Chapter 28: The Monster in the Black Lake

"So, we are following in the footsteps of the great sages?"

"Wow, my goodness, that is just so cool!"

The excited young wizards chattered incessantly, shattering the fear brought on by the darkness. Hermione lifted her chin triumphantly and winked at Chu Yang, showing off in a low-key manner. Just as Chu Yang was about to offer a compliment to keep her settled, an ill-timed voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Look! That little Muggle-born girl is educating real wizards about the history of Hogwarts?!"

"How utterly ridiculous!"

A small boat drifted in from the side, carrying three boys. The two flanking the center were tall and sturdy, significantly broader than Neville. Between them sat a blond boy who, while quite handsome, possessed a sinister gaze that suggested he meant no good.

The blond boy said in a low voice, "People like you, born into lowly Muggle families—Mudbloods—have no right to speak of those four great wizards, especially the great Salazar Slytherin."

"None of your business!" Hermione trembled with rage. Since entering the wizarding world, the thing she hated most was people calling her parents Muggles.

"How can you use such a vicious word?" The timid and dull-witted Neville acted completely out of character, pointing an angry finger at the blond boy.

"What does 'Mudblood' mean?" Hermione hesitated, instinctively sensing it was a vile term. Neville wavered for a moment before whispering into her ear. Hermione’s face turned deathly pale, and her eyes instantly welled up with red.

Chu Yang narrowed his eyes, staring coldly at the blond boy. Among the new students, there was only one person who could spew such venom: Draco Malfoy.

Ordinary young wizards might not be familiar with the profiles of Hogwarts freshmen, but Draco Malfoy was different. His family was a prestigious name in Hogwarts history, and his father, Lucius Malfoy, was one of the school's governors. Obtaining the list of new students in advance and finding ways to curry favor with prominent wizarding families was standard practice for the Malfoy clan.

When Lucius Malfoy saw that there were two Muggle-born students on the list, he had flown into a rage in front of Draco. Every member of the Malfoy family had graduated from Slytherin House at Hogwarts and held Salazar Slytherin’s blood purity doctrine in the highest regard. They believed that only pure-blood wizards were qualified to learn and use magic.

Chu Yang found this amusing. By their logic, the very first wizard in history to discover and use magic would have been unqualified to do so, because his parents were Muggles. Without the first generation of Muggle-born wizards pioneering the path of magic and intermarrying, where would these wizarding families have come from in the first place? This was entirely different from the chicken-or-the-egg paradox; the Muggle-born wizards and the pure-blood families clearly had the former come first.

Malfoy, unable to contain his fury after being firmly retorted by Hermione, began to spew a string of vicious insults.

"Is this the etiquette of a pure-blood wizard? Resorting to foul-mouthed insults the moment you disagree with someone?" Chu Yang sneered. "I’ve only seen similar behavior from street thugs in London. Your upbringing is truly lamentable."

Draco Malfoy’s face flushed red. He stood up excitedly and roared, "I only observe etiquette with wizards, you lowly—"

Before Malfoy could finish, the boat lurched violently. He nearly tumbled out, saved only by Goyle’s quick reflexes in grabbing him. At that moment, gnarled tree roots were breaking through the surface of the lake. Under the moonlight, the branches emerging from the water began to coil around Malfoy’s boat, slowing it down until it ground to a halt and began to shake frantically.

"Damn it! What is going on? I thought this lake was perfectly safe!" Malfoy gripped the edge of the boat, screaming hysterically, terrified out of his wits.

The branches wrapped around more and more of the boat, and in the blink of an eye, the three boys had no room left to stand. Hagrid, at the front, finally noticed the commotion behind him. His eyes widened as he shouted, "My goodness, what is that thing?"

The dark lake was hazy under the moonlight. To Hagrid, the branches and vines looked like the tentacles of some monster, rocking the boat and trying to drag the three boys into the water.

"Blast it, what do I do? I didn't bring my wand!" Hagrid panicked. He hadn't brought his umbrella-shaped wand when he left, thinking it unnecessary for just picking up students. Now, faced with an emergency, he was helpless.

While Hagrid regretted his decision, the three boys on the boat could no longer hold on and fell into the water like dumplings.

*Splash! Splash! Splash!*

Malfoy struggled desperately to grab the boat, but his feet were entangled by the lake's roots, dragging him deep under. He surfaced and submerged repeatedly, like tripe in a hotpot; every time he tried to call for help, he swallowed a mouthful of lake water. His two companions, Goyle and Crabbe, fared much better; although they had fallen in, they quickly scrambled back onto the boat.

Strangely, once Malfoy was submerged, the boat stopped shaking. Aside from being drenched, the others were unharmed. A thought dawned on Goyle and Crabbe simultaneously: the "monster" in the lake seemed to be targeting Malfoy alone!

Thinking this, Goyle and Crabbe looked in unison at Chu Yang and Hermione, who had just clashed with Malfoy. They met Chu Yang’s icy gaze and shuddered, immediately lowering their heads, afraid to look a second time.

Terrified that the "monster" would eat him, Malfoy wailed, "Help me! Please, save me! I don't want to be eaten by a monster—anyone, help me!"

"Goyle! Crabbe!" the desperate Malfoy cried out for his companions.

Goyle instinctively leaned toward Malfoy, bending over the side of the boat to pull him up. The boat immediately shook violently again, and with a scream, Goyle fell back into the lake. Crabbe, terrified, scrambled away from Malfoy, feigning ignorance to save his own skin. He was now certain the "monster" was targeting Malfoy.

Once Goyle climbed back onto the boat for the second time, having learned his lesson, he began to emulate Crabbe, pretending not to hear Malfoy’s pleas. Poor Malfoy was practically drowning in lake water.

At first, seeing Malfoy fall into the water had felt satisfying to Hermione, as if all her pent-up anger had been vented. However, as time passed, she began to worry he might actually be in danger. After all, she was only an eleven-year-old girl, innocent and kind-hearted.

Hermione asked anxiously, "Why aren't his friends helping him? They're both so big; either one of them could pull him onto the boat."

Chu Yang glanced at her, surprised. "He was being so nasty to you just a moment ago, and you're worried about him? You're not angry anymore?"

"Of course I'm angry!" Hermione retorted matter-of-factly. "But I don't want to hold a grudge against a dead person. Only if he stays alive can I find a chance to get my revenge!"

Chu Yang wiped the cold sweat from his brow. The old saying was right: the prettier the girl, the deeper the grudge. Never provoke them lightly.