Conflict

Kyle and Kanna stayed in the cabin all morning.

At noon, Hagrid invited them to have lunch together.

"A steak stew," he said. "You can't imagine how delicious it is."

Kanna was initially curious, thinking it was some novel dish she wanted to try... until she saw Hagrid throw an unidentified giant paw into the pot.

Then she made a quick decision... to return to the castle.

Kyle was the same, because in Hagrid's so-called steak stew, there was only a small piece of steak the size of a palm, and the rest was a bunch of random things.

A mixed stew is fine, but the steak is just something I'm doing for fun.

After making their decision, the two quickly got up and left the cabin despite Hagrid's attempts to persuade them to stay.

And they were incredibly glad they had made that decision.

Perhaps to celebrate the birth of Champion, today's lunch included some entirely new dishes that had never been served before: classic French red wine braised beef, puff pastry onion soup, and a crispy roll I couldn't name... It must be a specialty from Durmstrang, and it tasted pretty good.

"Thank goodness we're back." Kanna served herself a bowl of onion soup. "I can't believe what steak and those big claws would taste like stewed together."

"It's really hard to imagine," Kyle said with a laugh.

Besides aesthetics, they also have huge differences with Hagrid in their definition of deliciousness.

However, returning to the castle also had its downsides. Kyle had to deal with his enthusiastic classmates, who, to be honest, were a bit too enthusiastic.

In just the time it takes to eat a meal, a thick stack of books appeared next to Kyle.

These were all borrowed from the library, supposedly to help with the Triwizard Tournament. However, Kyle casually flipped through them and found that he had already seen more than half of them.

And this happened every day for the next few days, forcing Kyle to set aside time to decline these offers of kindness... oh, and autographs too.

Kyle never imagined that people at Hogwarts would start asking him for autographs, just like they asked Krum.

This was also the first time Kyle realized how famous the Champion were in the Triwizard Tournament. You know, when he became the youngest member of the Order of Merlin, no one ever asked him for an autograph.

In addition, students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang attend classes with everyone during regular hours.

However, almost all of them were sixth or seventh graders; there wasn't a single fifth grader among them.

Krum was probably the most popular among them. Whether he was in class or at the castle for some other reason, he was always surrounded by a large group of people.

Of all these people, Malfoy appeared the most. After two months of silence, he finally reverted to his arrogant self last week.

And he started causing trouble for Harry and Ron again... especially Ron.

Whether in class or when they occasionally met in the castle, Malfoy would always make sarcastic remarks to Ron, and this was the first time Ron had ever received the same treatment as Harry.

Ron was furious and wanted to fight Malfoy several times, but he held back after being persuaded by others.

This situation continued for a week until Wednesday at noon, when Ron went to the Great Hall for lunch and happened to overhear Malfoy badmouthing Krum in front of him.

"That redhead has something wrong with his head," Malfoy said loudly on purpose. "He likes to suck up to anyone famous, first Harry Potter ... you know, that idiot with the scar on his head."

He probably thought that by getting involved with Harry Potter, he could move out of that... well, you could call it a house. Ironically, he hasn't succeeded yet.

"Viktor, you really need to be careful, don't let him get on your nerves, that leech..."

"Malfoy!"

Ron stormed over, pushing through the crowd. "Dare you say that again?"

"Oh, who do we have here?" Malfoy looked up and said sarcastically, "Aren't you going to curry favor with Scarhead Harry Potter? Maybe he can get you a decent set of clothes."

"Get out of my way, Malfoy," Harry said, as he and Hermione clung tightly to Ron's robes to prevent him from lunging at Malfoy.

"Don't be angry, Ron."

"He just wants you to make the first move, so that Professor Snape will have a reason to punish you," Hermione pleaded.

"I don't care..." Ron twisted his body angrily, "I'm going to tear his mouth apart today!"

"That's terrifying," Malfoy continued sarcastically. "And your father, that old Weasley, his shabby appearance is a disgrace to the Ministry of Magic ..."

Ron struggled even harder.

"Ha, yes, your family is dressed quite well."

At this moment, Fred and George squeezed into the crowd from the other side. Far from being as excited as Ron, they actually looked quite pleased.

"George, do you remember the photo in the Daily Prophet from that day?"

"Of course, Fred, Mr. Malfoy, so impeccably dressed, is quite memorable," George said with a smile.

Then he cleared his throat, gesturing wildly as he spoke, mimicking the content of the newspaper:

"I don't know... Mr. Minister, they threatened me to do this, I'm innocent..."

These were Malfoy's words of defense during his trial, which were published in the newspaper along with his photograph.

As for Fred, he was wiping away tears with an exaggerated gesture... he was imitating Narcissa Malfoy in the photograph.

The two of them sang and laughed, like they were performing a stage play, perfectly replicating the content of the photo, which made many people laugh out loud.

"How dare you!" Malfoy's pale face flushed slightly as he drew his wand and pointed it at them. "I'll make you pay!"

"Alright, come on!" Fred said calmly, drawing his wand as well. "If you've got the guts, then go ahead and do it, and then, like Old Malfoy, claim you're innocent. Isn't that what your family does best?"

Malfoy looked into Fred's eyes, his chest heaving. The next second, the two acted almost simultaneously.

"Your Densaugeo!"

"Protego!"

A beam of light flew rapidly toward Fred, but bounced back even faster.

Malfoy was sent flying backwards, and it was clear that his front teeth were growing at an alarming rate, extending past his lips and down to his chin.

"What's all this commotion about?" a soft, weak voice asked.

Snape arrived, looked at Malfoy lying on the ground like a groundhog, and was about to speak...

"Professor, you've come at the right time! Come and see... that really scared me to death!" Fred said first, drawing out his words, "I was practicing the Shield Charm when Malfoy suddenly collapsed. What happened?"

"Practicing the Shield Charm?" Snape narrowed his eyes.

"Yes," George said, "We really like this spell, so we practice it a lot."

"That's right!" another voice said.

With a series of thumping sounds, Professor Moody walked over, stepping on his wooden prosthetic leg. His blue magic eye was fixed on Snape, then looked at Malfoy, who had just gotten up from the ground.

"Looks like he's been hit by his own curse," Professor Moody said gruffly. "How interesting... casting a curse on his own classmate in public, Snape, how do you usually handle these kinds of things?"

Malfoy seemed frightened and dared not utter a word.

Snape's face turned grim.

"Slytherin, deduct ten points. Malfoy, put in solitary confinement," he said coldly, grabbing Malfoy's robe and dragging him away without another word.

"Oh!"

"Praise the professor!"

Fred and George gave each other a high five, seemingly celebrating their victory.