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Chapter 13
"Didn't someone say they were going to the library to pursue knowledge, wisdom, and power? What are you doing here now?" Pansy asked, her tone sharp and mocking.
"Oh, I know." Malfoy opened his mouth to respond, but Pansy kept going.
"In that story you told, the supporting character said, 'Every woman is a book,' right?"
She folded her arms. "Looks like you've already flipped through that muddy little volume… Hermione, wasn't it?"
She almost said something nastier, but—for reasons even she didn't understand—she stopped herself.
"Pansy—"
"Draco, you're disgusting." She spun on her heel and walked away. Her shoulders trembled, giving away more than she intended. Within seconds, she vanished around the corner.
"She's not joking this time." Malfoy sighed. "I'll explain later once she cools off."
He hurried toward the Great Hall.
A few minutes later, Malfoy stepped inside. The warm smell of roasted pumpkin washed over him.
Thousands of bats fluttered across the walls and ceiling, drifting like dark clouds above the tables. Candlelit pumpkins flickered. Food appeared on golden plates exactly as it had at the Start-of-Term feast.
"Nice decorations," Malfoy murmured.
He scanned the room. No Pansy.
But Hermione was there—chatting cheerfully with Harry and Ron. The boys were practically vibrating with excitement, both holding Honeydukes sweets.
"Hermione, that was brilliant!" Ron said. "My brothers never let me come with them, and I knew they had a secret way out. They just wouldn't show me!"
Harry chimed in too.
Hermione felt Malfoy looking. She flashed him a quick OK sign behind their cauldron cake—mission accomplished—and gave him a smug little smile.
Their friendship boat is sailing again, but my ship is about to sink, Malfoy thought grimly.
Something nagged at him.
What did I forget? Pansy wouldn't miss food this good…
He grabbed a pumpkin tart just as Professor Quirrell burst into the hall, turban askew and terror on his face. He staggered up to Dumbledore's chair, clutched the table, and gasped:
"Troll—in the dungeon—thought you should know—"
He collapsed.
"Damn it." Malfoy froze.
He had just realized what he'd overlooked.
The hall erupted. It took several ear-splitting wand-blasts from Dumbledore to silence the students.
"Prefects," he commanded, "lead your houses back to your dormitories immediately!"
Percy puffed up, delighted to show off.
"Follow me! Quickly! Stick together, first years! No need to panic as long as you obey orders! Move aside, prefect coming through—"
"How did a troll get in?" Harry asked Ron as they hurried.
"No idea. Trolls are thick as bricks. Maybe Peeves let it in for the laughs."
"What's Draco doing?" Hermione frowned. She'd noticed his strange reaction.
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Meanwhile…
"Pansy! Pansy?!" Malfoy's voice echoed down the empty corridor.
His fists tightened. He'd thought he was a butterfly flapping its wings to change the future. Maybe he was just a drop of paint, diluted by the river of time before it ever mattered.
Pansy shouldn't be in the girls' bathroom right now, he thought. Hermione's in the hall. The boys are too. That means—
"Fine. I'll move first. Find the troll and take it down."
He trusted his current skill.
He suddenly smelled something foul—dirty socks mixed with public loo.
"This way."
A few steps later, he saw it.
A hulking, twelve-foot troll lumbered down the corridor, back turned, dragging its club behind it.
And beside a statue's base… a pair of trembling legs.
"Lumos!" Malfoy flicked his wand to draw its attention.
It worked.
The troll turned—and it was hideous. Granite-grey skin, tiny head, thick legs, tree-stump feet. The smell nearly knocked him over.
Malfoy stepped forward.
Then—
"Reducto!"
A red bolt shot from his wand.
The troll jerked its club up instinctively. Wood exploded into splinters.
"Lucky," Malfoy muttered. He didn't slow down.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
This time, the troll wasn't so fortunate.
It froze mid-breath, only one massive nostril puffing.
"I'll leave the rest for the professors."
He went to the statue.
"Pansy, are you—"
He stopped.
It wasn't Pansy.
A girl about a year or two older stared up at him—black hair, dark eyes, delicate features. Fear still clung to her expression, making her seem even softer.
"I think you're safe now," Malfoy said gently.
"The professors will be here soon." He couldn't just leave a frightened girl alone. And something about her felt… familiar.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I'm Cho Chang. You're Draco, right? First year. I've… heard a lot about you. You really do live up to your reputation. You defeated the troll like it was nothing."
She blushed—probably embarrassed to be rescued by someone younger.
"It was just a small trick," Malfoy said instinctively—slipping into a Chinese idiom.
Cho blinked. "You… know Chinese?"
"Of course. I admire Chinese culture." Malfoy nodded casually.
Cho brightened immediately. Hearing her mother tongue from another student—especially a British pure-blood—felt unexpectedly comforting.
They chatted while waiting for the professors. Malfoy tossed in a few Chinese jokes that made Cho cover her mouth, giggling.
"You're much more interesting than the rumors say," Cho said quietly.
And much more handsome, she added in her head.
Malfoy laughed awkwardly. He remembered Pansy calling him boring.
"Could you help me up?" Cho asked.
"Of course." Malfoy bent down, took her hand gently, and pulled her up.
"Ah—"
She stumbled and leaned briefly against his shoulder. Her face flushed scarlet when she realized how close they were.
Malfoy looked down at her leg.
"Episkey."
A soft green light wrapped around her calf.
"How does that feel?"
"Much better." Cho steadied herself, though her cheeks stayed pink.
Footsteps echoed from around the corner.
"Professor, he went this way!" a familiar voice said.
"He'll be alright, won't he?" another voice fretted.
"Calm down, child. He's fine," Professor McGonagall said briskly.
The group approached—McGonagall, Snape, Quirrell… and two girls.
"Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said coolly, adjusting her glasses, "an explanation is required."
Snape inspected the troll. "A flawless Full Body-Bind Curse. As expected from my student."
For once, he sounded almost proud.
Quirrell shrieked and collapsed again.
"Professor, I just dealt with a monster in the corridor. Is that not explanation enough?" Malfoy said calmly.
"That's not what Miss Granger reported," McGonagall replied. "She claims she saw you running from the Great Hall."
That was fast, Malfoy thought bleakly.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Pansy—eyes red, staring at him like he had broken her heart and ruined her birthday in the same afternoon.
"I know how this story is supposed to go," Malfoy thought helplessly. "I'm the one who gets saved, not the other way around."
He sighed. "Alright, Professor. I was wrong."
"Ten points from Slytherin," McGonagall said.
"But you broke the rules for a classmate's sake." She patted Pansy's head gently. "And you fought a troll alone. You may have even saved another student." She nodded toward Cho. "Twenty points to Slytherin. Don't do this again."
Malfoy exhaled with relief. McGonagall suddenly looked… almost cute.
"Return to the feast at once," she instructed. "I will inform Professor Dumbledore."
The professors left Snape to deal with the troll.
What followed was, for Malfoy, far more terrifying.
Pansy stepped up, glaring, pointing at Cho.
"Who is this girl?" she asked, voice trembling with jealousy.
Malfoy rubbed his forehead.
This was going to be a nightmare.
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