90

Chapter 90: Ambush, Counterattack

Malfoy and his companions returned to the deserted Potions classroom in a state of panic, visibly dejected.

"Draco, we've set everything up—what's going on?" Two girls cautiously entered, holding a few glass bottles, perplexed by everyone's demeanor.

"Let's call it off, Pansy." Nott sighed, shoulders slumped. "Gray won't show up... Professor Sprout has her eye on him, she's made sure Wade Gray stays behind."

"You're all too impatient. Now everything's ruined!"

Malfoy angrily kicked over a stool and sat down at the table in frustration. Crabbe and Goyle glared at the others, as if blaming everyone else for the failure.

"Let's wait for another chance," Zabini shook his head, sitting down heavily. "Whenever you try—something gets in his way."

Despite his words, the Slytherins' morale plummeted, except for Malfoy.

The blonde girl who followed Pansy in spoke hesitantly, "What should we do with these potions? Dispose of them?"

The bottles contained failed Scabies Potion. Malfoy's potion-making skills were formidable, but Neville's disastrous potion in their first class had left a lasting impression on him.

In Malfoy's view, that potion was far more effective than any treatment for scabies.

This time, to deal with Wade Gray, Malfoy had brewed a batch of Scabies Potion in secret, deliberately adding porcupine quills just before taking it off the fire, producing a large bottle of potion capable of melting through a crucible—a virulent green poison.

Unfortunately, the potion evaporated rapidly, soon transitioning from a highly corrosive acid to an innocuous liquid with nothing more than an unpleasant odor.

Malfoy waved dismissively. "Dispose of it... No, wait, give them to me, Daphne."

A mischievous idea struck him, and he carefully stashed each glass bottle in the corner desk cabinet—he'd learned that Wade often sat in that spot.

"I've got one too, Draco!" Pansy pushed Daphne aside, eagerly handing over her own potion.

Daphne hesitated. "But what if it harms someone else?"

"It's their bad luck!" Malfoy replied callously. "Maybe the professor will slap Gray with solitary confinement!—Wade Gray, why would you keep such dangerous things in the desk cabinet? Fifty points from Ravenclaw for endangering a classmate!"

Malfoy mimicked Professor Snape's reprimand of Harry Potter, which drew laughter from everyone. Even Nott managed a strange expression and joined in, feigning in a high-pitched voice, "I didn't do it, Professor—I have no idea what's happening—"

"Hahaha—" The room erupted in laughter, breathless and uncontrollable.

"He's here! He's coming!" A boy burst in, panting with excitement. "Draco, he's headed this way!"

"Who?" Malfoy hesitated for a moment.

"Who else could it be?" Millicent burst out impatiently, jumping to his feet. "Wade Gray!"

"How could—" Zabini looked skeptical.

"He must think we wouldn't dare act after the professor's warning!" Malfoy leapt from his chair, retrieving another potion bottle from the desk cabinet and distributing them to the others urgently. "Quick, quick, as we planned!"

Everyone sprang into action. The two girls moved aside while Pansy edged closer to Malfoy, as if ready to fight at his side. Several boys drew their wands, locking the classroom windows with spells, preparing to cast.

Crabbe and Goyle readied to throw the Scabies Potion like grenades. Nott also retrieved two hidden potions from under the medicine cabinet.

Daphne positioned herself by the window, hidden in the corner, observing carefully to avoid being spotted.

"It really is Wade Gray," the blonde girl murmured softly. "He's alone."

"No one else?" Zabini frowned.

"None."

"Weird..." Zabini couldn't understand. Was he truly unwary?

"Humph, he's just a Ravenclaw nerd!" Malfoy sneered disdainfully, issuing final instructions. "Remember the plan—we start with dung bombs, then the Scabies Potion. I'll use the Leg-Locker Curse when Crabbe and Goyle catch him, and Nott, remember to grab his wand!"

Crabbe and Goyle nodded. Nott glanced at the dung bomb in his hand, his face turning slightly green.

—Would grabbing the wand get this stuff on him?

Standing at the door, Nott hesitated.

Should he put the dung bomb back? Or swap it with Goyle? With his larger frame, he could cover most...

Just as Nott pondered, a whisper filled the room: "Expulso!"

"What—"

An unseen force swept up sand and debris, throwing it around the classroom. Before Nott could react, he choked on a mouthful of sand. Everyone screamed as they rubbed their stinging eyes.

"He's at the door!" Malfoy muffled a shout, wiping his sleeve across his eyes. "Quick, throw the dung bombs!"

A noise at the door. Nott didn't have time to discern it and hurled the dung bomb with all his might.

"Boom!"

The dung bomb struck a hideous head, exploding in a cloud of foul-smelling substance that filled the room.

A massive cockroach lumbered through the door.

Confronted with its terrifying visage, Nott, in a panic, recalled the voice he'd heard moments ago: "Engorgio!"

Paralyzed by fear, he made no attempt to resist as the giant cockroach pinned him down effortlessly.

Moments later, one, two, three... five or six spiders, each enlarged to the size of hounds, followed the cockroach into the room.

"Ahhh—"

Panic erupted as students scrambled to flee the Potions classroom. Malfoy leaped onto a table to unlock the window, only to find it magically sealed shut.

—They'd done it themselves.

"Alohom—"

Before he could complete the unlocking spell, a claw snagged his robes from behind, yanking him backward.

"No—no—let go—"

"Mom—"

"Help—"

The room echoed with terrified cries as students, untouched by the Confundus Charm cast on the insects, fled in terror. Just the proximity alone had induced panic and, for some, an involuntary release.

"Petrificus Totalus!"