After only a mont’s hesitation, Draco ended up being the last one to pack his bag and walk out of the classroom. He pressed his lips together and headed alone toward the Great Hall, when soone suddenly bumped into him halfway there.
Draco thought it was Crabbe coming to bother him again; he was just about to frown and snap, when he saw that the Hufflepuff student who had knocked into him hadn’t even noticed him.
A bunch of students were jamd together in the corridor, craning their necks and standing on tiptoe to peer ahead, whispering to each other:
"Look, that’s Perth Rosen from Slytherin!"
"And Kelly, Bones, Nelson, Pansy, Blaise... all Slytherin... oh, look at the back, there are two Ravenclaws as well!"
"What happened to them? I’ve never seen Professor McGonagall look that furious!"
"And Professor Snape... absolutely terrifying..."
Draco started, hastily squeezed his way forward, and finally managed to see what was happening up ahead—
The very people he had seen in the underground Chamber of Secret not long ago were now walking in a line, heads ducked, shuffling forward in fear.
Professor McGonagall at the front of the line had a face like thunder, and Professor Snape, who brought up the rear, had such a dark and murderous look in his eyes it was as if he were about to kill soone.
There were also Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor Moody... it was obvious they were guarding and escorting this group of students, and each of them looked downright frightening.
As this group ca past, the whispering in the corridor cut off at once. The students scrambled aside in fear to clear the way, terrified that one of the furious professors might grab hold of them.
Watching the scene, Draco felt his stomach suddenly cramp, his throat going so dry it was as if smoke might co out.
Only after the group had gone by and the students in the corridor began to disperse did he swallow, muttering under his breath without thinking, "Why..."
"Because that bunch of idiots caught the person they were looking for—"
A hand clapped down on his shoulder, and a voice with a smile in it sounded by his ear:
"A younger Slytherin student. He claid he went to spy on them and copy them because he admired them so much."
Antoine pressed down on his shoulder, bent over, and said with a laugh:
"So stupid... The kid said that, and they actually believed him, then decided they still had it in them and imdiately organized a second gathering. See? And now they’ve been caught red-handed."
The voice was unfamiliar... but the way of speaking felt strangely familiar.
A chill ran through Draco; he turned and said, "You’re that fake Blaiqi..."
When he saw who was behind him, his eyes flew wide open.
"You’re... aren’t you... that one from Salem..."
The man flicked him lightly on the forehead and said with a grin, "Even if I’m from another school, you still call ’Professor,’ kid!"
He turned his head toward Vid, who was leaning against the wall watching nearby, and asked, "Vid, is this Slytherin really one of the top students in your year? He doesn’t look very bright to !"
Only then did Draco notice Vid standing to the side; his expression imdiately turned a little embarrassed.
"He just hasn’t put it together yet."
Vid looked at Draco and said, "You weren’t among the ones being taken away. That shows that sotis, the setback right in front of you isn’t necessarily a bad thing, doesn’t it?"
If Draco had still been running with that crowd, right now he’d not only be marched off in front of everyone but very likely singled out as one of the ringleaders for special punishnt.
Back when Lucius Malfoy hadn’t yet fallen from grace, Draco had, for a long ti in Slytherin, enjoyed a status where one shout brought everyone running; even students older than him would give way in front of him.
Draco looked at the two of them, a thousand thoughts surging up at once, but they were too chaotic. What finally slipped out of his mouth was:
"How did they end up with so peeping ’younger Slytherin student’?"
—When you both knew that person was .
"Oh, in fact, the kid went to them on his own."
Antoine said lightly, "He overheard a few scraps of conversation, decided this was his big chance to join that group, and stuck his head out to claim the role. He also said he didn’t even have ti to see anything before they caught him."
—Really? You’re sure you didn’t egg him on?
Draco cast a suspicious look at Antoine, who for so reason acted as if they’d been friends for ages, then turned his questioning gaze on Vid.
Vid nodded. "That student is Millicent Bulstrode’s younger brother, and he’s Pure-Blood. They trust him more than they trust you. Even if he got swept up in a raid the first ti he ever went to one of their gatherings, they’re not very likely to lay the bla on him."
"Hahaha..." Antoine said gleefully, "Because the kid got caught along with them!"
Draco couldn’t help the way the corners of his mouth lifted, then asked, "What will happen to them?"
Antoine said, "The masterminds are definitely getting expelled—teaching Unforgivable Curses to a bunch of underage kids at school? Dumbledore’s already being rciful if he doesn’t throw the lot of them into Azkaban."
"As for the others..." Vid weighed the headmaster’s thinking and said, "Especially those in fifth year and below, it’ll probably just be point deductions and detention. Dumbledore will certainly give them a chance to straighten themselves out."
You could only sit O.W.L.s at the end of fifth year, and the certificates from that exam largely determined a Wizard’s future career path; when it ca to getting a job, getting married, even standing trial for a cri, those certificates were crucial references.
A Wizard like Hagrid, who never got to take his OWLs, would likely have beco a vagrant in the Magic World, maybe even turned to cri, if Dumbledore hadn’t taken him in. There was no way he would have had a respectable job.
And now, Dumbledore’s decision to appoint Hagrid as Care of Magical Creatures professor, despite the fact that he didn’t have a single OWL certificate, was in fact a breach of the rules.
But Hagrid had shown a deep knowledge of Magical Creatures, and his classes weren’t bad; only because of that had the murmurs of discontent been pushed down.
If Pansy and the others were expelled this ti—which would be an entirely rule‑compliant punishnt—they would, like Hagrid once had, lose their chance to sit the ordinary Wizarding Level exams, and their lives would veer off onto a hard road they had never envisioned.
Pansy ca from a well‑off family; her life allowed for mistakes. But not every Slytherin involved had a powerful, influential family behind them. Once kicked out of school, their futures would imdiately plunge into an abyss.
Hearing this, Draco couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief, then imdiately felt a deep disgust at his own weakness.
It seed Vid and Antoine had stayed in the corridor to make sure the group would be arrested; once they finished talking, Antoine clapped Vid on the shoulder and said:
"Since that’s wrapped up, I’ll be heading back. About that other matter... we’ll talk when we can et in private."
Vid nodded. "See you at the weekend, then."
Antoine waved and strode off. Vid slung his bag over one shoulder and headed toward the library.
Left standing where he was, Draco blinked blankly; only after a while did he rember he had originally been on his way to the Great Hall for dinner.
On the way, he thought back on the easy familiarity between Antoine and Vid, on the fact that Antoine had even used Polyjuice Potion to infiltrate a Slytherin student gathering, and that Vid had suddenly appeared to pull him out...
Draco felt as though he vaguely understood sothing, but whenever he tried to put it into words, it turned back into layers of fog.
The only thing he could be sure of was that there was a very big secret hidden in Vid Gray.
The young Wizard walked down the corridor with his brows knitted, lost in thought, when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps.
"Malfoy!" A Slytherin first‑year ca running over, panting, hands braced on his knees, and said between gasps, "Go—to the castle gate! Your father... your father..."
Draco froze for a mont, dropped his bag, and bolted!
The cold wind cut at his cheeks as he shot past one shadowy figure after another, his eyes growing damp without him realizing it, a flood of terrible possibilities surging through his mind.
"Whoosh!"
Draco burst through the doors; the gust of air he kicked up even sent the robes of nearby students billowing. He ca to an abrupt stop, staring dumbly at the man standing at the foot of the steps.
Lucius Malfoy stood with both hands on a brand‑new Snake-Headed Staff, head tilted back to gaze up at the towering main castle. At the sound of footsteps, he turned and looked over, and a faint smile touched his lips.
"Draco!"
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