"Slytherin lost, Professor! Malfoy, he—"

From the teacher's stand at the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, several senior Slytherin students squeezed over, filled with righteous indignation.

As Ailiana announced the "draw" result, an overwhelming wave of boos erupted from the Slytherin House spectators.

The obvious signs of a fixed match between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were too blatant. Even Lucius Malfoy felt a twinge of anger, let alone the Slytherin students who had watched an entire, clumsy farce and were now forced to accept a tie. Many hot-tempered young wizards had already drawn their wands, seemingly intending to deal with the traitor on the spot.

However, before they could utter a curse, two flying broomsticks floated over from either side of the stands, stopping in front of the Slytherin contingent.

"Prefects! Maintain order during the match—"

"Prefects! Order."

Two girls' voices rang out in the air, one after the other.

As if carrying some kind of magical power, the Slytherin House, which had just begun to descend into chaos, instantly quieted down.

In the distance, Hermione Granger stood at the highest point of the Gryffindor stands, quietly watching the now-calm young wizards below.

As Hogwarts Prefects, they had successfully established their authority over the past few months. All doubts and resistance had vanished amidst the screams from the school infirmary.

Perhaps violence isn't the most correct way to reason, but at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, especially in front of a group of rebellious young wizards in their adolescence, it is definitely the most efficient way to suppress—compared to Argus Filch's traditional punishments and detentions, the Prefects' rigorous enforcement and their aftercare procedures made people even more in awe of authority.

"So, Drax... are you planning to cast a curse at me, or release a spell to attack the players and referees below?"

Hannah Abbott hovered calmly in front of the Slytherin formation, her gaze sweeping over the young wizards holding their wands one by one.

As Hannah's gaze swept over them, a group of Slytherin students glared hatefully at the "traitor" below and sheepishly put away their wands.

Unlike Miss Granger, who could be reasoned with and explained to, "Prefect Chariot" always suppressed the chaos first and then analyzed the reasons.

No one wanted to spend such a rare weekend in the school infirmary—Hannah's "treatment" only stabilized the injuries, but full recovery still depended on Ailiana and Madam Pomfrey.

More importantly, besides Hannah, Luna Lovegood also appeared next to her.

Almost as soon as Hannah spoke, a huge, ferocious silhouette, full of madness and whispers, gradually appeared in the air behind Luna.

That was the Ancient God who had signed an ancient contract with the "Lovegood family". No one had ever seen the true appearance of those bizarre ancient gods, but just that little bit of outline and aura was enough to make many people's skin crawl, as if they were soaked in some kind of wet slime, with countless tiny, rustling, meaningless but secretly crazy whispers quietly lingering around them.

"Luna, there's no need to summon the Ancient Gods yet... I think they won't break the school rules."

Hannah said softly, glancing cautiously at Luna, then looked coldly at the hundreds of Slytherin students in front of her.

"Is that right? Ladies and gentlemen. Although it's a pity that you didn't get the result you wanted, the duels have only just begun. Isn't it a little too early to start 'celebrating' now?"

You should know that among the three "reserve Grand Arcana," Hannah's "Guide" was the first Dark Lord who overturned most of the magical world.

Even though she usually acted like a silly girl in front of her other best friends, it would be a complete mistake to see her as a simple-minded, weak little idiot.

The Leaky Cauldron's little princess was no hothouse flower. She had witnessed her parents, uncles, and aunts moving freely among various guests, officials, and goblins since she was a child. The Leaky Cauldron would offer warm water and bread when wizards were at their poorest, and could also throw werewolves and vampires into the street to cool down when they went mad.

In the past few months of prefect duty, Hannah's gentleness, enthusiasm, and hatred of evil perfectly exemplified what it meant to be a Hufflepuff of the new era.

—Every troublemaker at Hogwarts had been personally beaten down by her, without exception.

No excuses, no exceptions. Her stubbornness could sometimes make Peeves himself ashamed.

"Of course, of course—"

"There's no 'later', it's over, it's already over!"

"Don't talk nonsense!"

The Slytherin House answered messily, joining hands to hold down a few stubborn young people who didn't know how powerful she was.

In less than a few minutes, the "riot" fire that had just appeared in Slytherin House quietly went out.

Hannah and Luna also breathed a sigh of relief and flew back to their original seats.

…………

"Oh, it seems the Prefects have made the right decision."

At the same time, Severus Snape calmly glanced at the young wizards squeezing in front of him, his sallow face without any emotional fluctuations.

"The fairness of the judgment is the responsibility of the chief referee. As for Malfoy... he didn't lose to Gryffindor, did he?"

"But..."

"This duel has only just begun. I don't want Slytherin to be deducted points for order issues."

Snape frowned slightly, quickly interrupting the senior students' explanations, and waved his hand impatiently.

"If you think you can do better, then you should strive to become the player standing below, rather than condemning what you see as unfair here—wait until the duel is over and ask Draco Malfoy directly about these things."

"Alright, Milne, Bard, go back to your seats. The third match is about to begin."

"...Yes, Professor." The senior Slytherins looked at each other, instantly wilting like frosted eggplants.

For some reason, Professor Snape had not been as partial to Slytherin House in the past two years as he had been before.

Especially as news of Voldemort's resurrection spread, some dissatisfaction began to emerge in the House.

However, it was limited to a small scale.

Before the situation became clear, many "former Death Eater" families of pure-blood lineage were somewhat fearful of Snape.

No one knew how Snape had managed to deceive Dumbledore's trust and transform himself into a Hogwarts professor.

Some said he participated in the conspiracy before the Dark Lord disappeared, some said he revealed a large number of Death Eater names to Dumbledore, and others said he used various sweet words and weird, evil potions to influence the greatest old wizard in today's magical world...

But no matter what, Severus Snape was still the purest person in Hogwarts in the eyes of most pure-blood wizards, especially the Slytherin "bloodline" wizards.

"That's strange, Professor Snape, you're actually speaking up for Gryffindor?"

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow, looking at the senior Slytherin students who were leaving silently.

It had to be said that Harry and Draco's fixed match was too obvious, even as the head of Gryffindor, she couldn't stand it.

What surprised Professor McGonagall even more was that when her own House appeared to have a "traitor," the usually nitpicking Snape didn't show any changes in expression.

In fact, when Ailiana announced the end of the match, Snape was even the first professor to applaud softly.

"...I'm just stating an objective fact. Gryffindor didn't win—and those two children did play well."

Snape's lips twitched a few times, his gaze retracting from Harry, who was talking quietly with Draco below, and said in a calm voice.

"The overall strength of Slytherin House is above Gryffindor House. The House Cups of the past few years have proven this. Knowing the result in advance naturally leads to less worry."

The smile on Professor McGonagall's face froze suddenly, her lips pursed tightly into a line.

If it hadn't been for Ailiana's sudden appearance in Hufflepuff last year, Slytherin House would have almost achieved an unprecedented seven consecutive House Cup wins at Hogwarts.

"However, the spellcasting skills of these little ones are indeed quite solid..."

Seeing that the two heads of houses seemed about to argue, Professor Sprout coughed lightly, appropriately changing the subject.

"I mean, these four young wizards currently on the field—I wasn't that good at their age."

"Perhaps there are some coincidences, but does it mean from another perspective that our past teaching methods were too conservative and did not fully tap into the students' talents?"

"It's hard to say, Professor Sprout."

Filius Flitwick shook his head, his monocle reflecting the colors of the magical screen below.

"The first and second year wizards are indeed quite excellent. However, we need to see the performances of students in other grades before we can draw conclusions."

Hogwarts' magical education reform began last year. Ailiana and her classmates in the lower grades were the first pilot group.

With the joint promotion of Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic, from this school year—that is, Ilina and Ginny's class—the magical education reform began to be gradually promoted in all grades of Hogwarts.

However, considering the pressure of O.W.L.s and exams, the changes in teaching and curriculum for senior grades are naturally much less than those for junior grades. Except for some new knowledge, the vast majority of their curriculum content is still progressing according to the original plan.

In the private discussions between Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, the current first and second year students are called the "New Generation."

Obviously, they are too different from the other grades.

The debate about the change between the "New Era" and the "Old Era" has never stopped since the promotion of the "New Magical Curriculum."

"Then, if it proves that..."

"Magical strength, interpersonal relationships, temperament, knowledge... there are too many places to assess and discuss."

Snape shifted his gaze away from the professors, returning to the edge of the field below, and said thoughtfully in a low voice.

"How to achieve a higher balance while maintaining competitiveness is what Professor Dumbledore has to weigh—but from the current situation, the effect seems to be pretty good."

"Perhaps, but don't forget, the lower grades now have a lot more courses than in the past."

Professor Flitwick shrugged indifferently, not delving deeper into the matter.

Compared to the Hogwarts of the past, the young wizards now are undoubtedly much more hardworking.

With the combination of more time and effort, it would be a big problem if they were not more excellent than previous students.

Especially Ravenclaw House, many children spent half of last year sleeping in sleeping bags in the corridors. The progress compared to this year is quite obvious.

"Speaking of which, have you noticed..."

Professor Flitwick raised his head, looking at the replay on the magical screen in the air, and suddenly said.

"...That child, Draco Malfoy, upon closer inspection, isn't something a little off?"

"Off? Did you see any problems with his spellcasting?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously.

With Professor Flitwick's sudden opening, the professors looked up at the magical screen hanging in the air not far away.

After each duel, during the break in the field's recovery, the magical screen automatically repeats the previous magical duel.

As a matter of course, the screen was now replaying the "fixed match" that had caused great controversy earlier—but the attention was obviously much less than the previous one.

Most students chose not to watch it directly, because it looked almost no different from team practice in the Charms classroom. After this round of rebroadcast, even the young wizards of Gryffindor House had to admit that this unexpected "draw" had a considerable amount of water in it, but as the side that had the advantage, they naturally wouldn't jump out and argue about anything.

You should know that "Prefect Justice" was sitting at the highest point of the Gryffindor stands. Miss Granger has the nickname "Miniature McGonagall."

"I don't understand what you mean, Filius—" Professor Snape frowned, "In my opinion, Mr. Malfoy's spells are very normal."

"Hmm, I didn't see any problems either," Professor Sprout said.

"Oh, not only normal, but simply the perfect standard."

Professor Flitwick carefully watched the magical screen above, his expression gradually becoming serious, and said softly.

"From chanting, to casting, every movement and syllable of Mr. Malfoy's is all textbook-level standard casting—without a trace of error or deviation."

"...Every spell is like this."

"So you think?" Snape sat up straight subconsciously and asked in a deep voice.

"Don't know."

Professor Flitwick shook his head, saying thoughtfully.

"However... we haven't seen similar situations for the first time."

"Hmm?"

"Us?"

Professor McGonagall and others looked at the small Hogwarts Charms Master in confusion.

However, before they could ask, Professor Flitwick took the initiative to tell them the answer.

He pulled a small book from his wizard robe and slowly opened it, his finger caressing a certain page.

"This magic book at Hogwarts can record spells if you add spell pages, and choose to release them when the time is right."

"And Mr. Malfoy, seems to be a living magic book."

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Yay!