestry hanging on the wall exploded suddenly, and the head and body of an elk on it was split, and the antlers drooped crookedly along with a fragment of the horn.The girl sitting next to her suddenly shrank sideways, but she pursed her lips tightly and did not scream.

"The Exploding Curse—" said Voldemort coldly and nonchalantly, "something that a less stupid third year student should be able to do—is this the Dark Arts? I'm afraid your Charms teacher won't think so." He waved his wand again, and the tragic elk tapestry immediately returned to its original state, intact, "Then, I beg you to use your brains more, if my wand was aimed at your faces just now, what would happen?"

No one speaks.

Owen has to admit that "this professor" does have some truths-several disarming spells combined can stun people, and the disappearing spell can make a living creature disappear from this world forever, but that is not the same as the so-called black magic. It's two different things.He was only praying to Merlin now, Voldemort hadn't seen the lip movement he had just made to Lucius.However--

"So—Sco," the black-robed man on the podium stared at Owen mercilessly and coldly, "Have you solved your question about the content of our study?"

—Merlin is not reliable at all.Owen swallowed dryly, forcing himself to look into those black eyes: "I have no doubt, sir."

"Excellent. Two points for you, Slytherin, for your courage to lie to me," whispered Voldemort, whose pale face was the handsomest and coldest of marble statues, "for your audacity to lie to me." — confinement on weekends.”

"..."

"...He seems to hate me very much." After class, Owen and Lucius walked in the corridor.It was gray outside the window, and the dreary sky left by the heavy rain yesterday had not passed.

"You're overthinking," Lucius said nonchalantly, "That one is the same to everyone. I've seen him when I was a child," he walked leisurely, with his back straightened, and there was a faint hint of sympathy in his tone. Feeling proud, "I didn't show any expression, and I didn't say a word. But at that time, I thought those adults were weird. When he laughed, they were scared to death."

"I know. Of course," Owen smiled self-deprecatingly, "That professor really treats everyone the same. Who would he like in particular? Ha, I'm afraid even Hogwarts will be closed."

They were passing a silver-plated wrestler's armor, when suddenly two people quickly passed behind them.Owen moved sideways to avoid bumping into the giant ax held by the armor.

"'Two points for Slytherin'!" said one of the tall boys sharply over his shoulder. Owen recognized them as the two Gryffindors in the class just now. "Voldemort is really fair, isn't he? Closing your detention, Sco, I think I'm going to invite you to tea on a weekend night? Listen to what he said, I really don't understand Dumbledore's year-"

"Stop it," another boy with red hair pulled him back and whispered, "Dumbledore must have his own ideas. Let's go."

The two boys quickly strode and disappeared at the end of the corridor.Owen and Lucius stood there and looked at each other, one sneered contemptuously, the other touched his nose expressionlessly, and then continued to walk forward as if nothing had happened.

"Speaking of which," Owen continued suspiciously after a while, "I remember we had a teaching assistant, didn't we?"

"You mean Benjamin?" Lucius frowned. "He probably won't come to class often. In fact, the teaching assistant is just a name, and the only thing he has to do is to be by that adult's side."

"They—" Owen felt his heart twist inexplicably, he cleared his throat, and asked as nonchalantly as possible, "What's their relationship?"

"It seems to be a master-servant relationship." Lucius said thoughtfully, "but it seems that no one knows the origin of Benjamin." He waved his hand casually, as if trying to drive away some thoughts, "You know—— We, Malfoy, dare to say that we understand some things. Our family seems to have known Benjamin for a long time, but my parents kept silent about him, and I can even feel that my mother dislikes him very much."

"why?"

"I don't know." Lucius gave a short laugh, "In fact, the people she likes are pitifully few. You must know my father's absurd things when he was young, and he lives in fear every day because of it—"

Suddenly, a cold female voice sounded from the pocket of Lucius's robe, which sounded like it came from the noble Mrs. Malfoy: "Tie up your hair, Lucius, don't make me repeat it a second time."

Lucius' expression changed slightly uncontrollably, he pursed his lips tightly, and suddenly pulled out a silver ribbon from his pocket, and tied up his platinum-blond hair reluctantly but neatly.Owen froze for a moment, then looked at him sympathetically.

"Only she can do this kind of thing..." Lucius said with an ugly face, but he still maintained his calm demeanor admirably, "Once I don't do what this thing says, it won't take 20 seconds It's about to start yelling. Seriously, sometimes I really envy you for having such a gentle mother, even if you blow up the whole second floor, Mrs. Sike will just say 'Come on, come on'—” He He paused gloomily, then tugged at the ribbon, "Well, I hope this thing doesn't hear anything."

Owen patted Lucius on the shoulder comfortingly.It was unkind, but he had to be honest—he felt better.

57 A professor standing outside the crowd

In Owen's opinion, compared to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Friday's Potions class was not a little bit easier.Listening to the sound of bubbling and bubbling cauldrons is of course far more pleasant than seeing a tapestry of elk being exploded with a bang.

In the foggy dungeon, Slughorn walked up and down with his big belly, his cheerfulness contrasting sharply with the bustle of the students.The Potions master poked his head to see what was missing from the Living Hell Potion in each cauldron, nodding or frowning from time to time—seriously, not everyone's half-finished product seemed to have the potential to become a potion. The potential of a qualified work.When the get out of class bell rang, there was a pungent stench in the classroom for some reason, and everyone covered their noses tightly, wishing to rush out of the classroom.

Slughorn choked and coughed as he passed the cauldron in the corner: "... Nebukato, who told you to add... Nile grass roots..."

Slughorn managed to intercept Lucius, Owen, and two other students before the students hurried out of the classroom: "Old rules, boys—little party on Saturday night. It's the first week of school, You guys should relax too... Well done to the Living Hell Potion today, Owen. Of course, Lucius and Bruno are as good as ever... Well, see you tomorrow." Slughorn waved his hand, and the others left After going out, only Owen who was hesitant to speak was left in front of him.

The Potions teacher widened his eyes: "—what's the matter, boy?"

"I'm sorry, Professor," Owen said regretfully, "Professor Voldemort punished me for solitary confinement on the weekend night." He looked up at Slughorn, secretly hoping.To be honest, he didn't expect the trick to work - expecting the old slug to intercede with the Dark Lord?Owen was really afraid that the old slug would be imprisoned by Voldemort with him.

Sure enough, Slughorn's face changed slightly, he paused around his walrus-like beard, and finally said in a rough voice: "That's really unfortunate...it's okay, Owen, this semester opportunity There's still a lot, see you next time."

Owen left the basement classroom in frustration. He walked along the underground tunnel for a while, and at the corner of the auditorium, he saw Lucius talking to a skinny brown-haired girl with a charming smile. He smiled so gracefully, He seemed to be at ease in this conversation.The girl's face was even redder against the torches on both sides of the tunnel.

Owen walked over without squinting, pretending that he didn't see this scene at all, but was suddenly stopped by Lucius.

"...Sorry," he heard Lucius say to the girl, "the person I was waiting for is here. Goodbye, Corino..."

Owen paused, looked sideways and raised his eyebrows at the person who was catching up with strides behind him.

"—just a favor," Lucius said, his demeanor was still quite calm, but his voice was very low, "she blocked me, and it hurts their fragile feelings to just throw a girl away... ..."

"Please, Lucius." Owen gave him a helpless look, "Let's be honest, it's only been a week since school started, how many times have I helped you?"

"It just fits, and that's my trouble." Lucius replied reservedly, and he smiled hypocritically, "You just encountered too many coincidences."

They walked up the corridor, and the hallway was unusually crowded with people. Lucius frowned. "What's going on?"

Owen looked around casually, and said uncertainly: "It seems that a few junior students had a conflict. There are quite a few of them—"

Undoubtedly, Lucius saw it too, and he gritted his teeth slightly: "Damn Merlin, it's those Gryffindors again... Sorry, Owen, I have to go. See you tonight." After saying the last sentence, he parted the crowd and walked towards the foyer. Several students watching the excitement consciously made way for him.

Owen was stunned for a moment: the tall Slytherin prefect strode through the crowd... This scene seemed familiar.He thought for a while, but still had no idea, so he narrowed his eyes and looked towards the center of the crowd.Standing too far away, he couldn't see their faces clearly. He could only see two groups of students confronting each other with swords drawn. Among them, a girl with long dark red hair was particularly conspicuous.

Owen couldn't help being slightly distracted: There are really enough black-haired people in Hogwarts this year. Among the six junior students, there are three black-headed students, not counting that one... Pulled his thoughts What came back to reality was a shout——

"You should thank your prefect, Snotlite, and remember to pull him to protect you when you go to the bathroom in the future! See you next time!"

The surrounding Gryffindors laughed out loud.

"He doesn't need my protection, Potter, I'm more worried about your upbringing." Lucius' disgusted voice sounded, "Five points deducted from Gryffindor!"

Owen frowned unhappily.And yet—Potter?This last name is too sensitive.He saw the red-haired girl run away in a huff, followed by a boy with messy black hair and three other Gryffindors.Lucius patted the skinny Slytherin boy on the shoulder, then pulled him into the underground tunnel.

The crowd dispersed quickly, and Owen planned to go to the hall for dinner, but before he could take a step, a provocative voice called his name: "Sco, are you okay?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a Gryffindor he met after Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and Owen knew that nothing good would happen after thinking about it.He is not quite used to the obvious mutual dislike and confrontation between Slytherin and Gryffindor—in this day and age, these two houses seem to regard each other as the main task of the school, and there are always people every day There was going to be a fight——Owen twitched his lips helplessly, and walked quickly towards the auditorium while turning a deaf ear.

"What are you running for? Why, you were helping Malfoy bully the lower grades just now?" The tall boy said coldly, "Is that the only thing Slytherins do? Oh, yes—you also Pulling out all sorts of nasty tricks in class and getting that disgusting 'two points for Slytherin', right?"

Owen stopped.He didn't move, and waited until the boy came up to him triumphantly, and then said flatly: "I'm sorry, Brian, I think I have to tell you a truth. Although it's a bit cruel," he smirked After a moment, "But please try to accept it as best you can. That is - what a pity - you can't get 'two points for Gryffindor' even if you pull out as nasty a trick as that."

After he finished speaking, he didn't intend to take another look at the boy named Brian, and walked towards the auditorium without stopping.

"boom!"

It was so unresponsive, a red light suddenly brushed Owen's cheek!There were screams from several girls around him, he turned his head sideways, quickly took out his wand, and turned to face Brian who had just cast a spell.

"Wonderful," said Brian contemptuously, "that's what I want! I've grown sick of your indifference, Sco, remember when we were in Potions class last year - oops, I remembered You've forgotten it, haven't you? Maybe I should call you 'forget it all' from now on—is it really safe for you to hold your wand like that?"

Several Gryffindors who were watching laughed out loud.It's no surprise that Owen's magical misadventures have been a complete joke -- but that doesn't mean he's going to have to put up with laughing from just about anyone all the time.He clenched the corners of his mouth, his jaw tightened, and his face showed a rare arc of determination.

"Thank you for your concern. I'll just say it once, Brian: don't do stupid things. This is so childish and ridiculous," Owen said coldly. "I always thought that pointing wands at each other in the hallway was something only those lower graders could do."

"Come on, stop talking nonsense!" Brian shouted impatiently. He waved his wand directly, and a white light flew out. "Let's see whether the black magic or the defense is more effective!"

Owen sideways nimbly, and he had to flick his awkward wand violently to cast the counterspell.Only by thoroughly angering Brian can this disadvantaged fight turn around, so he snorted and continued to sneer: "Reckless, stupid, and poor in character, I only know about pranks and looking for trouble every day-I think it's right." As far as you are concerned, neither black magic nor defense is likely to work very well."

This time it was the turn of the few Slytherins around to laugh out loud.Brian roared furiously, "There are many obstacles", but Owen successfully blocked the attack with a piece of armor.The armor yelled, and ran towards Brian staggeringly: "Hey! Brat! What are you doing! I'm an old thing from the sixteenth century..."

Taking advantage of this interruption, Owen quickly raised his wand. He had to end it all cleanly: there was enough commotion in the hall, and it was Merlin's blessing that the staff were not recruited.However, Brian's response was equally quick, and he was worthy of being a Gryffindor.He dodged the crooked armor, and a flash of his wand flew straight at Owen—

"boom!"

Missed.

It wasn't that the strength and direction of the spell were inaccurate, to be honest, Brian's body-binding spell was simply perfect; at the same time, unfortunately, Owen found helplessly that his wand seemed to have gone wrong again, but—— A silver barrier suddenly appeared in front of Owen out of thin air, and at this moment, it perfectly blocked this unavoidable blow for him!

There were several screams from the crowd, and the next moment, Owen felt a numbness in his right hand, and his wand suddenly flew into the air!The same is true for Brian—the two were a little dazed, looking up at their wands meeting high in the air, and then drawing an arc together and falling down, until they fell to the side of the crowd of onlookers—

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor stood there with a blank face, calmly reached out, and caught the two wands.

Owen felt that his eyes were dark, and when the familiar deep and cold voice poured into his ears, everything seemed blurred.

"Excellent," said Voldemort slowly, and he repeated, "Excellent. Ten points from Gryffindor because magic is forbidden in the corridors."

"It's not fair!" Brian said, flushing.But he quickly shut up, as Voldemort turned his head slightly and stared straight at him.Under the gaze of those deep and stern eyes, even the bravest person would feel abrupt in his heart.

"You don't need to remind me that it's unfair, Brian, I can see quite clearly what you did to my students. But lest you accuse me of being biased towards Slytherins, of course I'll give Scott Make some punishment." Voldemort said flatly, and he turned to Owen calmly, his black eyes flickered, showing a very dim light, "Slytherin deducted five points, Sco, because-- You didn't knock down the first provocateur before I shot."

The surrounding Gryffindors whispered angrily, and the Slytherins stared back angrily, with their heads held high and their chests held high.Brian, forgetting even that his wand was still in Voldemort's hand, cursed something rapidly, then turned and ran for the stairs in a huff.

The crowd dispersed slowly, because no one wanted to stay there and be stared at by the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.But Owen couldn't just walk away - his wand was still in the hands of the professor!

"Come with me," said Voldemort dryly, and now he and Owen were alone in the hall.

Owen stayed there and opened his mouth: "Sorry, professor—where are you going?"

"I should really organize the whole house to pay tribute to your stupidity—" Voldemort paused for a moment with a deadpan expression. "Confinement! From today, until I am satisfied. Come with me now," He narrowed his black eyes, "Don't make me repeat it a third time."

He turned around and strode towards the stairs. The black robe floated behind him, making his slender and straight figure even more unkind.Owen rubbed his nose and followed silently—because of his despair, he was extraordinarily calm.

58 An Absurd Confinement

black magic