Loren looked at the four of them and said softly:
"Everyone, don't get angry. We're all educated people, we all understand manners. Even Harry, who was raised by relatives, has basic manners."
Seeing that the others were still looking at him in confusion, Loren continued:
"Only wild children without parents or elders to teach them would lack manners. Even orphans are taught manners by the adults in an orphanage. Just look at Malfoy's behavior just now—I can conclude that he has no elders at home, that he grew up alone and forlorn, which is why he is so ill-mannered. Don't let him upset you, after all, he's already so pitiful."
Loren's whisper wasn't really a whisper at all—at least, everyone in the carriage heard him clearly.
Malfoy's face turned scarlet with anger, while his two henchmen behind him lowered their heads, shoulders shaking as they covered their mouths to keep from laughing.
Harry, not quite catching on, said blankly:
"I met him when I went shopping in Diagon Alley, and he was with his parents then."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible."
Loren waved his hand emphatically, cutting Harry off, and said firmly:
"If he had parents, how could he be so poorly brought up, like a wild child? Those couldn't have been his parents—they must have been hired, just like his two henchmen here. And I heard him call himself 'pure-blood.' That word itself doesn't sound good at all."
Hermione then picked up where Loren left off:
"To guarantee a pure bloodline, that would require inbreeding. And Muggles, through long research, discovered that the products of inbreeding are usually either ugly and feeble-minded, or outwardly normal but emotionally unstable lunatics."
"I've heard my gran talk about it. Those families that call themselves pure-blood have loads of lunatics. I think my parents were hurt by that kind of lunatic."
Neville added from the side.
"Now it's very clear. This Mr. Malfoy here is the result of inbreeding. Outwardly normal, but with a terrible temper. And since all his elders are lunatics, he grew up without any proper education—born but not raised. That's why he's rude and so violently short-tempered."
Ron, never one to hold his tongue, smoothly followed Neville's words with a conclusion, and Loren carried it further:
"We all had parents and elders to raise us, so we understand manners. For those wild children without proper upbringing, we should be tolerant—since they're pitiful. But as for inbred freaks, we should keep our distance, because they're emotionally unstable lunatics who might go mad at any time and attack others."
Hearing Loren's conclusion, Neville stood up awkwardly, bowed toward Draco, and said:
"I'm sorry, Malfoy. I never knew your life was so miserable. I'll forgive you this time for insulting my friends."
He quickly sat back down, as if afraid Draco would suddenly go mad and attack him, muttering under his breath:
"My gran always says, don't get angry with people of low intelligence, because they don't understand what they're doing."
Neville's apology had already driven Draco into a frenzy of rage, though the last shred of reason in his mind still held him back, telling him to maintain the elegance of a platinum noble.
But Neville's final mutter was the last straw. Malfoy felt that last thread of reason snap in his mind. His face twisted in fury, and he roared:
"You crybaby only fit for filthy Hufflepuff with its half-bloods and Mudbloods—shut your mouth! The honor of the Malfoy family will not be sullied!"
As Draco roared, he lunged at Neville. His two henchmen hesitated for a moment, then followed suit.
But Loren was already prepared. As soon as Draco shouted, Loren cast a small spell—a modified Sonorus—that amplified Draco's voice to its utmost, so loudly that not only the nearby compartments, but even faraway ones could faintly hear Malfoy's words.
Facing the three charging boys, Loren acted at once. The close-combat skill brought by his martial training was far beyond what these little wizards could imagine.
In Hermione and the others' eyes, Loren simply rose from beside her, and as if casting some spell, he instantly subdued all three. With one hand each he pinned the henchmen, while Draco was forced to the ground beneath Loren's foot.
As Loren subdued the trio, crowds of students gathered outside the compartment, murmuring and whispering.
Then two red-haired figures pushed through the crowd and rushed in, loudly demanding to know what had happened. It was Ron's older brothers, George and Fred.
Seeing that the trouble was in Ron and Harry's compartment, they had charged over immediately. Ron was their dear little brother—only they had the right to bully him—and Harry was still young and needed protection, especially against Slytherins who might try to harm him.
Ron quickly stood up to explain the situation to his brothers.
Most of the students crowding outside were from Hufflepuff, since Draco's insult had directly offended every Hufflepuff there. There were also some Gryffindors—some brought by the twins, others who had simply come to watch the commotion.
Ron's explanation, repeated in the booming voices of the Weasley twins, quickly spread far and wide.
More and more Hufflepuffs gathered, and soon students from Slytherin and Ravenclaw appeared too. The clever Ravenclaws didn't all come; only a few showed up to ask the Hufflepuffs what had happened. After hearing their retelling, the Ravenclaws simply returned to their compartments to spread the latest news.
The Slytherins, hearing that three of their likely future housemates were involved, looked at the angry crowd of Hufflepuffs and slunk off to fetch their prefects.
Not that they needed to—by then, the prefects from all four houses were already on their way, having heard about the uproar.
The twenty-four prefects cleared away the crowd of onlookers before finally approaching Harry's compartment. But the students hadn't gone far; they gathered in nearby compartments, craning their necks out to see how the prefects would handle things.
Looking through the open compartment door, the prefects saw the scene inside: Fred and George had bound Goyle and Crabbe to the side with spells, while Draco still lay pinned under Loren's foot, unable to move.
After hearing what had happened, the prefects' gazes toward Draco turned frosty—especially the six Hufflepuff prefects, who began discussing telling their Head of House so Draco would be barred from even entering Hogwarts.
The Gryffindor prefects supported the Hufflepuffs' idea. After all, this involved Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, as well as Percy's younger brother Ron. And since Draco was a probable Slytherin, Gryffindor would never go easy on him.
The Ravenclaw prefects didn't say much, but their silence suggested they sided with Hufflepuff.
The Slytherin prefects, though disgusted by Draco's stupidity, had no choice but to defend him. They argued that since the students had not yet entered Hogwarts and been sorted, prefects had no authority over them. With the train nearly at the station, it was better to end pointless arguments, settle the younger students, and leave the matter for the professors to decide.
With the station fast approaching, the other prefects accepted this compromise. The Slytherin prefects took Draco and his two cronies away, the Ravenclaws dispersed, the Hufflepuffs left but not without kind words toward the group, and the Gryffindors congratulated them on their actions and welcomed them warmly to Gryffindor. Finally, Percy left, taking the happily chatting twins with him, but not before reminding everyone to change into their robes.
For Loren, the matter wasn't truly over. He even entertained the thought of killing Draco, but for the sake of his own parents and Hermione's parents, he held back. Still, from now on Draco would be his personal toy—sometimes living is its own form of torment.
Loren, Hermione, and Neville returned to their compartment, dug out their school uniforms, and began changing. Just then, a voice echoed through the train:
"In five minutes, the train will arrive at Hogwarts. Please leave your luggage on board—we will bring it to the school for you."
Hearing the announcement, Loren and Hermione swept the uneaten snacks from the table into their magic pouches and readied themselves to disembark.
Neville had little to prepare and was about to follow the stream of students crowding the corridor toward the doors.
But Loren, reflecting that the habit of everyone cramming the doors before a train stopped was universal across all worlds, tugged Neville back, signaling him to wait until the crowd thinned.
The train slowed, then finally stopped. Loren's group of three didn't jostle with the others, but disembarked among the last. Quickly, they found Ron and Harry in the crowd, and the five of them were happily reunited.
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