Ron's Breakdown and the Fugitive Wrongly Accused

After finishing the potion in her hand, Muya's face scrunched up from the terrible taste. "Ptooey, ptooey! Susan, hurry, do you have any water?"

"No, but I brought some candy." Susan unwrapped a piece, and Muya obediently opened her mouth.

Muya hugged Susan. "Susan is so nice!"

"Ahem, all right, all right. Let's go to class first." Susan rubbed her burning earlobes.

By the end of the morning, Muya's cold symptoms had eased considerably. She had steeled herself to find Ron, only to discover that he and Harry had gone to see Hagrid.

"They did come to the library and ask whether I wanted to go, but I was doing homework at the time, so I turned them down." Muya thanked Hermione, but as she turned away, Hermione caught her hand.

"Ya Ya, I don't have anything to do right now. I'll go with you."

Who could refuse the clever Miss Know-It-All?

Muya certainly couldn't.

To their surprise, they ran into Pansy and her group as soon as they stepped outside.

"Looks like you took my words to heart." Pansy lifted her chin. "Hufflepuff students aren't suited to playing with Slytherins. You should be with those stupid lions from Gryffindor instead." Her lips curled upward.

Several girls behind her covered their mouths and laughed.

"Parkinson! Don't go too far!" Hermione pulled Muya behind her and shouted at Pansy.

Muya patted Hermione, then asked Pansy, "Aren't Slytherin students supposed to care a great deal about manners?"

She tilted her head at the group.

Pansy choked on those words. Was Muya calling her ill-mannered?

By the time she came back to herself, Muya and Hermione had already left.

"I won't care about what she said, Hermione. Who I make friends with is my freedom." Muya smiled.

Naturally, Hermione did not care about