In the quiet of the evening and the not-too-noisy station, Marius Cloud's voice rang out clear and sharp—every single first-year heard it.
The students who had been following Hagrid all came to a curious halt and turned their heads.
Suddenly, the scene fell completely silent.
But this silence was not peaceful—it was heavy, suffocating. And all of it pressed down upon Draco Malfoy like a mountain.
Dozens of eyes stared right at him. The feeling of being judged, pointed at, accused—it was too much. The defenses of Draco's young, prideful heart completely collapsed.
"L-Lies! You're lying! That never happened!" Draco stammered, pale as a ghost, his voice shaking violently.
"He's the one lying," Harry whispered to Ron, both of whom had witnessed the bet firsthand. "He definitely made that wager with Marius, and he was acting all smug about it too…"
But even Harry's whisper rang clear in the dead silence.
"Ah—sorry, I didn't mean to—" Harry tried to explain, flustered.
But no one was interested in excuses. Now that a new voice had confirmed the claim, the crowd once again turned its collective gaze on Draco.
It was the worst kind of silence—the judgmental kind. Draco looked like he might faint again. His face turned paper-white.
"I-I didn't break my word!" he gasped. "I didn't disgrace the Malfoy name! I didn't!"
Beside him, Goyle and Crabbe didn't dare lift their heads. They kept their eyes on the ground, afraid that they might be the next targets of Marius's crushing presence.
"Is that so?"
Marius's calm, almost lazy voice echoed across the platform like a whisper from the abyss. It pushed Draco step by step into a corner.
Draco's eyes locked onto the ground, trembling fingers once again gripping the hem of his robes.
"For… for the honor of the Malfoy family…" he muttered to himself, almost hypnotically, as he slowly lifted the robe.
Beneath it, his scrawny, pale chest was exposed.
The crowd erupted.
They were all children—new students—so naturally, none of them missed the opportunity to stare and whisper excitedly.
Is he really going to run naked into Hogwarts?!
To them, it was both absurd and hilarious. Draco was like a clown in a circus, a spectacle, and they were the gleeful audience at the zoo.
Hermione looked on, her heart unexpectedly heavy. "That's enough, Marius… let him go," she said softly.
Marius glanced at Draco's dazed, broken expression and waved a dismissive hand. "That's enough humiliation for one day. Draco, don't ruin the reputation of pure-blood families at Hogwarts. I'll show you mercy—this time."
He didn't enjoy pushing people to the edge. As foolish as Draco could be, he was still just a child. And if Draco really had run naked into the school, Dumbledore and the professors would no doubt come down hard—probably on him.
Marius spoke as if dismissing a trivial matter. But to Draco, it felt like a rope had been cut from his neck. He could breathe again.
And then came the shame.
He was ashamed of his relief, humiliated that he'd come so close to breaking. But most of all, he was terrified—terrified of the boy who had just played with him like a cat toying with a mouse.
For the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy felt truly powerless. He realized that Marius held his fate in the palm of his hand… and that if Marius hadn't let him off, his life at Hogwarts would've been over on day one.
In the distance, even Hagrid stood dumbfounded. His massive body froze for several long seconds before he unconsciously shivered. The atmosphere Marius radiated now was the same as that day in Gringotts—cold, calculated, overwhelming.
It was like Marius was warning everyone:
Cross me, and there will be consequences.
And this kid was only eleven? It was… terrifying.
Still, Hagrid tried to give himself some courage. He's just a student. No matter how intimidating, he's still a child.
Once Marius was left behind and had a taste of reality—realized he couldn't reach Hogwarts on his own—then he'd calm down. Hagrid could always return later and bring him across.
After all, Dumbledore had told him to make sure all the students arrived safely.
"But still… letting him suffer a little first is probably good for him," Hagrid told himself, forcing a smile. But his hurried steps and the distance he put between them said otherwise. He wanted to be far away from Marius Cloud.
"Marius… they're really leaving by boat," Hermione said anxiously as she watched the crowd shrink into the distance. "What should we do?"
"What else?" Marius said nonchalantly. "If we can't sail there, we'll just fly."
"…Fly?" Hermione blinked at him in surprise. "You're not serious…"
But before she could say more, Marius raised a hand and gestured toward the luggage carts.
"Come."
Hermione stared at the pile of student luggage.
Nothing happened.
She turned to give Marius a confused look—and that's when the pile began to tremble.
At first, it was a faint shake. Then the entire stack began to rattle violently, as if a beast were trapped inside, struggling to break free.
BOOM!
A sleek, exquisitely-crafted broom burst from the pile, scattering trunks in every direction, and zoomed straight toward Marius—landing softly in his outstretched hand.
"A broomstick!" Hermione gasped, covering her mouth. "You summoned it from all the way over there?!"
"And… and that's flying! But I thought broomstick lessons didn't begin until after we start school?!"
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