"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
At the edge of the cliff, George and Fred, who had been eagerly waiting to see Harris Raymons swoop in and save Leonard, both froze.
At first, Harris Raymons's flashy magic had looked incredibly impressive, like something extraordinary.
But after actually seeing the result, they were left thinking, That's it?
Forget saving anyone. He had practically thrown himself into the mess too.
That said, the two of them were no longer as panicked as before. They had already recognized the tentacles wrapped around Harris Raymons.
Wasn't that the giant squid from the Black Lake? It had always had a good relationship with Hogwarts students. They had never seen it hurt anyone. Sometimes, when it was sunning itself in the shallows, students would even go over and say hello.
It definitely would not hurt a student. They just had no idea why it had been chasing Leonard a moment ago and scaring them half to death.
But now it looked like Leonard was not worried at all. He even had the leisure to hover there and watch the show.
Leonard did not think for long. This was not exactly the right moment to stand around daydreaming.
The giant squid was over there tossing Harris Raymons around like a toy. If he just kept spacing out here, that would be a little too disrespectful.
Besides, from the way Harris Raymons had acted just now, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor really had seemed to be trying to help him.
Leonard had no idea what he supposedly needed help with, but Harris Raymons certainly looked like someone who needed help now.
He also had no idea what Harris Raymons had done to offend the giant squid. How could such a friendly squid be so vicious specifically toward him?
So now Leonard needed to talk to the giant squid and see whether he could persuade it to put Harris Raymons down.
But before that...
Leonard glanced at the raven above the giant squid's head, cawing wildly while delivering heavenly justice, curled his lip, and casually pulled out his wand.
"Mr. William, help me!" At this point Harris Raymons no longer cared about maintaining his dignity as a professor. Enunciating each word, he called to Leonard for help.
He was full of regret. If he had known the giant squid from the Black Lake was just playing around with Leonard, he never would have stuck his nose into this. The giant squid treated most students very well and would never hurt them, but it was not quite so friendly toward certain people.
Take Harris Raymons himself, for example. Back when he had been a student, he had taken great pleasure in disturbing the giant squid while it slept. The giant squid hated him to the bone.
"Sure thing."
As he spoke, Leonard flicked out a basic spell and sent the raven circling overhead flying off.
"Caw!"
With a shrill cry, the raven tumbled away and splashed into the Black Lake.
Sta the Raven: ???
What the hell is wrong with you?
Harris Raymons: ???
How is that saving someone? Why did you hit the raven?
"Don't mind me, Professor. I was just worried about getting filthy," Leonard said as he put away his wand and flew toward the giant squid, whose head had just been showered in black-and-white bird droppings.
That raven had quite a lot stored up, apparently. It had managed to cover nearly half the giant squid's head.
"Big guy, can you put him down?" Leonard asked through the Ancient Sprout.
The giant squid gave Leonard a conflicted look.
It really liked Leonard's aura and felt that he would make an excellent friend...
But it had finally run into this bad thing again, the one who had kept disturbing its sleep years ago, and it really did not want to let go of such a hard-won chance for revenge.
The giant squid of the Black Lake held grudges.
Originally, its relationship with Harris Raymons had just been the usual mutual harassment. You disturb my sleep, I throw you into the Black Lake to wake you up a little.
But right before Harris Raymons graduated, he had really tormented it badly, leaving the giant squid furious and convinced it would never get a chance to get even.
And yet, who would have thought that this guy would actually come back?
How could it possibly let him off so easily?
At the very least, it had to make this landlubber drink his fill of lake water.
So the giant squid shook its head firmly at Leonard, refusing.
No. I still want to play a little longer.
"Uh..." Leonard stared blankly. Just what kind of grudge was this for the giant squid to be so stubborn about Harris Raymons?
It wanted to... play a little longer?
Leonard did not really understand the love-hate history between Harris Raymons and the giant squid. He only felt stuck.
But he could not just leave the man there either. Harris Raymons might be suspicious, but he had come over thinking Leonard was in danger. If Leonard simply ignored him and left him for the giant squid to play with, the tiny bit of conscience he had left would sting.
Leonard said, "He only got caught because he thought I was in danger and came to save me. If you treat him like this, it is not really a fair win. Save it for next time. Next time you can really give him hell."
Harris Raymons: ?
The hell do you mean...
Being tossed back and forth by the giant squid and occasionally getting a mouthful of water, Harris Raymons nearly cursed out loud.
From the sound of it, if he had not been caught trying to save Leonard William, Leonard would not even have bothered helping him?
That was unbelievably awful. Hogwarts really had gone downhill.
After hearing Leonard out, the giant squid thought it over and decided Leonard had a point. Winning like this really was not fair.
So it nodded and, without hesitation, flung Harris Raymons away.
...
Tch. Much as it hated this boundaryless fellow, since Leonard, the one it found very pleasing to look at, had said so, it would let Harris Raymons off this once.
After all, no matter how much it disliked Harris Raymons, there was not much it could really do to him anyway. At most, it could drag him into the Black Lake and make him swallow some water.
"Thanks, big guy." Leonard watched Harris Raymons splash into the Black Lake and waved at the giant squid. "I'll come play with you again next time."
The giant squid waved its tentacles in farewell, then turned and swam off with its head still covered in bird droppings.
After saying goodbye to the giant squid, Leonard turned and flew toward Harris Raymons, who was bobbing up and down in the lake.
The man actually could not swim. If Leonard had not been here, this Defense Against the Dark Arts professor might have died only a little over a month into the school year.
Leonard grabbed Harris Raymons by the collar and hauled him up. Sta the raven had somehow made it back to Harris Raymons's side. Its feathers were now soaked through, and it looked like a thoroughly drenched bird.
The combined weight of one man and one raven was not light, but fortunately Leonard was strong enough that lifting an adult and a raven was still easy for him.
Easy for him, yes.
Not so easy for the flying dress robe.
After all, at this moment it was carrying the weight of an adult, a raven, and a twelve-year-old boy.