By the time she returned to the Slytherin Common Room, it was nearly curfew. Having spent the entire afternoon listening to Newt and Dumbledore explain the methods and precautions for Mana infusion, Kate's mind was completely muddled. All she wanted to do was go back to her room and sleep.
Anyway, she had just completed her one-month exercise task yesterday. As long as the second month's Routine Quest hadn't started, she could slack off for a day.
Stifling a yawn and ignoring the strange looks from the people around her, Kate was just about to enter the girls' dormitory when she was stopped by Malfoy, who had popped up out of nowhere.
"Shafiq, are you deliberately avoiding looking at me?"
Huh?
Kate turned around belatedly, only to see the person staring at her with a look of irritation.
Oh, right. This guy had secretly gone to Hagrid's hut earlier and seen the dragon egg.
Now the other party probably thought they had caught them red-handed.
In that case...
She sighed, forcing herself to perk up. "Do you have to talk about this here?"
A hint of smugness appeared on Malfoy's face before being quickly concealed. "Fine, let's go outside then."
After all, the dungeons were so dark and gloomy that not a trace of light could be seen. Generally speaking, Slytherin students wouldn't wander around the dungeons either.
Kate followed her all the way, taking several turns until even the shadow of the Common Room was out of sight. Only then did the person leading the way stop in her tracks.
"Malfoy, you saw what was going on in the hut, didn't you?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
In the pitch-black dungeon corridor, Malfoy turned around. Although her face couldn't be seen clearly, her rather complacent laughter could be heard.
"Kate, breeding dragons privately is illegal. And that half-blood giant is holding a dragon egg no less. If it's investigated thoroughly, he might even be slapped with a smuggling charge!"
She took a step closer to Kate. "If you apologize to me right now and admit that your previous disrespect towards me was all your fault, I might just help you cover this up."
Tsk, tsk. The true colors were finally revealed.
Kate quietly watched her performance. With a simple reach of her hand, she pressed against the person's shoulder, keeping her half a meter away.
Who asked her to be nearly half a head taller than this little squirt?
With such a height difference, even a threat like this sounded full of childish innocence.
"Sorry, but I can't agree to your demands."
Malfoy froze, then pressed the issue in a fluster, "Aren't you afraid I'll complain to the Headmaster? Or... I could tell my dad and have him bring people from the Ministry of Magic. When that happens, that half-blood giant will definitely be in deep trouble!"
"That's your freedom." Kate shrugged indifferently.
In most situations, she wasn't a hypocrite.
Besides, she had already spilled the beans about this to Dumbledore and Newt. With those two big shots covering for them, nothing would go wrong.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be heading back now." After saying that, Kate calmly turned around.
Malfoy gritted her teeth and tried to reach out to grab her, but suddenly remembered how she had accidentally burned Kate when she touched her previously. The hand that was halfway out had to be pulled back.
"I... I really will expose this!" she threatened unwillingly. "Come back here, you're not allowed to leave!"
But Kate was currently both tired and sleepy. She knew that even if she stayed, it would just be to listen to her unreasonable pestering. However, leaving a little girl here alone wouldn't do either.
She stopped in her tracks, her tone slightly impatient. "You can either stay here or go back with me. Pick one."
Malfoy's voice hitched. She sulked in the darkness for quite a while before trotting over to her.
Still glaring at her angrily.
"That's a good girl." Kate smiled in satisfaction and continued walking towards the Common Room.
But finding it too hard to hold it in, Malfoy glanced up at her and muttered softly, "I will definitely tell the Headmaster about this."
"Yeah, yeah," Kate nodded perfunctorily.
"I mean it!"
"I'm not joking with you either."
"...Tch!"
The two returned to the Common Room one after the other. Kate was so sleepy her eyelids were fighting each other. After casually telling her to rest early, she entered the girls' dormitory.
It wasn't until her back disappeared around the corner of the dormitory that Malfoy, who had been puffing her cheeks the whole time, finally let her expression ease slightly.
That jerk, telling her to sleep early just now!
Snorting softly, she stepped lightly into her own dormitory.
With the power of her father on the Board of Governors, getting her a private room was no trouble at all!
The moment she turned on the light, Malfoy was startled by Pansy, who suddenly appeared in her room.
"Y-you, why are you here?"
Pansy sat on the expensive sofa, her arms crossed. "Miss Malfoy, if I recall correctly, I believe you were the one who asked me to wait for you here."
Ah, well...
Only then did Malfoy remember that there did seem to be such a thing.
However, after seeing Kate right before curfew, she had recklessly called her out and completely forgotten that there was still someone in her room.
She gave a light cough. "If there's nothing else, just go to sleep early."
"Wait a minute," Pansy stopped her. "What were you doing calling Kate out just now?"
Malfoy paused, hastily trying to cover it up. "Nothing, I just find her an eyesore and wanted to scold her a bit."
Pansy was already used to this eldest young miss's rather immature mind and behavior compared to her peers.
She had no idea how that Kate had provoked her, but Pansy could hear Malfoy bringing Kate up almost every day for no reason.
It was the same with the copying incident from before. That day, the young miss ran back with red eyes and dragged her into a furious rant against Kate.
It made Pansy think Kate had done something utterly unforgivable to her. But when she asked again, she found out that Kate was actually going to let her off the hook and no longer make her copy lines.
Wasn't that a good thing?
That was what she had asked at the time.
Then she saw Young Miss Malfoy freeze for a moment before unleashing another storm of verbal abuse.
At that point, Pansy understood. This person was just used to acting like a tyrant at home. When she came outside and found someone who could actually control her, yet she couldn't do anything about it, she threw fits of impotent rage.
Just like right now.
"Damn that Kate, I'll show her one of these days..." Malfoy muttered curses under her breath as she walked into the bathroom.
Pansy shook her head.
The Shafiq family and the Malfoy family, sigh.
Early the next morning, Kate woke up feeling refreshed and went to class. After today, the Easter holidays would begin. She would have three whole days, just enough time for her to visit the gamekeeper's hut.
"Hey, Kate," Harry took the initiative to sit next to her. "You said you were going to see the Headmaster yesterday. How are things now?"
Kate glanced at Professor Binns on the podium and whispered, "I found a way to save the little dragon, but I want you guys to stay away from the gamekeeper's hut for the next few days."
"Why?" Ron also leaned in. "If you do something dangerous behind our backs, Hermione will definitely take it out on us."
Heaven knew how many revision plans Hermione had already assigned them. If she added more, it would literally kill them.
Looking thoughtfully at Hermione, who was listening attentively and taking notes, Kate pressed her lips tightly together before finally relenting. "Alright then. We'll meet at the gamekeeper's hut after dinner tonight."
The two boys finally breathed a sigh of relief, nodding hastily.
After the long History of Magic class ended, Hermione finally had a moment to ask her about it. However, just as she finished packing her stationery, she realized that Kate had left at some point.
"She said she was in a hurry to prepare some things," Harry quickly said.
"She also told us to gather tonight!" Ron added.
Hermione furrowed her brows. She walked to the door and looked around for a moment, sighing anxiously.
What exactly was that girl planning to do?
While she was still agonizing over it, Kate was already climbing the spiral staircase to the Headmaster's office at a brisk pace.
"Professor, have you explained everything clearly to Hagrid?" she asked straight to the point as soon as she entered.
Dumbledore was currently teasing Fawkes and didn't even glance her way. "Rest assured, he will be patrolling the Forbidden Forest tonight and won't disturb you."
The Forbidden Forest...
Calculating the time, Voldemort should be reaching his limits soon and would be preparing to go to the Forbidden Forest to hunt unicorns to sustain his life.
If Hagrid ran into him at this time...
She licked her dry lips with difficulty. "Professor, I also invited Hermione and the others tonight. I think it would be better... to have Hagrid stay behind and watch the kids."
Dumbledore's movements paused. He turned his head, his deep blue eyes gazing at her.
After a long moment, he finally nodded. "That is fine too. I imagine he would want to stay behind as well."
Kate let out a sigh of relief. She was just about to bow her head and leave when he suddenly called out to her, "If you are afraid, you can still back out now."
She looked back in confusion, only to see the old man looking at her with a kindly expression.
Her nose somehow began to tingle. She gave a sharp sniff, then broke into a relaxed smile. "I will save it."
With that, she quickly backed out of the room.
After a long while, a faint sigh echoed in the office. "Child... the one I am worried about is you."
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