"OH!"
The students on the ground screamed in horror.
Nobody had expected Lucas to actually let go of Draco Malfoy in midair.
Hermione's face turned pale instantly.
"How can Lucas be this impulsive?!" she cried in panic. "If Malfoy dies, he'll end up in Azkaban!"
Beside her, Kassandra looked surprisingly calm.
"Relax, Hermione," she said casually. "Have you ever seen Lucas suffer a loss before?"
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"He's obviously just scaring Malfoy."
Meanwhile, Ron looked happier than Christmas morning.
"Brilliant," he whispered reverently. "Absolutely brilliant."
Nothing in the world brought him greater joy than watching Draco Malfoy suffer emotionally.
High above the ground, Draco screamed hysterically while plummeting downward.
Then suddenly—
Lucas dived after him.
The black-haired boy shot downward like an arrow before casually grabbing Draco by one leg.
Draco's scream changed pitch instantly.
Moments later, Lucas pulled upward again, carrying the upside-down Malfoy high into the air before circling dramatically above the field once more.
Only then did he descend calmly back toward the grass.
The second Draco touched the ground, his legs completely failed him.
He collapsed instantly.
"T-This isn't over…" he whimpered shakily. "I-I'll tell my father…"
Then he started crying properly.
Lucas glanced downward thoughtfully.
Draco's trousers appeared suspiciously damp.
Honestly, maybe he'd overdone it slightly.
"Harry Potter! Lucas Summers! How dare you!"
Professor McGonagall's furious voice exploded across the field.
Harry's face immediately turned ghostly white.
Inside, he'd already accepted his fate.
Expelled.
Finished.
Goodbye Hogwarts.
McGonagall stormed toward them with terrifying speed.
"I have been teaching at Hogwarts for many years," she said dangerously, "and never once have I seen behaviour this reckless!"
Her eyes snapped toward Harry first.
"Potter! You could have broken your neck!"
Then she turned toward Lucas.
"And you!"
The disappointment in her voice somehow felt worse than anger.
"Lucas Summers, I am extremely disappointed in you. How could you bully another student like this?"
Lucas tried defending himself weakly.
"He mocked Neville first, Professor. I just—"
"Enough!"
McGonagall pointed sharply toward the castle.
"Both of you. Now."
She spun around and marched away furiously.
Harry and Lucas exchanged one final doomed look before following her toward Hogwarts.
Once inside the castle, McGonagall suddenly stopped.
Then she pointed directly at Lucas.
"You. Wait in my office."
Lucas blinked.
Then she turned immediately toward Harry.
"Potter, come with me."
Lucas scratched his cheek awkwardly while watching them leave.
Honestly, all he'd really done was give Draco Malfoy an intense amusement park experience.
Muggles literally paid money for rides like that.
Still, he wisely kept those thoughts to himself.
By the time Lucas reached McGonagall's office, he'd already accepted his fate.
Dragging over a small stool quietly, he sat down obediently and waited.
Meanwhile, he guessed McGonagall was probably taking Harry to meet Oliver Wood.
After all, Harry's flying talent today had been absurd.
Roughly twenty minutes later, Professor McGonagall finally returned.
She still looked angry.
Lucas immediately stood up.
"Professor," he began honestly, "I know I was wrong. Next time—"
"Next time?" McGonagall interrupted sharply.
Her lips tightened again.
"This morning I was admiring your extraordinary future, Lucas."
"And this afternoon I nearly watched you send yourself to Azkaban."
Lucas lowered his head obediently.
Even though he personally felt Azkaban probably couldn't hold him very long.
"Malfoy absolutely deserved punishment," McGonagall continued sternly. "But what you did was reckless."
Then followed a very long lecture.
McGonagall scolded him thoroughly about responsibility, restraint, impulse, and proper conduct.
Lucas listened quietly the entire time without arguing once.
Because he understood something important.
She wasn't truly angry because of Draco.
She was angry because she genuinely worried he might ruin his future through reckless behaviour.
Eventually, after exhausting herself emotionally, McGonagall finally sighed heavily.
"I'll have to assign detention," she said firmly.
Lucas nodded honestly.
Fair enough.
"You may leave now. I'll notify you later regarding the details."
By the time Lucas returned to Gryffindor Tower, Kassandra sat curled comfortably inside an armchair reading.
She looked up immediately after seeing him.
"Well?" she asked. "Professor McGonagall didn't actually throw you out of Hogwarts, did she?"
Lucas dropped dramatically into the chair beside her.
"For now, she still seems emotionally attached to me."
Then he thought for a moment.
"Actually… I don't think she even deducted points."
Hermione immediately sat down across from him looking deeply unimpressed.
"You shouldn't have behaved so recklessly," she scolded.
Her lips were pressed together exactly like McGonagall's earlier.
Lucas stared thoughtfully.
"Hermione," he said seriously, "sometimes when I look at you, I feel like I'm seeing Professor McGonagall's younger self."
Hermione looked scandalised.
"You boys are unbelievable," she huffed. "None of you ever think about consequences!"
Then she added angrily:
"And Harry just agreed to duel Malfoy tonight!"
Lucas blinked.
"…He what?"
"Yes!" Hermione threw her hands into the air. "I tried stopping them, but nobody listened!"
Lucas suddenly looked impressed.
Honestly, Draco Malfoy's dedication toward provoking Harry bordered on romance at this point.
The boy had literally cried and wet himself earlier today, yet still wanted revenge by evening.
That level of obsession deserved academic study.
"Well," Lucas said calmly, "you're definitely going with them tonight."
Hermione stared at him like he'd gone insane.
"Absolutely not!"
She sat upright proudly.
"I am not sneaking around the castle breaking school rules."
Lucas nodded wisely.
"Of course. You'll merely follow them around trying to stop them."
Hermione froze.
Then she stormed away indignantly without answering.
Lucas spread his hands toward Kassandra.
"See? Every Gryffindor eventually ends up on night patrol."
Kassandra narrowed her eyes suddenly.
"…Night patrol?"
Lucas froze.
Slowly, she leaned closer.
"You looked exhausted every single day last week," she said dangerously. "Were you sneaking out every night?"
Lucas's survival instincts activated immediately.
"I can explain—"
"And you didn't take me with you?"
Her expression became terrifying.
Lucas stood instantly.
"I suddenly remembered there's soup boiling in my dormitory—"
"Lucas Summers!"
Kassandra lunged at him like an angry lioness.
The next morning, Lucas arrived in the common room looking refreshed for perhaps the first time in weeks.
Immediately, Harry and Ron rushed over excitedly.
"You won't believe what happened last night!" Harry whispered dramatically.
The two of them rapidly explained how Malfoy had betrayed them to Filch after arranging the midnight duel.
While escaping, they'd accidentally discovered a giant three-headed dog guarding a hidden trapdoor.
"The package from Gringotts must be underneath it!" Harry concluded excitedly.
Lucas stared at them blankly.
Then he asked one simple question.
"…Are you planning to steal Dumbledore's property?"
Harry looked horrified.
"Of course not!"
"Then why are you so obsessed with it?"
Harry opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
Honestly, Lucas truly couldn't understand protagonist curiosity sometimes.
After washing up, Lucas headed toward breakfast.
The moment Kassandra spotted him from across the Great Hall, she gave a cold huff and deliberately looked away.
Apparently she still hadn't forgiven him for the secret night expeditions.
As soon as Lucas sat down, Hermione marched over carrying an enormous stack of books.
She slammed them heavily onto the table.
Lucas looked impressed.
"You definitely went with them last night," he said calmly.
Hermione immediately became flustered.
"I-I only stayed because the Fat Lady left her portrait and I couldn't get back to the common room!"
Lucas nodded thoughtfully.
"Hermione, honestly, Gryffindor should thank you."
She blinked.
"If you weren't there, those two idiots definitely would've been caught by Filch."
Hermione's expression softened slightly.
Lucas continued seriously.
"So technically, you personally protected Gryffindor from losing points."
After hearing that, Hermione's tense face finally relaxed completely.
Then a senior student approached and handed Lucas a folded note.
He opened it casually.
Detention.
Saturday night.
With Hagrid.
In the Forbidden Forest.
Lucas's eyes lit up instantly.
"The Forbidden Forest?"
He actually looked excited.
Hermione snatched the note from his hand immediately.
Then she turned pale.
"How can they send you into the Forbidden Forest?!" she demanded anxiously. "That place is incredibly dangerous!"
....
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