Chapter 427: Night Out

Bai Lang is indeed a troublemaker; according to the book and Professor McGonagall, if he swings like that, Seamus Finnigan's dog head could be blown to pieces—his wand "Skullcrusher" is not for show. With Bai Lang's martial skill, wielding that ten‑plus‑jin rod would keep even dozens of burly men at bay. A slip could crush Seamus Finnigan's dog head, so he'd better not test Madam Pomfrey's healing ability.

Bai Lang also thought of a solution; he gripped the rod just below the wand tip as he would a staff, then shook his wrist as the professor instructed. "What the hell magic, I've got no method at all!" he declared, feeling no magic whatsoever, even though Divine Sense was fixed on the match. "Hey, Seamus Finnigan. Do you feel any magic?" he asked the classmate next door, whose face flushed bright red as he shook his head.

Bai Lang's Divine Sense expanded, yet he detected no oddities in the heaven‑and‑earth qi—indeed there was none. The damned match remained a match; shaking his wrist made the wand swing absurdly useless. However, Hermione Granger had already turned the match into a needle, and until the period ended Bai Lang could not make the match change at all, while Seamus Finnigan's match blew up—he didn't know why the match exploded during the transformation.

"Fine, maybe Transfiguration isn't for me," Bai Lang muttered as he attended Curses Class—unsurprisingly the Levitation Spell also produced no effect, Seamus Finnigan's feather blew up while Hermione Granger was still the first to succeed in the spell that made a feather float. Bai Lang began to feel his magical school journey might have a rather terrible start… and the worst course was about to arrive—Potions Class.

In Hogwarts's dungeon, the Potions Class teacher—Head of Slytherin Severus Snape—was conducting the lesson, and from the moment they stepped into the room most of the young wizards already felt terrible. Dark, cold, and a strange odor lingered; Bai Lang still partnered with Seamus Finnigan, and when Snape swept in cloaked like the wind, the pressure dropped even further. Almost everyone sensed a crushing pressure, except Bai Lang felt none at all.

Snape's pressure on him was weaker than that of the other Innate Experts Snape could easily kill—probably because Snape couldn't cast Avada Kedavra at Hogwarts, anyway Bai Lang knew Snape was there to deduct points, and he held no honor for the so‑called house award, so a person with no wants is fearless; he wasn't scared of Snape at all… Sure enough, Snape's firepower zeroed in on Harry; one could say Harry is also thick‑skulled, and even Hermione Granger knows why the professor doesn't ask her.

So he simply deducted five points; Bai Lang shook his head and smiled, because they were about to embarrass themselves. Sure enough, when brewing the potion it was Neville Longbottom's turn to mess up—his clumsy handling caused chaos everywhere. Naturally, that earned Snape's roar, while Draco Draco Malfoy, apparently his prized student, hadn't yet clashed with Bai Lang—those two were far apart.

Bai Lang had no trouble handling the ingredients—his memory was good and his martial skill strong, and controlling the knife in his hand was effortless—but the moment he started brewing the potion problems arose. After Seamus Finnigan began chanting, the potion started bubbling noisily. Bai Lang frowned, "Davarishi! Is this thing smoking?" He looked around, found nothing amiss, and delivered a swift kick.

The cauldron flew sideways off the fire, smashed through the door and exploded outside… the pot itself was intact, but the liquid inside blew up, leaving bubbles all over the walls and floor. "You two are giant monsters? Five points each! For your reckless behavior!" Snape was nearly furious, so much that Harry Potter even shifted slightly on his watchlist for a brief moment. Bai Lang was unfazed; points are points, he said, "You can dock me two hundred, I don't mind."

In short, those two lessons yielded nothing for Bai Lang; he didn't brew any potion, only brought back a pile of homework. In other classes Bai Lang performed fairly well, especially Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts, which didn't involve any spellcasting issues.

After getting a bit used to Hogwarts life, Bai Lang decided on a night out—otherwise he wouldn't be a proper student. Of course he had no interest in a night out to the library; he was keen on finding a way to the Forbidden Forest—something in the woods would surely be more fun. Moreover, going to the Forbidden Forest wouldn't get him caught by caretaker Mr. Filch, since that was Hagrid's jurisdiction. To night out, he needed a secret passage, so Bai Lang went straight to the Weasley brothers.

"Hello, George, hello, Fred, do you know of a secret passage that leads outside the school?" Bai Lang asked bluntly, and the twins exchanged a glance. "Hey, actually we do. But isn't finding it yourself more fun?" Bai Lang didn't waste a word, produced two Galleons, and placed them before the brothers… they looked at each other and said, "Alright, deal!"

Then they led Bai Lang to a certain statue in the corridor and said, "Strike its second left claw with your wand. When you return, tap the stone at the opposite exit three times."

Those two probably had a better relationship with Harry, but as long as they told Bai Lang the passage, they were decent people. So after night fell, Bai Lang went to the library and half‑heartedly tackled his homework, then when he returned to the common room he began preparing. Neville Longbottom watched Bai Lang rummaging through his own suitcase and said, "Are you really going out at night? It's too dangerous; you'll get caught and lose points."

Harry and Ron were also curious, looking eager to sneak out with Bai Lang, but Hermione Granger sternly warned the three, declaring that if they dared to slip away she would tell the teachers. Bai Lang pretended to be persuaded, returned to his dormitory while Ron kept arguing with Hermione Granger. At night, most of the idle young wizards were already in bed. Bai Lang put on simple clothes—prioritizing agility and not getting snagged—silently lifted his wand and slipped out.

He walked through the night corridor under flickering torchlight almost as if invisible, using shadows as if it were Bai Lang's innate talent. He moved silently until he ran into that damned Peeves. The little imp suddenly leapt from the ground, "Aha, a young wizard! Someone, grab this kid! Hahaha!" Bai Lang listened to his shout, then swung his wand down—Peeves collapsed.

The imp was struck hard, stuck to the ground and turned into a dented puddle of mush—he wouldn't die, but Bai Lang felt that at least tonight Peeves got his comeuppance and couldn't get up. He leapt like flying; an old bloke like Filch couldn't possibly catch him—so Bai Lang smoothly entered the secret passage, and when he emerged, the Forbidden Forest lay not far ahead. Hagrid's hut was to his right, its light still burning.

Bai Lang had no intention of getting chummy with Hagrid; he took a few leaps and plunged straight into the Forbidden Forest…