A Misunderstanding About His Character

The moment Draco heard it might leave scars, he panicked. He grabbed Luo Bin's sleeve. "Luo Bin, I know you've been learning to brew Potions from Professor Snape in private. You know what Giant Horse-King Wasp venom does, so you must know how to treat it. Help me! Whatever you want, I'll give it to you! Knuts, Sickles, Galleons—I have plenty!"

Clatter! Clatter!

Copper, silver, and gold coins spilled into a little heap. As expected of the Malfoy family's only son, Draco had money to throw around. "I don't want money. I want books!"

"Books?" Draco looked baffled.

"That's right. Lucius mailed you a load of books for older students, didn't he?"

"Yeah. What do you want them for?"

They might as well have been scribbles. Draco recognized every word, but put together, they made no sense. After two or three pages gave him a splitting headache, he had shoved the books, box and all, under his bed!

The Replication Charm was advanced magic; it wouldn't appear in lower-year textbooks. "I have my reasons. Don't worry about it. Give me the books, and I'll pull out the stingers and apply the ointment. Deal?"

Books he couldn't understand were just wastepaper. Draco had no reason to cling to them. "Deal. The box is under my bed. The password's ******. Take whichever books you want. Hurry! Ow, it hurts!"

Serves you right for shooting your mouth off at Harry and his friends. Luo Bin pulled out the box, confirmed the password worked, then turned to get his medical kit.

A harsh white light brought tears to Draco's eyes!

"Hold still. I can't see the punctures without the light!"

"All right, just hurry!"

Draco drooped and turned his head back.

The stingers were buried deep. Luo Bin soaked the wounds with soapy water, rubbed them, then worked at them with a needle. It took considerable effort to extract all three thick black stingers!

"Now they're out, it won't get infected, right?"

Draco, whose face had grown even redder and more swollen, looked pitiful!

"You don't trust me? Put on a thick layer of ointment and wash it off tomorrow morning. I guarantee the redness, swelling, and puncture marks will all be gone!"

"Really?"

The ointment Madam Pomfrey made for swelling was milky white. The stuff in this jar was dark blue, more like a witch's brew from a storybook. Would putting it on his face really help?

"Don't believe me? Fine. Go to the Great Hall tomorrow with a face like a pig's and give everyone the laugh of the year!"

"I believe you!"

With that, Draco scooped out a heaping spoonful and smeared it over his eyelids. Minutes later, he had himself a brand-new Avatar 2.0 look!

"All done!"

Once the ointment was on, Luo Bin packed up his medical kit and returned to his desk. By lamplight, he leafed through three second-year books without finding a trace of the Replication Charm. He wasn't disappointed. Finding one leaf in a sea of books was never going to take only a few hours.

The next day, the excitement from the Quidditch Match still lingered in the Great Hall. Students along the long tables were still arguing animatedly about yesterday's spectacle.

"Listen, I'd bet Gryffindor's House Cup that Malfoy won't leave his dorm all day. His face... it's swollen up like a pig's!" Hermione declared.

"Exactly. He cares too much about his looks!" Ron, now in a better mood, agreed.

"Hermione, I think you've lost that bet. Not only has he left his dorm, his face isn't swollen at all!" Harry said, looking toward the Entrance Hall.

"What?"

Hermione turned and saw Draco walking into the Great Hall with his two lackeys. There wasn't a mark on his face. She stormed over. "Malfoy!"

Draco backed up a few steps and glanced around warily, afraid another swarm of Giant Horse-King Wasps might come flying at him. Once he was sure it was safe, he opened his mouth again. "Mudblood, the House Cup is going to Slytherin. Just wait for the Gryffindor students to turn on you!"

"I waited outside Madam Pomfrey's door. You didn't go to her yesterday. Who treated you?"

Hermione planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks. She looked like a kangaroo ready for a fight!

"Luo Bin. My roommate, Robin Sear. Mudblood, it doesn't matter how close you are to him. Don't forget, the Sorting Hat put him in Slytherin. Gryffindor won't get a single point from any honors he earns. Hmph. As long as you're at this school, you're rivals. You'll never be good friends."

Having delivered his parting shot, Draco walked off with a snicker. Hermione's eyes blazed with anger. She kept watch over the Entrance Hall, and the moment she spotted the black-haired boy, she shot toward him like a bullet. "Luo Bin, why did you help that awful boy?"

That awful boy?

Draco!

"Hermione, he's a Hogwarts student. It's as simple as that!"

"What? It wasn't because he's highborn and the Malfoy family's only son? You could get on Lucius's good side by helping him, then make connections at the Ministry of Magic?"

After yesterday's match, plenty of people had said Luo Bin would join the Ministry of Magic someday. Hermione couldn't help imagining things, and his answer had plainly caught her off guard!

"Hermione Granger, what exactly have I done to give you such a terrible impression of me? Please move. I still need to eat breakfast!"

Goyle and Crabbe, the two gluttons, had nearly taken all the grilled sausages. When Hermione didn't move, Luo Bin went around her!

Hermione stood rooted to the spot. She didn't budge even when someone bumped into her. Only after Harry tapped her shoulder a dozen times did she come to her senses. She lowered her eyes, worried. "Harry, Ron, I think... I said the wrong thing?"

She had accused someone brave, principled, and willing to take responsibility of being a social climber who courted the nobility. Hermione felt awful. "I... I only said it because I was angry. Luo Bin didn't take it seriously, did he?"

"Hermione, Malfoy's right. Luo Bin is a Slytherin student. He's our enemy!"

"Hmph! Ron, I hate you! I'm going to apologize until he forgives me!"

She turned and went into the Great Hall, only to find that the person she wanted to apologize to had already finished eating and left. She pouted and decided to catch him at the library. Unfortunately, Luo Bin spent the whole day in his dorm looking for the Replication Charm!

For the next two weeks, Luo Bin moved between his dorm, the dining hall, and his classrooms. Every time Hermione saw him, she gave herself a pep talk and rehearsed her apology three times before she dared approach. Then... she stopped five meters away, because he walked off without looking back.

Luo Bin was busy throughout those two weeks. Hermione was miserable and listless. Even the dazzling wonders of Charms class couldn't hold her interest. Her professors reprimanded her more than once, and Professor Snape even took ten points from Gryffindor for what he called her disregard for classroom discipline.

Harry and Ron saw it all and worried about her. The two secretly discussed dragging Robin Sear over to her!

Early Sunday morning, a thick layer of snow lay on the windowsill. The difference between the temperatures inside and out had fogged the glass!

After washing up, Luo Bin drew a sparrow pecking at grains of rice on the glass, as he usually did. Then he took out an upper-year book and read it line by line. "...Point your wand at the object, guide the flow of Magic into a '¤' shape, and call out 'Iksere Alik' with firm conviction. You will obtain an identical object?!!"

Bang! Bang!

"Ah! All that searching finally paid off! I found it!"

Luo Bin slapped the desk and shouted in excitement!

"Found what? Robin Sear, you're not planning to practice magic in the dorm, are you? No, you can't! You'll break something, bring Filch down on us, and cost Slytherin points!" Draco mumbled from under his covers.

"I don't need you to tell me. I know!"

With that, Luo Bin grabbed his shoulder bag and hurried toward the Hunting Grounds!