Snape naturally sensed the gazes of his colleagues.
With a gloomy expression, he rose, intending to apprehend all four students involved in the commotion.
However, just as he raised his wand to cast Levicorpus, he keenly caught a subtle shake of the head from Dumbledore.
Snape looked at Dumbledore, astonished, only to find the old man watching Leon—who had already drawn his own wand—with great interest and clear anticipation.
Since the headmaster was in the mood to watch a show, what could Snape do?
He could only suppress his anger and look on coldly, even though he saw Leon pull out his wand.
In any case, with Dumbledore present, and since Leon was only a first-year, there wouldn’t be much trouble he could cause.
Nevertheless, Snape secretly swore that after this farce, if Leon couldn’t give him a reasonable explanation, he would make sure the boy spent the rest of the term in his Potions office doing the dirtiest and most exhausting chores.
On the other side, facing the three students lunging at him, Leon took a large step back to create some distance.
His wand was in his hand, and he wasn’t staying silent.
“Protego!” Thanks to Professor Flitwick’s theoretical supplemental lessons, Leon had gained new insights into spellcasting.
This time, his magic didn’t feel as sluggish; he successfully summoned a thin layer of magical armor to envelop himself.
While the quality couldn’t compare to a professional Shield Charm, it was more than enough to defend against physical attacks like punches.
At that moment, Draco, who had lunged forward first, had already raised his arm, preparing to retaliate with a strike to Leon’s face.
But just as his palm was about to make contact, Draco let out a cry of pain even before Leon could react.
He felt as if he had slapped a hard stone wall.
The shock of the rebound made his entire hand go numb, and the pain was by no means lighter than the “slap” he had received earlier.
“A beautiful Shield Charm!
Although still quite raw, Mr.
John is only a first-year.
He really is a genius!” “Indeed.
But if he had chosen to use Transfiguration, perhaps the battle would have already ended.” Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
Though it was improper to watch students get into a conflict without intervening, considering that both Dumbledore and Snape were effectively “idle,” they could only follow the flow.
Snape, meanwhile, remained silent, though his eyes showed a hint of surprise at what he had witnessed.
Dumbledore was the most pleased of all.
If the occasion hadn’t been so formal, he would have started applauding.
Fortunately, he knew the gravity of the situation and didn’t act out of turn.
At the same time, it seemed he had gotten the answer he wanted.
Just as he stood up to put an end to the conflict, Leon’s subsequent actions made him pause.
Since Draco had incapacitated himself with a failed strike, Leon chose to press his advantage.
His wand moved in a graceful arc, and the Petrificus Totalus spell followed immediately, hitting Crabbe square in the chest.
Crabbe stiffened instantly and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
But that wasn’t all.
Facing Goyle, who was now almost right in front of him, Leon didn’t have enough time to cast another spell.
However, Leon was not a traditional wizard.
Faced with a moment that magic couldn’t resolve, his muscles answered the call.
With a slick side-roll, Leon quickly rose and unleashed a sweep, knocking Goyle—who had missed his lunge and hadn’t yet regained his footing—directly off his feet.
That still wasn’t all; spotting a stool nearby, Leon instinctively grabbed it and swung it toward Goyle.
“Stop!” A resonant, authoritative voice echoed throughout the Great Hall.
Leon, who was about to bring the stool down on Goyle, felt as if he had been frozen, holding his position with the stool raised high.
It was Dumbledore, finally having stepped in.
However, Dumbledore did not participate further in the conflict.
Instead, he shifted his gaze toward Snape.
Snape naturally understood Dumbledore’s intention.
Though annoyed, he spoke up: “The Slytherin prefect, take Mr.
Malfoy to the hospital wing.
Mr.
Goyle, if you can still stand, get up on your own.” He then drew his wand and cast Finite Incantatem to lift the Full Body-Bind Curse from Crabbe and Leon.
He observed Crabbe, whose face was flushed red with anger, and Leon, noting that neither was injured, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Mr.
Crabbe, Mr.
Goyle, and Mr.
John—you will follow me to my Potions office!
Now!” With that, Snape walked toward the dungeons with a cold face.
Goyle and Crabbe, having picked themselves up, exchanged glances before lowering their heads and following in Snape’s footsteps.
Leon showed no intention of resisting.
He shrugged, caught the eyes of Hermione and Neville amidst the crowd, and waved to indicate he was fine and that they needn’t worry, before following Snape.
The moment Leon stepped away, a roar of cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table.
But that no longer concerned him.
“He waved at us!
He has a Gryffindor heart!” “I knew it!
Leon is a Gryffindor that was delayed by the Sorting Hat!
A true Gryffindor!” This comment was clearly from the Weasley twins.
“So cool!
Daring to take on three people on the first day and actually winning!” “I declare that from now on, Leon is our official Gryffindor representative in Slytherin!” This was also the twins, earning the enthusiastic agreement of most of the little lions.
“Agreed!
Gryffindor will always welcome Leon!” Hearing the praise and adulation the little lions showered upon Leon, Hermione didn’t feel happy; instead, she looked toward the direction of his departure with worry.
Neville felt much the same.
If the situation had allowed, he would have rushed over to help—after all, Leon was one of his few friends.
Unfortunately, by the time he had processed what was happening, the fight was already over.
Aside from Gryffindor, other houses also discussed Leon’s performance, mostly in a positive light.
It couldn’t be helped; after all, Slytherin’s reputation at Hogwarts really wasn’t very good.
Even within Slytherin, aside from a few pure-bloods who were close with the Malfoy family, the other students of common birth were secretly cheering for Leon.
Though school had just begun, they had already felt Malfoy’s arrogance and attitude.
If it weren’t for Malfoy’s status, they would have long since found a way to teach this annoying kid a lesson.
Now that Leon had done what they dared not, they were naturally happy to see it happen.
But it went no further than that.
None of them intended to stand on Leon’s side or support his actions.
After all, this was still Slytherin.
Most people were egoists; they didn’t mind watching the show, but getting themselves involved in unnecessary strife was a different matter entirely.