Draco Malfoy noticed Leonard.
When he saw Leonard quietly slip away from the group, Malfoy's expression twisted with hesitation.
Leonard was off doing something strange again. The last time Malfoy had followed him, he'd nearly been killed by the Devil's Snare.
Although he had survived, being saved by that Mudblood Leonard was, in his eyes, nothing but humiliation. Instead of feeling grateful, Malfoy's resentment toward Leonard had only deepened. Still, since he couldn't think of any good way to deal with him, he'd been behaving rather obediently lately.
If the chance came, though, he wouldn't mind teaching Leonard a lesson—like a venomous snake striking with poisoned fangs at just the right moment.
And this time, it seemed that opportunity had come.
Excitement flickered in Malfoy's eyes as he licked his lips, a vicious grin spreading across his face.
He didn't know what Leonard was sneaking off to do, but there was a troll wandering around Hogwarts right now.
He couldn't beat Leonard himself, but the troll surely could. That Mudblood with his strong fists would be torn to pieces. As long as Malfoy interfered a little when Leonard ran into it, that annoying Mudblood would be saying goodbye to Hogwarts for good.
The thought made Malfoy tremble with excitement.
His two henchmen noticed immediately.
"Malfoy? What's wrong? You still scared? Don't worry, I've got pumpkin cake. Want some?" Crabbe asked, holding up a piece of cake smeared with his own saliva right to Malfoy's mouth.
The cake stopped just a few centimeters from his face, nearly making Malfoy jump back in disgust.
"Get that filthy thing away from me!" he snapped.
"Uh…" Crabbe flinched, pulling his hand back, looking completely lost. Goyle glanced at Malfoy too, not sure what was going on with his leader this time.
Seeing the "brilliant" looks on their faces, Malfoy's eye twitched.
"You two, come with me," he said quietly. "Don't let anyone see us."
"What are we doing? The professor said there's a troll. We should go back," Goyle muttered uncertainly.
"Shut up! Just follow me!" Malfoy glared at them, then turned and saw Leonard's figure getting smaller as he was about to turn the corner. Without another word, Malfoy hurried the two along.
Last time, if these two had come with him when he followed Leonard, he wouldn't have been caught by the Devil's Snare. If he hadn't panicked so badly, he might've remembered to use the Lumos spell to drive it away.
It was all their fault! Because of them, his wand had snapped, and his father had sent him a furious letter.
That's why he was bringing them along this time. The more people, the better. Even if they ran into a troll...
Malfoy glanced at his two bulky companions and nodded with satisfaction.
They definitely couldn't run as fast as he could. They'd make perfect bait to distract the troll while he went to fetch a professor for help.
Yes, exactly—he definitely wouldn't just run away. He'd get a professor to save them.
...
Up ahead, Leonard, aware that Malfoy and his lackeys might try to follow but lose track of him, deliberately slowed his pace.
At the corner, he stopped and glanced back at the departing line of students. When he saw Malfoy and his two followers approaching, a satisfied smile tugged at his lips.
As expected, Malfoy wasn't nearly as well-behaved as he pretended to be. A little bait and he couldn't resist taking it. And this time, he'd even brought his lackeys along—probably a lesson learned from the last time he got tangled up in the Devil's Snare alone.
Perfect. Everyone had come just as planned.
Leonard turned back toward the corridor ahead, eyes glinting with anticipation.
Next step: find the troll—and deal with the little tails trailing behind him.
"Malfoy, why are we following William? It's dangerous right now," Crabbe said nervously, glancing around as if a troll might leap out from the shadows and swallow him whole.
"Danger? That's exactly what I want. Keep it down—don't let him notice us," Malfoy muttered.
"But what are you actually planning?" Goyle asked, confusion written across his face. "Do you just want to see what William's up to?"
"Hmph. What he's doing has nothing to do with me. I just want to teach him a lesson," Malfoy said with a cold snort.
"But if you want to teach him a lesson, couldn't you just tell the professor he left the group? The professor would definitely dock his house points and give him detention," Crabbe suggested.
"Docking points? Detention?" Malfoy's expression twisted into something feral. "That's far too easy for him. It won't erase my humiliation. I'm going to give him a real lesson—one he'll never forget."
"M-Malfoy?" Crabbe and Goyle exchanged a look, both feeling that something wasn't right. Malfoy's expression was enough to make them both shiver.
"Stop talking and just follow me," Malfoy snapped, ignoring how distorted his own face had become. "If either of you dares to run off this time, you're dead."
"Y-yeah… got it." Despite both being broader and taller than him, Crabbe and Goyle still shrank under Malfoy's glare, trembling as they answered.
Just then, a foul stench drifted through the corridor, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps echoing closer.
"It's a troll!" Goyle gasped, instantly realizing what it was. Instinctively, he turned to run—but froze when Malfoy's wand pressed against his forehead.
"What do you think you're doing?" Malfoy's eyes gleamed with dangerous intent.
"There's… there's a troll! We should run!" Goyle stammered, his voice shaking.
"Y-yeah," Crabbe added weakly.
"I told you already—danger is exactly what I want." Malfoy smirked as his eyes fell on Leonard, who was up ahead, looking flustered and anxious. "This is perfect. Now move!"
Forcing the two along, he broke into a run, the three of them quickly closing the distance toward Leonard.
...
"Finally found it. So the troll really isn't in the dungeon right now," Leonard murmured. His face showed fear, every movement perfectly capturing the look of panic and unease.
But his tone was unnervingly calm, creating a sharp contrast with his terrified expression.
He took his acting seriously. Unlike Quirrell, whose attempt at panic always looked awkward and stiff, Leonard's performance was flawless.
Even if his "audience" couldn't see his face, not a trace of inconsistency appeared in his expression.