The past month back at Hogwarts was intolerable for anyone who was not a Loyalty Leader. Rather than promote loyalty, Troy and his group used their power to bully and taunt other students. The worst was when the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw leaders saw it happening and they did nothing to stop it. Troy and his gang would often trip students, knock their books out of their hands, or dump bowls of porridge or pease pudding on their school robes. Despite Neville and McGonagall intervening several times to stop them, the taunting and bullying continued.
It was apparent that the Slytherins and the Potter-Weasley family received the worst of it. Although Rose, Al, and Scorpius were used to the bullying, the other family members did not expect the cruelty. Within one month, Lily was hexed with a weight gaining hexand James with an acne hex. One weekend Rose found Iris crying in the toilet after Troy turned her nose into a pig snout. When Al heard about this, Rose and Scorpius had to talk him, James, and Lily down from harming the leaders.
It was a late night in the library for Al, Rose, and Scorpius as they were studying and reviewing Golpalott's Third Law for Potions Class. It was around nine-thirty when they left the library with their arms fulls of parchment and books. The three of them were cutting it close to being past curfew.
"Do you think the Third Law is a valid law?" asked Albus.
"Of course!" said Rose. "Why else would it be a law?"
"Lots of laws aren't valid," countered Scorpius. Before Rose could counter that argument, she stopped in her tracks.
"What's the matter, Rosie?" asked Albus however Rose didn't answer right away.
"Do you hear that?" asked Rose. Just then, Albus and Scorpius heard some faint but sinister laughter.
"C'mon!" said Scorpius as they all darted down the corridor.
As they turned the corner, the first thing the three of them saw was Troy, Bruno, Stanley, and Kyra with their wands pointed up to the ceiling. When the trio looked up, they were shocked and horrified. A first-year Slytherin girl was levitating in the sky. She was upside down and although she was wearing tights, her skirt had fallen down slightly, revealing the top of her tights.
"You sick freaks!" cried Albus.
"What are you doing to her?" yelled Scorpius.
"Put her down!" protested Rose approaching the group. Troy turned his head to face and gave her a smug smile. Meanwhile, Scorpius and Albus stood behind to shield their eyes out of respect for the poor girl floating in the air.
"Fine," said Troy as he snapped his fingers.
"No!" cried Rose in horror as the first year fell towards the ground screaming.
"Descendo!" cried Albus as he directed the girl to land softly on the run. Once she was safe, the first year got up and ran off in tears. Troy turned to face the trio with Kyra stood next to him, Stanley standing on the left and Bruno on the right.
"So this is how the Loyalty Leaders unite the school?" asked Scorpius as he stood with Rose and Albus close together.
"Maybe you should mind your own business, pureblood," snarled Stanley.
"Maybe you shouldn't pick on little girls," countered Albus.
"Didn't know you were interested in girls, poof," said Bruno.
"You wish a girl were interested in your ugly mug," retorted Rose. At this remark, Bruno puffed his chest as his cheeks turned bright red.
"Serpensortia!" cried Bruno, as a dark green snake flew towards Rose.
"Riddikulus!" cried Scorpius turning the snake into a rubber eel.
Before long, hexes and counter-curses were being thrown across the corridor. Scorpius continued to battled with Bruno as they casted hexes and jinxes back at each other. Albus and Stanley were engaged in a battle, with Stanley being on the offensive using stupefy and locotor wiggly while Albus used his deflecting spells. Meanwhile, Kyra and Rose were dueling each other in a long awaited battle with each other.
Once Scorpius had the upper hand on Bruno, he threw ajinx to make Bruno's legs collapsed like jelly. When Scorpius looked up from watching Bruno squirmed around on the floor, he saw that Troy was standing along the wall. The moment Scorpius peered at Troy, Scorpius saw Troy's knees buckle and body tremble.
"Oi, Charmer!" called out Scorpius as he opened his arms to show he was ready for a fight as Troy tried to get away from Scorpius. Scorpius had been ready for this battle since first year when Troy first started tormenting him and his friends. Troy realized that he had nowhere to hide and was about to attack. However, Scorpius noticed that Troy's hand was trembling with fear, which was something Scorpius never saw before.
"What's all this?!" cried Neville walking in to the corridor. At the sound of the voice, all seven students stopped what they were doing and turned to face Neville.
"Thank Merlin you're here, Professor!" said Kyra,very dramatically. "We found these three torturing a poor first year student..."
"Save it, Miss Ballington," snapped Neville. "I saw the first year student crying her eyes out. I know it was you, Mr. Charmer, Mr. Tugg, and Mr. Steward. You four - and Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, and Mr. Malfoy - will report to the Headmistress's office in the morning to discuss your actions."
"But Professor!" protested Scorpius.
"But nothing Mr. Malfoy!" said Neville firmly. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Professor," said everyone except Troy.
"Mr. Charmer?" repeated Neville as Troy continued to scowl at him.
"You'll regret this, Professor," threatened Troy as he and his cronies walked away from Neville. Al, Rose, and Scorpius stood in stunned silence at Troy's brazenness. statement towards Neville.
"Professor -" said Albus concerned about his godfather.
"Get back to the dorms, now, " said Neville rather sternly.
"Yes, Professor," said the teenagers as the scurried off with their books and parchments.
That night, the three of them realized that Hogwarts had taken a dark turn.