Chapter 44: Percy Unhinged
Ron, now fully committed to his own version of events, gave his brother a detailed and highly embellished account of the day's confrontation. In his telling, Malfoy had been deliberately provocative, and Vaisey had been egregiously insulting, especially towards Percy, whom Vaisey had allegedly threatened to "hang up by his toes." Ron, of course, had been unable to stand for such an affront and, with the brave Harry at his side, had accepted Malfoy's challenge.
"You said Harry is your second. Where is he now?" Percy asked, his eyes narrowed.
Harry stepped out from the shadows of the staircase. "I'm here, Percy."
Percy glanced past Harry, catching a glimpse of a few other figures lurking in the shadows. He assumed it was his two troublemaking brothers. "Harry," he said, turning his attention to him, "what really happened today?"
"You don't believe me?! I'm your brother!" Ron protested indignantly.
Percy completely ignored him and kept his gaze fixed on Harry.
Harry recounted the events as they had actually happened, though his own dislike for Malfoy may have led him to slightly embellish a few details, making Malfoy seem a bit more… unpleasant.
"So," Percy summarized, his face now turning as red as Ron's, "you were bad-mouthing Ryan, Malfoy defended him, and then you insulted Malfoy?"
"So what?!" Ron shot back, his arms crossed defiantly. "The Malfoys have always looked down on us! They think we're a disgrace to pure-blood wizards!"
"You idiot!"
It was the first time that not only Harry and Hermione, but even Fred and George, had ever heard Percy swear.
"Draco Malfoy is Draco Malfoy!" Percy hissed, his voice low and furious. "The Malfoy family is the Malfoy family! Draco can't change what his father thinks! And did it not occur to you why Vaisey singled me out?! He was giving me an opportunity to make you apologize! He didn't say it in front of everyone because he was trying to save the Weasley family from further embarrassment!" Percy, who was extremely sensitive about his family's honor, looked like he was about to explode.
"It's alright, Percy," George said, stepping out from the shadows. "He challenged him to a duel. Vaisey's the one who escalated it. Maybe that wasn't his intention."
Fred and Hermione followed him out. "George is right," Fred said. "Worst-case scenario, you'll just have to beat Vaisey in a duel."
"George is not right!" George retorted. "You're Fred, I'm George!"
"If we weren't in the Adventurers' Club, Fred, George," Percy said, his voice dangerously calm, his sanity meter now hovering at 50%, "do you know what would have happened? With Vaisey's cunning, Ron would have been expelled from Hogwarts before the year was out, framed for some disaster born from a series of seemingly minor incidents. And let's not forget, Malfoy is a member of the Adventurers' Club. He is a friend of Ryan's. Ron was slandering Ryan. That is the real reason Vaisey stepped in."
He then shared a little-known story. In their first year, Vaisey and Ryan hadn't been as close as they were now. Vaisey had been obsessed with beating him. But after an incident in their second year, everything had changed. Several key members of the Selwyn family had been sent to Azkaban, and the family had fallen from grace. Vaisey had been tormented, receiving Howlers at school and being followed whenever he left the castle.
"During the summer after our second year," Percy continued, pausing to catch his breath, "Ryan found Vaisey being ambushed by a group of adult wizards. He was badly beaten, and Ryan saved him."
"That's awful," Harry whispered. "No wonder he said what he did at the meeting, about being from a 'dyed-in-the-wool' Death Eater family."
.....
The Slytherin Common Room.
"I do not consider myself innocent, Draco," Vaisey said, leaning against a wall and staring out into the dark waters of the Black Lake. The shadow of a giant squid drifted past the window. "I was born a Selwyn. Even in our decline, my starting point was higher than ninety percent of all wizards. I cannot only claim to be a Selwyn when it is convenient. Ryan never called me innocent. He just told those people that I had done nothing wrong, that they could go after the Selwyn family, but that they shouldn't take their revenge out on a child. At the time, I thought, let them come. I will fight back with everything I have, just to survive."
Malfoy listened, a newfound respect for Vaisey growing within him. He couldn't imagine facing such adversity in his first or second year. "What happened then?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
Vaisey laughed, a real, genuine laugh that brought tears to his eyes. "What happened," he said, "is that a boy my own age told me I was his friend. And then I watched him, alone, take on every single one of my tormentors, all the ones who didn't have a personal grudge against my family. Some of them were much more powerful than he was, but he beat them all, one by one."
"That summer, the complaint letters flooded the Headmaster's office, all accusing a Hogwarts student of protecting a Death Eater's son." Vaisey was laughing so hard he could barely stand. "You should have seen him, Draco! He couldn't possibly be a Ravenclaw! The way he was throwing his wand around, the most reckless Gryffindor wouldn't have been so rash! And then, when he made his declaration, I thought, this person is insane. He must be a patient from the Janus Thickey Ward! If the Headmaster hadn't suppressed the rumors…"
Draco, who had been pampered and protected his whole life, felt a sharp pang of envy. He wondered if, in his own moment of crisis, anyone would stand up for him the way Ryan had stood up for Vaisey. Crabbe? Goyle? He fell silent.
"So," Vaisey said, his laughter subsiding, "a Ron Weasley dares to insult Ryan, to insult a member of our club. That is something I cannot accept. He should be grateful that his three older brothers are also members." Malfoy now understood why Vaisey had intervened. "But what if the other Weasleys protect Ron?" he asked. "What if they try to beat you in the duel tonight?"
....
"Beat Vaisey?!" Percy, now at 80% unhinged, was getting louder. In front of him, Harry and the others were staring at him, stunned into silence by his story. Harry finally understood why Vaisey had gotten involved in a first-year squabble. He imagined someone standing up to the Dursleys for him, and a wave of empathy washed over him. He even felt that Vaisey had been far too lenient.
"So what?" Ron, in his unusually brave state, retorted.
Percy reached 100% madness. "!@#$%^&! Why do you think a few adult wizards couldn't take down Vaisey in his second year?! Because he's a nice person?!"
~~~
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