Chapter 13: Conflict

The Great Hall.

Young wizards were having breakfast.

Draco Malfoy was animatedly recounting his Quidditch experiences, currently describing how he had skillfully and dangerously dodged a Muggle crop-dusting plane.

A circle of first-year wizards from various houses surrounded him, listening intently and occasionally letting out exclamations of awe.

Malfoy seemed to enjoy being fawned over by the crowd, speaking with even greater enthusiasm.

At that moment, Allen dragged his long wings into the Great Hall, carefully passing by the long tables, afraid of knocking over the cutlery.

The young wizards in the hall spotted him and rushed toward him, shouting, to touch his wings; some bratty children even tried to pluck feathers from them, and Allen instantly couldn't hold up.

Fortunately, Percy was also having breakfast; with the authority of a Prefect, he intimidated the young wizards, and Allen's roommate took the opportunity to rescue him from the crowd, but his wings were smeared with various jams and butter.

The young wizards still refused to disperse, gathering around Allen and chattering away with all sorts of questions; fortunately, they no longer reached out to touch him, while Ron and Harry were actively maintaining order during the questioning.

Allen had no choice but to answer the young wizards' questions while eating breakfast, and even some older wizards couldn't help but stop to listen.

What Allen didn't notice was that Malfoy was staring at him fiercely from a distance, his eyes filled with jealousy and resentment.

Just as Allen's mouth went dry from explaining, a haughty voice cut in: "What's so interesting about a 'bird-man'!"

Allen stopped, turned his head, and found it was Malfoy with his lackeys Crabbe and Goyle; Malfoy, with his slicked-back hair shining with oil, raised his chin and looked at him haughtily.

Allen knew the best way to deal with such an arrogant person was to ignore him, to treat him as nothing, so he glanced at Malfoy and continued answering the young wizard's questions.

Sure enough, ignored as he was, Malfoy became even more furious, pushed through the crowd, and stepped in front of Allen: "Do these stupid wings make you deaf too, half-orc!"

Ron and Harry's eyes were full of rage, about to rush forward to argue with Malfoy, but Allen quickly grabbed them, then calmly said to Malfoy: "Oh? What do you want to do?"

"I just can't stand people like you misleading everyone!" Malfoy tried to seize the moral high ground.

"Oh, then thank you for your reminder." Allen didn't want to stoop to this brat's level, tightened his grip on Harry and Ron again, and continued to ignore Malfoy.

"No one has ever dared to ignore me like this!" Sure enough, Malfoy grew even more furious.

"Well, now there is, no need to thank me." Allen continued to reply calmly.

The young wizards around burst into laughter; Ron laughed the most exaggeratedly, slapping the table until he couldn't stop.

Malfoy's face turned red all the way to his ears; he had never been so angry, so furious that he didn't know what to say for a moment.

But Allen, whose mood had suddenly brightened today, didn't intend to let him off the hook; looking at Malfoy's slicked-back hair, he suddenly remembered a meme he'd seen in short videos in his past life and said to Malfoy: "You must use a lot of hair gel to keep that hairstyle every day; at your age, using so much hair gel every day will make you go bald later."

Muggle-born wizards roared with laughter, while wizards from wizarding families were somewhat puzzled.

Malfoy felt his soul take a critical hit; although he didn't quite understand what hair gel meant, a voice deep in his soul vaguely told him he had just suffered the most vicious attack of his life.

Rage made Malfoy somewhat irrational, and he blurted out without thinking: "You mudblood, you orphan without parents, didn't your dead parents teach you how to speak?"

Allen's face instantly darkened; as a transmigrator, his parents on Earth had always been a pain in his heart, something he never wanted to bring up; besides, as a Chinese person, filial piety comes first in all things.

Getting a few insults himself was fine, he could just laugh it off, but if his parents were insulted, that was absolutely intolerable.

Allen shot to his feet, his wings suddenly spreading wide in anger; the airflow generated by his massive wings forced the onlooking young wizards to step back several paces and blew away many candles floating above the Great Hall.

The young wizards then realized how huge Allen's spread wings were; with a wingspan of over five meters, fully spread they were as tall as an adult wizard.

Allen walked toward Malfoy, step by step, enveloping him in the shadow of his wings; Malfoy felt like a small beast being stared at by a fierce predator, trembling inside, his body constantly retreating backward; his lackeys Crabbe and Goyle were also terrified.

At that moment, Allen felt someone tightly embrace his waist; he turned and found it was Harry, Ron, and Neville.

He was about to struggle free, but then Professor McGonagall's voice came from nearby: "Aren't you eating breakfast early in the morning? Don't you have classes this morning? What are you all doing gathered here?"

No one dared to ignore Professor McGonagall's authority, so everyone quickly dispersed.

Allen instantly calmed down, and everyone pretended nothing had happened.

Professor McGonagall glared fiercely at Allen and Malfoy, then walked away.

Back at his seat, Allen felt a bit regretful about his earlier impulsiveness; it was too conspicuous, but since the matter had already happened, there was nothing to regret.

Harry looked at Allen and said sincerely: "I held you back just now because we are all orphans; Hogwarts is our last home, and I don't want my good friend to be expelled from Hogwarts." Harry's voice grew a bit emotional towards the end.

Allen's heart instantly softened, perhaps by the words "home" and "good friend."

He gently averted his gaze, a bit afraid to meet the light in Harry's emerald-green eyes; he sniffed lightly and said to Harry, Ron, and Neville: "I'm fine now, thank you all!"

Neville's face turned bright red, and it took him a long time to say a sentence: "Allen, you are a very good person; don't stoop to the level of people like Malfoy."

Ron took the opportunity to make a joke: "Allen, did you know Fred, George, and Jordan are betting on whether you can fly with your wings? They are currently planning to trick you to the top floor of the Gryffindor Tower and then push you off!"

"Haha, then I'd better be careful; I don't want to become the first 'bird-man' to die from a fall!" Allen joked.

Everyone was amused by Allen's witty remark and began to enjoy their respective breakfasts.

At that moment, Hermione, holding a book titled "Quidditch Through the Ages," sat down opposite Allen and said cheerfully: "Your wings are dirty; may I help you clean them?"

Allen felt a bit puzzled in his heart; were we already that close? But it seemed like letting her clean them wouldn't hurt.

So he gently nodded: "I am honored!"

Hermione's face turned a bit red, but she still calmly recited the spell: "Scourgify!"

Various jams, butter, and other things on Allen's wings quickly vanished, and the wings returned to their pristine white state.

This made Allen feel even better, and he gratefully thanked Hermione.

Hermione spread the book open on the table and said to Allen: "No need to thank me; I can't stand such pristine wings getting dirty."

"Besides, the way you got angry today was much more handsome than the legendary wizards in the book!" Hermione glanced quickly at Allen and then quickly blurted out this sentence.

Allen was momentarily at a loss for words.

Hermione also felt a bit awkward; looking behind Allen, she quickly changed the subject: "Don't mind that; what you should pay attention to now is Malfoy; he looks extremely resentful right now, as if he can't accept it."

Allen turned his head to look at the Slytherin table; Malfoy was, face flushed, telling other young wizards something, seemingly ashamed of his momentary retreat just now, constantly explaining himself to everyone.

Suddenly, he seemed to sense Allen's gaze; he turned his head, and their eyes collided in mid-air; Allen clearly saw humiliation and unwillingness in his eyes; Allen snorted lightly, turned his head away with a hint of contempt, and ended the stare-down with Malfoy.

Hermione, sitting opposite, clearly saw all of this and said softly to Allen: "You have flying class with Slytherin this afternoon." She held up her copy of "Quidditch Through the Ages," "May I give you a few flying tips?"

Allen smiled gently at her: "I'd be delighted!"