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As we approached the Great Hall, we noticed a growing quarrel, the instigators of which, as always, were Malfoy and Potter, though Malfoy and Weasley were more correct. The first was obviously teasing the second.

"...Maybe your mother should lose some extra weight," Draco remarked sneeringly.

There were quite a lot of people from different Houses of our year. Without a crowd, Malfoy doesn't give a performance. I was going to walk through the crowd, for they filled the hallway considerably.

"Tell me, Potter, is his mother really that fat?"

"And your slutty mother, Malfoy?" snapped Potter, dragging Weasley away, purple with anger. "Such an impression ..."

But the guy didn't have a chance to finish - I was already there. With a quick right punch, I hit Potter right in the nose, breaking it and his glasses, and it looks like a couple more of the facial bones of the skull. The guy flew off and froze unconscious. Ron immediately freaked out, losing his only restraining factor. I sent him to Potter in the same way.

"Ha," grinned Malfoy, but I did not pass him by either, grabbing his ear and twisting it so that he fell backward, on one knee, grabbing my hand.

"Don't insult other people's parents, and they won't insult yours. And if they do, kick them right away."

His loser bodyguards began to fuss.

"Halt!" barked at Crabbe and Goyle with a serious look. Surprisingly, they stopped. "You, Draco, should have been flogged as a child, then you would not have dishonored the House. Got it?"

A spell flew at me from the side of the stairs, but I did nothing, seeing, out of the corner of my eye, Hermione standing beside me, already setting up the Protego Reflecto. The ray bounced right back into Moody, but he used the Reflecto to turn it into Peeves, who appeared at the noise, turning him into a ghostly ferret.

Letting go of Draco's ear, I shifted my gaze to Moody.

"Interesting business," the professor remarked in a hoarse voice, walking briskly down the stairs, limping over his prosthesis. "Nothing new, though..."

Moody came close to us.

"Hmm..." he examined me carefully. "It's you..."

"A very ambiguous statement, Professor."

"Oh, don't try your fancy talk on me, boy. Were you in that alley on Christmas Eve?"

"I've been in a lot of alleyways around Christmas time. This is the time of year when you can't help but wander the alleys."

"Hmm… Okay, not under interrogation, fighter," Moody slapped me on the shoulder. "But you've been conjuring pretty good for a second-year student. Probably even better now."

Moody looked around at the frozen and attentive students. Even Potter and Weasley were still lying there, and Malfoy had already crawled away, like a snake.

"What's the matter!" Moody barked, making the students jump. "Grab those two losers and take them to the hospital wing! Rookies..."

There was a commotion all around, and the students, like ants, picked up the two bodies and dragged them in a common stream to their anthill.

"What's going on here?" asked a sternly approaching McGonagall.

"Your students are pretty clumsy, Minerva," grumbled Moody. "Falling with their faces on the floor, fainting. They need to be flogged to keep their balance."

"We don't practice corporal punishment here, Alastor. Unlike in your training camp."

"And in vain ... Isn't it time for dinner?" leaving the topic, Moody marched into the Great Hall, tapping either his staff or his prosthesis on the floor. We also went to the large hall, where Seamus and the twins sat down next to me.

"You shouldn't have slapped Harry like that," Finnigan remarked as he began to serve himself the meat dishes that had appeared with side dishes. "He didn't mean to insult you, did he?"

"But he did. He has to think. If I wanted to insult Ron and talk about his parents like that, not only would I insult him, but I'd insult all the Weasleys. Right?" I glanced at the twins.

"Well, that's true..."

"...and Ronnie got hurt again…."

"... even a little pathetic…."

"...and when will he learn to hold back?"

"I wouldn't have touched him if he hadn't come at me with his fists."

"Shall we have lunch?" looked at us, Hermione. "We could have a debriefing later tonight."

"By the way, George, Fred, any information on the tournament and how it's going? I don't want to spend too much time in the library."

"You've come to the right place, young knight…."

"...brothers Gred and Forge will share their great..."

"...and inscrutable knowledge..."

"...following your example, obtained from the library. Listen up…."