The argument eventually left the Slytherin boys exhausted.
In terms of arguing skills, they would have a hard time winning against girls who are more eloquent; moreover, they have no direct evidence to prove that Lockhart is a good-for-nothing.
At that time, Draco did not show any particular emotional fluctuations, nor did he dwell on the issue too much.
He had long since come to terms with reality and knew that this argument was pointless. Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, he slipped back to his dormitory early and devoured an entire thick book on Dark magic in one go, finally finding some peace and quiet.
Similar battles did not only occur in the Slytherin common room; disputes also occasionally took place within other houses.
Sometimes, students would start arguing right there at the Great Hall's tables. One day, Draco saw Hufflepuff boys and girls sitting on opposite sides of the table, each sticking to their own opinion, neither willing to back down.
This may be the first time Hogwarts has abandoned the house rivalry and redefined its factions. Regarding Professor Lockhart, there are only two camps—loyal fans who idolise Lockhart and opponents who despise him.
Draco dismissed the students' debate about Lockhart from his mind, thanked Harry, took the earmuffs and put them on, and focused on dealing with a Mandrake wriggling in its pot—the chubby, ugly little thing was very unhappy about its impending repotting and was impatiently yelling at him with its mouth wide open.
As he picked up a Mandrake leaf and examined the sulking plant, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Hermione across from him—her proud yet playful expression, darting towards him—like a sneaky chipmunk hiding something. Quite cute.
Directly confronting Lockhart with the girls would be irrational and pointless, only meant to provoke them—Draco had always thought so.
However, he suddenly realised that he had just done something irrational and had successfully angered Hermione.
Angering a girl means you have to appease her.
Regardless of who was right or wrong at the beginning, it will eventually come down to this—the boy's attitude is the problem, Draco sighed.
Draco could not help but glance at Hermione again. She sensed Draco's gaze and quickly looked away before their eyes met.
What a peculiar little girl! He pretended not to notice her and, with great interest, put his gloved fingers into the Mandrake's mouth to tease it. The chubby baby fiercely bit his glove.
He feigned great alarm, struggling to pull his fingers out for a long time before narrowly escaping disaster. He quickly shoved the Mandrake into the pot like an upside-down onion, then disgustedly shook his dragonhide gloves, which were covered in Mandrake saliva—even though it was meant to amuse the little girl, it was still utterly repulsive.
Hermione, who was secretly watching him from across the way, could not help but laugh.
It was quite rare to see this young Slytherin master, known for his elegance and composure, so flustered and humiliated, Hermione thought smugly.
She prepared to open her eyes wide and look more closely, trying to remember this scene firmly in her mind.
Then she saw the boy raise his head, a slight smile seemingly flickering in his pale grey eyes.
His platinum blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight streaming through the greenhouse windows. He suddenly adopted a nonchalant expression and mouthed to her, "I have found out."
Now, Hermione could no longer keep a stern face towards him.
She had been watching him the whole time. He looked rather cute with his serious expression whilst wearing the earmuffs, which is why she could not help but keep looking at him.
Her experience of being deliberately amused by him made her suddenly realise that this boy, who was usually indifferent to people, seemed to have been paying attention to her all along and seemed to care about her a lot.
This realisation struck her as both unbelievable and delightful.
She quickly lowered her head, focusing on the Mandrake in her hand, and placed it in the pot Susan handed her, a slight smile playing on her lips. Through the gaps in the robust Mandrake leaves, she looked at him again and found him still watching her, even raising an eyebrow at her.
Unable to hold back her laughter any longer, she raised an eyebrow at the smug-looking boy opposite her.
This can be considered a tacit "reconciliation".
For the next few hours, Professor Sprout walked back and forth in the greenhouse, further instructing the students and observing their results. They were completely focused on battling the Mandrakes and had no time to exchange glances anymore.
When the students emerge from the greenhouse, their backs aching and covered in mud, they must quickly clean themselves up before rushing off to Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class.
Hermione calmed down and was willing to be Draco's study partner again.
"What, not sitting with your 'good partner' Susan anymore?" Draco asked slowly.
"Do not hold a grudge! Why do all the boys dislike Professor Lockhart? Even Hagrid—" Hermione said helplessly.
"What did he say?" This piqued Draco's curiosity.
Hermione blushed.
"He said Professor Lockhart was the only candidate to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, which is why Dumbledore chose him. He also said he did not believe Professor Lockhart could exorcise the Bandon Banshee... But think of that book, Break with a Banshee, he dealt with that horrible banshee perfectly," Hermione said in a slightly higher, cheerful tone than usual.
"I am sorry, Hermione, though I hate to admit it, I am always on Hagrid's side on this. Perhaps the method of exorcising the banshee was correct, but I just do not think he is up to the task of casting such brilliant magic. When this professor cannot even handle a second-year Cornish Pixie, I find it hard to believe he has any real talent." Draco mercilessly exposed the suspicious nature of this good-for-nothing.
Draco had no idea why Lockhart left Hogwarts in his past life, or why he ended up living at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. He simply did not want to pay any more attention to such a person.
All he remembered was that by the end of his second year, Lockhart's popularity at Hogwarts had declined significantly—almost the entire student body thought he was a good-for-nothing.
"Draco, if you keep talking like that, I am going to change partners," Hermione said, pouting.
When did this little girl learn to threaten people? Draco looked at her in surprise.
"All right, I will not say anything more. How about we make a bet and see if you are right or I win?" he said mischievously.
He glanced at Hermione's timetable on the table; Lockhart's lessons were all circled with hearts.
Heart-shaped!
Merlin, those overly infatuated female students! I never expected she was one of them.
"Of course." Hermione said defiantly, glared at Draco, and continued to work diligently, using the Transfiguration spell to deal with the beetles in front of her.
"Did you not already succeed in the last lesson? Why are you still practising?" Draco asked, trying to make conversation.
"I want to add some details to the buttons to make them look nicer," Hermione said.
"Oh, Hermione, I cannot stand you," Ron said, turning around from the front row, annoyed. "Can you please stop showing off? Give us a break! I have not even successfully transformed yet!"
"This is what we covered in the last lesson! You should think about where you spent your time last lesson. Did you listen attentively? Did you practise properly?" Hermione said bluntly.
"It is not our fault, this beetle keeps running all over the table! It is so restless!" Harry muttered, somewhat annoyed, as he chased after the beetle with the tip of his wand.
"Hermione, this lesson is indeed very difficult. That is why Professor McGonagall gave us more time to digest the material," Draco quickly tried to smooth things over for them.
It is not entirely Harry and Ron's fault for not trying hard enough; most students' transformations in this class were not very effective.
In his past life, Draco had also spent a long time practising this spell. I really do not know how Hermione did it; she mastered it in no time.
"Come on! Everyone has the right to say it is difficult, but you cannot. You conjured it up in no time, and the button is much more delicate than mine." Hermione pursed her lips and gestured with her wand for a while, trying to feel the subtle changes caused by different vibrations of the wand.
"Draco, can you do it again for me? I want to see how you wave your wand." She tilted her head, her eyes wide open, watching him intently.
At this moment, Lockhart was no longer in her eyes.
"All right." Draco looked her over, a hint of smugness in his voice. "I shall try to be slow, watch carefully..."
After a while, Professor McGonagall stepped down from the podium and looked around among the students who were practising diligently. She said loudly, "Transfiguration requires one hundred per cent rigour. You need to be extra focused, hardworking and diligent."
She glanced at Longbottom's desk—the button still had a beetle leg on it—and could not help but remind him in a stern tone, "Only when it is completely right can it be considered a success."
Then she paused at Draco's table, looking at the button with its intricately carved Slytherin serpent pattern, and said admiringly, "Very elegant, Mr Malfoy. Why do you not try something more challenging, like turning an animal into a goblet? Oh, Miss Granger, your Gryffindor lion-patterned button is also quite nice."
In Draco's memory, Professor McGonagall was a strict professor who was always very protective of the Gryffindor cubs.
However, one thing is certain: her evaluation of students' classroom performance was quite fair, at least better than Professor Snape's, and she would not deduct points from outstanding students from other houses.
Unlike his previous life, Draco's performance in Transfiguration class earned her rare praise.
Draco thoroughly enjoyed this praise.
He had to admit that he did have the advantage of being given a second chance, after all, he was now mentally a seventeen-year-old adult wizard and was familiar with many spells and course content.
This familiarity stemmed from his past life's accumulation of knowledge. Back then, although he was not first in his year, he had never fallen out of the top ten in academic rankings. Lucius had always placed great importance on his academic performance, and he never dared to be careless or negligent.
The atmosphere in Slytherin has always been one of worshipping the strong. Family background, bloodline, academic achievements, talent, ability, Quidditch, and various social activities are all factors that can influence how students rank themselves according to seniority.
Among these, magical talent and intelligence are the most important, sometimes even surpassing Slytherin's emphasis on bloodline.
Look at Professor Severus Snape, a half-blood wizard who still commands the respect of Slytherins, all thanks to his exceptional magical talent and intelligence.
Draco never wanted to fall behind others and wanted to be admired in every aspect. This was not easy; the pursuit of excellence can be exhausting, especially since he was somewhat spoiled and arrogant at the time.
Yes, he had achieved some success at that time, gained considerable prestige within Slytherin, and even became a prefect—a recognition of his abilities by the school—and was quite pleased with himself for it.
However, looking back now, Draco has some regrets: in his previous life, he could have done better.
He spent a lot of time on cock-fighting, dog racing, and playing petty tricks. Rather than improving himself, he was more obsessed with showing off his family background or flaunting his superficial understanding of magic.
Because of his ridiculous and ignorant complacency, he never carefully studied the knowledge that he should have mastered, and he was always just a little short, never able to achieve perfection.
As a result, despite having ample learning resources, he could never outperform Hermione Granger, who was born a Muggle, and was thus mercilessly humiliated by his father.
A Malfoy would not fall into the same trap twice.
God knows how much effort he has to put into polishing his essays and perfecting his magical knowledge every day in order to surpass the little girl beside him—the clever and hardworking Hermione Granger.
Even when she was ahead of others, she never let up. Right now, she was still practising the Transfiguration Charm hand gestures with meticulous care, trying to feel the difference in the transformation results brought about by the subtle changes in the gestures.
Draco glanced at her discreetly, but he had to admit to himself that she was diligent and intelligent.
He gradually came to understand one thing: why she was able to defeat him every time in her previous life, even without those magical resources.
She was always much more attentive and focused than him. She had the ability to learn by analogy. She was constantly trying to improve herself.
However, what a pity!
She was isolated and helpless in the magical world, with no way to get any support from her parents.
If she could have those magical resources like him, and receive more guidance from elders, instead of having to try and explore every detour in magical understanding to obtain the truth, but instead directly taking shortcuts, Draco thought to himself, with her talent and temperament, she would definitely achieve even greater things.