Even though they knew there were two people on their side and all the Gryffindor team members were nearby, Henry and Grace still felt intimidated by Bryan's menacing eyes. They trembled as if facing a Hungarian Horntail ready to devour them.

"Henry~" Grace tightly held her boyfriend's wrist, her voice trembling. "Are you sure he's just an oddball nerd in Slytherin, Henry? Those eyes of his send shivers down my spine, like the unsettling sight of that untamed creature Professor Kettleburn revealed last week. It was a monstrous amalgamation, resembling a twisted fusion of a horse and a winged beast. Just looking at it gave me an eerie feeling."

"Don't talk nonsense, Grace. We are Gryffindors, the wizards of the House of Courage!" Henry agreed with Grace's statement in his heart. Even though he wanted to turn and flee at the moment he made eye contact with Watson, he couldn't let fear consume him.

"Hey, bad boy Watson, don't give us that look. It's your own fault for sneaking into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night and practicing dark magic. What are you up to?"

Suddenly, magic surged and flames scattered across the ground, trees, and stones gathered at the tip of Bryan's dancing staff, forming a solid golden fireball. The intense heat quickly evaporated the moisture in the air, creating a scorching atmosphere. A nearby pine tree caught fire, and both wizards started sweating profusely as if standing in the path of an imminent eruption.

"Please, Bryan, we don't want any trouble." Fear welled up in Grace, and she instinctively begged for mercy, not realizing what she was saying.

Henry raised his wand, knowing that his Iron Armor Spell wouldn't be enough to stop the violent golden sun at the tip of Bryan's Wand.

"Get on your broom and run!" Henry finally mustered some courage and pushed Grace and her Cleansweep-Five away with all his strength. He shouted, "Go to Professor McGonagall, don't look back!"

Little did Henry know that it was this act of bravery between life and death that saved him.

Bryan's anger flickered momentarily as he witnessed the fallen Grace crying and climbing onto her broomstick, rushing back to the castle. He decided not to pursue further.

The surroundings were in chaos, and the magic fire continued to burn. Bryan walked through the scorched earth to where Henry lay, his expression unchanged.

"You were about to experience the pain of broken limbs," Bryan said coldly. "To teach you a lesson, but your last act of bravery earned you some dignity."

Bryan took out a bottle of white ointment from his bag and several bottles of colorful potions with uncertain effects. He mixed them and poured them onto Henry's back, casting spells that caused the wounds to regenerate with new flesh.

Henry's condition improved, but some of his ribs were still unnaturally bent, and Bryan didn't attend to his broken bones. Such minor injuries could easily be healed by Madam Pomfrey.

"I hope you've learned your lesson. Thinking you'd be safe in school..." Bryan's voice trailed off.

Suddenly, piercing shrieks echoed from the depths of the Forbidden Forest. Several black shadows emerged, diverting and surrounding Bryan from all directions. Among them was Charlie Weasley, Bill Weasley's younger brother and a talented Seeker of the Gryffindor team, with a car-sized eight-eyed spider petrified under his broomstick.

Bryan hadn't expected that there were eight-eyed spiders in the Forbidden Forest. These little Gryffindor lions sure knew how to play!

As a perceptive seeker, Charlie spotted Henry at Watson's feet. Instead of rushing to question, he carefully surveyed the area from his broomstick. When he saw the deep melting hole emitting green smoke in front of Bryan, he gasped.

"Where's Grace, Watson?" Charlie's voice carried the weight of experience.

"Maybe she's mixed with the dirt," Bryan replied calmly. "You can look for her if you want, maybe you'll find a few fingernails or something."

"You killed Grace?!" One of the Gryffindor players shouted in disbelief. "And Henry, where are his clothes? What did you do to him?!"

Angry reprimands filled the air as wands were raised, aiming at Bryan. Some threatened to send him to Azkaban.

Charlie, displaying a leadership quality beyond his years, remained calm. He knew it was unlikely for Bryan to have truly killed Grace unless he wanted to end up in Azkaban. However, it was undeniable that Henry was seriously injured, and ensuring his safety became the top priority.

Charlie cut the rope holding the eight-eyed spider and controlled his broomstick to hover in the air. With a deep voice, he warned, "Give Henry back to us, Watson, or you'll regret it."

"What are you babbling about, Charlie? We'll cover for you. You find a chance to rescue Henry!" shouted a Gryffindor player riding a Comet series broom from the upper left of Bryan, as he threw a brilliant red light at Bryan.

The Gryffindor team members had a tacit understanding. The stun spell acted as a signal to attack. The three players, excluding Charlie, immediately responded, riding their brooms and constantly changing positions in mid-air. Their synchronized movements created a web of shadows above Bryan's head, while occasionally casting stun or petrification spells.

Truth be told, Bryan had intended to return Henry to them without causing harm. He had no intention of fighting them. Grace had already gone to the castle to rescue Henry, and it was only a matter of time before the professors discovered that some students had trespassed into the Forbidden Forest. Point deductions and confinement were inevitable punishments, but Bryan hoped to minimize the duration of his confinement. He didn't want to spend the time until next Christmas locked in Snape's office.

However, since the Gryffindors attacked first, there was no issue with defending and retaliating. It provided an opportunity to release some of his anger. Bryan stirred his wand, summoning a magic vortex intertwined with silver and black. At the center of the vortex was a deep black hole, reminiscent of Charybdis' sea eye from Greek mythology. The vortex seemed to have a life of its own, automatically intercepting any spells directed towards Bryan without requiring his control.

"What kind of magic is that?" one of the Gryffindor players growled in response to their failed attempts to break through Bryan's defense.

"I don't know, but it looks like dark magic!" another answered.

Charlie Weasley knew he couldn't remain idle. As a talented Seeker scouted by Gryffindor, Charlie's flying skills surpassed others. He moved like an elusive ghost, appearing in different directions, his spellcasting skills matching his agility. Even the young Professor Flitwick would struggle to match his flexibility.

Unfortunately, his skills didn't guarantee a breakthrough in Bryan's defense. Late at night, Bryan had inadvertently witnessed Charlie's impressive flying performance in the Forbidden Forest. The display of flying skills impressed Bryan, who wasn't particularly interested in Quidditch. It explained why the Gryffindor team had dominated the Slytherin team on the pitch the previous school year.

"Little earthworm, are you just going to hide behind that thing and not come out?" taunted the Gryffindor team after their prolonged unsuccessful attack. Frustrated, they resorted to aggressive methods.

"Maybe we can try another approach!" Charlie, gasping for breath, called out. He paused in mid-air, surveying his surroundings and quickly formulated a plan.

"Fly higher, be careful of the big spider's venom—it can burn your robes! "Liberacorpus!". Charlie shouted.

Everyone on the team understood Charlie's intention, including Bryan. They immediately looked at the eight-eyed spider, and Charlie's wand emitted a light that struck one of the spider's hairy legs.

Click, click, click!

The recently freed spider fiercely waved its enormous black pincers and hissed angrily at the wizard in front of it. The spider, which Charlie and the others had been playing with for a while, shook its ugly head and blinked its green compound eyes frantically. In its perception, the buzzing red flies in the sky and the nearby wizards on the ground were all part of the same group.

Click!

The eight-legged spider moved swiftly, effortlessly breaking several thick trees with its powerful body.

Bryan raised an eyebrow. He knew the venom of this magical creature, the eight-eyed spider, was highly valuable. A pint of its venom could sell for a hundred gold Galleons. However, the spider before him was still too small to yield that much venom.

Regardless, waste was not in Bryan's nature. Observing the spider's actions, Charlie expressed concern on his weathered face, fearing that Bryan might be frightened by the terrifying creature. Just as Charlie was about to offer a warning, Bryan raised his arm and aimed his wand at the spider leaping towards him.

"Reducio!"

The gigantic spider froze in mid-air, its eight compound eyes expressing bewilderment simultaneously. Before it could react, its surroundings rapidly distorted, and it found itself shrinking, controlled by an external force, into a glass bottle.

"Thank you for the unexpected gift," Bryan said, adding a few defensive spells to secure the glass bottle. "I quite like it."

As he spoke, he firmly gripped his wand like a drumstick and sighed, "Next, I'll probably have to deal with many troubles. Let's put an end to this unfortunate situation and return to the castle as soon as possible. If all goes well, maybe I can spare half an hour to visit the dormitory."

"Dream on, Watson. You still expect to get some sleep?" the Gryffindor who had initiated the attack earlier sneered. "The Dementors will take care of you for us!"

"It's quite windy up there. I suggest you don't fly too high, or the fall will be quite painful," Bryan retorted.

Ignoring the threat, Bryan turned to Charlie and asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Charlie, on guard, held his wand close to his chest and gripped the broom handle tightly, ready to dodge at a moment's notice. However, instead of casting a Spell at anyone, Bryan struck the empty space beneath him with his wand like a drumstick.

Hum!

With the strike of his wand, a violent storm erupted in the unseen realm. Magic power centered on the point of impact, disturbing the previously calm water surface and causing violent ripples to spread in all directions.

Bang, bang, bang!

The Gryffindors, caught in the chaotic magical surge, fell from their broomsticks one after another, losing consciousness upon impact. A few loud thuds marked their descent.

"I warned you that it would come to this... Oh, it's never-ending," Bryan muttered, glancing towards the castle. Bill Weasley, riding on Grace's broom, hurriedly crossed the boundary between the Forbidden Forest and the grounds, his face filled with worry.

Author's Note : "Liberacorpus" is a spell used in the Harry Potter series to counteract the effects of the "Levicorpus" spell. While "Levicorpus" lifts a person off the ground by their ankle, "Liberacorpus" is the incantation used to release them from this suspended position. By casting "Liberacorpus," the person's body is freed from the binding effect of "Levicorpus," and they are no longer suspended in the air. It essentially serves as a counter-spell to undo the effects of the levitation spell.