He Almost Believed

Redstone is soft in texture, and the sound of grinding it with a file isn't too grating. If the door is closed, it can barely pass as white noise for sleeping at night.

And so it went, until the latter half of the night, when Kayson, feeling thirsty, sat up in bed. Drowsily, he picked up a glass of water and drank it in one gulp. After a moment's thought, he walked out of the bedroom.

Draco was kneeling in the corner of the office, holding a file, leaning against the wall, already asleep.

Seeing this, he returned to his bedroom, took out a blanket, and carefully covered Draco with it. However, he still had no intention of preparing a bed for him or sending him back to his dormitory.

People should always pay the price for their actions. Draco didn't know how hurtful a single malicious word could be, so Kayson, as his professor, kindly helped Draco understand the heavy price he would have to pay for his actions.

And so, the next day...

Draco felt the sunlight shining on his face and opened his eyes in a daze.

He expressed his deep respect for the nightmare he had last night. There was no blood, no darkness, no jump scares, only a giant piece of Redstone and a file that made him feel a deep sense of fear.

But thankfully, the dream was over.

He subconsciously tried to stretch, and then felt his body stiffen. Looking down, he saw... Redstone... he had ground half the night, and only a third of it remained.

In his hand was still that small file.

"..."

He stood up, and the blanket draped over him slid to the floor. Feeling somewhat broken, he kicked the piece of Redstone in front of him. But unfortunately, although Redstone was soft in texture, it was soft compared to stone.

Compared to Draco's foot...

"Ah!!!!"

He instinctively stepped back, his foot landing on the blanket. His other foot got caught by the blanket, and the forces from both directions acted upon each other, causing him to fall backward stiffly.

The back of his head hit the ground hard, but thankfully, there was the thick wool carpet.

The string of misfortunes, coupled with the grievances from grinding Redstone all night, piled up, causing Draco to break down and cry.

Kayson, holding a stack of Stamina Potions, stopped outside the office door. He pressed his ear to the door to listen.

When the sounds inside quieted down a bit, he pushed the door open and walked in.

"Drink this Stamina Potion, or you'll probably catch a cold staying here all night." Kayson placed the Stamina Potion on the coffee table, along with a sandwich and a bottle of pumpkin juice.

"Oh, and breakfast."

Draco, who had been grinding Redstone all night, was already starving. He picked up the sandwich and took a bite. As he tried to swallow, he felt a sharp pain in his throat.

He had caught a cold.

"Looking at your progress... it will take about eleven more days to get out of detention." Kayson looked at the wear on the Redstone, stroked his chin, and sat on the sofa opposite Draco.

He looked at the young wizard before him, whose eyes were filled with fear and resentment, and shrugged without any particular thoughts. It was like a prisoner hating a jailer; it was only natural.

However, an explanation was still necessary.

"Do you regret it?"

"What?" Draco asked, looking up from the food he was enduring the pain to eat.

"Do you regret using those filthy words to insult... Miss Granger?"

Draco didn't answer, continuing to eat with his head down.

"Do you know what 'Mudblood' means..."

Draco shook his head.

"That's right, your parents might occasionally use such words, but they would never specifically teach them to you. In short, this word is very dirty, and it's definitely not just a common derogatory term for a Muggle-born wizard."

"You can use any words you can imagine, including but not limited to genitalia, livestock, personal insults, humiliation, curses, all combined together, and they still wouldn't be as malicious as the original meaning of this word."

"I understand," Draco said dryly, keeping his head down. Kayson wasn't sure if he truly understood.

"After you finish eating, remember to drink this Stamina Potion. I've prepared fourteen bottles for you, but judging by your efficiency, I'll need to get another seven bottles from Madam Pomfrey... which means you'll have to endure another twenty days of this."

Listening to Kayson's cold words, the tears Draco had been holding back once again broke free. The sweet sandwich turned salty in less than five seconds.

"I hope you can remember this lesson, Mr. Malfoy. After you finish eating and drinking your medicine, you can wash up here, or you can return to your dormitory to wash up and then go back to class. After classes in the afternoon, complete the labor Professor McGonagall assigned you, and then return here until you finish grinding seven pieces of Redstone."

Draco listened, trembling, and looked up with a hint of grievance, "Can I take a leave of absence and stay here to grind?"

"If that's the case, other young wizards will learn many more spells than you. Don't you want to be able to fight back when you're in a wizard's duel or a fight?" Kayson didn't refuse, but he clearly explained the consequences.

"I'll come back after class."

"Of course, if you don't come, I'll have to personally go and ask Snape for you."

After Draco left the office, Kayson waved his hand and collected all the Redstone powder scattered in the corner. It could be directly used as teaching material for fifth-year students.

Soon, the morning classes for the first-years were almost over. Draco sheepishly returned to the Alchemy office and picked up the small file to start grinding.

Kayson, meanwhile, sat on the sofa as if nothing had happened, brewing a pot of green tea.

When it was time for afternoon classes, Draco would sheepishly leave again. In just half a day, another third of the Redstone was ground away.

Kayson was quite satisfied with this. After all, if he continued at this efficiency, he might not need to get another stack of Stamina Potions from Madam Pomfrey.

Of course, the Redstone was secondary. He sincerely hoped that this young wizard, who spoke without thinking, would truly learn from this lesson.

After all, he was only eleven years old. Little Kayson hadn't settled into his ways yet, and everything was still up in the air.

Just like that, the naive Professor Kayson thought everything was developing in a good direction.

Especially one day, a week and a half later, Draco had already ground down the last piece of Redstone.

He would have almost believed it if not for the arrival of the four Gryffindor youngsters.

Really.