Voldemort stood where he was, breathing heavily.
That Killing Curse just now had exhausted all of his remaining strength.
After forcefully mobilizing his magic to cast the spell, the residual magical power left behind inside him by that mysterious powerhouse boiled violently once more, throwing the condition of his body into complete chaos.
That was also why he had chosen to deal with the first enemy using only his fist.
He had only enough strength for a single strike.
Sweat quickly soaked through his robes, and Voldemort's fingers trembled uncontrollably. At this moment, he felt utterly terrible.
"Huff… huff…"
Panting heavily, Voldemort endured the discomfort and crouched down, searching through the two robbers' belongings. He stripped them clean of their wands and cash, then casually snapped the neck of the wizard who had only been knocked unconscious.
After finishing all this, Voldemort took several deep breaths and forced himself to remain alert as he walked out of the alley once more.
He knew very clearly that the location where he had clashed with those two thugs was terrible. It had happened right near the alley entrance. There was a good chance someone had witnessed the flash of the Killing Curse.
He had to leave immediately.
In his current condition, he simply did not possess the ability to cast another Killing Curse and remain conscious afterward.
Sure enough, the disturbance caused by the Killing Curse had frightened away all the wizards wandering around the fringes of legality nearby. Even in Knockturn Alley, the use of an Unforgivable Curse was extraordinarily rare.
No one wanted to become entangled in such a conflict, so everyone fled as far away as possible.
However, this "vacuum period" would not last long. Before long, bold wizards would definitely sneak back to inspect the scene and see whether they could pick up anything valuable.
The scraps ignored by some powerful Dark Wizard might still be useful to little scavengers like them.
If Voldemort did not leave quickly enough, he would inevitably run into those "hyenas," which would only create more complications.
Voldemort strode quickly through the deserted streets before disappearing around a corner at the end of the road.
What he needed now was a secluded place to recover from his injuries, allowing time to gradually dispel the hidden damage left inside him by that monster.
…
Hogwarts Castle became lively once again.
The selection ceremony from last night's opening feast was still the topic everyone discussed enthusiastically. Harry Potter of Gryffindor, Hermione Granger of Ravenclaw, Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff, and the Greengrass sisters of Slytherin were all figures of intense discussion.
Of course, several contestants had completely surprised everyone, such as Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Rhys Lint.
These people were either famous for mediocre talent or known for acting eccentric and strange. Compared to Neville and Luna, Rhys's reputation was actually much better, because he was merely low-key and unremarkable.
But if one truly investigated him closely, they would discover that his examination scores were absurdly outstanding.
Rhys himself paid little attention to all this.
Fundamentally, his purpose for entering the tournament was completely different from that of the other contestants.
To put it bluntly, he was somewhat like a GM in a pay-to-win online game, and also a bit like a developer's planted account, existing to ensure that the "game" continued operating smoothly.
Of course, he was also rather curious about the "details beyond control" that Rowena had mentioned.
What kind of thing could possibly make even Rowena feel that events were slipping beyond her control?
That was simply too unbelievable.
After casually brushing off a few classmates from his House who attempted to strike up conversations with him, Rhys sat down at the Slytherin table and began eating breakfast.
Setting aside Britain's other meals, breakfast was actually quite abundant.
As Rhys piled various fried and grilled foods onto his plate, he also took out this semester's class schedule.
Although the main task this semester was participating in the tournament, Hogwarts had still prepared normal schedules for the contestants. Since the competition would not begin until October, they still had to attend classes alongside the other students for an entire month.
The first thing that caught Rhys's eye on the schedule was two large red blocks covering Saturday and Sunday.
As contestants representing Hogwarts, all of their weekends had been completely occupied.
During that time, Hogwarts professors would provide them with additional lessons to strengthen their emergency response abilities, allowing them to be better prepared for the upcoming competition.
Skipping over the weekends, Rhys continued scanning the schedule.
He was looking to see which classes he could skip.
Then he suddenly froze in astonishment upon discovering that Alchemy was listed on his timetable.
What the hell was this?
The fork in Rhys's hand hung motionless in midair.
He fundamentally did not meet the requirements for taking Alchemy at all!
First of all, he had never even taken the O.W.L.s examination. To qualify for Alchemy, one needed at least five Outstanding grades in the O.W.L.s, including an Outstanding in Charms.
Secondly, even if he had qualified, he would never have voluntarily enrolled in a class taught by Rowena.
He was not that idle.
Therefore, there could only be one reason Alchemy had appeared on his schedule:
Rowena had been scheming behind the scenes again.
Seriously? Again?
Rhys complained inwardly.
Clearly, Rowena needed a teaching assistant, and he had been chosen for the role.
However, Rhys was not the only one receiving special treatment. The schedules of people like Daphne, Astoria, Hermione, and Cedric had also all been forcibly stuffed with an Alchemy class.
They were all students Rowena intended to focus on cultivating.
Compared to being forcibly dragged into the tournament, attending Rowena's Alchemy lessons was at least acceptable. Rhys also wanted to witness Rowena's methods for himself.
Among the four Founders, she had always been the most skilled in Alchemy. Back in the past, listening to her share her knowledge required paying tuition fees. Yet now he could sit in and learn for free, making Rhys feel as though he had just picked up a thousand Galleons for nothing.
The other students felt much the same.
All of them were intensely curious about the legendary art of Alchemy.
This field of study was simply far too obscure, to the point that Hogwarts had suspended the subject for a very long period of time. Now that it had reopened, almost no one could resist the temptation to come and listen.
In order to save time, Rowena had synchronized the class schedules for the entire school. All students, regardless of year, were placed into a single class together.
This arrangement was perfectly reasonable, however, because after all the layers of selection, the total number of students in all of Hogwarts qualified to attend her lessons was only seventeen.
The location of the class was not set in any classroom, but inside Rowena's office itself.
By the time Rhys arrived together with Daphne and Astoria at Rowena's office, they discovered there was practically no room left to stand.
Although there were only a little over a dozen students, the professors' offices had clearly never been designed with the expectation that so many people would enter at once.
More importantly, the majority of the office's space had been occupied by the massive platform, making the room feel especially crowded.
"Looks like everyone's here."
Rowena's voice suddenly rang out, and in the next second, she appeared from seemingly nowhere directly before the students.
"Then we may begin today's lesson. I will show you what Alchemy truly is."
Rowena beckoned with her hand, signaling for all the students to enter her office first.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI