Hints

As one dance after another came to an end, the atmosphere at the ball gradually heated up.

Everyone exchanged partners, chatting and laughing together.

Sergei Ivanov, Avdey Grunya, and Lomonosov Kuragin exchanged glances. During a break between dances, each holding a glass of champagne, they edged closer and closer to Salazar Slytherin.

"Mr. Slytherin, a toast to you—to all the great pioneers of the Magical World!" Sergei Ivanov was the first to speak. His manners were impeccable and his words respectful, perfectly reflecting the aristocratic etiquette training he had received in the Romanov Family as a child.

"A toast to you as well, young man." Compared to Sergei Ivanov, Salazar Slytherin's manners were far more languid. He merely raised a hand and lifted his glass before draining the champagne in one swallow.

"Mr. Slytherin, your speech just now was truly stirring," Sergei Ivanov praised sincerely. "It is difficult to imagine what wizards of your era went through. Only a wizard like you could have carved a path through those dark times and founded an undertaking as great as Hogwarts."

"Heh heh heh heh." After hearing Sergei Ivanov's flattery, Salazar Slytherin chuckled in a low, hoarse voice.

But he said nothing. He simply summoned another waiter, took another glass of champagne, and drained it in one gulp.

"Tierra has mentioned you to me," Salazar Slytherin said slowly after finishing his champagne. "You left a deep impression on me."

"A deep impression?" Sergei Ivanov's mouth twitched, and cold sweat instantly broke out across his body. Yet with his formidable mental fortitude and superb professionalism as an actor, he controlled the microexpressions on his face and instead put on a flattered look. "To leave such a deep impression on Mr. Tierra truly honors me!"

"I wonder what about me caught Mr. Tierra's favor?"