This sudden change caused a stir in the carriage.
Just moments ago, the upper-year students were thinking, what kind of big scene could a bunch of pre-first-years possibly create?
But now, they had to admit, they had never seen a scene like this before.
A little girl who looked like she would be blown over by a gust of wind was actually showing her fists to two big, tall boys.
Although the sound of your knuckles cracking is impressive, one punch will probably make you cry for a long time, right?
Goyle and Crabbe exchanged a look and laughed contemptuously.
They both crossed their arms, lifted their chins, and then straightened their bodies. The two of them almost took up the entire train aisle, forming a solid wall of henchmen.
On the other side, Malfoy, having come down from the high of saying "Mudblood" in front of everyone, said with a slightly flushed face, "You want to hit me? I'm right here. Let's see how you get past them."
"Dolly..."
Seeing this, a worried look appeared on Hermione's face. Thinking Dolly had lost her head, she wanted to step forward and stop her.
But Harry stepped out, blocking Hermione's way, a very strange expression on his face.
It seemed to be half fear, but the other half was confidence in his sister.
"What are you doing?"
Hermione looked at Harry in surprise, not knowing what had gotten into him.
Before Harry could figure out how to answer, Dolly had already moved.
Her clenched fist suddenly opened, and she tossed a gleaming golden Galleon upwards.
For an instant, Goyle and Crabbe's defensive posture had a flaw.
Although they were Malfoy's henchmen and members of pure-blood families, pure-blood did not mean wealthy. In fact, many pure-blood wizards were worse off than half-bloods.
Because besides their pure blood, they lacked sufficient ability, and their family fortunes had long been squandered.
This was also why so many pure-blood wizards joined the Death Eaters to hunt half-bloods.
The conflict between pure-bloods and half-bloods was not just a matter of racial conflict, but also an irreconcilable economic problem.
So Goyle, who was not rich and slightly less intelligent than normal, subconsciously reached out his long, ape-like arm to grab the Galleon.
And this gave Dolly the space to act.
Dolly held her breath, her five fingers moving to adjust her posture.
Her index and middle fingers, little and ring fingers were clenched, her thumb placed over the middle and index fingers, her fist slightly turned inwards, the knuckles facing the opponent.
The next moment, her body ducked down, and then her legs suddenly exerted force. Like a bear pouncing on its prey, she rushed straight in front of her opponent.
Then, she raised her right elbow to shoulder height, using the sudden twisting force of her waist and shoulders, her upper body turning to the left, the muscles in her arm going from relaxed to suddenly tense.
Finally, with the strength of at least a high school student, Dolly slammed her beginner-level punch into Goyle's greasy stomach.
In an instant, Goyle bent over in pain. The force of the punch even lifted the front of his feet off the ground, leaving only his heels to maintain his last bit of balance.
This was even with Dolly holding back, because she was neither wearing gloves nor aiming for a vital spot. She didn't want to hurt herself, nor did she want to permanently injure him.
However, this also made Dolly realize that she had underestimated Goyle's ability to take a punch.
After all, Goyle weighed at least 130 or 140 pounds, at least twice Dolly's weight.
If this were a real boxing ring, the outcome would be almost without suspense.
Seeing that Goyle hadn't passed out, and in the next second, a ferocious look erupted on his pained face as he reached out to grab Dolly, Dolly took a small step back. Her front supporting leg extended her hip, the heel rotating outwards. As she raised her body, she shifted her center of gravity to her back foot. As her back supporting leg extended her hip and raised her body, the back heel rotated outwards, and her fist struck upwards from below.
The seemingly weak fist accurately hit Goyle's chin. At the moment of impact, the palm of her fist suddenly rotated inwards.
The force of this punch was not as great as the previous one, as it was a bit rushed.
But the chin and the stomach were different. The force was transmitted directly through the bone to Goyle's cerebellum, causing his eyes to instantly roll back as he lost consciousness.
At this time, the other person, Crabbe, also reacted.
Whether it was out of fear or anger, or both, he let out a loud scream and charged at Dolly, raising his shoulder and tilting his body, clearly intending to use his body to violently ram Dolly away.
This was obviously the best way to use his weight in a narrow space. Crabbe was clearly much smarter than Goyle.
Unfortunately for him, having already dealt with Goyle, Dolly was naturally not afraid of another brute like Crabbe.
In fact, she just took a step back, and at the same time, dragged the unconscious Goyle to fall in front of Crabbe. Crabbe immediately tripped over Goyle and slammed heavily onto the floor.
With a loud thud, Goyle's head hit the floor. The loud noise even startled Dolly. I hope that didn't kill him.
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to worry about her enemies, because Malfoy had made his move.
From the initial contemptuous smile on his face, to his smile freezing, to now his face being filled with terror, his instincts finally made him raise his wand and chant at Dolly: "Incendio!"
From the tip of the elm wood, the dragon heartstring roared silently. A thin but definitely lethal flame shot towards Dolly's face.
In that instant, everyone was terrified, and some even screamed.
Even Harry forgot to stop Hermione, because in the face of the soul-stirring spell, the bare-handed Dolly seemed so helpless.
But the next second, Dolly's choice shocked them all.
Facing the spewing line of fire, Dolly directly crossed her hands in front of her face and charged forward, stepping on Crabbe's back and Goyle's butt.
The flames licked at Dolly's robes, sending out sparks. Some even got into her hair and landed on her fair, flawless skin.
But Dolly was faster. In less than a second, she had gone from a standstill to being right in front of Malfoy.
Malfoy's spell was not fake; it was real fire.
But humans are not gasoline that ignites at a touch. With Malfoy's just-learned spell level, the temperature of the flames was certainly not high.
At such a temperature, even on human skin, it would take two or three seconds to burn off the surface moisture and cause a burn.
This was why performers of fire-related acrobatics could have short-term contact with flames.
There was no magical scientific principle, purely because the contact time was short, or because there was a liquid layer protecting the skin from the flame.
Once Dolly reached Malfoy, the outcome was already decided.
Dolly grabbed Malfoy's spell-casting wrist with one hand and slapped his sternum with the other.
The next second, Malfoy, who was not much heavier than Dolly, floated backward like a kite with a broken string.