Harry Potter: I am the Legend

The next morning, Hoffa was awakened by claws scratching at him.

Unlike the previous day, it wasn't as easy for him to get out of bed. He had overexerted his magic twice in a row the day before, leaving him utterly exhausted.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Hoffa saw Indor, who had transformed into a silver badger, furiously pushing him.

Indor whispered, "If you don't get up, I'm going to starve to death."

Hoffa stared blankly for a second, looking at the ceiling and then at the badger beside him. Still groggy and disoriented from his dreams, he struggled to process the situation.

Suddenly, he bolted upright.

"Why the hell are you still here?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Hoffa quickly covered it with his hand and glanced around the room. Luckily, it was already close to noon, and the dormitory was empty.

Indor replied, "I'm hungry."

Hearing this, Hoffa's stomach growled in agreement. He realized that after experiencing the most tumultuous day of his life yesterday, he hadn't eaten anything.

"Hungry? Fine, let's eat—wait a moment!"

Abruptly, Hoffa threw off the covers, jumped out of bed, grabbed the badger by the head, and carried him to the window of the Ravenclaw tower. There, he dangled him outside, over a 300-meter drop.

The strong wind blew the badger back and forth.

Indor froze for a moment. Then, looking down, he screamed, "What are you doing? Murder!"

Hands on his hips, Hoffa scolded the badger, "Didn't you say you'd leave at dawn? Didn't you promise I wouldn't see you when I woke up? Can you even tell the truth?"

"Put me down! I'm afraid of heights!"

"You're lying to me," Hoffa accused.

Dangling in the air, Indor frantically scratched his head with his paws.

"Your dormmates were too noisy! They were running around this morning, and it never stopped. I didn't dare crawl out from under your blanket."

With a dark expression, Hoffa pulled the badger back inside and tossed him to the ground. "Well, they're gone now."

Indor landed with a thud and huddled in a corner of the room.

"I'm hungry. Hey, you brat! Is this how you treat a friend? No food, just kicking me out?"

Hoffa took a deep breath. "Ha, I've never seen anyone so shameless, inviting themselves to stay and expecting to be fed."

Despite his words, he picked Indor up and tucked him under his arm. After changing and washing up, he headed downstairs. It was daytime now, and he didn't dare let Indor sit on his shoulder, so he stuffed the badger inside the front of his school robes.

It was Sunday, and as Hoffa entered the common room, he saw first-years gathered, chatting and laughing. A few upperclassmen were showing off, using their wands to make two books duel and bite each other in midair, much to the delight of the younger students.

Indor poked his head out of Hoffa's robes. "So, these are your classmates? They're full of youthful energy. But look at you—you act like an old man just trying to get by."

Startled, Hoffa quickly tapped Indor's head with his wand. "Shut up. Who gave you permission to talk? Once you've eaten, leave."

Spotting Miranda's gaze drifting in his direction, Hoffa hurriedly pushed open the common room door and headed toward the Great Hall.

Now, the pressing issue was how to elegantly and tactfully get rid of this troublesome badger.

This creature lacked the stealth of Peter Pettigrew, who could stay silent for years. Indor couldn't resist butting into every lively scene or critiquing everything he saw.

Hoffa dreaded the consequences if anyone discovered he had a talking badger. Worse yet, he feared that his secret trip to Hogsmeade would come to light.

He had a sinking feeling that the events of yesterday were bound to draw significant attention.

...

At Noon in the Great Hall

As the house-elves' freshly prepared food appeared on the plates, Indor, ravenous as if reincarnated from a starving ghost, attempted to leap out to grab something to eat. Hoffa had to tap his head with his wand multiple times to make him calm down.

The moment Miranda saw Hoffa, she curiously asked, "Where were you yesterday? I didn't see you all day."

Hoffa had already prepared his excuse. He replied, "I got lost in the school. Some corridors kept shifting, and I couldn't find my way out. By the time I did, it was already dark."

Miranda nodded in sudden realization. "Oh, magic corridors! If you get stuck, you can just jump. Hogwarts won't let students fall to their deaths."

Hoffa gave an awkward chuckle, and the two exchanged a few casual words.

At that moment, a skylight in one corner of the Great Hall opened, and a flock of owls flew in. They swooped around the tables, searching for their owners to drop letters or packages onto their laps.

Owls typically arrived in the morning or at noon. Hoffa didn't have an owl and doubted anyone would send him letters anyway.

Miranda, on the other hand, did. Her owl was a striking, chestnut-colored speckled owl with delicate blue-and-white markings on its forehead that resembled stars.

A newspaper dropped in front of Miranda—it was the Daily Prophet.

Hoffa didn't subscribe to newspapers; he was broke. Subscribing cost 10 silver Sickles a month, which added up to a whole Galleon in just a few months.

After delivering the mail, the owls stayed behind, begging their owners for food. Miranda's owl elegantly opened its beak, and she fed it a piece of jam-covered toast.

Hoffa had always thought pets resembled their owners in some ways. For instance, Aglaia's snowy owl was as self-absorbed as its owner. After delivering its package, it immediately buried its head in the communal nut dish, munching away noisily.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the owls, Hoffa hastily placed Indor on the table.

Starving, Indor grabbed several chicken legs in quick succession and stuffed them into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk.

While Miranda was unwrapping her newspaper, she suddenly noticed the badger on the table and was immediately intrigued.

"Hoffa, where did you get a badger? Hardly anyone keeps them as pets."

A pet badger?

In an instant, the Ravenclaw students all turned to look. Even the Hufflepuffs at the neighboring table leaned over curiously, exclaiming:

"What an unusual badger! Silver and black!"

"Wow, it's adorable!"

"Look at the patterns on its fur—it almost looks like a suit!"

As Hufflepuff's house emblem was a badger, they were particularly sensitive to this animal.

Horrified, Hoffa quickly stuffed the overeating Indor back into his robes. With an awkward smile, he said, "I found it… near the Black Lake."

"Wow! You're so lucky!"

Several Hufflepuff girls stared at him with starry eyes.

"Can I pet it?"

Before Hoffa could respond, a few delicate hands reached into his robes and started stroking Indor's head.

To Hoffa's dismay, Indor seemed to enjoy the attention. Hoffa had no choice but to grab its tail and try to pull it back down. This idiot—did it not realize the consequences of being exposed?

"Wait a moment!"

A cool, sharp voice rang out. The Hufflepuff girls froze and turned their heads.

Through the crowd came a girl with an owl perched on her shoulder. She moved with the grace and authority of a queen—Aglaia.

Narrowing her icy blue eyes, she asked in a cutting tone, "A badger you found near the Black Lake, hmm? Then why does this found badger have earrings? Bach, did you steal someone's pet?"

Oh no, not her again! Why her of all people?

How Sharp Are Her Eyes?

How sharp could this girl's eyes possibly be? Not to mention her willingness to assume the worst of him. If she discovered the true identity of the badger, she would undoubtedly report it without hesitation.

Before Hoffa could react, Indor's head shrank back into his robes, trembling in fear.

Hoffa held him in place and snapped back, trying to sound confident despite his nerves:

"Watch your words! What proof do you have that I stole it?"

"Hah! If it wasn't stolen, why did you only dare let it out when the owls arrived?"

"You—!" Hoffa started.

"What? If it wasn't stolen, why are you clutching it to your chest like you're hiding something?"

Hoffa felt like he was going mad. He finally understood the phrase "give a dog a bad name and hang him." Aglaia was relentless, like a haunting specter or a parasitic worm that clung stubbornly no matter how much you tried to shake her off. Ignoring her wasn't an option, either. She was no different from an online troll in his past life.

Unable to bear it any longer, Hoffa stood up, ready to leave. If he couldn't fight her, he could at least avoid her.

But Aglaia, turning to those around her, sneered, "See? I was right. He's guilty!"

Grinding his teeth, Hoffa turned back, barely restraining his anger.

At that moment, as tension reached a boiling point, Miranda, who had been reading the newspaper, suddenly exclaimed,

"Oh my goodness! Look at this! Dark wizards broke into Hogsmeade last night and unleashed a deadly mist!"

Dark wizards?

This news was far more shocking than a badger. The crowd immediately flocked around Miranda, even Aglaia's attention wavering.

Hoffa let out a sigh of relief.

Miranda continued, "Forty-seven people were left unconscious, and two died from inhaling the poison. One of them was the owner of Two Broomsticks!"

Gasps echoed around the table, faces turning pale.

Elsewhere in the Great Hall, students across all years who had received copies of The Daily Prophet were also discussing the news.

Miranda turned another page, her voice trembling.

"The other forty-five victims are in a deep coma. The Ministry of Magic found extensive signs of battle at the scene, along with the corpse of a Quintaped. The initial conclusion is that the attack was carried out by the German dark wizard Schmidt Ruttloff.

"Ruttloff was expelled from Durmstrang in 1901 for illegally keeping dangerous creatures. He has a history of killing Muggles in Romania and is considered extremely dangerous. Minister of Magic Hector Foley has issued a strong protest, and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement has deployed numerous Aurors to seal off Hogsmeade and issued an A-Class Dangerous Wanted Notice."

As Miranda finished, the hall erupted in heated discussion.

"Why would a German dark wizard come to Hogsmeade?"

"Is the Ministry blind?"

"Foley is such a useless fool—protests are all he can manage!"

"He needs to step down already!"

"Wait a second!" Aglaia suddenly interrupted the commotion.

"You said the Ministry found extensive signs of battle?"

Miranda nodded. "That's right, but they didn't find the combatants themselves."

"Did anyone report the incident to the Ministry?"

"No," Miranda replied. "The incident was discovered by merchants delivering goods to Hogsmeade this morning."

"There's something suspicious about this," Aglaia declared firmly.

The Ravenclaw students at the table turned to her, intrigued.

Aglaia pulled up a chair, crossing her legs as she began her analysis.

"Every incident has a cause. Why would dark wizards come to Hogsmeade? Why was there a conflict? And most importantly—why didn't anyone report it to the Ministry?

"Normally, if we encountered dark wizards, we'd flee and immediately notify the authorities."

Miranda countered, "Maybe the victims were captured."

"Impossible!" Aglaia scoffed. "Didn't you see the report? There were fierce signs of battle and a dead Quintaped. Judging by the evidence, the two sides were evenly matched, and the dark wizards suffered significant losses."

Miranda fell silent as students from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and even some from Slytherin and Gryffindor gathered closer, hanging on Aglaia's every word.

Raising two fingers, Aglaia explained,

"There are two possibilities. One: the other party involved in the fight doesn't want their identity revealed. Two: neither side belongs to the British wizarding community, so they don't care.

"But since this happened in Hogsmeade, I believe the first possibility is more likely.

"Who in Hogsmeade wouldn't want to be identified? It could only be an outlaw, a dark wizard, or—" Aglaia smirked, dismissing the third option. "—low-level students. That's obviously out of the question.

"So, this was likely a conflict between British and foreign dark wizards. And the British wizard involved? Probably even more dangerous."

A brief silence followed her words before the students burst into heated debates.

The discussion quickly shifted to the identity of the British wizard, with various theories flying around. Gryffindor students used the opportunity to criticize Slytherin, insisting it had to be one of them.

Slytherins fiercely defended themselves, arguing that anyone capable of standing toe-to-toe with Schmidt Ruttloff would be a source of pride for their house.

Amid the chaos, no one noticed as a lone figure quietly slipped out of the hall.

(End of Chapter)

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