A Show of Strength

"Draco, he did much better than you did last year."

At the second-year seats at the Slytherin long table, a short-haired little witch teased the blond boy sitting opposite her.

The boy's face immediately turned sour.

"What's he supposed to be? Just a half-blood. I'm telling you, this year I'm going to become the team's Seeker and help Slytherin win the House Cup!"

Last year, the Bloody Baron had been sitting right beside him, and he had scared him half to death back then. It had also become one of the great stains on his life.

"Draco, are you really joining the team?"

Hearing the news that Draco was joining the team, the young wizards' attention was instantly drawn over.

After all, Quidditch was a sport almost no wizard disliked, and the Quidditch matches each year were also what everyone paid the most attention to.

"Of course. My skills are way better than that idiot Potter's. He just got lucky, that's all."

Malfoy said smugly.

In reality, his father had sold quite a few things in Knockturn Alley, then used that money to equip the entire Slytherin Quidditch team with the newest Nimbus 2001s, and that was how he had gotten this opportunity.

When the banquet was nearly over, Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall returned.

Dumbledore went over a few points to remember, then ended the opening feast by having everyone sing the school song together.

"First Years, follow me."

At that moment, the fifth-year prefects at the four long tables stood up almost at the same time.

The First Years of the four houses also got to their feet and followed their respective house prefects toward their dormitories.

After leaving the Great Hall and arriving at the First Floor Great Hall, the four houses began to split up.

The young wizards of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw climbed the marble staircase toward the upper levels of the castle, while the young wizards of Slytherin and Hufflepuff headed down into the underground.

The Slytherin dormitories were even deeper down than the Hufflepuff dormitories.

"Let me tell you, of the four dormitories in the school, our Slytherin dormitory is the best, because from your dormitories and the Common Room, you can see the underwater world of the Black Lake directly, as well as the Magical Creatures living in it."

The fifth-year prefect walking in front saw that the Slytherin young wizards looked a little uneasy because of the cold, dark basement, and immediately lifted his head and began introducing it proudly.

And when they heard that they could see the Magical Creatures beneath the Black Lake from their dormitory, the young wizards' faces immediately lit up with surprise and delight.

That was because the giant squid that had saved someone when they crossed the Black Lake by boat earlier had left a deep impression on them.

"Pure-blood!"

When they reached a wall at the end of the basement, the prefect shouted a password loudly. The wall immediately split open, revealing a large room shrouded in green: the Slytherin Common Room.

"The password to the Common Room changes once every two weeks. The new password will be announced on the noticeboard."

The prefect explained as he led the young wizards into the Common Room.

At that moment, however, the young wizards' attention had already been completely captured by the sight inside the Common Room.

The luxurious decorations, the exquisitely carved furniture, and the beautiful view of the Black Lake outside the transparent glass instantly washed away the gloom of the dungeon.

Most magical of all was a hanging medieval tapestry. It depicted all kinds of famous adventures once undertaken by Slytherins, as if they were watching a big movie; the main characters inside would even greet you and exchange a few words from time to time.

"Look, a mermaid! A mermaid just swam past!"

"All right, you'll be seeing these things often from now on. No need to be too amazed.

Now I suggest you go to your own dormitories and sort yourselves out first. Boys on the left, girls on the right. Your names are posted on the dormitory doors. Move in according to your names."

The prefect waved his hand in satisfaction, gave a few final instructions, and then left.

"It's practically like living in an aquarium."

George looked around the Common Room. He did not continue touring it with the other young wizards, but turned and walked toward the boys' dormitories.

Soon, he found his own name on the door of a room. Beside his name were three other names, which meant he had three roommates.

"Baron Balanta, Aivy Thorne, Cesar Burke. Looks like none of them are from any famous families."

After glancing over them, he paid it no mind and pushed the door open, walking straight into the dormitory.

Like the Common Room, the dormitory also had many transparent panes of glass, through which the scenery at the bottom of the lake outside could be seen clearly.

"Looks like you didn't go hungry either."

On the bedside table closest to the door, George saw Peachy in her cage, eating with great gusto. Clearly, the House-elves in charge of transporting luggage had not mistreated the young wizards' pets either, and had likewise prepared a sumptuous dinner.

"Coo, coo~ coo~"

Discovering George's arrival, Peachy answered happily, then continued burying her head in her work.

After simply putting away his luggage, George sat on the soft bed and began reading his magic books.

In truth, the reason he worked so hard to read and study magic was not only to increase his strength and protect himself. More than that, deep down, he truly liked magic.

Just thinking about the things that had existed only in fantasy in his previous life now appearing before him in reality, and the fact that he himself could even grasp this miraculous power—how could he not be obsessed with it?

Honestly, in all the many years of his previous life, there had never been anything that fascinated him this much.

If not for the fact that his body had to get enough sleep in order for him to study magic better, he could even have given up sleeping entirely and spent all twenty-four hours of the day researching and studying this miraculous power called magic.

Sometimes he had also had that thought: perhaps this life he was living now was the life he had truly wanted.

Instead of commuting to and from work like a robot every day, wearing a mask as he socialized with leaders, colleagues, and clients, then slowly aging until he turned into a handful of ashes and was buried by his descendants in a cemetery.

When he looked back on his life, there was actually nothing worth clinging to.

"That lowly mermaid actually dared to scare me through the glass. Once I learn powerful Dark Magic, I'll definitely let her have a taste of what I can do."

"Of course. We're the noblest wizards, and pure-bloods at that. We'll definitely become big shots in the wizarding world one day."

About half an hour later, three young wizards came chattering into the dormitory.

When they saw George and the enormous Peachy beside him, they were startled too. Even they had rarely seen an owl as large as Peachy; their own pet owls were only a little bigger than a palm.

"Hey, kid, you're Ji Qiao?"

"Call me George, or Joe."

George answered without even raising his head.

The three exchanged glances. One of them, who looked the strongest, lifted his chin and said, "I like your bed. Take your luggage and move to the bed all the way inside."

All three of their fathers worked at the Ministry of Magic, and they had known one another since childhood. After discovering that the last person in the dormitory was the half-blood who had drawn some attention at the banquet, they had decided to come in and teach him a lesson.

So they did not actually like George's bed. They were simply trying to give George an opening show of force, to make him understand that in this dormitory—or among the First Year Slytherins—they were the main characters.