Chapter 181 - The Old King of Camelot (2)

Hermione was clutching a book as she walked through the corridors of Hogwarts towards the library of the castle, but her steps stopped. Her brown eyes were fixed on the foot-shaped bloodstains.

It was early in the morning and there were hardly any students in the corridor. Hermione frowned and drew her wand; after the attack on Hogwarts, she and almost all the students had acquired a skill that many veterans possessed after years of fighting cursed spirits - caution.

Shifting her steps, her eyes following the bloody footsteps on the ground, Hermione showed a look of determination and, after a moment's thought, stepped forward.

With only her footsteps echoing down the corridor, Hermione followed the trail of blood, a book in one hand and her wand in the other. Her nose comforted itself gently, picking up the strongest scent of blood.

Hermione noticed that the more she followed the bloody footsteps, the more she noticed that the footsteps seemed to be heading towards the stairs that led to the Slytherin common room.

Quickening her pace, Hermione turned the corner to the left and came upon a small figure leaning against the wall opposite the stairs leading down to the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was located.

Hermione's eyes widened in horror at the sight of Luna's condition. She was obviously badly bruised, her skin so pale that there seemed to be no blood left in her body.

Dried, clotted blood pooled in both of her ears. Her almost silver blonde hair was clinging to her sweaty face. And despite the whole situation, she was still smiling brightly.

"Hermione, help me get to Asterion!" Without even looking back to see who was behind her, Luna spoke in a weak, hoarse voice.

"What in Merlin's name has happened to you?" Helping Luna to her feet, Hermione couldn't help but ask worriedly. The pitiful state Luna was in certainly shocked her.

"Just an angry king." Smiling, Luna stepped forward with Hermione's help and started down the spiral staircase. Her smile didn't falter for a moment, even though her body was vehemently protesting her actions.

"King?" Hermione's expression was a mixture of confusion and disbelief. Even though she knew that Luna was a little crazy and had some screws missing in her head, she didn't think it had come to this.

She might have believed Luna more if she'd said she was a cursed spirit, but a king? What on earth was a king supposed to mean? Besides, there was no king in England except Her Majesty the Queen of England!

Luna just laughed at her question and didn't answer, showing a mysterious smile. "You'll know when you hear what I'm going to tell Asterion."

Hermione rolled her eyes and glared at the delicate girl, who looked more like a moon elf, but she remained silent, concentrating on helping Luna down the stairs carefully.

The next thing Hermione knew she was standing in front of an oval door, a silver snake encircled the door, its eyes were large emeralds that, if sold, would probably make someone a millionaire in the wizarding world.

"I don't know what the password to the Slytherin common room is, it's probably something very complicated..." Hermione's words stopped abruptly, her eyes widening as she watched the doors open with a simple word from Luna.

"Pureblood."

Hermione's lips couldn't help but twitch as she stared at the open door in annoyance. She hadn't expected the password to be so easy.

Entering the room, Hermione couldn't help but notice how luxurious the Slytherin common room was compared to the Gryffindor common room. The light cast a pale shade of green on the walls, while beautiful hand-carved furniture decorated the entire room.

Hermione assumed that a lot of the school's money went to support this luxurious environment. Shaking her head, she ignored the thrones by the fireplace and focused on the moment.

"How are we going to find Asterion's room?" Hermione asked worriedly, there were too many rooms, especially in the boys' dormitory.

"Go to the boys' dormitory, I know which room it is." Luna said in an increasingly weak tone.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the infirmary?" Seeing her face turn even paler, like marble, if that was possible, Hermione suggested with an expression that was clearly concerned for the Ravenclaw's health.

"I'm not going to die, at least not today." Luna's eyes glowed with a silver hue as she said this. With a helpless expression on her face, Hermione sighed and helped Luna walk.

Passing countless rooms, the Gryffindor girl stopped when she heard Luna's voice.

"We're here."

Looking at the room, Hermione saw that it was the same as every other room she had seen before.

Hermione didn't care if she woke Asterion, she stepped forward and anxiously knocked on the door with her fists.

Noticing no movement, Hermione was about to increase her knocking when the door opened and Asterion appeared before her, wearing only sweatpants and a bare chest.

"I have to say, I never thought I'd see a Gryffindor trample a Slytherin." Ignoring the young girl's flushed cheeks, Asterion commented sarcastically, but his gaze soon fell on Luna, or rather, her terrible condition.

Frowning, Asterion approached Luna and took her by the arms, leading her into the room. Hermione hesitated for a moment, but entered the room anyway.

Once in the room, Hermione looked around curiously and noticed a figure on the bed under the sheets; although she couldn't see who it was, she could recognize the beautiful hair of Daphne Greengrass.

Her cheeks grew even hotter as she imagined what had happened the night before.

Ignoring a perverted Hermione, Asterion gently placed Luna in his chair. He checked her wounds with his second innate technique and couldn't help but notice something strange.

A strange magical energy was coursing through Luna's body, causing damage. What was strange was that this magical energy was different from the magical energy of witches and the negative magical energy of cursed spirits.

It really confused him, what was this magical energy?

Taking a pot of healing magic from Baskerville's belly, Asterion removed the cork with his finger and carefully poured the green liquid onto the young woman's tender lips.

Throughout the process, Asterion continued to use [Imperfect Destruction of Truth] to evaluate this strange magical energy and the properties it contained.

The healing pool had no effect on this strange magical energy, almost as if it nullified the effects of the healing potion, turning the magical liquid into something like water.

Asterion noticed that the main characteristics of this magical energy were "Order", "Command", and "Rule". Frankly speaking, it was different from an innate technique, it was more like a natural property of this magical energy.

"Morgan." Asterion spoke and Morgan appeared beside him, discreetly wiping the remains of cookies from the corner of his mouth.

"Clean the magical energy from Luna's body." Asterion ordered.

Morgan's eyes glowed with a phosphorescent hue. With a single look, Luna, who had been in a critical condition, recovered almost instantly.

Hermione's eyes widened in shock as she understood why Luna didn't want to go to the hospital.

"O great king, your loyal subject thanks you for your kindness and mercy in saving a mere commoner like me." Luna said her thanks while acting out a medieval scene.

Asterion rolled his eyes at the obvious and subtle prediction of the young woman's future. He really didn't like clairvoyants. Always meddling in other people's affairs.

"Now tell me why you were in that state and what that strange energy in your body is." Asterion asked in a low tone, not wanting to wake Daphne, who was lying gently on the bed.

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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 182 - The Old King of Camelot (3), Chapter 183 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1), Chapter 184 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (2), Chapter 185 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (3), Chapter 186 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (4), Chapter 187 - Second Test of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (5), Chapter 188 - Asterion & Daphne (R-18), Chapter 189 - Asterion & Daphne, Chapter 190 - How to Train Your Dragon (1), Chapter 191 - How to Train Your Dragon (2), Chapter 192 - How to Train Your Dragon (3), Chapter 193 - How to Train Your Dragon (4), Chapter 194 - Dragon Race (1), Chapter 195 - Dragon Race (2), Chapter 196 - Dragon Race (3).