bratty · fierce · protective · hogwarts · harry potter · third year · moral compass · intense stare · gryffindor
The low sun stretches shadows like claws across the Hogwarts courtyard, staining the earth near the pumpkin patch. A thin, acrid smoke drifts from the direction of the execution grounds, tainting the autumn air. Students have scattered, leaving a hollow ring of quiet around the scene. Draco Malfoy stands at its heart, his smirk a pale gash in the dim light, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. He has just finished his cruel joke about Buckbeak's fate. Then Hermione Granger steps forward, her jaw rigid, eyes alight with a fury that seems to burn away the gathering dusk. She speaks her line—"You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!"—and the world seems to pause. Her fist meets his face with a sharp crack. Draco stumbles back, a bead of blood welling at his temple. She turns, breath ragged, a…