Vid froze everything, stepped into the chaotic classroom, and cautiously avoided the areas not tainted by dungbombs. Then he restored the cockroaches and spiders to their original sizes, watching the helpful insects hurriedly scurry into the gaps in the corners of the walls.
Looking up, he saw some people even showing him grateful glances.
Vid was momentarily speechless.
Looking around at the floor, walls, and on Malfoy and others, everywhere was scattered with "remnants" of dungbombs; shattered glass shards were emitting green smoke, and something was corroding the floor, making a hissing sound.
The Slytherins were petrified in various struggling postures, some cried with snot and tears all over their faces, some were terrified to the point of staring blankly, some inexplicably had terrifyingly red and swollen rashes all over their bodies, appearing very painful. Only Daphne in the corner was slightly better off; she wasn't injured, but was equally frightened, with a few spider webs clinging to her.
Vid couldn't help but question in his mind—Is this it?
He thought Malfoy had prepared a trap that was foolproof, daring to come cause trouble again after the last loss, but turned out they just wanted to ambush with more people?
Vid thought about himself—he had prepared over a dozen spells, specially practiced using five different combinations. To successfully cast spells in the shortest time, and to attack while in action, he privately practiced in the Room of Requirement for a long time.
The Room of Requirement only provided wooden targets, for self-training, Vid brought in various small insects as sparring partners, "Engorgio" was one of the spells he frequently used during this period. Of course, spiders and cockroaches were a bit too challenging for mental limits, Vid himself couldn't bear it, so he usually would find jade-green mantises with two large blades.
At this moment, for Vid, it was as if he had just greeted the opponents, and they all fell down, with one giving off a "collision scam" posture and a tragic howl...
Making his prior thorough preparations somewhat redundant.
"Scourgify!"
Vid waved his magic wand, and the green liquid and dungbombs vanished, only the stench refused to dissipate. Then he used the Summoning Charm to collect everyone's magic wands and then lifted the Petrification Spell.
A cacophony of loud crying and yelling erupted in the classroom instantly.
"Stop the noise!" Vid frowned and said.
In an instant, all the sounds stopped.
Vid approached Malfoy. The blonde-haired boy instantly turned pale with fear, frantically pushing his feet back, screaming: "Y-you-you... don't come over—"
Vid used the collected wands to press on his shoulder, squatting down slightly, earnestly looked into his eyes: "You know? If you were my enemies, I would break your wands right now."
Malfoy became stunned, stammered after a while, trembling as he spoke: "You... you can't..."
To a wizard, the wand is no less than a part of their body, some adult wizards even can't perform simple spells without their wand. If a wand is damaged, a new one can surely be replaced, but generally speaking, only the wand chosen from childhood, accompanying the wizard through growth is the most suitable, the most loyal. Most wizards' wands accompany them to life's end and be buried together with them.
This is a partner from birth to death.
In the classroom, someone sobbed.
"Of course, I wouldn't do that." Vid observed Malfoy's relieved expression, and continued: "But it's not because of who your dad is or your granddad is—it has nothing to do with that. It's merely because we're classmates and should get along... wouldn't you agree?"
Malfoy: "..."
—Look at the swellings on me, smell the stink on me, do you know that spider almost ate me earlier? Do you realize what it feels like to be hugged by spider legs? You call this getting along?
"—Right." Young Master Malfoy lowered his head and whispered.
"Thank you, it's great you understand—after all, I just want to study well, not a troublemaker."
Vid initially planned to pat his shoulder, but remembering these people were covered in dungbombs earlier, the hand he raised fell back down.
Malfoy, following his actions, felt his heartbeat thumping and contracting, chest beginning to feel an oppressive pain, hearing Vid's words, he nearly cried.
—This devil-like guy, was he really the Ravenclaw he knew? Who on earth was the Slytherin?
"Also, can I ask you all not to bully my friends in the future? Stop using those low tactics... or I'll be very—very—angry! I'm someone who definitely avenges any wrong." Vid sincerely said: "If you think you can ignore my warnings, best beat me first—I welcome all fair challenges."
Seeing Malfoy merely staring at him blankly without responding, and others silent too. Vid, rambling on, began feeling awkward when he put down the Slytherins' wands, turned around to leave. As he reached the door, he suddenly turned his head again.
Malfoy, who just touched his wand, heard a "clink" and dropped it again, Noat swiftly hiding behind Goyle, everyone else jumping back in fright.
"Don't be so tense. I just wanted to ask—" Vid questioned: "You won't report this to the professor, right—saying you were scared to tears by spiders and cockroaches? The difference between one person knowing an embarrassing event and being laughed at by the whole school, I think, is quite significant... would you not agree?"
Everyone's faces turned stiff.
Especially Malfoy, he had inwardly sworn many times over—report to the professor... report to dad... break your wand... get you expelled...
Yet Vid seemed to hear his innermost thoughts and gently smiled: "—Just using the Enlargement Spell for a joke with classmates wouldn't get one expelled, we still have over six years to spend together! Previous misunderstandings can end here, getting along from now on—how's that?"
Everyone understood his threat, nodded stiffly.
Vid smiled: "Great—so that's settled then."
...
Vid had just left the Potions Classroom when he saw Michael and Padma peering from around a corner. Spotting him walking over, the two jumped out of the corner, circling Vid, checking him out.
"You're not hurt, right?" Padma anxiously asked: "I heard lots of screaming from inside just now."
"No worries, I didn't get the worst of it." Vid replied.
"Awesome! Solved everything?" Michael excitedly said: "Let's hurry up and move—they tried to come see what was happening, but we stopped them from going in, hopefully, they won't bring Professor Snape over."
The three hurriedly left down the corridor, a pair of large eyes peeking around the corner.
Vid looked back and winked, right hand behind him making an "OK" gesture.
House-Elf Maki grinned and returned an "OK" with his slender finger. He then hid in the shadows, large ears twitching, listening in on the Slytherins' movements.