Drink and Remember This Taste

"That would be Mr. Goyle," Professor McGonagall nodded, making her decision on the spot.

"The matter is clear. Malfoy initiated a duel, yet played a trick to tip off Filch while shrinking away himself, tricking Potter and Weasley into wandering the halls at night."

No one spoke. Professor McGonagall looked at Snape, waiting for his stance.

Snape took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. "Professor McGonagall, announce the punishment. I have no objections."

"Very well." Professor McGonagall did not mince words. "Potter and Weasley violated school rules by wandering at night. Fifty points from each. Starting next week, you will serve detention in my office every night for a week."

At these words, Ron's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the floor; fortunately, Harry caught him.

Both boys were wailing internally: one hundred points! Since the start of the term, they hadn't even scraped together a fraction of that in bonus points. This wiped them out entirely; the Gryffindor hourglass was likely going to be empty.

Snape should have been pleased, but he felt no sense of security. If McGonagall was this ruthless with her own students, she certainly wouldn't show mercy to Malfoy.

Sure enough, Professor McGonagall's next words dealt him a fatal blow.

"Mr. Malfoy, although you did not wander at night, you initiated a duel without authorization and deceived your classmates, which is also a violation."

"To maintain the dignity of your family, I will announce publicly that you and Crabbe also participated in the night wandering."

"Therefore, one hundred points from Slytherin. You two will serve detention in Professor Snape's office."

Professor McGonagall swept her gaze over them. "I have finished. Does anyone have an objection?"

No one dared to object. The group retreated from the small room, looking dejected, leaving only Snape standing there with a heavy heart. He had truly lost his shirt and his coat in this deal.

When lunch arrived, the entire Great Hall erupted. The Gryffindor hourglass was nearly empty.

Slytherin's points had also been slashed in half, and anyone with eyes could see something was amiss.

Professor McGonagall simply stated the reasons for the point deductions in front of the entire student body.

Although she didn't mention the word "duel" once, only citing the violation of night wandering, the young wizards saw through it like a mirror, and the gossip continued unabated.

Malfoy's cowardice had been thoroughly confirmed.

Not only had he lost face for his family, but he had also dragged Slytherin down by a hundred points, squandering their previous lead.

The Slytherin students looked at him with nothing but malice; no one was willing to speak to him anymore.

He was thoroughly isolated, with only Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson willing to spare him a few words.

Conversely, although Gryffindor had lost a hundred points and felt the sting, the thought of dragging Slytherin down with them made everyone quite happy. As long as Slytherin suffered, what did a few lost points matter?

In any case, Gryffindor never lacked reasons to lose points; it was all the same whether it happened sooner or later.

The happiest of all was Tom. Now that Ravenclaw had taken the lead and Slytherin was trailing far behind, surely Snape would finally recognize his importance?

Sure enough, during Friday's Potions class, Snape abandoned his usual coldness toward him and asked questions frequently, effectively turning the lesson into a trivia contest between himself and Tom.

Tom answered every question fluently, and Snape took the opportunity to award points to Slytherin. Although the increments were small, the sheer volume of questions added up.

Occasionally, he would toss a question to Longbottom or Finnigan, but they either couldn't answer or gave nonsensical replies.

Snape naturally had every reason not to grant points to Gryffindor, and he felt a bubbling sense of satisfaction.

As the bell rang, Tom and Snape locked eyes, and both of them actually smiled.

This harmonious scene was a first since the start of the term at Hogwarts.

But the next second, Snape immediately reined in his smile, returning to his cold, dead-faced expression, and strode out of the classroom clutching his textbook, as if the smile from a moment ago had been everyone's collective hallucination.

Snape felt conflicted. Having a student like Tom was indeed worry-free; he was knowledgeable, quick to grasp concepts, and always trusted his words unconditionally.

He was a hundred times better than that idiot Malfoy, but the fact that this person was Tom Riddle made him feel deeply unsettled.

On the other side, Hermione was complaining to Tom, her little face scrunched up.

"It's so unfair! You answered twenty questions the whole lesson, and I only answered two, and one of them was wrong. It was all for nothing! Snape is just too biased!"

Tom was in a good mood and retorted casually, "Then go argue with Snape about it."

Hermione instantly puffed her cheeks out like a little hamster, looking aggrieved yet unable to vent her anger. Go argue with Snape?

She wasn't tired of living, was she? She didn't want him to deduct more points or keep her in detention to copy the school rules a hundred times.

Daphne, standing to the side, watched Hermione's frustration and couldn't stop grinning.

Hermione glared at her, and Daphne, not to be outdone, glared right back.

The two little witches never got along and bickered every time they met, though fortunately, they only dared to trade words and never actually came to blows.

That baby-fat-cheeked glare lacked any real lethality and was actually quite cute.

Tom couldn't be bothered with them and waved his hand. "Stop fighting. Do you want to go have some afternoon tea together?"

"Yes!" the two little witches said in unison, the previous awkwardness instantly cast to the back of their minds.

"Alright, let's go to the courtyard. While the weather isn't too cold yet, we can get some fresh air. In a while, I doubt we'll even want to step out of the castle."

Tom led the way, with Hermione and Daphne following behind, chatting and laughing. No one noticed that in a corner behind them, Malfoy was staring at them with venomous eyes.

This week was, without a doubt, the darkest week of Malfoy's life.

It was one thing to be mocked by students from other houses, but even his own house was isolating him.

To make matters worse, some bigmouth had leaked the news back home, and his father had sent a letter scolding him so severely that the profanity was practically blooming off the page.

Watching Tom looking so smug, accompanied by a pretty girl and followed by his three roommates like lackeys, Malfoy's composure completely shattered.

Why? How could Tom, a Muggle-born Mudblood, live so comfortably at Hogwarts?

And why was he, the eldest son of the noble Malfoy family, reduced to being pointed at, with only Pansy—a girl so ugly she killed his appetite—by his side?

He secretly swore that Tom was his mortal enemy, and not just Harry and Ron.

If he could just crush Tom, he would regain his face, and those who had ostracized him would surely come crawling back.

Malfoy's eyes darted around before he leaned into Goyle's ear, whispering in a low voice, "Goyle, listen to me, we'll do this..."

On Friday night in the Slytherin common room, most of the students were slacking off, either snacking or gossiping.

Only Tom and Daphne were huddled in a corner playing Gobstones, a half-bag of Honeydukes sweets piled beside them.