As the head of the Slytherin house, the current King of Snakes, Snape, stood in his office—which resembled a biological specimen room—with a cold face, staring fixedly at the three boys in front of him.
To his surprise, Goyle and Crabbe were cowering with their heads down, radiating an aura of pure fear.
However, Leon, standing beside them, showed no sign of fear at all.
On the contrary, he was examining the ingredient storage shelves with great interest.
This only fueled the fire in Snape’s heart.
He wanted to blurt out his decision on Leon’s punishment immediately.
Yet, for some unknown reason, his mouth, which had just opened, failed to utter the words.
Taking a deep breath, Snape forced his gaze toward Goyle and Crabbe.
“Tell me exactly what happened between you.
If I find that you have lied about even a single word, I’m afraid you won’t have the opportunity to rest early in the dormitory for the rest of this term.” “I…
I don’t know, Professor,” Goyle stammered.
“I don’t know either.
I just saw Malfoy get hit by this half-blood, so we went up to help,” Crabbe replied, though his speech was much more fluid.
Snape nodded.
He could confirm that Goyle and Crabbe were indeed telling the truth, and he shifted his gaze to Leon.
“And you?
Do you have anything to say?” Snape waited a moment, but when he didn’t hear a response, he frowned and reminded Leon, suppressing his anger.
“Professor, Malfoy used a very malicious description to insult my friend, so I acted to teach him a lesson.
I know I was in the wrong, and I am willing to accept any punishment.” Only then did Leon swallow his saliva, snap back to reality, and meet Snape’s gaze.
Just a moment ago, his attention had been caught by a jar of preserved dragon liver, and he had been lost in thought about how he would cook it if he were ever lucky enough to get his hands on that ingredient.
He had almost forgotten that he was currently in the middle of being lectured by a teacher in his office.
“A malicious description?
What did he say?” Hearing this, Snape’s fists clenched subconsciously.
“Mudblood,” Leon stated directly.
“Heh.
How dare he?” Hearing the answer he had already faintly suspected confirmed, Snape couldn’t stop himself from trembling slightly.
He muttered to himself while letting out a cold, sharp laugh.
The terrifying aura emitted by Snape at this moment made Goyle and Crabbe tremble even more violently.
If they hadn’t been afraid of Snape standing right in front of them, they would likely have turned and run for their lives.
Leon naturally noticed Snape’s change and his intense emotional fluctuation.
He froze for a second, then realized why.
Because that term was something Snape himself had once said to Lily—the final blow that turned their childhood friendship into a relationship of total estrangement.
If one were to count the words Snape hated most in his life, aside from the name “James,” this word was likely at the top of the list.
Snape, on the other hand, remained silent for a long time before recovering from his anger.
He looked at Goyle and Crabbe with cold eyes and said, “The two of you, go to Filch.
Tell him that from today until Christmas, you will assist him in cleaning the entire Hogwarts castle.” Upon hearing this, Goyle and Crabbe nodded obediently, said a respectful goodbye to Snape, and hurried out of the office.
Now, only Snape and Leon remained in the room.
But with Snape not speaking, Leon didn’t know what to say either.
The two simply stood in silence, observing one another.
“Is the person Malfoy insulted that little girlfriend of yours from Gryffindor?” After a while, Snape broke the silence first.
“Professor, I’m still a child; I have no intentions of dating.
Hermione is not my girlfriend.
She is my neighbor and my friend—nothing more,” Leon explained, shaking his head with a touch of speechlessness.
He had assumed Snape was pondering how to punish him, only to find his Head of House engaging in gossip.
“You’re a half-blood?” Snape nodded at the explanation, then asked another question.
“I suppose so.
My mother was a witch, but I’m not sure about my father.
They were away from home for years and never told me magic existed in this world.
Before I received my Hogwarts letter, I didn’t even know I could be a wizard,” Leon replied truthfully.
Small talk—he was used to it.
Teachers loved using it as a medium to bridge the gap between themselves and their students.
He might not have been a teacher himself, but he had been a student, and he had spent his fair share of time in teachers’ offices during his own school days.
“Then are you aware of the status and power of the Malfoy family in the British wizarding world?” After listening to Leon’s introduction, Snape asked again.
“I have a rough idea,” Leon nodded.
“Then do you know how much trouble you’ve caused for yourself?” Snape countered.
“It doesn’t matter, Professor.
It was just a simple student altercation.
If Mr.
Malfoy intends to target me because of this, then I have nothing else to say,” Leon replied with a smile.
Was he afraid of the Malfoy family?
Of course not.
Although the Malfoys were one of the “Sacred Twenty-Eight” and had tight connections with other pure-blood families, when it came down to it, the Malfoy family consisted of only three people: two adults and one child.
Wizards might seem omnipotent, but they still had two eyes and one mouth, and their blood was still red.
If Leon wanted to, sending those three packing wouldn’t be much of a problem.
After all, he might not be better than them at magic, but… times have changed, my friend.
Furthermore, the elder Malfoy was a former Death Eater.
Even if Leon didn’t use violence, he could simply send the Malfoys anonymous letters containing “Voldemort jokes” or false information; Malfoy would be far too busy to worry about him.
And Leon had an ace up his sleeve.
If he were truly pushed into a corner, he could always go down with the ship.
He could go directly to Dumbledore or tell Snape that there was a Horcrux of Voldemort hidden in the Malfoy manor; it was hard to say who would suffer more in that scenario.
Therefore, Leon was not worried about Malfoy’s revenge at all; he was almost looking forward to seeing how the elder Malfoy would try to deal with him.
“This is Hogwarts.
Even if he is a school governor, he cannot excessively interfere with school order.
You can rest assured on that point.” Seeing Leon’s lack of fear, Snape stopped trying to intimidate him, but he still offered a guarantee and a measure of comfort in his characteristically stiff tone.
“So, Professor, what is my punishment?” Hearing this, Leon bowed slightly toward Snape and asked.
Since Snape had said as much, how could he miss the subtext?
A punishment was mandatory to shut the elder Malfoy up.
Since Snape was willing to take on this trouble for him, Leon would naturally give him the face he deserved.