When Snape departed, he passed directly by Robert, allowing Robert to clearly hear his muttered words.
Could Snape truly be unable to dispel a second-year student's slug curse? And Professor McGonagall didn't even attempt to intervene; she merely exchanged a few words with Hermione before leaving.
This was quite intriguing. One was the Head of House known for his bias toward Slytherin students; the other, a strict and fair Deputy Headmistress who treated all students equally. Perhaps for Snape and Professor McGonagall, dispelling this slug curse would have been as simple as a wave of their wands.
Yet, both reached an unspoken agreement on this matter—neither lifted their wands, both pretending not to notice.
Thus, even after being dragged away by Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy continued to vomit slugs, incessantly declaring, "I'm going to tell my father," and "You'll pay for this," which only caused him to spew more.
Even Crabbe and Goyle appeared somewhat disgusted, holding his arms while leaning their heads back as far as possible, as if trying to avoid something unpleasant.
On the other side, although Harry and his two friends lost more points and were assigned detention, there was no trace of sadness on their faces.
"Did you see it? Did you see my slug curse?" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "I've wanted to do that for ages."
"You actually..." Hermione began, but quickly restrained herself, instead saying, "Yes, that was a challenging spell."
At that moment, Harry also noticed Robert nearby, his eyes lighting up. "Hey, Robert, why are you here?"
"I ran into Nearly Headless Nick; he mentioned that Gryffindor and Slytherin students were fighting by the Black Lake, so I came to check it out." Robert looked at Harry, raised an eyebrow, and said, "I didn't expect you to act so swiftly."
He had only suggested that Harry confront Malfoy the previous day, and today he had done just that.
"No, no, you misunderstood," Harry quickly waved his hand. "I didn't intend to start trouble with Malfoy initially; he kept complaining about not being able to use the Quidditch pitch and said a lot of nasty things."
"Hermione thought both Houses were responsible for that issue, and he called Hermione a... well, anyway, he provoked us first."
"I can pretty much guess," Robert said, glancing at Hermione.
She probably hadn't fully grasped the meaning of the word 'Mudblood' yet; Hermione didn't appear very angry and even had the composure to review the battle process just now.
"My Banishing Charm still isn't proficient enough; I almost let Crabbe get through."
"No, you did great," Harry said. "Hitting Crabbe's head at the critical moment, and him knocking over Goyle when he retreated, is how we secured a decisive victory."
"Harry, your punch was impressive too," Ron said with a grin. "Malfoy was stunned, spitting slugs and screaming."
"Stop talking about it; I wasn't thinking that much at the time..." Harry subconsciously glanced at Robert. "I just thought we used spells, so we would definitely be severely punished; I might as well just punch him a few more times."
Although it felt satisfying to punch Malfoy, Harry was quite nervous thinking about the punishment they would face afterward.
He had even considered the possible consequences: losing two hundred points, being banned from Quidditch, or even expulsion.
But what he didn't expect was that, in the end, Professor McGonagall only deducted thirty points from them—ten points each. This punishment, how should he put it, compared to what they gained, was practically a reward.
If losing ten points meant they could beat up a Slytherin student, Gryffindor would definitely have plenty of students lining up to do it... perhaps they would even rush to answer questions in class to earn points so they could engage in more such confrontations.
But how was this different from what Robert had said before? They used magic, but the punishment was negligible.
Robert also noticed Harry's gaze and guessed what he was thinking.
All he could say was that they were fortunate to seize this rare opportunity. If Malfoy hadn't called her a "Mudblood," Professor McGonagall definitely wouldn't have just deducted thirty points symbolically, and Snape wouldn't have been so lenient either.
"It's just that we still have detention with Snape," Ron suddenly sighed. "He definitely won't let us off the hook."
"There's nothing we can do about it; after all, Malfoy is his favorite student. This is already pretty good," Harry comforted him.
"You're right." Ron glanced at his wand, carefully wiping off a tiny bit of dust. "It's a shame your admirer Colin isn't here; it would have been great if he could have taken a photo of Malfoy."
Harry was slightly taken aback, actually thinking Ron's words made sense.
And this incident quickly spread throughout the school.
The Gryffindor students were cheering, as if they were celebrating Christmas early. Except for Percy, no one cared about the thirty points deducted; they would just clap Harry or Ron on the shoulder and say, "Well done."
"Malfoy's father is on the school board; maybe the three of them will be expelled!" Percy said this, but his words were quickly drowned out by the cheers, not even causing a ripple.
Because the Headmaster of Hogwarts is Dumbledore, even a school board member cannot expel a student over his authority.
What was there to worry about?
Harry was also very happy, unable to extricate himself from the sincere praises.
More importantly, he hadn't encountered the annoying Malfoy for many days. If it weren't for occasionally having classes with the Slytherin students, he would have thought Malfoy wasn't at Hogwarts anymore.
Without the other person's exaggerated mockery, Harry felt an unprecedented sense of ease. Even when he was acting as a snowman in Defense Against the Dark Arts class on Monday, he enjoyed it and performed with extra effort.
"Your snowman looks really convincing," Robert said sincerely. "Better than a werewolf."
"Exactly," Ron also gave a thumbs up. "And the cooperation with Hermione was great too; I actually thought that was a real Stunning Spell just now."
The few of them left the classroom chatting and laughing, preparing to go to the Great Hall for lunch.
As soon as they stepped into the cool hallway, they heard a voice ring out, "You seem happy, don't you? Potter, Weasley, and Granger..."
Snape walked towards them with a stern face. "I might have to say something disappointing: the three of you will stay for detention tonight."
The three of them immediately stopped smiling.
They had been too happy these past few days; they had completely forgotten about detention.
"What do we have to do, Professor?" Hermione asked, wringing her hands nervously.
"You go find Filch and clean the Trophy Room," Snape said. "No magic allowed; wipe everything by hand. If you're diligent enough, you should be able to make it to the first class tomorrow morning."
Hearing him say that, Ron let out a long sigh of relief and whispered to Hermione, "I've done this before; it's quick with three people. It won't take that long at all."
"Three people? I think you must have misunderstood something, Mr. Weasley," Snape suddenly smiled. His laugh was as cold as a venomous snake, sending shivers down their spines.
"You two, come to my office at nine o'clock tonight. I have prepared a special gift for you." Snape raised an eyebrow. "Remember, nine o'clock tonight. Don't be late."
Harry and Ron walked into the Great Hall dejectedly, Robert didn't know how to comfort them from the side.
The gift Snape prepared definitely wouldn't be the kind that hangs on a Christmas tree.
Only Hermione was slightly better off. Although cleaning the Trophy Room alone was a lot of work, it was still the best among the three; at least she didn't have to face the fear of the unknown.
At the dinner table, Harry and Ron were guessing what Snape had prepared for them. Even the shepherd's pie couldn't stimulate their appetite.
As it got closer to nine o'clock, their expressions became more and more serious. It felt less like going to Snape's office and more like going into a dragon's lair.
At half past eight, Hermione was the first to leave the common room. Even though she had detention, she still maintained her habit of being early.
Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Ron also set off hesitantly.
"I'd rather act as a snowman a hundred times..." Harry said, his voice quickly disappearing behind the passage.
"What do you think awaits them?" Fred asked curiously in the common room.
"I don't know," Robert shook his head. "But something Snape prepared for two days will likely be unforgettable for them."
"I'm starting to feel sorry for Ron," George said, but kept grinning.
"Don't say that..." Ginny looked worried, but whether it was because of Harry or Ron, it was hard to say... it could easily affect the relationship between the Weasley siblings.
After the two figures completely disappeared, Fred realized something, sat up, and looked at Robert. "Something's not right; why isn't our future Transformation master at the library today?"
Few Gryffindors liked to stay in the library. Besides Percy and Hermione, Robert was the third. And he suddenly started liking reading after school started; this abnormal change naturally caught the attention of Fred and George.
They didn't understand. Last year, they were good partners who snuck out at night and broke school rules together. Why did he suddenly want to study hard this year?
At first, they thought Robert was just putting on a show, maybe planning some new prank. But after secretly observing for a while, they realized that wasn't the case.
Robert was genuinely reading, and they were all books related to Transformation. A few mornings ago, an owl even delivered him a copy of "Intermediate Transformation Guide," which is used in the third year.
"Did Madam Pince kick you out too?" George said mockingly.
"Of course not," Robert said. "I just have something I want to discuss with you."
"Looking for us?"
Fred sat up straight, and George also left Lee Jordan and walked over.
"Go ahead and say it."
"As long as it's not asking us to go to the library with you."
"Otherwise, Madam Pince will kick all three of us out." After George finished speaking, he chuckled to himself.
"It's something else," Robert said. "Do you remember the wand stickers from the holidays?"
"Of course,
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