44 End of Story

The group marched out and regrouped with Ron and the amnesic Lockhart. Not long after, Pro had a wonderful experience of hanging onto a phoenix while flying out. Honestly, Pro could have just summoned his broom to fly out, but he couldn't resist the novelty of the experience.

Then, it was time for another cut-scene. A rather serious and fairly dangerous one at that. Pro had to confront Dumbledore once more. In the small room, Pro felt goosebumps on his skins when Dumbledore glanced at him with a twinkle in his eyes. Pro could only blankly stare forward without making eye contact. He could only hope that the man didn't notice anything unusual.

Well, Dumbledore's attention wasn't focused on Pro for too long. After all, the protagonist is Harry and Harry was the one narrating the adventurous story. The Weasleys and Professor McGonagall also listened in while exclaiming from time to time.

For others, it may have been a life-threatening event, but for Pro, it was just a cut-scene. Pro knew he had no right to interfere in that man's plan, unless he can jump out of the chessboard with the help of his system and grinding.

Still, there were some minor changes in details here and there. As Pro and Hermione were also part of the group, Dumbledore used house points to reward them as well. 100 points for each of them. Well, the total results didn't change much. Pro inwardly applauded the man's scheme, but he didn't really care that much. After all, he literally did nothing to help most of the way.

Pro finally breathed a sigh of relief when Dumbledore let him leave. Only Harry was kept behind for some ideological work by the old man.

"Well, first I should go take a bath. The slimy feeling is really gross," Pro muttered as he glanced down at his partially soaked and slimy robe.

Hermione also nodded in agreement before the two headed off to their dorms together. As for Ron and the Weasleys, they had already went to the hospital wing with Ginny.

On the way back, the duo bumped into an anxious and hurrying Lucius Malfoy. Pro barely managed to pull Hermione out of the way to let Lucius pass by. That man only shot a glare at them and didn't say anything.

Behind him, the house elf Dobby followed while mumbling and punishing itself. As soon as he met this elf, Pro received a new quest.

[New quest, Liberator, has been added to quest list.]

Ignoring the quest for now, Pro hurried back to the dorms with Hermione to wash up. The feast will happen soon, and he didn't want to eat with slimy clothes. As Pro cleaned himself in the shower, he pulled up his quest log to check out his new quest.

[Liberator] Free Dobby the house elf or any one house elf (0/1)

"Ugg ... if I had known earlier, I would have helped Harry free the elf. Now it's too late. Where will I find an elf to free? The Hogwarts kitchen? The Sirius mansion?"

Stepping out of the shower, Pro dried his hair and returned to his dorm. After getting dressed, Pro headed downstairs to meet up with Hermione who was already studying in the common room.

"Still studying at a time like this?" Pro said with mirth as he plopped himself down next to her.

"Yes. And you should too. Well, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that. I mean, I know you understand how important it is to study, unlike the other two daft dimbos," Hermione replied as she continued to read her book while taking notes.

Pro chuckled before he said with a smile, "Well, you might want to relax a bit. You can keep studying after the feast."

Hermione kept studying in silence, but her movements suddenly paused. She then glanced up at Pro before a frown appeared on her face, "Pro, you're doing it again!"

"Doing what again?" Pro asked while fully knowing what he was doing.

"That suspicious smile! That face! You know something again ... at this time ... telling me to stop studying ... the feast- it can't be! No, the professors won't do that! They won't!" Hermione firmly stated with a pale face, as if she imagined something horrible but kept trying to deny it.

Chuckling to himself, Pro helped Hermione close her book and set it aside. Then, he grasped her hand as he stood up, "Want to go for a walk instead?"

Hermione looked up at him with watery eyes while biting her lips. After a while, she stuffed her notes into her book before stating, "I'll go put my things away. Be right back."

Not long after Hermione went up, Ron returned to the dorm in his slimy outfit. Ron glanced at Pro and gave him a short greeting before he headed upstairs. Pro waited a bit longer and Hermione came down.

"Well, let's go," Pro said and reached out his hand towards Hermione.

Hermione glanced at him before she sighed in exasperation. A smile appeared on her face as she slipped her hand into Pro's hand and walked up besides Pro. The two then kept pace as they went for a relaxing stroll in the castle.

The two arrived at the Room of Requirement before Pro put on a solemn face. He glanced at Hermione before he told her his plan.

"I know we should be relaxing, but I think today would be a good day to finish this event while that person is not watching us. I mentioned to you about this before. Are you ready to help me, Hermione?"

Hermione glanced at Pro and pouted. In the end, she still agreed to help, "If you are right, then we'll have plenty of time to spend together in the sunshine after today. So, I don't mind getting things done first."

Nodding to her, the two then walked back and forth in front of the empty wall. It didn't take long for the door to appear. Pushing it open, Pro re-entered the familiar junk yard.

Strolling over to his destination, Pro had Hermione stay away from him as he commanded while handing his own wand to her, "Have your wand out. If I make any movements towards you before things end, don't hold back and knock me out."

Hermione nodded with a serious face before she asked in a worried tone, "Are you really going to be all right?"

"Yes. Believe in me."

"Mmm."

Equipping his gloves, Pro then walked closer to a certain part of the junkyard. In his vision, a certain antique, discolored crown sat on top of a statue. Pro had long discovered the Ravenclaw's diadem, also known as one of Voldemort's horcrux, but he didn't approach it as he didn't have any way to destroy it. Now, he had two ways to try.

As Pro approached the diadem, he could hear jumbled whispers sounding besides his ear. Perhaps, these whispers may actually be from his own mind. Pro didn't know, but he did his best to ignore them even though they got louder and louder.

Selecting the poison item in his inventory, a green bottle with a skull appeared in Pro's hand. Although Pro could try to destroy the diadem with the basilisk venom, Pro's quest was to return the intact crown to its owner. The venom had a high chance of corroding the crown. So, Pro decided to try the system poison first. Even if it fails, it freed up one inventory space.

Pop! The cap on the bottle of poison was taken off. Standing in front of the diadem, Pro had a fierce light in his eyes as he cautiously poured the poison onto the diadem.

Pro watched in amazement as green gooey liquid flowed out of his bottle and dripped onto the diadem. To his surprise, the liquid didn't roll off. Instead, it seemed to be absorbed by the diadem and vanish completely from this world.

There wasn't any reaction at first, but once Pro poured more than half the bottle, the diadem finally reacted. It seemed to have felt its impending doom. A horrid screech came from the diadem as a head formed from black mist escaped from the crown in an attempt to attack Pro.

Tipping the bottle up to prevent it from spilling, Pro hurriedly dodged out of the way.

"Pro! Flipendo!"

A spell came flying towards the black mist head, piercing a hole through it; however, the hole was swiftly filled in by more black mist.

After dodging the attack, Pro knew he didn't have much time. The whispers were getting worst. Pro dived forward and continued to poor the poison onto the crown.

The head ignored Hermione and dived towards Pro once more. Pro agilely avoided the head and continued to poor his poison. As long as it can't touch him, it can't do anything to him. Even though the whispers got worst, but Pro didn't seem to be affected.

In the end, the last drop of poison came out of the bottle. As if time slowed down, Pro watched the last drop gradually fall onto the crown. The black mist head's howl of agony echoed in the room as it dived towards Pro.

Drip. The last drop landed on the crown. The black mist head suddenly froze in the air as if it was locked by some unknown power. It didn't take long before the figure dissipated into the air. A swirl of air current appeared around the crown as black mist dissipated out from it. After one last ghastly howl, the room fell silent as the crown sat silently like a lonely king above all.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Pro couldn't help but mutter, "That is definitely not how poison works in R*nescape. What kind of dangerous thing did the system give me?"

"P-Pro, are you all right?" Hermione's voice came from afar.

Glancing over, Pro nodded and replied, "Yes. I'm fine."

"Has it ended?" Hermione asked with a timid voice.

"Yes. I believe so," Pro replied as he picked up the crown.

With a thought, the crown was stored into his inventory. Pro finally smiled as he said, "Done. We can go now."

Strolling over to Hermione, Pro gently grasped her hand as he led her out, "Thanks for helping me, Hermione."

Hermione gripped his hand and stared at him. She bit her lips for a while before she uttered, "Can you tell me ... what that was?"

Pro paused for a moment before he said with a wry smile, "It's something similar to what Harry destroyed today ... something dangerous. I want to tell you more ... and I will-"

Hermione shushed Pro's mouth with a finger. She smiled at him as she said in a soft voice, "Pro, I know. Everyone has secrets. I know you ... you probably aren't telling me because it might be dangerous for me to know. I know myself, books and logic ... it might not be able to help me against what you know."

Hermione locked eyes with Pro before a smile appeared on her face, "But believe me Pro, I will keep up. I will stay strong ... and get strong enough to be by your side. When the time is right, I trust that you will tell me everything. For now, I'm happy with just staying by your side."

Pro smiled and gave Hermione's face a gentle stroke with his palm. He bent forward and gave her soft lips a quick, gently peck as he replied, "I'm glad that I met you Hermione. I will not let down your trust."

"Mmm," Hermione replied with a faint blush on her face.

The two then headed out. The time for the feast arrived. Most students were in pajamas due to the late feast, so the two also changed for the event. As expected, some special announcements were made in the festive atmosphere. To Hermione's disappointment and dismay, the exams were canceled as a school treat.

The petrified students also returned. Pro thought that Penelope would have quacked, but it seems Dumbledore was always ready with a back-up plan. Percy still didn't lose his girlfriend for now. What a shame, especially since they had no happy ending.

The end of the school year swiftly flew by as simply as that. It was a time of joy and relaxation for others, and a time of bliss for many couples.

Perhaps to some, this eventful year could be written into an interesting novel, but for Pro, it simply felt like a boring movie that followed the script. Even if it was written into a novel, it would probably be criticized for following the script, and the novel could be considered as boring as grinding. There's nothing interesting. Probably the author of the novel would just quit writing at some point due to the lackluster writing.

Of course, Pro knew this was all his real life. After all, he can't just be a character in a novel right? This really can't be a romantic slice-of-life fan-fiction right? If it is, probably no one will experience the feeling of their happiness being sucked away by dementors if the story ends? So, will the author really end the story at this moment?

No one knows. Will Pro become a third-year Hogwarts student? Only time will tell.