Chapter 101: De He's Past Life Story (8-10): Ignorance, Showoff, and Dazzling
Past Life Story 8: The Ignorant Granger
Time: Fourth Grade Summer Vacation, Quidditch World Cup
Location: Top Floor Box at the Quidditch World Cup, Woods at Camp
Draco Malfoy always believed that Professor Trelawney's words could not be taken seriously. She was never truly right about anything.
So, after a brief period of panic, he secretly made up his mind to continue being the young master of the Malfoy family and let Granger continue to fend for himself and be arrogant.
Ignore her, he thought as he entered the top box at the Quidditch World Cup.
When he saw her, Draco was sure he had completely gotten over the prophecy. He followed his father into the box, glaring at Potter, Weasley, and Granger as usual.
Granger glared back at him, at his father.
Ignorant Granger. She never knew how to respect the head of the Malfoy family, always testing Lucius's limits. If Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge hadn't been there, Lucius would have run up to her and ridiculed her based on that look.
She and he were not of the same kind, not at all, he told himself.
She doesn't know what "power" means, right?
They would keep their distance. There was no need to take her to heart. He wore the new suit his mother had made for him, and with his usual cocky smile, he scrutinized her jeans critically—determined never to admit that such clothes could embody a certain youthfulness—and passed her by without a ripple in his heart.
Draco Malfoy, as always, was in control.
On the night after the Quidditch World Cup, Lucius and Narcissa hurried back to their tent and took their son to the edge of the woods.
"Little Dragon, try to move deeper and avoid being affected." Narcissa said.
"Where are you going?" Draco asked.
"There is something to be done." Narcissa exchanged a glance with Lucius and whispered to their son.
"Don't ask unnecessary questions," Lucius said. "If the situation isn't right, just tell me your last name. No one will give you any trouble."
They left.
Draco looked at the chaotic scene in the camp through the gaps between the trees and frowned.
He could see what had happened to the Muggle camp manager and his family. They were floating in the air. The manager's wife was hanging upside down in the air, her nightgown dangling from her. Hooded figures were screaming and heckling below.
Even a kid like Draco who loved pranks found this a bit disgusting.
His father and mother had never raised him that way. Even when confronting an enemy, some decency and a bottom line were necessary. Conspiracies, schemes, and framing were understandable, but such despicable tactics were simply too cheap.
In an instant, he thought of Granger.
This ignorant and reckless girl. If she dared to challenge anyone now, or even revealed a hint of her Muggle-born identity, I'm afraid not everyone would just glare at her with contempt like his father did.
Something terrible might happen to her—he frowned inexplicably.
Then he heard Granger's voice.
The sound was recognizable. It was the same sound she'd made the previous school year when she'd been searching for a cat by the lake, anxious and panicked.
"What's going on?" she said nervously, and then there were footsteps. "Ron, where are you? Oh, we're so stupid - Lumos."
Through the light from her staff, he could see she was wearing a robe, through which he could vaguely see her white lace nightgown, a slender calf, and bare ankles.
It wasn't a nice outfit, if she was to be targeted by any of the Death Eaters—he hoped she'd at least wear some drawers underneath.
Before he could figure out why he cared about Granger's appearance, he had already jumped out from the bushes and began to provoke Potter and Weasley.
Weasley was furious, even swearing a rather vulgar word. Normally, Draco would have argued with him, but today, he had no desire to fight.
"Keep your mouth shut," Draco said pointedly. "I think you'd better make haste and run. You don't want her to be discovered, do you?"
He nodded haughtily at Granger, making no attempt to address her directly.
He just wanted to make her aware of the danger, which didn't mean he had to have any direct involvement with her.
"What do you mean?" She took the initiative to speak to him first, asking unconvincedly.
Draco couldn't help but look at her again. They locked eyes.
Her eyes shone brightly in the darkness, like a cat's. A kind of ignorance and fearlessness flickered in them.
He suddenly remembered that she once said to him: "You still have some sympathy, even if it is only as little as a teaspoon, but after all, you are not completely hopeless." At that time, they had worked together to save an egg.
He felt like he must be crazy, and he suddenly didn't want to let this brightness go out, at least not tonight.
"Granger, they're after Muggles," Draco said, trying to appear calm and hide the ridiculous emotion in his heart - it was definitely not worry.
He looked at her calves in a flirtatious manner and found them very slender. "Would you like to show your panties in mid-air?"
Was she wearing any panties? It was too dangerous. He forced himself to withdraw his gaze from her calves, blinking as he thought.
To conceal his thoughts, he shifted his eyes in the direction of the camp and was uneasy to find that the hooded group was already moving this way.
Merlin, the situation is more critical than he thought. His tone became more anxious and more terrifying. "If you want, just stay here... They are coming this way, we can all have a good laugh."
Come on, Granger, get away from here, Draco thought.
"Hermione is a witch!" Potter roared angrily.
Draco was speechless. Talking to the Potters was always difficult; they hadn't figured out what was going on. He glared at them, feeling anxious—they had no idea how dangerous tonight would be for Granger.
He might have to try harder.
"As you wish, Potter," Draco said, managing a sly smile. "If you don't think they can recognize a Mudblood, then you can stay here."
"Watch your words!" Weasley shouted.
Then there was another verbal battle. Draco kept smiling, but his words became more rapid, vicious and cruel than the last, and he felt irritated in waves.
Why couldn't they understand his hints?
They had to leave quickly, leave quickly, and take her with them. He clenched his hands tightly in his trouser pockets, and his calm mask was almost cracking.
Finally, Granger seemed to understand, thanks to Merlin! Although she didn't have enough blood to keep her safe tonight, at least she still had a smart brain.
His unnecessary provocation finally paid off. Of course, this did not bring her any gratitude. On the contrary, she looked at him with disgust and said to Potter and the others, "Oh, let's go. Let's go find someone else."
Several explosions were heard from the woods. Draco wondered if his father was in there, and whether he would recognize her. Draco also wondered if his father's companions, those unscrupulous Death Eaters, would be so cruel as to attack a little girl.
"Keep your big hairy head down, Granger." Draco said in a sneering tone as they walked away.
Keep your head down, Granger. There's no use being arrogant at this time. There's no shame in playing it safe.
Keep your head down, Granger. Please, please don't let anyone recognize you, Granger.
"Hurry up." Granger pulled Potter and Weasley and continued on their way.
He silently watched their hurriedly receding backs, his eyes flickering.
Yeah, go away, ignorant Granger.
Past Life Story 9: Show-Off Granger
Time: Fourth Year, First Week of School
Location: Care of Magical Creatures Class
After entering the fourth grade, all students found that the amount of homework they had to do this semester had increased significantly.
When students complained particularly loudly about the excessive amount of Transfiguration homework assigned by Professor McGonagall, she declared, "You are entering a critical period in your magical education! Your OWLs are approaching—"
"We don't have to take OWLs until fifth year!" complained a Gryffindor student.
"You need to be fully prepared! In this class, Miss Granger is the only one who can turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion..." Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed majestically behind the square lenses.
Draco glanced at the girl being praised by Professor McGonagall from the corner of his eye. Her face flushed crimson, and she tried hard not to look too proud.
A girl who loves to show off her cleverness—she dominates almost every class! Draco thought angrily.
Professor Binns, the ghost who taught them History of Magic, praised her paper on the goblin rebellion in the eighteenth century in class.
Professor Flitwick, the Head of Ravenclaw House and Charms teacher, required students to read three books on Summoning Spells and used her as an inspiration. "You should look at Miss Granger. She's already finished all three books and even read several more!"
Not to mention Hagrid, in whose class she acted like a true Care of Magical Creatures professor.
When Draco publicly mocked Hagrid's blasting-end skrewts, saying they "can burn, sting, and bite," she suddenly jumped out and began to refute him: "Just because they don't look good doesn't mean they are useless. Dragon blood has magical effects, but would you like to keep a dragon as a pet, huh?"
He heard Potter and Weasley giggle – but he didn't care.
He shouldn't have stayed near her, especially since she had just contradicted him in public.
But he was only concerned with studying her unyielding eyes, making sure she meant what she meant. She already knew what he thought about dragons, didn't she?
"What do you know? You just know how to show off those terms, don't you?" He let out a disdainful smile. "Do you know what the effects of Fire Dragon Blood are?"
Then, to Draco's astonishment, she recited the twelve uses of dragon's blood without even stumbling.
This question had once intimidated many people - it was Draco's secret weapon - but she handled it with such ease.
She was the only girl he had ever seen who could recite this unpopular piece of knowledge completely and fluently.
"Excellent! This is truly eye-opening." He feigned a lazy demeanor to conceal his inner shock. "Did you copy this answer straight from some book?"
She just looked at him arrogantly and ignored him. Instead, she tried to lure the blasting-tailed skrewt with ant eggs, frog livers and green snakes.
What was she doing now? After showing off her clever brain, she was also showing off her fearlessness?
"Granger, if you were as clever as you pretend, you'd realize that nothing on a skrewt is useful. It's not comparable to a dragon," Draco said, a smirk breaking out. "Perhaps there's a similarity. They both probably grow really fast. They'd be six feet long before you figured out what they like to eat."
"Shut up, Malfoy." The girl said with a red face, looking a little uneasy, as if her secret had been touched upon.
"Oh, it seems you don't like them either." Draco smiled disdainfully and looked at the slippery frog livers with disgust. He felt that her fingers were too close to the bursting tails, so close that it was dazzling.
"What's it to you?" she said in a high voice, without looking at him.
"Of course it's my business. If you don't like it either, it means that what you said just now was purely to temporarily shut me up." Before leaving her, he said coldly, "If you don't want it to blow you up in the face and send you to the hospital ward, you should have strangled the skrewt before it attacked you instead of stopping me from telling the truth!"
Past Life Story 10: The Dazzling Granger
Time: Fourth year, shortly after Harry Potter became a Triwizard Tournament champion, he and Draco exchanged blows outside the Potions classroom. Draco's spell reflected off Harry, hitting Hermione and Goyle.
Location: Slytherin common room; library; outside the Potions classroom; hospital ward
Granger ended up in the school hospital.
It wasn't because of Hagrid's three-foot-long blast-tailed skrewts crawling all over the ground, but because of the rebound of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter's spells.
Draco originally wanted to teach Potter a lesson by using his "front teeth as a stick".
Who told him to break the rules and use some secret means to put his name into the Goblet of Fire and become the second champion of Hogwarts?
Going to such extremes just to participate in the Triwizard Tournament? Even a Slytherin like him thought it was too unscrupulous!
Potter! He simply relied on Dumbledore's favor to do whatever he wanted, not taking anyone seriously, and not caring about the reputation of Hogwarts.
Now, everyone thinks it is a scandal, corruption and a disgrace.
His idol Krum had been gloomy for several days and didn't treat any Hogwarts student well - including Slytherin students.
Everyone kept their distance from Potter, even Weasley, who always called himself his "best friend", left Potter.
"I say, Pott deserves it!" Draco said loudly in the Slytherin common room, wondering how he got in there. "He deserves to be isolated!"
"That's right!" Pansy agreed, flopping down on the sofa across from him. "My sisters are so pissed! Pot is like a bean sprout compared to Cedric! Cedric is the true warrior who can represent Hogwarts!"
"Since when have you become so accepting of a Hufflepuff?" Draco rolled his eyes at her.
"Oh, Draco, don't say you didn't notice! Cedric is so handsome, with a straight nose, black hair, and gray eyes... He's the yard heir, the seeker for the school team, and he's a pureblood. Who wouldn't love him? My sisters are all crazy about him..." Pansy giggled, earning a disdainful look from Blaise who was passing by. "Nymphomaniac!"
"What did you say?" Pansy said angrily.
"I'm saying you're a nympho. A nympho who only looks at faces!" Bryce said with a gloomy face.
"Nymphomaniac? You've insulted all the girls in the school with just one sentence!" Pansy jumped up indignantly and confronted Blaise, "I don't believe there's a single girl in the school who doesn't like him!"
"Have you forgotten Granger? She's always with Potter, going in and out together, very close." Blaise said disdainfully, "I don't think she looks like she's been charmed by Cedric."
"That Mudblood? Is she considered a girl? She hides in a pile of thick books every day. Apart from a pile of messy hair, what else can you see of her? Her big buck teeth? I bet she'll look like a chipmunk when she shows her face!" Pansy chuckled, "Is she in love with Potter? Potter really doesn't care about meat or vegetables!"
Granger.
very good.
The girl who pierced his eyes.
The girl who always goes against him.
The only girl who still talked to Potter did not ignore him because of his little actions. Instead, she stood by Potter and fought against the world with him.
People even thought they were in love. Draco frowned in disgust.
"So, you and Potter, huh? Are dating?" He couldn't help but ask this question when he ran into Granger in a corner of the library.
"Of course not! He is my friend!" She stopped flipping through the thick book in her hand and looked at him warily.
"Friends? As if Potter cares about you that much! I don't know who it was that ignored you last school year? Just because of a broken broom, right?" He said slowly, looking at the pile of elf books on her desk.
Elves? Did Professor Binns give any homework on that?
"That's the Firebolt, the best broomstick in the world!" She frowned, seeming to refuse to pay attention to his question and trying to correct him.
"I didn't know you knew about broomsticks... Have you ever used a broomstick besides the flying lessons in your first year?" Draco wrinkled his nose and taunted her.
"None of your business," she retorted, a wary look on her face. "Malfoy, what do you want to do by coming up to me and asking me these questions?"
"I'm a little curious," he said slowly. "Even his good friends know to stay out of the spotlight and stay away from that self-righteous Potter. But you stick around Potter every day? Why? Is your brain eaten by slugs, or do you want to make yourself stand out?"
"Because I believe him. He didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire." She raised her chin, her eyes shining surprisingly brightly. "I believe him!"
Her words immediately made him speechless. The light in her eyes was dazzling.
Damn Potter! After all the filthy things he had done, how could he be so lucky as to be believed in this way—believed in this way by anyone—believed in this way so sincerely, so passionately by her?
This little fool!
Draco narrowed his eyes and looked at her coldly, "I don't believe it. Potter didn't do anything. He is just an unscrupulous thief who stole the honor of a warrior. You shouldn't trust him. You will regret it."
"A Slytherin who is unscrupulous actually dares to accuse others of being unscrupulous?" She glanced at him and said arrogantly, "Malfoy, you are not behind this, are you? To frame him?"
"How dare you say that?" Draco choked. "Does he deserve it? Is he worthy of me spending so much time and effort on him? I don't even take him seriously!"
"You don't take him seriously? Aren't you the one who always provokes him? Who was it who tried to sneak attack Harry a few days ago, but was turned into a ferret by Professor Moody? Do you want to try again?" Hermione replied.
"Shut up, Granger!" he said bitterly, a slight blush appearing on his face. He was furious at being reminded of this, and remembered Pansy's words against her, and applied them to his words, "You ungrateful chipmunk!"
"You great leaping ferret!" she snapped, glaring at him.
He was furious.
And she, seemingly determined to ignore him, opened a box beside her and studied the colorful, silly badges inside.
The way she ignored him was more glaring than the way she looked at him.
This glare suddenly made him feel rebellious - he wanted to correct her incorrect behavior.
He wanted her to open her eyes and look at him.
"What is this?" He suddenly picked up a badge from the box and wanted to see the words on it, but she snatched it back.
Her hand touched his—for a moment.
A faint electric current spread the moment their fingers touched - Draco froze.
"It's none of your business!" She put the badge away cautiously, as if she had no idea what she had done to him.
Draco's hands were shaking slightly. He looked at her in confusion, and she looked at him in anger.
"Anything else?" she said, dismissing him. "Are you waiting for me to turn you into a ferret?"
The boy's face flushed.
He stammered a few times, but in the end, no words came out. He could only glare at her fiercely and walk away.
Draco Malfoy's hand seemed to be experiencing some aftereffects.
Whenever he thought of Granger, he recalled that strange electric, or tingling, feeling in his hand. He thought he might have been pricked by her.
Granger, she not only stabbed his eyes, but also his hands.
That's right, she is like a hedgehog, covered with thorns, and pricks people everywhere!
She must have cast a curse on him! The moment she grabbed the badge! Yes, that's it. He thought indignantly.
His fingers were still numb, and no matter how many times he washed them, it didn't help. In the common room, Draco sat in an armchair, lost in thought. He stared at his damned finger for a long time—it still felt a slight tingling sensation.
Sighing in frustration, he thought once again of her dazzling eyes, her hair, and even her obnoxiously intelligent head.
He was going to be quiet for a while, thinking about what was going on; but Pansy was making a lot of noise in the common room - she was cursing Potter as stinking shit and laughing at Mudblood Granger's teeth for the hundred and first time.
Draco was so annoyed that he gave her a suggestion impatiently: "Stop wasting your breath. Aren't you tired? Can't you come up with some clever ideas? The kind that can express ideas without words?"
"What do you mean?" Pansy asked suspiciously.
"Badges," Draco said, remembering the large, glaring box filled with badges in Granger's hand. "Get some badges and pin them on your clothes. Wouldn't that show where you stand?"
"Good idea!" Pansy said happily, "I'll design it right away!"
The badge set off a chain reaction that ultimately led to the chaotic duel outside the Potions classroom.
At that time, all Slytherin students wore a large badge on the front of their robes. In bright red, it said "Support Cedric" and in green, it said "Potter Stinks."
"Oh, very funny," she suddenly jumped out and said sarcastically to Pansy and the others, "it's really witty."
Oh, Hermione Granger, there she was again, poking his eyes and defending the damned Potter.
This made him feel very upset.
Since she likes badges so much—
"Want one, Granger?" he said maliciously, holding up a badge towards her. "I've got loads of them."
In the dim light of the underground corridor, he found that she was looking at him with contempt.
That look of contempt was so direct that it caused a fire to burn in his heart.
How dare she despise him? He didn't even despise her!
He feigned indifference to her expression, his unnatural hand tightening around the badge. "But be careful not to touch mine. Look, I just washed my hands, and I don't want a Mudblood getting them dirty."
Yes, he figured it out! It must be because he's allergic to mudbloods! That's why his hand is wrong! He thought angrily.
He didn't have time to read Granger's expression, because the enraged Potter had already pulled out his wand.
Draco also drew his wand, and he was no less angry than Potter.
Come on, let's fight to the death.
Stupid Pott who was believed by Granger!
The next second, Granger was hit by the rebounding spell and was hit by his "front teeth club".
What did he say? She shouldn't have gone near Potter! Draco thought arrogantly, glaring at Potter without looking back at her.
He heard Pansy and those crazy girls laughing in low voices and saying happily, "Look, her front teeth are already above her collar."
He heard Weasley yelling over there, forcing Granger, who had covered her mouth, to show her teeth to Professor Snape.
What a fool Weasley was! He really knew how to humiliate a girl! Did he expect Professor Snape to say something harsh and hit Granger harder?
As expected, Professor Snape said coldly, "I don't see any difference."
He heard her cry, and finally he could no longer bear it, turned his proud head and looked at her, and suddenly found that her eyes were filled with tears.
Then she turned and took off running, disappearing down the corridor.
He continued to stand there defiantly, not moving an inch, pretending that her tears did not blind him.
She was asking for trouble. He hadn't meant to deal with her.
She's not innocent. She's Potter's friend, she doesn't deserve sympathy. Draco thought viciously as he pressed the badge frantically, provoking Potter.
That's right. She deserved it. She shouldn't have trusted Potter, shouldn't have stabbed him in the eye, stabbed his hand, stabbed his heart.
It was none of his business how her teeth looked like that, he told himself sullenly.
"Professor Snape," he said, after fidgeting in the classroom for about five minutes, suddenly raising his hands, thinking he must be going mad, "I think I should go to the hospital wing to see Goyle. He probably can't explain what curse has come over him."
Professor Snape, who was always very tolerant of Slytherin students, nodded and let Draco go.
So Draco walked out of the dungeon steadily.
After closing the door, he suddenly started running, for some unknown reason.
He rushed to the school hospital, pushed open the half-closed door, and saw Granger at a glance.
She still covered her mouth, tears in her eyes as she sat on an empty hospital bed.
"Miss Granger, it's all right. Don't worry. I'll shrink it for you in a minute." Madam Pomfrey's voice came from the side of a curtained bed. "After I remove these big boils on Mr. Goyle's nose."
Granger hummed, looking embarrassed and angry.
If Draco were sitting here, he would also feel ashamed and uneasy. There was no barrier, not even a bed curtain - anyone passing by the school hospital entrance could peek through the crack in the door and satisfy their own evil taste and curiosity.
Moreover, the tooth was still growing. Even if the poor girl tried desperately to cover the tooth that was getting longer and longer, it was in vain.
"Don't cover it." He walked over slowly and suddenly pulled the curtains on the side of the bed near the door. He looked at her teeth that could not be covered and felt that they were extremely glaring. "You can't cover it at all."
He wanted to take advantage of the situation and say some vicious words as he did in the past, but he couldn't say it.
A certain fragile emotion grew in him, which made it impossible for him to laugh at her with peace of mind.
It wasn't guilt at all! He just wanted to remember how she looked now, so that the next time she called him a "ferret," he could use it to tease her! That's right, that's it.
At this moment, because of the overgrown tooth, she was speechless. Her face flushed red, and she stared at him, tears welling up in her eyes, but she still held back and refused to let them fall.
He glanced at her, grabbed a large clean towel and threw it in front of her, "Cover it up!"
She hurriedly covered the lower half of her face with the towel, leaving only her watery brown eyes exposed.
He casually pulled over a chair and sat down, leaning his hands on the back of the chair and looking at her.
"Elbow away!" she mumbled, glaring at him with an angry look.
He was pretty sure what she meant to say was "go away."
He should have been annoyed—no one dared to speak to him so bluntly—but her vagueness made him laugh.
"Listen, I didn't mean to do anything to you." He looked into her angry eyes with a wicked smile on his face. "Since you've suffered a little because of my negligence—"
He ignored the angry mutterings from the girl in front of him from under her towel, "Abandon your ritual and lose the fox..."
"Here's a little advice for you." He smiled at her in a good mood, and suddenly remembered Pansy's various mocking remarks about her teeth in the Slytherin common room. He drawled, "When Madam Pomfrey helps you reduce your teeth, you can ask her to adjust them properly - to a perfect and tasteful state - right, Miss Perfect? I'm really tired of hearing them say you have buck teeth every other day. I can't concentrate on laughing at you being a mudblood!"
Then, before she could get up from the bed to kick or punch him, he stood up, smiled wickedly at her, and swaggered out of the school hospital door, slamming it behind him without even saying goodbye to his excuse - Goyle.