I idly bit into the treacle tart, my gaze slowly roaming over the Slytherin's sat before me. From the wary looks I was getting- More than usual that is, I had a feeling Lucius Malfy might've had a little outburst regarding his annulled betrothal.
I ignored the way most of their expressions promptly turned passive.
Or maybe it was the fact I was sitting in Malfoy's usual seat?
I didn't particularly care-
What I did care about was that my usual posse of followers wasn't around. James's lack of following was especially felt, mostly by the lack of elbows jabbing into my side.
Even Snape kept his distance, and this was his freakin' house table-
"Black..." A disgruntled, vastly irritated voice echoed out from behind me.
Idly turning my gaze behind me, I took in the disheveled, nostril-flaring, blonde pinning me with daggers.
He looked like a disgruntled gorilla.
Surprisingly enough, his usual posse was nowhere to be seen either, while the rest of the Slytherins felt the need to suddenly lock their gazes towards the two of us, most of them holding their breaths.
"Peon." I responded, turning my gaze away from him and back towards my tart. Which in my opinion was vastly worthier of my attention.
"You have a lot of nerve."
I snorted, keeping my gaze away from the blonde, as I focused on a nearby sixth year? And calmly asked them to tell the blonde dumbass breathing down my neck to learn his place.
Needless to say, the sixth year promptly vacated his seat, though, to my surprise, the blonde idiot was in fact capable of hearing judging by the aura he was putting off.
Evidently, despite the number of years under magic tutelage, he still had trouble controlling his accidental outbursts.
The rookie.
"You little-" Whatever he'd been about to say died down as, in favor of using his vocal cords, the dumbass physically interrupted my eating as he tugged on my shoulder harshly, forcing me to look at him, and dropping my tart in the process.
I made no reaction towards the fucker, my gaze slowly roaming downwards towards the tart on the floor- Only for said gaze to rapidly turn back up as I felt the older wizard literally lift me into the air by my shirt.
I watched as the momentary anger left the blonde's face, a freakin' smile of all things taking place, though the expression on his face screamed resigned.
"Cutting my family out..." The almost grown man chuckled uncomfortably, his eyes shaking. "Was a big mistake..." He practically growled, his smile growing as he showcased teeth, the manic look in his eyes almost scary. Almost.
I snorted at him.
Like I'd ever be scared of this fuckin' coward when Dumble-freakin-dore ain't got nothing on me.
His face twitched, his free hand hovering over his wand as his gaze looked around towards the frozen hall, said eyes momentarily freezing at my older cousin's, currently sat with her future husband, a passive expression on her face.
Bless her soul, she knew exactly who was in danger right now.
Unfortunately, there was no staff at the staff table. Unfortunately for Malfoy that is.
"Is there no limit to your stupidity!?" The older wizard grit out, his teeth grinding against each other as he raised me a tad higher, my legs fuckin' dangling of all things.
I sighed in response.
Even without any staff in view, I couldn't exactly just kill the dumbass.
"Kill..." The blonde remarked, his head briefly tilting as his gaze narrowed. "How delusional are you!?"
"Jury's out." I deadpanned. My answer only irritating him all the more. "But seriously, put me down. Before I do something I'll actually regret." I paused, smiling at him. "Too many witnesses and all that."
When his face twisted further in anger, I rolled my eyes at him.
And before I could add more to it, I watched as my cousin promptly stood up from her place in the Hufflepuff's table, a hand around her wand.
He promptly let go, his gaze narrowed still as he briefly looked between me and Andromeda.
"Your family won't always be around to protect you." The blonde grit his teeth. "But make no mistake, this is far from over." He paused. "I don't care how powerful you think your family is..."
When he made to walk away, I promptly picked up another treacle tart and threw it at him, hitting the back of his head.
Needless to say, he immediately reached for his wand, only to freeze as a spell arced past his ear from my cousin's wand.
Taking it as my chance, I promptly put both hands in my pocket and smiled, watching as the blonde's gaze after briefly freezing on my cousin's, focused back on me. His anger practically boiling.
"My family runs the ministry." I calmly remarked. "That's as powerful as it can legally get." I chuckled at the vein that threatened to pop on the blonde's face.
I promptly took in a deep breath, centered my emotions, and got rid of the smile.
"Andy." My voice echoed out thanks to the silence in the hall as my gaze briefly turned towards said cousin. "While I appreciate your help." I momentarily closed my eyes. "Sit down."
To my surprise, she rolled her eyes and obliged me.
"Malfoy." I promptly grabbed hold of the angry idiot's attention. "I want you to perfectly understand that-" I calmly turned my back towards him and sat down. "My family's influence and power have nothingto do with me knowing that you can't do a fucking thing to me." I picked up another treacle tart, and side-glanced towards him, holding the piece of food above my shielder. "As far as I am concerned, you're no better than a muggle." I bit into the treacle tart, turning my gaze ahead and away from him. "Hell, you're probably worse-" I snorted. "At least they have guns 'n shit-"
That, unsurprisingly, seemed to blow the lid off for the blonde heir as he threw caution to the wind and actually threw a spell at me.
And here I thought he didn't have a spine.
Still, it was to no avail.
It was at that moment that Malfoy realized three very important things.
The first was that my non-verbal wandless magic had a freakin' mastery when it came to stealth, considering the sudden shock that briefly filled his face.
Or maybe it was the fact that it was non-verbal, to begin with?
And wandless. Can't forget that.
Tends to freak people out apparently.
Regardless, the second thing he realized was that I had a very good reason for refraining from openly using magic.
For whatever spell, curse, or whatnot that he'd thrown, hadn't just been stopped by my Protego.
Instead, the blue-colored beam of light hit it and was promptly sent soaring back at him, magnitudes stronger.
When Malfoy's feet left the air at the sheer backlash from his own spell, I promptly held him in the air with levitation, preventing him from been blown back, the force behind it causing him to practically freeze with the way the force of his own spell had vanished. Waving a single finger, I made the fucker crash onto the food in front of me, visible pain showing on his face as he started bleeding from his nose, whether from having his face hit the table, or the sheer pressure I was more than likely exerting with the spell.
Needless to say, the third thing he learned was that while I clearly had trouble controlling the amount of power I was setting off, it sure as hell didn't mean I couldn't use it, to begin with.
"That enough? Or do you need a better example?" I questioned, seeping more and more power into the spell as the blonde's face visibly distorted under the force I was using to push him into the table, his nose soundly breaking, while blood started forming from his mouth. His widened eyes were suddenly very clear of the previous anger, now filled with actual fear.
I leaned in closer.
"Say it with me now..." I whispered, my right hand idly pushing the hair blocking his face. "Whose worse than a muggle?"
Unfortunately, before he could answer, the sudden appearance of a professor, promptly caused me to let go of the spell, the blonde's body briefly bouncing a few inches into the air before he landed back on the table with a curse, his breathing haggard.
I put on the most innocent look to my face and turned towards the very disapproving Transfiguration Professor pacing towards me.
"He asked me to show him the levitation charm." I deadpanned towards her. "Isn't that right?" I turned back towards the blonde rapidly and haphazardly picking himself up, his weight behind his two shaking arms as he turned between me and the professor a few times before despite been utterly livid, he agreed.
At which point the blonde hightailed it off the table, while he shakily applied a spell to stop his bleeding.
To my... I'd say irritation, but I am pretty sure I had it coming, McGonagall wasn't the least bit reassured as the woman pinched the bridge of her nose and told me to follow her to her office.
With a sigh, I promptly picked up another, unbloody, treacle tart and followed her, whispers immediately blowing out behind me.