Draco and Pansy's playful squabble didn't interfere with the escalating conflict on Goyle's side.
If being forced to leave Hogwarts and return home was something Harry Potter couldn't accept, then poverty was Ron Weasley's trigger—arguably the quickest way to set him off.
"You bastards! You wanna fight? Come on!!"
In an instant, Ron's face turned a furious shade of red, the flush creeping from his neck up to his ears. With his eyes blazing, he looked ready to explode like a human fireball.
Madness.
Rage.
Harry, caught off guard, froze where he stood, staring blankly at Ron, who had drawn his wand and aimed it at Goyle and the others.
Hermione, completely unprepared for the sudden outburst, was at a loss for what to do.
Ron's stance, wand pointed at his opponent, actually radiated a kind of reckless resolve—if you ignored the shabby wand itself and the fact that it was Ron holding it.
"Hahaha! What are you gonna do with that broken wand, Weasley?"
"Trying to show us just how poor your family really is?"
Their sharp tongues made Draco smirk faintly at the corner of his mouth.
Goyle and Crabbe, clearly unfazed by Ron's fury, stepped forward with mocking expressions.
At that moment, Harry and Hermione snapped into action too, pulling out their own wands, ready as Goyle and Crabbe advanced.
"Ron, calm down. The professors don't allow magic between students!"
"They're just trying to rile you up. Don't fall for it!"
Harry didn't mind putting those two in their place, but not out in the open where they could get caught breaking the rules. If a professor showed up now, they'd be in serious trouble—not to mention, they barely knew any proper spells yet.
What gave Harry a bit of relief was seeing Draco nearby, seemingly content to stay out of it. The last thing Harry wanted was to have to confront the person who had saved him.
Hermione, who had also been saved by Draco once, glanced back and forth between Goyle and Draco with suspicion in her eyes. Her thoughtful brown gaze flickered, clearly turning something over in her mind...
"Damn it, shut your filthy—"
"Goyle."
"Wait, Ron!"
"What are you doing here?!"
Just as Ron lunged forward and grabbed Goyle by the collar, Hagrid, who had been slow to grasp what was happening, finally caught on.
But before he could step in, Snape appeared at the end of the corridor, his face cold and stern. His sudden presence froze Ron in place.
A second earlier, Draco had already called Goyle to a halt...
"Well, well. How interesting. If I hadn't shown up, I might've witnessed Mr. Weasley's dazzling display of violence."
"Professor! There's a reason for this—it was Goyle and the others who—"
"That's enough. I wasn't speaking to you, Miss Granger."
"....."
Harry, long since resigned to the futility of arguing with Snape, didn't even try to defend himself. He stayed completely silent.
But of course, Snape wasn't going to let him off easily.
"And you, Mr. Potter—if I were you, I'd think twice before pointing a wand at your fellow students. Gryffindor, minus five points."
Snape's favoritism toward his own house was nothing new, but it never failed to enrage Harry and the others. Even Hermione, who normally respected her professors, was visibly upset by the unfair punishment.
Snape, however, didn't care one bit what they thought...
"Rubeus, Minerva has been waiting for you in the Great Hall for some time."
"Oh... I'll go right away."
It seemed Snape had come to deliver a message to Hagrid—and just happened to catch Ron's "assault" in the act.
And so, the fight that never quite broke out ended with Gryffindor losing five points.
Goyle and Crabbe strutted off like triumphant generals, their smug expressions making Draco's eye twitch in irritation...
...
On the way back, Ron wasted no time venting his frustration and dragging Draco's name through the mud.
"I'm telling you, that evil Malfoy definitely had a hand in this. No way he wasn't involved!"
"And don't you think it's just a little too convenient that Snape showed up right when I was about to flatten that bastard? What a coincidence, huh? Yeah, right!"
"This whole thing was planned by that damn Death Eater!"
Ron ranted furiously, placing all the blame squarely on Draco.
To be fair, his accusations weren't entirely baseless. From an outsider's point of view, Goyle and Crabbe were practically Draco's personal henchmen—so it wasn't a stretch to assume they were acting on his orders.
The only thing missing was a clear motive.
But Ron, already biased against Draco, had no intention of thinking that far—especially not in his current mood.
Harry, meanwhile, stayed quiet. He wasn't about to defend Draco either.
At the end of the day, Ron was his close friend. Draco, despite having saved him once, was still basically a stranger.
"Let's investigate."
"Huh?"
"Hermione?"
Hermione, who had been silent the entire walk, suddenly spoke up, prompting both Harry and Ron to turn toward her, puzzled.
"I think we need to look into whether your broom was cursed with dark magic."
"Oh no... Not this again. Harry, talk some sense into her—"
"What do you want to do?"
"Harry?"
Ron stared at Harry in surprise when he didn't immediately back him up. But the serious look on Harry's face made him swallow whatever sarcastic remark he'd been about to make.
"Let's go talk to Hagrid. I want to confirm something about dark magic."
"Alright, then let's go."
"You guys really think this is about dark magic—hey! Wait for me!"
Maybe it was everything that had just happened, but Hermione clearly made up her mind.
Gone was the recently hesitant girl with her head full of daydreams. In her place was someone sharp and resolute.
Confidence.
Wisdom.
Seeing her like this, Harry and Ron couldn't help but glance away awkwardly.
This was the Hermione they knew—the proud, brilliant know-it-all...