Malfoy gets a beating

With nearly two weeks left until Christmas, Will was in no hurry. He continued steadily with his study plan, taking extra Charms lessons with Professor Flitwick twice a week and occasionally going to Snape for extra Potions lessons.

Then came a day in mid-December, after Potions class.

Will had stayed behind in the classroom for a lesson with Snape. Less than half an hour had passed when hurried footsteps and a commotion sounded in the corridor outside the Potions Classroom.

Will and Snape both frowned. Before either could react, Malfoy burst into the Potions Classroom, sporting two black eyes and a badly bruised, swollen face, shouting, "Potter! Potter—"

Barely two seconds later, Harry and Ron charged through the door and tackled him. The three rolled across the floor several times, even smashing two glass jars containing preserved specimens. Copious amounts of strange-smelling liquid soaked their clothes. Finally, Harry sat astride Malfoy, raining punches down on his body and head. Malfoy screamed again and again, blood from his nose flying far across the floor.

Ron pinned Malfoy's hands down, constantly swearing at him, calling him things like a filthy little bastard.

Red-eyed, Harry was still swinging wildly when someone suddenly grabbed his arm. The grip was immensely strong, holding his arm so firmly that he could no longer bring his fist down.

"Harry Potter!"

Harry looked up into Snape's terrifyingly dark face. Cold fury etched Snape's features as he forced the words through his teeth. "Assaulting a fellow student, bullying at school. Fifty points from Gryffindor—"

This time, Harry did not look away as he usually did. Instead, he glared straight into Snape's eyes. "Shut up. I know what your connection to Malfoy is, but I don't care. Take all the points you want!"

Will raised an eyebrow beside them. He did not remember Harry being this fierce in his first year.

"Malfoy provoked him first, Professor Snape." Hagrid strode into the Potions Classroom, panting. "Malfoy just insulted Harry's family."

"Regardless, bullying a fellow student is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid!" Snape displayed an unusual degree of fury as he hauled Harry off Malfoy. "Potter! Weasley! Get off your fellow student!"

Snape had Harry by one arm, but Harry kept hammering Malfoy with his other hand, swearing as he hit him. "You bastard! Say one more bad word about my parents, and I'll beat you until you can't walk!"

"Pot...ter..." His face bruised and swollen, Malfoy glared at Harry through one open eye and mumbled indistinctly, "You're just an orphan with no mum or dad. Your parents deserved to be killed by the Dark Lord. They must've been a pair of ill-mannered scum too. I'm telling my father..."

Malfoy's insults were vicious beyond measure. Even as Harry was dragged upright, he landed several hard kicks on Malfoy, who lay on the floor like a dead dog.

Malfoy failed to notice that the moment he finished speaking, Snape's gaze shifted to him. For no apparent reason, he felt a prickling chill down his back. Watching from the sidelines, Will could only conclude that Malfoy truly excelled at courting disaster.

"Thirty points from Gryffindor! Starting tomorrow, all three of you will serve detention in my office until Christmas!" Without waiting for Malfoy to speak, Snape turned to Will. "Berens, take Malfoy to the Hospital Wing!"

Clearly, today's extra Potions lesson was not going to happen. Will held out his hand to Snape. "The permission slip for the Restricted Section."

Snape tossed Will the slip he had already written.

Only then did Will cast two Levitation Charms on Malfoy. He then used Transfiguration to turn the permission slip into a rope and tied Malfoy to it like a balloon.

"Put me down! You bastard! You Mudblood, I order you!" Malfoy twisted and shouted in midair. Thoroughly irritated, Will cast Langlock on him.

Throughout it all, Snape said nothing, allowing Will to lead Malfoy out of the Potions Classroom like that.

As for supporting him as he walked?

What a joke. Will had no desire to get any of those strange-smelling liquids on himself.

Seeing Will treat Malfoy this way made Harry and Ron feel considerably better.

Will had only just reached ground level when he encountered Neville, whose face was red and swollen, and Hermione, who held her wand. Goyle and Crabbe lay on the snow, their rigid bodies making it obvious that they had been hit with Petrificus Totalus.

From the two of them, Will learned what had happened. Harry and Ron had originally planned to help Hagrid move some trees, but Malfoy had mocked Ron's family circumstances. While Ron and Malfoy were getting physical, Malfoy had also insulted Harry's parents. That was where everything went wrong. Harry and Ron immediately pinned him to the ground and began pounding him. Goyle and Crabbe tried to help, but Neville kept both of them occupied on his own.

They all seemed to have completely forgotten they were wizards. Only Hermione had drawn her wand and petrified Goyle and Crabbe.

All Will could say was that Malfoy was weak, foul-mouthed, and incapable of reading the situation. He deserved the beating. It was just as well Harry had not come off worse; if Hagrid had stepped in, Malfoy and his two lackeys would probably have suffered even more.

After taking Malfoy to the Hospital Wing and handing him over to Madam Pomfrey, Will headed straight for the library. Permission to enter the Restricted Section did not remain valid forever, after all.

Will wandered through the Restricted Section, searching for restricted books on potions. Thanks to his special permission slip, he could freely browse the restricted Potions books rather than being limited to a few specific titles. Suddenly, among a heap of oddly shaped books that gave off an eerie air, he spotted a shabby volume.

"The Strange Nature of Potions"

The title caught Will's attention. When he had first begun studying Potions, he had seen the definition in his textbook: a potion was, in essence, a liquid imbued with Magic.

Yet Will's intuition told him that he would gain a great deal of knowledge and experience from this book.

A few minutes later, Will reached the Seventh Floor. "I want a comfortable reading room. I need a comfortable reading room..."

The Room of Requirement became a warm room with a fireplace and an antique armchair. A brass floor lamp illuminated a desk fashioned from a tree stump. Will sat down, satisfied.

He opened the book.

[Potions are spells!]

The very first sentence left Will puzzled. Potions were spells? How was that possible?

Potions and spells were two entirely different fields. Every Wizard knew that. Anyone claiming that potions were spells would probably be considered mad by the vast majority of people.

But since this book was housed in the Restricted Section, Will did not think it would be a collection of jokes. He continued reading and found a note.

[Note: This book is compiled from the manuscripts of the mad wizard Ethan Abdullah. He was a renowned mad wizard of the seventeenth century, a celebrated Potions Master, and a famous advocate of spell reform. During the ravages of the Black Death, he captured Muggles and wizards in large numbers to test his potions on them.]

[In 1667, Ethan Abdullah was found dead in his "home." I collected his manuscripts and compiled them into this book.]

[The following is Ethan Abdullah's manuscript:]