Chapter 113: Psychological and Verbal Confrontation beside the Hospital Bed!

The faculty members of Hogwarts, led by Dumbledore, entered the hospital ward together.

Fortunately, the school infirmary at Hogwarts had spacious wards that could accommodate dozens of patients. Otherwise, with so many people crowding in at once, they would have had to use the Unplottable Extension to expand the space.

"Professor Eris, how are you feeling now?"

When everyone reached the hospital bed where Eris was lying and surrounded it in a large circle, Dumbledore, standing in the middle, was the first to ask.

Being stared at by so many people, especially with a guilty conscience, Eris couldn't help feeling nervous. Fortunately, she now had a pale, sickly complexion; otherwise, the paleness caused by her nervousness would have been hard to conceal.

"I... I'm feeling much better. Thank you, Principal and everyone, for your concern. Madam Pomfrey has treated me very well."

After all, Professor Eris had better psychological qualities than ordinary people. At the beginning of her answer, she stammered a bit and was slow, but then she gradually got the hang of it and spoke more and more smoothly.

"Professor Eris, I'm not as amazing as you think.

You were seriously injured and had a troublesome curse. If Principal Dumbledore and the deans of the four houses hadn't made medicine and lifted the curse for you together, you would have been in great danger! And it would have been impossible for you to wake up so soon! The people you should really thank are them!"

Madam Pomfrey, who came with everyone, heard Eris giving her all the credit for the treatment and quickly spoke up to clarify.

Hearing this, Eris's heart skipped a beat and she felt a lump in her throat.

It seemed that what she did last night couldn't be concealed.

With so many top wizards in the wizarding world examining and treating her together, it was impossible for them not to notice that her injuries and the curse were caused by a unicorn's light attack.

"Thank you, professors! Thank you for treating me."

Eris timidly thanked them, looking like a sickly beauty that was truly pitiful.

She knew the matter couldn't be hidden, but it was another thing to admit it voluntarily. As long as the matter wasn't exposed, she wouldn't say more and get herself into trouble.

But then again, if no one pointed out such an obvious flaw, Eris had reason to suspect that her deeper - seated secrets might also have been exposed.

Fortunately, the next second, Dumbledore interrupted her wild thoughts.

They heard Dumbledore say, "Professor Eris, the person you should thank the most is our Gamekeeper, Mr. Rubeus Hagrid."

If he hadn't been dedicated to his duty and patrolled at night, stopped the unicorn herd in The Forbidden Forest, and saved you, you might have gone to see Merlin long ago."

Dumbledore's words made Eris even more nervous. At this moment, she was desperately thinking of a reason that everyone could accept.

The other professors and Castle staff who were unaware of the situation were extremely shocked by Dumbledore's words.

They looked at the tall Hagrid standing at the back and then at Eris lying on the hospital bed, whispering to each other and discussing.

They just couldn't understand why Eris would run into The Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night to fight with a group of unicorns. How desperate must she be? Even if someone wanted to commit suicide, they wouldn't do it like this!

"So, Professor Eris, aren't you going to give us an explanation?

Why did you go to The Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night? Why did you have a conflict with the kind and gentle unicorns? And why did you use the Killing Spell to seriously injure a unicorn? Or is there another hidden story, and you weren't the one who cast that spell?"

Amid the whispers of the crowd, Dumbledore spoke seriously. His old eyes were full of scrutiny as he stared at Eris, waiting for her response.

"I... actually, the thing is..."

"I know what's going on!"

Eris had come up with a few half - baked excuses and was still struggling in her mind about which one to use. Unexpectedly, Teaching Assistant Dudley confidently interrupted her reply.

Everyone's eyes quickly shifted to Dudley.

They wanted to hear what brilliant remarks Dudley would make.

Dudley wasn't the least bit nervous. He gave a confident smile and said something astonishing: "Professor Eris must have wanted to catch a unicorn to use in her classes for the students!

In the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Eris caught a red cap to demonstrate for us. I think the senior students are about to learn the part about unicorns!"

After Dudley finished speaking, he didn't bother to hide the playful and mocking look he cast at Eris.

Eris immediately understood that Dudley wasn't trying to excuse her. Like Dumbledore, he was suspicious of her. He was deliberately using such a flimsy reason to trick her, break down her psychological defenses, and make her lose her composure and reveal a flaw.

She was about to refute, but unexpectedly, someone was faster than her.

"Teaching Assistant Dursley, it seems that your meager knowledge reserve can't match the honor you've received at all."

Severus Snape finally seized the opportunity to "spray venom" at Dudley. He had long disliked this son of an old acquaintance who ignored and was even hostile to him.

Who did he think he was? How dare he block his view of Harry's eyes? And he even encouraged Harry to ignore his friendly handshake!

The ones I'm sorry to are Lily and Harry Potter, not you, Dudley Dursley!

Snape roared inwardly and didn't stop speaking. He continued in a sarcastic tone: "Unicorns aren't dark creatures. They don't appear in the textbooks of Defense Against the Dark Arts at all, and there isn't any specific defensive magic against them.

How to get along with unicorns is the content of the Care of Magical Creatures class!

I'd like to ask Teaching Assistant Dursley to use your thick head to think carefully before speaking, instead of telling stupid and inappropriate jokes!"

Dudley's face darkened visibly. He looked sharply at the old bat, Snape, and unconsciously tightened his grip on his wand. He really wanted to just raise his wand and use that greasy bat's head for a round of golf - bowling.

But he couldn't ignore the almost pleading look the old man, Dumbledore, gave him.

After weighing the situation, he could only fight back with words for the time being.

Then Dudley said in a snide voice, "Professor Snape, it seems you know the textbooks of Defense Against the Dark Arts very well! Did you lie awake at night, tossing and turning, poring over those textbooks, every time you were rejected for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor position?

I kind of know why Principal Dumbledore rejected you..."

Here, Dudley's tone suddenly turned cold. "Because your head, which hasn't been washed for decades and is greasy and stinky, is so stupid that you can't tell the difference between irony, veiled criticism, and reasonable questions presented with the art of language!"

"You cheeky little brat, you..."

Snape blew a fuse at Dudley's words, and his face turned a strange color, a mix of green and red. He completely lost his temper and was about to open his mouth to hurl more insults.

But then, a dramatic scene that no one could have expected suddenly unfolded.