Chapter 261 Rumors Of Dark Magic

That night, Malfoy was truly terrified.

After Evan left, he was finally taken back to the Slytherin Common Room.

He repeated over and over to the others what he had seen at that moment. He saw the God of Death when Evan cast the green curse in the form of a skeleton, and felt the breath of death.

The Slytherin students listened to Malfoy's description, but no one knew exactly what magic Evan had used.

After discussing, they generally thought that Malfoy had only seen fantasy. Not that no one thought of dark magic, but the spell used by Evan was too rare. Besides him, no one at Hogwarts had ever read the book "Secrets of the Darkest Art."

The spell, whether difficult or malevolent, was beyond the imagination of the young wizards.

They could only accept the most likely conclusion within their own cognitive reach.

The conclusion that seeing death was just a fantasy comforted Malfoy.

But every time he remembered the scene and the suffocating sensation of death that reached deep into his soul, he still felt palpitations. Evan's spell attacked directly to the soul, and although it did not reach Malfoy in the end, it had an impact on him.

Whenever he came across Evan in the castle, Malfoy would take a detour. Lately, he had been quite honest and no longer as provocative or troublesome as he used to be.

Although he never admitted it, his expression was filled with fear.

After the failed ambush, neither Malfoy nor the rest of the Slytherin students continued with actions.

Hogwarts was not calming down. It was unclear when it started, but there was a growing rumor that Evan was studying dark magic in the castle.

The source of the rumor had been elusive, but it was really detailed, and witnesses seemed to have seen, with their own eyes, Evan studying dark magic.

That rumor was like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

The young wizards talked for a while and soon lost interest. It all seemed too ridiculous to everyone that Evan would be studying dark magic!

They preferred to believe that Harry was a descendant of Slytherin and would replace Voldemort as the third generation of the Dark Lord rather than believe in the rumor that Evan would become the Dark Wizard.

After all, what Evan had done in the past two years could not be ignored.

Furthermore, as the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw approached, the wizards' energies were focused on the Quidditch match.

There was no doubt that Ravenclaw's Quidditch team was excellent, but they all used Cleansweep Seven brooms. Compared to Harry's Firebolt, they were simply vulnerable.

All Gryffindor students were very confident, eagerly anticipating this match.

Although they had the Firebolt, the Gryffindor team did not relax at all and trained harder than before. In the last training session before the Saturday match, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had breakfast in the Great Hall as usual.

Suddenly, Wood approached and gave Harry the latest intelligence instructions before the match.

"Harry, I just found out who will be Ravenclaw's Seeker. It's Cho Chang, a girl, and she's quite good!"

"Cho Chang?" Harry was stunned; his heart was pounding fast, and in his mind, images of the dark-haired girl smiling at him flowed uncontrollably.

"Fourth-year Ravenclaw, it seems Evan holds her in high regard," said Hermione with a sigh, "On the last day before Christmas, they even wanted to go..."

Hermione couldn't continue speaking, and her face turned red, recalling what she and Evan had done that day at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

Officially, that was the first encounter between Evan and Hermione. In that quaint tea shop filled with sweet aromas, Hermione felt as if her mind had paused, unable to shake the anticipation of a kiss from Evan like other lovers around her...

"Where did they go?" Harry inquired in an odd manner.

"No, nothing!" Hermione's face blushed. She returned from her reverie to reality and hastened to conceal it.

Just then, an owl flew towards her, eager for her to take the letter from its claw.

Hermione focused on reading the letter, which eased her embarrassment.

"I know Cho Chang is exceedingly beautiful," Ron remarked, gazing at Hermione with a puzzled expression, "She outshines all the girls I know."

"That's beside the point; the focus is on her Quidditch skill level. Harry, you mustn't let yourself be swayed by the other Seeker as Diggory was with Angelina and Alicia. WE HAVE TO WIN THE MATCH. This is our final opportunity," Wood exclaimed, waving his hand disapprovingly. "I had hoped she was in poor form. She had suffered a few injuries, but I've just received word that she has fully recovered."

Harry was at a loss for words. According to Wood, this could be bad news. Yet, inexplicably, he felt relieved.

"But worry not too much," Wood frowned and continued, "She flies on a Comet Two Sixty, which will seem like a joke next to the Firebolt." He gazed at Harry's broom with fervent admiration.

"This broom is our hope; you and it make the finest combination," Wood concluded. "Well, I'll head to the pitch to warm up first; you had better hurry."

"Oliver is driving us crazy. This year is his last chance to win the Quidditch Cup. To win the match, he practically has us glued to our brooms."

"I overheard Fred and George mentioning that Wood plans to join a club as a professional Quidditch player after graduating. This Quidditch Cup means a lot to him."

"Yes, we've all worked so hard. We don't want to leave him with any regrets. Obviously, we are the best team, but we always lose games due to accidents," sighed Harry as he turned to see Hermione reading the letter she had just received. She seemed a little excited. He couldn't help but ask, "Hermione, what happened?"

"It's Hagrid, he won the trial," Hermione waved the note in her hand, lifted her head, and replied with a smile. "The verdict just came out. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures deems Buckbeak safe. Malfoy's injury was just an accident."

"I knew it would be like this. Hagrid and Buckbeak were unfairly accused," said Harry happily, genuinely pleased for Hagrid.

"This wouldn't have been so easy without the help of Mr. Newt Scamander. Evan and I wrote so many reports in the newspaper before, but it didn't work until Mr. Scamander agreed to..."

Upon hearing Hermione's words, Harry suddenly realized that he and Ron hadn't really contributed much, and that Evan and Hermione had done most of the work.

Having that thought, he felt a little embarrassed.

"Well, let's enjoy Malfoy's reaction. Hagrid won, he must be furious!" Harry quickly changed the subject. "But he didn't react, it's too strange. We better be on alert, he's surely plotting something again. You know, he was very abnormal after the Dueling Club. With Sirius's help, I obviously defeated him at that time, but he didn't come looking for trouble, which is really strange!"