"Harry... let's go too..."
Ron tugged at Harry, pulling him quickly through the corridor in the direction Vid and the others had left. The two, originally at the center of the skirmish, no longer attracted much attention, allowing them to slip away smoothly.
As they turned a corner, Harry glanced back and saw Pansy and Goyle trying to pull Malfoy away, only to be harshly pushed aside. The once proud, blond boy now looked disheveled, wiping his bloody nose angrily, while other Slytherins circled him, smiling and offering consolation.
Even from across the corridor, Harry could easily see through their hypocrisy and indifference.
For the longest time, Harry thought that aside from Snape, Malfoy was the worst person he'd ever met, even more annoying than his cousin Dudley. But now he suddenly realized that Malfoy wasn't as universally supported in Slytherin as he'd previously thought—he didn't seem to have any real friends there.
Soon after, the wall blocked his view.
"—What are you looking at?" Ron asked curiously.
"Nothing—" Harry turned his head and said, "I was just thinking, if I were faced with an unbeatable enemy, you and Hermione would definitely stand by my side and fight with me."
"Of course!" Ron, thinking Harry was talking about Malfoy and the others bullying Neville, immediately said indignantly, "Slytherin has always been like this, but we will never yield! We can't let them get too smug! Neville's just too timid, he needs to be braver."
"He was brave, remember? He fought Malfoy with you, for Hermione—punched that guy right in the nose!"
"Oh, right!" Ron recalled the previous scene, still excited: "Neville finally acted like a Gryffindor! Did you see Malfoy's expression earlier? I think he was about to cry!"
Ron's words made Harry a bit uncomfortable—though Malfoy definitely deserved it, the scene reminded him of when he was once chased and bullied by Dudley and his gang.
As they spoke, they saw Vid and the others from a distance. Standing together, the group of seemingly ordinary classmates emanated a peculiar aura, making it hard for outsiders to join easily.
Harry suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Ron—"
"What?"
"They are the SSC— the extracurricular study group Hermione recommended to me—" Harry said in a very quiet voice.
Ron suddenly became a bit uneasy, and the smile faded from his face. He stammered, "Yes—yeah—"
"I want to join." Harry suddenly made up his mind: "I want to learn some real skills, practice real magic spells, rather than just reciting texts with Quirrell in class!"
"That's great—I mean—you definitely should—maybe you'll even join the ranks of the top students one day—" Ron didn't look at Harry, and his tone didn't quite sound like himself.
"Aren't you going, Ron?" Harry asked, surprised.
"I wasn't invited—Hermione only recommended you—" Ron forced a smile and said, "You should just go, I might... I think I need to go to the infirmary—I guess Crabbe might have broken my rib—"
"—Maybe Hermione just forgot to mention, let's ask together!" Harry pulled Ron towards the group.
"Don't—Harry—"
Ron, looking reluctant and just being pulled along by Harry, was easily dragged over with little effort. Ron had a faint hope in his heart—maybe Hermione really just forgot to mention it to him? After all, he was always inseparable from Harry, and people always saw them as a team, perhaps they felt it was unnecessary to say more... and besides, they had just fought alongside Neville...
As the two approached, they heard Vid tell the others, "Neville, you need to go to the infirmary to see Madam Pomfrey, your arm might be fractured—everyone be careful of Slytherin's retaliation for a while, don't be alone..."
"What about you, Vid?" Theo asked with concern.
"I'm going to report to Professor Flitwick for punishment, using magic spells in the corridor against other students, no doubt I deserve a detention." Vid said.
"You're going—oh—" Michael was initially surprised, then nodded in agreement: "That's how it should be."
"Why?" Ron asked in confusion as he approached: "If the professor didn't see it, it's as if it never happened; why go confess?"
Harry and Theo both nodded in agreement, Leian seemed thoughtful.
"Don't you think Malfoy won't report it after suffering such a loss?" Michael reminded them: "Reporting to Professor Flitwick is still better than getting punished by Professor Snape later."
"That's true, if it's Professor Snape, he might deduct several points and give you a month's detention." Neville nodded with lingering fear. In Magic Potion Class, Professor Snape was always particularly harsh on Neville, causing him to develop a psychological shadow towards Snape.
"Then we'll go together!" Leian said: "We can't let the professor think it's all your responsibility."
"You guys didn't do anything." Vid saw Neville open his mouth to speak and shook his head, "Neville, you're the one being bullied, it wouldn't be fair if you got punished for it—go to the infirmary quickly, and check on Hermione too."
He waved his hand and turned away.
Harry opened his mouth, he originally wanted to ask if Ron could join the SSC, but found he had no chance to speak, seeing Vid had already left, he could only say, "Then let's go together."
Only at this moment did he realize his whole body was aching tremendously, surprised at how he hadn't noticed it before.
...
Vid knew at that time, Professor Flitwick should be in the staff room. He went to the first floor of the castle, knocked on the door, and soon heard Professor McGonagall's voice: "Please come in."
Simultaneously, the door opened automatically.
Vid saw that Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Flitwick were all in the lounge. He paused with some hesitation.
Professor Flitwick was in the middle of grading papers. Seeing Vid, he instantly smiled: "Vid? What's going on today, any more questions?"
Vid walked in, a bit bashfully said, "Uh... though I do have questions to ask, more importantly—Professor, I'm here to report for punishment for violating school rules."
"Report for punishment?" Professor Flitwick's face showed surprise, the other two professors also looked over.
In all their years of teaching, they had never encountered a student voluntarily confessing to a mistake—unless they had ulterior motives.
"What did you do, Vid?" Professor Flitwick asked kindly.
Vid hesitated to speak, glancing at the other two professors—not that he was afraid of being troubled by Snape, but his efforts to avoid trouble seemed a bit like tattling.
For a moment, Vid felt as if "the wicked complain first" was flashing above his head in large characters.
—Clearly, he wasn't any sort of villain.
Professor McGonagall sensed there was more to it, her expression immediately turned serious: "Mr. Gray, I believe all professors have the right to be informed about a student's violation of school rules."
"Alright." Vid reluctantly said, "The thing is, Professor—"