With Professor Snape as a witness, Filch could only silence himself.
At this moment, Dumbledore also approached from the inside of the entrance hall.
He first waved his magic wand, taking Mrs. Loli off the wall, then used magic to check her over, and looked up to say, "Rest assured, Argus, Mrs. Loli is not dead, but has been hit by a petrification spell—it's quite an advanced dark magic, even I am powerless against it."
"This also proves Harry's innocence. A first-year student could not possibly have access to such dark magic," Dumbledore added.
"My cat, my cat!" Filch's face was twisted with rage: "Someone must pay for this!"
"But it doesn't mean the innocent should bear the cost, Argus," Dumbledore said sternly, turning to Harry: "Meanwhile, Harry, you'll also have to face punishment for your actions—next Thursday evening, you'll accompany Hagrid to patrol the Forbidden Forest."
"Since Professor Snape has already deducted points from Gryffindor, I won't impose additional punishment," Dumbledore said again.
"Yes, Principal," Harry stood tall, "but I don't think I did anything wrong."
The students present shifted their gazes from shock to admiration; they never expected that after beating a school staff member, Harry would refuse to admit fault to the principal.
Had it been any other student, they would've tucked their tails and admitted fault to the principal by now, wouldn't they?!
This one? This one actually said in front of the principal that he was not wrong.
This was bravery beyond the ordinary!
"Oh, of course not," Dumbledore said with a meaningful smile at Harry: "Harry, your fault lies in using the spell on someone in front of others."
Harry looked at this old scholar, feeling like he was learning something.
Though...
"I do admit that point," Harry nodded in agreement.
He understood the implied meaning of the principal's words, which was that if no one saw it, it wouldn't count as a mistake.
"Alright, class prefects, take your fellow students back," Dumbledore said to everyone, "it's getting late."
After this little incident, Harry and his friends dropped the idea of going to the Room of Requirement.
After all, Gryffindor had just lost fifty points, and Harry had just publicly beaten the castle's gatekeeper in front of the entire school, so going on a night tour at this time seemed somewhat inappropriate.
Who knew if Professor Snape would keep a close watch on them, and pounce to deduct more points from Gryffindor?
Back in the Gryffindor common room, Harry thought he'd face the verbal attacks of his classmates—after all, regardless of the reason, he had just lost Gryffindor fifty points.
But to his surprise, he was welcomed like a hero.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but he even saw some little Hufflepuff badgers in the Gryffindor common room.
"Harry, you're the man!" Lee Jordan was the first to speak, his white teeth shining brilliantly against his dark skin like a full moon in the night.
Too bright...
Harry was puzzled, looking at Hermione who was applauding him, then at the cheering students around, and asked bewilderedly, "Didn't I just lose Gryffindor fifty points? Why are you all..."
"Points deduction?" the Weasley Twins said in unison, "Oh come on Harry, just managing to earn Gryffindor three points from Snape is something we could boast about for a lifetime—"
"I agree with that," Percy said, standing upright and applauding for Harry, but still added, "But I must say, Harry, you could have handled it better..."
"Oh Percy, don't be such a killjoy," the Weasley Twins rolled their eyes together.
Their words were met with agreement from all Gryffindor students, and even some Hufflepuffs nodded repeatedly.
"We brought Butter Beer and cookies," said the tall, handsome Hufflepuff boy, "let's throw a party for Harry showing up that nasty Filch!"
It was Cedric Diggory, Harry knew him.
"Yeah!" the students shouted.
"I have some Muggle snacks," Harry said, "everyone can share them."
"I'll go, Harry," Ron volunteered.
Shortly after, Ron came out dragging Harry's suitcase.
Harry's eyelids twitched.
Good lad, you're going to empty out my supplies, aren't you?
But he didn't stop Ron, this was a rare chance to quickly bond with classmates.
"Oh! For our Lion King!" Fred stood on a stool, shouting.
"Potter! Potter! Potter!" the crowd cheered.
"I don't get it," Hermione asked the senior Angelina Johnson in the noisy crowd, "why is everyone so happy, as if it wasn't Gryffindor that got points deducted?"
"Sure, it's regrettable Gryffindor lost points, but Filch getting beaten is definitely exhilarating news," Angelina said loudly, "You know, back in my first year, I was locked up for a minor thing, and Filch wanted to hang me from the rafters and whip me!"
"I've been threatened too!" "So was I!" "Me too!"
The people around poured their grievances to Hermione, their gritted teeth showing they all had serious grudges against Filch.
"His cat is as annoying as he is, even more sensitive than a dog's nose," one student complained, "I'm truly fed up with the two of them, neither the cat nor Filch gets any of my sympathy! Not one bit!"
"However," Hermione suddenly said, "Principal Dumbledore is sending Harry to detention, and in the Forbidden Forest... I remember at the start of term, Principal Dumbledore warned that the Forbidden Forest is very dangerous, young wizards are strictly not allowed there... Will he be in danger?"
"Danger?" Angelina picked up a can of cola, "Hmm? How do you open this?"
"Let me help," Hermione took the can of cola, popped the tab open with a click, and handed it back to Angelina.
"Tastes great," Angelina took a sip, satisfied.
She set down the soda, and exaggeratedly said to Hermione, "My goodness, Hermione, you actually think that... Our Savior has already proven his strength, so what you should worry about is not whether he's in danger, but..."
"But whether the Forbidden Forest is in danger," Alicia Spinnet chimed in.
Though everyone said so, Hermione still felt a bit worried inside.
Harry was just a first-year kid; can Hagrid truly protect him amidst the dangers of the Forbidden Forest?
(Burst! Monthly! Ticket! Thank! You! All!)