paranoianovel Chapter 186 Come Here
Chapter 186 Come Here
Chapter 186 Come Here
"A—impressive performance, Potter." Snape's deep voice was full of sarcasm. "It seems you have a talent for being the source of laughter, in addition to generating it."
After speaking, he glanced sideways at Malfoy, who had just gotten up from the ground. Although his tone was still cold, the meaning was completely different.
"Control your body, Malfoy. Slytherin's victory doesn't need to be performed with such comical dance moves."
Hearing the dean's criticism, Malfoy hated Harry even more. He glared at Harry fiercely, his gray eyes practically spitting fire.
Lockhart quickly stepped forward, his face a mixture of embarrassment and forced seriousness: "Look! Look! This is what happens when you don't follow the rules of a duel! Absolutely no elegance! Now, you two, listen up! From now on, you can only move forward or backward! No more rolling around on the ground like that! Duel like true wizards!"
Harry saw Snape beckoning to Malfoy with a blank expression as Lockhart continued to ramble on about his rules for "elegant duels."
Malfoy paused for a moment, then immediately jogged to the edge of the stage and leaned closer.
Harry didn't know what Snape was saying to Malfoy, but he instinctively felt it wasn't anything nice.
Finally, Lockhart finished speaking. Harry and Malfoy glared at each other, stood in the center of the stage again, took a deep breath, and prepared to continue according to Lockhart's foolish new rules.
Meanwhile, a crow perched on a high beam in the auditorium scanned the excited crowd below with its sharp eyes.
Suddenly, its gaze fixed on the back of the student crowd. A short figure with striking red hair—Ginny Weasley—was looking down, her face unusually pale. Taking advantage of everyone's attention being focused on the stage, she quietly, almost hugged the wall, and quickly slipped out of the auditorium, disappearing into the dimly lit corridor.
The crow's gaze lingered for a moment in the direction she had disappeared.
On stage, Lockhart shouted, "I'll count to three—"
However, before the word "—" could even leave his lips, Malfoy acted first: "Dragon Out of its Hole!" A beam of black light shot from the tip of his wand, but its target wasn't Harry; it was the floor between them. A long, dark thing shot out of the wand and landed heavily on the carpet. It was a black snake, as thick as a man's arm. It coiled up, raised its head, and its long, vertical pupils scanned its surroundings, its tongue hissing.
The crowd erupted in terrified screams and pushed back, clearing a large area around the stage.
Harry's heart sank. Almost without thinking, he raised his wand again, aimed it at the snake with its head raised and its tongue flicking out, and shouted, "Grinning snake!"
The spell struck the snake, but it did not elicit the same laughter as it had for Malfoy.
The black snake shuddered violently, then convulsed in agony, its mouth opening uncontrollably to reveal its pale, deadly fangs, and it hissed even more furiously.
Its cold pupils were fixed on Harry, clearly viewing the attack as a provocation.
Harry's mind went blank; Hogwarts' curriculum had never taught how to deal with real, enraged creatures!
He held up the wand in vain, cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
Snape remained aloof and indifferent.
Upon seeing Harry's reckless yet ineffective attack and the obvious helplessness on his face, a barely perceptible sneer flickered across Snape's lips.
He then spoke lazily, slowly raising his wand: "Don't move, Potter—it seems someone needs to clean up this mess—"
"Let me handle this!" Lockhart seemed to see this as a golden opportunity to prove himself, shouting and brandishing his wand before Snape could react. "Don't be afraid! Watch me take care of it!"
He aimed at the snake, which was now even more dangerous due to its pain and rage, and confidently recited a spell.
However, things got worse when a strange yellow light struck the black snake—instead of being subdued, the snake leaped into the air, reaching a length of over ten feet! It crashed back to the ground, baring its fangs, utterly enraged, hissing threateningly, and its flat head snapped towards Justin Finley, who was closest to it and completely terrified!
Justin was deathly pale and stood frozen in place, unable to move.
The enraged giant snake arched its body, about to launch an attack.
At that critical moment, Harry didn't know why, but a strange impulse welled up in his throat. He didn't even realize that he had opened his mouth, and a low, hoarse sound—a cold, spine-chilling hiss—flowed out naturally.
【"Leave him—"】The voice was unusually clear in the now silent auditorium.
Miraculously, the ferocious giant snake stopped immediately. It shook its head in confusion, then lay down obediently on the ground, as if it had turned into a huge, harmless black rope.
The entire auditorium fell into a deathly silence. The eerie hissing sound seemed to suck all the air away.
Lockhart's signature smile froze on his face, replaced by an extremely complex expression.
He traveled the world stealing stories, and he certainly knew what this ability to talk to snakes meant—it was Salazar-Slytherin's famous trademark, a terrible talent passed down through his family.
Given the current rumors surrounding the Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts, the implications of Harry's Parseltongue talent are self-evident.
This brief silence only amplified the ensuing panic.
"Did you hear that? That sound—"
"He's talking to the snake—"
"Sophistry—he really does speak with a parsseus voice!"
Justin Finley, the Hufflepuff student, was as pale as a sheet. He backed away in terror, his finger trembling as he pointed at Harry, as if he had seen the most horrible thing in the world, before turning and rushing out of the Great Hall.
Hermione covered her mouth with her hand, while Ron looked at Harry with shock and a hint of barely perceptible fear in his eyes.
Snape's expression turned extremely serious. He quickly stepped forward, waved his wand, and the black snake vanished in a puff of smoke. His gaze pierced sharply at Harry, as if trying to see right through him.
Lockhart finally recovered from his brief moment of shock, his professional conman instincts overpowering his initial disbelief.
He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, his voice sharp due to a lack of confidence: "Oh! An extremely rare talent! Yes, I've seen something similar on my travels back in the day! A special talent! Alright! Demonstration over! Club activity concluded—"
He quickly ended it all, waving the students away.
But his voice was drowned out by the increasingly loud, fearful, and suspicious chatter in the auditorium.
Harry stood alone in the center of the stage, enduring strange looks from all directions. He blinked blankly, completely bewildered as to why everyone was looking at him like that.
What did he just do?
He just wanted to stop the snake—that strange feeling—what was it?
Why does everyone look at him like he's a monster?
Just then, a clear voice cut through the noise of the Great Hall: "Harry! Come here."