For Harry Potter audiobook lovers, this chapter is a breath held then released. In a quiet corridor Hermione sees Draco’s bruises, realizes how much she missed, and the two finally untangle a painful knot about consent, scent marking, and a supposed threat of expulsion that was never hers to make. She marches him to McGonagall, drops a pile of confiscated wands on the desk, and demands answers. The Headmistress lays out the limits of a wounded school, Draco’s probation, and why she chose hard lines. Hermione makes a new choice of her own. She will not let him walk the halls alone, and she asks for her prefect badge back.