How many bowls of noodles did Draco eat?

An hour later.

With Argus's help, George and Fred finally finished all their homework.

The two of them slung their arms around Argus's neck, one on either side.

"Mate, from today on, you're our brother from another mother-and father!"

"I guarantee you'll make a perfect Ravenclaw!"

Hermione was practically rolling her eyes into the heavens. If Argus hadn't been teaching her as well, she would never have stayed in this compartment.

"Compared to Ravenclaw, I think I'm more likely to be sorted into Slytherin."

Argus could barely breathe under their weight. He struggled free of their grip and offered a slight correction to their assessment.

"Another pure-blood! A future big spender!"

Fred and George weren't hostile toward Slytherin like most Gryffindors.

As far as they were concerned, Slytherins were all little moneybags!

Most of their business came from Slytherin!

Besides, the Weasley family was also one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. They were just... a little poorer.

There was no need to feel inferior in front of these Slytherin pure-bloods.

"Fred Weasley, and this is my younger brother George."

As though remembering something, Fred took the initiative to introduce himself to Argus and Hermione.

"The famous Weasley Twins."

"My name is Argus, and this is Miss Hermione Granger."

Argus stood up and shook hands with each of them.

"Listen to that, George! We're so famous that even young wizards who haven't started school have heard of us!"

Fred made a great fuss, his comical expression making the corners of Hermione's mouth twitch.

She wanted to laugh, but remembering that she was still angry, she fought to hold it back.

In the end, her shoulders just kept shaking.

Just as their conversation was getting lively, a commotion suddenly came from outside the compartment.

The noise grew louder and louder, threatening to drown out their conversation.

"Why don't we go out and take a look, in case something's happened?"

Hermione looked worriedly toward the source of the noise and made a quiet suggestion.

Argus wasn't one to meddle. In his eyes, however noisy it got outside, it was only children squabbling.

Nothing serious!

What really caught his attention was the familiar tone mixed into the commotion.

As it happened, the Weasley Twins also wanted to watch the fun. Before Argus could speak, they hurriedly pulled him up.

"Sitting in the compartment reading is so boring!"

"Come on, let's go see what's happening."

Just as expected!

As soon as Argus approached, he spotted dazzling platinum-blond hair in the crowd.

Behind its owner stood a large group of angry-looking pure-bloods.

Facing them was a red-haired boy!

And Harry was caught between the two sides, with boys making things difficult on either side.

"Argus is here!"

At the sight of Argus, the pure-blood boys and girls seemed to have found their pillar of support. They voluntarily cleared a path for him.

"Cool!"

Fred had barely spoken when he suddenly felt George bump his arm.

A closer look revealed that one of the central figures in the incident was none other than their dear younger brother Ron!

Ron also noticed their arrival. Instantly emboldened, he raised his voice, practically wishing everyone could hear him.

"It had to be you! The Malfoy family are all rotten! Death Eaters! Neville's Trevor is missing, and you're the only one walking up and down the compartments with your lot. Who else could it be?"

"What happened?"

Argus quietly asked those beside him.

Pansy Parkinson came over to explain.

"Draco brought Goyle and Crabbe to look for you in the compartments, and they happened to run into Harry Potter bringing Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley out to look for Neville's pet."

"The moment Ron saw Draco, he insisted that Draco must have taken Neville Longbottom's pet."

"You saw what happened after that."

Pansy looked angry, as did the other students from pure-blood families around her.

Under Argus's deft handling, this new generation of pure-bloods had long since banded together.

Calling them Acolytes in training wouldn't have been an exaggeration!

How could they stand by and watch their companion being slandered like this?

"Weasley, I told you, I was only looking for someone in the compartments!"

"Do you think everyone's like your Weasley family, going around stirring up trouble all day?"

After some coaching, Draco might not have made tremendous progress, but he no longer harped on about pure-blood glory every time he opened his mouth.

When it came to the Weasley family, however, his tongue was still inevitably a little sharp.

"Just because you say you were looking for someone doesn't mean you were! Who can prove it?" Ron retorted, his embarrassment turning to anger as he refused to back down.

"Goyle and Crabbe can both vouch for me!"

"Pfft!" Ron's face filled with disdain.

"Everyone knows those two are your lackeys. With you there, would they dare tell the truth?"

The moment Draco started explaining, Argus knew he wouldn't be able to clear things up.

The famous scene in Let the Bullets Fly taught them that no one cared how many bowls of noodles Sixth Brother had eaten!

To prove your innocence, you shouldn't cut open your own stomach.

You should gouge out the other person's eyes and put them inside your stomach to see exactly how many bowls you'd eaten!

Unfortunately, Draco hadn't grasped that, and it was already too late to take that approach now.

Sure enough, the anger in Draco's eyes intensified. Just as he opened his mouth to retort, Argus came up behind him and patted his shoulder.

"Draco, calm down."

"Get lost!"

Still furious, Draco whipped around to see who had dared provoke him. When he met Argus's gaze, he was like a wounded little animal that had found somewhere to belong, instantly looking aggrieved.

"Argus, you're finally here! You have to believe me. I really didn't..."

"I believe you!"

Those few words gave Draco tremendous courage.

Argus turned toward the others crowding around.

"I'm very sorry for the trouble this has caused everyone. Please return to your compartments so we don't block the corridor."

"Sorry for the trouble!"

His graceful, gentle words and manners immediately won over countless people.

But to Ron, Argus's words were a sign of guilt!

He was afraid someone would uncover their plot!

At that moment, Ron felt he had become a champion of justice.

He was about to pass judgment on the wicked Malfoy family!

"Nobody leaves until you hand over Trevor!"

Idiot!

Argus sneered inwardly.

Without a shred of evidence, you brought people here to block the corridor based on nothing but guesses, making a whole crowd stand around with you.

I tell the bystanders to go back, and you won't even let them leave.

Do you really think everyone's that good-natured?

Keep this up, and even if you were in the right, you'd end up in the wrong!

The Weasley Twins beside him frantically signaled to Ron with their eyes, but his mind was full of scenes of countless people admiring him after he upheld justice.

He refused to pay them any attention!

"Mr. Longbottom, could you tell me roughly what Trevor looks like?"

Argus didn't want to waste time and planned to resolve this the direct, blunt way.

Ignoring Ron, he addressed Neville Longbottom directly.

Neville stepped forward, blushing, and stammered, "Trevor is... he's a toad, a golden-backed toad, with thirteen bumps on his back."

"All right, Mr. Longbottom. Please wait a moment!"

Argus drew his wand, gathered the information about Trevor in his mind, and gently pointed his wand into the distance.

"Accio Trevor!"

Whoosh!

A plump toad flew straight out of the neighboring compartment into Argus's hand, drawing a chorus of gasps.

"The Summoning Charm! So cool!"

"I thought the Summoning Charm only worked on inanimate objects? Argus can summon living things!"

"Not necessarily. I've seen Professor Flitwick use the Summoning Charm to summon a cat hiding under a bed!"

"You mean Argus is just like Professor Flitwick? Good heavens! If we could learn that, wouldn't finding ingredients be as easy as holding out a hand?"

"I wouldn't dare compare myself to Professor Flitwick." Hearing the Weasley Twins' discussion, Argus explained, "The Summoning Charm isn't limited to inanimate objects. It's just that when you use it on a living thing, you can easily hurt it if you don't control the force properly."

"Argus, you're putting a lot of pressure on us older students!"

"Well, I certainly can't do it. Hehe."

Fred grinned, playing off George's words.

Argus handed Trevor to Neville. "Mr. Longbottom, see if this is your Trevor."

"Yes, yes, he is!"

Neville hugged Trevor to his chest in delighted surprise, then looked up with an embarrassed expression.

"I'm sorry. I never imagined Trevor was hiding right in our compartment. Sorry for causing you trouble."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to. Draco is."

Argus shook his head and stepped aside to reveal Draco.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I misunderstood you."

Neville hadn't been bullied by Draco as he had in the original story, so he had no particular prejudice against him.

He felt deeply guilty for having misjudged him.

Only after receiving Draco's forgiveness did he relax a little.

Ron wasn't so lucky. He was every bit as embarrassed now as he had been forceful earlier.

He wished he could find a crack in the floor to crawl into!

Just as he was about to slip back into the compartment while no one was watching, Argus spoke.

"Well, Mr. Weasley, aren't you going to apologize for your behavior just now?"