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"Hmph. Expulsion? Am I not perfectly fine? Who are they trying to scare?"
Not long after leaving the Headmaster's office, Audrina's emotions became somewhat hysterical.
Her parents had been invited in, and they had scolded her harshly.
No matter the world, summoning the parents was always the most lethal move against a child.
It never failed.
This time, she had suffered a major loss.
But by nature, she was not someone who could swallow her anger easily.
Expecting someone who torments others to immediately become good?
You might as well expect a pig to fly.
At least in the magical world, the latter was possible.
The two followers who had always trailed behind her had not waited for her at all.
Only Audrina remained.
"What do you think you are? I'm perfectly fine on my own without you."
"And that so-called... disciplinary group? Bah! And that Granger! Alex, you really are useless. You couldn't even beat a second-year!"
All along the way, Audrina kept muttering curses nonstop.
She did not even spare her own brother.
"Just wait. Sooner or later, I'll make all of you pay."
Audrina's face was full of defiance.
The pitted pimple marks on her face looked especially hideous under the lamplight.
The jinx had been cured, but recovery was not that quick.
A spell personally cast by Hermione was not so easy to undo.
'Whoosh...'
A cold wind suddenly blew through the silent corridor, making Audrina shiver involuntarily.
The temperature inside the castle was always much lower at night.
In a daze, she seemed to feel something following behind her, constantly making faint rustling sounds.
She stopped and turned to look around.
On the quiet staircase, she was the only one there.
She looked to both sides.
Outside the window, the moon was large and round, but the longer she stared at it, the more eerie it seemed.
It was as if it were not the moon at all, but a huge eye staring at her.
Audrina tugged unconsciously at her collar.
Feeling a little frightened, she planned to leave quickly.
She had not taken more than two steps when that rustling sound rang out again.
Audrina unconsciously tightened her grip on the wand hidden in her sleeve.
She suddenly turned around.
It was still silent.
There was still nothing.
'Was I imagining it? Honestly, what am I afraid of?'
Audrina slowly let out a breath.
Just as she was about to turn back, she heard a very soft laugh beside her ear, like the voice of a child.
'Hee hee hee.'
In that instant, Audrina felt her scalp go numb, and her heart suddenly sped up.
There really was something there?!
Audrina suddenly felt her vision go dark.
Then, less than an inch from her nose, a face appeared.
A human face.
A pale dead face, tongue lolling out, eyes rolled white.
"Ahhhhh!"
The sudden change frightened Audrina so badly that she could not help screaming.
"Hahahaha!"
Mocking laughter rang out.
That pale human face changed, turning into the face of a clownish doll.
Now it had an enormous open mouth and round, shining eyes.
The split corners of its mouth showed that it was laughing.
Seeing that familiar face, the originally terrified Audrina finally reacted.
Peeves.
Hogwarts's oldest and strangest poltergeist.
Calling him a ghost was not quite right.
He was not a pure ghost.
Unlike ordinary ghosts, who could pass through any substance and had no solid body, Peeves could touch material things, pick things up, and even smash them into people.
He had substance.
"Damn it!"
Audrina raised her hand and fired a spell.
Then the spell passed straight through his body.
"Hey, young witch, you can't hurt me. Wandering around outside at night instead of sleeping!"
Short, arrogant, and made up of blue, gray, and white, Peeves was floating upside down in front of Audrina.
Audrina immediately understood what he was, and fury followed.
"You wretched ghost, what business is it of yours?"
She had no fondness for beings that existed between death and life.
But Peeves really was not a ghost.
Rather than a ghost, it would be more accurate to call him a kind of spirit.
He was a spirit of Hogwarts.
"Peeves kindly reminds you, and you dare insult Lord Peeves!"
After hearing Audrina's words, Peeves's expression changed.
His grinning face instantly twisted with anger.
The speed with which his face changed was faster than turning a page.
Then he pulled a large lump of dough from behind his back.
"Punishment! Punishment! Naughty students should be punished!"
Peeves screamed excitedly.
The sticky, damp lump of dough smashed directly into Audrina, immediately dirtying her school uniform.
"Stop! I told you to stop! Are you mad?"
No one knew what material the dough in Peeves's hand was made from.
Once it stuck to something, it could not be cleaned off.
On top of that, the dough gave off a strange smell, making Audrina even angrier.
But how could Peeves possibly listen to her?
This time, he aimed at Audrina's hair.
Her hair was her life!
"Get away!"
Audrina waved her wand again, trying to drive Peeves off.
However, it was no use at all.
The spell passed through Peeves's body once more.
Most spells had no effect on Peeves.
"Lord Peeves loves punishing naughty students best!"
Another lump of paste came flying.
This time, Audrina dodged it.
Then she actually turned and ran.
If spells were useless, what else could she do but run?
Wait for him to make her whole body sticky, damp, slippery, and smelly?
Hm?
Something about that sounded wrong.
"Run, run, run quickly! Lord Peeves is coming to catch you!"
Peeves looked delighted.
Holding up that lump of dough, he chased after her.
'I'm being chased by a ghost? This is mad. Absolutely mad!'
Audrina's face turned livid with anger, but her speed did not slow at all.
Fortunately, Peeves was not unsolvable.
Ordinary ghosts could freely pass through walls, but Peeves could not.
If he wanted to enter another room, he had to turn the doorknob and open the door.
So shaking off Peeves was very simple.
All she had to do was confuse him.
After Audrina hid in a storage room she had opened at random, she shook off Peeves's pursuit.
"I saw you!"
Peeves's cheerful laughter gradually faded away.
Only after she could no longer hear it at all did Audrina let out a breath.
She opened the door and was immediately dumbfounded.
An unfamiliar corridor.
An unfamiliar environment.
She had not paid attention while running just now.
Where had she ended up?
Audrina began searching for the way back to her dormitory.
She did not want to spend the whole night in a place like this.
'This is the worst luck!'
Audrina could not have been more unhappy.
She tried to go back the way she had come, searching for the route back.
Suddenly, she felt something flash before her eyes.
Audrina immediately turned her head.
Under the dim lights of the castle, something glittering in the corner of the wall caught her attention.
"Huh? What is that?"
She walked closer and discovered that lying on the ground was a diadem that someone had forgotten, with a dazzling gemstone set at its center.
"How lucky. I found it, so it's mine now."
Audrina picked it up without even thinking.
She held it in her hands and examined it.
The beautiful diadem seemed to radiate endless temptation, deeply drawing Audrina in.
"It's so beautiful..."
Audrina stared at the gemstone in the center and murmured, almost dazed.
What young witch could resist a glittering diadem?
Especially when this was no ordinary diadem.
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