At three o'clock on Monday afternoon, Draco Malfoy strolled lazily towards an abandoned, empty classroom on the fourth floor.
He opened the door, and a look of confusion immediately appeared in his arrogant grey eyes: there were many students standing in the room.
Harry, Ron and his sister Ginny, the Weasley twins, the Gryffindor boy who always followed Harry around with a camera... Seamus Finnigan, who loved to blow up cauldrons, and the idiot Longbottom, who was always eager to steal his study partner
(Neville: I did not, I did not)... several students wearing Gryffindor ties... several people he did not recognise, with Ravenclaw crests embroidered on their lapels... Susan Bones from Hufflepuff, who had once cheered Hermione on... even Ernie Macmillan, the Hufflepuff boy who had once mocked his Seeker status... they all turned to look at him.
"Sorry, wrong door," he said to the group of students who were smiling at him in a friendly manner, then took two steps back and shut the door.
After a few seconds, he opened the door again... because he realised this was the agreed-upon location... and asked with a slight hint of doubt, "Excuse me, where is this..."
"Draco, this is it, that is right!" Hermione squeezed through the crowd and ran up to him, announcing excitedly, "They are all here to learn the Patronus Charm."
Draco's face immediately showed a look of utter disbelief.
He glanced at the group... they were all looking at him with a kind of unsettlingly benevolent gaze... which made him very uncomfortable.
They should not have gathered together and stared at him like that.
He leaned closer to Hermione and muttered, "I did not expect there to be so many people."
Was it not supposed to be one-on-one tutoring? This is completely different from what he expected.
"Oh, I just mentioned it casually, I did not expect them to be so interested. Later, more and more people wanted to learn it..." She raised her chin, as proud as the most beautiful cat in the world.
Hermione would never admit that she had deliberately brought so many people.
With him frequently disturbing her peace of mind, she was somewhat hesitant to spend long periods of time alone with him.
She was afraid she would fall into sudden panic or experience another sudden racing heartbeat; however, she also really wanted to learn the Patronus Charm, and she also wanted to see him.
This conflicted feeling prompted Hermione to do something astonishing: to mobilise the masses to learn the Patronus Charm collectively.
"Why do they not go to see Professor Lupin?" Draco swallowed hard and asked hesitantly.
"He said this spell is too difficult for students our age to learn; besides, he has not been feeling well lately," Hermione explained quietly.
Of course, Lupin would be uncomfortable... Draco knew it... the full moon had only just passed a few days ago after all.
At that moment, the Weasley twins ran up, each grabbing one of his arms and dragging him into the classroom.
"Why did you two not tell me? We just saw each other yesterday!" Draco asked in a low voice, his arms held up and unable to move.
"We wanted to give you a surprise!" Fred said with a grin.
"We never miss one of your silly, shocked expressions!" George winked at him.
He was forced into a position by the two brothers and dragged to the middle of the room.
Draco wanted to rebel against them... he even subconsciously wanted to curse them... he was not used to being manhandled.
But Hermione stood right next to him, her eyes wide with interest; everyone else was gathered around him.
He was as if his muscles had been drained, unable to be brave and fierce in front of her innocent and naïve eyes.
"Stop talking nonsense, do not be so stingy, Draco," Fred said with a grin.
"We cannot wait to see your Patronus!" George said.
"We want to scare the Dementors..." Fred said with a sly smile.
"Or we could capture one and do some research," George said to his brother in agreement.
"Let us see what is under its cloak..." Fred said with great interest.
"Or look at its mouth..." George said.
"No, this is no joke," Draco quickly interrupted their back-and-forth. "I advise you not to capture one for research. Especially its mouth; it is extremely dangerous! It sucks people's souls through its mouth, which is equivalent to killing... leaving the body intact but the soul gone."
"We can scare it away with our wands, can we not? Or even drive it off with a Patronus?" Lee Jordan asked. He was a boy with an alarmingly long tuft of hair, and Draco knew he was close to the twins.
"In fact, we can only repel it," Draco said sternly. "Even a fully corporeal Patronus can only repel a Dementor, not destroy it. It cannot be killed."
A gasp came from inside the room.
"Then what are we waiting for? Start teaching!" Ron urged him.
"Listen, I have not fully mastered the Patronus Charm, I can only recite the incantation... I do not know all that much about Dementors either... and I am not good at teaching..." Draco said uneasily to the group of students with burning eyes, trying to slip away towards the door.
He desperately wanted to back out at that moment.
But Hermione stretched out her arms, blocking his way. She said matter-of-factly, "But you have already been teaching us. You have been telling us about the dangers of Dementors, have you not?"
Draco was dumbfounded.
"You are already amazing, much better than those of us who cannot do anything," Hermione encouraged him, raising her voice. "You even conjured up that silver mist and held off the Dementors for quite a while."
"Ah, that is right." Ron said gleefully to the somewhat disappointed students around him. "I can testify. He did conjure it. The Dementor stood frozen at the door, too afraid to enter the compartment."
Draco turned to look at him, too angry to speak.
Ron Weasley, the eternal big mouth, always going against him.
"Draco, teach us." Whilst the group of students, who had regained their interest, surrounded Ron with questions, Hermione looked at him with an almost worshipful gaze and whispered, "Please, you promised."
How could someone possibly resist Hermione Granger's adoring gaze?
Her big eyes stared at him intently, a slight smile on her face, as if she were looking at something pleasing.
Draco sighed.
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