The Max-Level Muggle-Born: Hogwarts Isekai

The corridor, which had been dead silent a moment before, was now filled with Peeves's piercing shriek. For a normal first-year, this was a game-over screen. Peeves's singing would attract Filch in seconds, leading to detention, point loss, and a black mark on their record.

Evelyn's mind didn't even go into overdrive; it simply reacted. The threat assessment was instantaneous, a reflex honed over thousands of hours. Peeves. Chaotic Neutral. Immune to almost everything. Motivated purely by mischief.

Fighting him was pointless. He was less a creature and more a localized storm of chaos. Trying to reason with him was equally useless.

Her mind instantly jumped to the answer: The Bloody Baron.

Of course. The only entity in the entire castle whom Peeves truly feared. The Baron was Slytherin's house ghost, a terrifying figure even to the other spirits. In life, he had been a man of violent, hot-tempered passions. In death, he was a silent, menacing specter who glided through the halls, rattling his chains and covered in the shimmering, silver blood of Helena Ravenclaw—the woman he had murdered in a fit of rage before killing himself in remorse. His very presence radiated a cold, ancient fury that chaos itself seemed to respect.

Peeves was pure mischief. The Baron was pure menace. Menace always trumped mischief.

The poltergeist somersaulted in the air, preparing to draw in a huge breath to let out a castle-shaking scream. He had to be stopped now.

"Peeves," Evelyn said. Her voice wasn't loud. It was quiet, cold, and carried an unnerving seriousness that cut right through his gleeful energy.

He stopped, hovering in front of her, a malicious grin still on his face. "What's that, little snake? Got some last words before Filchy skins you?"

"I just saw him," Evelyn said, her eyes locked on his. She didn't need to say the name. "Down the hall. He's looking for you."

The grin on Peeves's face flickered. "Him who?" he asked, though a hint of uncertainty had crept into his voice.

"The Baron," Evelyn said, letting the name hang in the dead air between them. "He seemed... bored. Said he was looking for a new poltergeist to play with. Mentioned something about wanting to see if a spirit could be tied into knots."

The effect was instantaneous and profound. All the color drained from Peeves's already translucent form. He almost fell out of the air in shock, his body going rigid. The concept of being "played with" by the Bloody Baron was clearly a horror beyond his comprehension. He stared at Evelyn, his wide eyes filled not with mischief, but with genuine, primal terror. He couldn't tell if she was bluffing, but the idea that this quiet, unnerving first-year might actually be in league with the one ghost he avoided at all costs was too much of a risk.

"My apologies, Your Excellency! A thousand apologies!" he stammered, his voice a terrified whisper. He bowed so low in the air that his head passed through his feet. "Peeves didn't see you! A little joke! A harmless joke! Peeves will be going now! Very quietly!"

Without another sound, he shot sideways and vanished through the stone wall, leaving behind nothing but a lingering sense of cold panic.

Evelyn let out a slow breath. It was a successful mission. She hadn't needed to cast a single spell. A well-placed bit of lore, a perfectly executed psychological attack, was far more effective. It was a clean, efficient victory that left no magical trace.

She moved quickly and silently, navigating her way back to the Slytherin dungeons. She whispered the password—"Ambition,"—and the stone wall slid aside, allowing her to slip back into the quiet, green-lit common room. She didn't stop until she was safely in her own four-poster bed, the velvet curtains drawn tight around her.

Her heart was pounding, not from fear, but from the adrenaline rush of a perfectly executed plan. She had faced down a chaotic entity and won with nothing but her knowledge.

Lying in the darkness, she mentally reviewed her quest log.

[Objective Complete: Discover Forbidden Wandlore] [New Quest Objective: Acquire Legendary Wand Components] - [ ] Cerberus Whisker - [ ] Whomping Willow Branch - [ ] Mermaid Tears

She had the knowledge. Now came the hard part: the monster hunting. Her first target was clear.

It was time to pay another visit to the third-floor corridor.