"Well done, Harry!"
Ron praised loudly, unable to contain his excitement.
Draco, jolted out of his stupor by Ron's shout, yelled furiously,
"Let me down! Potter!"
Seeing Harry's indifference, Draco turned to the two boys behind him.
"Crabbe! Goyle! What are you waiting for? Are you just going to stand there?"
The two lackeys finally reacted, clenching their fists as they rushed forward to rescue their leader.
Without hesitation, Ron jumped in front of them, trying to block their path—completely ignoring the obvious difference in size.
The result was immediate. Goyle shoved him aside, and Ron staggered backward, collapsing into his seat.
"What an idiot…" Hermione muttered helplessly. Seeing Ron still struggling to get up, she pulled out her wand and pointed it firmly at Crabbe and Goyle.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Caught completely off guard, the two were struck by the spell and fell to the floor with heavy thuds, stiff as boards.
"Incredible!" Ron exclaimed sincerely. He hadn't expected a Muggle-born witch to cast such a precise spell—let alone save his life.
"What spell was that?"
"Full Body-Bind Curse. Standard Book of Spells, Chapter Six," Hermione replied automatically, still holding her casting stance.
Inside, her heart was pounding wildly.
She knew she had just attacked the son of an influential wizard before even arriving at Hogwarts.
She might be expelled the moment she set foot in the castle.
Still, Hermione did not regret it.
She didn't know exactly what Mudblood meant—but she clearly heard the contempt in the word.
Ron had defended her. She had simply returned the favor.
"You filthy Mudblood!" Draco screamed from midair, his face twisted with terror and rage. "I'll tell my father! He'll have all three of you expelled!"
"So, besides your father… what else do you rely on?" Harry said coolly, shrugging.
"As a wizard—especially a pure-blood—to be defeated by magic from Hermione and me… two Muggle-borns…"
With a flick of his wand, he dropped Draco to the floor and stepped closer, meeting the boy's frightened grey eyes.
Through them, Harry was inexplicably reminded of another pair of grey eyes—proud and arrogant—belonging to Cassandra, when she had been defeated in her first wand duel.
Is this what you call superiority?
Almost unconsciously, Harry echoed the mockery aloud:
"So this is what you mean by 'some families are far better than others'?"
He paused, his gaze steady.
"I'm almost sick."
To his own surprise, saying it made him feel oddly refreshed.
He couldn't bring himself to hate Cassandra—but mocking another Malfoy was undeniably satisfying.
Draco's anger exploded. He fumbled for his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry was faster.
Draco's wand flew through the air in a graceful arc before landing neatly in Harry's hand.
"Relax, Malfoy," Harry said calmly. "I was just teaching you a lesson… on behalf of someone."
"On behalf of who?" Ron asked, confused.
"His ancestors," Harry replied, spreading his arms.
"Nice," Ron chuckled, amused.
Draco, however, did not laugh.
He felt humiliated, terrified—and wronged.
He had only come to befriend the legendary Savior.
How had everything gone so wrong?
His nose burned, and he began to sob uncontrollably.
"I… I'll tell my father…" he whimpered.
Suddenly bored, Harry stepped forward, placed Draco's wand back into his arms, and lifted the petrification spells from Crabbe and Goyle.
"Alright, Draco, that's enough of your one-man performance," Harry said sarcastically.
"Your father isn't on this train. Take your lackeys and leave my compartment."
Still sobbing, Draco fled with Crabbe and Goyle without looking back. At the doorway, he turned and shouted:
"You'll all be expelled! Just wait—you'll see!"
As his voice faded, Hermione's face went pale.
"What do we do now?" she asked nervously, ruffling her already messy hair. "We're definitely going to be expelled…"
"Then why did you attack him?" Ron snapped.
"If someone knew more than one basic spell, I wouldn't have had to save you," Hermione shot back.
Ron opened his mouth to argue—then closed it again.
She was right.
"Don't worry," Harry said calmly. "The school won't expel anyone over something like this. Besides, Malfoy started it. What he said was… a very serious insult."
"But I don't really know what it means," Hermione admitted, frowning. "I just knew it was offensive."
"It's probably the worst thing he could think of," Ron explained.
"'Mudblood' is a slur for Muggle-born witches and wizards. It means dirty blood, inferior—basically calling someone worthless. It's disgusting."
Hermione bit her lip, nodded slightly, and said softly,
"Thank you… for defending me."
"It was nothing," Ron stammered, waving his hands awkwardly.
"Well, I should go," Hermione said, standing up. Before leaving, she pointed at Ron's face.
"By the way… you've got something on your nose."
"Oh." Ron wiped it with his sleeve. "So Fred wasn't lying. I thought he was just messing with me."
Hermione exchanged a helpless look with Harry. They both saw the long shadow the Weasley twins cast over their younger brother.
Soon after, the train whistle sounded.
A voice echoed through the corridors:
"We will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school."
Harry and Ron changed into their robes. Harry noticed that Ron's clothes were a bit too short, revealing his trainers.
Wearing hand-me-downs was never pleasant—and Harry knew that better than anyone.
"Come on," Ron said with a grin. "Let's get off, mate."
After that clash, their friendship had grown quickly.
And Hermione, without question, was already part of it.
/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
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