Conflict

Petunia gripped her arm tightly, signaling with her eyes for her not to get involved. Lily then looked up at the two boys in the corridor. Her clear voice carried a note of anger as she confronted them about their rude behavior. "You two, what gives you the right to start insulting people the moment you arrive? We've never even met before. Barging into someone else's compartment without so much as a greeting is already extremely rude. All four houses have their strengths and weaknesses. If Slytherin is really so worthless, why doesn't the school simply abolish it and keep the other three?"

James flushed red at the retort and hurried to defend himself. "Slytherin has always produced loads of dark wizards. Most of that person's followers came from Slytherin, and so did he! Everyone in Slytherin now is getting ready to join the Dark Lord. Can he say he isn't dead set on becoming one of them and bearing that mark?"

"That's still no reason for you to insult a stranger however you please. Have the other three houses never produced a wizard with a twisted mind? Are you saying every dark wizard came from Slytherin?" Lily seized on the holes in his argument and pressed him.

"Our great headmaster was a Gryffindor, the greatest white wizard of this century. Gryffindor is the best house, and Slytherin is the worst!"

Lily found his argument both unreasonable and ridiculous. Refusing to give an inch, she pressed on. "If Slytherin produces so many dark wizards, why doesn't Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard, simply abolish the house?"

"You!" James was at a loss for words. Faced with a girl, he couldn't bring himself to say anything cruel, so he could only direct all his anger at Snape beside her.

Snape was still secretly delighted that Lily had stood up for him, and he didn't notice the look the two boys exchanged, full of undisguised malice. When he passed between them again, James and Sirius exchanged a knowing glance and stuck out their feet at the same time, tripping him hard onto the floor.

Snape crashed onto the cold corridor floor and lay there, unable to push himself up for some time. Seeing this, Lily immediately pulled her arm free of Petunia's grasp and hurried forward to help him up. Snape's face was deathly pale, without a trace of color, and Lily's chest tightened at the sight.

"Severus, are you all right? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?"

Snape kept his head lowered and said nothing, his silence heart-rending. Anger surged in Lily's chest. She thought James and Sirius were both utterly, hopelessly awful.

Standing nearby, James happened to catch the quick glance Snape shot him from beneath his lowered fringe, sly and smug. At the thought of the red-haired girl lavishing all her concern on this greasy, gloomy person who could even put on an act, James's anger shot through the roof. He flung his sleeve aside, grabbed Sirius, and turned and left the compartment.

Lily helped Snape slowly back into his seat, watching his condition carefully the whole time. Petunia sat across from them without a word, her gaze dark as it rested on their touching hands, full of aversion. Snape was determined to enter Slytherin and had even insisted on persuading Lily to go with him. With the times so turbulent and Slytherin almost bound to the Dark Lord's forces, Petunia found the idea utterly incomprehensible, and it only deepened the rift she felt between herself and Snape.

Even after sitting down, Snape kept his head lowered and remained silent. Lily assumed James and Sirius's malicious insults had deeply hurt him, and her heart was full of pity for him. The atmosphere in the compartment was gloomy and oppressive. Petunia said nothing more and opened her second-year magic textbook. Seeing this, Lily could only lower her head and quietly look through the book in her hands. Not another sound came from the cramped compartment.

The train arrived at Hogsmeade Station, and everyone got off in turn. As a second-year student, Petunia didn't need to take a boat across the Black Lake. Only the new students followed Hagrid to the lakeshore. Lily and Snape boarded the same boat, and James and Sirius jumped in right behind them.

As soon as the boat left shore, the two deliberately shoved hard against Snape. They were so rough they nearly knocked him overboard into the freezing lake. Lily hurriedly gripped the wooden rails on either side of the boat, her heart full of anger. She nearly spoke up on the spot to rebuke James Potter for being utterly unreasonable.

She forced the words back. James and Sirius had never given their names, and as a new student who had grown up in a Muggle town, she would seem strange if she suddenly acted as though she knew them. She could only swallow all her resentment and silently guard Snape's side, watching for the two to try another underhanded trick.

The new students walked slowly up the massive stone steps and into the majestic Hogwarts Castle. The Great Hall opened up before them, stunning every child who entered it for the first time. Its lofty ceiling was clear as the night sky, dotted with countless tiny, moving stars. There was no sign of a roof confining it, as though they stood beneath an endless sea of stars.

Four long house tables stretched across the hall in rows. Each house's lights shone gently over the faces of the tense, apprehensive first-years, solemn and magnificent.

Professor McGonagall stood straight, holding an old, yellowed parchment list. Her steady, husky voice rang clearly through the hall, instantly quieting the faint stir within.

In the middle of the line of new students, Snape stood quietly among the crowd, his small, thin body slightly tense. His limp, greasy black hair clung to his pale, narrow cheeks, hiding most of the emotion in his eyes. Only his dark, stubborn gaze remained fixed without pause on the red-haired figure not far ahead in the line—Lily's back was the only focus in his entire brilliant sea of stars at that moment.

"Sirius Black!"

At Professor McGonagall's call, Sirius stepped forward, tall and strikingly handsome. His devastatingly good-looking face instantly drew every eye in the hall.

The Slytherin table immediately stirred. The Pure-blood nobles straightened their backs, their gazes fixed on the boy at the front. Narcissa nestled against Lucius, while Andromeda leaned forward slightly, quietly awaiting the result. The Black family had been rooted in Slytherin for generations, its bloodline and glory long since etched into their very bones. Everyone firmly believed Sirius would be sorted into Slytherin.

The Sorting Hat settled securely on Sirius's head. The seconds ticked by, and the long wait gradually made those at the Slytherin table restless, their unease growing stronger. Just as the entire hall held its breath, the Sorting Hat suddenly shouted, "Gryffindor!"

For an instant, the Slytherin table erupted, disbelieving whispers breaking out one after another.

"How is that possible? He's a true Black!"

"That can't be right. How could a Black end up in Gryffindor?"

Narcissa slumped against Lucius's shoulder, the anticipation in her eyes utterly shattered. Watching her cousin break free of Slytherin's destiny, she murmured, "How is that possible? Auntie will be furious enough to die."

The whole hall was in an uproar, but Sirius paid no attention to Slytherin's shock and criticism. He casually took off the Sorting Hat, turned, and strode toward the Gryffindor table opposite. The moment he sat down, he comfortably struck up a conversation with the new students on either side of him.