#99 - Section 99

Ron's eyes darted around, the diary was something he absolutely couldn't tell anyone about.

"Where did you get your book?"

Without Legilimency, Snape knew he was lying.

"I found it at home."

Ron said, forcing himself to remain calm.

Saying he got it from the library was out of the question, as book borrowing was recorded. Even if he said he secretly read it, Snape wouldn't let him off.

". The illustrious Weasley family also keeps books on dark magic, and gives them to their children. It seems you aren't as honest as you appear. Perhaps you should be in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. Or perhaps, there's a reason you went to Gryffindor?"

Snape sneered at Ron, his expression full of disdain.

Upon hearing this, the Gryffindors distanced themselves from the Weasley wizards, looking at them with suspicion.

Percy and the others couldn't defend themselves. They had many books at home, but they had never seen any related to dark magic.

Ron couldn't have learned dark magic at home, they were sure of that. But no one was listening to their explanation.

"Alright, Severus, I think Ron needs to go and calm down."

"Gilderoy, I recall that there's a match today."

Dumbledore couldn't let Snape continue, or Ron would be ruined. The other young Weasley wizards would also be greatly affected.

He could only let the match continue and later issue a statement to reduce the aftermath of the incident.

"You're the headmaster, your word is law. However, Weasley seriously injured a classmate. I don't think this will be easily overlooked, or the Slytherin students might take it as an example."

Snape glanced at Dumbledore and left the stage after making a threatening remark.

"Minerva, Ron is in your hands. I think you can handle it."

Dumbledore sighed and looked at Professor McGonagall.

Dumbledore understood Snape's meaning. If he couldn't give him a satisfactory explanation, Slytherin would treat other students the same way in the future, and he would only offer a few meaningless words.

His cooperation with Snape relied on Harry. Where Harry was concerned, Dumbledore didn't dare to provoke Snape too much, or he really would do what he said.

Snape had already caused trouble with him at the end of the previous year.

"Ron, come down first."

Professor McGonagall looked at Ron with a complicated expression and led him away.

The last time something so serious happened was with Ethan.

But Ethan was the one being provoked, and although his actions were ruthless, he only sent people to the hospital wing, not endangering their lives. Ron almost killed Harry. Without treatment, Harry would have bled to death in minutes.

"Alright, let the match continue, everyone return to your seats."

After the two protagonists left the field, Lockhart immediately jumped out. He thought the match was over, but he didn't expect Dumbledore to let him continue. This really surprised him.

But now everyone's attention was clearly not on the match. They were all discussing Ron and the Weasley family.

Percy gathered his younger siblings together, his face quite unpleasant.

He was supposed to graduate as Head Boy and then enter the Ministry of Magic.

But now that this happened, who in Gryffindor would choose him?

His long-term plan was directly interrupted, causing him to be quite irritable.

Moreover, Ron's actions had further damaged the Weasley family's reputation, which was quite detrimental to his future work in the Ministry of Magic.

[Thanks to the big boss, Submarine Aground, for the monthly ticket, thank you!].

Chapter 130: A Plan Targeting Ron

After dinner, nearly half of the students at Hogwarts headed to the grounds outside the school.

The betting for the first and second year students from earlier in the day was now being settled.

Ethan, Penelope, and Cassandra also followed the crowd outside. Cassandra also participated.

She bet on herself, only three thousand Galleons. This was her allowance, 1:1.5, making a net profit of fifteen hundred Galleons.

"Ethan, can you believe they really don't think we've learned dark magic?"

Fred and George walked over with a dejected look on their faces. They had been explaining all afternoon, but to no avail.

Apart from some friends who were usually close, no one believed them at all.

Ron, their brother, was the one who said it, which was equivalent to solid proof.

"Of course, your interests aren't in that at all. If Percy had learned dark magic, I would believe it a little."

Fred and George rarely put effort into things they weren't interested in, and dark magic, which purely enhances strength but doesn't help them with their pranks, wasn't something they valued.

In contrast, Percy was much more ambitious and a try-hard.

"It's good that you believe us. We explained it so many times this afternoon, but not many people believed us."

George sighed. Everyone used to greet them with a smile, but now they were avoiding them.

Fred and George were fine, and Percy would probably adjust himself, but their sister Ginny was likely to be isolated. She was only in her first year.

As for Ron, to be honest, they wanted to disown him from the Weasley family. No one screws over their family like that.

"In fact, there's nothing wrong with knowing dark magic. I know it, and I know quite a bit."

Ethan said nonchalantly, not afraid of the surrounding young wizards hearing him.

Slytherin and Ravenclaw don't reject dark magic. Hufflepuff probably has people who know dark magic too, but they generally don't start conflicts or show it.

For example, Draco's Serpensortia, summoning that little venomous snake, was dark magic, which shows that dark magic isn't a big deal.

Ethan believed that there were Gryffindors who knew dark magic, but they were just hiding it well.

After all, the houses weren't divided based on this alone. Dumbledore, for example, no one would believe he didn't know dark magic during his school days.

"That's true, but you know Gryffindors reject dark magic a lot. No one wants to be the next Harry."

"It'll be fine in a while. Last year, everyone suspected Harry was the Heir of Slytherin and opened the Chamber of Secrets. You see, no one mentions it this year."

Ethan offered a word of comfort, figuring that as long as Ron didn't continue to cause trouble and Harry didn't pursue the matter, the issue would likely fade away after a while. It was just that Ron's reputation was probably ruined, though he didn't have much of one to begin with.

“Let's hope so!”

Fred and George didn't have any better ideas, especially since they couldn't prove their innocence.

“By the way, how is Ron doing?”

Ethan hoped Ron could withstand the pressure and not hand over the diary. Students wouldn't be able to see anything amiss, but professors would definitely notice something, and in Dumbledore's hands, it would be completely exposed.

“We haven't seen him since Professor McGonagall took him away.”

The Weasley siblings had tried to find Ron after the match, but he was still with Professor McGonagall and hadn't come out, not even for dinner.

“Here's what we'll do: after we collect our Galleons, we'll all go to your Gryffindor common room and wait for Ron. He's bound to come back today; he can't possibly sleep in Professor McGonagall's office. Even if there's a punishment, he should be back later tonight.”

“This matter must be resolved as soon as possible. We need to find out where Ron learned black magic and cut it off at the source.”

“Otherwise, there's no guarantee Ron won't learn more black magic and use it to hurt people again. If there's a next time, the Weasley family will probably be labeled as associated with dark magic.”

Ethan felt he couldn't wait any longer. He had to get the diary into his hands first, otherwise, even if Ron didn't expose it today, he would be discovered sooner or later.

“You're right, we really need to press Ron to find out where he learned black magic. We were trying to find that out this afternoon, but we couldn't find him.”

“Come with us later, and let's get Percy and Ginny too.”

Fred and George strongly agreed with Ethan's suggestion. They had originally planned to find Ron tomorrow, but after hearing Ethan's words, they realized the matter should be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Even if they couldn't clear their names this time, they couldn't afford to be smeared again. They needed to know how Ron learned it.

They had thought Ron had learned his lesson after causing trouble at the beginning of the semester and had changed his bad habits, but they didn't expect this to be worse than before!

At least back then, Ron only caused trouble for himself; now he was dragging the whole family down with him.

“Ginny is still young, so forget about her. Let her rest early; knowing these things won't help her. It's better to solve the problem quickly.”

“Alright, we'll go directly to the Gryffindor common room later. Percy usually checks the common room at night before going to bed, so we can tell him then.”

It was true that it didn't matter whether Ginny came or not. They might even have to use some tricks to get Ron to tell the truth, which wouldn't be convenient for Ginny to see.

Considering that Ron was willing to smear the entire Weasley family rather than reveal the truth, even if they forced him to talk, it would probably be difficult to pry his mouth open.

“Percy checks the common room at night?”

Ethan looked at Fred and George strangely. What was there to check?

“He mainly warns those still in the common room not to go out for a night stroll and not to break the rules, otherwise, he'll report them to Professor McGonagall.”

The twins shrugged, somewhat dismissively. What kind of Gryffindor doesn't go out for a night stroll?

Good, that's very Percy. Ethan remembered that in the original story, Percy had even deducted Gryffindor house points because Harry was casting spells in the corridor.

While they were chatting, they arrived at the location where the betting was taking place. It was now crowded inside and out.

“Excuse me!”

Ethan led the others directly through the crowd, pushing people aside to squeeze to the front.

“You… please, you go first, you go first!”

A Slytherin who had been pulled aside by Ethan was about to curse the other person's ancestors.

He was the only one who cut in line; no one ever cut in front of him.

This was completely unacceptable!

But when he saw it was Ethan, his expression immediately changed. He really couldn't afford to offend him.

Not long ago, at the dueling platform, a hapless student from his house was beaten so badly that he lost control of his bowels, and Ethan didn't receive any punishment. If he cursed out loud, he would likely experience electroshock therapy.

He didn't want to suffer social death.

Those in front who heard the commotion and saw Ethan coming also made way, leaving a path to the front.

Following the path, Ethan arrived in front of Ludo and several junior wizards he had temporarily hired.

Penelope directly took out her voucher and handed it to Ludo, which had a magical anti-counterfeiting mark.

Ludo, who already had a bitter face, was now even more miserable.

He couldn't earn that much even if he didn't eat or drink for three years in the Ministry of Magic, and now he had to give it away. He was really unwilling.

Then Cassandra came, and another 1,500 Galleons were given out. His heart was bleeding.

“Adrien, I've been wanting to chat with you ever since we met at the Ministry of Magic last time. Do you have time?”

Seeing that Ethan was about to leave, Ludo immediately called out from behind.

Although Lockhart didn't recommend contacting Ethan, Ludo still couldn't bear to part with such a large profit.

“If you have something to say, just say it!”

Ethan didn't give him any face. He wasn't his fan anyway, and as for the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, it was the department with the least real power.

“Let's talk over there!”

Ludo didn't care about Ethan's attitude, smiled, and gestured towards a deserted corner.

“Do you want to make money?”

Ludo went straight to the point. Everything else was fake; only Galleons would stay with you.

“What kind of opportunity? You know I'm not short of money right now.”

Ludo wanted to curse in his heart, 'If you're not short of money, why did you come and take my 5,000 Galleons?' but he still had to keep smiling.

“You've seen how popular today's betting is. If you can just throw the final match a little, I'll give you half of the profits from the entire second year.”

Originally, Ludo wanted to say thirty percent, but he was afraid Ethan wouldn't agree, so he gave half.

As for Lockhart, just give him some scraps. The second-year bets were already gone, and he hadn't participated in this round.

Even if he didn't give Lockhart a single bit, he would still make a profit.

After all, the second-year bets on the day of the final were pure losses, based on today's results.

“I don't need that little bit of money. Forget about the cooperation. I'm still looking forward to winning the House Cup this year.”

Ethan immediately refused. Not to mention the impact that fixing matches would have on him later, even the potential achievements would be gone, which Ethan was unwilling to accept.