Adam was convincing professor Flitwik but at this time, One little girl with brown eyes and bushy brown hairs was looking around in the 'Flourish and Blotts' with excitement and also little bit of nervousness.
She kept running around from one shelf to another looking at all those new books that she had never seen before.
Yes, She is Hermione Jean Granger.
Girl who loved to read books. Probably smartest witch in all First-year students appearing at Hogwarts this year.
Hermione saw so many books which made her unable to stand still. She wanted to buy these books right away but she didn't have the currency of this magical world.
She was nervous about being alone without any money and without knowing the way to go out. She wanted to look independent so she came all alone to Diagon Alley, but now she regretted this decision.
"Calm down, Hermione. Calm down, calm down... You can do it. You just have to ask someone about it. Yes, Just ask about it. Take deep breath..." She kept whispering to herself.
If Adam had seen this then he would definitely be shocked. In his eyes, Hermione Granger was definitely someone who would speak her mind out without thinking about other person's opinion. Looking at her nervousness right now, he would even think that this was Hermione's imposter.
After taking few deep breaths, Hermione finally walked towards the man who looked like he was buying school books for his son who was standing next to him. Flourish and Blotts was not crowdy at this moment so Hermione could only see this pair in front of her for asking about currency exchange.
"Excuse me, Can I ask you something?" Hermione was really nervous but she still appeared calm and polite when talking to the man in front of her.
Man standing in front of Hermione slowly turned around and looked at her. He was tall with pale blonde hairs and cold Grey eyes. If Adam was standing here then he would definitely recognize this man.
Yes, it is easy to guess who this man is.
He is Lucius Malfoy, full-time death eater who somehow managed to escape from clutches of ministry of magic with power of his family's wealth after voldemort's fall.
Lucius Malfoy glanced at Hermione and immediately frowned. He saw Hermione's dress which was definitely not common in Diagon alley. She was wearing white T-shirt and bluish jeans which was normal muggle attire. Lucius had immediately concluded that this little girl was a muggle born.
"I don't have time to waste. Go disturb someone else." Lucius Malfoy answered in seemingly polite but rude tone. Probably he was the only person who could talk politely even if all the things that hated appeared in front of him.
Hermione didn't think much about this, she was still only 11 years old so such remarks were not completely understood by her so she continued while keeping nervous smile on her face,
"Sir, I just want to ask where I could exchange pounds into galleons? "
"This is the main problem muggle-born. Polluting our Wizarding world with their stupid clothes, no not just clothes... but their very existence is shame to Wizarding World. Coming here thinking that they could join our prosperous world." Lucius Malfoy did not answer her question but rather got pissed after looking at Hermione's smiling face.
This time Hermione understood that the man in front of her was definitely not welcoming to her appearance. She looked around her to see if someone could talk for her but all that she could see was people looking at them without any intention to intervene.
Most of the people looked at her with pity in their eyes but did not intend to stop Lucius as no one wanted to offend pure blood families, let alone influential family like Malfoy.
Other people followed Lucius Malfoy's words and started throwing their remarks about Hermione and her muggle origin. They did not care if she was just 11 year old little girl as all that they can see was an muggle born witch.
Looking at this scene, Hermione finally could not contain her nervousness and sadness that came with Lucius's words and burst into tears.
Little boy standing behind Lucius was full of sneers, "Look Dad this mudblood is crying. Now she'll dirty this place with her tears." This boy was Draco, he was laughing at this scene.
Some muggle born Wizards frowned at this word 'Mudblood' but did not take a step forward to offend Lucius.
Hermione was innocent girl. She always acted within the rules and by showing kindness to others. Even though her kindness was mostly misunderstood by her classmates, she still kept trying to help them. When she got Hogwarts' admission letter and got to meet professor Flitwik, she was really happy. She wanted to show her uniqueness, she wanted to prove herself in front of this new magical world that had suddenly entered her life.
But now looking at all those people who gathered kept watching her with pity and ridicule, she had already lost her confidence and courage that she used to reach Diagon Alley all alone. She just quietly sobbed without moving not daring to look at the man in front of her.
When she was thinking about all the negative things, even thinking about not going to Hogwarts in her mind, she heard clapping sound coming from the door.
At first she thought, this one would also ridicule her so she kept looking at ground and crying without lifting her head. She even wanted to leave this place at this moment, but she could not muster up her strength and courage to move from the place.
Clapping sound kept coming closer and closer to the place of action, then the one who arrived stopped beside Hermione. He was angry to see this scene. He had never thought that just after 30 seconds of parting with Professor Flitwik he would witness the girl he was looking forward to meet and befriend was crying while all the people nearby were ridiculing her.
Yes, the one that arrived was Adam who had just separated from Professor Flitwik.
"What do I see here? Bunch of old people making a little girl cry and then laugh at her?" Adam's voice was calm but his cold eyes swept through crowd. Many people shrunk their neck because of his cold eyes even though he was just a little kid as same age as the girl in front of them, they did not dare to look into these cold eyes.
After looking through the crowd, Adam's gaze finally rested on Lucius Malfoy and Draco who was standing beside his father. But Adam did not say anything and he turned his head to look at crying Hermione who did not even lift her head.
Adam felt very bad when he looked at this little girl crying in front of him. He did not say anything to her but just took out his handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped tears from Hermione's cheeks.
This sudden move surprised her and she looked at him with sudden movement of her head but she still did not have strength to refuse his initiative as more and more tears started flowing from her eyes. She could restrain herself for all this time but now that someone had offered her support, she could not contain her emotions and more and more tears kept flowing from her eyes.
This further increased Adam's dissatisfaction and anger towards Malfoy. But before he could say anything, Lucius broke the silence,
"OH! Interesting emotional scene! Is it muggle hero saving damsel in distress or a Knight in shining armor coming to protect his princess?" Lucius said in ridiculing tone which made all of the people laugh at Adam. Most of the people only laughed to show their support to Malfoy but they still continued to make Innocent Hermione cry which finally made Adam to stop thinking about his own safety.
Adam had thought of taking Hermione away from this place without getting into conflict with Malfoys as he really did not wish to get in conflict with pure blood families when he didn't even have little bit of strength to defend himself. He wanted to keep distance from pure-blood families, especially Malfoys who really loved to scheme and create trouble for others.
But now looking at this Malfoy father-son duo, Adam decided to not care about this thing. He had already noticed Professor Flitwik putting tracking spell on him so he was not worried about Malfoy taking him away from this place.
"I was wondering who was barking in the shop,so I guess it must be you, right?." Adam grinned at Lucius and continued, "I don't even have to ask who both of you are. Pale blonde hair, that look as if entire world owed you money and that universal scum like face... I am pretty sure you are Lucius Malfoy and that little joke behind you should be Draco, right?"
These words immediately caused everyone to shut their mouths. Silence invaded the shop as everyone looked at Lucius's for response but to their surprise, Lucius was still calm faced while Draco looked as if he had not processed what Adam had said till now. He had never heard anyone openly talking like this to his father so he was extremely shocked.
Adam had to admit Lucius really had patience and calmness that not even storm could shake.
"Muggle boy, you might not know who you are talking to. We are one of the 'Sacred twenty-eight' Pure blood family. You better speak with respect or you'll be making enemies with all the pure blooded families." Lucius spoke calmly, making situation look like Adam was criticizing all pure blooded families. Lucius did not know why but he didn't want to get entangled with the boy standing in front of him.
'Damn! this b@stard really knows how to talk.' Adam cursed in his heart but did not show any response to Lucius's words on his face.
"OH, I am really sorry for not phrasing my words properly." Adam took a pause to see pleased expression that was momentarily shown in Lucius's eyes. "I should've said directly that only Malfoys can bark like hungry dogs at little girl who just came to buy books for her school. Isn't that right?"
Adam waited for rage filled expression on Lucius's face but all of it was in vein as Lucius did not react at all and even stopped Draco from speaking.
"Boy, are you sure you want get on bad side of one of the 'Sacred twenty-eight'? " Lucius calmly asked once again but this time his voice had threatening tone in it. Hermione was now even more scared as she subconsciously held Adam's hand tightly.
Adam looked at Lucius as if he was looking at stupid person. Adam was just muggle born Wizard who had just entered Diagon Alley for the first time then how would he know of something like pure-blood families or the so called 'Sacred twenty-eight'. Even though he recognized Malfoys infront of so many people but people were sure from his way of talking that Adam knew nothing about these pure blooded families.
Ofcourse, Adam knew about these things. Probably even more compared to all people present here but he did not show it on his face.
"Sorry for my ignorance but it's my first time in Diagon Alley so can you tell me why do you keep stressing on the fact that you are pure-blood and part of 'Sacred twenty-eight'? Why do you expect me to respect you just because you are from pure blood family?" Adam looked confused and continued, "Do people respect them because of their power or their wealth or did they do something respectable in magical world? I am really confused."
Looking at Adam who kept wearing facade of ignorance on his face, Lucius was losing his cool. He could be sure that Adam knew about these concepts but was just acting like ignorant person.
Lucius wanted to find a way to make Adam get on bad side of other pure blooded families. Because result of that thing was death for sure. He did not want to use his hands to do this kind of dirty work as he and his family had always been the one that acted from the shadows.
Lucius replied in angry tone, "We pure-blood families are not just respectable because of power and wealth. We are the families that contributed the most to Wizarding World. So you better give respect to us or keep your mouth shut like a dirty mudblood you are."
'Finally!' Adam celebrated in his heart as he really wanted to make Lucius angry and make him dig a hole so that Adam could make Lucius fall in pit that he himself dug. Adam wanted to get some compensation from Lucius for making Hermione cry and now he had this chance to get something from Lucius as he had finally lost his cool.
"I see. so that's why people respect pure-blood families. I am really ashamed to talk to you like this but I really don't mean any malice towards other pure-blood families. Sorry for being ignorant..." Adam took another pause to see how other people reacted. And as he had expected many people reduced hostility in their eyes. He knew his goal was about to be achieved and Lucius could no longer pull those other pure-blood families in this matter. Adam continued, "...But can I ask what your Malfoy family has been contributing to Wizarding World for past couple of decades?"
Adam did not wait for Lucius to speak as he could see that Lucius was now ready to explode at any moment.
"OH! I should apologize one more time! I really forgot how you were not in your right mind when you did those things. In the end, you were also one of the victims, right? I heard you were under Imperius curse, isn't that right?" Looking at Lucius whose face was filling with anger, Adam could not help but add more remarks.
"I truly feel sorry for the things you suffered. I heard you were under imperius curse for more than a year. It is quite possible to resist this unforgivable curse after being under its control for so long but I guess you were really controlled by someone of really high power, Isn't it right? You probably suffered so much in those years. Torturing innocent people, killing them... it must've been like a nightmare to you, right Mr Malfoy?"
Hermione was frightened by these words. She didn't even dare to look in front of her at the man standing there silently.
At this moment Adam clearly saw Lucius reaching out to take out his wand, which made Adam realize that he was going too far now. So he quickly tried to change back to previous subject.
"Knowing about your things in the past, I really respect you Mr.Malfoy..."
Hermione standing silently beside Adam had already stopped crying and was staring at Adam without even blinking. She didn't know why Adam's tone changed suddenly but she was already happy that someone was standing up for her against people from such powerful family who had killed people. She didn't know anything about magical world but listening to the word 'Sacred', she knew that this was a big deal.
Adam continued after a brief pause, "... but I can't let this matter go. I can't accept your way of ridiculing a little girl." Adam could feel Hermione's grip getting stronger but he still continued, "So I challenge you to a Duel, Mr Malfoy."
This sudden turn of events made audience burst into whispers, even Lucius Malfoy was surprised by Adam's courage to propose a duel.
"Ofcourse I won't be Dueling you as I know I can't defeat powerful and respectable person such as you." There was clear ridicule in Adam's tone when he said powerful and respectable word.
"I will be Dueling your son, Draco Malfoy. I assume that he is also going to be first year like us. So we can duel whenever you want after I buy my wand. Trust me, I have never used magic till now so you don't have to worry about little Draco getting hurt. You can fight me in hogwarts or you can duel with me right away after I buy my wand but only if you can make sure that I won't be in any trouble for using magic as underage wizard. But remember we definitely have to fight. Didn't you say I was knight in shining armor coming to protect my princess? Then you should know that I won't just let someone make my princess cry and do nothing, right?"
Adam's words were spoken lightly but Hermione who was standing next to him was blushing in embarrassment while holding his hand. She had already forgotten that she had just cried because of all these people.
"Boy, are you sure with your words? Duel between Wizards is not trivial thing. You can not go back on your words." Lucius said with a sneer. He was confident in his own son compared to mudblood who did not even have a wand.
"Ofcourse, Mr. Lucius Malfoy. I will definitely not go back on my words." Adam replied with smile and confidence while Hermione just looked as if she wanted to say something but nothing came out her mouth.
"Dad, Let's just fight right away. I can't wait to teach this mudblood about power of our pure-blood." Draco started laughing at Adam as he was sure that he was never going to lose against muggle-born wizard.
Lucius was suspicious of Adam's behavior but he did not understand what gave confidence to this Muggle-born boy so he was still thinking about the conversation that had just happened.
Lucius frowned more and more as he recalled the content of conversation.
Entire conversation was led by Adam. Adam provoked him again and again then suddenly acted as if he had said nothing and then said that he respected him. Then he suddenly went ahead and proposed a duel to him. Everything that happened just now made Lucius unable to decline this duel. He had acted all mighty and proud as pure-blood family so declining this duel was shame not just to himself but to all the pure-blood families and this would not go well if they know about this matter.
Lucius looked at Adam with surprise and anger but in the end, he opened his mouth to accept the duel, "We'll meet here in 2 hours after you buy the wand. I don't have time everyday to waste on muggle-borns like you."
Adam just smiled and nodded before pulling Hermione with him towards the door. Before passing by Lucius, Adam said in low voice,
"Mr.Malfoy, people are known by their choices so I hope you will make the right choice when the time comes. Money won't save you again and again."
Adam didn't need to say this but he had to make sure that Lucius won't play any dirty tricks on him or Hermione so he said these words to make Lucius feel confused about his origin and fear him little bit before making any move against him in the dark.
Lucius stood there in daze as Adam's words echoed in his ears. He was sure that Adam knew many things, even the secrets that common people did not know of which made him not have any thoughts of revenge on Adam for now. Lucius was cautious person so Adam was sure that this much is enough for Lucius to stop his dirty tricks and think more about his origin before doing something behind Adam's back.
This turn of events had already made Lucius skeptical about upcoming duel. He even wondered if he could cancel this duel right away.