As the Slytherins surrounded him, Kevin unleashed a Darkness spell he had prepared beforehand, then quickly dropped into a prone position.
The space within a ten-meter radius was instantly shrouded in supernatural darkness. Kevin felt a barrage of chaotic jinxes sweep over his head, heard the panicked shouts of the crowd, the screams of Neville mixed in, and the frantic footsteps of the little Hufflepuffs turning and running away.
But Kevin couldn't worry about poor Neville for the time being. He cast Fox's Cunning on himself to boost his Intelligence, then carefully prepared a Sleep spell, empowered by his heightened stats. He didn't believe any of these wizards (or should they be called Sorcerers given their bloodlines?) had more than 10 Hit Points.
The spell was effective; soon Kevin could hear nothing but silence. He pulled out his wand, pretending he needed it to cast a spell—a necessary charade for this world—then dispelled the Darkness and surveyed the battlefield. All the boys lay sprawled on the ground, snoring softly. Several had red boils erupting on their faces, apparently struck by their own allies' friendly fire in the panic.
"Expelliarmus!"
A beam of red light struck Kevin. His wrist jolted violently, and his useless prop wand was thrown halfway down the corridor.
"Fufufu," the porcelain doll covered her mouth with one hand and laughed triumphantly, her other hand keeping her wand trained on Kevin. "You have the courage to challenge a Slytherin student? I thought you were something special, but you're just a nobody."
The leather belt around her waist shimmered with a faint magical light, suggesting that she had Spell Resistance or immunity to minor hexes. Kevin forced his brain to work at lightning speed.
"Don't worry, no professors will be passing by. Now kneel down before me, grab your ears, and shout that you shouldn't be peeping at girls. Otherwise..." She waved her wand lightly, her lips forming a nasty curse.
Kevin felt a burning pain sear the back of his hand. He pretended to double over and kneel in submission, but suddenly threw out a clump of dark seeds. This was Devil's Net—specifically, a strain he had modified by infusing it with his own magical essence.
The porcelain doll was very alert and quickly fired a burst of flames at the vines. But the modified plant was remarkably resilient to heat; it expanded rapidly, extending snake-like tendrils that wrapped tight around her ankles. The girl screamed and desperately tried to tear off the vines, but the more she struggled, the faster and tighter they constricted.
Kevin cast Dispel Magic on the burning sensation on his hand; it vanished instantly. He wasn't worried that the Devil's Net would kill his opponent. His modified strain was designed to target and dismantle the opponent's equipment rather than their life force. It could be considered a "disarming" weapon in the literal sense.
"You actually dared to provoke the Greengrass family! This is the stupidest decision you've ever made. Put me down now, and I might consider sparing you!" The porcelain doll was still trying to be defiant, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her lack of confidence.
"Don't worry, no professors will be passing by. If you shout now that I shouldn't have framed someone, you won't have to kneel. Of course, you can't kneel anyway, otherwise..." Kevin's voice was heavy with threat.
The Devil's Net first snatched the girl's wand, then yanked off her shoes and unbuckled her belt. Next, snake-like tendrils began to invade the space between her legs to secure their grip.
"No, not there!" The girl struggled desperately against the vines tugging at her undergarments, but as the tendrils twitched incessantly, she quickly lost her strength.
"Help! I surrender! I shouldn't have framed others! I shouldn't have... Ahhh!"
"Alright, I'll put you down right now." Kevin tried to dismiss the summon, but the vines continued to writhe aggressively.
"Burning Hands!"
It still had no effect; instead, the girl's breathing became increasingly rapid and panicked.
"It wasn't like this in the beta test," Kevin muttered. He had no choice but to grab the girl's feet and manually try to untangle the vines.
"Let me go... help... me!" The girl's eyes rolled back, and she looked like she was about to faint.
Suddenly, a jet of water gushed out of nowhere, drenching Kevin from head to toe.
"What do you think you are doing?" a stern voice demanded.
Kevin wiped the water from his eyes and turned around to see a dumpy little witch with flyaway gray hair, her robes covered in patches of earth.
"We brought Professor Sprout!" a Hufflepuff exclaimed, sounding utterly delighted with himself.
Kevin has now determined that Hufflepuffs are not suitable party members for stealth missions, he noted dryly.
Professor Sprout waved her wand at the Devil's Net. It twisted, rapidly lost moisture, withered, and shrank back into a dormant seed, automatically releasing the girl.
Daphne Greengrass hurriedly sat up, fixing her disheveled clothes and pulling her skirt down as far as it would go.
"Enervate!" Professor Sprout cast, waking the sleeping boys one by one.
Professor Sprout pointed an accusing finger at the Slytherins. "Explain yourselves. What did you just do to these younger students?"
"He peeked at a girl first!" the Slytherin who had thrown the first hex shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Neville.
"I didn't! I was lying on the ground because the stairs suddenly started moving," Neville defended himself firmly, emboldened by the presence of a teacher.
Professor Sprout surveyed the crowd. At that moment, the porcelain doll whispered, "Perhaps I overreacted; the others were simply misled by me. I admit my mistake."
But then, she pointed resentfully at Kevin. "However, he used a very vicious Dark curse on me. I almost died because of it."
"Is that so?" Professor Sprout paused, then looked at Kevin, taking out her wand. "I'm not accusing you, as my students all testify that you stepped in to help a victim, but would you be willing to let me examine your wand to confirm?"
"I would be more than happy to." With that, Kevin ran to pick up his discarded wand and handed it to her with both hands.
"Priori Incantatem," Sprout murmured, frowning at the result—or lack thereof. "Strange. Your wand hasn't performed any spells recently."
"I'm not very good at spells, Professor. I rely mostly on... herbalism items."
Sprout nodded, looking relieved. "That explains it. Children sometimes unknowingly tap into accidental magic when threatened. You aren't responsible for that. As for you..." She turned back to the Slytherins. Her gaze lingered deliberately on the bruises blooming on Neville's round face.
She stared at the five Slytherin students with a scrutinizing gaze for a long time.
"Five points deducted from Slytherin... for each of you," she finally said. "You are no longer allowed to provoke younger students. Now get out of my sight."
She didn't need to repeat herself; the Slytherins immediately slunk away. But before they left, the blonde girl quietly mouthed at Kevin, "This isn't over."
"As for you," Professor Sprout said to Kevin, "I award Gryffindor twenty-five points. Please note that I am not praising your reckless act of taking on five older students at once. Although helping classmates is always commendable, next time please try to find a professor first."
As soon as Kevin returned to the common room, he was ambushed by the Weasley twins.
"Mate, we heard you beat a whole gang of Slytherins," George said.
"And saved our little Neville," Fred added.
"And seven Hufflepuffs."
"We heard you used Devil's Net to capture Daphne Greengrass."
"And used dark magic to torture her severely."
"Completely shattered her self-esteem."
"Made her kneel down and beg for mercy."
"We need to find the next target."
"Which family's girl should beg for mercy next?"
"Girls will turn and run away when they see you now."
"Even if they haven't run away yet..."
"It won't be long, judging from how quickly these stories are spreading."