𝙮𝙤𝙪 || 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫: 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐬

The crowd cheered and clapped afterwards. After getting the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart shoved into his arms, Harry, who staggered under its weight, managed to make his way out to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron.

You, Ron and Hermione were grabbing your own stacks of Lockhart's books, valiantly pushing yourselves out of the crowd to join Harry. Ron was ranting about how Lockhart wasn't as good-looking as the witches claimed him to be.

"Don't be jealous, Ron," you snigger.

"I'm not jealous!" Bristles Ron, going slightly pink in the face.

Hermione sighs. "He is jealous, alright."

"I said I wasn't!"

When you finally made your way over to Harry, your smiling face contorts into one of displeasure at the sight of someone you least wanted to see during summer.

Standing there with his signature sneer and horrible slick-back hair was Draco Malfoy. He must have been harassing Harry and Ginny, because whatever came out of his mouth that somehow passed the filters of his small brain made Harry angry and Ginny blush a furious red. You stood protectively beside her.

"Oh, it's you," said Ron, looking at Malfoy with an unpleasant expression. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Malfoy. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ron went as red as Ginny. He dropped his books into the cauldron and went towards Malfoy, ready to throw hands if not for Harry and Hermione holding him back by his coat.

"Ron!" Said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

A man with long pale hair suddenly enters the shop. "Now, now, Draco, play nicely," he said, placing his cane on Malfoy's shoulder. Then, he turns to Mr. Weasley. "Well, well, well—Arthur Weasley."

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.

It's Malfoy's father.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy with a sneer. "All those raids...I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted a very old and battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration among the glossy covers of Lockhart books.

"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said, smiling sardonically. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't pay you well for it?"

He's just as ugly as his son. Both in looks and personality.

Mr. Weasley flushed an even darker shade than either Ron and Ginny. "We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.

"Clearly," Mr. Malfoy responds, his eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley...and I thought your family could sink no lower."

There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying. Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. It was utter chaos from there. Spellbooks of different kinds came raining down on everyone's heads. Fred and George were cheering for Mr. Weasley while Mrs. Weasley shrieked her protests. The crowd inside the shop staggered backward, knocking more shelves over while the assistant was trying his best to maintain order.

"Break it up, gents, break it up—"

Hagrid appears and made his way through the sea of books. He easily pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip while Mr. Malfoy's eye was bruised. He thrusts Ginny's book back into her hands, eyes shining with contempt.

"Here, girl, take your book, it's the best your father can give you," he scowls, pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip and beckoned to Draco as he left the shop.

"See you at school," Draco said contemptuously to Harry, giving all of you a nasty look before following his father.

"Ye should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, "rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that—no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter—bad blood, that's what it is. An' that goes for yeh too, young lady," added Hagrid tiredly, dragging you back by your collar when you made a move to go after Malfoy.

You huff. "I got away with cursing him last year. I'll do it again—"

"Students under the age of seventeen aren't allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts," reasons Hermione. "And besides, you don't even have your wand!"

All the way to the Leaky Cauldron, Mrs. Weasley was scolding Mr. Weasley for brawling in public. Ginny was silent throughout the whole walk, and you wanted to say something, but decided to leave her be until you were back at the Burrow.

"I'll see you at school," you bid goodbye to Hermione. They were leaving the pub for the Muggle street on the other side.

Mrs. Weasley took a deep breath after reprimanding her husband, then shoots everyone a smile. "Come on now, everyone get a pinch of Floo powder. Ginny, you first!"

Floo powder was definitely your least favorite way of traveling.