Chapter 92 — Poor Vesey

Chapter 92: Chapter 92 — Poor Vesey

Chapter 92 — Poor Vesey

Professor McGonagall felt even more sympathy for Vesey.

She thought Vesey was such a good child. Even though she was clearly frightened, she still tried to defend Harry.

Just like the Vesey who would make her cry in the future.

Even now, Professor McGonagall couldn’t help wanting to hug the child and cry with her.

"All right, child, stop talking. Come to my office and have something warm to drink. Then you can go back to bed, and I’ll have a talk with Harry!"

She took Vesey by the hand, kept hold of Malfoy’s ear with the other, and walked toward her office.

Vesey defended Harry the entire way.

Of course, none of her defenses worked.

But she gained hundreds of Energy Points.

And just as they were about to reach Professor McGonagall’s office, they saw another sneaky figure.

It was Neville.

He was standing there with his head tilted upward.

Professor McGonagall watched expressionlessly as Neville suddenly walked into her office.

Then she heard him say excitedly,

"Harry, Hermione, so you really are here! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I wanted to tell you that Malfoy somehow knows you have a dragon. He’s going to report you—"

Harry and the others immediately winked at Neville.

Because they had already seen the tall figure standing behind him.

Professor McGonagall’s expression became increasingly grim, as though she were about to explode.

What frightened Harry and Hermione even more was the sight of Vesey looking at them with a pale face.

"Brother... why are you here?"

Vesey looked terrified.

Harry wanted to explain that they had heard Vesey’s scream, but at that time, they had been handing Norbert over to Charlie’s friends.

After the dragon had been taken away, Harry and others had come downstairs. They were so happy that they had completely forgotten to take the Invisibility Cloak with them.

Then Filch had caught them and brought them here.

But they couldn’t explain any of that now.

Professor McGonagall had already spoken furiously.

"I really can’t believe it’s you lot! Tell me! What were you doing? Wandering around the castle at one o’clock in the morning!"

For the first time, Hermione found herself completely unable to answer a professor’s question.

Only Vesey, looking frightened, stammered,

"Professor, it’s all my fault... I made my brother, Hermione, and Neville come out with me... We were wandering around together... In short, it’s all my fault!"

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

There were five people in the office besides Vesey.

That was fifty Energy Points in one go.

Vesey almost laughed out loud.

If she did something dramatic in front of a crowd, would she be able to earn even more Energy Points?

Still, five people were already quite a lot.

She wanted to continue explaining, but Professor McGonagall didn’t give her the chance.

She looked sternly at Harry and the others, her expression filled with anger.

"I think I can figure out exactly what happened here. And I don’t even need to use my brain very much!"

Vesey still wanted to speak, but Professor McGonagall silenced her with a gesture.

Then she glared at Harry.

"You made up a story and told it to Mr. Draco Malfoy, trying to trick him into getting out of bed so that he would lose points and get into trouble.

"But you didn’t expect Neville to hear about it as well. He wanted to come and help you, but I caught him.

"As for Vesey, you must have lied to her as well. Of course, it’s also possible that you didn’t.

"Perhaps she knew it was a lie and deliberately waited beneath the Astronomy Tower, hoping that after encountering Malfoy, he would quickly return to bed.

"That’s why, after seeing me catch Mr. Malfoy, she screamed in fright!"

Vesey immediately spoke up.

"No, Professor, that’s not what happened... It’s not my brother’s fault. I was the one who did something wrong. I wanted to play a prank on Mr. Malfoy. I’m sorry. It was all my fault... Professor, please believe me!"

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

Apart from earning another pile of Energy Points, Vesey’s words accomplished absolutely nothing.

Nobody believed her.

Harry and the others could only cover their faces helplessly.

"Poor Vesey..."

Professor McGonagall sighed.

Then she looked at Harry and the others, and her anger grew even stronger.

"Five students sneaking out in the middle of the night. In all my years at Hogwarts, I’ve never seen anything like this—or even heard of anything like it!"

She turned her gaze toward Hermione.

Her expression became even more disappointed.

The diary had said that Hermione would one day become the Minister for Magic—the first Muggle-born woman to hold the position in hundreds of years.

And yet, she was doing something like this?

"Miss Granger, I’m disappointed in you. I thought you had a much clearer head!"

Hermione lowered her head and stared at her slippers as though the patterns on them were the most fascinating things in the world.

Professor McGonagall snorted.

Then she looked at Harry.

"And you, Mr. Potter. I originally thought you cared deeply about Gryffindor’s honor, but you’ve disappointed me!"

Harry’s face turned pale as well.

He felt extremely uncomfortable.

From the beginning of the school year until now, Professor McGonagall had never been this harsh with him.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Mr. Longbottom, I know Mr. Longbottom only meant well. But I cannot tolerate this kind of behavior. Therefore, fifty points will be deducted from each of you."

Harry, Hermione, and Neville all looked up in shock.

"Fifty points? Professor, you can’t—"

Professor McGonagall said coldly, "I can. I absolutely can. Fifty points each. This is the price you pay for deceiving others!"

She turned to Vesey and Malfoy.

"As for Vesey and Mr. Malfoy, you two—"

Before she could finish, another voice interrupted her.

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall. Students from my House are my responsibility. I’ll deal with them myself."

Snape strode into the room.

He immediately came to Vesey’s side and looked her over carefully.

When he noticed that her eyes were red, his expression instantly turned cold.

He glared sharply at Harry and the others.

"Does deceiving your sister gives Mr. Potter a sense of accomplishment? Perhaps I should—"

Before he could finish, Vesey grabbed his sleeve.

"Professor, it has nothing to do with my brother. It’s all my fault. Please don’t deduct points from him... My brother is going to cry... And it’s all my fault!"

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[Ding! Energy Points +10.]

[...]

Snape swallowed back everything he had been about to say.

He raised a hand and gently ruffled Vesey’s hair.

Then he looked at Professor McGonagall.

"I’ll take the two of them back. I’ll teach them both a lesson."

Professor McGonagall remembered how gentle Snape had been with Vesey and nodded in relief.

She watched Snape lead Vesey and Malfoy out of the office.

Standing at the door, she sighed.

"Actually, it’s not a big deal. I wasn’t planning to deduct points from Vesey just now.

"Severus is a man, after all. I wonder if he was too harsh and frightened poor Vesey into tears.

"Poor child..."