At this moment, Dolly could have easily and severely injured Malfoy.
Whether it was by pulling him down to slam him on the floor or sticking out her knee for his waist to crash into, either method could have easily taken him halfway to his grave.
But at the last moment, Dolly pulled Malfoy back, preventing him from falling flat on the ground.
Because of this, the heaviest blow Malfoy received was the slap Dolly had delivered to his chest.
While the attack still sent Malfoy into a violent coughing fit, compared to the unconscious Goyle and Crabbe, it was at least two levels lighter.
The reason Dolly held back wasn't because of Malfoy's platinum-blond hair.
It was because of Malfoy's father. He was a real, murdering Death Eater.
Although he had used his wealth and reputation to clear his name, this man—not just in the future, but even now—was likely involved in dirty and even dangerous dealings.
Dolly didn't think she possessed Harry's protagonist-level plot armor to turn peril into safety, nor would she be meticulously cared for by Dumbledore.
After all, Dolly had a weakness.
That couple living on Privet Drive had, in the span of a month, earned Dolly's acceptance.
Although Dolly was not their biological daughter, for the rest of their lives, they would be her parents.
"Cough, cough, it hurts! Help, she's trying to kill me!"
Malfoy clutched his chest with his free hand, his face filled with terror as he looked at Dolly.
Especially the moment Dolly had charged through the flames with her arms crossed—those emerald-green eyes were like a demon's, making him want to scream.
Unfortunately, he hadn't even had a chance to make a sound before being knocked down by Dolly. Now, all he could do was shout for help from those around him.
However, even though there were many older Slytherin students in the carriage, they all instinctively chose silence as they looked at Dolly's still-smoking sleeves and the few strands of hair at her forehead curled by the heat.
Malfoy was certainly a noble young master, but this beautiful blonde girl in front of them was also Harry Potter's sister!
And she had proven with her own fists that she was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
"Don't hit me! Cough, cough, I was wrong! I apologize!"
Seeing that no one was helping, Malfoy quickly began to beg Dolly for mercy, tears streaming down his face without hesitation.
If this continued, his noble young master persona would be completely shattered.
"I can let you go."
Dolly loosened her grip on the hand Malfoy held his wand with. "How about we pretend nothing happened today?"
"After all, you burned me with a spell. We're even."
"Just like we said before."
"Urgh, cough... okay, you're right, I agree to everything, cough, cough!"
Malfoy was past caring what Dolly was saying and hastily agreed.
At this moment, the sound of urgent footsteps came from the distance. The girl who had run off before had brought more reinforcements.
"Everyone stop! Don't move!"
"I am the Gryffindor Prefect, Percy Weasley!"
"You all... oh, Merlin's beard, what on earth happened here..."
Percy was the first to rush in, panting and holding his wand.
He had thought his own brother and that Harry boy had been beaten to a pulp by the Slytherins.
But now, Harry, Ron, and the others were standing there perfectly fine. Malfoy's two cronies were lying on the ground, and Malfoy himself was pinned to the floor by Dolly, weeping his eyes out.
"Malfoy, you can't go too far, this is..."
Behind him, the Slytherin Prefect, Gemma Farley, also rushed in. The serious words she had been about to say died on her lips, and her expression instantly turned ugly.
This scene was completely beyond her expectations.
"What happened? How dare you lay a hand on Malfoy!"
Farley raised her wrist, about to point her wand at Dolly.
But Percy quickly intervened. "Hey, hey, the girl has already let Malfoy go. We don't need to get involved. Let's just maintain order and clean up this mess."
"Everyone not involved in this, sit down! And you lot, come with me to the prefects' carriage!"
Although Percy was Ron's brother, at this moment, he had no intention of showing favoritism.
While he had run here in a panic worrying about his brother, if his brother had broken the rules, he would punish him severely.
This was Percy's character: by-the-book, inflexible, and concerned with appearances.
He was a study maniac at school and would be a workaholic after graduation.
"Ron Weasley, you lead the way!"
Ron was startled and shot his brother a resentful look.
He felt that at a time like this, Percy should be helping Dolly and the others. After all, they were on the same side.
Even if they didn't end up in Gryffindor, based on Dolly's expression today alone, Ron would consider the girl who beat up Malfoy a friend!
Unfortunately, Percy was destined not to listen to them. Instead, he first knelt down to check on the two unconscious cronies. "No serious injuries. They've just fainted."
He then used a healing spell to treat the wound on Crabbe's forehead, followed by two reviving spells.
The unconscious Goyle and Crabbe let out pained groans and, realizing what had happened, staggered to their feet, ready to continue the fight.
But they were each hit on the head by Farley, which almost made the already dizzy pair faint again.
At this point, Malfoy finally stood up and looked at Farley as if he had seen his savior.
The fear in his eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by a deeper resentment. He was even about to say something on the spot to have Farley get him his revenge.
But Farley was no lapdog of the Malfoy family. She also snapped, "All of you, with me! If you try anything else, I'll let you have a taste of a Silencing Charm and a Freezing Charm!"
Now Malfoy quieted down, but he kept staring at Dolly out of the corner of his eye, his face full of defiance, completely forgetting who had just been taken down in an instant.
But this wasn't surprising. In the eyes of a wizard, no matter how powerful Dolly's fists were now, it meant nothing.
They just needed to learn a few more spells, and then they could easily crush Dolly and make this Mudblood understand the gap between her and a pure-blood wizard.
"Dolly, are you okay?"
Hermione finally found a chance to come over and check on Dolly. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she found that Dolly's clothes just had burn marks and she wasn't injured at all.
Her red-rimmed eyes were like cute strawberries, making one want to lick them.
It was a pity this wasn't the time for that, so Dolly could only grab Hermione's hand, pull her into a hug, and then strike a victory pose. "See? Didn't I win?"
"You call charging headfirst into a Fire-Making Spell a win?"
"My goodness, I can't believe you're such a reckless person!"
Hearing this, Hermione was almost driven mad with anger.
If it weren't for Farley's glare, she might have started lecturing Dolly right then and there.
Dolly, however, happily held Hermione's hand, even as Hermione tried to pinch the skin on the back of her hand.
Now she understood a little why the old Dolly had liked boxing.
Because in that moment of action, the feeling of neurotransmitters surging through her body was truly fascinating.