Surely Not Every Bean Tasted Awful?

After hearing Professor McGonagall introduce Snape, Ron whispered to Harry beside him:

"Oh! I knew it. Malfoy's definitely going to Slytherin. That's why he had his dad contact the head of Slytherin House..."

"It's not your turn to speak yet!" Snape said coldly, looking at them.

At that, Ron and Harry wanted to glare back at him, but this wasn't the right time.

For Glenn's sake, they held back.

"Mr. Howard, could you explain what you meant just now?" Though Glenn's words had sounded rather absurd, Professor McGonagall asked patiently.

Glenn smiled and bowed politely to the two professors.

"Of course, Professor." Then he turned to Malfoy.

"Mr. Malfoy, how do you think I offended you?"

At that, Crabbe and Goyle flushed with anger and glared at Glenn.

He was clearly the one who'd started it, yet he was acting as though he had no idea what was going on!

It was obvious that Malfoy felt even more strongly about it.

After all, out of those bags of beans, he'd eaten the most.

But thanks to his aristocratic upbringing, Malfoy didn't curse him out. His normally pale skin merely turned ruddy.

"You forced us to eat something disgusting!" Malfoy practically ground out through clenched teeth.

"Oh? Something disgusting?" Glenn asked in surprise, then pulled a half-finished packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from his robes.

"These are sold on the train for six Sickles a box. They've been inspected by the Magical Food Regulatory Bureau and approved by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for sale aboard the train. And according to the saleswoman, they've consistently ranked among the top three most popular snacks with students."

"I don't think it's appropriate, in any sense, for Mr. Malfoy to call them disgusting, is it?"

Malfoy was breathing harder and harder.

They'd just endured ten minutes of hell! How could it have been just one ordinary packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?

"Professor, could you please examine those for me? I suspect something's wrong with them," Malfoy said to Professor Snape.

"Accio." Snape gave a light flick of his wand, and the packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans flew from Glenn's hand to him.

He looked it over, then took out a bean and examined it several times before popping it into his mouth.

The next moment, his brow furrowed.

"Isn't it awful, Professor? Doesn't it taste disgusting?" Malfoy asked hopefully.

Snape glanced at him. "Mint dark chocolate."

It was one of his favorite desserts.

Malfoy froze. He looked back at Crabbe and Goyle, who'd suffered the same ordeal as he had.

Their faces showed the same incredulity.

So some of them actually tasted like normal food?!

After Professor Snape handed them the beans, all three took one each.

As the flavor of orange burst in his mouth, Malfoy was momentarily speechless.

"If the saleswoman wasn't lying, every bean in this magical treat tastes different, and there's no way to tell by looking at them. Mr. Malfoy, surely I couldn't have picked every single bean you ate? If I had, then your luck..." Glenn trailed off.

Behind him, Harry and Ron grinned. Even Hermione, who'd been called over at short notice and arrived feeling anxious, couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching.

Under everyone's gaze, Malfoy took a deep breath and forced down his anger.

"Fine. Then how do you explain why you forced us to eat them?"

"Ah, that's easy." Glenn shook his head. "You said yourself that you'd run out of food and wanted us to give you something to eat."

"That doesn't give you the right to tie us up and force-feed us!"

Glenn smiled and shook his head. "That wasn't what I wanted. I saw that one of your friends said he wanted something to eat, but couldn't even hold the food properly. And then you shouted 'Mudblood' at us. So I immediately realized that the three of you must have been faint with hunger."

"Otherwise, given your father's upbringing and the Malfoy family's fine heritage, how could you say something so uncouth in public? Would your father really teach you to speak like that? So I only used a small, necessary measure to calm you down."

"You have no right to judge my father!" Malfoy was so furious his body trembled. But he couldn't deny Glenn's explanation or answer his question.

"Enough. Stop your sophistry, Mr. Howard," Professor Snape interrupted.

Anyone could see that if he didn't step in, Glenn's attack might soon make it sound as though the whole thing had been Malfoy's fault.

"Regardless, Mr. Howard, you still used a jinx and broke school rules. And Potter..."

"Wait, Professor Snape." Professor McGonagall raised a hand.

"Mr. Howard, are you saying you used Petrificus Totalus in self-defense?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Glenn nodded as though it were obvious.

"Miss Granger, you were there too. Is that what happened?"

Caught off guard, Hermione paused. Following Glenn's line of reasoning and thinking carefully about what she'd seen, she realized that it did seem to make sense.

After all, on the surface, Malfoy and his companions had simply gone into the compartment where Harry was to say hello, then suddenly started demanding food.

And judging by the outcome, Glenn had not only overlooked their appalling attitude but even offered to pay for their food himself and give them what they wanted. It was just that his methods had been a little extreme...

"Um, more or less."

"Then, Malfoy, were you actually harmed in any way?" Professor McGonagall asked, turning to him.

Malfoy's expression darkened.

Truthfully, no.

"Since there doesn't seem to be a problem, let's leave it at that. Mr. Howard, since your intention was to help a fellow student and no harm was done, we'll only deduct ten points from the house you're sorted into as a warning that your methods should have been gentler."

"Understood, Professor McGonagall." Glenn nodded modestly.

"Also, Mr. Malfoy, I must remind you that as a Hogwarts student, you need to keep yourself in check. Some things must never be said, especially that word." Professor McGonagall's tone was equally stern.

Under the teacher's authority, Malfoy glanced at Professor Snape, who'd tacitly allowed it, then reluctantly agreed.

"All right. The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. You may go back."

As they left, Harry couldn't help feeling that Professor Snape was watching him. Meanwhile, Malfoy, Goyle, and Crabbe were still talking quietly.

"So he just gets away with it? What about those awful beans we had to eat?"

Ron bit into one of the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans Professor Snape had returned. The taste of chocolate spread through his mouth.

"Too bad for you."