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"I'm going to tell my father. He'll be expelled."
The first thing Malfoy did when he woke up and realized he was fine was start shouting that he was going to tell his father everything.
Besides constantly bragging about how powerful his father was, the other thing Malfoy did most often was threaten to tell his father.
He was practically just like certain spoiled children.
The only reason he came out of it unharmed was thanks to the potions from the Carrow family. Otherwise, that "knot" attack alone would have been enough to leave him unable to get out of bed for three days.
Of course, if it was too small, maybe it wouldn't have been a problem.
That was just the kind of temperament Malfoy had.
The moment he realized he was fine, he started showing off again.
Jumping around.
Talking nonstop.
Following the original timeline, he would still spend six years competing with Harry, Hermione, and Ron in petty struggles until Voldemort's return...
"Draco! Don't tell anyone!"
The instant she heard Malfoy say that, a girl with short hair cut to shoulder length quickly covered his mouth, afraid he would keep talking and stir up everyone's anger.
"That's Richmond's order. Are you planning to disobey him?"
The girl's name was Pansy Parkinson.
Since she was only a first-year student, she had also been involved in what happened the previous night.
Every time she remembered that night, Pansy felt a phantom pain in her backside.
No one had escaped the punishment of the Butt Destroyer.
She certainly hadn't been an exception either.
What happened that night had already become an absolute taboo within Slytherin.
No one talked about it.
"And who does Richmond think he is? He's just from the Carrow family. He only started school a few years before me. I'm going to tell my father… alright, alright, I won't say anything."
Under Pansy's fixed stare, Malfoy's voice kept getting lower and lower.
By the end, he was speaking so softly that even he could barely hear himself.
Not everyone was willing to give importance to the Malfoy name.
The Carrow family — to which the seventh-year prefect belonged — and Pansy's Parkinson family had no fear of the Malfoys at all.
They all belonged to the same social level.
No one there needed to bow their head.
"Draco!"
Pansy raised her voice, making it clear that he needed to stop talking.
What had happened the night before had already left many Slytherin students dissatisfied with Malfoy.
They had lost.
And they had lost under Malfoy's leadership.
Slytherin always stood with the victors.
Besides, why was everyone else injured while only Malfoy seemed perfectly fine?
Of course, Crabbe and Goyle hadn't been beaten either.
But the two of them had been petrified and used as weapons.
One look at the state they were in now was enough.
Just hearing the name Dudley or Dursley made them start trembling involuntarily, and they could barely walk properly.
They had clearly suffered severe psychological trauma.
No matter what anyone asked them,
they only trembled.
Malfoy, who had fainted before being hit by the Stunning Spell, was undoubtedly the luckiest one.
Crabbe and Goyle were different.
Even though they had been struck by a Petrification Spell, they had still been conscious.
They had fully experienced what it felt like to be used as weapons.
Malfoy knew perfectly well that his own mental resilience probably wasn't any stronger than theirs.
In that regard, he still had at least a little self-awareness.
He was arrogant.
But he wasn't stupid.
Although he said those things out loud, deep down he was thinking differently.
He might not dare provoke Dudley again himself.
But that didn't mean he couldn't stir up other people.
'Hmph. We have Potions with Professor Snape on Friday. I'll make you humiliate yourself.'
Malfoy simply refused to believe that a wizard from a Muggle family could understand Potions.
Snape was an old friend of his father's.
He would definitely take his side.
All it would take was a little provoking...
After all, Dudley wouldn't dare hit a professor.
Malfoy could already picture the whole show.
Unfortunately, he was pleased with himself far too early.
It was only Monday.
There were still four full days until Friday.
It had to be admitted that Dudley really had an excellent read on people.
Or, more specifically, he understood the mindset of someone like Malfoy extremely well.
"Well, if it isn't Malfoy. What a coincidence you're heading to class too."
Before he had even taken a few steps, a voice echoed from behind him.
The same voice that had haunted his nightmares all night long.
The sentence itself was completely ordinary.
But the effect certainly wasn't.
Malfoy slowly turned his head, stiff as a board.
The moment he saw Dudley, he nearly jumped out of his skin.
Forcing out a smile that looked more like he was about to cry, he answered mechanically:
"H-Hello."
Pansy, who had initially feared Malfoy might provoke another conflict with Dudley, was shocked to see him trembling like a mouse in front of a cat.
Seeing that, she chose to stay silent.
Just watching.
Only after Dudley had already walked far away did Malfoy let out a long breath.
When he noticed Pansy was still there, his face immediately turned red.
"I was just being polite. A normal greeting between classmates."
"You know... the Malfoys have always been very gentlemanly."
Malfoy tried to justify himself.
Telling lies that even he himself didn't believe.
Pansy was sure of one thing now.
Malfoy would never provoke Dudley again.
The only remaining doubt was whether he would tell old Malfoy about it.
She hoped not.
Richmond seemed to value that "brute" quite a lot.
...
"See, Hermione? I get along great with my classmates."
"Look how happy he was just now."
Dudley spoke with complete seriousness.
The entire way there, Hermione kept asking questions nonstop, like a little wind-up duck.
She wanted to know what had happened the night before.
Even though it was nice that she was worried about him, Dudley obviously couldn't tell the truth.
"Really?"
Hermione looked deeply skeptical.
Malfoy's face definitely had not looked like that of a happy person.
"To me, it looked like he was afraid of you."
Dudley's expression changed immediately.
"That's slander."
"If you don't believe me, I'll find another witness."
Randomly picking an unlucky bystander.
"Hey, you over there."
Dudley called out to a Slytherin first-year walking a little ahead.
"You. Stop right there."
The boy pretended not to hear and started walking even faster.
"If you run, I'll hit you."
In the end, under Dudley's direct threat, the boy finally stopped.
He forced a smile even uglier than Malfoy's and declared that Dudley was extremely popular in Slytherin.
The result?
Hermione became even more suspicious.
But she still couldn't figure out what had actually happened.
Even though they used textbooks, Hogwarts professors rarely followed the content exactly as it appeared in the books.
Classes usually depended heavily on each professor's personal preferences.
The first class was Herbology with Professor Sprout.
And the first lesson she taught was how to identify dittany.
Yes.
The essence of dittany Hermione had given Dudley that morning was extracted from that exact plant.
In fact, dittany only appeared in the middle or later part of the first-year textbook.
It was impossible to deny that Professor Sprout had a vast store of knowledge.
Many of the things she taught simply were not in the books.
Including two ways to cultivate dittany.
Six planting techniques.
Four pest-control methods.
And thirty-six different uses for the plant.
Dudley was deeply impressed.
There were many applications he had never even imagined.
When class ended, Dudley still kept following Professor Sprout around to ask questions.
Setting aside his physical strength, the area in which Dudley was truly most talented was Potions.
And Herbology was the fundamental foundation of Potions.
In other words.
If someone was good at Potions, they would inevitably also be good at Herbology.
If someone was bad at Herbology, then they would certainly be bad at Potions too.
That was why Dudley paid extremely close attention.
He wrote everything down carefully.
And studied with even greater dedication.
His studious spirit earned two points for Slytherin.
Of course, Hermione — who kept answering questions correctly the whole time — earned five points for Gryffindor.
After class, Hermione lifted her chin and looked at Dudley with a proud smile.
Her expression seemed to say:
'See? I got three more points than you.'
Dudley merely smiled and shook his head.
'This little girl is way too competitive...'
Then, in the next History of Magic class, Dudley earned ten points.
Without giving her the slightest chance.
His knowledge of magical history over the last few centuries impressed even Professor Binns.
During that very lesson, the professor actually managed to remember Dudley's name for once.
Although he forgot it again in the very next class.
In Charms after that, Hermione did everything she could and earned four points for Gryffindor.
As for Dudley…
He waved his wand for quite a while and produced absolutely nothing.
But his calm posture and his eloquent explanations about magical theory impressed Professor Flitwick.
And that earned him five points.
So, amid that constant back-and-forth rivalry between the two of them, the day Malfoy had been waiting for finally arrived.
Friday.
The day of Potions class.
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