The Return to Hogwarts

"We'd like to see how you plan to make Harry pay, you little brat?"

"Shall we make a move, Weasley?"

Marcus Flint, the oldest Slytherin there, who had even been Amostall's junior, rolled up his sleeves, struck a gorilla-like pose, and said menacingly,

"Hopefully you can do a little better than you do in Quidditch. By the way, how many times have you bunch of idiots lost to us already?"

"Hey, that's not a good idea!"

Seeing that chaos was about to break out, most of the Hufflepuffs chose to stay out of it, and the Ravenclaw girls were already somewhat visibly shaken by the tense atmosphere and were of little use. However, Cedric stepped forward.

"Let's talk this out. I think Professor Blaine certainly doesn't want to see this—"

"This is none of your business, you big dummy!"

Malfoy roared angrily.

"What did you just say about me, Weasley? How dare the lowly Weasley family slander the noble Malfoy family? You're finished! My father won't let you get away with this!"

Fred and George reacted very directly. They darted out and nimbly dodged Cedric's attempt to grab them. They rushed in front of Malfoy, leaped up, and swung their fists at Malfoy's face. However, Marcus was prepared. He rushed over and blocked Fred and George's fists with his arm. The three of them then rolled on the ground and started fighting!

Ginny let out an angry meow like a cat, and she hurled a spell at Malfoy, who was trying to help Flint. However, their training over this period of time had not been in vain, and Neville was definitely not the only one who had improved. Malfoy turned his feet and easily dodged Ginny's curse.

Whether it's spells or fists, Harry will not be afraid in the slightest!

After Fred and George fell to the ground, Harry immediately rushed over, but Hermione, who had anticipated this, grabbed Harry's robe.

"Don't do this, Harry!"

Before Harry could question her, Hermione called out. She glanced at the completely out-of-control situation, took a few heavy breaths, and then…

"Stop everyone!"

Hermione's desperate screams had no effect. Harry was struggling to break free of his restraints, while Fred and George were also fighting with Flint. Malfoy and Parkinson wanted to cast a curse on the twins, but they kept switching places with Flint, and for fear of accidentally hurting him, Malfoy and Parkinson hadn't found an opportunity yet.

Boom!

The chaos in the classroom was silenced by a deafening roar, and many young wizards nearly fell over from the shockwave!

"Stop it all!"

Hermione raised her wand high and shouted angrily again.

This time, her cries worked.

The enraged Gryffindors and Slytherins fell silent. Even Fred, George, and Flint, who were wrestling, stopped throwing punches. They stared in disbelief at the armor that had once caused them so much pain, gleaming against the walls of the classroom.

The booming sound just now was created by these armored soldiers stepping forward in unison.

They had already assumed an offensive stance. The sight of nearly a hundred armored figures wielding dung balls and aiming was something the young wizards had never seen before. Even when Professor Blaine first demonstrated it to them, they had never been targeted by so many armored figures at the same time.

Da da da--

Hermione's eyes shone with a strong determination. She took quick steps, leaping past Cedric to Slytherin's side. Neville, seeing Hermione rush out, moved his pale, dry lips. Before he could even figure out what was going on, he had already given chase.

Luna was the same, but she seemed completely unaware of the reason for the current situation. With an incredulous smile on her innocent face, she skipped and hopped after Hermione and Neville under Harry's watchful gaze.

"What do you want?"

Hermione knew perfectly well where the problem lay. She went up to Malfoy, tilted her head back, and stared intently into his somewhat evasive grey eyes.

“You should know, Malfoy, that if Professor Blaine comes back and finds his course in such a mess, he’ll be furious. He won’t let any student who messes up the course get away with it.”

"so what?"

Malfoy felt a surge of shame and anger at being confronted by a lowly Mudblood. He wanted to lash out, but considering that Granger's words did indeed have some merit, and that the fire shining in the girl's eyes seemed capable of burning away all dark thoughts.

Draco Malfoy avoided answering the question directly.

“You’d better watch your words, Granger. We’re not planning on causing trouble, but—”

Malfoy glanced behind him at the Slytherin group, united in their hatred of the enemy, and at Hufflepuff's side.

"I think many people would agree that Professor Blaine made the right choice in selecting the teaching assistant."

Malfoy lowered his head slightly, leaned forward, and revealed a 'ruthless' smile.

"A mistake occurred."

Pansy Parkinson gave a silly, snickering laugh.

"Okay, I understand—"

Hermione didn't get angry. She seemed to have expected Malfoy to say that. She simply nodded calmly, then turned to look at Neville behind her, who had mustered up a lot of courage to stand up, and Luna, who seemed completely unconcerned about the questioning of her teaching assistant status.

"So--"

Hermione took a deep breath.

"Let's have a match, Malfoy, and all you who disagree—"

Chapter 406 Another Competition (Part 3)

2023-08-06

After Hermione spoke those words in a calm tone, the classroom fell silent. Even the murmurs stopped. People stared intently at the girl's slender body, as if trying to find out where the courage burst forth from her frail frame.

"A contest--"

Malfoy frowned, pulled back from his forward lean, and glanced at Hermione with suspicion.

"What's the competition?"

“Of course, it’s the competition we’re practicing in this class, Malfoy,” Hermione said matter-of-factly. She paused, then looked at Malfoy with a mocking gaze.

"Besides this, what other subject can you match my grades in? Oh, of course, I admit you're better at Quidditch."

Hermione's grades were the best in her grade, but she rarely emphasized it, even in front of Harry and Ron. Aside from class, Hermione was actually quite low-key in private, and Harry had never seen her flaunt her grades in public.

Hermione's words were irrefutable. Draco's face was grim. He gave Hermione a few sinister glances, then a mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He wanted to say something sarcastic, but Hermione, wanting to end the chaos as quickly as possible, looked at everyone first and said...

"Cedric's performance in the current training is the best; he can walk half the distance—that is, two hundred feet—under the attack of the dung ball, while no one else can exceed two hundred feet."

Actually, this is also related to their own ability to withstand blows. Some young wizards are better at dodging than Cedric. However, the difference in physical fitness caused by the age gap makes them less able to withstand blows than Cedric. Of course, the burly Marcus is more resilient, but his dodging ability is much worse than Cedric's.

“Neville, Luna, and I are the three teaching assistants chosen by Professor Blaine—”

Hermione stared intently at Malfoy.

"Anyone who is not satisfied with this fact can compete with us. The sign of victory is who can cross Cedric's two hundred feet faster. Of course, if someone finishes the whole race, then he will also win."

Neville's forehead was covered in sweat, his pale lips trembling, and Hermione, seemingly anticipating his reaction, turned to look at him, her clear brown eyes reflecting the firelight.

“Think about what Professor Blaine said about you, Neville. He thinks you are excellent.”

Hermione didn't reveal Professor Blaine's assessment of Neville because she knew it would inevitably subject Neville to ridicule, and she herself had some doubts about Professor Blaine's opinion of Neville. But for now, she could only trust Neville.

The fire in Hermione's eyes seemed to possess a strange power. Staring directly at that flame, Neville felt as if he were about to be ignited as well. His heart was still beating erratically in his chest, and his mind was still dizzy, but gradually, a blush appeared on Neville's pale cheeks. This blush, like a dry spark igniting a wildfire, quickly spread.

"Bring it on, Malfoy!"

Neville suddenly turned his gaze, panting heavily as he glared at Malfoy and abruptly roared.

"Longbotton, you're humiliating yourself!"

Malfoy said through gritted teeth.

Harry blinked, looking at Neville standing angrily beside Hermione, and suddenly couldn't reconcile the image of that clumsy Gryffindor boy. But Neville's performance was undoubtedly very encouraging, and applause and cheers erupted like a tidal wave.

Luna stared at Malfoy with her misty, bulging eyes.

"Questioning decisions made by people who are wiser than yourself is a foolish thing to do and will get you into trouble."

Draco hesitated for a moment, but things had progressed to this point, and he was now in a difficult situation.

"All right--"

"Malfo said coldly, glancing through the Slytherin crowd. After a moment's hesitation, he identified the most outstanding Slytherin in the class."

“Three against three, Sabini, Nott and me. If any one of you loses, you have to resign from Professor Blaine’s position!”

"You're trying to be clever, Malfoy!"

Harry realized this contest was disadvantageous to Hermione and her friends. Malfoy and the others could easily target one of them, forcing that person to lose their assistant coach position. Honestly, Harry wanted to play in place of Harry or Neville, but he knew it would be a problem for Hermione and her friends. Even if he played and won against those annoying Slytherins, they wouldn't stop causing trouble.

"no problem--"

Under Hermione's questioning gaze, Luna cheerfully stood on tiptoe and spoke.

"I'll be your referee."

Cedric stepped forward and spoke.

Six people stood on their usual starting line, while the others made way for them. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff group, with no professors intervening, were very interested in this match and whispered about the outcome.

The Gryffindor and Slytherin factions were clearly divided, each wary of the other and distrustful of the other, each believing that the other would resort to dirty tricks during the match.

Harry saw Hermione roll up her sleeves, take out a hair tie, and tie up her messy hair. Then, she calmly squatted down to prepare.

Hermione was incredibly nervous in the common room earlier, but now she seems to have let go of all her burdens.

"start!"

With a shout from Cedric, the six men shot off like arrows.

To be honest, if it were a month or so ago, Harry would never have believed that his group of young wizards were so agile.