"Whoosh!!!"
Soaring through the sky on his broomstick, Harry felt an overwhelming surge of excitement. To fly…it really is every bit as amazing as I imagined!
Behind him, Malfoy watched Harry climb higher and higher without slowing. "Harry! Where do you think you're going?!"
But the whistling wind was the only response.
"Damn it, Harry's lost it." Malfoy stared blankly at Harry's rapidly retreating figure, muttering to himself.
Just then, Harry heard a strange noise above. Looking up, he saw a dark cloud had materialized directly overhead. That can't be good.
BOOM!!!
A bolt of bright white lightning suddenly struck, and Harry instantly felt a jolt before tumbling stiffly from his broomstick.
...
Meanwhile, on the fourth floor of Hogwarts, in Tom's office...
The fire blazed cheerfully, and a blackened dragon egg could be seen nestled within the flames.
Tom reclined in a deckchair by the window, idly casting a spell before withdrawing the Elder Wand, which had been pointing out the window.
Tom muttered, "Must they be so loud? What is all the racket about?"
...
Down on the Quidditch pitch, seeing Harry fall from the sky, Malfoy quickly dove downward.
Just as Harry braced for a bone-shattering impact, his plummet slowed dramatically until he landed gently on the grass.
When Malfoy arrived, he was astonished. Apart from his afro and slightly blackened skin, Harry showed no signs of injury.
Is Harry really that resilient? Although he desperately wanted to complain, Malfoy was more worried. "Harry, are you alive? Open your eyes! How many fingers am I holding up?"
But Harry didn't respond.
Panic welled up in Malfoy, but he didn't have any potions or anything useful on him.
"Wait a minute…" Malfoy seemed to remember something, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I recall hearing a Muggle story once…something about how a kiss could wake someone up…"
Thinking of this, Malfoy's eyes drifted to Harry's blackened lips.
"..."
After agonizing for less than half a minute, Malfoy decided that Harry's life was more important.
He, Draco Malfoy, hereby decrees – this is absolutely not because he thinks Harry looks like a red-haired girl!
With that thought, Malfoy knelt beside Harry, slowly lowering his head.
"Mmm..."
In his dazed state, Harry suddenly felt a cool, tingly sensation on his lips.
This peculiar feeling gradually brought Harry back to his senses.
Feeling Harry's reaction, Malfoy immediately scrambled away, feigning concern as he grabbed Harry's shoulder. "Harry, you're finally awake!"
Harry didn't respond, only touching his head. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
"How are you feeling?" Malfoy asked.
Hearing this, Harry fully woke up and checked himself. "Huh? That's strange, it doesn't hurt at all! My legs aren't sore, my back doesn't ache…I could fly two more laps right now!"
Of course, it didn't hurt. He was his subordinate, after all; Tom wouldn't allow him to be seriously injured.
As for why he had struck Harry with lightning, it was simply because he was being an idiot. Shouting "Whoosh!" so loudly, like some ape-man? He wouldn't dare associate with those antics. Tom Riddle simply couldn't afford such embarrassment.
"What's going on? Is Harry Potter dead?!"
Hearing this from afar, the crowd of onlookers finally arrived.
"..."
Harry really wanted to say, "Do any of you have any manners?"
Actually, not much time had passed between Harry falling and waking up, so by the time the group of young wizards realized something was wrong and rushed over, it was all over.
It's worth mentioning that because one unlucky student had already fallen and Rolanda Hooch had taken him to Madam Pomfrey, she wasn't present.
Harry and Malfoy exchanged a glance.
Should they continue with the plan?
What do you think?
Of course.
"Alright, alright, Harry Potter's fine! Don't just stand there gawking! Go back and practice your broom flying! Otherwise, I'll have my dad expel you all! My dad's on the Board of Governors!" Malfoy clapped his hands and shouted.
Hearing this, the young wizards could only grumble and disperse.
Before long, the Quidditch pitch was once again filled with young wizards riding flying broomsticks.
Malfoy and Harry moved to join Hermione and Cassandra, respectively. Because Malfoy was traumatized by Cassandra, he only dared to stay with Hermione.
Harry was a little better off; after spending those few days with Tom, he had learned some things, so he immediately found common ground with Cassandra.
"Don't you want Tom's kisses, hugs, and piggyback rides?! Don't you want him to be proud of you?! Don't you want…"
"Stop talking, I'm in."
Although she knew Harry was trying to fool her and that these things weren't guaranteed, Cassandra couldn't bring herself to refuse the chance to get a kiss, hug, and piggyback ride from Tom.
Anyway, she wasn't exactly a model student who followed school rules. She could just go and see what happened, and if things didn't go well, she could just abandon these two troublesome boys.
Either way, she couldn't lose, so why not give it a try?
Cassandra resolved the situation easily.
Hermione, however, was a bit more troublesome.
After all, both she and Malfoy were rather arrogant, so they easily clashed, neither willing to give in.
Asking Malfoy to persuade Hermione was probably hopeless.
"You want me to break school rules?! Get points deducted, face detention, perhaps even expulsion?! Don't even think about it!" Hermione refused sternly before Malfoy could even finish speaking.
After all, Hermione hadn't yet broken any rules, hadn't yet descended into a spiral of endless rule-breaking.
"You..." Malfoy, furious, was about to swear but then seemed to remember something and changed his tune. "Don't push your luck!"
"Heh… Anyway, I can't do this. You guys find someone else." With that, Hermione flew off on her broomstick in another direction.
Malfoy just stayed where he was, sulking.
Seeing this, Harry and Cassandra flew over as well.
Before they could speak, Malfoy spoke first. "Forget it, she isn't going to come along."
But to his surprise, Hermione flew back.
Hermione's gaze swept back and forth between Harry and Cassandra before she said thoughtfully, "Wait…is this related to Professor Tom Riddle?"
Cassandra calmly replied, "That thing was originally meant for Tom Riddle."
"Is that so?" Hermione's eyes suddenly lit up. "Then I'lljoin in!"
Hearing this, Malfoy's face turned red with anger. "That's not what you said just now!"
Hermione smiled slyly. "Just now was then, now is now."