As soon as he finished speaking, the long table fell silent for half a second, and then several pairs of eyes suddenly focused on Draco.
Ron nearly spat out his juice, staring at me wide-eyed. "The real Gryffindor?! Hagrid said so too?"
Hermione suppressed a laugh and gently nudged Draco: "Looks like your reputation has spread to the Forbidden Forest by now."
Harry looked up and waved the letter at Draco: "Did you hear that? Hagrid specifically asked you to come along. You don't have classes this afternoon, want to come?"
Draco exclaimed in surprise, "That's great! I didn't expect him to still remember me!"
Ron, standing by without holding back, bluntly exposed him. "He doesn't just remember; he knows everything you've done these past three days!"
" Hagrid cares about me that much?" Draco joked with a laugh.
In his heart, however, he thought to himself, "They're probably keeping an eye on me because they're afraid I'll bully Harry."
"That's not fair, that's so unfair! Why didn't Hagrid invite me?" Ron said.
Olivia guessed, "Maybe they just don't remember you well. If you Slytherin back then, you might have been called out by now?"
Ron quickly waved his hand. "Alright, alright, I won't come uninvited!"
Olivia raised her hand. "I want to go too! I wonder if I can come along and join in the fun?"
Neville chimed in quietly, "I... I want to go too."
Hermione didn't say anything, but Draco could tell from the slight gleam in her eyes that she actually wanted to go too.
Draco turned his head and lowered his voice to say to her, " Hagrid shouldn't object. I'll bring a female companion with me."
Hermione's cheeks flushed red.
The people around immediately let out a drawn-out "Oh--", and cheers rose and fell.
Harry hesitated, looking at the crowd. "So many people all of a sudden..."
Draco tried to smooth things over:
"Don't worry, Hagrid values his friends most of all. He'll be happier than anything to see you with so many companions."
"Just reply to him and ask for his opinion first."
Harry nodded, then turned to Hermione: " Hermione, could I borrow a pen?"
Hermione quickly pulled a quill pen from her bag and handed it to her.
Harry hastily wrote a few words, rolled up the letter again, and handed it to Hedwig. The snow-white owl, carrying the letter in its beak, flapped its wings and plunged into the morning light, flying towards the cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
After seeing Hedwig off, Draco turned to Harry and said earnestly:
"Get ready, Snape's first target today will definitely be you. You'd better take this opportunity to flip through a couple more pages of your textbook and do some pre-reading."
Harry paused for a moment, then asked, "Why?"
"Because your father and he had a falling out back in their student days, an old grudge," Draco said calmly.
Ron instantly exploded, slamming his fist on the table and shouting in a low voice:
"An adult, a teacher at that, is taking his anger out on a student over some trivial matter from decades ago? It's utterly despicable, shameless, and incredibly narrow-minded!"
Hermione frowned, her voice low with doubt. "What kind of grudge could make someone hold a grudge for so many years, even extending to the next generation...?"
Ron waved his hand. "Whatever the reason, it's wrong to do it this way! There's no reasoning with it!"
Draco nodded. "You're right."
"However, the feud between the two is much deeper than we can imagine now. As for the specific reasons, I won't go into them, as it would have a huge impact if I did."
These words, instead of piquing everyone's curiosity, sparked a surge of longing in their eyes.
Hermione quickly stopped the conversation. "Alright, stop gossiping. Draco has his reasons for not wanting to talk about it."
Then she said to Harry:
" Harry, in that case, you must pay extra attention in this class and Potions Class so that Snape can't find any fault with it."
After speaking, she turned to Draco, her eyes filled with a hint of reminder and worry:
"Moreover, it's probably not just Harry who'll be targeted; Draco, you're on Snape's list too. You can't be too unrestrained or flamboyant this class either."
The group of people were taken aback at the same time, and after thinking about it carefully, they realized that it made perfect sense.
Draco is currently too powerful, and he has "defected" from Slytherin to Gryffindor. Snape will not let him go.
Draco's lips curled into a smile, and he said confidently, "Don't worry, he'd have to have the ability to target me."
Neville nodded vigorously, earnestly playing the straight man:
" Draco is awesome! With Draco's level of knowledge, which teacher wouldn't praise him? Even if Snape wanted to target him, he wouldn't have a chance!"
Draco couldn't help but laugh— Neville had just learned a new word and was using it on the spot.
However, he was right; he had already used his abilities to scan and memorize the entire Potions Class from beginning to end.
I have the theory, recipe, steps, and precautions memorized, so this course is no challenge for me at all.
Their strength is undeniable; they can't hide it even if they wanted to.
Those around Neville were already used to his blatant flattery, and no one thought it was exaggerated.
After all, they had all witnessed and heard firsthand how outrageous Draco's abilities were in class.
Draco then recited to everyone the three questions and standard answers that Snape would ask Harry right from the start in the original story, word for word.
Harry was surprised. "How do you even know that?"
" Snape always asked the same question, it was always the same." Draco brushed it off casually, he couldn't exactly say he'd memorized it from the novels.
The others immediately took notes, afraid of being rendered speechless by Snape's questions later.
Breakfast time ended quickly, and the group packed up and headed to the cellar.
Ron was on high alert, his face tense, as if he were about to storm a dark wizard's lair.
The deeper you go underground, the colder and damper the air becomes, and the stone steps radiate a chill.
Ron couldn't help but complain:
"Look at this, even the classrooms are set up in this dark, sunless cellar. You can imagine how dark and cold-blooded Snape's heart is."
Hermione frowned:
"You're too prejudiced against him. The basement is cold, damp, and poorly lit, which is perfect for storing Potions ingredients and also makes it easier to control the brewing temperature. It's necessary for the course."
Ron retorted, unconvinced:
"Who told him to be prejudiced against others first? Which other professor is as biased towards his own department and so hostile to others as he is? If he's prejudiced against us, then don't blame us for being prejudiced against him."
Hermione opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't refute it. She just sighed softly, clearly agreeing with the helplessness in Ron's words.
As Draco and his group descended the damp, cold stone steps, pushed open the heavy black wooden door, and truly stepped into the Potions Classroom, they realized that this classroom was unlike any other in Hogwarts.