Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

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At that moment, Draco's eyes seemed to have witnessed the collapse of the entire world.

Bewilderment, doubt, questioning, jealousy…

Countless emotions swirled within him, eventually forming a flavor he couldn't even name.

“…Draco?”

Harry lowered the hand that held the candy slightly, looking questioningly at the motionless, petrified Draco, and called out softly.

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However, the other party remained oblivious, staring intently at the candy in his hand, without even blinking.

Just then, Ron's familiar shout rang out beside him.

“Hey!! Harry!!!!!”

Harry turned his head in the direction of the sound and saw Ron in the distance, his eyes wide, frantically waving his arms, hoping to attract his attention.

However, his feet seemed rooted to the spot, unmoving, with no intention of coming over.

It seemed that the "Fumble Spell" Draco had cast on the Hogwarts Express had left a deep impression on him.

Harry hesitated and turned back to look at Draco—who still hadn't moved.

“Come on!! Harry!!!!!”

Seeing that Harry was still turning his head to look at Draco, Ron's voice grew louder in urging.

……However, his feet still didn't move an inch. He could only stare anxiously at Harry, waving frantically.

“I know! I'm coming!” Harry replied loudly.

Helpless, he sighed and had no choice but to reach out and pry open one of Draco's hands, which was clutching the notebook, stuffing all the candy in his own hand into the other's palm.

“Okay… I've found Ron. So—see you later.”

With that, he picked up his luggage and birdcage and hurried off towards Ron.

Draco watched Harry's departing figure for a long while, until the other had completely disappeared from his sight, before retracting his gaze and looking down at the candy that Harry had forcibly stuffed into his hand.

After a moment of hesitation, he slowly picked up one of them and carefully put it in his mouth…

“Draco! Look what we found!?”

Soon, Goyle and Crabbe, who had been squatting beside the bushes, ran back to Draco excitedly, saying happily.

“……” Draco, with candy in his mouth, looked at the two of them with a blank expression, without saying a word.

However, Goyle and Crabbe seemed completely oblivious to Draco's current mood. They exchanged a glance and then let out a burst of "geigeigei" laughter.

“Look!!”

Immediately afterward, an excited Goyle suddenly pulled out a very straight little stick from behind him, waving it in front of Draco as if showing it off.

Seeing the little stick being pulled out, Crabbe also excitedly cooperated. His eyes sparkled as he spared no effort in introducing the little stick they had found in just a few minutes to Draco.

“Look, Draco! You've definitely never seen a straighter little stick than this!! I swear, Goyle's wand isn't even as straight as this! And, it's actually…”

Crabbe swallowed, the excitement in his eyes growing even more intense.

“It actually grew naturally! Look! There are even leaves hanging on it!!!”

“ohhhhhh” It was now Goyle's turn to cooperate. He raised his arms and cheered happily.

Causing the people around them to cast sidelong glances…

Draco's lips trembled, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

He stuffed another piece of candy from his palm into his mouth and slowly closed his eyes.

………………………………………………

“Why were you talking to Malfoy?”

Ron huffed as he carried his luggage, walking in the opposite direction of Draco, occasionally glancing back warily, afraid that the other would follow.

Harry, seeing Ron's attitude, couldn't help but feel embarrassed, but helpless, seeing Ron in this state, he could only gently persuade him.

“…Could it be that you had some misunderstanding before? I feel like Draco is actually quite nice…”

“Nice!?”

Ron's voice suddenly rose quite a bit, his eyes widening, looking at Harry in disbelief, then he frowned again and said.

“Don't be fooled by that kid's innocent appearance! —”

Ron paused, then looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he carefully leaned closer to Harry's ear and lowered his voice.

“Malfoy's father used to be a Death Eater! As a result, he pulled some strings and didn't face the Ministry of Magic's trial—you need to know, his whole family aren't good people!”

“Ron!!”

Harry immediately turned his head, frowning, and looked seriously at Ron, who had a mysterious and serious expression, and said.

“You should know… talking bad about others behind their backs isn't exactly something upright and honorable… Besides, Mr. Charlie is Draco's uncle, which logically speaking also counts as his family… At least in my opinion, Mr. Charlie is an extremely great and good person.”

After saying that, as if feeling that his persuasion wasn't convincing enough, Harry then retorted.

“Could you possibly say that Mr. Charlie has done bad things? He even donates money to orphanages!”

Ron was startled by Harry's suddenly intense attitude, stunned for a long while before his eyebrows drooped, and he pouted, muttering softly.

“How could I not say it… Originally, Hogwarts students didn't have to carry their own luggage to school… It's all because he dug up a lot of house-elves back then…”

Harry opened his mouth, still intending to argue with him for a few sentences…

“Ding-dong—ding-dong—”

As a result, before he could speak, he was interrupted by a crisp ringing sound.

Instantly, the originally noisy students all subconsciously stopped their voices and looked in the direction of the ringing.

At some unknown time, a somewhat balding old man with a gloomy face had appeared on the platform.

One hand held a bright lantern, while the other held a bell, which he was currently shaking incessantly.

When the sounds of the entire platform had completely disappeared and everyone's gaze was focused on him, he finally satisfiedly surveyed the crowd and stopped shaking the bell in his hand.

“Come on—Hogwarts students follow me, go over there to board the boats! Did you hear that, I'll say it again, follow me! Go over there to board the boats!”

His voice was as unpleasant as a dying crow, each word that came out of his mouth like a eulogy at a funeral, icy and uncomfortable.

“To be honest… I originally didn't want to manage you, this was originally Hagrid's job.”