MTLNOVEL Chapter 180: A Little Payback
The Gryffindor common room crackled with energy that evening. The fire in the hearth blazed merrily, casting golden light over a huddle of four figures crouched around a low table: Fred and George Weasley, Lee Jordan, and Cael Vale.
Fred tapped his quill against his chin. "So. Humiliate Malfoy in front of the entire school. That's the goal."
George leaned forward, eyes glinting. "Something dramatic. Memorable. Preferably involving public embarrassment."
"Nothing permanent," Lee added, grinning, "but something he'll cry to mummy about."
Cael nodded slowly, eyes gleaming with quiet mischief. "What if we gave him a letter?"
Fred blinked. "A letter?"
"A howler?" George asked, already warming to the idea.
"No, not a regular howler," Cael said, pulling a spare bit of parchment and ink toward him. "A personalized letter. From his father. One that scolds him publicly—at breakfast, when everyone's around."
Fred let out a low whistle. "You're evil."
"I like it," said Lee. "But can you pull off Lucius Malfoy's voice?"
Cael smirked. "With the right charm? Easily. But I'm thinking more than that. When he opens it, the enchantment will activate. Lucius's voice will fill the entire hall, loud and unmistakable. We'll lace it with shaming remarks, of course."
George rubbed his hands. "And the best part?"
Cael dipped his quill into the ink. "Runes. I'll enchant the parchment so that when Draco tries to destroy the letter—burn it, tear it, whatever—there's a secondary trigger."
Fred and George leaned in together. "What kind of trigger?"
Cael looked up with a crooked grin. "All of his hair falls out. Every single strand. Scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes—gone."
There was a beat of stunned silence. Then:
Lee Jordan burst into cackling laughter. "Bald Malfoy! Oh, Merlin, this is brilliant."
Fred clapped Cael on the back. "You're a genius. A dark, terrifying genius."
"It'll only activate once he touches the letter," Cael explained, already sketching the rune sequence on a scrap of parchment. "I'll inscribe a reactive rune here… and here. That will bind it to his magical signature the moment he opens it."
"What about the voice charm?" asked George.
"I'll record it tonight," said Cael. "You lot just help me write what it should say."
And so, for the next hour, the four boys worked like poets possessed—crafting the most scathing, over-the-top fatherly rebuke they could imagine.
⸻
The Next Morning: Great Hall
The Great Hall was alive with the usual bustle of breakfast. Plates clinked, owls soared overhead, and students chatted happily over toast and pumpkin juice.
Cael sat at the Gryffindor table with a carefully neutral expression, his eyes flicking to the Slytherin table every few seconds. Fred, George, and Lee were barely containing their anticipation.
Draco Malfoy strutted into the hall as usual, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. As he sat down, an unfamiliar owl swooped low and dropped a thick, cream-colored envelope directly onto his plate.
He blinked. "What the—?"
"Letter from Daddy?" Blaise Zabini teased from further down the table.
Draco smirked. "Obviously."
He broke the wax seal.
The moment his fingers touched the parchment, the runes flared to life—invisible to all but Cael. The moment Draco unfolded the page, a voice erupted across the hall:
"DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY, YOU ABSOLUTE EMBARRASSMENT—"
The entire Great Hall froze.
Every head turned.
The voice, unmistakably Lucius Malfoy's cold baritone, rang out with deadly clarity.
"I SPEND THOUSANDS OF GALLEONS ON A TEAM OF BROOMS AND THIS IS HOW YOU SHOW GRATITUDE? STRUTTING AROUND LIKE A PEACOCK INSTEAD OF STUDYING SPELLCRAFT? YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO THE MALFOY NAME!"
A collective gasp rolled through the students. Even the staff table looked stunned.
Professor McGonagall's teacup froze halfway to her lips. Professor Snape slowly turned his head, eyes narrowing.
"AND WHAT WAS THAT NONSENSE YESTERDAY—INSULTING MUDBLOODS IN PUBLIC? HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING OF TACT? DO YOU WANT TO TARNISH OUR IMAGE FURTHER?"
Draco's face had gone sheet-white.
Crabbe and Goyle leaned away from him like he had suddenly caught fire.
"YOU WILL RETURN HOME AT CHRISTMAS, AND YOU WILL EXPLAIN TO ME WHY I SHOULDN'T SHAVE YOUR HEAD AND ENROLL YOU IN A MUGGLE REFORM SCHOOL!"
Students burst out laughing.
Draco scrambled to crumple the letter, but the moment he did—BOOM.
A puff of magical smoke erupted from the parchment.
Everyone gasped.
When it cleared, Draco Malfoy stood in stunned silence.
Completely bald.
His platinum hair was gone. Not a strand remained. Even his eyebrows had vanished, leaving behind a smooth, pinkish scalp that gleamed under the enchanted ceiling's morning light.
He blinked. Slowly.
Then let out a blood-curdling scream.
"MY HAIR!" he shrieked, clutching at his head. "MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!"
The Great Hall exploded into laughter. Students were literally crying with mirth. Even Professor Flitwick had to duck behind his mug to hide his snort.
Ron was laughing so hard he fell sideways off the bench. "Oh no—Malfoy's bald! Bald! This is the best day of my life!"
Fred nearly choked on a sausage. "Cael. Marry me."
Hermione covered her mouth, failing to suppress a giggle. "That was a bit… extreme, but I like it "
Cael shrugged modestly. "We're teaching him humility."
George grinned. "And hygiene."
Across the hall, Snape rose, his face like thunder. "Who. Is. Responsible. For. This?"
But Draco was already running out of the Great Hall, sobbing, his robes flapping wildly and his pale bald head gleaming like a bludger.
Fred and George high-fived.
Cael leaned back, biting into a slice of toast.