HP: Wizards at Hogwarts

That noon, during lunch break, Elaine announced the formation of the "Study Club" in the cafeteria and invited everyone to join.

As they had predicted, upon hearing about this, the young wizards eagerly signed up and applied to join the society.

Elaine's close friends, such as Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione, were all present.

These people then brought along all their friends and roommates from the college.

At first, the upperclassmen hesitated, but after hearing that Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had approved the matter, they had no more worries.

At Gryffindor House, the Weasley twins were the first to arrive.

They weren't there to learn anything; they just thought it would be interesting.

The students who are truly there to learn are Ravenclaw students, but most of those who join the clubs are first- or second-year wizards, while the older students are still observing.

Hufflepuff School has the largest number of members.

Elaine was the most outstanding young wizard in the first year, so naturally everyone came to support him.

Although not all of these people eventually joined the study club, they left a promise that "if you have any problems that you really can't solve, feel free to come to us," which can be considered as their self-appointment as "unofficial members" of the club.

Even several Slytherin students came.

They were all first-year students who had taken Charms and Transfiguration classes with Hufflepuff and knew how good Elaine was.

In addition, having only been at Hogwarts for a few days, she had not yet been completely assimilated by the Slytherin school atmosphere, so she was relatively easy to get along with and was happy to accept friendships from other houses.

To everyone's surprise, Draco Malfoy arrived halfway through lunch.

Behind him were three followers, including Crabbe and Goyle, whom he had met before, and a girl.

"Can we join your study club too?!"

Malfoy's cheeks flushed slightly, as if joining the study group in front of so many people was a very embarrassing thing for him.

Elaine had no doubt that if he said "no" now, the kid would immediately become furious and would list him and Harry as "the most hated people in all of Hogwarts".

"Of course! The 'Study Club' welcomes anyone who wants to learn magic to join!"

"I'm just a little surprised. I thought you weren't interested in my club."

Bringing Malfoy into the picture was part of Elaine's plan from the very beginning.

It's important to know that the Malfoy family is one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Clans, holding a very high position among pure-blood wizards, almost like the top leader.

Therefore, although Draco Malfoy was only a first-year student, he held a high position in Slytherin.

Bringing Draco Malfoy to their side is equivalent to bringing the pure-blood wizarding family, centered around the Malfoy family, into their own camp.

It will bring many benefits to one's future development.

Elaine had originally planned to go to the Slytherin table to try and persuade them after this meal, but Malfoy had acted even faster than him!

"I'm just looking around to pass the time."

Malfoy pouted, feigning aloofness.

He signed up for the study group partly because he was envious of Elaine's cool "light show" magic.

After learning that Elaine would be teaching in the club, he became interested in learning some skills.

On the other hand, he was also acting on the advice of his father, Lucius—to maintain a "friends-not-enemies" relationship with Elaine as much as possible.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'm sure you'll quickly grow to like the atmosphere of the study club!"

"Come on, come over here and register all the names."

Elaine greeted the four warmly, "Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, you're all joining us, right? And this new girl, you're also a first-year Slytherin student, aren't you? I remember we took classes together, but... excuse me, what's your name again?"

The girl glanced at Malfoy first, then answered truthfully, "Pansy Parkinson."

"Hmm, Parkinson's, what an interesting surname!"

"Did you know? There's a very famous disease in the Muggle world, and that's what it's called..."

Upon hearing this, Pansy's face immediately darkened.

If you can't chat, don't force it!

"Hey, Malfoy!"

"How dare you show your face in front of me?!"

Upon seeing Malfoy, Harry immediately jumped out, furious: "How dare you stand me up last night!"

Seeing this, Malfoy immediately sneered smugly, "Heh heh, that's because you're too stupid! Stupid enough to believe such silly things!"

Harry immediately retorted.

"I wasn't fooled. I knew you might stand me up."

"But in that duel, we staked the honor of our respective families, so of course I won't back down!"

"Although you successfully deceived me and almost got me caught by Filch, you ultimately lost the honor of the Malfoy family. I really don't know what you have to be proud of."

These words startled Malfoy.

He immediately turned to his three henchmen: "What family honor? Your decision?"

All three shook their heads, indicating that they did not know.

"Boss, you know me, I've been with you since yesterday!"

"Boss, you know me. If it were me, I wouldn't gamble this much!"

"Boss, you know me. If I had known about this, I would have told you immediately!"

Malfoy: "..."

"It seems you didn't know?"

Ron mimicked Malfoy's earlier expression and grinned smugly: "We told everyone yesterday—except Slytherin, of course—that the duel was between Harry and you, a battle for the honor of the Potter and Malfoy families."

"The result is that you broke your promise, which is tantamount to abandoning the honor of the Malfoy family."

"Haven't you noticed that everyone's looking at you strangely today?"

What?!

Is this even possible?!

Malfoy instantly turned red with rage: "This...this doesn't count!! You added to the duel agreement without my knowledge, this can't stand!!"

"Oh, really?"

"If you say it doesn't count, then it doesn't count. I hope everyone agrees with you that this matter doesn't count."

Ron spread his hands, making a "whatever" gesture, like a seasoned old rogue.

Malfoy was struck dumb.

How can we make others think that matters of 'family reputation' don't matter?

That's impossible!

Even if he comes forward to explain later, people will already have preconceived notions, and it won't be easy to dispel them.

Damn it!!

Harry Potter, born evil, I knew he wasn't a good person!