As the two groups got closer, Malfoy started with a sarcastic tone, his voice filled with a lingering sense of grievance.
Seeing Malfoy's attitude and reaction, Ron and Hermione's faces instantly darkened with indignation.
They wanted to argue on Harry's behalf, but Harry stopped them with a wave of his hand.
"Malfoy, I'm not here to pick a fight with you. I'm here to apologize. Sorry, I really misunderstood you during the last flying classes."
Harry apologized to Malfoy very sincerely, which stunned Malfoy.
He just stood there, not knowing what to say for a long while.
While Malfoy was silent, his henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle, burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Boss Malfoy, did you hear that? Harry Potter is apologizing to you! He's backing down!"
Crabbe and Goyle were as happy as if they'd picked up a hundred Galleons, extremely proud.
"Shut up!"
Malfoy snapped out of his daze in the midst of his two followers' laughter and immediately turned to scold them.
Crabbe and Goyle were startled and stopped laughing in confusion.
Only then did Malfoy raise his head haughtily and say to Harry arrogantly, "I accept your apology! Watch your step next time! Remember, I don't forgive people easily!"
Although Malfoy seemed extremely arrogant on the surface, he was secretly overjoyed.
He still wanted to be friends with Harry deep down. Harry's proactive apology was undoubtedly a very good sign.
However, Malfoy's arrogant response was too much for the hot - tempered Hermione to bear.
Before Harry could reply, Hermione raised her eyebrows and angrily accused Malfoy:
"Malfoy, what's your attitude? Harry came to apologize to you on his own initiative, and yet you..."
"Shut your filthy mouth, you dirty Mudblood! Don't you dare talk to Malfoy like that!"
The voice came before the person.
The sarcastic Pansy Parkinson, accompanied by her female follower Millicent Bulstrode, rushed over menacingly.
Her blatant insult interrupted Hermione's accusation of Malfoy.
Hermione, Ron, and Harry immediately turned around and glared angrily at Pansy and Millicent, who were approaching quickly.
The Malfoy Trio also shifted their gazes at the same time.
Malfoy, at the front, frowned again. Obviously, he didn't want Pansy to come over and defend him, nor did he want to hear that offensive word that had already disgusted him.
But because of his status as a pure - blood noble, he couldn't retort to Pansy right then. He could only watch the situation unfold.
"Another stupid bloodline theorist! Dare to have a wizard duel with me to prove your real skills?"
Hermione said coldly, directly targeting Pansy, who had already come close.
She was very angry now but not sad. After Dudley's detailed analysis and argument on the train, she had already seen through the nature of pure - blood nobles and bloodline discrimination.
She now only thought that people like Pansy, who had been brainwashed by the pure - blood ideology, were extremely pitiable.
"You reckless Mudblood!"
"Who do you think you are..."
Pansy was both angry and amused by Hermione's defiant attitude. She continued to hurl insults and was ready to take on Hermione's challenge.
Unexpectedly, before she could finish her words, she was hit by a foul spell from Ron, who didn't play fair.
"Slug-vomiting!"
Ron, unable to stand others insulting Hermione one after another, secretly took out the 'new' wand modified by Dudley and fired a common foul spell at Pansy.
Unlike the incident in the second year of the original story, when Ron stood up for Hermione and cast a foul spell on Malfoy, now the wand in his hand was intact. Moreover, it had been modified by Dudley to fit him perfectly, even better than a brand-new one.
The slug-vomiting spell didn't bounce back to him but directly hit Pansy Parkinson, who was spouting nonsense.
"Ugh—"
Pansy was hit before she could even draw her wand. She bent over painfully, vomiting a stream of slimy and disgusting slugs. Along with that, she also vomited some stomach acid and undigested lunch.
The scene was gross and awful. Pansy was fuming mad, but slugs just kept gushing out of her mouth, and she was too weak to fight back.
"Damn the Weasleys! How dare you do such a thing to Pansy for a Mudblood?!"
Millicent Bulstrode, behind Pansy, was furious. She reached out her chubby hand to pat Pansy on the back, but it was of no use. Then she angrily drew her wand to settle the score with Ron.
However, Millicent Bulstrode's large build couldn't translate into strength like Dudley's.
Just as she was about to chant an incantation, she heard two urgent incantation calls.
"Stupefy!"
"Instant Transformation!"
Harry used the Stupefy spell to knock Millicent Bulstrode out, and Hermione used transfiguration to turn Millicent Bulstrode's robe into mud - covered robes.
Then, Hermione struck again and turned Pansy's coat into mud - covered robes too.
"You asked for it!"
Hermione threw down a harsh word and turned away.
Ron quickly followed.
Harry didn't leave immediately. Instead, he turned to Malfoy and said,
"I know you're different from us. You have your family and your stance, but I hope you can be your true self earlier, just like me and my cousin!"
After Harry finished speaking, without waiting for Malfoy to respond, he quickened his pace to catch up with Ron and Hermione.
Malfoy was left standing there, stunned, and under the Forceful Control Incantation for another ten seconds.
"Boss Malfoy, should we help Pansy and Millicent Bulstrode?"
It was Crabbe and Goyle's words that brought Malfoy back to reality again.
Malfoy calmed his restless heart a little and looked at the miserable Pansy and Millicent Bulstrode.
By this time, Pansy had stopped vomiting slugs. The wriggling slugs, food residues, and stomach secretions on the ground covered a large area. It was the epitome of disgust.
In addition, Pansy, who was exhausted from vomiting, and Millicent Bulstrode, who was unconscious, had their clothes turned into a thin layer of wet mud.
Of course, Hermione's transfiguration couldn't compare with Dudley's. The mud - covered robes she created were neither smelly nor well - formed, couldn't last long, and couldn't prevent people from taking them off.
Pansy couldn't stand being in such a disgusting and miserable state in front of the person she liked. Immediately, she wanted to tear off her mud - soaked clothes, then turned around and supported Millicent Bulstrode to flee this place.
However, Malfoy called out to her and took out his wand.
Finite Incantatem!
Malfoy used the general counter - curse to undo the transfiguration effect on Pansy and Millicent Bulstrode's clothes.
He also made Millicent Bulstrode, who had been unconscious, show signs of waking up.
Pansy stared at Malfoy obsessively, her eyes turning into literal heart - shaped stars. Her crush on Malfoy deepened even more.
However, after helping them, Malfoy scolded them in a stern tone:
"I don't like dumb companions. Pansy, Millicent Bulstrode, next time you want to run your mouths off and insult someone, think about what you're capable of! Otherwise, you'll just end up in trouble!
Crabbe, Goyle, let's go!"