Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying

Standing behind Lockhart, the long-haired vampire opened his mouth, revealing thin sharp teeth, and leaned in to bite his neck.

”Wait! You can’t do this!” Gall quickly intervened.

”That’s right, Artemis.” The brown-haired man standing beside Gall said, ”This prey belongs to this brother. He should be the first to taste it.”

”Alright.” The long-haired vampire regretfully released Lockhart and said, ”I’m really hungry.”

His gaze, like a snake, swept over Lockhart’s neck repeatedly. Lockhart stiffened, looking at Gall for help.

”Listen to me—” Gall’s brain was spinning rapidly, trying to imitate a ’vampire’s extremely hungry tone’: ”This blood feast is very rare. He is a wizard... So I think once everything is over, let’s invite everyone to savor him slowly.”

Lockhart was so scared that he could hardly think. Hearing this, he looked at Gall with a terrified expression, as if saying ”I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person.”

”A wizard?” The long-haired vampire immediately became alert, searched Lockhart, found the magic wand, and broke it casually before revealing a greedy smile: ”I look forward to it... By the way, what’s your name?”

”Oliver!” Gall’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly made up a common name: ”I’m Oliver Williams!”

”Oliver? Haha, you are the third Oliver I know! I’m Jack Roberts.”

The brown-haired man patted him hard on the shoulder and said happily, ”Although the previous two didn’t taste great, I think we’ll get along very well!”

Gall grinned and nodded: ”Indeed! Absolutely!”

Meanwhile, he gazed longingly at the sky, hoping the owl delivering the package would notice his situation and bring his uncle to rescue him.

But the owl had already flown far away, and he did see two bats flying by in the distance.

—What’s going on? A vampire gathering? So close to Hogwarts? Are they crazy?

Gall had a compelling reason to be here; he couldn’t comprehend why these vampires, not being hunted by Dementors (摄魂怪), had come to this place.

He wanted to inquire, but was afraid of exposing himself as not one of them, so he dared not say a word. After making some vague replies, he fell silent, observing with a touch of fear.

Afterward, the group moved towards the edge of the village, with Lockhart bound hand and foot, gagged, and two vampires supporting him as he walked, making him look like a drunkard.

Outside of Hogsmeade’s central business district, the rest of the area was no different from any ordinary village. Most parts were very quiet, with houses sparsely scattered along the roadsides, and some people who preferred isolation lived very remotely.

Yet the place the vampires headed to was somewhere that even Lockhart, who had studied at Hogwarts for seven years and been a professor for half a year, had never visited—it was almost at the farthest point west of the village.

It was an old wooden house, two stories tall, with seven or eight windows, even some thin branches growing from near the ground level.

Lockhart had no chance to see more. As soon as he entered, he was thrown into a filthy storage room, eating a mouthful of dirt.

He barely lifted his head and saw that another person was tied up in the storage room.

A young woman, wearing a gray robe, sat in the corner against the wall, covering her face and crying quietly, appearing very frightened.

”Be careful.” Lockhart heard someone say, ”Didn’t you hear what the newcomer said? This person is a wizard.”

”Got it.” Another person came over with tape and quickly wrapped Lockhart’s mouth and fingers, then left them and departed.

Upon hearing the door close, Lockhart was filled with despair.

Even if he knew a Nonverbal Wandless Spell, getting the sticky tape off his body wouldn’t be easy... not to mention he hadn’t mastered it.

Lying on the ground, Lockhart shed tears of remorse.

If only back in school, he had sincerely learned the Nonverbal Wandless Spell... or hadn’t recklessly used the Forgetfulness Spell in pursuit of fame...

No, no, the biggest mistake was coming to Hogwarts. It’s practically a cursed place; ever since taking the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor position, bad luck has continued without stop.

Why is life so difficult?

Accompanied by the sobbing of the long-haired woman beside him, the voiceless Lockhart silently cried for a while, developing a feeling of camaraderie with the person next to him.

He tried turning his head, attempting to seek help from the girl with his eyes—maybe she’s a fan of his?

Even if she isn’t a fan, at least her hands seemed free, and he hoped she could remove the tape from him.

The long-haired woman continued to cry as if her tears were endless. Lockhart tried to hum twice, reminding her of his presence.

The crying paused slightly, and the woman slowly lifted her head, revealing a pair of blood-red eyes and a face with only one nostril.

...

Gall could also hear the crying that sounded like an owl howling. Watching the door close, he uneasily asked, ”Who else is in there?”

”The owner of the house.” A red-haired vampire said.

”What?” Gall said surprisedly, ”This is her house? If... if someone comes looking for her and finds us, what then?”

”Don’t worry, that’s a Banshee; no one wants to approach them.” The red-haired vampire pushed him inside, saying, ”Come on, almost everyone is here.”

Gall stumbled into the living room and saw that, surprisingly, there were twenty or thirty vampires in this small house. The living room was dimly lit and smoky, with scores of reflecting eyes staring at him together.