Hogwarts: This Dark Lord is so evil

"Why are you three so late tonight?" Mr. Augg was very displeased with their late return, his tone even tinged with alarm…

In fact, he had regretted letting the three kids into the Forbidden Forest not long after they had entered.

He didn't know what had gotten into him, but after a few compliments, he had actually dared to let three underage wizards enter the Forbidden Forest…

Before, he hadn't followed them because there were older students leading the group.

Around the edges of the Forbidden Forest, older students were perfectly capable of handling things.

But three first-year little wizards… he could only say it was fortunate that nothing happened!

If something had really happened… then losing his job would be a small matter; he might even end up in Azkaban!

"Sorry, we saw a group of Mooncalves dancing on the way back. Then, without realizing it, we watched for a little longer."

Lying was easy for Leifeld.

"Oh, Mooncalves… no wonder. Those little creatures love to dance in the moonlight."

Mr. Augg didn't suspect anything.

Mooncalves, as adorable magical creatures, were indeed very attractive to young ones of that age.

"Next time, I'll take you in myself! It's too dangerous for you to go in on your own!" Mr. Augg said, before sending the three back to the castle.

Walking along the empty corridors of the castle late at night, Leifeld said with some concern, "What are we going to do… if Mr. Augg wants to go in with us in the future, it will be difficult. It seems that the search for magical power will have to be suspended for a while. I have to find a secret passage leading outside the castle…"

Tom couldn't help but glance at Leifeld again. Wasn't it easy for this guy to deal with Mr. Augg?

Besides, about the secret passage, wasn't there one before…

Then Tom realized that Leifeld was looking in Annie's direction.

In other words, this sentence was still deliberately said by Leifeld for Annie to hear.

Tom woke up and immediately shut his mouth, swallowing the words he was about to say.

After hearing Leifeld's words, Annie hesitated for a moment, then said nothing.

Originally, she wanted to say that she knew a path leading directly from the castle to the Forbidden Forest.

This was a secret passage that her aunt had told her about.

Before, she had always used this path to sneak into the Forbidden Forest.

But after thinking it over, she decided not to tell Leifeld and Tom.

In fact, it was best if Leifeld and Tom couldn't go with her!

That way, she could monopolize all the "magical power"!

At night, the Wizengamot were actually always wandering and searching in the Forbidden Forest.

The reason they hadn't run into the Wizengamot tonight was because she had reported her plan to go to the Forbidden Forest tonight to Nurmengard.

And Grindelwald had suspended the search activity tonight in order to prevent Leifeld and the others from discovering his plan.

In other words, as long as she wanted to go out to collect magical power in the future,

She only needed to tell Grindelwald in advance that Leifeld and Tom were going to move out that night, and the Wizengamot in the Forbidden Forest would stop their activity that night.

In this way… her actions to collect magical power at night would really be undetectable!

Thinking of this, Annie was both excited and nervous!

Suddenly, Leifeld asked, "Annie, you look a little excited. Do you know a secret passage out of the castle?"

Coming back to her senses, Annie quickly shook her head and said, "No, I don't know either. Tonight was my first time going to the Forbidden Forest. How could I possibly know?"

"Oh… is that so? That's a pity…" Leifeld said with a regretful expression.

Tom looked at Annie with a pitying gaze.

He understood Leifeld very well, so he was very clear that when Annie answered that she didn't know, she was already on Leifeld's little notebook.

This guy Leifeld was very vindictive!

Tom had a lot to say about this…

Soon, the three, each with their own thoughts, fell into silence. After a while, they returned to the entrance of the common room.

"Harmony!"

Annie said the new password, and the door to the common room opened.

With the expansion of the Mutual Aid Society's influence, the password to open the Slytherin common room had also been replaced from "Pure-blood" to "Harmony."

It had to be said that this was a great victory for the Mutual Aid Society…

"…Don't worry, we'll find a way out. Hmm… good night…"

After Annie finished speaking, she walked towards the girls' dormitory.

Leifeld and Tom watched her disappear around the corner of the second-floor staircase before returning to the dormitory immediately.

They found a secluded place by the window to sit down.

Outside the window of the Slytherin common room was the bottom of the Black Lake, reflecting dark green light.

Sitting by the window, they could clearly see the fish swimming at the bottom of the Black Lake.

They could even occasionally see a huge tentacle passing through the darkness…

Leifeld raised his wand and drew a graceful arc in the air.

Then Tom discovered that the crackling sound of the fireplace, which could still be faintly heard, was completely gone.

Obviously, the sound here had been isolated by Leifeld with some magic he didn't understand.

"It seems that Annie wasn't telling the truth."

Only after confirming that they wouldn't be eavesdropped on did Tom say with peace of mind.

Leifeld smiled and asked, "That's normal, Tom… Put yourself in her shoes, if you were her, would you tell us about the secret passage?"

Tom was silent. In fact, if he were Annie, he wouldn't want to tell others about the secret passage either. Only in this way could he monopolize that magical power and become stronger quickly!

"Even so… without your help in deducing the location, how could she find the other locations?" Tom asked after a moment of silence.

"Have you forgotten how familiar she was tonight? Don't you think they can't find those places? They just haven't mastered the method of finding those powers in those places… Now that I've provided her with the method, she can naturally leave us out… even leave out the person behind her and work alone."

Tom couldn't help but feel a little fortunate, fortunate that those so-called magical powers were all fake, and that this was all arranged by Leifeld.

Otherwise, Annie might really have been able to monopolize those magical powers!

Tom remembered the "fake goods" made by Leifeld at this time.

"Those fake goods… seem to be really useful?"

"Of course, you don't even look at how many precious magical potion materials I've used. Although this thing is a fake I made, it can indeed improve people's strength."

"What?!" Tom's eyes widened, "This thing can really…"

"Don't be excited, Tom… Do you think there's no price to pay for a sudden increase in strength? There are side effects." Leifeld said without blushing or skipping a beat.

Anyway, the residue did have side effects, so what he said wasn't a complete lie to Tom.

"So there are side effects…" Tom's heart immediately balanced upon hearing this. At the same time, he felt even more pity for Annie.

Not only was she being schemed against, but she also absorbed fake goods with side effects!

Of course… if Tom found out that he was the one being schemed against the most miserably, he would definitely fight Leifeld to the death…

"Anyway, let's just wait and see what happens next. Let her absorb it with peace of mind. When she finds that her power has grown to the point where she can't hide it, she will naturally help us pass the message to Grindelwald…"

Tom nodded. "This shouldn't be a problem for you, but... if Grindelwald comes, what do you plan to do? Are you going to tell Dumbledore? What reason are you going to use to explain why you know all this?"

"Tom, if Grindelwald comes, we definitely can't count on Professor Dumbledore," Leed said calmly.

"Why?" Tom asked, puzzled.

"Grindelwald knows Dumbledore's power better than anyone else, so... if he wants to cause trouble at Hogwarts, he will definitely find a way to get Dumbledore away."

"Yeah... anyway, Dumbledore doesn't know what's going on here. As long as he's lured away, perhaps no one at Hogwarts except Headmaster Dippet will be his match. But Headmaster Dippet is already very old... he might not be Grindelwald's match either." Tom asked with some concern, "In that case, what are you going to do to deal with Grindelwald?"

Just attracting him here is one thing, but if we can't beat him, there's nothing we can do...

"If we can't beat him, we can't beat him. Anyway, my goal isn't to defeat Grindelwald... What's so strange about us not being able to do something that even Dumbledore can't do?"

"Then what are you...?" Tom was completely confused.

You've been planning for so long, tricking Grindelwald and his followers into coming here, but you don't plan to defeat Grindelwald. What's the point of doing this?

"My goal, from beginning to end, has been those followers of his. We're just first-year little wizards, so we only need to do what's within our power," Leed said with a smile.

"You mean, you want to capture all the followers he brings with him? But... there are so many followers, can you really beat them? And... I don't think Grindelwald will just sit idly by!"

Tom still felt that this was unreliable. Even if Leed was powerful, he was only eleven years old. It was almost impossible to fight so many followers.

"Don't underestimate Headmaster Dippet. To be the headmaster of Hogwarts for so many years and to have lived for so long... how could he not have some ability? He will definitely be able to hold Grindelwald back for a while. We just need to find a way to take down those followers before Grindelwald comes to reinforce them."

"Is there any difference? If Grindelwald is coming, he will definitely bring a lot of followers. How can you possibly take down so many followers in such a limited time?" Tom paused, then continued, "Also, how do you know that Grindelwald will personally deal with Headmaster Dippet? If I were him, I would have my subordinates hold up the headmaster, and then I would personally come to find that power!"

"Tom, you're very smart. You even thought of that," Leed said with an approving smile.

"You have a solution?" Tom saw that Leed wasn't surprised at all, so he knew that he must have thought of this as well.

"Yes... I've prepared several sets of contingency plans," Leed said with a smile. "What I just told you was just one scenario, and I haven't finished speaking yet... What you were most confused about just now was how we could easily take down so many followers, right?"

"Not we... I'm not that confident. It's you..." Tom corrected.

Two people against a bunch of followers? Don't drag me into this! I don't want to die!

"Tom, fortune favors the bold... How can you become stronger if you're so cowardly all the time?" As Leed spoke, he took out several spherical objects from his pocket and placed them on the table.

"Dungbombs? Do you want to defeat the followers with dungbombs?" Tom was stunned.

Dungbombs are a type of prank item, the thing that the castle administrator hates the most, even if the current administrator isn't a Squib.

Because as long as this thing is smashed open, the smell of dung inside can linger in place for a long time...

"Tom, don't forget, I'm Professor Slughorn's favorite student right now. Do you think I have a way to get a few powerful potion recipes from him?"

Tom suddenly understood, "That's right... we're still using the excuse of detention to often wander around the Forbidden Forest, and we occasionally send him some materials from the Forbidden Forest... We just need to say that we plan to use these potions to take down those powerful magical creatures, and then get materials from them..."

He looked up at Leed, then continued, "Although Professor Slughorn definitely wouldn't agree if someone else said this to him, but if it's you... he would definitely give you the recipe. Then we just need to make the potions into something like dungbombs... If we operate properly, we can naturally take down all those followers..."

Leed smiled. "Your method is indeed very good. Even I didn't think of it."

"Um... what if Professor Slughorn doesn't agree? What do you plan to do?" Tom asked.

"It doesn't matter. In fact, I have the recipe for powerful potions," Leed said confidently.

The potion books rewarded by the system, what powerful potion recipes don't they have?

"Then why are you still asking Professor Slughorn?" Tom asked, puzzled.

He didn't doubt that Leed had potion recipes at all. After all, he had a "big family" standing behind him. He was just puzzled as to why Leed would be so redundant.

"I'm looking for Professor Slughorn just to have him be a witness... I just need to let him know that I want to use potions... Your excuse just now was actually very good. Even if Professor Slughorn doesn't agree, he will know that I have this idea to use potions to deal with magical creatures. That way, these 'potion dungbombs' of ours will have a reason to exist."

Tom suddenly understood again, "That's right... otherwise, even if we catch those followers, it won't be easy to explain why we happen to have so many 'potion dungbombs'! The motive won't be easy to explain. As long as we find Professor Slughorn, we'll have a motive."

Suddenly, Tom asked in surprise, "Wait... are you saying that you already had this plan when you applied to Professor Slughorn to go to the Forbidden Forest for detention? But... we clearly didn't know about the existence of that magical power at that time!"

"That's right... so, the 'bait' in my plan at that time was something else," Leed said with a smile.

"Then... what did you plan to use as bait at that time?" Tom asked with a frown.

"Wasn't Grindelwald very interested in the two of us before?" Leed asked back.

"Yes... hiss... you mean you wanted to go as bait yourself?" Tom asked in shock.

"Tom... do I look like such a selfless person?" Leed asked again meaningfully.

"If it's not you... wait... you wouldn't be planning to let me be the bait, would you!"

"Hehehehe... of course it's you, who else would it be!"

"You dog! I..."

"What, you're not convinced?"

"...You know me, I'm always convinced... um, put down your wand first, don't be impulsive..."

The more I write, the more I feel like I'm writing trash, what should I do... Does anyone really like to read it...