Chapter 137: Chapter 137: Michael’s Revenge
The Weasley twins' punishment was clearly harsher than they had let on.
On Tuesday afternoon, as Wade and his friends left Herbology class, they saw the twins cleaning out the pigsty.
They had wrapped their scarves around their faces as makeshift masks and used shovels and brooms to clean up pig manure. There were two large buckets next to them.
As Wade walked past, he noticed the twins' older brother, Percy, standing outside the pigsty. The three seemed to be arguing, with Percy looking particularly displeased.
Seeing a group of second-year students watching from afar, Percy's pale face was flushed red. He angrily said something to his brothers before stomping away in a huff.
The twins shrugged, not seeming too bothered as they continued their work.
Slytherins nearby snickered and whispered, "See… typical stinky Weasleys, reeking of pig manure…"
Wade assumed it was Malfoy speaking, but when he looked up, he saw Malfoy walking away toward the castle, alone and brooding.
His usual lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle, were mingling with the other Slytherin students, as if oblivious to Malfoy's departure.
"Wade, I'll catch up to the Umbrella room in a bit." Michael said, and then casually tossed his bag over his shoulder and blended into a group of Slytherin students. Before long, he had a few girls laughing and giggling.
Crabbe and Goyle stood at the edge of the group and looked like they wanted to join in.
Wade turned to see Padma walking calmly nearby, and her expression was unchanged as if she hadn't noticed Michael's friendly chatter with the Slytherin girls.
—What are these two up to?
Confused, Wade went ahead and asked.
"Don't tell anyone," Padma pulled him aside and whispered, "Michael's getting back at Malfoy!"
"Getting back… at Malfoy?" Wade asked, surprised.
Last time, when Malfoy had humiliated Michael, he'd ended up in detention, having to work under Filch, the most disliked staff member among the students. Wade thought that settled things.
But for Michael, clearly, it hadn't.
"You know, Michael actually gets along pretty well with the Slytherins."
Padma whispered, "He said he's going to dismantle Malfoy's little gang so that Malfoy can't go around showing off like before."
"How… dismantle it?" Wade asked, skeptical. "Isn't Michael worried people will catch on? Slytherins are known for holding grudges."
"He's not worried at all!" Padma replied. "He's not spreading rumors or making them misunderstand Malfoy, just… pointing out some facts."
Seeing Wade's doubtful expression, Padma added, "Well… he's also using a bit of linguistic flair to bring out certain feelings they already have inside, like jealousy, insecurity, vanity, and anger…"
"You know, some things… if you phrase them just a little differently, they start to make people feel uncomfortable and cause tension."
"Haven't you noticed that Crabbe and Goyle haven't been following Malfoy around lately?"
"They used to love being his lackeys, but recently… they suddenly realized that Malfoy has never really respected them, so they decided they should stand up for themselves."
Such a surprising development!
Wade was amazed.
He couldn't resist being nosy. "If I remember right, their fathers are also big Malfoy supporters?"
"Yep…" Padma's gaze drifted thoughtfully.
"But now Crabbe and Goyle feel like the Malfoys are past their prime. Aside from some money, there's not much special about them anymore, and just this past summer, Ron Weasley's father even raided their house looking for Dark magic items."
"So, they think Draco Malfoy doesn't have the right to keep bossing them around. They're all students, after all—and they're taller and stronger than he is…"
"And if they don't follow him around like bodyguards, the girls might actually notice how strong and brave they are, maybe even talk to them… or smile at them…"
Wade looked over toward the courtyard.
Sure enough, with Michael's subtle prodding, a few girls were giving the two big guys a smile. Whether it was genuine or just polite was unclear, but Crabbe and Goyle were blushing with excitement and they said something clumsy that made everyone laugh out loud.
Wade muttered, "I'd really like to know… how exactly Michael managed to brainwash them… Did he say a whole laundry list of things about Malfoy?"
Padma covered her mouth and then smiled with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"No... he never badmouthed Malfoy in public. He's always been saying nice things about him!"
...
Padma returned to the castle with her dormmates, and Wade didn't bother with Michael's little revenge game any further.
If Malfoy had challenged Wade, he would've retaliated on the spot, and that would've been the end of it. But after insulting Michael, who had said nothing in the moment, Malfoy now faced a subtle and ongoing reprisal.
Malfoy's bullying wasn't anything new, and he probably never expected that a regular student like Michael—without pure-blood heritage or family standing—would turn out to be an immovable obstacle.
Now isolated by his Slytherin classmates, Malfoy was likely still clueless about why he'd been shunned.
Wade turned and walked toward the pigpen.
The Weasley twins had finally finished cleaning the pigsty, with Fred spraying cleaner on the enclosure while George scrubbed it down with a large brush.
As Wade approached, the strong odor hit him, so he quickly cast a Bubble-Head Charm to keep the foul air at bay.
"Hey, Wade!" Fred called and pointed to his own head. "Care to cast that on us too? Otherwise, I doubt we'll manage to eat dinner tonight!"
George, in the background, made a gagging motion.
Soon, all three had large, bubble-like domes around their heads, making them look as if their heads were encased in soap bubbles.
"Thank Merlin, I can finally breathe again!" George exclaimed with a deep sigh of relief.
Fred corrected him, "You mean thank Wade."
"Of course!" George said dramatically and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Wade. You've saved two poor pig wranglers!"
Wade asked, "Looks like you two got quite a harsh punishment this time?"
"Yeah," Fred said proudly. "Because we sneaked into the Forbidden Forest on Friday night..."
"You know, there's a big guy in there we've been wanting to meet," George added.
"You mean the dragon?" Wade asked.
All the students knew that last year, a dragon had been brought to the school and had stayed near the Quidditch pitch for several weeks.
Once it could hunt on its own, Hogwarts had found a place for it in the Forbidden Forest and casted protective spells to prevent it from entering the school grounds.
At the start-of-term feast, Dumbledore had reminded everyone that students were forbidden from entering the forest.
In students' minds, the forest was a terrifying place rumored to be full of vampires, werewolves, and dragons.
The Weasley twins were clearly not the type to follow those rules.
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