Chapter 509: Fighting in a Group!!
Boy!
Darren was almost stunned.
Rita Skeeter's article was unbelievably outrageous.
On the surface, it was praising him—but in doing so, it ruthlessly attacked both Dumbledore and Harry.
She wasn't even afraid that Dumbledore might show up at her doorstep one night and make sure she never saw the sun again.
Still, this was most likely Fudge's signal.
After all, Rita Skeeter had rarely mentioned Darren before.
Even when she did, it was only in passing—one or two sentences at most.
There was no way she would suddenly devote such a large section to praising him unless someone had instructed her to.
This was probably exactly what Fudge wanted.
Praise Darren, then criticize Dumbledore and Harry—wasn't the goal obvious?
To drive a wedge between them.
If next semester Darren's twin brother sided with Fudge and turned around to criticize Dumbledore and Harry, the fallout would be massive.
Fudge's calculations were very clear.
But Darren was not about to fall into that trap.
With a wave of his hand, he burned the newspaper to ashes.
Then he clenched his fist and charged straight at Malfoy.
It had been almost a year since he last fought like this—now everything erupted at once.
So many lies had been pinned on him that he barely recognized himself anymore.
Malfoy's face turned deathly pale.
"I didn't say anything bad about you! Why are you hitting me?!" he shouted.
"On what grounds?!" Darren roared.
"What nonsense did you feed Rita Skeeter? That I'm bullied by my brother? That he attacked me in class?"
"And Parseltongue—why didn't you tell her that I'm also a Parseltongue?"
"I'm a Parseltongue too! If you let her write that, why don't you let those idiots send letters to curse me as well?"
"You don't care what kind of life my brother is living. You don't care how miserable he is. You're just jealous that he lives under everyone's attention!"
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding…]
Darren's roar echoed through the entire Great Hall.
The surrounding students all showed expressions of embarrassment.
When they first read the article, many of them had subconsciously felt that Harry wasn't a good person.
But after Darren's outburst, they suddenly remembered something important—
Harry was only fourteen years old.
Their prejudice against him had gone too far.
That could be reflected on later.
Because by now, Darren had already lunged at Malfoy.
He didn't use any magic—this was pure, physical violence.
Within moments, Malfoy's face was beaten into a panda eye.
Crabbe and Goyle rushed forward to pull Darren away.
But Ron and Harry jumped in as well.
The situation instantly turned into a group brawl.
Hermione's screams rang out as she rushed forward and stomped on Malfoy's head.
"You— you bastard! You piece of shit! Let me go!" she shouted furiously.
The Slytherins rushed in too.
Thinking they were trying to gang up, the Gryffindors didn't hold back either.
While fighting Malfoy, Darren noticed Fred blasting Sterling's ear.
Cassandra and Pansy were grappling fiercely with Hermione.
Something about their fight felt odd to Darren—it looked intense, but strangely unbalanced.
Just as he started worrying that Hermione might get hurt, Ginny rushed in to help her.
That finally evened things out.
"Enough! Enough! Stop fighting!"
Professor McGonagall shouted angrily.
"Stop it! All of you, stop!"
She yelled right in front of them.
No one listened.
Darren even slapped Malfoy across the mouth again.
The others were no better—they looked ready to beat each other senseless.
Fortunately, the wizarding world still had someone who could end this chaos.
Dumbledore stepped in and separated everyone.
Darren collapsed onto the ground, wiping blood off his face.
It was Malfoy's nosebleed, and the smell made him nauseous.
Harry had a swollen eye.
Ron's nose was crooked.
"How dare you! Never—never in all my years at Hogwarts—!"
Professor McGonagall spun around furiously.
When she saw the blood on Darren's face, she thought it was his and immediately moved to drag him toward the hospital wing.
"All of you!"
Then she turned sharply to Snape.
"Severus, what exactly are your students doing?!"
As if only realizing the situation now, Darren lowered his head guiltily.
"It's all my fault," he said softly.
"I caused everyone to fight. Professor, punish me. Expel me… or even send me to Azkaban."
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding…]
"I don't think your problem is that serious."
Snape said coldly.
He then turned to Malfoy with a mocking sneer.
"Although the Potter family does have a strong tendency for troublemaking…"
His gaze briefly swept over Harry, who trembled with anger.
Snape continued calmly,
"…Darren Potter is hardly the worst among them. So tell me—what did you do?"
Malfoy lowered his head weakly.
Professor McGonagall shot him a stern look, then handed Snape a newspaper—the very same issue of the Daily Prophet.
"I believe this is the reason. Darren is not wrong. If it were me, I'd deal with such a student far more harshly."
Snape read the paper, his expression darkening.
Then he looked at Malfoy coldly.
"I will write to your family. One full semester of confinement next term."
"You will also clean the toilets—and for the rest of today, every toilet in the entire school is your responsibility."
Malfoy stared at him in disbelief.
Snape ignored him and turned to the other Slytherins.
"Fighting, brawling, disgraceful behavior… Fifty points deducted from Slytherin."
Harry was stunned.
This was the largest point deduction Snape had ever given to his own house.
Then Harry began to worry—what would Snape do to Darren?
Sure enough, Snape turned his gaze toward him.
"Darren Potter."
Darren looked up, eyes slightly red.
"Copy the Slytherin House rules one hundred times and submit them before next term begins."
Harry's eyes widened.
Snape… was being lenient?
As if sensing the confusion, Snape added:
"If you fail to take first place in this competition, you will also receive a semester of confinement."
Harry immediately understood.
Snape was betting on Darren.
As long as Darren took first place, Slytherin's reputation would rise.
Truly worthy of Snape.
What a shame.