...Ambush?
Harry, who was contemplating how to catch Dobby, was startled by this sudden change, and his right hand, clutching his magic wand, instinctively thrust backward, the light of the spell illuminating the tip of the wand—
Although the recent Defense Against the Dark Arts "performance" classes at Hogwarts were somewhat lax, the bi-monthly Duel Club compensated well for this.
And Harry's talent seemed quite good; despite facing Snape's old face, he quickly mastered some basic spells.
This was the only thing in which he could surpass Hermione in learning ability.
"Expelliarmus!"
The spell streaked through the air like lightning, collided with the chest of the person behind him without any obstruction, but it was entirely different from what Harry had anticipated—
The opponent had no reaction at all, although Expelliarmus indeed required the target to hold a weapon for it to take effect, as an offensive spell, it should at least make the target stagger—
But the opponent's unshakable stance made Harry's next move turn into a clown act. The boy slid and crashed straight into the opponent's raised hand.
"Expelliarmus."
The deep red spell, as thick as a grown adult's thigh, tore through the air, and in the next instant, it collided directly with the boy's face. Harry felt as though he had been kicked, shattered glasses made his vision blur, and his wand pierced the ceiling directly. Harry discovered he seemed to be airborne—
The fact proved his senses were not wrong, as the severe pain from his back made him lose consciousness instantly, his head tilted, and he dropped by the wall.
"Harry!"
"Harry Potter—"
Two consecutive exclamations rang out in the dormitory. Even though Hermione had recognized the visitor, she almost instinctively reached for her magic wand. But the opponent's movements were faster, and before she could reach into her robe, the feeling of gravity flipping made her cry out uncontrollably—
"Ah—"
The girl instinctively raised her hand to press down the skirt sliding down due to gravity.
It wasn't a blue-and-white bowl, William felt regretful and shook his head.
Along with Hermione's body rotating and a series of actions, her gear exploded with a series of clatters, including a small mirror, magic wand, Prophet Daily, parchment, a dictionary, and a "Hogwarts: A History"...
"...What's this, are you a Niffler too?"
William picked up the hefty tome with one or two thousand pages, somewhat puzzled, miscellaneous items like small mirrors were understandable, but why would someone stash such a thick book that could be used as a weapon inside their clothes...
Isn't it heavy?
"Sir, Harry Potter seems, seems..." Dobby's trembling voice came from the side as it squatted next to the unconscious boy, sharp and quivering, "He seems to be..."
"Don't worry, the kid isn't dead; just move him to that empty bed."
William waved his hand, interrupting Dobby's panic. He knew the weight of his actions, at most, it was a partial paralysis, not that severe.
After hearing this, the trembling Dobby finally calmed down a bit. It snapped its fingers, and Harry's body gently landed on a nearby bed. Meanwhile, William's gaze was attracted to the inconspicuous blank parchment on the floor—
Seeing William bend over to pick up the Marauder's Map made Hermione's breathing become heavier, but she felt a bit fortunate that she had the habit of closing it after use; otherwise, William might discover this secret—
"Aparecium."
Nothing happened, William frowned. He could tell the parchment definitely had something odd, but the Revealing Spell had no effect...interesting.
William skillfully pocketed these spoils and turned his gaze to Hermione, who was still hanging upside down in the middle of the room. Her face was starting to redden from blood rushing to her head, and she continued holding her skirt to prevent exposure, making her too tired to speak—
"...Well?"
William walked up to the girl, and a chair grew under him as usual. He stared at Hermione's flushed face, "What exactly are you doing here?"
"I..." The girl barely opened her mouth without giving in, but seeing William had no intention to put her down, she forced herself to continue despite the dizziness, "We just...took a wrong turn."
"..."
The excuse was so lame that William didn't even bother to mock it, perhaps because her blood-rushed state greatly reduced Hermione's cognitive speed.
"You'd better speak up," William produced a small vial from his mouth and shook it in front of the girl, "Recognize this?"
Hermione strained to focus her gaze, finally seeing the familiar golden vial...she remembered. At the beginning of the last school year, Snape had repeatedly demonstrated this potion vial, claiming it contained Veritaserum, and if someone broke classroom rules, he'd happily let them taste it.
However, since last Halloween, Snape hadn't mentioned this thing again...so, he stole Snape's...so he's implying?
After about ten seconds of contemplation, Hermione finally understood William's intention, but she had no idea how to start. She certainly couldn't say, "We suspect you're the mastermind behind the attacks at the academy and are here for evidence to report you", right?
Or should she directly advise him to turn back before it's too late?
These approaches all seemed to lead to being bumped off if William really was a Black Wizard...if so, weren't she and Harry already doomed?
No, she still needed to think...
The girl struggled, turning her head, noticing Dobby's mumbling figure by Harry's bedside, she quickly devised an idea, "Shouldn't I be asking you; are you that House-Elf's owner?" she shouted at William.
Huh, about me? Dobby raised its head, somewhat confused.
"No, but close enough. What's wrong with it?"
"Alright, why, why do you want to expel Harry?"
"?"
I didn't know there was such...oh, wait, there was.
William quickly recalled the matters previously confessed by the Little Elf, but he knew the girl was just diverting the topic...
The way the two slipped into Hufflepuff was obvious; although he saw through it right away, that Invisibility Cloak was indeed effective. As for their exact purpose for being here, he was still unsure and hadn't figured it out at the moment, but—
Harry was the story "protagonist," and the one followed and even wrongly accused by the protagonist...
Oh, turns out I'm the antagonist.
Tch, such a bother; maybe I should just use Legilimency...
But before William could act, Dobby started trembling and refuting Hermione.