Judge Not

Judge Not by What You See

Chapter One- An Unpleasant Reunion

It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Harry blinked and looked down at the floor.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. He, Ron, and Hermione were on their feet, all three of them having used a different hex. Nor were they the only ones to have done so.

"Thought we´d see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside.

"Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"

"Me," said Harry.

"Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn´t be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let´s no leave them here, they don´t add much to the décor."

Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle--each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit--out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut.

"Oh, my--did you see what happened with Malfoy and his two cronies?"

"Tentacles all over their faces."

"One of Malfoy´s arm looked like mush."

"Goyle had a tail!"

"That´s not bad--Crabbe had the pig nose."

"Webbed feet."

"Zebra stripes."

"Clown hair."

Lucius Malfoy scowled as he listened to the conversations around him. He leaned stiffly against the car his son was most possibly in, since most students jabbering about Draco seemed to come from there. As he waited for the car to empty so he could see the situation his son was in, he heard a familiar voice. A hated voice. And a hated name.

"Bye Harry!"

He turned around just in time to see the Mudblood give Harry and peck on the cheek. "Disgusting." He thought to himself, glaring at the three friends. Harry must have felt his glare, because he looked over at Lucius in mid-wave. He stared for a moment, then smirked slightly, turning and following the fat muggle out of the barrier to get to the train station. Lucius raised an eyebrow, then scowled. Harry must have been the cause of whatever happened with Draco.

Before Lucius could ponder the matter further, someone jostled his shoulder.

"Watch where you´re going!" He growled.

"Sorry, Lucius. Got a bit of a situation here," A familiar voice grumbled. Lucius turned to see Crabbe Sr. walking down the steps of the car, a figure floating behind him with a large cape draped over it. Crabbe Sr. jerked a hand back at the figure. "Doesn´t look good. It´s going to take hours just taking all the hexes off."

"Your son´s not as bad as mine," Another voice growled, and the two men looked up to see Goyle Sr. behind them. He floated his own son down the steps, a blanket draped over him. "Do you know how hard it is taking off a tail and tentacles?"

Lucius shook his head, "Just get the boys home now, before anyone else lays an eye on them. Draco awake?"

"Looked like he was coming to. He looked a lot better than these two, but he got his share of hexes. Going to be a long night for all of us, Lucius. Hope we don´t get the signal..." Goyle looked around to make sure no one was listening.

"Hush that tongue. There are ears everywhere. Do you want the Kiss?" Lucius hissed.

"There´s no one around, Malfoy. Everyone´s gone home," Crabbe shook his head.

"I´m going to get my son and leave--better to get it over with. I am positive it is that Potter´s fault," Lucius growled.

He climbed the stairs as Goyle Sr. and Crabbe Sr. walked off, grumbling and throwing insults about Potter back and forth, their sons floating behind them like ghosts. Unknown to the men, one of the trailing figures had a long, spiky tail peeking out from under the bottom of his blanket, and the other´s cape had slipped slightly to reveal new donkey ears off the top of his head.

"Draco? You better give me a hint where you are, I don´t have any time to waste," Lucius called out as he stepped into the corridor of the car, his voice angry.

He listened, but didn´t hear anything. Wait? A door creaking... Lucius strode forward, reaching on of the doors and jerking it open to reveal a whimpering boy trying to back up against a wall despite his jelly legs and one arm turned to mush. Lucius grimaced at the clown hair--bright pink. The boy´s face was covered with zebra stripes and his ears were like a dog´s; a soft, furry, brown color and position so they flapped down. Lucius stared for a moment, shocked by the number of hexes. He shook his head and sighed, focusing his attention away from the hexes and onto Draco. He stepped into the compartment and bent down, coming eye to eye with the boy. He raised an eyebrow at his son´s expression. Draco´s eyes were wild with terror, and he was visibly shaking. He was slumped against the wall for support and breathing heavily.

"Worried about your looks? We can take those hexes off..." Lucius scoffed, rolling his eyes. They widened when Draco fell to the floor, and began to use his good arm to try and reach the door.

Lucius stood and watched the efforts with an amused expression, "Well. Looks like the curse has worn off, eh?"

"Stay...stay away from me!" Draco called out hoarsely, reaching the door and weakly thrusting his arm against it, grasping it as if it was his late chance. He tried to pull himself up, but the movement drained him and he fell to the floor sweating. He narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him, "Don´t you dare come any closer!"

"Draco. Is that anyway to speak to your father?" Lucius snarled, stalking forward and grasping Draco by his shirt, wrenching the boy closer.

"You...you...you´re not worth being called..." Draco gasped as Lucius used his other hand to seize the boy´s throat, "...father."

"You still have not learned respect?" Lucius clicked his tongue. "Boreno!" He shouted, taking his hand from Draco´s throat and waving his wand. Draco´s head slumped against his chest and his body twitched slightly, and then came to a rest against Lucius´s hand.

"Interesting," Lucius muttered, standing back with a thoughtful expression on his face. He shook his head, scowling, and cast the Mobilicorpus spell on Draco. He threw his cloak over the figure and turned to stalk out of the compartment, with Draco drifting lazily behind.