"Potter! Do you dare have a wizard's duel with me?"
Malfoy snuck a look at Dylan and, seeing that he seemed to be completely ignoring them, his eyes lit up.
"Did he and Harry have a fight or something? Heh, that idiot Potter just loves hanging around lowborn trash. He must've offended him that way!"
With that thought, Malfoy's bravado swelled.
Though he still kept his voice low.
He had not forgotten that Dylan said he liked quiet.
In truth, during the second half of flying class, Harry and Malfoy had already clashed pretty hard during the House flying assessment.
But with Madam Hooch right there, neither had dared go too far.
No one expected Malfoy to march over and pick a fight again now that class was long over.
Faced with this, Harry—who had never liked this boy who looked down on his friends—naturally would not back down. Wouldn't that be the same as admitting he was afraid of Malfoy?
He just did not actually know what a wizard's duel was.
As he was wondering how to reply, Ron suddenly jumped up beside him and accepted Malfoy's challenge on Harry's behalf.
"It's just a wizard's duel, right? We'll take you on!"
Hermione tried to stop him, but Ron's mouth was simply too fast.
By the time Malfoy and his cronies walked off, she still had not managed to get a word in.
Staring at Ron and Harry, who had sat back down and were now huddled together whispering,
Hermione's eyes went wide.
"A wizard's duel? Do you want to lose a mountain of House points? That's a direct violation of school rules!"
Ron shot her a careless look. "As long as we're discreet, we won't get caught."
Hermione gave him a full-on "are you stupid" stare. "And how exactly are you going to guarantee you won't get caught?"
"If you two get nabbed, all the points Dylan and I earned for the House will be wiped out! You can't be that selfish!"
"We're doing this so Gryffindor doesn't lose face in front of Slytherin!" Harry and Ron both turned away, refusing to look at her.
No matter what Hermione said, they pretended not to hear.
Hermione turned and looked toward Dylan.
By now, Dylan had just eaten the last bite of his steak, a satisfied look on his face.
Full.
He would have more energy to read later.
"Hey, they're dead set on being a pair of fighting cocks. I seriously suspect someone's cast a 'childish dueling' hex on them. Aren't you going to talk them out of it?"
Hearing her, Dylan blinked.
"Talk them out of what?"
Hermione's eyes bulged again.
"Of breaking school rules, of course!"
Dylan glanced at Harry.
While Hermione was appealing to Dylan, Ron and Harry had already fallen silent, sneaking glances at him out of the corners of their eyes.
The moment his gaze swept over, both of them hurriedly dropped their heads.
They would not listen to Hermione telling them not to duel, but if it was Dylan…
"In my opinion, Hermione, points are only a fleeting footnote in life. They can't anchor the value of a person's existence."
Dylan's lips curved faintly as he looked calmly at her.
"What we truly need to care about is the focus we bring to the struggle for those points, and that instant when ideas collide in our minds as we tackle hard problems—not the final, cold number."
"If you can understand that points don't define our souls or our lives, then even just in this one school year, I'm sure the heights you can reach will be far beyond what you see right now."
His voice carried a steadiness that did not fit his age, clear and unclouded, every word measured and unhurried.
Hermione stared blankly for a moment. It was as if something clicked in her head.
But she could not quite untangle what he meant just yet.
She still felt that points were very important.
How could they not be?
And after all that, was Dylan basically saying he was not going to side with her?
"So you're not going to talk them out of it?"
Dylan shook his head.
Hermione's eyes flew wide again.
"Hmph! You boys are impossible! Just wait until the House Cup goes to some other House—you'll see how that feels!"
She shot to her feet in a huff and stormed out of the Hall.
Dylan watched her back and gave a helpless little shake of his head.
He had zero interest in getting involved in whatever was going on between Harry and Malfoy.
Harry was the future savior of the wizarding world; having a bit of fire in him at this age was perfectly normal.
Even though he had not been paying close attention when Malfoy came over, he had more or less heard what was said.
The reason he had not stepped in was partly that he had been enjoying his dinner—
and partly that there was no need for him to.
As he had just told Hermione, points were completely useless to him. He would rather learn a few more spells.
Maybe winning the House Cup might trigger some achievement for him,
but…
leaving aside whether Harry and Malfoy sneaking out for a late-night duel would even be discovered,
even if they were and Gryffindor lost points, how many could really be taken?
Even if they lost all their points…
Dumbledore still would not let the House Cup land in the hands of the other three Houses.
When the time came, a little behind-the-scenes adjustment, and the Cup would end up with them anyway.
Surely no one actually believed old Dumbledore wouldn't quietly grease the rails for Harry?
With Harry around, most House matters were not something Dylan needed to fret over.
He could just focus on his own magic, and use Harry's "plotline" to help trigger more achievements.
Best of both worlds.
"I knew you wouldn't be like Hermione, just standing there while Slytherin laughs at Gryffindor!"
Seeing that Hermione had stormed off and Dylan had not tried to stop them, Ron got so excited he nearly rushed over to give Dylan a bear hug.
Dylan had just stood up when he saw Ron's movement; his calm expression shifted and his eyes went wide.
Ron froze on the spot, then sheepishly lowered his arms.
"If you want to duel, I've got no opinion on that. But since you've made your decision, whatever happens afterward is on you."
Dylan's tone returned to calm as he glanced at Ron and Harry.
"As your friend, that much at least needs to be said."
After a moment's thought, he added, "And don't assume the professors will dock points from both Houses if you're caught. The one who finds you dueling might very well be Professor Snape."
"What?!"
At that, both Ron and Harry, who had been full of swagger a moment before, shivered in unison.
Snape's cold, cutting face popped straight into their minds.
"I'm off to my tutoring session. Take care of yourselves."
Dylan picked up his bag, put his things away, then pulled out his notebook and started flipping through it as he walked toward the doors of the Great Hall.
(End of Chapter)
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