Can't every bean be bad?

After hearing Professor McGonagall's introduction of Snape, Ron whispered very quietly to Harry beside him:

"Oh, I knew it! Malfoy definitely got into Slytherin, that's why he had his dad contact the Head of Slytherin..."

"It is not yet your turn to speak!" Snape said coldly, staring at them.

At that, though Ron and Harry wanted to glare back, it wasn't the right moment.

For Glenn's sake, they held back.

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

With a smile, Glenn gave a slight, polite bow to both professors.

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

"Mr. Malfoy, in what way do you believe I have offended you?"

Hearing this, Crabbe and Goyle flushed red and glared angrily at Glenn.

The instigator himself, yet he pretended nothing had happened!

Clearly, this emotion was even stronger in Malfoy.

Because out of all those bags of beans, Malfoy had eaten the most.

But due to his noble upbringing, Malfoy didn't burst into a tirade of curses—though his normally pale skin had turned ruddy.

"You forced us to eat disgusting things!" The words were practically ground out through Malfoy's teeth.

"Oh? Disgusting things?" Glenn asked in surprise, then pulled a half-eaten pack of Every-Flavour Beans from his robe.

"These are items sold on the train, priced at six Sickles a box, inspected by the Magical Food Regulatory Bureau, placed on the train for sale with the approval of our Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And according to the saleswoman, this product has consistently ranked among the top three most popular foods among students for years."

"I think, Mr. Malfoy, calling it disgusting is hardly appropriate, either in reason or in sentiment."

Malfoy's breathing grew more rapid.

They had endured ten minutes of hell! How could it possibly be just a simple pack of Every-Flavour Beans?!

"Sir, could you please examine it? I suspect there's something wrong with what he's holding," Malfoy said to Professor Snape.

"Accio." Snape merely flicked his wand, and the entire pack of beans flew from Glenn's hand to him.

He looked it over from top to bottom, then took out one bean, examined it repeatedly, and put it into his mouth.

The next moment, he frowned.

"See, Professor? Isn't it a disgusting taste?" Malfoy asked hopefully.

Snape glanced at him. "Mint dark chocolate."

It was one of his favorite desserts.

Malfoy froze. He turned back to look at Crabbe and Goyle, who had suffered the same fate.

He saw expressions of disbelief on their faces too.

A normal food taste?!

Taking the beans Professor Snape handed back, the three each ate one.

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

"If the saleswoman didn't lie to me, every bean in this magical food has a different taste, and it can't be discerned by sight. Mr. Malfoy, I couldn't possibly have made every single one you ate taste bad, could I? In that case, your luck..." Glenn didn't finish.

But behind him, Harry and Ron were grinning, and even Hermione, who had been nervously summoned, couldn't help the twitch at the corner of her mouth.

Facing the gazes of others, Malfoy took a deep breath, forcing down his anger.

"Fine. Then how do you explain forcing us to eat those things?"

"Ah, that's not hard." Glenn shook his head. "Mr. Malfoy, you said it yourself—you had run out of food, so you asked us for some."

"That's no reason to tie us up and shove them into our mouths!"

Glenn smiled and shook his head. "That wasn't my intention. But I saw that classmate of yours say he wanted food, yet couldn't even hold it steady. And when you shouted 'Mudblood' at us, I immediately understood that you three must have been so hungry you lost your heads."

"Otherwise, with your father's upbringing and the noble bloodline of the Malfoy family, how could you utter such vulgar words in public? Would your father teach you that? So this was just a small measure I had to take to calm you down."

"You have no right to judge my father!" Malfoy was trembling with rage, but he couldn't deny Glenn's reasoning or answer that question.

"Enough. Stop your sophistry, Mr. Howard." Professor Snape cut off the conversation.

Anyone with eyes could see that if he didn't intervene, given Glenn's momentum, it would soon become Malfoy's fault.

"Regardless, Mr. Howard, you still used a curse, violating school rules. And Potter..."

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

"Mr. Howard, are you saying that your use of 'Petrificus Totalus' was for emergency avoidance?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Glenn nodded matter-of-factly.

"Miss Granger, you were present. Is that accurate?"

Suddenly called upon, Hermione paused. Following Glenn's logic and recalling the scene she had witnessed, after thinking it over, it really didn't seem problematic.

After all, on the surface, Malfoy and his group simply went to Harry's compartment to say hello, then suddenly started asking for food.

And looking at the result, Glenn not only ignored Malfoy and the others' rude attitude, but even offered to treat them to food at his own expense, fulfilling their demands—the only issue was that his methods were a bit extreme...

"Uh, basically accurate."

"Then, Malfoy, did you suffer any actual consequences?" Professor McGonagall turned to ask.

Malfoy's face darkened.

Honestly, no.

"Since there's no real problem, then let's leave it at that. Mr. Howard, in light of your original intention being to help a classmate, and since no negative impact occurred, we'll only deduct ten points from the house you're sorted into as a warning that your methods were not gentle enough."

"Very well, Professor McGonagall." Glenn nodded humbly.

"Additionally, Mr. Malfoy, I must also remind you that as a Hogwarts student, you need to control yourself. There are certain words that must never be said, especially that one." McGonagall's tone was equally stern.

Under the teacher's authority, Malfoy glanced at the taciturn Professor Snape, then reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. You may return."

As they left, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that Professor Snape was staring at him, while Goyle and Crabbe were still whispering with Malfoy.

"And we just let him go like that? What about those awful beans we ate..."

Ron bit into an Every-Flavour Bean that Professor Snape had returned, the taste of chocolate flooding his mouth.

"Consider yourselves unlucky."