"Wingardium Leviosa, pay attention to the pronunciation, everyone follow me~"
Professor Flitwick's Charms class was still interesting, but most of the young wizards in the audience were no longer focused on the class.
As soon as they stepped out of the lounge that morning, they noticed the castle had been completely adorned with new decorations. Pumpkin lanterns were everywhere, bats would occasionally emerge from them to scare the little wizards, and ghosts roamed around in groups, preparing for a spooky gathering. The entire castle was filled with a rich festive atmosphere.
In the classroom, the young wizards were discussing tonight's banquet. The good-tempered Professor Flitwick understood what these students were thinking and did not interfere too much.
"Do you know what the Halloween tradition is at Hogwarts?" Tom asked Draco boredly.
"What is it?" Draco looked back curiously.
Tom was about to answer when he saw Professor Flitwick looking over his way. He tapped his finger and the feather in front of him floated up.
"Mr. Riddle succeeded, a beautiful silent and wandless spell, two points for Slytherin."
Tom smiled at Professor Flitwick and continued, "You know, at Hogwarts, it wouldn't be a proper Halloween if there weren't some kind of incident every year."
Draco was startled by Tom's words and asked nervously, "Could there be an accident today on Halloween?"
Tom replied mysteriously, "Let's wait and see," and ignored him.
Just as Draco was frantically imagining things, Cassandra's intermittent voice came from the side.
"Hmm... um... I haven't seen it... I see... um... I'll let everyone keep an eye out."
Looking at Cassandra, who had ended the call with a frown on her face, Tom couldn't help but ask out loud, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Cassandra didn't answer immediately. Instead, she gathered the Slytherin Stargazers around her and explained in a low voice, "Padma just sent a message saying that Hermione is in trouble."
"What's going on?" Draco asked anxiously, with a hint of subtle concern in his tone.
"I heard that Hermione had a conflict with Gryffindor's Weasley before the Transfiguration class this afternoon, and then she disappeared. She didn't even come back until class started. Padma temporarily took sick leave for her. Please ask us and Neville to help look for her after class."
Cassandra explained the situation succinctly, causing a wave of indignation among the Slytherin snakes, with Draco even clamoring to settle the score with Weasley.
Although the Slytherin snakes pay attention to bloodline, don't forget that Slytherins also believe in the supremacy of strength.
In the original novel, Hermione was able to bring two useless men to a decisive victory. Now, for the 11-year-old Slytherin snake, whose values have not yet been fully formed, after several months of daily interaction, from being oppressed by Tom at first to having a sincere exchange later, they have long been impressed by Hermione's strength.
Now someone is trying to bully their big sister, this is intolerable.
After class, Tom called Neville and the others and briefly informed them of Hermione's situation. Then they split into two groups, one to look for someone and the other to stop Ron.
"Harry, this mashed potato is good, and this roast chicken is delicious too, you should try it." Ron, who was unaware of the impending disaster, was eating like crazy at this moment.
Harry advised him, "Ron, it's not nice of you to say that about Hermione this afternoon. You should go and apologize to Hermione."
Ron waved the chicken drumstick in dissatisfaction. "Harry, don't mention her. Granger is so arrogant, conceited, and condescending. Do you think anyone in the school can stand her?"
Harry was about to persuade them again, but a group of Slytherins, led by Tom, had already entered the hall and were heading straight for the Gryffindor table.
After surrounding Ron, Draco slammed his hand on the table and said, "Weasley, tell me, what did you do to Hermione?"
"?" Ron was full of questions, not knowing what Draco was talking about.
"Are you mute? Why aren't you talking?" Draco continued to ask aggressively when he saw that Ron didn't respond.
Ron was also angry at Draco's attitude and retorted: "None of your business, Malfoy, a Slytherin, actually stood up for Granger. The sun has risen from the west."
"Poor bastard, let me ask you one last time, are you going to tell me or not?" Draco was also irritated by Ron, and the anger in his eyes seemed to want to devour him.
Ron was also driven to despair by Draco, and he blurted out, "I don't know what you can do to me, you're just a Mudblood."
"Pa!" Ron had just uttered the word "Mudblood" when Draco slapped him hard in the face.
Ron, feeling embarrassed, was about to fight back when he was pinned down by Crabbe and Goyle.
Draco walked over with a cold face and patted his face. He spoke to Ron in a tone without a trace of warmth: "I used to think that 'Mudblood' was a curse word only I, Malfoy, would utter. I didn't expect to hear it in public from a Weasley like you with thick eyebrows and big eyes. Haha, it seems I should write to Mrs. Weasley and ask if this is the family education in your family?"
Draco's words were like a bucket of cold water that calmed down Ron's heated mind. Percy, Fred, and George, who had come to the rescue, stopped in their tracks when they heard Draco's words, their faces flushing red with embarrassment.
Seeing that the place had become quiet, Tom turned to look at Harry and asked him seriously, "Is Hermione your friend?"
Harry nodded affirmatively, and Tom continued to ask, "Since you consider Hermione a friend, I won't make things difficult for you, and I don't require you to take sides. All you need to do is tell the truth about the conflict between Hermione and Weasley today."
Harry looked at Ron, who was being held down, hesitated for a moment, and began to explain the cause and effect of the conflict in detail. "Ever since you, Tom, established class representatives in Defense Against the Dark Arts, the other professors have followed suit. You should be aware that Professor McGonagall made Hermione the first-year Transfiguration class representative for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor."
Tom nodded to show that he understood, and gestured for Harry to continue.
"Today is the day for Transfiguration homework, and Hermione is in charge of collecting it. Ron, he hasn't finished his Transfiguration homework yet, and he wants Hermione to be lenient and lend him a copy."
"This is very Weasley, go on." Tom could probably guess where things were going after hearing this.
As expected, Harry continued, "Hermione didn't respond at all. She rejected Ron's request on the spot and gave him a harsh reprimand."
"This is very Hermione. What happened next was that Weasley couldn't stand Hermione's preaching, and because he couldn't bear it, he had an argument with Hermione, said a lot of nasty things without thinking, and made Hermione angry and run away, right?" Tom helped Harry finish the rest of the story.
Harry confirmed Tom's guess: "Yes, it's just as you said, Tom."
Just then, Parvati came up and said, "Tom, Padma sent a message saying Hermione has been found. Shall I take you there?"
Tom hummed in agreement and glared at Ron fiercely: "Weasley, this matter is not over yet."
Then he said to Harry, "Do you want to come with me? If so, follow me."
After saying this, he hurried away with a group of people.
Harry glanced at Ron, struggled internally, then gritted his teeth and quickly caught up with Tom and his team.