Go to class – the library – do your own research.

After the conversation with Dumbledore in the headmaster's office, Zuo Si returned to a very regular but boring life in the eyes of other students.

After all, these children who grew up in a peaceful environment with almost no survival pressure and threats seriously lack the motivation to learn, and are also unable to comprehend the joy of exploring the mysteries of magic.

In addition, the various homework assigned by professors took up a lot of entertainment time, causing complaints from first and second year students.

Most of the assignments were completed by copying from each other.

Of course, the professors at Hogwarts are well aware of this.

The purpose of assigning homework is actually just to deepen the little ones' memory of certain knowledge and to select those outstanding elites who are truly talented and smart.

Among the first-year students, Zuo Si and Hermione are the only two selected so far.

Every Saturday and Sunday, the two would be called to the offices of different professors to receive additional tutoring with senior students.

Hermione's main focus was Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration, while Zoth's main focus was Professor Filius Flitwick's Charms and Snape's Potions.

After each class, they would find time to sit together and exchange notes, passing on to each other what they had learned.

Especially Zuo Si, who had already become a great wizard, could always come up with some unique insights that made Hermione's eyes light up, and even gradually developed a trace of admiration for him in her heart.

But soon, this peaceful life was disrupted with the arrival of the owl messenger.

Because these owls bring two things to the table that grab everyone's attention.

One is the latest model of flying broom given to Harry by Professor McGonagall - Nimbus 2000;

The other was the front-page headline of the Daily Prophet, a book that taught wizards how to make magic scrolls that could store spells had been published and was currently being tested by the top wizards of the two major organizations, the International Confederation of Wizards and the Wizengamot.

If approved, the inventor would immediately gain unparalleled fame and wealth.

The person who recommended this book was Albus Dumbledore, the chief wizard of the Wizengamot, president of the International Confederation of Wizards, and known as the greatest wizard of our time.

As for the author's name "Sos", it is printed in large bold font in the most conspicuous position next to the title.

"Sos, please come to the principal's office later. Reporters from the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly want to do an exclusive interview with you."

Just when the little wizards were attracted by the huge long package in Harry Potter's hand, Professor McGonagall suddenly came over and informed them in a low voice.

"Can I refuse?" Zuo Si asked without raising his head.

At this moment, he was trying to cast the most complicated Patronus Charm on a piece of sheepskin without using a wand. He had to maintain a high level of concentration, so he was completely and undisguisedly disgusted by this boring thing.

Professor McGonagall smiled and replied, "I'm afraid not. Because this thing you invented is too amazing.

In particular, those original magical symbols that can store spells have attracted widespread attention in the International Confederation of Wizards and the Wizengamot.

Even those old wizards who have lived for hundreds of years and are highly respected hope to meet you.

What's more, giving interviews can help your book sell better.

If I remember correctly, you no longer have the money to carry out those expensive studies, right?

As long as you meet these people and convince them, you will not only get a lot of funding, but also increase your influence in the wizarding world.

In addition, as a student of Hogwarts, you also have the responsibility to win more honor for the school.

In fact, it was Professor Snape who should have told you this.

But he is busy with another matter right now, so he can't get away for the time being."

"Okay, I know..."

At the moment when Zuo Si was distracted and talking, the magic power he controlled suddenly went out of control without any warning.

moment!

The scroll on the table suddenly burst out with a burst of energy.

boom!!!!!!

I saw a silver light that blew away everything around, including tables, chairs and people. At the same time, in less than a few seconds, it quickly condensed into the shape of a giant dragon in the center of the hall, and then quickly dissipated without a trace.

Fortunately, these impacts did not cause any injuries to students. Everyone was just startled by the sudden energy impact.

Professor McGonagall, who was still in shock, quickly straightened her glasses that were almost knocked off and warned, "Don't conduct such dangerous experiments in crowded places such as the hall and the common room in the future. I will apply to Headmaster Dumbledore later to give you a special room."

"Thank you so much. This way, I can free myself to try more dangerous things." Zuo Si said as he threw away the discarded scroll.

"More dangerous?!"

Professor McGonagall keenly grasped a key word.

"Please don't worry. I won't blow myself up, nor will I blow the school up. There's someone else you should be worried about instead of me."

After saying that, Zuo Si glanced meaningfully at Neville Longbottom not far away.

Before Professor McGonagall could react, the little fat boy exploded the pot of potion in front of him.

The boiling hot and highly corrosive unknown black liquid splashed everywhere, and large blisters and cysts immediately appeared on the skin of any student who was touched by it.

For a moment, the entire hall was filled with the cries of students who had accidentally been hit, as well as the screams of those who were frightened.

Professor McGonagall ignored Zuo Si and walked straight forward to clean up the dangerous liquids and medicine pots, and then worked with other professors to send the injured to Madam Pomfrey for treatment.

If nothing unexpected happens, the hospital will be crowded again tonight.

"Alas - what a sin."

Zuo Si couldn't help but sigh slightly.

This is the fourth time Neville has made such a big noise since the start of school.

Perhaps it was because he witnessed his parents being kidnapped by the Death Eater, Bellatrix, when he was young, and tortured with the Cruciatus Curse until their sanity collapsed and they went completely insane, so his magic power got out of control more easily than other children of his age.

Coupled with his forgetfulness, he often forgets what he did in the previous step and what he should do next when making potions.

As a result, every time he tried to mix a potion, Neville's pot would unexpectedly become a huge safety hazard.

But for the sake of good grades in Potions class, he had to practice privately again and again.

Zuo Si was actually quite sympathetic to the experience of this little fat boy.

Because facing such parents all day long, the pain and fear he has to endure is even greater than that of Harry Potter who completely lost his parents.

It's a pity that he doesn't have any good way to deal with this kind of mental and spiritual trauma.

I guess only the wishing technique, which is said to be omnipotent, can play some role.

But the problem is that the mechanism of the wishing spell is very complicated, and it even contains many things that even the caster himself cannot be sure of.

Until these secrets are figured out, Wish can't even be made into a Planeswalker card.

Therefore, Zuo Si did not dare to use the wishing spell outside the multiverse where Faerun was, and he did not intend to summon any creatures from other dimensions through spell magic, for fear of attracting gods, demons, devils, celestial beings and other messy things.

Just as he began to pack up and prepare to leave the first floor hall, Hermione took advantage of the chaos and slipped over from the table where the Gryffindors gathered next to him, holding a copy of the Daily Prophet in her hand.

"Congratulations! It seems that it won't be long before you become the most famous student in the whole Hogwarts." The girl gave her blessing with a slightly emotional tone.

Because Zuo Si had hardly made any effort to rest or have fun since the beginning of the school year, she had seen it all, and in her heart she only admired him and not a bit of jealousy.

After all, the situation in this world that is least likely to make people feel jealous is when the other person is smarter, more talented, and works harder than you.

It is only natural that such people will eventually succeed.

"Why, are you envious?" Zuo Si asked in a half-joking tone.

Hermione shook her head slightly. "No, I'm just a little disappointed in myself. How come you, a student from the same Muggle family, can learn and understand so much complex knowledge and spells so quickly, and even create things like magic scrolls based on them? But I can't even understand Professor McGonagall's special tutorials in Transfiguration on Saturdays and Sundays."

Zuo Si responded in a low voice: "The differences in intelligence and talent between people are huge, and there is no such thing as fairness.

You have to understand this first, and then turn around and look at the other first-year students.

Whether it is Malfoy or Harry, who is hailed as the savior, or the little wizards born in pure-blood families, and their performance in school.

Haven't you surpassed them by a lot? Please remember, Miss Granger, wizards from Muggle families are essentially no different from those from pure-blood families. They all have some special power in their blood and souls.

The simplest way to pass on this power is to pass it on to your children through the birth of offspring.

But there are exceptions to everything.

Some wizarding families give birth to children called Squibs, who are unable to cast spells and have no magical talent.

Squibs are usually considered a disgrace by pure-blood families, and are eventually ostracized and expelled, and can only struggle to survive by integrating into the Muggle world.

The children they had with Muggles, as well as their descendants, are one of the main sources of Muggle wizards.

The reason why you received the admission letter from Hogwarts means that you have wizard blood flowing in your body, and it has been fully awakened, no worse than anyone else.

Also, I have another suggestion for you.

That is, don't give up what you learned in the Muggle world just because you entered the wizarding world.

Because being able to observe, analyze and draw conclusions from different perspectives is itself an incomparable advantage.

If you can combine science and magic, you can also create inventions that will amaze wizards like me."

"Combine science and magic?!" Hermione's eyes lit up when she heard this.

"That's right. Although these two systems seem to have nothing to do with each other at first glance, and wizards even reject technological products to some extent, Hogwarts' ban on all Muggle technological products is the best example. But what if you can use magic and spells to achieve similar effects as technology? Don't forget, the wizarding world today doesn't even have a decent communication device and is still using primitive and backward owls to send letters." Zuo Si hinted in a slightly playful tone.

"Phone? Communication? Damn it! Zuo Si, you are such a genius! Why didn't I think of that..."

Hermione seemed to have opened the door to a new world and looked extremely excited.

You have to know that it is now 1991, and fixed-line telephones have become widely popular in the Muggle world, and mobile phones are also gradually becoming popular.

So she is very aware of the importance of the communications industry and the wealth and influence that can be brought by developing this field.

"It's just that the authorities are too confused. You are very smart and capable, so please don't waste your talent."

After saying this, Zuo Si turned around and prepared to leave.

But before he could take a few steps, Hermione called him from behind.

"Wait! I have something else to tell you."

"Hmm? What's that?"

Zuo Si subconsciously stopped and showed a puzzled expression.

He didn't remember anything worth paying attention to in his first year except the Philosopher's Stone and Quirinus Quirrell possessed by Voldemort.

"It's about the night when Malfoy and Harry dueled. We were so panicked that we accidentally broke into the restricted area on the fourth floor and ended up encountering a big dog with three heads. Harry said that Hagrid had taken something very important from Gringotts before school started, and it was very likely that he had left it inside, guarded by the big dog."

Hermione didn't hide anything and told him everything she knew.

After all, compared to the unreliable savior and that stupid Ron, she was more willing to believe in Zuo Si's wisdom.

"Since you already know the whole story, why don't you just ask the gamekeeper Hagrid? He lives not far from the castle." Zuo Si gave a straightforward solution.

Because in this matter, the traces of Dumbledore's manipulation and interference were too obvious.

The first thing is that Hagrid, who went to pick up Harry, was responsible for retrieving the Philosopher's Stone, which was weird from the inside out.

Although the loyalty of this half-giant is unquestionable, his thick nerves and careless character make him unsuitable for such secretive work, especially with a child who speaks too much.

It was as if they were deliberately telling Harry Potter that a treasure had been taken from the Gringotts vault and placed in Hogwarts Castle.

At the same time, it also attracted Voldemort and Quirrell who was possessed by him.

Secondly, when Harry and others discovered that the Philosopher's Stone might have been stolen, both Snape, the suspect, and Dumbledore, who "happened" to be unable to find anyone, disappeared at the right time.

It's just bullying because children have a simpler way of thinking and rarely doubt the professors they respect, otherwise they would be exposed in a minute.

Finally, at the end of the semester when the house cup awards were presented, Dumbledore showed his blatant and undisguised favoritism and encouragement.

Obviously, if the sudden opening of the Chamber of Secrets in the second semester could be explained by chance and coincidence, then the Philosopher's Stone incident in the first semester was 100% a test prepared by Dumbledore to train Harry to fight Voldemort.

A lot of thought went into making him meet Voldemort in a weak state, and into cultivating his brave and fearless character.

"Go ask Hagrid directly? Are you sure he will tell us the answer?" Hermione said with strong doubt in her tone.

Zuo Si smiled and explained, "From what I know, Hagrid is not a very careful person who can keep secrets. Even if he doesn't tell you the truth, he will at least reveal some information inadvertently. With this information, plus your intelligence, it shouldn't be difficult to find the answer. Well, I have other things to deal with, so let's stop here for today's communication."

"Good luck!"

Hermione obviously knew that Zuo Si was going to be interviewed by the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly. She waved goodbye vigorously with a faint smile on her face.

"Thanks."

Zuo Si bowed politely, then turned around and walked straight to the headmaster's office under the gaze of many senior students, especially those from Ravenclaw.

As soon as he left the first floor hall, Penelope Clearwater, the head girl of Ravenclaw College, came up to Hermione and asked with interest, "Are you familiar with Thors?"

"I'm not familiar with him, but I've received his guidance a few times. What's the matter?" Hermione raised her head and looked at the other person vigilantly.

"No, nothing. I just want to know more about this eccentric genius. I really don't know what the Sorting Hat did to assign a new student who is so suitable for Ravenclaw to Slytherin."

When saying this, Penelope Clearwater's tone revealed strong dissatisfaction and regret.

Because what she saw was Zuo Si deliberately displaying wisdom, talent and ability far beyond his peers, so she naturally felt that such a freshman should belong to Ravenclaw College.

They did not realize that hidden behind these disguises were traits that were more in line with Slytherin House, such as insidiousness, cunningness, and good disguise.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know much about Soth, so I can't give you any answers."

Hermione seemed to have sensed something and decisively chose to end the conversation with the female head of the "House of Eagles" and quickly retreated back to the territory of Gryffindor College.

Not long after she ran away, Gemma Farley appeared with several Slytherin senior students and taunted her in a provocative manner: "Penelope Clearwater, what do you want to do with the genius of our college by asking around for information?"

"What does it have to do with you?"

Penelope Clearwater asked back without showing any weakness.

In the blink of an eye, the Slytherin and Ravenclaw students quickly moved closer to the female prefects of their respective colleges, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Since the professors had just sent the injured students for treatment, there was no one in the entire hall who could stand up and stop the situation from getting out of control.

"Humph! Of course it matters. Soth was sent to Slytherin by the Sorting Hat, and he will always be a Slytherin. Please control yourself and stop trying to seduce our genius like a bitch in heat."

"No matter what I do, I am still a hundred times better than a piece of trash like you who offered yourself up but got rejected. Oh, I almost forgot, when you confessed your feelings to someone before, you even scared the other person so much that he ran away."

Penelope Clearwater was no pushover either, and she sneered back.

"What did you say?!!!!"

Gemma Farley's face quickly turned red when her dark history was exposed in public, and the ferocity revealed in her eyes seemed as if she wanted to eat the other person alive.

The Slytherin students following behind her even drew their wands and prepared to take action.

The Ravenclaws behind Penelope Clearwater were not to be outdone and drew their wands to fight.

However, just when Gemma Farley was about to strike first, she suddenly discovered that many Gryffindor students stood on the side of Ravenclaw.

The leader was none other than Percy Weasley, the prefect.

It was obvious that when two houses fought against one house, Slytherin would suffer a great loss no matter how you looked at it.

What's more, those following Gemma Farley were not all students from Slytherin House, but only about half of the half-blood wizards who were ostracized by the pure-blood faction.

So after weighing the pros and cons, she quickly calmed down, glared at Penelope Clearwater fiercely, and after a full minute she said to the others: "Let's go!"

In the blink of an eye, the number of Slytherin students in the hall on the first floor was reduced by more than half.

Finally, those who were left chose to keep a low profile.

毕竟“小蛇”们可是都相当懂得审时度势，绝对不会像格兰芬多的“蠢货”们一样，明知道不敌还冲上去送死。

等人群渐渐散去，珀西这才把佩内洛·克里瓦特拉到角落里质问：“刚才是怎么回事？你究竟为何跟杰玛·法利发生冲突？”

前者不加思索的解释道：“没什么，我只是想要看看能不能把弗利维教授口中足以媲美乃至超越校长邓布利多的天才，拉拢到我们这一边。

毕竟他对斯莱特林学院从始至终都没有半点认同感，甚至不愿意跟任何一个斯莱特林学院的学生说话。

另外，你看最近一其的预言家日报了么？ 索斯很快就会成为全世界魔法界的名人。

他发明的那些东西，用不了多久便会成为巫师们日常生活中不可或缺的一部分。

一些国家的魔法部和知名学校甚至打算定制一整套相应的教材。

所以不出意外的话，索斯将有可能引领整个时代。

不管是想要在毕业后进入魔法部做出一番事业，还是留校成为一名教授，都很有必要跟他搞好关系。

只可惜，杰玛·法利这个混蛋想要吃独食，把我们其他三个学院排挤在外。”

“你觉得索斯会对我们毕业之后的事业产生帮助？”珀西眼睛里闪过一丝异样的光芒。

“没错。这已经差不多是既定的事实了。眼下他应该就在校长办公室，接受包括《预言家日报》、《巫师周刊》等知名媒体的专访。这可是只有那些已经获得或者即将获得梅林勋章的人，才会有的待遇。该死！弗利维教授叫我了，我得立马赶过去，关于这件事情我们之后找个时间再慢慢谈。”

说完这句话，佩内洛·克里瓦特立刻转身朝通往二楼的阶梯跑去。

……

与此同时，在校长办公室内，左思正在与一名看上去十分苍老，但眼神却充满了智慧的老人进行交流。

他不是别人，正是邓布利多的好友，通过魔法石活了数百年的尼可·勒梅。

毫无疑问，这位在全世界范围内都拥有巨大影响力的炼金术士之所以会大老远跑过来，完全是对魔法卷轴的制造技术感兴趣。

毕竟他年轻的时候也曾经尝试制造过储法装置，但因为造价太过昂贵最终没有办法进行普及，只能卖给那些不差钱的纯血家族，亦或是留着自娱自乐。

但左思这套技术，不仅成功解决了咒语难以被存储的问题，同时还最大限度压低成本，即便是穷困潦倒的巫师也能受益。

除此之外，那些独创性的魔法符文也让尼可·勒梅大开眼界。

不过这位炼金大师并不知道，左思所使用的符文实际上就是直接照搬费伦大陆的符文体系，然后根据不同咒语的特性稍加改良。

由于阅读过耐瑟瑞尔卷轴的开篇，所以他对于魔法力量本质的理解远超这个世界任何一名巫师。

事实上，这个世界之所以没有诞生具有普及性的魔法存储装置，究其根源还是在于魔杖的发明。

有了魔杖，巫师们就相当于有了一个能够简化施法过程的工具。

而经过阉割、简化的咒语跟法术很难独立形成稳定的结构，往往咒语念完就在魔杖的引导下成功释放出去。

所以想要制作出相对廉价的储法物品，就必须先对咒语进行溯源，找到其最重要的核心部分，然后加以扩展并使法术模型趋于稳定。

这样一来，才有可能用廉价的方式把法术存储起来。

将简单的咒语复杂化，这几乎是任何一名巫师都不会想到的。

“原来如此！从一开始，我们就错了，而且还在朝着错误的方向不断探索，得到的自然只能是错误的结果。但你不同，你从一开始就找对了方向。”

尼可·勒梅在得知真相后忍不住发出了感叹。

左思深以为然的点了点头：“是啊，大部分的巫师都陷入了思维的误区。

其实在麻瓜的世界，人们进行科技研发的时候跟巫师们有针对性的进行研究不一样，往往采取的是试错法。

也就是不追求一下子就能找到正确的答案。

而是在不断尝试中找出那些行不通的错误，直到被排除掉的选项越来越多、剩下可能是正确的选项越来越少。

魔法界之所以在长达数千年的时间里都没能解决这个问题，究其根源还是在于愿意进行新咒语和魔法技术研发的人太少，并且彼此之间也没有什么像样的交流。

我认为是时候应该抛弃那些过去的陈旧观念，最好由国际巫师联合会或者威森加摩等组织牵头，专门设立一个机构来负责及时共享魔法界的前沿研究进展，并给与那些有创造力的巫师一些金钱和荣誉上的鼓励。

唯有如此，缺乏活力的魔法界才不会像现在这样宛如一滩死水。

作为一名活了六百多年的炼金术士，您应该最能感受到麻瓜世界在最近两三百年的急速发展。

与之相比，巫师们的世界则与几百年前没有任何明显变化。”

听完这番发言，尼可·勒梅苍老的脸上浮现出淡淡的微笑，用一种过来人的口吻说道：“我得承认，你果然跟阿不思描述的一样聪明、敏锐且拥有跟大多数巫师截然不同的思维方式。

另外，对于魔法界现有的弊端看得也很清楚。

但问题是，想要让巫师们改变观念谈何容易。

更何况由于保密法的关系，许多巫师家族早已根麻瓜世界严重脱节，他们对于麻瓜世界的变化和发展一无所知。”

“正因为如此，所以才需要做出改变。

毕竟任何奇迹都是由人来创造的。

就好像当初所有人都不看好您能制作出魔法石，但您却用实际行动狠狠打了那些巫师的脸。

六百多年过后，那些嘲笑过您的家伙又在哪里？

所以作自己的事情，不要去理会那些愚者的言论，用一次又一次的成功向整个魔法界证明，谁才是正确的。”

左思直截了当的总结道。

正当尼可·勒梅还想要说点什么的时候，在一旁等候了半天的丽塔·斯基特终于忍不住插嘴道：“勒梅阁下，你已经占用了相当多的时间，是时候应该轮到我了。要知道整个英国乃至全世界的巫师，都在期待明天能在预言家日报的头版头条看到独家专访的内容。”

对于这种粗俗且极端无礼的举动，尼可·勒梅仅仅是下意识皱起眉头，但却并没有说什么，立刻站起身冲左思点头示意了一下，然后便站起身走出校长办公室。

漫长的寿命让他见识过许多形形色色的人，同时也拥有普通巫师所不具备的宽容跟耐心。

当这位炼金大师彻底离开后，丽塔·斯基特立马急不可耐的开口说道：“你好，索斯。为了能让魔法界更多的巫师认识你，接下来我将提出一些问题，希望你能一个不落的全部做出解答。”

“可以。不过最好不要涉及到个人隐私，否则后果自负。”

左思毫不客气的给了眼前这个女人一个下马威。

因为他本人对于“记者”这种生物实在是没有半点好感。

如果不是麦格教授的要求，甚至不会浪费一秒钟时间在这种无聊的事情上。

丽塔·斯基特显然注意到了眼前这个男孩对自己毫不掩饰的厌恶跟不耐烦，但却并没有当做一回事，立刻掏出一个小本子询问道：“我听霍格沃茨一年级的学生说，你在开学第一天就用昏睡咒攻击了自己的同学？而且还有传闻说你在斯莱特林的公共休息室里，与超过半个学院的学生爆发了激烈冲突？这是不是说明你在潜意识里拥有很严重的暴力倾向？”

“怎么，你想要把我编排成一个来自麻瓜家庭，对于魔法界和巫师充满敌意乃至仇恨的形象吗？”左思翘起嘴角露出了危险的笑容。

“不！我只是觉得公众有权利了解一个最真实的你。”

丽塔·斯基特一边狡辩，一边控制那支速记羽毛笔在羊皮之上刷刷刷写着乱七八糟的内容。

可能是觉得左思年纪比较小所以好欺负的关系，也有可能是在别的采访对象身上总能屡屡得手，所以她一如既往表现出了强势的作风，试图挖出更多的“黑料”放在报道中来吸引眼球。

毕竟巫师们的通讯手段原本就相当原始落后，所以魔法界的舆论操控起来比麻瓜世界也更加容易。

只可惜，丽塔·斯基特这次选错了对象。

“最真实？我觉得应该用最吸引眼球来形容更贴切一点。我很好奇，你这样随便编排别人，难道就不怕遭到报复吗？还是说，你只敢去招惹那些不会报复你，又或者不敢报复你的巫师？”

左思冷笑着揭开了对方的老底。

To be honest, he really couldn't understand how this woman had managed to survive to this day given her behavior.

You know, in the UK, there have always been quite a large number of so-called "dark wizards".

This can be seen by looking at the booming shops in Knockturn Alley.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, instead of focusing on me, let's talk about you. For example, your unusual friendship with Miss Hermione Granger, a first-year Gryffindor student."

Rita Skeeter obviously did not learn her lesson. Instead, she wanted to lead Zuo Si into the pit of gossip and scandals again.

"Haha, you really are a stubborn person. In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless. After all, having a good reputation is very important to my next plan."

After confirming that there was no one else in the principal's office and that even the portraits of past principals had disappeared, Zuo Si immediately released a ball of scorching flame at the shorthand quill and parchment, burning them to ashes.

After doing all this, he reached out and grabbed the annoying woman's neck, and with terrifying strength, he pushed her against the wall behind him.

Bang! The violent collision instantly knocked Rita Skeeter's glasses off her face. Her face turned red because she couldn't breathe. She struggled desperately to pry open the clamp-like hand on her neck.

But unfortunately it was all in vain.

Because Zuo Si's strength attribute had already skyrocketed to thirty-one points after he devoured the old blue dragon.

Not to mention a mere female reporter who is powerless, even a half-giant as powerful as Hagrid would be suppressed in an instant.

"What...what are you going to do? Let me...let me go!" Rita Skeeter shouted in horror.

"What, are you scared now? I have warned you more than once before, but you turned a deaf ear to me. Now, are you ready to bear very serious consequences?" There was a chilling light in Zuo Si's eyes.

"No! No! No! No! Don't do this! If you kill me, not only will you be expelled from Hogwarts, but you will also be wanted by the entire wizarding world. You are a genius with a bright future. There is no need to do this. I swear, as long as you let me go, I will never mention it to anyone, nor will I write any interview content that is unfavorable to you."

Rita Skeeter was visibly frightened, shaking uncontrollably.

She couldn't believe it even in her dreams. This first-year student from a Muggle family actually planned to kill her in the principal's office at Hogwarts just because he made up a little fake news.

This kind of cruel, cold-blooded attitude that does not take human life seriously is no less than that of Voldemort.

"Sorry, it's too late. Don't worry, I won't kill you because it's not worth it. But the death penalty can be spared, but the living crime cannot be escaped."

As he spoke, Zuo Si took out his wand, pointed it at Rita Skeeter, and slowly recited a spell.

"Drill-heart-and-dig-bone!"

The next second...

An indescribable pain made Rita Skeeter open her mouth like a madman and let out a heart-wrenching howl.

But just when he was about to make a sound, he suddenly realized that no matter how much he shouted, he couldn't make even the slightest noise.

Zuo Si stretched out a finger and gently placed it on his lips, silencing them. He whispered in his ear with a devilish voice, "Shh! Don't make such a loud noise, it will disturb others. In the next half hour, I will teach you a lesson called price. Don't worry, I will not cast the Cruciatus Curse for more than ten seconds each time, and I will reserve time for rest. I will never let you go crazy because of it."

Hearing these words that were more desperate than death, Rita Skeeter's eyes suddenly revealed pleading.

You have to know that the power of the Cruciatus Curse is simply not something that a normal person can withstand.

Even just a few seconds made her feel that life was worse than death, not to mention the torture that lasted for half an hour.

If she could do it again, she swore that she would never provoke this extremely dangerous little villain in front of her, and she would not choose to come to Hogwarts for this interview.

But the hard-hearted Zuo Si ignored the other party and repeated the Cruciatus Curse for ten seconds every two or three minutes on average. He also tried to add different degrees of malicious emotions to observe the strength of the spell.

After just five times, the woman's will and psychological defenses completely collapsed. At the same time, her body began to lose control and she began to sweat profusely. Her two bloodshot eyes looked extremely scary.

If possible, she even hoped that the other party would cast an Avada Kedavra on her to end it all.

I guess in Rita Skeeter's mind, Zuo Si's horror has surpassed Voldemort.

Because the latter, at least when he first entered school, had not yet shown such terrifying talent, strength and ruthless cruelty.

When half an hour was over, Rita Skeeter collapsed on the ground like a lifeless corpse. Not only were her clothes soaked with sweat, but there was no life in her eyes at all.

"Clean it up!"

Zuo Si simply waved his wand and cast a cleansing spell to restore everything to its original state, at least on the surface.

Following that, he cast a resuscitation spell on the half-dead woman in front of him.

After a few seconds, Rita Skeeter suddenly got up from the ground, curled up into a ball and shivered as if she had just woken up from a nightmare.

"Tell me, do you understand what the price is now?" Zuo Si asked expressionlessly.

"Understand... Understood! Please, don't torture me anymore. I promise that I will obey every order you give me like the humblest house-elf." Rita Skeeter begged incoherently.

"Very good! Remember, if you try to tell anyone what happened today, I will find you immediately and torture your soul for a thousand years, ten thousand years, until the end of time, using a method more painful than the Cruciatus Curse."

After saying that, Zuo Si raised his wand and pressed it against the opponent's chest, and a hot red light spurted out from the front end.

The pungent smell of burning quickly filled the principal's office.

In the blink of an eye, a mysterious symbol was successfully imprinted on the surface of the skin.

Under normal circumstances, such pain would definitely make Rita Skeeter scream.

But now, she, who had just experienced the torture of the Cruciatus Curse, had no reaction at all, as if she had completely lost her sense of pain.

Obviously, the magic mark left by Zuo Si can control Rita Skeeter to some extent.

Although it would definitely be safer to make it into a card, he didn't want to put such a thing that made him bored just by looking at it into his collection.

(End of this chapter)