Daphne Greengrass

The provocation was rather clumsy, but this was the Owl Court, where nearly seventy percent were Little Lions.

As president, Vincent could hardly let them throw their weight around.

"I've been worrying about how to spend my money lately, so don't make your numbers too low."

Draco sneered. "If I win, your Gwent is mine."

"Is that all?" Vincent shook his head in disappointment. "Your Wizard Cards are completely useless to me."

Whether it was sales volume or profit, in the end, it all came down to financial strength.

Pansy immediately bared her teeth. "Wayne! If you're scared, just say so!"

"Oh no~ I'm so scared~" Fred and George squeezed their way in.

Cedric and Rolf had come as well.

"Gwent is better known than your Wizard Cards. I'm curious what kind of price you can bear."

"You'll take it no matter how high it goes, right? After all, this is an undeveloped mine."

Pure-blood Wizard families generally had businesses. The Gold Galleons they spent could slowly be earned back.

Vincent was not an impulsive person. There was no way he would agree to such a childish wager.

"Malfoy, you pure-blood Wizards really are quite glorious, aren't you?"

Draco could naturally hear the sarcasm in his words.

For four of the Sacred Twenty-Eight to defeat Muggle-borns was nothing glorious. If they lost, it would be even more humiliating.

"Come find me again when you can truly represent your own families."

Vincent was remarkably calm, striking directly at their weak point.

Even Blaise had extremely limited wealth at his disposal.

It was so childish, so laughable.

Draco clenched his fists tightly. "Wayne, why do you keep looking down on us?"

"Have you ever done anything worthy of respect?"

Vincent braced both hands against the table and slowly rose to his feet. "Don't mention what your ancestors did. That will only make me look down on you even more."

Voldemort had fallen, and bloodline supremacy was becoming less and less popular.

If there was anything at all, perhaps "donating" money to the Ministry of Magic counted as one, and "coming to one's senses" in time counted as another.

Unlike the other four true extremists, Daphne had begun to hate her own background even more.

Living beneath a world built on lies was exhausting.

Constantly reassuring herself that she had done nothing wrong, using bloodline to maintain her status.

The Greengrass family curse made her feel as though there was nowhere to run, suffocating her.

"W-we should go."

Under the astonished gazes of countless people, Daphne stepped in front of Vincent.

"Wayne, go ahead and look down on us. You'd better keep doing it."

Completely unlike her usual pride, she now possessed a rebellious sort of courage.

"You're right. I can't represent the Greengrass family.

But listen carefully. The Greengrass family can't represent me either!"

Vincent froze for a moment. "I'll remember that."

His gaze shifted to the other four.

Daphne was different from them, who had been pampered since childhood.

Though he did not know why, he became even more certain that she could be his breakthrough.

A breakthrough that could shatter Slytherin's stubborn way of thinking and bring them into the Owl Court.

"Hmph!" Draco released his fist and turned to leave without a word.

They had not achieved their goal, but they had at least preserved their dignity.

Blaise and Pansy were unwilling to accept it, but they followed after him.

Marcus gave Vincent a deep look, then turned and left with Daphne.

"The Black Chicken Club lost before the battle even began~"

"President Wayne really is amazing~"

Fred and George sat down beside Vincent again.

Their thinking was simple. As long as they drove those people away, they had won.

Cedric and Rolf saw further ahead.

This was not the end, but a new beginning.

Hermione had remained silent throughout.

She had guessed that Vincent would use Daphne as a breakthrough point, and she had vaguely guessed what the Owl Court represented.

On Saturday, the Gryffindor team got up very early.

A notice had been posted outside the pitch:

5:00–11:00 belonged to the Gryffindor team.

12:00–18:00 belonged to the Slytherin team.

McGonagall and Snape had already settled Saturday's arrangement. If anything like last week happened again, they would not be lenient.

Vincent opened his suitcase and took out five long boxes. "Mr. Smith gave us the cost price, so don't let this get out."

The 750 Galleons had not come from him, of course.

He was merely the middleman.

"We know. You've been nagging us about it for a week already~" Fred and George were both very satisfied with their new brooms.

With Harry's current Gwendolyn included, every member of the Gryffindor team was now using a customized Cleansweep.

After a brief moment of joy, Wood darkened his face and pointed his wand at the blank blackboard.

The drawings that gradually appeared on it were all new tactics he had spent the entire summer devising.

At the very front was a tactic centered around Vincent: seize 150 points quickly at the start and secure an undefeated position.

"Don't do this. The pressure's huge."

Wood tapped the next line with his wand. "Fred, George, when you're disrupting the other side, make sure you protect Harry..."

After introducing nearly ten tactics, he led the team into training.

Hermione, sitting quietly in the stands, was reading Vincent's notes.

Her alchemy had only just begun, and she was currently at the first stage: calcination.

"Can't we sit down?"

"No, Wood will chase you away."

Hermione frowned at the two little heads making noise behind her.

They were Ginny and Luna.

She closed her notebook irritably and moved to the seats in front of them.

"Don't be too conspicuous. Wood hasn't been in a good mood lately."

"We won't." Ginny smiled sweetly and squeezed in behind her with Luna.

Though it was somewhat like burying their heads in the sand, the seven people training intently in the sky clearly would not pay much attention to this side.

"What are you reading?" Luna's large eyes focused on the notebook's black-and-white cover.

The Magical Runes that Hermione's fingers covered seemed familiar to her.

"This?"

Only a small portion was exposed, but she immediately recognized it as Vincent's.

"These are Wayne's Magical Runes?"

"You can understand them?" Hermione was slightly surprised.

Luna nodded seriously. "I know what they mean. This is Wayne's mark, and it contains some of his personal information."

Ginny gave Hermione a slight shake of her head, indicating that she had not told Luna anything.

A first-year student who had only just enrolled could actually understand the Magical Runes Vincent had spent so long researching before writing?

"This item belongs to the apprentice of Nicolas Flamel, recipient of the Order of Merlin, Second Class, and the Magical Congress Medal of Honor—Vincent Edward Wayne."

Not a single word was wrong.

Hermione began to believe what Vincent had once said about talent.

Not only could Luna sense magical things, she seemed to be born able to understand Magical Runes.

Even as a top student, Hermione had needed two days after getting the notebook to decipher them.