"I'm definitely telling my father," Malfoy shrieked the moment he woke up, perfectly fine. "He'll be expelled!"
All Malfoy ever did was brag about his father, and when that failed, he'd threaten to tell on someone. He's just like one of those dreadful children from the Muggle world, isn't he?
The only reason he was completely unharmed was thanks to the potion from the Carrows; otherwise, that "knotting curse" would have kept him in bed for days. Of course, if the target's... endowment was already small, it might not have mattered.
That's just how Malfoy is. As long as he's not the one in trouble, he'll just get right back up again, itching for another fight. If things had gone to plan, he would have spent six years 'duelling' with the trio, right up until Voldemort came back...
"Draco! Don't you dare!"
As soon as he heard Malfoy's threat, a girl with shoulder-length bobbed hair next to him quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, terrified he'd keep talking and infuriate everyone.
"This is Richmond's order. Do you want to defy him?" the girl, Pansy Parkinson, whispered urgently.
As a first-year, she had, of course, been there the night before. Whenever she thought about what happened, her backside gave a phantom ache. No one had escaped the wrath of the bottom-whacker.
What had happened that night was now forbidden knowledge in Slytherin. A topic they absolutely refused to discuss.
"What's so great about Richmond? He's just a Carrow. He only started a few years before me. I'll tell my father... Fine, I won't say anything."
Under Pansy's unblinking stare, Malfoy's voice got smaller and smaller until he was practically mumbling to himself. Not everyone feared the Malfoy name. The Carrows, for example—a seventh-year Prefect's family—or even Pansy's own family, the Parkinsons, weren't impressed in the slightest.
They were all in the same league, so no one was going to show off.
"Draco!" Pansy hissed loudly, a warning for him to drop the subject.
The events of that night had already turned many of the younger Slytherin students against Malfoy. They had lost, and it was all his fault. And in Slytherin, you only ever stand with a winner.
Besides, why should everyone else have gotten their backsides bashed while Malfoy got off scot-free? Of course, Crabbe and Goyle hadn't been hit either, but they had been used as human weapons. Just look at them now, trembling at the mere sight of Dudley. Nobody would have traded places with them.
But Malfoy, as usual, wasn't thinking. He hadn't even noticed the dirty looks the other Slytherins were giving him.
"Only for the sake of the Carrows, will I forgive that savage. I just hope he doesn't provoke me again. Otherwise, I'll make him pay."
Malfoy's mouth was the only thing that was truly brave about him.
Really, Malfoy was just blustering and bragging. After yesterday, he'd be mad to pick a fight with a menace like Dudley again.
Just look at poor Crabbe and Goyle; now, whenever they hear the names "Dudley" or "Dursley," they can't stop shaking, and they can't even walk properly. Clearly, the psychological damage had been immense.
When you asked them what happened, they said nothing, just trembled.
Malfoy, who had passed out and been hit with a Stunning Charm, was lucky. But Crabbe and Goyle were different. They were fully aware when the Body-Bind Curse hit them, and they had experienced the full horror of being used as human weapons. Malfoy knew his own mental fortitude was no better than theirs.
He was arrogant, not an idiot.
But what he said and what he thought were two different things. Just because he wouldn't go after Dudley himself didn't mean he wouldn't incite others.
Heh. Potions with Professor Snape is this Friday. I'll show him what's what.
Malfoy just couldn't believe that a wizard from a Muggle family would know anything about potions. Snape was an old friend of his father's; he was sure to take his side. All he had to do was stir things up a bit... Dudley wouldn't dare hit a professor, would he?
Oh, this was going to be a laugh.
Unfortunately, Malfoy was celebrating a little too soon. It was only Monday, and Friday was a long four days away.
Dudley, it must be said, was a fantastic judge of character. Or perhaps he simply had Malfoy's personality nailed down perfectly.
"Well, if it isn't Malfoy! Fancy seeing you on your way to class?"
He had only walked a few paces when a voice that had haunted his nightmares all night rang out behind him. The greeting was just a statement of the obvious, but that was Dudley's way.
Malfoy's head swiveled stiffly. When he saw Dudley, his soul nearly leapt out of his body. He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace and answered mechanically, "G-g-good morning."
Pansy, who had feared another clash between Malfoy and Dudley, just stood silently to the side, seeing her friend reduced to a trembling mouse in Dudley's presence.
Only after Dudley had walked far down the corridor did Malfoy take a deep, shuddering breath. When he saw Pansy looking at him, his face turned a furious red.
"I was just greeting a fellow student politely. You know how it is. A Malfoy is always a gentleman."
Malfoy tried to justify himself with a lie he didn't even believe.
Pansy now had no doubt that Malfoy would never, ever go after Dudley again.
She just hoped he wouldn't tell his father. It seemed Richmond was quite keen on this savage.
"See, Hermione? I get along with my classmates just fine. Look how happy he was to see me just now!" Dudley said to Hermione.
All morning, Hermione had been buzzing along like a clockwork duck, chattering away and asking endless questions about what had happened last night. While her concern was touching, Dudley certainly couldn't tell her the truth.
"Really?" Hermione looked deeply unconvinced. Malfoy's face had not looked happy at all. "I got the feeling he was scared of you."
Dudley's face hardened. "That's slander! I'll prove it to you. I'll get someone else to confirm it."
He randomly selected a lucky student.
"Hey! You there!" Dudley called out to a first-year Slytherin not far away. "I'm talking to you. Stop!"
The student acted as if he couldn't hear him and quickly picked up his pace.
"If you run, I'll hit you!" Dudley threatened.
Finally, under the threat of a good beating, the student stopped. He turned to Dudley with a forced "smile" even more ghastly than Malfoy's and claimed that Dudley was very popular in Slytherin.
Hermione became even more suspicious, but she still had no idea what had actually happened.
Although the students carried textbooks, the Hogwarts professors rarely stuck to them. The lessons were more often shaped by the professors' preferences and were surprisingly flexible.
For instance, Professor Sprout's first Herbology class was all about identifying Dittany. The Dittany Essence Hermione had given Dudley that morning was, in fact, extracted from Dittany plants. This was a topic that wasn't supposed to be covered until much later in the first-year textbook.
Professor Sprout was incredibly knowledgeable. A lot of what she taught wasn't in the books, including two ways to grow Dittany, six cultivation techniques, four ways to prevent disease, and thirty-six different uses for it. Dudley found the lessons incredibly useful, and he learned things he'd never even considered. When the class ended, he was still following Professor Sprout, peppering her with questions.
Aside from his brute strength, Dudley's biggest talent was Potions, and Herbology was the necessary foundation. You could say that anyone good at Potions was bound to be excellent at Herbology, and if you were bad at Herbology, your Potions would be terrible.
So Dudley listened intently, took diligent notes, and studied with a serious focus. His eagerness earned Slytherin two points. Of course, Hermione's quick and frequent answers had earned Gryffindor a whopping five points.
When class ended, Hermione looked at Dudley with a smug grin, her expression saying, Well? I've got three more points than you.
Dudley just smiled and shook his head helplessly. This little girl's need to win...
So in the next class, History of Magic, Dudley earned ten points for Slytherin. He was not going to be outdone.
His grasp of the history of the last few centuries was so impressive that Professor Binns was left speechless. He even managed to remember Dudley's name for the rest of the class, though he forgot it again by the next one.
In their next class, Charms, Hermione gave it her all, earning Gryffindor four points. Dudley, meanwhile, swung his wand around without producing so much as a spark. But his calm demeanor and his unique and insightful understanding of the theory of charms earned him five points from Professor Flitwick.
And so it went, back and forth, until it was finally the day Malfoy had been waiting for: Friday. Potions class.