The Christmas holidays slipped by quietly. Professors returned to campus one after another, and students rode the Hogwarts Express back to school.
As if welcoming them home, snow once again drifted down from the sky, adding a bit of fun to the students' return and easing the gloom of the new term. With more students came more people to play with. Some gathered in the courtyard to build snowmen and throw snowballs; others clustered in sheltered spots where they could enjoy the snowy scenery without getting soaked, sharing their Christmas stories.
Unfortunately, not everyone had stories worth sharing. Some had to face the consequences of their own mistakes.
Under the castle's clock tower, Leonard watched a group of students duel with magic while waiting for someone.
Magical dueling at Hogwarts was a lighthearted pastime, usually done one-on-one. It forbade the use of any Jinx, allowing only simple spells like basic charms and the Disarming Charm—magic with little real harm. Overall, it was more amusement than combat practice. It helped with spell fluency and a bit of practical experience, but it wasn't very useful for real duels.
After all, real wizards tended to open with a Jinx even without reading the tabloids.
Leonard watched for a while. He'd originally planned to join in, but quickly decided against bullying children. When he heard footsteps, he turned and saw Padma, eyes red, approaching with her sister Parvati.
"Leonard," Padma said softly, clutching the box of chocolates, "I'm sorry... I-I was just scared. It felt like you didn't really care about me, so I..."
"It's fine," Leonard said with a pleasant smile. "I forgive you..."
Padma lifted her head, hope lighting her face. "Really? Leonard..."
"Miss Patil," Leonard said, calling her by her surname.
Padma's smile froze. Her face went pale.
"It was nothing serious. No one was hurt. Everyone stayed pretty rational, don't you think?" Leonard brushed the snow off his coat.
Parvati couldn't hold back anymore. "How can you say that? You're hurting Padma."
"When the instigator gets hurt, that's called karma, Miss Patil." Leonard remained calm. "I don't want to pursue this. It's honestly too embarrassing. But I do want to give Ravenclaw's Miss Patil one piece of advice: a Love Potion can't buy you affection."
Leonard's distant tone from the beginning to the end shattered the last bit of hope Padma had been clinging to.
She dropped the chocolate and ran off crying, leaving Parvati frozen in place.
A girl suddenly crying drew onlookers. Not knowing what had happened between the two sisters and the boy, the students only watched from afar, unwilling to interfere.
Parvati looked at Leonard, then at her sister's retreating figure. She didn't know whether to yell at the boy who'd made her sister cry or to chase after Padma.
But Leonard didn't give her a chance. He glanced at her once, then walked away on his own.
"Wait!" Parvati stepped in front of him. "You're just going to walk off like that?"
"What else? Stay and eat the chocolate?" Leonard's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Do you have anything to say to the victim who noticed the danger? If it's an apology, forget it. If it's something thoughtless, go ahead—I could use the entertainment."
His attitude made Parvati furious.
"Don't you think you did anything wrong? If you weren't so indifferent to Padma, she wouldn't have done this!" Parvati argued.
"Well, that really is eye-opening," Leonard sneered. "First of all, our relationship wasn't indifferent. People understand their feelings differently. For me, trust is the foundation of any relationship. And our trust wasn't at a level where I was ready to take things further. Understand?"
"Trust?"
"Yes. Trust. And she broke the trust we were building with her own hands. At that point, don't blame others for being heartless." Leonard stepped past her. "Sorry, I have things to do. If you really can't get over it, feel free to send someone to cause trouble."
Watching Leonard walk away, Parvati took a long breath, picked up the chocolate, and left.
Cause trouble? What a joke. Who at Hogwarts would dare challenge Leonard now?
That attitude was infuriating...
...
After sorting out the situation with Padma, Leonard felt lighter, almost relieved, though there was a faint sense of regret.
To say he felt nothing for Padma would be a lie. Leonard was absolutely the type who fell for a pretty face. Good looks earned immediate favor. But he wasn't some lovesick fool. Appearance might attract him, but only mutual trust allowed someone close. Using a Love Potion destroyed that trust completely. Leonard would never look back at Padma again.
It was a habit from his past life—he'd heard of or personally seen too many tragic stories of people who ruined themselves because they couldn't control their own impulses.
What drew him to Claudia was precisely the pure heart behind that breathtaking beauty and the unreserved trust she placed in him. Sure, that beauty was a huge bonus, but what truly won him over was the trust—absolutely genuine, without a trace of impurity.
All those pancakes weren't fed for nothing!
Cold wind carrying snowflakes slapped against Leonard's face. He looked up at the falling snow when a sharp whistling sound cut the air.
He raised his hand on instinct and caught... a shattered snowball.
Snow splattered across his face, some trickling down his neck into his clothes, making him shiver.
Leonard shot a dangerous look toward the source of the snowball and immediately spotted the Weasley twins laughing their heads off.
"Hey! Leonard, come play!" George and Fred called, completely oblivious to the danger in his expression.
Leonard's lips curled into a wicked grin.
A snowball fight, huh?
Time to show them how someone who'd survived real northeastern blizzard snowball battles played the game.
He snapped his fingers. Snow on the ground rushed together, forming a snowball at least two meters wide.
The massive snowball hovered in his hands under a Levitation Charm, like a cannonball waiting to be fired.
"Get ready! I'm coming!" Leonard snarled, lifting the enormous snowball as he charged toward the terrified Weasley twins.
...
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