𝐎, 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 ⎥ "He wants a fight with
a God? I'll give him one."
﹙ from stardust we came, to stardust we return ﹚
Prisoner of Azkaban - Deathly Hollows
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HEDWIG HAD BEEN HURT. they trudged down the stone steps to the dungeons for potions, all four of them lost in thought, but as they reached the bottom of the stairs they were recalled to themselves by the voice of draco malfoy, who was standing just outside snape's classroom door, waving around an official-looking piece of parchment and talking much louder than was necessary so that they could hear every word.
"yeah, umbridge gave the slytherin quidditch team permission to continue playing straightaway, i went to ask her first thing this morning. well, it was pretty much automatic, i mean, she knows my father really well, he's always popping in and out of the ministry. . . . it'll be interesting to see whether gryffindor are allowed to keep playing, wont it?"
"don't," elara whispered to harry and ron, who were both watching draco, faces set and fists clenched.
"it's what he wants. . . ." said hermione.
"i mean," said draco, raising his voice a little more, his gray eyes glittering malevolently in harry and ron's direction, "if it's a question of influence with the ministry, i don't think they've got much chance. . . . from what my father says, they've been looking for an excuse to sack arthur weasley for years. . . . and as for potter . . . my father says it's a matter of time before the ministry has him carted off to st. mungo's. . . . apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic. . . ."
draco made a grotesque face, his mouth sagging open and his eyes rolling. crabbe and goyle gave their usual grunts of laughter, pansy parkinson shrieked with glee.
elara snapped, but before she could react, something collided hard with her shoulder, knocking her sideways. a split second later she realized that neville had just charged past her, heading straight for draco.
"neville, no!"
elara and and harry leapt forward and seized the back of neville's robes; neville struggled frantically, his fists flailing, trying desperately to get at draco who looked, for a moment, extremely shocked.
"help me!" harry flung at ron, managing to get an arm around neville's neck and dragging him backward, away from the slytherins. crabbe and goyle were now flexing their arms, closing in front of draco, ready for the fight. ron hurried forward and seized neville's arms; together, he, elara, and harry succeeded in dragging neville back into the gryffindor line. neville's face was scarlet; the pressure harry was exerting on his throat rendered him quite incomprehensible, but odd words spluttered from his mouth.
