Hearing Harry's voice, Malfoy hurriedly turned around but was too late. Harry crashed into him, sending Malfoy flying, and he collided with a giggling Goyle, both tumbling to the ground together.
"Harry Potter!" Malfoy yelled furiously.
Ron also rushed over, standing by Harry's side and facing off against the others, his mind racing - there were too many Slytherins, maybe they should run towards the library...
"Harry, you guys don't—oh, Neville!"
Seeing Neville's condition, Hermione was so angry her lips turned white. She quickly went over to undo the spell on Neville.
Neville finally stood up with Hermione's help, trembling all over and staring intently at the Slytherin student who was stepping on his magic wand - Theodore Nott.
Under his fierce and angry gaze, Nott's foot discreetly withdrew a little bit.
"This is too much! You all—" Hermione shouted angrily at the crowd, "How could you do this to him?"
"What's it to you?" Malfoy snapped, dusting off his clothes as he got up, "You filthy little Mudblood!"
Harry didn't quite understand what had happened but then heard Ron and Neville let out a roar, and they all charged forward!
"You'll pay for what you said, Malfoy!" Ron shouted loudly.
"Don't say that word, don't!" Neville also showed unprecedented courage and anger.
Two fists landed one after another on Malfoy's face.
The delicate-featured Young Master Malfoy let out a scream, and nosebleeds immediately spurted out.
"How dare you!" Pansy Parkinson screamed, grabbing Ron's robe, her nails digging directly into his neck.
The surrounding Slytherins weren't standing idly either, Goyle kicked Neville in the stomach, while Nott shoved Ron away.
Harry hesitated only for a moment before reacting immediately. When Crabbe swung his fist at Neville's head, Harry unhesitatingly jumped in.
The Slytherins and Gryffindors instantly broke into a brawl. They had no time to use spells, instead resorting to punches and kicks. The three Gryffindor boys initially gained a brief advantage but quickly found themselves overpowered.
Though Hermione didn't understand what Malfoy insulted them with, she unhesitatingly used the spell she was most familiar with—
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Her magic wand waved forcefully, and the Slytherins present suddenly felt as if their robes were choking their throats. They were involuntarily hoisted up by their clothes, and after hovering in the air for two or three seconds, they slammed down onto the ground.
The three who were getting pummeled on the ground, including Harry, stared at her in shock.
"Ah!"
Pansy landed on her nose, moaning in pain, and cursed, "You damned Mudblood—"
Malfoy, his face covered in nosebleeds, clambered up from the ground, drew his magic wand, and shouted at Hermione, "Densaugeo!"
"Stop!" Harry hurriedly drew his own wand, trying to recall a spell he had read about in a book—
"Tarantallegra!"
Their spells crisscrossed in the air; Malfoy's spell hit Hermione, who let out a whimper and quickly reached up to cover her face, but her front teeth began growing at an alarming rate, extending past her lips and towards her chin in mere moments; Harry's spell struck Malfoy, and though inexperienced, the spell's power only caused Malfoy to fall backward.
Suddenly, spells flew wildly in the corridor, and passing students quickly backed away. But everyone soon realized that most of their spells were less effective than their fists and feet, so the young wizards resorted to kicking and punching again.
Hermione's teeth had grown to her chin already. She wanted to leave but was blocked by Pansy Parkinson, so the brown-haired girl decisively headbutted her, and both let out cries of pain.
"Immobulus! (All immobilized!)"
A voice suddenly echoed in the corridor, and everyone's movements were frozen, creating a somewhat comical scene.
—Did a professor arrive?
That thought flashed through the students' minds, filling them with sudden dread.
Only Neville shouted joyfully, "Vid!"
Harry, his hand pushing against Malfoy's face while entangled with Nott, was frozen in a particularly awkward position, straining his eyes to look to the side, seeing only a tall, thin silhouette elongated by the sunlight from the window.
"Neville?" Vid Gray's surprised voice called out, "And—well, Hermione—what are you all doing?"
Before Neville could answer, he quickly cast two spells in succession: "Curse Stop! Power Relaxation!"
The group was finally released from their awkward poses, but their limbs were weak and powerless. Harry nearly ended up embracing Malfoy and quickly disentangled himself, turning to look at the newcomer.
Walking over was not only Vid Gray but also Ravenclaw's Michael Corner and Padma Patil, Hufflepuff's Theo Mancini and Leian Caro.
The four houses often had cross-house classes, and although they weren't strangers, they weren't particularly familiar with each other, generally knowing each other but having rarely spoken.
Yet even so, Harry and Ron knew that the few before them were the top students in their classes, frequently receiving praise and earning points for their houses. They had never heard of them breaking school rules like the Weasley brothers. Especially Vid Gray, there seemed to be no professor who didn't like him, and he was the inventor of the Friendship Book...
Faced with peers like these, a mixed feeling of inferiority and helplessness naturally arose, like an invisible shackle binding their hands and tempers.
The Slytherins also got up, exchanging glances under the watchful eyes of Michael and others, deciding not to continue the attack.
Vid ignored the students, bent down, pulled the disheveled Hermione up from the ground, and examined her now enormous front teeth. Hermione tried to cover them with her hand, but it was difficult since they were still growing, almost reaching her shoulders.
The slender, shiny white teeth glinted, looking both frightening and absurd.
The girl whimpered, touching her teeth in shock and fear, tears welling up in her eyes.
"It's okay, Madam Pomfrey can fix it in two minutes," Vid reassured her, then took off his outer robe and draped it over Hermione's head, "Padma, could you accompany Hermione to the infirmary?"
"Sure, leave it to me," Padma replied decisively, supporting Hermione as they left, helping her pull down her robe to cover up the increasingly terrifying teeth and prevent anyone from sneaking glances or ridicule.
With the girls gone, Vid turned to the others, smiling mildly, and said, "So—can anyone tell me what exactly happened here?"
His expression was calm, but there was not a hint of amusement in his eyes.