The Same Annoyance as Always
In the castle corridors that connected to the inner courtyard, which was surrounded by students pouring out of their classes—
"Harry! Percy! Hermione! Ron!"
They heard Tyson's voice as he approached after finishing the noisy Herbology lesson with the Mandrakes, whose cries were impossible to completely drown out even while wearing earmuffs, causing the occasional student to faint.
For example, Neville...
Well, actually, it was only Neville.
"Hey, big guy. Where were you? We didn't see you this morning," Percy said, greeting Tyson with a smile.
"Oh, well. The guys were showing me around the castle. They also showed me the kitchens," Tyson said cheerfully.
"The guys?" Harry asked as he looked behind Tyson at the small group of Hufflepuffs following him, chatting happily while sharing a few sweets.
"Hello, Justin Finch-Fletchley," said the one leading them as he approached with a polite smile and offered Harry his hand. "I'm a second-year too, just like you," the friendly badger added with a smile.
"Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself as he shook his hand.
"Oh, of course I know the famous Harry Potter and his brother," Justin said, shaking Percy's hand as well. "Ah, sorry. And your friends too," he quickly added, looking toward Hermione and Ron, who looked a little embarrassed, assuming Justin was referring to what had happened that morning.
"'Harry Potter and his brother'... Yeah, I'll never get used to how my ranking changes depending on which continent I'm on," Percy said with a faint smile.
Justin clearly had no idea what he meant.
"Don't mind him. Thanks for looking after Tyson," Harry said right away.
"Oh, it's no trouble. We all really like Tyson. He's a lot of fun, and he's really friendly. Actually, the older students asked us to keep an eye on him because he seemed a little too innocent, and if he happened to run into some Slytherins..." Justin didn't bother finishing.
He didn't have to.
The Slytherins weren't exactly known for being friendly toward the other Houses, especially Gryffindor. But when it came to Hufflepuff, they had a favorite pastime: mocking them for supposedly being the House that accepted everyone the others didn't want, and for having the highest number of Muggle-borns out of all four Houses.
So some of the more arrogant Slytherins used that as another excuse for their usual hatred.
That was why the Hufflepuffs were so close-knit and made such an effort to welcome new students.
"Oh, don't worry. Tyson's one of us. There's no one stupid enough to pick a fight with him," Percy said calmly.
But perhaps he'd spoken a little too soon.
"Oh? Well, well. What do we have here? If it isn't Hogwarts' favorite triplets."
Draco Malfoy's caustic voice rang out as he approached, flanked as always by Crabbe and Goyle, wearing the same look of contempt that never seemed to leave his face while staring at Harry, Percy, and Tyson.
"Now which one was Potter? Which one was Jackson? The three of you look so alike I can't tell you apart," he said theatrically while looking at all three of them—including Tyson—with a mocking expression of exaggerated confusion.
Some nearby Slytherins immediately began laughing.
It wasn't as though they could see Tyson's true form as a Cyclops.
But between his enormous height and the way a lock of hair always seemed to cover one of his eyes, they'd already decided he looked like some kind of weirdo.
And they didn't need much more than that to start making fun of someone.
"What do you want, Malfoy? Come looking for this year's beating?" Percy shot back, glaring at him irritably as he even took a step forward, ready to start it.
But before he could even take that step, Harry stopped him while looking toward another part of the courtyard.
Professor Snape could be seen standing there, calmly watching in their direction without interfering.
Or perhaps simply waiting for the perfect moment to do so.
That was the source of Malfoy's arrogance.
As always, whenever he had someone backing him up, he dared to act cocky.
Otherwise, he'd simply tuck his tail between his legs and run.
"Go flush yourself down the toilet, Malfoy," Ron snapped at the blond Slytherin who always seemed to show up just to ruin their day.
"Oh? Well, if it isn't little Ronnie. What's wrong, little Ronnie? Want me to call your mummy so she can come change your diapers?" Malfoy mocked.
Several fifth-year Slytherins nearby burst into laughter, making Ron's face turn bright red with embarrassment.
The humiliation quickly became anger, and he even pulled out his wand.
"Stop," Harry said calmly as he forced Ron to put it away again.
At the same time, he shot Percy a look, silently telling him to keep himself under control, knowing perfectly well how badly his brother wanted to throw himself at Malfoy and beat him senseless.
But this really wasn't the time.
"It was nice meeting you, Justin. And thanks again for looking after Tyson. If you ever need anything, you can talk to us," Harry said calmly, saying goodbye to Justin and the other Hufflepuffs, who clearly weren't sure whether they should step in or not.
"Oh, sure. It was nice meeting you too," Justin replied.
Harry then grabbed Percy and Ron, pulling them away before either of them could attack the annoying blond, who kept mocking them on purpose, clearly trying to provoke them.
Hermione followed after them alongside Tyson, who still didn't seem to understand what had just happened.
Only that Malfoy apparently wasn't a very nice person.
"Goodbye, Ronnie!" Malfoy called after them with an arrogant grin, waving one hand mockingly in the air.
Tyson, who had spent the entire exchange watching in confusion, raised one hand in return and answered with a big smile.
"Goodbye, Malfoy!"
The blond blinked in confusion for a moment.
"I hope you have a really nice day," Tyson added with complete sincerity.
Silence fell for a few seconds.
Even some of the Hufflepuff students seemed to freeze.
The blond only frowned even harder, as though that had been far more difficult to respond to than an insult.
Harry couldn't help smiling a little.
"Come on, Tyson."
"Okay," Tyson said before catching up with them again. "Why does that boy keep saying mean things?" he asked as they walked.
"Because he's Malfoy," Ron answered, still in a foul mood.
Tyson thought about that for a few seconds.
"Oh."
"So... does he need a hug?" Tyson asked.
Harry couldn't help forcing a smile when he heard that.
Hermione couldn't help looking completely confused by the question.
Percy slowly shook his head.
"No, Tyson. He needs a lot of things..."
"...but a hug isn't one of them."