"Petrificus Totalus!"
Adrian's wand sent a streak of gray-white light shooting toward the airborne Malfoy, who was still gloating over Ron's failed spell. The petrification curse struck him squarely in the chest.
The effect was instantaneous. Malfoy's pale skin turned ashen gray as his entire body went rigid, his expression frozen in mid-sneer. Unable to control his broom, or anything else, he plummeted toward the ground like a stone gargoyle.
Malfoy's body was frozen, but his mind was wide awake. He could only watch as the ground rushed up to meet him, knowing he was about to hit hard. If he could have screamed, the sound would have carried across the entire grounds.
The moment Adrian's curse found its mark, he spun to face Hermione.
"Hermione, now!"
The clever witch had grasped his plan the instant he'd asked about the levitation charm, but there was no time for moral lectures. With Malfoy seconds from impact, she raised her wand and shouted:
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Malfoy's descent halted abruptly when he was mere inches from the ground, close enough to see individual blades of grass beneath his frozen face. His panicked mind was already rehearsing his last words and planning his father's revenge when the spell hit.
Hermione sagged with relief as Malfoy hung suspended safely above the earth. Adrian quietly lowered his wand, mission accomplished.
"Draco!" The Slytherin students rushed toward their housemate as Hermione gently lowered him to the ground.
The Gryffindors watched with barely concealed satisfaction, Malfoy's comeuppance had been a long time coming.
The only person clearly displeased was Hermione herself.
"Adrian!" She rounded on him with blazing eyes. "You could have killed him! What were you thinking, using Petrificus Totalus on someone twenty feet in the air?"
"Your levitation charm was textbook perfect," Adrian replied calmly. "Professor Flitwick would definitely award you points for that technique."
He'd never seriously worried about Malfoy's safety. Even if Hermione had failed, which was unlikely, Adrian had been prepared to cast his own levitation spell as backup. The boy would have suffered nothing worse than some bruises and wounded pride.
"Don't change the subject!" Hermione's voice rose to a near shriek. "Professor McGonagall might expel you for this!"
Adrian scratched his head thoughtfully. Expulsion seemed extreme for a school prank gone slightly awry. Detention, maybe. Points deducted, certainly. If he was really unlucky, they might assign him to help Hagrid with some forest patrol, which could actually be interesting, assuming he avoided running into Quirrell.
The possessed professor had an unfortunate habit of lurking in the Forbidden Forest these days. Best to stay away from there until he was powerful enough to handle a face-to-face encounter with Voldemort's borrowed body.
Adrian made a mental note to play things safer until at least fourth year. With Quirrell, the Basilisk, Sirius Black, and the Triwizard Tournament to navigate, Hogwarts wouldn't be truly safe for quite some time. His unreliable system better start paying off by then.
"Blackwood." A stern voice interrupted his strategic planning. Several Slytherin students had formed a protective semicircle around the still-petrified Malfoy, led by a boy Adrian vaguely recognized as Blaise Zabini. "What do you want?"
The Slytherins had their wands out, though their grip positions suggested they weren't entirely confident in their spellcasting abilities yet. Behind Adrian, the Gryffindors had automatically formed their own battle line, creating a tense standoff between the two houses.
"Relax," Adrian said, raising his empty hands peacefully. He gestured for Ron to stand down when the redhead started rolling up his sleeves. "I'm here to reverse the curse. And before anyone gets righteous about this, Malfoy stole Neville's Remembrall and broke flying regulations first."
Zabini hesitated, clearly torn between house loyalty and pragmatism. After a moment's consideration, he signaled his friends to lower their wands.
Adrian knelt beside the petrified Malfoy and quietly cast the counter-curse. Color and flexibility returned to the Slytherin's body, though he remained on the ground for several seconds, trembling from his near-death experience.
When Malfoy finally struggled to his feet, his face was pale but his voice carried its usual arrogant venom. "You'll pay for that, Blackwood! When my father hears—"
"About you stealing another student's property and flying without permission?" Adrian stepped closer, his tone turning cold. "I've heard Filch has some creative punishments for rule-breakers. Something about chains and ceiling hooks..."
The threat hit its mark. Malfoy's face went even paler as he recalled the whispered horror stories about the caretaker's "discipline methods." In his rattled state, he forgot that Adrian would face the same punishment for his own rule-breaking.
Adrian was preparing to press his psychological advantage when a familiar voice rang across the grounds.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Madam Hooch had returned from the hospital wing at the worst possible moment. She took in the scene with growing fury, Gryffindors and Slytherins squared off like opposing armies, Harry standing there with Neville's Remembrall and his broom still in hand, obvious evidence of unauthorized flying.
Adrian sighed and covered his face with his hands. He'd miscalculated Hooch's return timing completely. Ironically, if he hadn't saved Neville with the levitation charm earlier, the flying instructor would still be fussing over her patient in the hospital wing instead of catching them red-handed.
Sometimes being helpful really didn't pay off.
"All of you, back to the castle immediately," Madam Hooch commanded in a voice that brooked no argument. "Professor McGonagall will want to speak with each and every one of you."
Adrian resigned himself to a very uncomfortable conversation with the head of Gryffindor House. At least he'd gotten some good practice with combat spells out of the whole mess.