Tricking Draco

Chapter 30: Trapping Draco the Next Morning

Brook and Hermione were sitting at the dining table, leisurely enjoying their breakfast.

Harry and Ron came over.

"Thanks a lot for last night, Brook," Harry said, thanking him again for the previous night.

"You've already thanked me, haven't you?" Brook replied with a smile.

Harry gave a shy grin and was about to say more.

Draco walked over with an incredulous expression.

"You haven't been expelled yet?"

Though Harry found last night's experience thrilling and exciting, he wasn't about to thank Draco for it—in fact, he was even more annoyed.

"Oh, how strange. Why would I be expelled?"

"Don't tell me you didn't go last night either?" Draco's tone dripped with sarcasm. "Surprisingly, you actually had a moment of sense for once."

"I'm not like some people, a coward at heart," Harry shot back without backing down.

"I just don't deign to duel with the likes of you!"

"Yeah, right! And on top of that, you snitched to Filch. I can't see what's so noble about you," Harry fired off at full blast.

Draco was furious and about to throw a punch.

Brook's lips curled slightly. "I think Mr. Malfoy should talk about compensation."

"Compensation? What do I owe you?" Draco looked baffled.

"Sit down. I don't have a habit of looking up at people," Brook said unhurriedly.

Draco sneered. A Mudblood ordering him around?

Brook glanced around and lowered his voice. "Or does Mr. Malfoy want everyone to know you stood us up last night?"

"So what? I was just fooling those two idiots."

Harry and Ron's faces flushed with anger, ready to retort.

"Is that so?" Brook's gaze sharpened.

"What if Snape or Slytherin found out you didn't follow the agreement to participate in the Wizard Duel?"

"What... what would happen?"

Draco's voice began to tremble.

Though he couldn't figure it out, he instinctively feared what Brook would say next.

Brook pointed to the seat in front of him.

Draco reluctantly sat down.

"What if they found out you tossed Slytherin's honor aside last night, choosing deceit and snitching to avoid a fair Wizard Duel?"

Brook's voice was soft, but it struck Draco like thunder.

He shuddered violently.

He finally understood Brook's meaning.

Though Slytherin was known for cunning and ruthlessness, it valued honor highly.

If the house found out about this, his Malfoy name might protect him from serious consequences, but scorn and ostracism would be unavoidable.

"If you tell, Harry and Ron's night wandering will come out too."

"So what? They'll get punished, not me. And I think they'd be happy to go down with Mr. Malfoy, wouldn't they?"

Brook said nonchalantly.

Ron wanted to say he cared, but Harry tugged at him, forcing him to swallow his words.

"Then what do you want?" Draco asked helplessly.

"That depends on Mr. Malfoy's sincerity. After all, Harry and Ron suffered considerable mental harm because of your actions. That Mental Damage Compensation..."

"Mental Damage Compensation? What's that?"

Draco didn't get it at first, but quickly caught on.

Wasn't this just a fancy way of asking for money?

"I'll give 10 Gold Galleons."

Ron's eyes went wide.

Ten Gold Galleons!

Even split four ways, he'd still get 2 Gold Galleons, 8 Silver Sickles, and 14 Bronze Knuts.

He'd never seen so much money before and was itching to agree on the spot.

"Tsk tsk tsk, is the Malfoy family's reputation worth only 10 Gold Galleons?" Brook put on a disappointed expression.

"What about twenty?"

Draco's tone weakened as he spoke cautiously.

In his mind, the Malfoy family's reputation was priceless.

"I think I'll ask someone else. Maybe one of Malfoy's enemies would pay a higher price for this information."

Brook closed his eyes, looking like he didn't want to discuss it further.

"You—" Draco's face flushed red and purple, clearly furious.

"Three hundred Gold Galleons. That's all my pocket money left for this year. If you're still not satisfied, we'll go down together."

"You and Harry will go down together—that doesn't include me." Brook shrugged. "But since Young Master Malfoy is showing such sincerity, I'll take a loss and make a friend."

Draco gritted his teeth. Only a madman would want to be friends with you.

He pulled a money pouch from his pocket and tossed it onto the table.

Brook extended his hand, a sincere smile on his face.

"I genuinely want to be your friend."

"Hmph!" Draco stood up angrily, ignoring Brook's hand entirely, and strode away with big steps.

"Young Master Malfoy, come play anytime!"

No sooner had Brook spoken than Draco stumbled, nearly falling.

Hermione nudged Brook with her shoulder.

That was utterly devastating.

She covered her mouth, struggling not to laugh out loud.

She'd caught that sly smirk curling at the corner of Brook's lips and knew he was up to no good.

So she'd just watched the whole show without saying a word.

And in the end, he'd really swindled Draco.

"Haha." Harry laughed joyfully.

It felt amazing.

Today was truly his best day ever.

Ron, meanwhile, stared fixedly at the money pouch, swallowing repeatedly.

"Harry, I know this money came mainly because of you two, but Hermione and I helped too—how about we split it four ways?" Brook suggested.

"I don't need any. You three split it evenly, a hundred each."

Harry quickly waved his hand.

He still had plenty of Galleons in his vault and didn't care about this money at all.

Just seeing Draco humiliated was enough to satisfy him.

Why would he even think about taking the cash?

"That won't do." Brook tossed the pouch to Ron. "If you don't take it, how can I? And if I don't take it, then Geng... well, you have to take it anyway."

Ron caught the pouch with trembling hands.

It took immense willpower not to open it and peek at the Galleons inside.

"Alright then." Harry nodded.

"That's the spirit! Ron, can you handle the split?" Brook said.

"N-no problem." Ron stammered in reply.

He never accepted charity from others.

But this money was something Brook had gotten for them, and a share was rightfully his.

He could take it with a clear conscience.

"Pure blood is an honor, but isn't it also a kind of shackle?" Brook remarked thoughtfully.

Harry didn't know if Brook was saying that to him or just making an observation.

But it got him thinking.

But before he could figure out the deeper meaning, he was met with another thing that made him extremely happy today.

Six long-eared Scottish Owls, carrying a slender package, fluttered their wings and landed in front of Harry.

There was also a letter on top.

After reading it, the smile on his face was impossible to suppress.

He explained quietly to Brook, "It's a Nimbus 2000 broomstick inside. Do you want to come outside with me to check it out? Professor McGonagall doesn't want too many people to know."

"I'll pass, you guys go ahead." Brook turned his gaze to the owl instead.

How could he have forgotten about this thing.

He'd heard it made good soup.

Might try it someday.

When Ron was dragged out by Harry, he was still a bit dazed, his eyes fixed on the money pouch in his arms.

Maybe one share for Harry and one for me, one share for Brook and one for me, one share for Hermione and one for me.