The Vicious Curse from Hell

"Trevor!"

Neville was overjoyed. He hugged his toad tightly, tears almost welling in his eyes.

Harry looked at Charlie enviously, his eyes full of admiration.

Charlie was the perfect wizard in his mind: funny, powerful, and friendly.

Ron was stunned. As a child from a wizarding family, he knew that pulling off a spell like that as a first-year was impressive.

"Oh, Merlin, Charlie, you can use Accio?"

Hermione's eyes widened.

"What spell is that? I've never seen it in a book."

"Accio." Charlie casually twirled his wand.

"It's a spell students learn in the upper years. We haven't covered it in our textbooks yet."

Hermione fell into thought. Anyone capable of such an impressive spell had to be a Pure-blood wizard.

Had Pure-blood wizards their age really learned that much already?

Ron: ??

It seemed that preparing with the first-year textbooks alone wasn't nearly enough. He'd have to work even harder to catch up with them.

She felt so anxious that tiny beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

She didn't want to fall so far behind everyone else as soon as school started.

Charlie had no idea how much psychological damage his actions had caused the little witch.

[Congratulations, Your Majesty, on completing Tyrant Behavior: showing off your skills. You have earned 1 Tyrant Point!]

With the toad found, Hermione and Neville left.

But while one had been dejected and the other cheerful when they arrived, now they had switched places.

Neville left with Trevor in his arms, grinning from ear to ear.

Hermione, however, wore a gloomy expression and kept muttering things like, "I have to speed up. I can't fall behind," and "Pure-blood wizards are so impressive."

The compartment fell quiet again.

Ron looked at Charlie, his eyes full of envy.

"Charlie, you're amazing! I've seen my brothers use Accio. They didn't learn it until third or fourth year."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you must be a genius."

Charlie flashed a wicked smile. "Being a genius is the bare minimum to meet me."

Harry and Ron: ...

Seriously, how could anyone say something so shameless?

[Your Majesty is arrogant about his talent. You have earned 1 Tyrant Point.]

[And Your Majesty's act is far too unconvincing.]

Shut up!

Before long, they were nearing Hogwarts.

A voice came over the loudspeaker. "We'll arrive at Hogwarts in ten minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train. It will be taken to the school."

The three of them hurriedly changed into their uniforms.

They put on their black wizard robes.

Harry and Ron excitedly straightened their clothes, too.

Just then, there was another knock at the door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Charlie was fastening his cloak and didn't even look up. "Come in."

The door opened, and three boys walked in.

The one in front was pale, with platinum-blond hair slicked back so neatly that not a strand was out of place. He looked around the compartment with an arrogant air.

The other two boys followed behind him. They were both chubby and ugly, the spitting image of a pair of lackeys.

The platinum-haired boy glanced around the compartment before fixing his gaze on Harry.

"I heard Harry Potter was in this compartment." His voice had the distinctive drawl of the upper class.

"My name is Draco Malfoy."

He pointed to the two boys behind him. "This is Crabbe, and this is Goyle."

Harry nodded and replied politely, "Hello."

Malfoy's gaze passed over Harry and landed on Ron and Charlie.

A sneer immediately curled his lips.

"Red hair, shabby secondhand robes." Malfoy gave a cold laugh.

"No need for introductions. I know who you are. Someone from the Weasley family, right? My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair and have a whole brood of children they can't even afford to raise."

Ron's face turned bright red in an instant, his ears nearly steaming.

Malfoy turned to Charlie and looked him up and down.

Charlie wore a brand-new school robe, but the shirt collar peeking out of it was unmistakably Muggle-style.

"And you," Malfoy said, wrinkling his nose as though he'd caught a whiff of something foul.

"You look decent enough, but you can't hide that Muggle stench. Another Mudblood, are you?"

At the word, Ron's expression darkened further, and he even glanced at Charlie with concern.

Mudblood was a deeply insulting word in the wizarding world, and Ron worried it might hurt Charlie's feelings.

But Charlie was just confused. What was that supposed to mean? Mud blood? That sounded pretty cool.

Malfoy turned back to Harry. His tone grew friendlier, though he was still condescending—at least it was friendlier than before.

"Potter, you should learn how to make friends with the right sort of people. Not all wizarding families are the same."

He held out a pale hand.

His meaning was clear: he was the right sort of person.

Harry's expression immediately turned stern.

He hadn't known Ron and Charlie long, but he already considered them friends.

He absolutely wouldn't tolerate anyone insulting his friends.

Though the boy in front of him was trying to make a friendly overture, his attitude disgusted Harry.

Harry looked Malfoy in the eye and spoke calmly but firmly.

"I think I can tell who my friends are."

"You'd better stay away from me and my friends, or I'll make you regret it."

His words rang out with conviction, but Harry wasn't sure he could back them up. Crabbe and Goyle were both far too big.

They were basically two oversized Dudleys. If things turned into a fight, the three of them probably wouldn't stand a chance.

A flicker of surprise crossed Malfoy's face, then his eyes narrowed.

"Apparently our Savior isn't very sensible. He actually likes hanging around with people of such low birth."

Ron shot to his feet and pointed at Malfoy. "Say that again, if you dare!"

Malfoy laughed scornfully. "Was I wrong? The Weasley family breeds like pigs, with more children than they can afford to raise."

Then he looked at Charlie. "And there's this Mudblood."

Charlie listened to all of this, feeling somewhat bewildered.

He could tell that "Mudblood" clearly wasn't a compliment, but to him, that level of insult was child's play.

No insults about the other person's family for three generations? No cursing their birthplace? Could that even count as name-calling?

But since the other guy had gone out of his way to provoke him, Charlie wasn't going to hold back.

Charlie slowly drew his wand, his movements graceful and precise.

"Inverted Hook."

The spell slipped lightly from his lips, yet carried an undeniable force.

Before Malfoy and the other two could react, they felt their feet lift off the ground. An invisible force grabbed them by the ankles and left them hanging upside down in the air.

"Ah!"

"Put me down!"

"You dare attack us?"

The three of them shouted in panic and struggled desperately to break free, but they could only thrash about in vain like fish hauled ashore.

Charlie walked up to Malfoy and looked down at him.

Malfoy's face had flushed red from hanging upside down, and his eyes were filled with fear.

He hadn't expected Charlie to attack him, or that a Muggle-born wizard could use magic so skillfully.

"You... You dare attack me? Do you know who my father is? He's a School Governor at Hogwarts!"

Malfoy's threat was more bluster than bite.

Charlie scoffed, a look of disdain flashing in his eyes.

"I don't know who your father is, but you're an idiot beyond belief."

"You're this weak, and you still go around picking fights? Did a dog screw your brains out? Or did your mother have you with some wild boar that hadn't learned to think?"

"Oh, wait. Maybe the boar hadn't learned to think yet. Your brains are worse than those of a wild boar that has."

The compartment fell terrifyingly silent.

Harry and Ron stared at Charlie, their jaws practically hitting the floor.

They couldn't believe their ears. That had to be the most vicious curse from hell.

They normally didn't get beyond calling someone a bitch. Compared to Charlie, who'd dropped three words and worked "screw" and "your whole family" into one sentence, they were practically innocent little flowers.

Malfoy's face went from red to white, then white to green, and finally almost purple.

He was shaking with rage, but being upside down left him unable to do anything effective in retaliation.

"I... My mum didn't have me with a wild boar."

"You... You... Just you wait! My father won't let you get away with this!"

Malfoy spoke through gritted teeth, his voice cracking with tears.

Charlie wasn't moved. Instead, he leaned in closer and lowered his voice.

"Listen, young master. Before your father can come after me, I'll shove your head in a toilet and flush it, just to see if I can get some brains out of you."

With that, Charlie waved his wand and ended the spell.

The three boys crashed to the floor with heavy thuds and groaned in pain.

"Get lost," Charlie said coldly.

Malfoy scrambled to his feet, his eyes glistening with tears.

"You'll regret this!"

With that, he fled the compartment with his two lackeys.

Even after the compartment door closed, Ron and Harry were still in shock.