Blaise rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking at Crabbe and Goyle, who had already pounced on Ron, and proposed, "Perhaps… we should go help as well?"
Pansy and Daphne immediately looked at him as if he were an idiot, their expressions conveying how ridiculous they found his idea.
Theodore shifted his feet, moving a little further from Blaise, and muttered, "Go yourself."
"Oh…" Blaise touched his nose and laughed. "Then forget it."
He didn't want his handsome face to get injured.
By this time, Harry and Draco had already crashed into over a dozen tables, their faces bruised and swollen, and Harry's glasses had flown off somewhere.
They were so engrossed in their fight that they were completely unaware that a crowd of young witches and wizards waiting for class was standing at the classroom door.
Harry thought he could hear Ron and Hermione coughing their lungs out, the sound growing louder and louder.
Harry finally began to feel that something was off. Ron was one thing—he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed—but why was Hermione coughing too?
Before Harry could figure it out, the light above him suddenly darkened.
Both of them, still gripping each other's faces, froze. The light was blocked by a tall shadow, making the already dim dungeon classroom even darker.
Harry and Draco stopped moving.
The surroundings were too quiet; even the whispers of the other students couldn't be heard. They both had the eerie sensation of being submerged in icy water.
…It was as if someone was glaring at them with sinister intensity.
The two were still on the floor, face to face. Draco looked up at Harry's green eyes, and Harry looked down at Draco's grey ones.
Both saw visible terror in the other's eyes.
Harry signaled with his eyes: *You're below. Look up and see who's behind us.*
Draco's eyes blazed with fury: *Damn Potter! Easy for you to say! Why don't you look yourself?*
Seeing that the two little brats had stopped fighting and seemed to finally realize their situation, Snape's silky, low voice purred softly: "Well, it seems our great Boy Who Lived and the valiant Mr. Malfoy have finally realized they have a class to attend, haven't they?"
Harry: "…"
Draco: "…"
Both their faces turned pale.
This was bad!
Harry leaped up, springing off Draco in one jump, and silently smoothed down his crumpled robes.
Draco also pressed his lips together without a word, keeping his head deeply bowed as he got up from the floor, not daring to look at Snape's expression.
He felt utterly devastated: *Damn it! This is so ungraceful! If it weren't for Potter's provocation… It's all that damn Potter's fault! If Father finds out about this, he'll definitely kill me!*
Harry was also devastated: *When did I become so childish? Actually getting into a fight with a little brat… and I didn't even win! It's all that spoiled brat's fault. How could he be so punchable?*
Both saw their reputations crumbling before their eyes: *How embarrassing!*
"Very well, very well," Snape said, as if too furious for words, a chilling smile involuntarily curling on his lips. "It seems Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy are full of energy."
"Affray before class," Snape hissed. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle."
"For your heroic deeds, each of you will lose fifty points!"
Ron's expression was one of utter misery.
Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes in despair: *That's one hundred and fifty points just like that. Half a semester of hard work, and we're back to square one in one go.*
… Ha, how amusing.
She felt a strange sense of hysterical glee, as if she was losing her mind.
Draco felt like his world had collapsed. His face turned ashen, but he didn't say a word.
The professor had never deducted points from Slytherin before. It seemed he was truly furious this time.
As long as Harry wasn't provoking him, Draco was usually calm and sensible. He stayed silent, not wanting to be in Snape's line of fire.
Just then, Draco noticed Harry's movement out of the corner of his eye. Potter shifted his feet, as if about to step forward.
Draco's cold sweat erupted instantly. Given Harry's long history of repeatedly clashing with Snape, almost coming to blows on several occasions, his first reaction was that this reckless Boy Who Lived was about to speak up again.
Didn't he see what situation they were in? Did he really think he could sneer at the professor right now? Was he out of his mind?
In desperation, Draco suddenly reached out, grabbed Harry's arm, forcibly held him in place, and then, pressing him down, apologized: "We shouldn't have fought in the classroom. We're sorry, Professor!"
Harry's lips moved. Actually, he hadn't intended to continue the tradition of arguing with Snape, especially since he was in the wrong.
He just wanted to apologize. Why was the little rich boy acting so startled?
However, sensing Harry's slight struggle, Draco held on tighter, determined not to let Harry raise his head or give him a chance to speak.
Snape spoke, his voice dripping with menace: "You two, now, immediately, find seats and sit down. Get ready for class."
"After class, both of you will come with me to the Headmaster's office. You will pay the price for your recklessness."
"Yes," Draco and Harry agreed listlessly, then turned silently and quickly found the nearest potion workstations to sit down.
After sitting, Draco stewed over the fifty points he had cost Slytherin. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He turned and kicked Harry under the table.
Harry's eyes widened, and he kicked back without hesitation.
Draco grew even angrier.
Under the table, it became a volley of kicks, neither willing to back down, the atmosphere growing tense again.
Just before the poor table in front of them was overturned, a tremendous force struck the back of both their stools, jolting them in place.
Harry and Draco paused and turned in unison to look behind them.
Hermione was glaring at them, her eyes blazing with fury.
Ron was sitting next to her, making faces at Harry.
Seeing the two troublemakers finally settle down and look at her, Hermione's face darkened. She used her index and middle fingers to point at her own eyes, then gestured towards them: *I am watching you.*
Draco: "…"
Harry: "…"
Once again knowing they were in the wrong, they turned back silently, looked at the slides Snape had placed at the front of the blackboard, and began brewing their potions.
This whole commotion naturally did not escape Snape's notice. His face was as black as a cauldron, but he didn't turn around to scold them, afraid he might die of rage.
That Potter brat was even more arrogant than his damned father had ever been!
Snape felt that agreeing to Dumbledore's request was simply subjecting himself to torture!
With his back to the little brats who had just engaged in an affray, Snape's eyes glinted coldly as he stared sinisterly at Neville in front of him, taking out his anger on him without a shred of guilt.
Points off! Points off! Points off!
Damn, stupid Gryffindor!
Take it all! Take it all! Take all their points away!
Poor Neville, becoming Snape's punching bag in Harry's place. Over the course of the class, he lost several dozen points for Gryffindor. By the end of the lesson, his face was pale and his legs were weak.
He was trembling as Seamus and Dean dragged him out of the classroom.