Hearing that voice, Link didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
Draco Malfoy.
Including himself, among everyone Link knew, there were only three people who used a certain peculiar tone when calling someone's name, a tone they used to express dissatisfaction or disdain.
Of those three, Snape was the originator, and Link was the successor.
As for Draco, that clever little show-off, he apparently thought Snape's way of emphasizing a name wasn't dramatic enough, so he invented a more "flashy" version of it.
This kind of thing was actually pretty common in human history. It's like how the simple insult "idiot" eventually got softened after some smart aleck came up with "dumbass," and over time even picked up a teasing, half-affectionate tone.
If Draco were famous enough, and enough people imitated him, maybe his special tone would achieve the same kind of success.
Unfortunately, for now he was the only one using it, which made him look particularly stupid.
Harry seemed to feel the same way Link did, frowning impatiently as he said, "What is it now?"
"Mind your manners, Potter, or I'll give you detention," Draco said in that so-called "aristocratic tone" he shared with his father, Lucius. "Unlike you, I'm a prefect now. Which means I have the power to punish people!"
"That doesn't change the fact that you're still an idiot," Link said flatly, popping another piece of liqueur chocolate into his mouth and chewing as he added, "and a rude idiot at that. Can't you see we're talking? You're not welcome here, now get lost."
As soon as he said that, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and the girl with the carrot-shaped pendant all burst out laughing.
The carrot-pendant girl laughed the hardest, completely different from her earlier silence when Link entered, she was laughing so hard she looked like she might suffocate.
That made Malfoy pout.
He looked at Link's calm, disinterested expression, his anger burning but still barely suppressed, saying nothing for the moment.
Then Ron, apparently eager to kick him while he was down, jumped in and said, "Yeah, get lost with your goons! Don't think you can use your dirty tricks on Harry again, don't forget I'm a prefect too!"
At that, Draco's eyes suddenly lit up, as if an idea struck him. His gaze paused on the prefect badge on Ron's chest, and then a nasty smile slowly spread across his face.
He waved a hand and said disdainfully, "Ah, I almost forgot, even the most useless redhead of the Weasley family managed to become a prefect. How unbelievable."
"You must've forgotten my brother Percy was a prefect too, and he took points off you once!"
Ron snapped back, gritting his teeth. But clearly Draco had anticipated that answer, he was ready. He shot back so fast it was almost like he was in a quiz competition, "Of course I know! Percy Weasley, the Minister's most loyal little dog. He's a lot smarter than you, that's for sure. And what's wrong with your ears, Weasley? I said the most useless redhead, meaning you.
"Oh, and while we're at it, I'd love to ask our dear Savior Harry, how does it feel to lose to a Weasley, Pott~er?"
"What did you just say! Percy's not like that, he's just..."
Ron barely got half a sentence out before Hermione hit him with a "Densaugeo!," instantly giving him two massive front teeth that blocked the rest of his words.
Harry let out a long sigh of relief. If Ron had actually blurted out that Percy was a spy, the consequences would've been unimaginable.
But almost immediately, Harry's expression darkened again.
He had to admit, Draco's "offhand remark" had hit him right where it hurt.
He was suddenly grateful Draco had brought up Percy, because if Ron's outburst hadn't drawn everyone's attention, he'd be even more awkward right now.
Whatever he said about Percy to Ron would just sound like jealousy.
Meanwhile, Hermione's spell had indeed stopped Ron from spilling the secret, but it had also caused another problem, Draco and his two cronies were now laughing so hard they could barely stand.
Their loud laughter made Ron's face go from pale to bright red in seconds, redder than his hair.
Seeing this transformation made Draco laugh even harder. Clutching his stomach and gasping for breath, he sneered, "Hah! Miss Know-It-All, huh? Trying to be like Percy now? Too bad, we don't need Mudbloods like you! Hahaha!"
The moment that word left his mouth, everyone except Draco's gang went pale. Harry didn't hesitate, he pulled out his wand.
But someone was faster.
Link shot to his feet in an instant, towering over Draco, his voice icy cold, "Draco, it seems you took my 'get out' as a suggestion. Not only are you still here, but now you're insulting my friends. Fine then, you're not leaving yet. You'll apologize to Hermione first. And make sure you address her properly as Miss Granger."
Draco's smirk vanished at once. Fear flickered across his face, and he instinctively took a step back. But then, as if realizing how cowardly that looked, he stepped forward again, gritting his teeth.
"Apologize to that Mudblood? Never! Link, don't think I'm still afraid of you! My father's a guest of the Minister now, and you know who's back, right? Link, since we're both purebloods, I'll give you some advice, start being nice to me. Otherwise, hmph!"
He seemed encouraged by his own words, regaining that smug, arrogant look.
Link just stared at him for a while, speechless. Finally, he sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Looks like you really haven't changed a bit. I can't believe your father never mentioned my warning to your family. But I suppose that doesn't matter anymore."
Draco's face changed instantly. He looked like he wanted to run.
But Link had already raised his wand.
Bang!
With a loud crack and a puff of smoke, Draco Malfoy turned into a platinum-blond hamster.
"Oh my God! Link!"
"Master!" x2
Three cries rang out at once, the first from Hermione, whose face was full of both worry and gratitude as she looked at Link.
Attacking another student was a serious offense, especially now, when the Ministry was already targeting them. She was terrified Link would be punished.
The other two shouts came from Draco's cronies, Goyle and Crabbe.
True to their reputation as brainless idiots, instead of helping the hamster-Draco or running from Link's terrifying power, they actually charged at him.
Yes, you heard that right.
Maybe it was just habit, as pure-blood wizards, their first instinct wasn't to pull out a wand, but to rush in for a fistfight.
But before they could even reach him, several red jets of light shot down the corridor, hitting both Goyle and Crabbe squarely in the chest and knocking them out cold.
"Harry, don't worry! We've got your back!"
At that familiar voice, a whole crowd of Link's "old-timer" crew, the ones he'd stationed in other compartments, came charging down the train.
They looked fierce and excited, like they were ready for a brawl, making the other students scatter in alarm.
Link stepped out of the compartment to face them.
The moment they saw him, the whole group froze. They quickly hid their wands behind their backs and tried to look innocent.
"What are you all doing here?" Link asked, frowning.
The Weasley twins stepped forward, clearly nervous.
"Ah, well, we just heard that the Malfoy brat was blocking Harry's compartment, so we came to, uh… protect him."
"Yeah, that's right! You know what the Malfoys are like, we were just worried, that's all!"
"Exactly! We were worried!"
"Protect the Savior Harry!"
———
The twins' explanation seemed to act like a cue, the rest of the group immediately started chiming in with agreement.
By now Harry and the others had come out of the compartment too, and after a quick exchange, the entire car was filled with laughter and chatter.
But as soon as they noticed Link's expression growing colder, everyone went quiet again.
"Don't think I don't know what you troublemakers are up to," Link said slowly, pacing before them, his face serious.
Everyone stiffened, until he suddenly smiled.
"But… this time, you actually did well."
The whole group exhaled in relief.
Fred and George rushed over, clapping Link on the shoulder.
"Merlin, Link, you nearly scared us to death!"
"Yeah, don't do that next time, our hearts can't take it."
"But… wasn't Malfoy supposed to be here too? Where'd he go? Did he run away?"
Everyone looked around curiously.
"Pfft!"
Harry and Ron both burst out laughing. Link pointed to the floor and said, "He's right there."
Everyone looked down, and saw the platinum-blond hamster trembling in the corner.
It looked exactly like one of those "terrified hamster" memes from Link's past life. Honestly, if you ignored the fact that it was Draco, it was kind of cute.
The group immediately burst into laughter again.
Fred and George, egged on by Ron and the others, even crouched down to tease hamster-Draco, nearly making him cry. The scene was pure chaos.
"Alright, enough. Move aside before you scare him to death. I still need to take him to the prefects' compartment and explain things to Cedric," Link said, pushing through the crowd.
Hamster-Draco flailed his tiny legs, desperately trying to run away. Being turned into a hamster was bad enough, being carried through the train for everyone to see would be social suicide. He'd probably have to transfer schools in shame, just like that Kingsley kid did.
But since he'd only just been transformed, he clearly wasn't used to hamster movement yet. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't run, and with a flick of Link's wand, he was floating helplessly in midair.
"I'm coming with you!" Hermione said firmly, stepping out from the crowd. "I was the one insulted, I can testify that Malfoy provoked this first!"
Harry and the others immediately chimed in, offering to go too.
Link couldn't help but smile wryly.
Given that Cedric was the Head Boy now, and even Dumbledore was his ally, he hardly needed witnesses.
Still, seeing how determined Hermione was, he agreed to let her come.
As for the rest, definitely not.
That bunch of chaos-loving pranksters would just turn the whole thing into a riot.
So, after deciding quickly, Link and Hermione set off toward the front of the train with hamster-Draco floating beside them.
Because of how the prefect system worked, the closer to the front of the train, the more orderly the compartments became.
Those were the ones prefects tended to patrol. Older students and troublemakers avoided them, only first-years, who didn't know better, sat there when they couldn't find seats elsewhere.
That also meant the new prefects liked to linger there, showing off their authority to the easy-to-boss-around first-years instead of dealing with the tougher older students.
It was a self-perpetuating cycle, not necessarily good or bad, just the way things worked.
As Link and Hermione walked toward the prefects' compartment, they drew plenty of attention.
Especially from Hufflepuff's new prefects, Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott, the moment they saw their house's legendary figure, they practically turned into golden retrievers, fawning over Link nonstop.
When they heard what hamster-Draco had done, they were furious, ready to throw a dozen more jinxes at him just for good measure.
Their reaction, of course, drew the attention of all the nearby first-years.
Link was handsome enough as it was, and anyone who could make prefects act like that clearly wasn't ordinary.
And to top it off, he had a floating hamster beside him.
Some of the braver first-years even started asking the older students who Link was.
The older ones, puffing up with pride, began whispering stories about Link's exploits like they were telling legends.
So, after walking through a sea of curious and admiring looks, Link and Hermione, escorted by a crowd of overexcited new prefects, finally reached the prefects' compartment.
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