A farcical duel came to an end.
The result? Malfoy was left having nightmares for an entire month.
But compared to the loser, it was the victor who left a deeper impression. Cassandra's formidable strength, along with the grace and decorum she displayed while fighting for the honor of her "friend" (though it was still unclear if that friendship was mutual), earned her the nickname Valkyrie.
However, the victor herself didn't seem pleased. Cassandra hurried off right after the duel, and some gossipers claimed her expression had been quite strange—certainly not that of someone happy about winning.
As for Hermione, who had been at the center of the duel, she shared her thoughts with Louis.
"Cassandra's not a bad person," Hermione said earnestly, brushing away Louis's hand as he tried to rest it on her head, "but she doesn't seem to know how to communicate normally with people. She always makes herself seem… too proud."
"Don't mess around," Hermione huffed, glaring up at him. "She's really strong, and I think I could be friends with her. But you—you'd better stay away from her."
After saying that, she raised her little fist in front of Louis in a mock-threatening pose, trying to intimidate him.
Though truth be told, with that pouty face of hers, she looked more like she was pouting than threatening.
"Alright, alright, I'll keep my distance," Louis said with a grin.
Ignoring Hermione's protests, he reached out again and ruffled her hair.
That night, the Fat Lady guarding the entrance to the Gryffindor common room was half-asleep when someone pushed open the portrait.
"Who's there? It's so late—why aren't you in bed?" she mumbled sleepily, not really paying attention.
After all, Gryffindor students were notorious for their nightly adventures. If a few of them didn't sneak out, the Fat Lady herself would probably have trouble sleeping.
From the hole behind the portrait, the Weasley twins climbed out.
They exchanged a glance, then cast Lumos to light their wands.
"Filch should be on the third floor right now."
"Unless, of course, he catches someone else out on a stroll."
"So which route are we taking?"
"I'd say the one without the headless knight looks good."
"Alright, let's go that way."
The twins quickly settled on their route.
As masters of nighttime excursions—the kind who could give Filch high blood pressure after a single night—they didn't even need the Marauder's Map anymore.
They knew every secret passage in the castle by heart, and that knowledge alone was enough to make them nearly untouchable within Hogwarts.
Except, of course, for the occasional misfortune of opening a door and finding Filch standing right there.
Casting Disillusionment Charms on themselves, they extinguished their lights and slipped into a hidden passage behind a nearby painting.
Once they were gone, the Fat Lady yawned and closed the portrait again.
The passageway leading to the Gryffindor common room fell silent and pitch-dark—
but soon, the sharp echo of footsteps could be heard.
It was like a scene from a horror film. The footsteps entered the common room… then suddenly stopped.
"Looks like this place is a bit nicer than Slytherin's quarters," came a familiar voice.
Louis's voice.
Clearly, the eerie footsteps had belonged to an invisible Louis, sneaking into Gryffindor under the cover of his Invisibility Cloak.
The night was silent and still, but some young wizards had yet to fall asleep.
Louis snapped his fingers, and the power of the bloodline spread out, sending the sleepless Gryffindor students drifting into pleasant dreams.
"Let's go… Peter Pettigrew. Time to begin tonight's wonderful experiment."
Louis spoke in a strange, melodic tone — the words carried softly through the not-so-thick door and into the ears of the sleeping Peter Pettigrew.
The plump, furry rat shivered and jolted awake, leaping out of Ron's arms.
It looked around warily, seeing no one else there, and assumed it had simply been dreaming.
Just as it was about to curl back up and sleep again, that same haunting, chant-like voice echoed once more — this time much closer, right beside its ear!
The rat's tiny eyes flew open, and it snapped its teeth at the air, but bit nothing — there was no one there.
Panic set in.
Its beady eyes darted wildly as it scurried in circles like a headless fly, confirming that there was no one nearby. It was just about to dive beneath Ron's blanket when it noticed…
A shadow — one that didn't belong — stretched unnaturally across the fabric.
Before it could even lift its head, a human face dropped down before it — pale, expression twisted somewhere between a smile and a grimace.
"Peter Pettigrew," the face said softly, lips curling faintly, "come on… time to go."
"Squeak!!!"
The rat let out a sharp shriek — and went limp instantly.
Louis hung upside down above Ron's bed, his body weightless as he spun lazily in midair, holding Pettigrew by the tail.
The rat twirled in the air, completely stiff, unmoving.
"Heh. Playing dead, are we? Then let's see how you like the feeling of death creeping closer."
Louis turned his hand, and from his storage space drew out a crystal-like object.
He pried open the rat's mouth and pushed the crystal in. With a light squeeze at its throat, he forced it down into the rat's stomach.
[Death Crystal] — a special crystal that allows the host to repeatedly witness their own death, revealing their most desired way to die, while giving the wielder control over them.
Louis had modified it with black energy, so that it not only replayed death, but also transmitted the pain of dying straight into the host's mind — over and over again.
A perfect instrument of torture and control.
As expected, the moment the crystal settled inside, the rat's mouth opened in a silent scream.
It tried to cry out but couldn't — the agony was so overwhelming it stripped away all thought and movement.
Moments later, Peter Pettigrew lost consciousness, yet even in that state, his body continued to convulse from waves of torment.
Gripping the rat by the tail, Louis's body suddenly shrank and folded in on itself — in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a common owl.
With a flap of his wings, he soared out through the window of Gryffindor Tower.
Louis had no shortage of methods for sneaking around Hogwarts.
Transformation, using the Room of Requirement to create doors, shadow doppelgangers that could pass through walls — countless techniques.
But for Louis, the question wasn't which was most efficient or practical.
It was simply: which one is the most fun?
Tonight, he'd used the twins' nocturnal antics as cover to get in, then transformed to get out — enjoying multiple thrills in one go.
Even his late-night experiments felt more entertaining that way.
"Tonight's research," he murmured to himself, "will be on the difference and connection between Transfiguration and the Animagus Transformation."
The owl clutched its test subject tightly and glided through the darkness.
The night did not hinder his vision — everything around him was perfectly clear.
Circling halfway around the castle, he swooped up to the eighth floor, summoned the Room of Requirement, transformed back into human form, and stepped inside.
Everything was ready.
The experiment would now begin.
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