Everyone has a side they do not show to others.
There are plenty of people who look righteous on the outside while carrying darkness inside.
Wizards in particular, with power of their own, can fall into darkness all too easily.
So when Draco saw the twisted, hate-filled look on Harry Potter's face, he did not show much of a reaction.
As long as no one provoked him, Draco was actually quite easy to get along with.
Ginny Weasley, on the other hand, having just been shouted at by name by Harry Potter, seemed genuinely startled by this side of him. She clearly had not expected that kind of attitude or tone from him at all...
She gave a little shiver, then instinctively, and with practiced ease, hid behind Draco.
It looked as though Ginny had completely forgotten Harry Potter was even there.
What she did not realize was that this reaction of hers was the real thing that provoked Harry Potter, not merely the fact that she was standing together with Draco.
What angered Harry Potter most was that he seemed to catch the slight upward curl of Draco's lips, making him feel like a clown in front of Draco...
That came from the inferiority complex born of failing again and again before Draco.
Much as he hated to admit it, the truth was that Harry Potter had never beaten Draco even once.
School grades.
Quidditch matches.
The Triwizard Tournament.
Even the girl he liked.
Harry Potter had lost every single time, thoroughly and completely.
Without even realizing it, Draco had become like a dark cloud hanging over Harry Potter's head, one that simply would not go away.
And now even the fame he had once been able to take pride in had recently been surpassed by Draco.
There was nothing more crushing than that...
Not only that.
That intense inferiority complex had also made Harry Potter's pride far more fragile than other people's. Combined with Mundungus's "betrayal" just now, his emotions had completely spiraled out of control.
What was disappointing was that Harry Potter actually chose to vent all that anger on Ginny...
...
Ginny might be a year younger than Harry Potter, but her temper was not small at all.
Why are you even standing with this guy!
Ginny could naturally hear that this was what Harry Potter meant.
But Ginny, who had a bit of a rebellious streak in her, had no way of accepting that kind of tone from him, as though he were interrogating her...
So once Ginny came back to herself, she frowned and stepped out from behind Draco.
"I don't like your tone, Harry."
Since she believed she had done nothing wrong, Ginny was naturally furious at Harry Potter's manner, the kind of tone one would use on a criminal under questioning.
As if she had done something utterly unforgivable.
When all she had done was exchange a few words with Draco, at most trade a little information.
More importantly, he was not an Auror, and she was not some criminal either!
But Harry Potter, at that moment, looked as though he could not hear anything at all, nor could he even see the ugly expression on Ginny's face.
Especially with Draco standing right there.
At that moment, he was like a Snape who had lost all reason, constantly pouring the darkness in his heart onto Ginny...
"Have you forgotten what our relationship with people like them is? Are you trying to betray us?!"
"I think all of you have misunderstood Draco. Maybe we could sit down and talk this out..."
"Shut up! You don't understand anything! It's not that simple!"
That sudden roar made Luna quietly take a step back, and for once, obvious disgust showed on her usually placid face.
Wasn't it a little too arrogant to treat Ginny like some child who understood nothing?
Luna might always act like an observer, but she was very clear on who was close to her and who was not.
Not to mention that, in Luna's eyes, Ginny had done absolutely nothing wrong.
Only...
Luna cast an odd glance at Draco, who at some point had retreated to stand beside her as well.
Even Luna could not help twitching at the corner of her mouth when she saw that expression on Draco's face, as though he were enjoying the show.
At the end of the day, Draco was the main fuse behind this whole incident, so how could he stand there looking so completely unconcerned?
Anyone who did not know better would really think Draco had only happened to pass by.
Just as Luna was utterly unable to make sense of it, the argument between Ginny and Harry Potter became even more heated.
Ginny tried to calm Harry Potter down.
"Our enemy should be the Dark Lord, not Draco and the others."
"How can you be sure these evil wizards don't have some kind of plot?!"
"But he... but Draco saved us! I trust him!"
"Who knows whether that wasn't part of the plan? Maybe he only did it to gain your trust."
By this point, it was already obvious that Harry Potter was no longer listening to anything.
Logic no longer mattered.
This argument existed only because Ginny still held onto a last shred of hope for Harry Potter...
...
When people are emotional, they always end up doing impulsive things they will bitterly regret later.
That was exactly the state Harry Potter was in as he spoke to Ginny.
Especially because Ginny refused to "listen" and because he could not persuade her, Harry Potter's face grew redder and redder.
In the end, stung by humiliation and anger, Harry Potter directly raised the wand he had been holding all along and pointed it in Draco's direction...
"What... what are you doing, Harry?!"
The moment Ginny saw what he had done, her vision swayed strangely, her eyes full of disbelief.
Harry's furious expression had already felt unfamiliar to her, but Ginny had never imagined there would come a day when he would point his wand at her.
Staggering back a step, Ginny let out a bitter laugh.
So in his heart, I was nothing at all?
Perhaps anger had clouded his eyes, or perhaps the worsening wind and snow had obscured his vision, but Harry Potter could not see the change in Ginny's expression at all.
To be precise, all of Harry Potter's attention at that moment was fixed on Draco.
Those faintly green-glinting eyes looked colder and colder in the midst of the wind and snow...
Just as Luna realized something was wrong, Draco, who had looked lazy and relaxed only moments earlier, suddenly gave off a terrifying aura.
He stepped forward.
The snake-headed cane in his hand struck the ground once.
Shielding the two girls behind him, Draco now looked like a dragon awakening from sleep!