Upon hearing Draco's words, Fred and George exchanged a knowing glance.
The brothers' usual playful smiles now held a hint of genuine admiration.
George tilted his head slightly and exclaimed to Fred, "A brilliant move! A strategic retreat followed by a playful tickle—quite interesting!"
"This kid... is much more interesting than we thought. It seems he's not just a crybaby who only knows how to whine and beg his father; he's got some tricks up his sleeve." Fred grinned and nodded repeatedly.
As soon as the two finished whispering, Lavender, standing beside them, trembled with excitement once again.
"He called her ' Miss Granger '! And with a hint of teasing! Merlin! Does he... do he have feelings for her?"
Her voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.
Parvati quickly covered his face, his whole body gleaming with gossip. "This is definitely special treatment! This must be special treatment! I knew it! There's definitely more to their relationship than meets the eye!"
The two girls' inner monologues once again veered off onto a completely new and more "romantic" track at lightning speed.
The two of them took Draco's joking remark and imagined it as a dramatic and poignant love triangle.
Hermione completely ignored the two people behind her who were already lost in their fantasies.
She knew that the more she tried to explain, the worse it would get, so it was better to ignore it.
She suppressed the turmoil in her heart and looked directly at Draco: "An answer is enough. Please begin your statement, Mr. Malfoy. I want to hear the most important reason."
"Because I believe I can come back."
Draco's voice was low, as if he were simply stating a self-evident and unquestionable fact that Pumpkin Juice would be served in the Great Hall tomorrow.
This statement was like a pebble thrown into an absolutely silent deep pool; it did not cause any exaggerated uproar.
But beneath that seemingly calm surface, a silent storm was brewing in everyone's thoughts.
The nonchalance on Fred and George's faces vanished instantly.
Instead, their faces displayed a sharp, predatory gaze, as if they were truly seeing through Malfoy's true nature for the second time.
Fred whistled softly, a hint of amusement in his voice.
The crisp sound was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent Great Hall.
"Wow... that's incredibly arrogant," George muttered, slowly stroking his chin.
"Or he's crazy," Fred immediately chimed in.
His voice had lost all its joking tone; his gaze was fixed intently on Draco.
"Or... he really thinks he holds a trump card, that he can manipulate everyone at will."
The moment Hermione heard those words, her mind went completely blank, leaving her only in a state of near-blind shock.
There was no external pressure, no internal weakness, not even any complex calculations... it was simply, "I feel I can come back?"
This reason is so simple it's almost crude, yet so arrogant it's suffocating.
It reveals an almost absurd certainty.
It was as if Dumbledore's opposition, his father's strong will, the inherent constraints of the House, and all the visible obstacles were merely dust that could be easily overcome.
This is completely beyond the cognitive and control range that an eleven-year-old should have.
Lavender and Parvati covered their mouths in unison again, so shocked they almost stopped breathing.
But this time, their eyes no longer shone with simple shock, but with a fervent light ignited by a tremendous romantic shock and heroic narrative.
They seemed to be witnessing the prelude to an epic tale of "the hidden dragon returning to the sea, the king returning."
Lavender said with extreme excitement, "He's not surrendering... he's planning! He believes he can come back! What confidence!"
"Confidence! Powerful, fearless confidence! He left to return in greater glory! To... to prove something? Or to..." Parvati echoed.
Her gaze darted frantically between Draco and Hermione.
In my mind, an epic drama has already unfolded. "A young man endures humiliation and leaves school, only to return as a king to keep his promise to his beloved."
They've almost finished crafting the lines for Draco and Hermione's reunion.
Draco took it all in and pondered to himself.
These two absolutely need to be treated well.
Just look at their incredible imagination and associative abilities.
Even boys and girls who are completely unrelated can probably be brought together by them.
They'll need to work together to get past Hermione in the future.
Their whispers, like two untimely bells, rudely pierced Hermione's extremely tense mind.
At this moment, Hermione was completely focused on trying to unravel the arrogance and mystery behind Draco's words.
Her brain was racing, connecting, analyzing, and eliminating all possible clues in an attempt to find a plausible explanation for this absurd answer.
The whispers of Lavender and Parvati lingered in her ears like buzzing mosquitoes.
These two are distorting the facts she's seriously analyzing—fairly flawed, foolish, and overly romanticized—through a completely wrong, foolish, and overly romanticized lens, facts that may involve huge secrets or even deadly dangers.
Hermione's patience finally reached its limit, and she abruptly turned her head.
Those eyes, blazing with intense focus, were now radiating anger and frustration as they glared fiercely at the two girls lost in their own fantasy world.
Her cheeks flushed again, but this time it had nothing to do with the embarrassment and anger from before; it was purely an unbearable anxiety caused by being disturbed by stupidity.
What nonsense are they spouting?!
Merlin! Is this the time to analyze such childish and ridiculous romantic fantasies?!
This Malfoy has just made a statement that could involve Headmaster Dumbledore, his father, and even the internal affairs of Hogwarts!
They actually have the mind to think about romance?!
Are their brains glued together with syrup pies?!
A harsh rebuke almost escaped his lips.
But Hermione's remaining rationality, and her even stronger desire to find Draco's answer, made her swallow those words back.
Hermione took a deep breath, a short, forceful one, her chest heaving violently as if to expel all her pent-up frustration.
She then abruptly turned her head away, no longer looking at the two girls who were engrossed in their own world.
It was as if looking at her for even a second longer would corrupt her logical thinking.
Please keep quiet about irrelevant speculation!
Hermione's words were directed at Lavender and Parvati, her voice filled with suppressed anger.
But her eyes remained fixed on Draco.
The next moment, she quickly turned her attention back to Draco: " Mr. Malfoy, what... makes you 'think' that? Your 'thinking' is completely unfounded."
"Your answer is tantamount to no answer, and it further strengthens the suspicion that you intend to cover up the facts!"