"Harry Potter!"
It was Professor McGonagall's voice, as she rushed out of the castle, shouting Harry's name in fury.
The cheers for Harry immediately stopped, as though someone had choked the voices of the students.
Everyone saw Harry standing frozen, trembling. Some Slytherin students even quietly laughed.
However, once Professor McGonagall's sharp gaze swept across the crowd, no one dared to make a sound.
"I've been at Hogwarts for so many years—and never—" Professor McGonagall's shock was far greater than her anger. "—How dare you—You could break your neck—"
Professor McGonagall cut off any attempts by Gryffindors to defend Harry and began escorting him back to the castle.
"Heh!" Malfoy laughed loudly. "I guess he's saying goodbye to Hogwarts now!"
Ron could no longer tolerate Malfoy's smugness. With a roar, he charged at Malfoy, but fortunately, Madam Hooch had returned from the castle and deducted five points from each of them for the scuffle, announcing the end of the farce.
For the rest of the day, Malfoy would boast about driving Harry out of Hogwarts wherever he could find a Slytherin student.
At dinner, the Slytherin table buzzed with talk of Malfoy's antics. Everyone who had heard Malfoy bragging saw Harry sitting at the Gryffindor table.
"It seems your self-important little scheme didn't work. I thought you'd be challenging him to a duel," Cassandra commented disdainfully about Malfoy's prank. "Apart from the points you and Weasley lost while rolling around on the ground, Gryffindor didn't change one bit today."
"What do you mean by that?" Malfoy nearly ground his teeth.
"What do I mean?" Cassandra elegantly cut a piece of steak, chewed for a while, swallowed, and wiped her mouth before continuing, "Pushing your enemy away doesn't mean you can get closer to Ivy. I thought you understood that."
"Now it seems I overestimated you and your upbringing," Cassandra confirmed as she glanced at her two friends, who had finished eating. Without a word, she turned and left.
"Don't listen to her." Blaise Zabini stuffed a piece of bread soaked in gravy into his mouth and said nonchalantly to Malfoy, "Chew, chew We've done well. At least we didn't fall off the broom, and we didn't lose any points for Slytherin. Chew, chew Maybe when I reach second year, I'll join the Quidditch team. You know, as a seeker or something."
It seemed that breaking the rules together had brought the students closer. Before this, Blaise would never have been so relaxed chatting with Malfoy.
"Wait and see, I'll make sure Potter gets expelled," Malfoy said, glaring at Harry and Ron, who were laughing and talking at the Gryffindor table. "And that Weasley pauper."
"Potter really can fly better than I thought," Theodore Nott, who had almost backed out earlier, joined in. "Otherwise, we'd have surely broken a bone or two."
"Oh, of course," Malfoy muttered absentmindedly, "Crabbe! Goyle!"
He called over his two "good friends," who were still stuffing their mouths with food.
"We've got new things to do," the two of them, indistinguishable from one another, stood up and followed Malfoy. By the time they reached the Gryffindor table, Crabbe and Goyle had not only swallowed the food in their mouths but also made sure that the food in their hands disappeared.
"Last meal, Potter? When are you heading back to the Muggles?" Malfoy sneered.
Harry and Ron stared coldly at Malfoy.
"Found your little sidekick friends again? Let's hope they don't leave you behind somewhere again," Harry fixed his gaze on Malfoy's eyes, like facing an enemy.
"Hmph," Malfoy snorted, blowing air through his nose. "I'm always willing to duel with you, if you don't mind, tonight. A wizard duel. Only wands—no physical contact."
Malfoy seemed to notice Harry's hesitation and added, "What? I guess you, being nearly from a Muggle family, have never heard of wizard duels?"
"He's certainly heard of them," Ron, who had been waiting for this opportunity ever since he couldn't land a punch on Malfoy earlier, jumped in. "I'm his assistant, and you? Who's your assistant?"
Malfoy assessed the two companions behind him and finally picked the one who seemed bigger at a glance.
"Crabbe," Malfoy said, "Midnight, the Trophy Room on the fourth floor. How about we meet there? As far as I know, it's never locked."
———
At 11:30 PM, Ivy had finished his routine of gaining experience in the Potions classroom.
Because of Snape's old-fashioned opposition, he hadn't been able to use "Mage's Hand" to gain experience today. Ivy maliciously speculated that Snape had run out of teaching materials.
With Snape's almost operatic venomous attacks, Ivy couldn't resist responding a few times.
The enraged Snape chose to take points and force Ivy to leave rather than go for the other option.
It seemed that the seven-year consecutive Slytherin House Cup victory was of great significance to Snape, the head of the house.
Yet, Ivy was in a good mood as he strolled through the castle, humming a tune back to the Slytherin common room.
But before he could say the password, the door of the common room opened automatically.
Standing before him were Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
"Well, well, Malfoy," Ivy said cheerfully, "Up this late? Oh, I remember. There's a duel waiting for you."
"Ah, oh. That's right." Malfoy, completely caught off guard by Ivy's tone, felt more determined.
Malfoy had initially planned to inform Filch about students wandering the Trophy Room at night, and he had done so.
However, considering Cassandra's haughty attitude, Malfoy had been feeling uneasy. Since the beginning of the term, this girl had been opposing him without considering Slytherin unity.
But what solidified Malfoy's decision was Ivy standing in front of him.
The duel after the feast had been incredibly cool.
Malfoy had always thought so. So why couldn't he be the one standing in the middle of the arena receiving the awe of everyone?
Ivy was a first-year wizard. So was Malfoy.
There was no reason he couldn't do it if Ivy could.
Although he never said it aloud, he had thought about it.
So, in a moment of impulse, he called on Crabbe and Goyle, who were snoring loudly, and snuck out of the Slytherin common room.