Chapter 583: The Chaos at School
For a time afterward, Harry became the subject of wary attention, as if he were a dangerous person to avoid. Everywhere he went, people cast him complicated glances. Even Hermione and Ron, by association, found themselves under similar scrutiny, becoming part of the group everyone preferred to steer clear of.
Gradually, those looks of suspicion morphed into open ridicule. As the holidays approached, some students even seemed to enjoy mocking Harry. Dumbledore's request that no one question Harry didn't extend to other forms of harassment, and people like Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle seized the opportunity.
They made a point of passing by Harry and loudly discussing The Daily Prophet's portrayal of him, their voices dripping with derision. At first, Harry tried to argue, offering explanations in defense of himself. But after days of this, he lost his patience and flung a book straight at Malfoy's face.
Harry had been bottling up his frustrations: his sudden abduction by a Death Eater, the traumatic resurrection of Voldemort, and the Ministry-fueled smear campaign. It all weighed heavily on him. Malfoy's taunting simply provided the perfect outlet for his anger.
Almost instinctively, Ron and Hermione jumped into the fray, targeting Crabbe and Goyle. The Malfoy trio, caught off guard, barely had time to react.
What began as a brief altercation quickly spiraled. Other students passing by soon got involved, and the narrow corridor devolved into a full-blown brawl between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
In this chaotic melee, magic was set aside in favor of fists, as if everyone had silently agreed on a more physical form of confrontation. By the time it was over, the Hospital Wing was overflowing with students nursing bruises and cuts. Madam Pomfrey's wand was practically smoking as she conjured beds to accommodate everyone and worked through the night brewing several cauldrons of healing potion.
The sheer number of patients even forced Filch to vacate his bed early, though he still required more treatment.
The fallout was severe: both Gryffindor and Slytherin were docked 500 points each, marking one of the largest point deductions in Hogwarts history. But no one seemed to care, as both houses had been so deep in negative scores thanks to Snape and Sirius that even 100 points would have been hard to come by.
For Kyle, however, the incident was barely a blip. He had avoided the conflict with Fudge and had remained uninvolved in the fight. As such, his name was absent from The Daily Prophet, and few outside his close circle of friends even knew where he had gone after disappearing into the maze.
"I'll tell you what I think," Kyle said, tossing a bottle of Essence of Dittany to Fred and George as they sat in the Hufflepuff common room, grinning despite their bruises.