Harry Potter: From Baldur's Gate to Hogwarts

Draco Malfoy, wearing his usual smug expression, strutted over to the Gryffindor table with five or six Slytherin students in tow.

Ever since Malfoy had discovered that Hagrid was secretly raising a dragon, this was already the thirteenth time he had arrogantly brought his posse over to Gryffindor's table during dinner to taunt Harry and his friends. Yet, because they didn't want to drag Hagrid into trouble, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had endured Malfoy's relentless sneering and jabs without retaliating. Even when their fellow Gryffindors wanted to stand up for them, Harry and Ron had persuaded them to hold back.

But today, when Malfoy once again brought Crabbe and Goyle over to mock Harry and Ron's families right to their faces, before Ron could even react, Harry—who no longer had anything to worry about—directly slammed an entire plate of mashed potatoes onto Malfoy's smug little face.

The mashed potatoes slowly slid down Malfoy's stunned expression—some plopping onto the floor, others slipping into his robes.

"Potter! How dare you throw mashed potatoes at me?!" Malfoy, who had been basking in his usual joy of tormenting Harry and Ron, seemed momentarily unable to process what had just happened.

But he quickly snapped out of it.

"Goyle! Crabbe! Beat Potter to a pulp!" Malfoy roared in fury.

Goyle and Crabbe obediently charged forward, but Harry and Ron weren't pushovers either. Two versus two, and these days, their brawling skills were nothing to scoff at.

Seeing that his two goons couldn't take Harry and Ron down immediately, Malfoy didn't hesitate—he pulled out his wand and fired a Densaugeo curse straight at Harry. Caught off guard, Harry suddenly felt his two front teeth growing at an alarming rate.

"Finite Incantatem!" Harry quickly cast a third-ring spell on himself, instantly restoring his teeth to normal.

Seeing that Malfoy had already resorted to hexing Harry, Hermione jumped into the fray as well. Without hesitation, she drew her wand and cast a full-body Bind Curse on both Crabbe and Goyle.

Thud, thud! The two large boys, now frozen stiff, toppled straight to the ground.

The other Slytherins who had come with Malfoy saw Hermione taking action and immediately drew their wands as well.

In response, Harry, Ron, and Hermione swiftly vaulted over the dining table, using the Gryffindor table as cover while firing spells back at the Slytherins.

The surrounding Gryffindors were momentarily stunned by the sight of the two factions dueling across the dining tables, food and plates flying everywhere. But they quickly realized what was happening—Slytherins had dared to come to Gryffindor's side to pick a fight?!

Without hesitation, almost every Gryffindor present joined the battle, launching a barrage of spells at the Slytherins. In an instant, the tables turned—quite literally—on the Slytherins, who had been pressing Hermione and the others just moments ago.

And all of this was being watched by the Slytherins seated at their own table.

The inter-house war had begun.

By the time the professors, alerted by the Hufflepuff spectators, arrived, the Great Hall was littered with fallen witches and wizards, each afflicted with a variety of bizarre magical effects.

Some were spewing giant slugs (massive ones). Some were randomly spitting sparks. Some were covered head-to-toe in bright red boils. Some had noses transformed into elephant trunks. Others lay stiff as boards, while some—though unconscious—still had their legs kicking wildly. Near a long-haired Gryffindor girl who had been hit by Densaugeo, a nearly three-meter-tall, fur-covered half-giant was trying to hang two struggling Slytherins onto a floating chandelier…

"For Merlin's sake, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU ALL DOING?!"

A thunderous roar silenced the chaos. Instantly, all the students lying on the ground—whether in red or green robes—shuddered.

The giant, who had been about to hang the two Slytherins from the chandelier, instinctively let go, rapidly shrinking back to normal size.

Thud, thud! The two unfortunate Slytherins hit the stone floor backside first, their faces contorted in pain.

Professor McGonagall surveyed the battlefield, her expression darkening as she took in the sight of tangled Gryffindors and Slytherins sprawled across the floor, the utterly wrecked dining hall, and the scattered food and plates. She was livid—absolutely livid. Never in all her years as a professor… never… never…

"Gryffindor and Slytherin will each lose two hundred points! Everyone, march straight to the hospital wing! And every single one of you will write a ten-inch apology essay—to be placed on my desk within three days!"

Professor Snape arrived on the scene shortly after McGonagall, but it seemed there wasn't much left for him to do. In her rage, McGonagall had already doled out punishment to all involved. Although Snape felt that his Slytherins were being unfairly penalized, he wisely chose self-preservation over protesting against a furious McGonagall.

Taking deep breaths to suppress—though failing to contain—her anger, McGonagall turned to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students who had been watching the spectacle.

"You—deep breath—who here—deep breath—can give me—deep breath—a rundown—deep breath—of what happened?"

A fair-skinned, high-nosed, black-haired, and sharp-featured Hufflepuff student raised a hand and stepped forward. "Professor McGonagall, I think I can explain what happened."

...

Word of McGonagall's verdict quickly spread to every student involved in the mass brawl. Apart from the six who had started it—Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle—everyone else received a month of detention.

As for the ringleaders, apparently, McGonagall felt that mere detention wasn't enough. In addition to writing their essays, she assigned them to assist Hagrid in patrolling the Forbidden Forest—at least for one night.

(A certain bespectacled troublemaker, who had been unable to explore the Forbidden Forest due to Dumbledore's restrictions: Wait, this is actually a punishment?!)

News of Gryffindor and Slytherin each losing two hundred points spread like wildfire throughout the castle. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were, of course, overjoyed, but to Hermione's utter confusion, Gryffindor was also celebrating.

Not only that, ever since the rumor of Hermione leading the fight spread (courtesy of a certain redhead who shall remain unnamed), her fellow Gryffindors had started treating her with newfound warmth.

No one ostracized her anymore. No one whispered behind her back. Even the roommates who had once kept their distance now called her name with enthusiasm and shared all kinds of gossip with her—though Hermione herself had zero interest in such matters.

When she voiced her confusion to Harry and Ron, Ron simply responded, "Isn't it obvious?"

Harry, however, offered an explanation that shed light on an aspect of Gryffindor culture Hermione hadn't fully understood before.

"Hermione, for most Gryffindors, whether it's brawling, detentions, or writing essays, as long as they can drag Slytherin down with them, it's worth it. And if they can get a good fight out of it? Even better."

"But even if it means almost losing all our house points?" Hermione still didn't quite get it.

"Yep. Even if it means our points drop to nearly zero," Harry chuckled. "Besides, Slytherin's already in the negatives. Seeing them suffer more than us makes Gryffindors happy."

"Harry, what's a negative number?" Ron interjected between bites of a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean.

"Uh… explaining that to someone who's never been to primary school is kind of complicated…"

As Harry scratched his head, trying to figure out how to explain negative numbers, Hermione's internal encyclopedia kicked in.

"A negative number is a mathematical concept representing values less than zero," she explained.

"Oh, and what's a real number?"

"A real number includes both rational and irrational numbers."

"Oh, and what are those?"

As Ron continued asking, Hermione patiently answered. Meanwhile, Harry quietly resumed his homework, suspecting that this conversation might never end.

--

At 9:30 PM, after finishing his astronomy homework, Harry glanced at the clock, set down his textbook, and excitedly headed toward the entrance of the common room.

"It's almost curfew, Harry! Where are you going?" Hermione looked up to see Harry cheerfully striding out. A quick glance at the clock made a question mark appear above her head.

"Didn't Professor McGonagall say we needed to help Hagrid patrol the Forbidden Forest for at least three nights?" Harry grabbed a cup of water and a few slices of bread. "I figured I'd go ahead and get a feel for what patrolling the forest is like. Don't worry, I might not come back tonight."

With that, Harry happily left, leaving the other young wizards staring at each other in bewilderment.

On his way, he could almost see the experience points in the Forbidden Forest waving at him. The thought made his heart pound with excitement. He enthusiastically greeted Professor McGonagall, who was on patrol, before dashing off toward Hagrid's hut.

"Hagrid! Open up! It's me, Harry!" He pounded on the wooden door.

The door swung open, revealing Hagrid, who seemed to be preparing food for the young dragon, Norbert (name pending). Looking puzzled, he asked, "Harry? What are you doing here so late?"

"Didn't Professor McGonagall say I should patrol the Forbidden Forest with you?" Harry beamed. "I finished my homework and had nothing else to do, so I came over."

"Wait, hold on—" Hagrid shook his head, trying to process what he had just heard. "Harry, McGonagall did mention this during the day, but we haven't set a date yet! Why are you here already?"

"The early bird gets the worm," Harry said cheerfully, rubbing Fang's big head before looking at Hagrid. "So, when do we leave?"

"Harry, the Forbidden Forest is dangerous," Hagrid said with a frown. "This isn't a game!"

"I know. The Forbidden Forest has Acromantulas, Centaurs, Unicorns, Red Caps, Thestrals, and..." Harry started counting on his fingers. "Professor Dumbledore has taken me in there before."

"Dumbledore took you into the Forbidden Forest?! When was this?" Hagrid's eyes widened in shock.

"Last December," Harry waved a hand dismissively. "It's nothing major. The important thing is, when are we heading out?"

Since Dumbledore had already taken Harry through the forest and he had McGonagall's approval (something about this felt off to Hagrid, but he couldn't put his finger on it), Hagrid reluctantly agreed to take him for a round of patrol tonight. Besides, he had a detailed map of the forest, and if any dangerous creatures wandered too close to Hogwarts, he'd know immediately. Overall, it shouldn't be too risky—as long as Harry didn't cause trouble.

Handing Fang's leash to Harry, Hagrid hoisted a massive crossbow onto his back, took up a sword over a meter long, and led Harry and Fang into the Forbidden Forest.

"Harry, listen carefully," Hagrid warned with a serious expression. "Never leave my side or stray from the path. As long as you stay close to me or Fang, the creatures in the Forbidden Forest won't harm you."

Harry nodded. "Got it."

Under the dappled moonlight, the two of them and Fang walked along the narrow path. Before long, they encountered a pack of wolves, each taller than a grown man.

The wolves crouched low, growling in warning. A particularly massive one stood at the center, baring its fangs at Hagrid, saliva dripping from its teeth onto the ground.

Hagrid quickly waved at Harry, signaling him to stay close. "Harry! Get behind me. This pack looks like they haven't eaten for days—"

"Fireball!!"

A massive fireball whizzed past Hagrid, crashing into the center of the wolf pack. With a thunderous explosion, a small mushroom cloud bloomed into the night sky.

Hagrid stared blankly at the scene before him. The entire wolf pack—without exception—had been reduced to charred remains.

"Harry!"

"What?" Harry looked up, confused, still happily calculating his experience points.

"I get that these wolves were aggressive, but can you at least wait before attacking next time? At least let me finish speaking! What if they weren't actually hostile?"

Harry nodded. "Understood. I'll wait until they show clear hostility before retaliating."

After walking for another twenty minutes, they encountered an Acromantula.

"See? Not all creatures are hostile," Hagrid pointed out, gesturing toward the giant spider that calmly skittered past without paying them any mind. "Especially the Acromantulas in this part of the forest—I practically raised them myself!"

"Mm-hmm," Harry nodded absentmindedly, while his left hand, hidden from Hagrid's view, secretly cast a spell on the spider.

Enemy Swarm: Tier Three, Mind Control Spell

Targets a creature within sight, forcing it to make an Intelligence saving throw. Unless immune to fear, a failed save results in the creature losing its ability to distinguish friend from foe. It perceives all visible creatures as enemies for one minute. Each time it takes damage, it may attempt another saving throw to break free.

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