It only takes a few seconds for life to shift from joy to misery, and for Ron Weasley, his smug grin vanished the moment the owl swarm descended.
A scene much like this had played out just last year.
That striking flash of red from above, carrying a humiliating, thunderous roar, stripped Ron Weasley of his pride the instant it appeared.
Though the Howler wasn't directed at Harry Potter, and he wasn't blamed for their actions, it made him feel even worse. That unintentional favoritism from Mrs. Weasley planted a ticking time bomb—one that could go off at any moment...
...
Draco had no interest in hearing how the Weasley family disciplined their children. The moment he saw the Howler, he wisely left the Great Hall.
Pansy, who followed him out, let out a regretful sigh, clearly wishing she could have stayed to watch Ron and the others suffer.
"Kind of wanted to see their faces."
Even though she missed it, Pansy was clearly in a good mood, skipping alongside Draco with a spring in her step. Her delight in others' misfortune made Draco, who wasn't at all interested, chuckle.
He was starting to understand why Goyle and Crabbe were so scared of this little witch...
"If you want to see, go ahead. There's still time before class."
"No need. I'll get all the details from Goyle and Crabbe later."
Even from a distance, the shrill yelling—clearly from a woman—was still faintly audible.
Despite Draco's suggestion, Pansy had no intention of going back. Compared to the Chosen One's drama, she preferred to make the most of her time alone with Draco.
Draco didn't try to talk her out of it, and instead, offered his own take on the situation.
"I imagine Weasley's in trouble now."
"Punishment? But..."
"No, I'm not talking about the one who got the Howler. I mean the Weasley family who broke the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Act. I doubt even the Chosen One and his friends could avoid every Muggle seeing them on their way here. If they had, they wouldn't have gotten a Howler this morning, would they?"
"If that's true, then yeah... big trouble for the Weasley family, especially since they've got nothing."
Just like Draco said—had they stayed in the hall a little longer, they probably would've heard that Mr. Weasley was now facing an official investigation over the incident.
And for a family already struggling financially, this would be a serious blow.
Unlike the previous fight, this incident had real consequences for the entire Weasley family—but Draco wasn't particularly concerned about that.
He wasn't the type to watch others suffer out of spite. Calm and analytical, Draco could view the whole situation objectively, and that allowed him to notice what others had missed.
Step.
Draco suddenly came to a halt, nearly causing Pansy to bump into him.
"What is it? Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"
"..."
Draco didn't respond. He looked thoughtfully at the small girl blocking his path, then muttered quietly to himself...
"So... what made them resort to something like that just to get to Hogwarts?"
...
Draco snapped out of his thoughts and finally focused on the little witch standing in front of him.
He had assumed she was just passing by—but to his surprise, it looked like she was coming straight toward him.
"That robe... is she from Ravenclaw?"
The sky-blue color made it easy for Draco to identify her house, but that only deepened his confusion. As far as he knew, he had no connection with anyone from Ravenclaw.
Unless, of course, completely crushing their team on the Quidditch pitch counted as "interaction"...
As Draco studied her, Pansy leaned out from behind him, eyeing the girl warily and speaking in an unfriendly tone.
"Who are you? What do you want with us?"
"...."
"???"
To their surprise, the Ravenclaw girl didn't respond. Her expression didn't even flicker. In fact, it was as if she hadn't heard Pansy at all.
The silence clearly annoyed Pansy. She shot Draco a sharp look, as if to say, "When did you start attracting this kind of person?"
Draco, oblivious to Pansy's glare, watched the odd little witch with growing curiosity.
There was a reason he called her strange. Not only was she silent and expressionless, but she was also wrinkling her nose, as if sniffing something.
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Does she not know me? A first-year, maybe?"
Draco wasn't arrogant enough to believe every wizard in the world should know who he was—but at Hogwarts? He could say with confidence that there wasn't a single student who didn't recognize the name Draco Malfoy.
So, when this girl calmly approached him and locked eyes with him—those silver eyes giving nothing away—he was almost certain she had no idea who he was.
"Draco, is she someone you know?"
"No... If my memory's right, this is the first time we've met."
Draco was sure of it. She was far too odd—and unforgettable—for him to have seen her before and forgotten.
Besides those silver eyes, her dark golden hair, and skin so pale it was almost unnatural, she had this ethereal presence that made her impossible to overlook. Put simply—once you saw her, you wouldn't forget her.
And then there were those bizarre carrot-shaped earrings and the odd necklace hanging from her neck. If Draco wasn't mistaken, that was a Butterbeer bottle cap.
Looked like it was handmade, too...
As Draco and Pansy exchanged whispers, the peculiar girl—so lovely, yet so strange in both style and manner—finally broke her silence.
"I smelled Gurdyroot Infusion. I like it a lot."
"....."
"....."
Pansy: ????