Teaching a Lesson

A shy smile graced Tom's face as he humbly bowed to his Headmaster. "Thank you for your praise, Professor Slughorn. I was merely following your instructions."

Patting Tom's shoulder with a smile, Slughorn eagerly anticipated the young student's growth. By his third year, he planned to invite this talented cub to join the Slug Club.

Tom's performance earned him the favor of the professors, and it also stirred up quite a few people, especially some of the older Slytherins.

Brent, sitting in the common room, rolled his eyes and loudly complained to his friend, "Merlin's beard, the Headmaster has mentioned that half-blood more than once in class, Senior Greengrass! Don't you want to teach that guy a lesson?"

Glancing sideways at the blabbering idiot, Leander Greengrass closed his spellbook, brushed his hair off his shoulder, and directly moved to sit at the other end of the couch. "Stay away from me. If you want to cause trouble for others, go do it yourself. Bother me again, and I'll curse you."

Covering her mouth, Volgar let out a low chuckle, pityingly looking at the brainless fellow. She truly couldn't understand how such an idiot could come from the Flint family, and worse, be her classmate. She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows at the coldly observing senior, "Abraxas, someone's got ill intentions towards your little pet. Aren't you going to say anything?"

Leaning back on the sofa with one hand propping up his head, Abraxas played with his long hair. "If he can get a pass to the Forbidden Section from the Headmaster, do you think he's afraid of some idiot only a year older than him?"

Abraxas didn't believe the little guy was as harmless as he appeared. He had seen more than once how Tom took down new students with spells. Although they were just simple curses, they proved the other's talent was indeed very high.

"Actually, I'm looking forward to it too. A kitten with its claws retracted is always boring, isn't it?"

Celeno, sitting on the other side, obediently picked up a pastry and fed it to her fiancé. After he finished, she wiped the crumbs from his hands with a handkerchief, then got up and returned to her room. Her ordered items should be delivered soon.

Brent pouted in dissatisfaction. He was just a half-blood, yet the professors doted on him. He wanted to see if the guy was as good as they said!

Leaving the common room, Brent headed straight for the library. On the way, he encountered Tom, who was heading back. Brent lifted his chin and looked down at the young boy. "Hey! Come with me."

Tom sighed helplessly, feeling a bit annoyed. Was this person too fixated on him? Couldn't he use that energy to find trouble to read more books and enrich his empty brain? Glaring coldly at the idiot blocking his path, Tom nodded slightly. Since the other person wasn't going to give up, he would let him know the consequences of provoking him.

"Alright then, Senior Flint... It just so happens I wanted to go to the Forbidden Forest. Care to join?"

Brent sneered and walked towards the Forbidden Forest first. They arrived at the edge of the forest in silence.

Looking around, Tom didn't see the gamekeeper, Mr. Augur. He directly pulled out his wand and aimed it at Brent. "Blasting Curse!"

Blue flames erupted from the tip of the wand, and the powerful magic sent Brent, who hadn't reacted, flying backward, crashing hard against a tree trunk.