Hogwarts: I, Tom, am really not Voldemort!

Dumbledore's words seemed to freeze the Quidditch pitch in time. Everyone remained motionless, not daring to move.

Tom felt the oppressive power of the name Albus Dumbledore for the first time from the heavy atmosphere in the air.

The White Wizard was terrifyingly powerful, someone you couldn't afford to provoke.

Professor McGonagall and Snape, who had picked himself up from the ground, also arrived at the scene of the brawl. The Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor naturally couldn't continue.

Waving her wand, Professor McGonagall separated the two sides who were still hurling insults at each other. Everyone felt the anger she exuded, and the students who had been exchanging colorful language fell silent instantly.

"In all the years since Hogwarts was founded, there has never been such a terrible brawl. Can anyone explain to me what happened?"

As soon as Professor McGonagall spoke, everyone shivered involuntarily and turned to look at Ron in unison.

Hollis Carow, from Slytherin, was the first to shout, "Report! Weasley attacked Professor Snape first, provoking the conflict. We were going to apprehend him and hand him over to the professors, but not only did he refuse to surrender, he also ambushed us. I am a victim of his crime." He pointed to his head, which had been beaten into a pig-like shape. His smooth and fluent reporting skills showed that he had done this sort of unscrupulous thing many times.

Finding the instigator, Professor McGonagall stared down at Ron and asked sternly, "Mr. Weasley, do you have anything to say? It seems the Howler your mother sent you recently didn't teach you a lesson."

Hearing this, Ron trembled like a sieve, as nightmarish memories he wanted to banish slowly resurfaced.

If, if he had to endure another Howler from his mother in the Great Hall in front of the whole school, scolding him for being unworthy of being a Weasley, Ron felt he might be completely and utterly humiliated.

At this thought, a surge of courage rose within Ron, and he looked directly at Professor McGonagall: "Head of House, I didn't do it on purpose. I attacked Snape because Snape was cursing Harry, trying to kill him. I just wanted to save my friend."

"Are you saying a professor tried to kill his own student? That's impossible." Professor McGonagall glanced at Snape's gloomy face, clearly not believing Ron's explanation.

Before Snape could speak, Tom, who had appeared from nowhere, said, "Professor Snape did cast a spell, but--"

Professor McGonagall looked at Snape in surprise, not expecting him to actually do such a thing. But hearing Tom's drawn-out tone, it was clear that there was a twist. She glared at Tom unhappily: "Say everything at once, don't leave half of it out."

Seeing signs that Professor McGonagall was about to get angry, Tom abandoned his playful thoughts and took the initiative to explain for Snape: "But Professor Snape didn't cast a dark curse. We were sitting next to the Head of House at the time, and the spell he cast was to help Harry control his broom and prevent him from falling and getting hurt. If you don't believe it, you can verify it with Veritaserum or Legilimency. You should know that the Head of House is the last person in the world who would hurt Harry."

"Ah!" Ron hadn't expected Tom to come out with this. Looking at his confident appearance, it seemed to be true. But unwilling to give up until he was proven wrong, he still stubbornly retorted: "Why do you say that?"

Tom looked at Ron with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot and uttered a name: "Lily!"

Hearing this name, everyone present suddenly understood and revealed a knowing smile.

Snape's face darkened even more, and he said fiercely, "Weasley, as the instigator, attacking a professor, causing a brawl, Gryffindor loses 100 points. Starting tomorrow, you will serve detention every night until the end of the school year."

Professor McGonagall also announced her punishment: "Gryffindor and Slytherin, each lose 300 points. All those involved in the brawl will serve detention three times a week, for eight weeks."

Just as things were about to settle down, Dumbledore, who was always late, finally arrived. Just as he was about to say a few concluding remarks, Tom raised his hand and shouted, "Professor, I have an opinion on Hogwarts' education."

Seeing everyone's attention focused on him, Tom cleared his throat and said with utmost seriousness, "Dear professors, Hogwarts, as the best magic school, has dropped to seventh place in the ranking of magic schools this year. The spell that young wizards are best at is actually their fists. I am deeply saddened by this. How about we change the name to Hogwarts Vocational Training Technical School of Combat, what do you think?"

These words caused Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape's faces to darken. Dumbledore coughed and turned to Professor McGonagall, saying, "In response to this terrible incident, I think the punishment of detention three times a week for eight weeks is too light. How about we change the detention to five times a week for sixteen weeks, Minerva, what do you think?"

"Albus, I agree with everything you say. Also, in light of this brawl, the Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor is a double forfeit." Professor McGonagall agreed wholeheartedly, adding another punishment.

"Alas, perhaps Tom is right, there is probably a real problem with our education. I hope that in the future we can educate the students to become qualified wizards." Dumbledore's tone was full of regret, as if they had really done something heinous. But clever people immediately sensed from Dumbledore's words that the days ahead would definitely not be easy.

Seeing that Tom's casual words had doubled everyone's suffering, Slytherin and Gryffindor were united in their hatred and glared at him.

Tom ignored them and even started whistling. However, Dumbledore's meaningful glance at him as he left made his fragile little heart feel the deep malice of this world.

Come on, he was just a bystander. This matter had nothing to do with him at all. Did he have to take the blame for this too?

Why make things so difficult for an 11-year-old child?

The following days were not easy for the Gryffindor and Slytherin students. The number of participants in this brawl was so large that most of the students in the two houses were stuck in the quagmire of detention, and the empty houses often couldn't find anyone.

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were also affected. The workload, which had already been increased once, became even heavier, with a bit of a Chinese-style education feel to it. After all, Dumbledore had said that he wanted to educate the students into qualified wizards.

As for Tom, the culprit who had caused everyone's punishment to be increased, he was constantly ambushed by the little wizards, both openly and secretly, during this period. For Tom, these ambushes were naturally like playing house. At first, he enjoyed playing with them to spice up his boring campus life. But as time went on, he couldn't help but feel annoyed. At this point, Tom wanted to slap himself in the face. Why was he so mouthy?

The only one who was truly happy was probably Filch. No one would turn down free labor. Now, not only was there someone to help clean the castle, but violations of school rules were almost disappearing. It was all wonderful.

Until the Christmas holidays, Tom noticed that the number of students applying to leave school and go home this year was even more thorough than in previous years.

Only after asking did he learn that everyone couldn't stand to stay in this dragon's den and tiger's lair that was Hogwarts for even a moment longer.

Tom offered his sincere 'apologies' for this.