"Y-you—how dare you?"
Theodore smiled and pressed a quill into Draco's hand. "Master Malfoy, don't overthink it. Sign, and we won't take this to the Ministry. No signature… well, you wouldn't want your father whisked off to Azkaban, would you?"
Lips pressed tight, Draco took the quill with trembling fingers and scrawled his name with his eyes squeezed shut. "Th-there. Happy?"
Theodore rolled up the parchment, satisfied. "Very. Harry, open the door, please. Master Malfoy, you can collect your two attendants."
He flicked his wand. "Aguamenti."
Two clean jets of water splashed into Crabbe and Goyle's faces. They jerked awake, blinking in confusion. "What happened?"
"We're nearly at Hogwarts. Move." Draco hurried out with his bruisers. The moment their retreating backs vanished, the compartment erupted in laughter.
Ron bent double, face twisted with glee. "Gallopin' gargoyles—Merlin's blooming puffed sleeves! Theodore, I've never seen a Malfoy look that pathetic. Brilliant!"
Harry was wiping tears from behind his glasses, grinning so hard his cheeks hurt. Lesson learned: you didn't always need brute force to win a fight—sometimes you just needed leverage.
Even Hermione's mouth couldn't stop curving upward. Then a thought struck her; worry crept in. "Theo—what if Mr Malfoy really is tied to the Gringotts incident? Shouldn't we tell the Ministry?"
Theodore's lip curled. "No. I was spooking him. If you look closely at the Dark Lord's history, the Malfoys mostly paid the bills. Trusting them to break Gringotts is like trusting me to be Merlin reborn—'please donate some Galleons so I can reclaim my magic.'"
Ron and Harry burst out laughing again. Even the rat curled in Ron's pocket—Scabbers—let out a delighted squeak.
Theodore allowed himself a small smile too—because the moment that farce ended, his System lit up like fireworks. Lines of text cascaded across his inner vision:
— You and the youths Nezha and Lei Zhenzi, alongside young Deng Chanyu, drove back Chong Heihu.
— Your bond with young Deng Chanyu deepens.
— Your bond with Lei Zhenzi reaches Close Friend. Rewards gained: Sky-Dance on the Wind, Winged Thunder.
— Your bond with Nezha reaches Close Friend. Rewards gained: Innate Divine Strength, Lotus Body Protection.
Four rewards in one sweep. A true windfall.
And the stream hadn't stopped. A new name flared in the "Rivals" column:
— You humiliated Chong Heihu. He bears you a grudge.
— Your enmity with Chong Heihu is now Bitter Enemies.
— Having already thrashed Chong Heihu once, you gain: Twin-Axe Chain.
Five in total, then.
Theodore blinked—another line appeared, unexpected:
— Hidden in the dark, the Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal witnessed you humiliating Chong Heihu.
— Though both serve the Jie Sect, Long-Ears, born with a rabbit's root, sits at the very bottom and is often scorned—especially by high-born disciples like Chong Heihu.
— Your act gladdened Long-Ears' heart. Your relationship with the Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal is now Acquaintance.
"The Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal…?" Theo's eyes narrowed. A notorious turncoat of the Investiture era—the one who handed the Six-Souls Banner to the opposing camp and destroyed Jie Sect's last hopes.
No one else was in the compartment—only him, Hermione, Harry, and Ron.
His gaze slid to the rat in Ron's pocket, the one still squeaking softly. "Scabbers… Peter Pettigrew?"
If the System mapped Pettigrew to Long-Ears, it fit uncomfortably well. In truth, Long-Ears' one betrayal almost looked modest next to Pettigrew's ledger: betraying the Potters, hiding for a decade, helping resurrect Voldemort—then, later, hesitating and letting Harry go. Even Malfoy would have to say that's some next-level backstabbing.
Strange creature, the human heart. Pettigrew had sold out Harry's parents—yet even now, at some primal level, he'd nipped at danger to help Harry escape. In the "original" train scuffle, hadn't Scabbers bitten Crabbe's finger and drawn blood, giving the trio an opening?
Theo exhaled and pushed the sentiment aside. Old grudges from another generation weren't his to resolve; rewards were.
More lines rolled:
— In the great tribulation, Long-Ears evaded a Saint's notice and fooled a Sect Master; his art of concealing qi is unparalleled.
— Reach Acquaintance to gain Veil the Breath: when you choose to hide, your presence thins; ordinary scrying, sight-beyond-sight, and tracking arts struggle to lock onto you.
— Reach Close Friend to gain Against Heaven's Eye: by feigning death and kindred subterfuges, you elude prophecy and divination.
— Reach Life-and-Death Bond to gain Faithless Betrayal: at the decisive moment, your betrayal lands true; at the extreme, even a Saint may be struck from behind.
Theodore's eyes glinted. "Useful," he murmured. "Very useful."
Hidden when he wished, untraceable to the prying—perfect for dodging the wrong Seer's gaze, or for slipping through a war no child should have to fight.
He sat back as the train clattered on, Ron still chortling, Harry radiant, Hermione finally relaxing—none of them aware of the quiet crown of boons settling on Theodore Ashbourne, who had just added wind, thunder, muscle, lotus warding—and one rabbit-eared trickster's shadow—to his growing arsenal.
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