Chapter 59: Primary Schoolers' Quarrel
Early spring had come to Hogwarts, but although the snow had begun to melt, the air still carried that irritating damp chill.
And more irritating than the weather, at least in Tamara Riddle's opinion, was the endless stupidity between Slytherin and Gryffindor. The two houses squabbled like children fighting over sweets.
She had already given a speech in the common room. She had already explained that indifference was the highest form of contempt, and that a Slytherin should learn to use others, not clash with them directly.
But clearly, to an eleven year old boy, such deep and elegant principles were far less appealing than saying, "Your father is poor."
At lunch, just outside the Great Hall, a crowd of students who had finished eating gathered in the stone courtyard.
"What's wrong, Weasley? Why is there a hole in that jumper of yours?"
Draco Malfoy's voice was sharp and cutting, full of malicious delight.
"Did that filthy rat of yours chew through it? Or did someone fish it out of a rubbish heap for you?"
Ron's face instantly turned the colour of overripe liver. His fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Shut up, Malfoy!"
"Oh, are you angry because you're embarrassed?" Draco sneered, even more pleased with himself than before. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered dutifully behind him.
"Honestly, if I were you, I wouldn't wear something like that in public. It looks like a dishcloth."
"You..."
Ron shook with fury. He yanked out his wand with a sharp motion.
"Eat Slugs!"
Draco also drew his wand at once.
It looked as though the whole thing was about to become a brawl.
Neville Longbottom stood beside Ron. Though he was visibly frightened, he still forced himself to raise his wand and point it at Draco.
"Don't bully Ron!"
"Oh, Longbottom wants to fight too?" Draco looked at him with open contempt. "What, because Tamara saved you once, you think you're some sort of hero now?"
"Tamara wouldn't act like you!" Neville shouted back.
"Don't mention her name!" Draco snapped at once, as though the words themselves offended him. "You aren't even worth mentioning alongside her!"
The scene instantly spiralled out of control.
The surrounding students hurried back to clear an open space, while a few who enjoyed chaos began cheering from the sidelines.
Not far away beneath the cloister, Tamara Riddle stood leaning against a stone pillar, a book in her hand, watching the scene with cold eyes.
"Boring."
She closed the book and turned to leave.
Watching such low level bickering felt like a waste of time. Draco had a brain, but the moment anyone provoked him, he still became a child who had not properly grown up.
As for Ron and Neville, they were even worse. Two pieces of rotting timber.
Rather than trying to carve flowers out of rotten wood, it was better to find something sturdier to cultivate.
But just as she took her first step away, the system chimed in.
[Ding! A serious school violence incident is escalating.]
That sickeningly earnest voice rang through her mind again, brimming with false positivity.
[Maintaining a healthy school atmosphere is the duty of every outstanding student. host, while you may look down on this sort of childish fight, if it gets out of hand, Slytherin will lose points, and your perfect leader image will be affected.]
[More importantly, if your subordinates are beaten in public, that would not reflect very well on you, would it?]
Tamara stopped.
She glanced back toward the courtyard battlefield.
If they really started duelling, Slytherin might not even come out ahead, especially if Professor McGonagall arrived. No matter who won, Slytherin would almost certainly lose points.
Of course, in McGonagall's case, Gryffindor would lose points too.
"...What a pack of troublesome imbeciles."
Tamara let out a slow breath, her eyes turning cold.
"System, may I kill them?"
[You may not. Please resolve the conflict with love and peace.]
[Task: Messenger of Peace.]
[Reward: Courage +2.]
[Task Punishment: Praise Dumbledore for an entire day.]
"..."
Tamara drew her wand, and a cruel smile lifted one corner of her mouth.
"Fine. Then I shall give them a little peace."
In the courtyard, both sides were already on the verge of open combat.
A few poorly cast first year spells were being thrown back and forth. They were more ridiculous than dangerous, but the whole scene was already a mess.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
A cold, crisp voice, carrying a surge of powerful magic, suddenly cracked through the air over everyone's heads.
The spell had not come from Draco.
Nor from Ron.
It came from the side.
And it did not come alone.
Several white streaks shot through the air like flashes of lightning, striking Neville, Goyle, and even Seamus Finnigan, who had been creeping into position for a sneak attack.
A few sharp thuds followed.
The would be reinforcements went stiff in an instant, as though the life had been frozen out of them, and toppled to the ground one after another.
The entire courtyard fell silent.
Draco and Ron both froze, still holding their wands in half finished attack positions, neither of them even remembering to lower them.
Slowly, stiffly, they turned their heads.
Tamara Riddle was walking toward them.
She wore her usual dark green robes. Her wand rested in her hand. Her face was expressionless, but her black eyes held a chill that made one's spine tighten.
"Since you enjoy pointing wands at people so much..."
Tamara walked between them, stepping carelessly over Goyle's rigid body as if he were a fallen branch. Her voice was soft, but it cut through the silence like a knife of ice.
"...the least you could do is learn not to collapse in a single spell."
She glanced down at Neville and Goyle lying on the ground, her gaze filled with contempt.
"How does it feel, lying there and being looked down on? This is what weakness looks like."
Her eyes were still full of disgust.
"You cannot even dodge a basic Petrificus Totalus, yet you want to duel in public?"
"It is an embarrassment to Hogwarts."
Draco swallowed hard and instinctively tucked his wand behind his back.
"Ta... Tamara, he insulted me first!" he blurted, immediately trying to pass the blame.
"Quiet."
She flicked him a cold glance.
"What did I teach you? If a dog bites you, do you bite it back?"
Ron's face turned green with rage.
"Who are you calling a dog?"
Tamara turned to look at him.
The expression in her eyes was the same one she might have used for an especially noisy little mongrel.
"Weasley."
Her voice remained perfectly calm.
"If your wand can do nothing but cast inaccurate Tickling Charms, then I suggest you keep it for stirring cauldrons."
"At least then you would be less likely to injure yourself."
Ron opened his mouth, then shut it again, his face blazing red.
"And you, Potter."
Tamara shifted her gaze to Harry, who had been standing to one side without speaking.
"If those are your friends, should you not have stopped this pointless argument? Or do you also enjoy watching people fight like barbarians?"
Harry blinked, taken aback.
He had not expected her to turn on him so suddenly.
"I... I only..."
"Enough."
Tamara had no interest in hearing excuses.
She gave her wand a light flick.
"Finite Incantatem."
The Body Bind Curse on Neville and Goyle broke at once.
"All of you, leave."
Her voice was not loud, yet it carried absolute authority.
"If I see you in this courtyard again, screeching like a troop of baboons..."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. The tip of her wand tapped once against the stone.
"...then I will turn all of you into statues with Petrificus Totalus."
"And I will leave you there until next term."
Not a single person doubted her.
The oppressive certainty in her voice, and the complete control she radiated, struck a deep, instinctive fear into everyone present.
The crowd dispersed with astonishing speed.
The Slytherins and Gryffindors, who had been at each other's throats only moments before, now retreated in perfect agreement.
Draco followed behind Tamara like a scolded child, not daring to speak.
Only when they had entered the dungeon corridor did Tamara finally stop.
"Draco."
"Y... yes!" Draco instantly straightened.
"The next time you want to humiliate Weasley..."
Tamara turned and looked at him, her tone touched with genuine irritation.
"Use your marks. Use your family name. Or at the very least, use your brain."
"Do not quarrel with him like a primary school child again."
"Primary school?" Draco frowned. The term meant nothing to him.
"A repulsive kind of creature."
Tamara's expression darkened faintly, as if some unpleasant memory had surfaced. A noisy school near Wools Orphanage, crowded halls, the smell of sweat, shrill voices, teachers shouting.
"They have no magic and solve every dispute by pulling hair, running to the teacher, and scribbling on desks. Exactly as you did just now."
"That is the conduct of lower life forms."
Draco stared for a moment, then nodded so hard he almost looked dizzy with admiration.
"I understand, Tamara. You're absolutely right."
"I'll show them that Slytherin nobility isn't something you yell about."
Tamara rolled her eyes inwardly.
He said all the right things, yet the moment anyone provoked him, his blood still rushed straight to his head.
It seemed she still had a long way to go before these subordinates of hers could be considered properly tamed.
The system chimed in again.
[Ding! Task completed: Messenger of Peace.]
[System Evaluation: Although your methods were full of intimidation and implied violence, it must be admitted that you did successfully stop a fight and preserve order within the school.]
[Reward: Courage +1.]
[Current Courage: 17.]
Tamara tucked away her wand, her mood marginally improved.
"Peace?"
She sneered inwardly.
"So called peace is simply absolute order. It is what remains when violence is refined to its purest form."
"If you make people afraid even to breathe too loudly, the world naturally becomes quiet."
.....
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