Chapter 487: Dispute among Prefects

"There are many obstacles."

Xie Ling's voice was neither hurried nor slow, but it carried an unquestionable power. The moment he raised his index finger, the air seemed to tremble, and an invisible barrier suddenly rose in the middle of the corridor.

At the same time, he naturally stretched out his left hand, firmly grasped Hermione's wrist, and gently pulled her behind him to protect her. Hermione was caught off guard and staggered. She looked up and saw Xie Lin's calm and focused profile.

"boom!"

The spell exploded in front of the transparent barrier. McLaggen's stunning spell was like a stone thrown into a deep lake. It didn't even cause a ripple and was swallowed up without a trace.

Casting spells without a wand!

The students watching cried out in surprise, and many of them instinctively stretched out their hands to block the red light. But when they came to their senses, Xie Ling was still standing there calmly, as if the attack just now was not worth mentioning at all.

"You really are..." Sherin raised his eyebrows slightly, and his index finger swayed slightly, and the wand flexibly returned to his palm. He looked at McLaggen nonchalantly, with a faint smile on his lips, but revealing a sharp sarcasm, "Is this the only way you can sneak attack?"

McLaggen's face flushed red, he roared like an enraged lion, holding his wand high, his eyes revealing resentment and mania. Obviously, the Stunning Spell just now would not be his last spell.

This frightened Hermione and Ron. There was no room to move or dodge in the narrow carriage, and the incident happened in a flash. Only a few seconds had passed since McLaggen's stunning spell.

"Stop," Sherin pointed his wand at McLagen almost at the same time, but Sherin's magic took effect before he could even shout -

"The Upside Down Golden Bell!"

An invisible force suddenly acted on McLaggen, and his body was flipped over from the front as if by an invisible force. Then, an invisible hook accurately grabbed his ankle and suddenly hung him upside down in the air!

His wand flew out of his hand and fell to the ground, spinning. He tried frantically to grab something, but could only struggle awkwardly in the air, like a fat fish being picked up by someone.

There were exclamations all around in an instant. The students who witnessed this scene widened their eyes, some held back their laughter, and some gasped.

"Asshole! Put me down!" He roared angrily, looking expectantly at the Gryffindor students around him, hoping that someone would come forward to free him from this awkward position. However, he did not expect that everyone had been intimidated by Schelling's aura, and no one had the courage to stand up.

Schelling's expression remained unchanged. He slowly lowered his wand and glanced at McLaggen with contempt, as if the sixth-year prefect in front of him was no different from a pig in a slaughterhouse in his eyes. This was just a contest without suspense.

Zhang Qiu was still in shock, her chest rising and falling slightly, her fingers unconsciously clenched the corner of her clothes, her knuckles slightly white due to the force. Everything just happened too fast, before she could come to her senses, Cormier had been beaten from an aggressive madman to a lamb hanging upside down on the ceiling to be slaughtered.

Xie Ling stood in front of her, like an unshakable barrier, completely protecting her behind him.

His profile was sharply outlined by the moonlight, and his slightly upturned eyes revealed a hint of careless evil charm, while the cold smile at the corner of his mouth made people shudder. He dealt with McLaggen cleanly and neatly, and he didn't even care about the school rules, nor was he afraid of the McLaggen family's background. That reckless and strong attitude made Zhang Qiu feel a little strange.

She slowly raised her eyes and looked at Xie Lin.

"Xie Lin..." She called softly, her voice trembling a little, both because she was still shocked and because some indescribable emotions were surging in her heart.

Xie Lin put away his wand and looked back at her. His deep eyes were filled with scrutiny, as if he was checking whether she was injured. Seeing that she was still flustered, his eyes softened for a moment, "I'm glad you're okay."

Zhang Qiu looked at him, gratitude and a sense of security intertwined in his heart.

She knew clearly that Cormac McLaggen was not someone to be trifled with. He was tall and violent, and he was unscrupulous because of his family background. Even within Gryffindor, there were many people who were dissatisfied with him but did not dare to confront him head-on. However, for her sake, Sherin did not take these things seriously at all.

Thinking of this, her heart trembled slightly, and besides gratitude, she actually felt an inexplicable throbbing. She had already had a good impression of Xie Lin, but because Xie Lin was already in a relationship, she never dared to imagine that she could have a closer relationship with him.

But at this moment, her eyes could no longer hold anything other than Xie Ling.

Meanwhile, Harry, who was standing among the crowd of onlookers, stood there, his fingers still tightly clenched on his wand, his knuckles white from the effort. He witnessed the whole process with his own eyes - Sherin cast the spell without any delay, and did not even give McLaggen a chance to react.

Fast, fierce and accurate.

At that moment, Harry realized very clearly that if he had acted impulsively just now, he would have been subdued by Shering before he could even swing his wand.

He gritted his teeth, staring grimly at McLaggen as he struggled in the air, listening to his angry and incompetent curses, but his attention was no longer on him.

——Zhang Qiu stood beside Xie Lin, still a little frightened, but her eyes... never left Xie Lin. During the whole process, she didn't even look at herself again.

Harry's heart suddenly shrank, as if it was tightly grasped by the sharp claws of an owl. The tip of the claw scratched his heart and blood oozed out bit by bit.

At this time, Xie Lin no longer looked at the loser, then scanned the entire audience with sharp eyes, said coldly, "Let's go", and turned around and left with Zhang Qiu and Luna.

Cormac shouted in a hoarse voice: "Malfoy, this matter is not over yet. You have humiliated the dignity of the McLaggen family today. I will definitely tell my uncle about this matter - just wait for me!"

Xie Ling stopped and said calmly without even turning his head, "It's up to you." His figure disappeared with the sound of footsteps.

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, then looked at Harry and Ron who were already stunned. They both sighed helplessly, and finally Ginny broke the silence: "Let's go back."

She tugged at Harry and Ron's sleeves, but Harry still didn't say anything. He continued to stare at the direction where Zhang Qiu left, until her back completely disappeared from his sight, then he slowly looked away.

An indescribable emotion surged in his heart: jealousy, anger, unwillingness...intertwined into a tangled black vortex that lingered in his chest.

Before they left, Hermione did not forget her duties as a prefect. She frowned and waved her wand to remove the spell that Sherin had cast on Cormier. The latter fell to the ground in embarrassment, staggered to his feet, his face flushed and his eyes full of shame and anger.

"Whose side are you on?" He glared at Hermione with gritted teeth, his tone was vicious, "Why, when you saw that bastard Malfoy taking action, you couldn't help but help him? Granger, I've heard that you have a special relationship with him, is it possible that -"

"Shut up!" Ron took a step forward, his fists clenched, his eyes full of anger, "If you dare to say another word of nonsense, I'll show you how to do it!"

McLaggen sneered, dusted himself off, and said in an increasingly mocking tone, "What, Wesley? Are you protecting your friend? It's a pity that no matter how much you stand up for her, she won't even look at you."

Ron's face turned red with anger, and he raised his fist to hit her, but was stopped by Hermione.

"Ron, ignore him." Hermione's tone was a little tired, and she obviously didn't want to tangle with McLaggen anymore. She pulled Ron's arm to stop him from acting impulsively, and at the same time glanced at McLaggen, her eyes cold and distant, "Let's go."

Ron glared at McLaggen angrily, but finally did not take action after Hermione's persuasion. Harry remained silent, with a gloomy face and dark eyes, as if he was absent-minded.

McLaggen snorted coldly and watched them leave. There was a disdainful smile on his face, but it couldn't hide the resentment and unwillingness in his eyes.

……

Xie Lin, Zhang Qiu and Luna returned to the box and told others what had just happened. Naturally, Draco and others laughed at them again.

Daphne frowned deeply after hearing this. The McLaggen family was not an easy family to deal with. Moreover, because of Scrimgeour, the relationship between Shaylin and Tiberius McLaggen was quite good before. Was it worth it to offend his nephew like this?
Schelling waved his hand casually. He did not take Cormac McLaggen seriously at all. It was not certain that his uncle would really choose to become enemies with him for such an unpromising junior.

Even if he really lost the McLaggen family as an ally, it would not matter - the core members of the Sleeping Dragon Society were his family, and he would never allow his family to be violated in front of him!

At the moment, he had definitely offended McLaggen badly, which meant that he would have to face a new hostile force in Hogwarts this semester.

And from the attitudes he observed just now, Ron and Harry seemed to be vaguely hostile to him.

According to his understanding of Hermione, after knowing the fact that Voldemort has been resurrected, and facing Umbridge's unrealistic purely theoretical teaching method, Hermione will definitely create the "Dumbledore's Army" as in the original book -

I just don't know, without the "Marauder's Map" and without Dobby to provide clues about the "Room of Requirement", how can Harry and his two companions avoid Umbridge's surveillance and form the Dumbledore's Army, an underground student organization?
It seems that this semester, there will be turmoil among the students of Hogwarts - his own Sleeping Dragon Society may have to face Dumbledore's Army and McLaggen's forces at the same time...

Xie Lin smiled. Although the opponents were students whose strength was not even a tenth as strong as his own, the competition between these student organizations was not simply about combat power, but about the ability to plan, strategize, and adapt to circumstances.

When he thought that his opponent was the know-it-all Hermione Granger in the original book, Shailling suddenly felt a little excited.

Hermione, Hermione, let me see, as the think tank of the trio, how many surprises your strategies can bring to my boring days?

As for McLaggen, that is a force that has never appeared in the original novel. Who will he join forces with? What kind of conspiracy will he plot against me in secret?

It seems that this semester is starting to become a little interesting! (End of this chapter)