"What happened?"
Jon glanced over in the direction Hermione's gaze was directed, only to find a few girls clustered in front of the door of Hogwarts Castle, making their way out of it, but there was nothing special in view.
Hearing his voice, Hermione withdrew her gaze and shook her head.
"It's alright, let's go back to the wagon."
***
"No don't do this Floyd don't hurt me please."
Assia's hands were restrained by the Incarcerous Spell and two girls, much bigger and burlier than her, held her shoulders down, forcibly dragging her towards the part of the castle near the Quidditch pitch.
"I warned you, Konrad!"
The girl who shouted out Assia's family name shrilly was a girl who had a blemished face and a slightly chubby figure; she wasn't ugly, but her face was unusually hideous when she looked at Assia.
"Stay away from the young lord of the Flint family! But you refused to listen! What are you trying to do scratching your head in front of him every day? Dreaming of joining the Sacred Twenty-Eight House? I'm telling you! There's no bloody chance! He will only play with you and then toss you out! You will never set your foot in a pureblood house in your life, because you are a lowly half-breed! A bastard! Understand? A bastard! Scum!"
Two of Floyd's goons tugged Assia and dragged her to the edge of the Quidditch pitch.
Quidditch had been stopped in Hogwarts Castle this school year to make way for the Triwizard Tournament, and even the daily practices were no longer necessary, so there were no students or anyone else around now.
The angle they had chosen was also very clever, perfectly avoiding the observation range of the Aurors who were guarding the perimeter of the castle, and there was absolutely no fear of anyone coming to disturb them.
Fearful and anxious, Assia stomped in vain on her white socks and black leather shoes, her slender white ankles scratched and bloodied by the weeds on the ground, but there was no way out in this situation.
"I, I don't want to be near him too... it's Flint who wants me to stay near him. I didn't want to talk to him, but he threatened me, saying that he would have my mum and dad fired from their family's businesses and put them out on the streets."
She just sobbed and kept explaining, but it was clear that it wouldn't change the fate she would be facing.
"So you didn't voluntarily do all that, Assia."
The two goons pinned her down on the grass and Floyd cupped her chin, saying in a whispery voice.
"Then it wasn't your fault, but surely young lord Flint couldn't have made a mistake either, could he? Just like me, a noble pureblood is always right, so who is wrong in this matter? Was it Sir Headmaster who had specified such rules?"
Her words were frightening and not only did the pupils of the overwhelmed Assia constrict for a moment, but even the faces of her two underlings became flustered.
"No, I didn't mean it like that."
Floyd touched Assia's pale, tender face, her expression not as brutal and fierce as it had been at the beginning, and her calm face actually gave off a civilized look.
"Of course, you wouldn't dare to mean that, so neither of us is wrong, so what is wrong?" She patted Assia's cheek and said with a sudden dawning realization. "I see, it must be your face that is causing the problem isn't it?"
As she spoke, she violently pinched Assia's cheek!
"Then the solution to the problem is very simple! Just make this face of yours less pretty than it is, and then all our troubles will be gone, you are so gentle and generous that you will surely agree to my proposal, won't you? Miss Konrad?"
Assia was trembling all over, she kept trying to shrink back as a way of avoiding Floyd's iron-clad hand, but she had only shrunk less than a metre before her soft back touched the cold wall.
The Quidditch stadium was behind her and there was no turning back.
Floyd released her grip on Assia's cheek, and she straightened up, wand in hand, then slammed the tip of it into the girl who had been cornered.
"Don't do this, okay, Floyd, please, I beg-g you, really… I beg you."
"There is a spell that has been passed down in my family, Konrad, or as you might call it, dark magic. It has a very special effect, the ability to transform a person's body in the direction of a monster, a transformation so slow that you won't even feel it yourself. If you are lucky enough, the effects of the magic can be completely integrated into your bloodline, allowing it to be passed on to your offspring along with your blood. Sounds great doesn't it, a truly marvellous magic."
A dangerous light glinted in Floyd's eyes, she was still smiling and acting excited.
"Of course, such a powerful curse would certainly require a lot of preparation and be extremely demanding on the caster, and it is unlikely that I would be able to use it thoroughly at my current level. But it doesn't matter Konrad, even if it only has a minuscule effect on you, it will haunt you throughout your life."
"If the Prof-fess-sor. The Professor knows about this."
Assia's two hands, already unbound, clutched her shoulders helplessly, like a lamb to be slaughtered, and all she could do was make one last pale, feeble threat.
"Professor? Which professor do you want to make this known to? Professor Greengrass? Professor Crouch? Or Professor Snape? It will come as no surprise to you, Konrad, that if you find them after you've been cursed by me, the most I might get is some verbal reprimand from my father, who is a noble and honourable Death Eater! And what would happen to you, the lowly, curse-tainted bastard? Let us guess?"
The tip of Freud's wand had glowed dangerously and Assia shrank back, her fear was by no means feigned, the desperation in her eyes had spread to her whole miserable face.
"Hogwarts will expel you! I'll get my father to pull the strings and leave your parents both on the streets! You guys would be no better than those mudbloods surviving! Only to roam the streets and go snatch food from wild dogs!"
For some reason, instead of thinking about her parents at this time, Assia's mind went back to the question Hermione had asked her a few days ago that she hadn't bothered to answer.
"Why not just resist?"
Not sure if it was just her hallucinations, Assia felt the voice didn't sound like it was ringing in her head.
She couldn't help but look up, and then she saw the girl with the chestnut-coloured, shoulder-length hair behind Floyd.
That girl's features seemed refined and penetrating, the kind of penetration that is impossible to forget after just one look!
Whether it was Assia, or Floyd, who had obviously heard the voice coming from behind her and turned around to find a tip of a wand pressed against her forehead.
"I wonder if you heard the words Jon said in the entrance hall back then? Can you still recall it? May I ask this noble Miss Floyd to please repeat it for me?"
Floyd's body froze completely the moment she felt the hard touch from the tip of the wand on her forehead.
She saw the face of Hermione, a face she hadn't forgotten even after almost two years had passed.
Hermione Granger was the name that had spread throughout Hogwarts Castle at the beginning of last year, she was the one who had helped the wanted man attract the attention of the castle caretaker and allowed the criminal to successfully take many of the mudbloods.
And now that she had returned back to the Hogwarts premises following the most feared dark wizard of all time, Albus Dumbledore, many of the students in the Castle were aware of Hermione's existence and also knew that the student who had made such a scene in the Castle and caused so much humiliation to many of the Professors back then is the current champion representing the Hogwarts wagon in the tournament - -Jon Green.
The moment she saw Hermione's facial features, which were even more beautiful and refined than Assia's, many rumours about the Hogwarts wagon rose up in Floyd's mind.
Rumour had it that the wagon housed a group of murderous fiends who would train low-born mudbloods and turn them into demons who would only destroy the social order and murder pureblood wizards.
Perhaps many of these statements failed to hold up to the logic, but many of the students still took them as true in their hearts.
They believe that the Headmaster of Hogwarts is Great and has no rival, so how is it that Dumbledore and his gang still exist and are so brazen in today's wizarding world?
It must be that they have built their rule on bloody and brutal violence to be so brazen.
And since Hermione seemed to be one of Dumbledore's best henchmen, she must have learnt a lot of brutal and violent methods, more so than the evilest dark wizards, and if they fell into her hands, there would be no hope for them.
Looking at Floyd, whose face had turned completely white, whose mouth was open, but unable to speak even half a word, and whose body did not dare to move, Hermione continued flatly.
"Is it possible that you didn't understand my question? Erm, do you need me to rephrase my question again?"
At this point, Floyd's two henchmen finally responded as well, their hands fumbling to raise their wands at Hermione, but the hand that was holding the wand was shaking uncontrollably.
"I... I..."
The aggressive and powerful Floyd was now beginning to stammer, she obviously wouldn't answer Hermione's question, not because she hadn't been present during that day at lunchtime, but because Jon's statement, was so treacherous in today's British magical world, one that no pureblood would ever try to remember of their own accord, or they would even subconsciously try to forget.
Hermione looked at the reactions of the three pureblood students in front of her at this moment in the face of her, and in her mind, she was actually certain of one thing.
Voldemort's downfall is absolutely inevitable.
He possessed a superior personal strength, but his bloodline policy simply raised purebloods like pigs.
They enjoyed the best resources and power of the whole society but were so low-minded that they just thought about extravagant pleasures all day long, losing the most basic level of learning and study of magic that wizards should have, in contrast to the number of half-bloods who had started to embark on a brutal internal struggle to excel and get ahead.
As of now, no half-bloods, except for outliers like Cedric, have tried to defy the system because Voldemort is still alive and at his peak.
But once Voldemort's personal prestige has diminished and the half-bloods have had enough of trying hard to get ahead but still working as subordinates despite their high skills and strength, then they will begin to wonder why these useless purebloods are riding over them and will spontaneously question whether the bloodline supremacy theory is true or false based on their own interests.
At that point, even without individuals like Dumbledore, the foundations of British rule would still be shaken, and there would be a succession of open and covert revolts by the half-bloods.
The reason why British magical society remained as smooth as it is now is simply due to the presence of a Voldemort that no one can defeat weighing down on their heads.
Hermione in the Castle had previously thought that this dark magical world had been waiting for its saviour, but once she had detached herself from this society and looked at Voldemort's rule from a different perspective, it became clear that the so-called saviour was in fact these people themselves who were being oppressed in a conservative manner.
"And you, do you remember what he said back then? Miss Konrad."
Hermione's wand still resided on Floyd's forehead, but she had changed the subject of her question to a different one.
Assia, who by this time had only just recovered from the shock of Hermione's sudden appearance, met those clear, transparent, but resolute and daring eyes with a fright that never abated, yet she answered subconsciously.
"'The so-called purebloods are only noble because they can use evil Unforgivable Curses to determine the life and death of others, and when they're not in a position to do so, they behave as ridiculously as snotty buggers'"
She remembered Jon's words well, better than many half-bloods could remember them.
Perhaps it was because she herself had been in a situation where she had been subjected to pureblood bullying but had no professors to even care about it, so the words Jon had originally left behind were that fresh in Assia's mind till now.
"What about the next sentence?" Hermione asked, tilting her head as she continued.
"'This status is not something they rightfully earned, this is them whitewashing their slavery, disguising their privilege, and adding a cr-ro-owning juss-sification for their op-oppression.'"
The more she spoke, the more Assia seemed to realise exactly what she was saying, and her voice grew short of breath, her gaze lowered a little more, and her words became stuttered.
Floyd turned her head to look at Assia in horror and anger.
"Bitch! What are you talking about! Do you know the consequences of those words coming out of your mouth! If the professors find out, you're finished! You're screwed!!!"
"Instead of worrying about others, worry about yourself, noble Miss Pureblood."
Hermione's voice was cold, and the next second she spoke, a blinding red light flashed at the tip of her wand, and the next moment Floyd's body became as rigid as stone.
----
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Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
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Thanks for all your love and support.
Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!