"Well done, Harry," Ron exclaimed enthusiastically.
Draco, still floating mid-air, came to his senses and yelled in anger, "Put me down, Potter!"
Harry didn't budge, prompting Draco to turn toward his henchmen. "Crabbe! Goyle! What are you waiting for? Help me!"
The two hulking boys snapped out of their stupor and began lumbering forward, ready to rescue their leader.
Without hesitation, Ron leapt forward, trying to intercept them despite the obvious size difference. Unfortunately, Goyle shoved him back effortlessly, causing Ron to stumble and land on the seat.
"What a fool," Hermione muttered with exasperation. She pulled out her wand and aimed it at Crabbe and Goyle.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Caught off guard, both boys were hit by the Full Body-Bind Curse. They toppled to the floor with two loud thuds.
"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed in admiration, clearly impressed that the Muggle-born witch had saved the day with a single spell.
"Full Body-Bind Curse. The Standard Book of Spells, Chapter Six," Hermione recited mechanically, still holding her wand at the ready.
Her posture betrayed her internal struggle. She knew the severity of her actions—casting spells on fellow students, especially the son of a Hogwarts governor, before even arriving at school. She had read the rules thoroughly and knew the potential consequences.
They might expel me, she thought sadly, but she did not regret stepping in. While she didn't fully understand the slur Draco had used, she knew enough to recognize its intent to insult and degrade.
Ron had stood up for her; it was only right to return the favor.
"You filthy little Mudblood! How dare you?" Draco snarled, still suspended in the air. "I'll tell my father! You'll all be expelled!"
"And besides your father, what else do you rely on?" Harry asked dryly, walking closer. "You're a pure-blood wizard, yet you've just been outmatched by a couple of Muggle-borns. Quite embarrassing, don't you think?"
He flicked his wand, causing Draco to drop unceremoniously to the floor. Standing over him, Harry locked eyes with the boy's frightened gray gaze.
For a fleeting moment, Harry was reminded of another pair of proud, defiant gray eyes—Cassandra's. He thought back to his own humiliating defeat at her hands during his first duel at the Wand Combat Club.
"Is this your idea of effort?" Cassandra had once sneered at him. "Pathetic."
Without realizing it, Harry let the words slip from his lips. "Is this what you call superior? Pathetic."
The remark was satisfying. While he bore no grudge against Cassandra, giving Draco Malfoy a taste of his own medicine felt like poetic justice.
Infuriated, Draco scrambled to his feet and pulled out his wand, but Harry was faster.
"Expelliarmus!"
Draco's wand flew from his grasp, arcing through the air before landing neatly in Harry's hand.
"Relax, Malfoy," Harry said, tucking the wand into Draco's trembling hands. "I'm just teaching you a lesson—for your ancestors' sake."
"Cool," Ron said with a wide grin.
Draco, however, wasn't nearly as amused. Anger and humiliation bubbled over as tears welled in his eyes. "I... I'll tell my father!" he sniffled.
Feeling bored with the exchange, Harry stepped back and gestured for Draco to leave.
"Alright, Drama-co, stop your solo performance," Harry said mockingly. "Your dad isn't here to save you, so take your cronies and get out of my compartment."
Sniffling and stumbling, Draco gathered Crabbe and Goyle and stormed out of the compartment. He turned back once to yell, "You'll regret this! All three of you will be expelled!"
As the door slammed shut, Hermione's face fell.
"Now we're really in trouble," she fretted, running a hand through her frizzy hair. "We're definitely getting expelled."
"Then why'd you fight him?" Ron asked.
"If someone else had learned more than two spells, I wouldn't have had to step in," Hermione snapped back.
Ron flushed and looked away, unable to argue with the truth.
"Don't worry," Harry reassured her. "We won't get expelled for something so minor. Besides, Malfoy started it. That word he used is seriously offensive."
"I still don't know what it means," Hermione admitted. "But it was clear enough that it was disgusting—just like the person who said it."
"It's one of the worst insults," Ron explained grimly. "'Mudblood' is what some pure-bloods call Muggle-borns. It means dirty or inferior blood, like you're worth no more than mud."
Hermione bit her lip and nodded. "Well... thank you, Ron. For sticking up for me."
"Uh... you're welcome," Ron stammered, waving his hand awkwardly.
"By the way," Hermione said, pointing to Ron's face, "you've got a smudge right here."
Ron wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Oh, that must've been what Fred was talking about earlier. I thought he was joking."
Harry and Hermione exchanged amused looks.
Soon, the train whistle blew, and a voice echoed through the carriage:
"Five minutes until we arrive at Hogwarts. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school for you."
As they changed into their robes, Harry noticed Ron's were slightly too short, exposing his worn-out sneakers. The sight reminded Harry of his own hand-me-down clothes from the Dursleys.
"Come on, mate, let's get going," Ron said, grinning. After fighting together, their bond had deepened.
And in Harry's mind, their trio already included Hermione, too.
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