Becoming a Bully

When Regulus arrived at the classroom for Charms Class in the morning, Professor Flitwick was already standing on the stack of books.

He was explaining the pronunciation of the Cheering Charm when he saw Regulus enter. He simply raised his wand, gesturing for him to sit down, without asking any further questions.

Regulus walked to the Slytherin area and sat down next to Avery.

Avery immediately leaned closer and whispered, "What does the professor want with you?"

Regulus glanced at him, Avery immediately shut up, sat up straight, and pretended to listen attentively to the lesson.

Regulus was in the same class as Ravenclaw. As soon as he settled down, he felt a gaze fall on him, a gaze that was hostile.

He turned his head to look over.

A Ravenclaw boy is sitting by the window.

Regulus remembered him: Russell Clark, Muggle-born Charms student who had performed well in Charms Class and had been praised twice by Professor Flitwick.

He was staring at Regulus, his lips pressed tightly together, his eyes filled with disgust.

Regulus looked away, and he roughly understood why.

Russell Clarke had probably heard about what happened last night, but as Muggle-born, he neither understood the rules of the Pure-blood Circle nor the strict hierarchy of the families.

From his perspective, what he saw was Regulus Black using Magic to force a seventh-grade student to kneel all night, publicly humiliating him in the Common Room, like displaying a trophy.

In his eyes, this might be bullying, and a particularly egregious one at that.

It's even more despicable than ordinary bullying because it adds a sense of ritual and an element of psychological humiliation.

Simple bullying may only cause physical pain, but kneeling, that almost execution-like posture, will destroy a person's dignity.

He might think, "Why can't we just talk things out? Why do we have to do it this way?"

Regulus found it somewhat ridiculous.

Russell Clarke may not have known that Regulus's behavior, which he considered bullying, indirectly saved him, as well as many other Muggle-borns like himself.

The undercurrent of Cleaning the Trash within Slytherin is targeting them.

If Arnold Belmont had successfully stirred up the atmosphere last night, and if Regulus hadn't intervened, that undercurrent would have turned into overt action.

At that time, Russell Clark may face a curse, an attack, and real harm.

Of course, it's possible that he would rather accept the humiliation of kneeling.

Regulus's overzealous counterattack diverted everyone's attention back to the internal conflicts within the Pure-bloods, delaying the outbreak of external conflict.

This gave students like Russell a buffer period.

But Russell couldn't see these things; he could only see evil within the scope of his understanding.

This is the divide: Pure-bloods and Muggle-born live in the same Castle, but see two different worlds.

What the Pure-bloods saw last night was a power struggle between different levels, a battle for family honor, and a counterattack within the rules.

Those of Muggle-born who witnessed last night's events saw bullying, cruel humiliation, and incomprehensible violence.

Regulus wouldn't explain, nor was there any need to. He could only say that those who understood would understand, and those who didn't would find it useless to explain.

He snapped out of his reverie and focused his attention back on the class.

Professor Flitwick is demonstrating the wrist movement for the Cheering Charm: "The wrist should be gentle, like stirring honey, not beating eggs!"

Regulus opened his textbook and found the corresponding chapter.

The sunlight outside the window was lovely, casting bright spots of light through the glass onto the tabletop.

After afternoon classes ended, Regulus went to the Library as usual.

What he wanted to look up today was the Rune variants related to Restraints in Ancient Runes. Professor McGonagall's notes mentioned that some Advanced Transfiguration required Rune stabilization, but she didn't go into details.

He walked to the row of long oak tables by the window, his usual spot, where the light was good, but he saw that someone was already sitting there.

Lily Evans sat by the window, a thick book open in front of her, her quill pen moving rapidly across the parchment.

There was another person sitting next to her.

Severus Snape.

Regulus paused, finding it amusing.

Snape rarely came to the Library, but it was understandable that he sat with Lily.

His relationship with Lily was special; they were neighbors, had known each other since childhood, and grew up together in Muggle world called Cokeworth.

Regulus had heard Lily say that she could make flower buds bloom prematurely when she was a child, Snape told her that she was a witch.

I even showed her the magic wand.

The relationship was somewhere between childhood sweethearts and mentors.

At school, they kept their distance; Snape was Slytherin, Lily was Gryffindor, and the house rivalry made their friendship sensitive.

They usually only gathered together to talk on weekends or in the evening on the grass outside the Castle.

Regulus walked over calmly and sat down on the empty side of the long table, facing the two of them.

Lily looked up at him, her gaze somewhat subtle. She glanced at Regulus, then turned to look at Snape, and then back at him.

Regulus remained calm, but Snape looked very uncomfortable.

He sat upright, his eyes fixed on the pages of the book in front of him, but his pupils were unfocused.

Regulus glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and he roughly knew what was going on.

Snape was naturally intelligent; aside from his talent for Potions and Dark Arts, his observation and comprehension skills were also quite good.

He was a member of a secret gathering within Slytherin. Even if he didn't understand the deeper meaning of last night's events and only thought Regulus was using it as an excuse to uphold the family's honor, he was still aware of the situation.

Listening to the discussions among the older students at the assembly afterwards, one should understand that Regulus may have had another purpose in doing so: to slow down the fanatical atmosphere within Slytherin.

Snape probably remembered their previous conversation, and he took the initiative to report to Regulus on the discussions and atmosphere within Slytherin.

Regulus asked him why he told him, Snape replied, "For Lily."

The embarrassment I felt when I said those words was indescribable.

He clearly agreed with the statements made at the rally, that Pure-blood supremacy, and that Muggle-born were impurities, garbage, and needed to be cleaned up.

When he was in that environment, surrounded by fervent emotions, all he could think about were those slogans and that absolute sense of justice.

But once he left that environment, seeing Lily's green eyes and hearing her ask, "Severus, how have you been this week?"

That fervor receded like the tide, revealing the unavoidable reality beneath: Lily Evans was Muggle-born.

What would the people at the gathering think of him if they knew he was friends with a Muggle-borns?

If he participates in the Cleaning the Trash, will those curses one day fall on Lily?

This contradiction was like two venomous snakes coiled around his mind, one biting his left and the other his right.

He couldn't stop the people at the rally, nor did he want to; deep down, he felt they were right.

But he also wanted to protect Lily, even if it was just to keep her away from those dangers.

So he sought help from Regulus.

There was a sense of despair, like "what's the use of trying?" Anyway, Regulus knew about his relationship with Lily, and Regulus didn't seem like an extreme fanatic. Anyway, trying was better than doing nothing.

Looking back now, it feels like my whole body was crawling with insects.

He knew that Regulus and Lily often met at the Library.

Snape genuinely believed that Regulus was the perfect example of a Pure-bloods.

Highly talented, from a good family, calm and restrained, and knows how to use rules to protect the interests of the family.

He felt that Regulus must have had an ulterior motive in approaching Lily, perhaps to project a friendly image towards Muggle-borns, or perhaps to win over a talented Potions.

So today he came to the Library with Lily.

Perhaps he wanted to expose Regulus's true colors, perhaps he wanted to confirm something, or perhaps the execution last night was just too traumatic.

Someone of his Half-bloods heritage, who was barely accepted into the Pure-blood Circle only because of his talent, would feel a shiver of fear and excitement when he saw that naked hierarchy crushing him.

But sitting across from Regulus in the quiet environment of the Library, under Lily's gaze, Snape didn't know what to do.

His lips moved, then tightened again; his eyes were fixed on the pages, but he didn't absorb a single word.

Snape lowered his head, the awkwardness in his heart almost overflowing.

On one hand, he wanted to integrate into the Pure-blood Faction and find his place there, which was a shortcut for him to break free from his origins and gain power.

He diligently studied Dark Arts and attended secret gatherings in order to be accepted.

But Lily was like a nail, pinning him to the spot.

Every time he tried to lean over there completely, Lily's face would appear, her green eyes looking at him.

So he's stuck in the middle now.

He plays the role of a promising Half-bloods in front of Slytherin, and a somewhat extreme but essentially good friend in front of Lily.

Both characters are tearing him apart, but he can't let go of either one.