Harry Potter: The Rise Of Malfoy

Chapter 56.

In contrast to the frustrated and oppressive atmosphere of Harry and his friends, the atmosphere in Slytherin was filled with joy and excitement.

When the Quidditch match was announced to be over, the most prominent figure was not the captains of either Quidditch team, nor even Cedric, who caught the Golden Snitch and turned the tides — it was Soren!

It was unclear who led the call first, but soon the stands erupted with cheers for Soren.

"Soren! Soren! Soren!..." Everyone strained their voices, cheering loudly.

The massive roar was like floodwaters in the rainy season, surging wave after wave, starting from the Slytherin stands, followed by the Hufflepuff stands, then the Ravenclaw stands.

The young witches and wizards raised their hands and shouted with abandon. At that moment, everyone forgot their bloodlines, forgot their houses; they only remembered — it was Soren! He brought hope! He brought courage! He led everyone to overcome the terrifying Dementors! He united everyone's hearts!

People cheered passionately, some even moved to tears. The originally overcast sky seemed to be punctured by the cheers echoing through the air, letting a beam of golden morning light spill onto the pitch.

At dinner time, the students gathered in the Great Hall, eating their meals and excitedly discussing the day's events, creating a very lively atmosphere.

Soren walked over to the Hufflepuff table, congratulated Cedric, and, under his introduction, met one by one with the Hufflepuff players.

After an enthusiastic exchange, the players developed quite a good impression of this polite schoolmate. As he was leaving, Soren was unexpectedly stopped by several upper-year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw girls, who surrounded him and eagerly asked about the Patronus Charm. Most of them were fifth years or above, and they had previously looked down on the Patronus Charm exchange event, but now could only regret not attending it.

Soren succinctly provided some key points and suggested they try it themselves first, only seeking him out if they encountered issues. With Soren's promise, the girls happily returned to their seats.

Just as he escaped from the girls' clutches, Soren was blocked by Moray, who said with a slight tinge of jealousy, "You really are popular!"

Soren coughed twice to mask his embarrassment. "Everyone is just overly excited about what happened today..." He forcefully changed the topic. "You did quite well today; I saw your Patronus! To be able to release a full corporeal Patronus amid such many Dementors is an impressive feat!"

Suddenly praised by Soren, a blush appeared on Moray's cheeks as she stammered, "Y-You were great too... I saw your Patronus today... I wanted to say, your Patronus is really amazing!"

Soren smiled, "Actually, the strength of a Patronus isn't necessarily related to its size. History has many examples of small but powerful Patronuses. For instance, in the Middle Ages, Elias' Patronus was a very powerful rat; or the witch Symphonia Laule from a century ago — her Patronus was an astonishingly strong ladybug... So my Patronus only looks scary, but actually, it's not that special."

Moray gave Soren a glance and said, "You're still so hypocritical — why don't you mention a wizard from ancient Greece called Andrés the Invincible, whose Patronus was giant-sized, allowing him to be undefeated in his time? Besides, why do I feel that your Patronus isn't in its true complete form — did you hold back? I feel that if you really put in your full effort, your Patronus wouldn't be much weaker than the Headmaster's phoenix Patronus."

Soren shook his head, "You overestimate me; I'm just a third-year student, how could I compare to the Headmaster?"

Moray pondered for a moment, seemingly thinking of something hard to say. She lowered her head slightly, clenching her clothes tightly, and whispered, "T-Thank you for today. You protected everyone, and you helped me find the courage to summon my Patronus in that dire situation... and, you were really cool today!" After saying this, Moray's ears turned red, and she hurriedly turned and ran out of the Great Hall back to the Ravenclaw dormitory.

Is that it? Girls really are a bit too shy. Soren thought at least there would be a cheek kiss... Oh well, he might have thought too much...

After enjoying a hearty dinner, Soren returned to the dormitory and found a long-missed Dobby in the room.

Dobby respectfully said, "little master, Dobby has found Mr. Nicholas's location, and we can go there at any time. Do you wish to set off now?"

Long before the patronus Spell exchange meeting concluded, Soren had already begun developing the "Anti-Dizziness Bracelet." Through his relentless efforts over the past three weeks, he successfully created a prototype version of the anti-dizziness bracelet. According to experimental results, it effectively prevents discomfort caused by magical apparition, but if the apparition process involves too much spinning or lasts too long, the bracelet may break; therefore, further improvements are still needed from Soren.

Although the current anti-dizziness bracelet is still unsuitable for long-distance magical apparition, the wealthy Soren would not be at a loss. After putting five bracelets on each arm, he took Dobby's hand, allowing Dobby to take him into apparition. After several apparitions, and breaking five anti-dizziness bracelets in the process, they finally succeeded in appearing in the Black Forest of Germany, thousands of miles away.

Soren was quite satisfied with this journey. Although half of his bracelets were broken, he indeed did not feel the slightest bit of side effects from the apparition. As the protagonist, he should be like this. How could he feel dizzy or nauseous due to magical apparition? That would be too disgraceful!

The Black Forest, true to its name, is a dark and gloomy forest like the Forbidden Forest, covering a vast area. Inside, besides various magical creatures like Erkling and Tree Guardian Bugs, there are also some dark creatures such as Yew Witches and Vampire tribes. When Quirrell traveled here, he was often entangled by them.

The Erkling is a close relative of house elves, larger than goblins, averaging three feet tall, with a long pointed face, and especially attracted to the scent of children.

The Erkling's piercing cackling can mesmerize children. They use this method to lure children away from their guardians and then eat them. That is why, despite being able to speak human languages, they are still classified as "beasts." The German Ministry of Magic has implemented strict controls on their population, and to this day, the number of Erkling attack incidents has greatly decreased.

It is said that there is a little-known Kobold tribe residing within, which is a close relative of veelas, resembling veelas but with darker skin. However, this veela race is extremely adept at hiding, excelling in invisibility, camouflage, and shapeshifting. That is also why their existence is very little known.

These things really do not concern Soren, as he doesn't need to venture deep into the Black Forest.

On the outskirts of the Black Forest, there is a purely wizarding village similar to Hogsmeade called Widdershins Village, where the headquarters of the Eberly and Badmor Broom Company is located. Led by Dobby, Soren walked into a secluded alley and knocked seven times on the door of an unassuming little wooden hut in a rhythm that signaled a secret code. The wooden door opened a small crack, revealing the face of a typical German man, rugged with a hint of wildness.

At that moment, Soren was dressed as he had been at the overturned alley, adopting a deep voice to directly state in fluent German, "I'm looking for Nicholas."

"Come in!" The man quickly opened the door, let Soren in, and promptly closed it behind him.

The furnishings inside were very simple; it was clearly just a makeshift office rather than the man's residence. He did not waste time with pleasantries and directly asked, "I am Nicholas; what do you want from me?"

"I need illusory Scent Grass, and the price is negotiable."

Nicholas scoffed a few times, "illusory Scent Grass is only available in monitored plantations across Europe; I'm afraid I can't help you."

Soren knew exactly how to deal with people like him and replied with a cold smile, "I believe that under sufficient incentive, nothing is impossible to obtain. For instance, this..." Soren pulled out a vial of Eight-Eyed Spider venom and waved it in front of him. "This is Eight-Eyed Spider venom, the value of which I need not elaborate on; I can easily acquire it."

Nicholas fixed a cold gaze on the vial in Soren's hand, his eyes gleaming with unabashed greed.

"I have a regular supply of this venom; if you can help me get illusory Scent Grass, I think we can establish a long-term cooperation and exchange." Soren once again threw out a tempting bait.

Nicholas was stirred upon hearing of a long-term acquisition channel and, after some contemplation, agreed to collaborate with Soren. Although it was their first meeting, they could trust each other, thanks to the convenient contract magic known as the "Unbreakable Vow" in the magical world. Once they finalized the details of their collaboration, Soren returned to Hogwarts under Dobby's guidance.

A lot had happened recently.

The first event was that Lupin had returned to teach. It seemed he had indeed suffered from an illness—his old robe hung even more loosely on him, and there were dark shadows under his eyes. Professor Lupin's return made Defense Against the Dark Arts class enjoyable again, especially for the Gryffindors, as everyone except Hermione had failed to complete Snape's paper on werewolves.

The Slytherin students were more conscientious, after all, they had to save face for their house head, and most had completed their assignments. Meredith, who was skilled in observation and reasoning, even guessed Lupin's werewolf identity, but under Soren's instructions, she didn't let a fourth person know besides Daphne.

Of course, they had no idea that Hermione had also figured it out.

In that class, Lupin introduced the new dark creature, the Hinkypunk, which looked like a little one-legged fellow made up of wispy smoke. It appeared frail and harmless, but in reality, it often lured travelers into bogs during the dark of night. It carried a small lantern, jumping ahead in the foggy marshes, using the light from the lantern to guide the way. If travelers followed the light, they would end up suffocating in the swamp.

The Hinkypunk technically did not belong to the creature category but fell under the classification of spirits, along with ghosts, banshees, and other similar entities. They were managed by the Spirit Division under the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Because it had no physical form, ordinary magic could not affect it. Only advanced dark magic could harm it, such as the basilisk's gaze, which could petrify spirits.

However, dealing with it wasn't difficult, as they had no physical presence and could not touch or harm wizards—if one learned to resist their lure and ignore their existence, one would not be led into the bog.

The second event was that Harry had been discharged from the hospital wing. Life seemed to return to normal, but the loss of the Quidditch match continued to have an impact. Harry was often seen staring blankly at the wreckage of the flying broom. Despite everyone trying various ways to cheer him up, nothing seemed to work.

In late November, the Ravenclaw team defeated the Hufflepuff team—poor Cedric, despite his strong personal skills, was held back by his overall weaker teammates and ended up being trampled by Roger Davies in the first match between the two newly appointed Quidditch captains, suffering a crushing defeat.

This incident re-energized Wood, as Gryffindor still had a chance at the championship, although they couldn't afford to lose another game. He now required his players to train tirelessly, and Harry and the others often flew back and forth in the biting cold and snow of December.

Aside from being busy with Quidditch training, Harry also took lessons in the Patronus Charm from Professor Lupin. He needed to successfully cast a complete Patronus as soon as possible to ensure there were no accidents in the next match.

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