Ronald accepted Malfoy's invitation to duel on Harry's behalf and took the initiative to serve as Harry's assistant.
Harry was confused throughout the whole process, not knowing why they were suddenly faced with a duel.
After Malfoy left, he asked, "What is wizard duel all about? Why do we need assistants? Are there any rules?"
"Oh, if you die, the assistant will take over until both sides are dead."
Ronald said it lightly, but Harry felt horrified. When Harry's face turned pale, Ronald realized that there was something wrong with what he said, and hurriedly said, "I mean, this is the rule of wizard duels, not about you and Malfoy."
"Do you think you have the ability to kill each other?"
The paleness faded, but Harry still looked bad. It had only been two and a half weeks since the start of school, and he had only managed to cast a handful of spells, with the success rate being inconsistent.
"Is using fists against the rules?" Harry asked.
Ronald thought for a moment, "Technically, yes, but if the two of you only use wands to duel, I'm afraid you won't be able to hurt each other until dawn the next day."
He waved his hand, "Just punch him in the nose. I've been wanting to beat him up for a long time."
Harry thought about it and realized that this was the truth. He whispered to Ronald and discussed how to deal with the situation.
In the end, the two decided to crook Malfoy's nostrils, which he used to look at people, and then pull out his proud golden hair (actually platinum). If necessary, they could bite him to death.
Hermione's brows were knitted tightly together after listening to the whole thing. She really wanted to stand up and stop the two people's crazy behavior, but Tom's words "losing the fight is the big deal" made her hold back.
.....
"It's half past eleven, Harry, we should go."
In the dead of night, Harry and Ronald put on their clothes, moving very quietly for fear of disturbing their roommates.
After carefully closing the door, he walked down the spiral staircase and entered the Gryffindor common room. Except for the fire in the fireplace, all other lights were off and the light was very dim.
"Wait a moment."
Just as the two of them walked to the door, they heard a female voice behind them, which scared them to death.
When I turned around, it was Hermione.
"I'll go with you and duel Malfoy."
"What did you say?" Ronald couldn't believe his ears. He remembered that Granger was a typical academic master. Except that he was slightly worse than Riddle in the Serpentine College, he was almost the most favorite student of the professors.
"I said, I want to duel with you too." Hermione said again.
"I thought you were going to tell the prefect, or even go to the professor." Harry suspected that he had misheard and took a step back cautiously. "You don't want to catch me in the act, do you?"
"I was actually planning to do that." Hermione admitted frankly, and then after the two of them changed their expressions, she added: "But Tom is right, winning is the most important thing."
"You two... To be honest, I really don't know what spells you have mastered. Do you really intend to fight with your fists? You are wizards, not boxers."
These words made Harry and Ronald feel ashamed and embarrassed, but they still agreed to Hermione's joining. At least Hermione knew more spells than them.
The three of them left the common room and heard a wheezing sound on the floor. Harry thought it was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, and almost turned around and ran back to the common room, but the Fat Lady went out to visit friends late at night and the door was closed.
"Neville, why are you here?" The sharp-eyed Hermione saw clearly that the person hiding in the corner was not Mrs. Norris, but Neville Longbottom who was sent to the school infirmary in the afternoon.
"Thank God, you finally came to find me." The little fat boy said with tears in his eyes: "I forgot the password and couldn't go back to sleep. Fortunately, you found that I was gone, otherwise I would have to sleep here until tomorrow."
Harry and Ronald avoided looking at each other in tacit agreement. They had no idea that Neville was not in the dormitory.
"Neville, how's your hand?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
"All is well."
Neville raised his hands and shook them happily, "Madam Pomfrey cured me in no time, she is amazing."
"That's great." Ronald estimated the time and said impatiently, "The password is Pig Nose, but the Fat Lady is out visiting friends. You just need to wait here for her to come back. We have more important things to do."
"Don't leave me." Seeing the three people about to leave, Neville hurriedly followed them, unwilling to stay at the door alone.
In desperation, the original two-person duel team became four people. Harry could only comfort himself that there was strength in numbers. If Malfoy came with only two people, he would definitely teach him a lesson.
The four of them walked carefully along the way and did not turn a single corner, for they were afraid of encountering love around the corner or running into Filch and his cat.
Fortunately, there were no accidents along the way and they arrived at the prize display room on the fourth floor smoothly.
But unfortunately, Malfoy didn't come, but Filch and his cat showed up, and their purpose was very clear: to go to the trophy display room.
"You've been fooled by Malfoy!" Hermione said angrily, and immediately called Harry and others to escape through the door away from Filch's voice.
Harry and Ronald followed closely behind with gloomy faces.
At this moment, Harry felt like he was about to explode with anger. He was actually deceived by Malfoy. He was so scared just now. What if he couldn't use the spell in the duel and Malfoy would laugh at him to death?
It turned out that his worries were completely unnecessary.
Clang——!
There was a noise loud enough to wake up the entire castle, and Ronald knocked over a suit of armor, immediately attracting Filch's attention.
"Over there! Loris, let's chase her!"
"Run!" Harry shouted. The four of them didn't even dare to look back. They ran desperately through one corridor after another.
However, misfortunes never come singly. Just when they were happy about getting rid of Filch, Peeves showed up again to disrupt the situation, shouting loudly and exposing their position.
The four of them could only run for their lives again.
Hermione was exhausted and her feet went weak, causing her left foot to trip over her right foot.
Seeing that she was about to fall heavily to the floor, Hermione had already closed her eyes and clenched her teeth to prepare for the coming pain, but her body suddenly went limp and was caught by someone.
Hermione opened her eyes wide and looked at the person who caught her, her pupils full of astonishment.
"Tom, why are you here?!"