Earlier, Harley had sensed three gazes from the High Table, each of which had stirred her Spirituality to some degree.
One of them belonged to Dumbledore. That was only natural, since the old man had already reached the powerful level of a Demigod.
Even though Harley had regained the power of the Demoness of Unaging, she couldn't remain unaffected by the gaze of a Demigod. And Harley was only a weak Witch right now.
Another gaze had come from a hook-nosed man.
His skin was sallow and his hair was greasy. He looked as though he didn't take care of himself or even bother with basic hygiene.
That gave Harley a terrible first impression of him. If a man didn't care about his own body, what could he possibly care about?
Besides, he was staring at Harley very rudely, looking excited—almost agitated.
When he noticed Harley looking back at him, the man even smiled at her.
There had been a whole range of complicated emotions in his gaze.
But Harley wasn't on the Spectator Pathway, so she couldn't make much of it. All she could just barely sense was a twisted sort of affection.
For a moment, Harley thought she was still the Demoness of Pleasure and had activated her supernatural charm.
"What a creep!" Harley muttered under her breath.
The older girl beside her leaned over and asked, "Miss Potter, what did you just say?"
"Nothing. Senior, what should I call you?"
The older girl smiled. "I'm Angelina Johnson. You can just call me Angelina."
Harley nodded. "Nice to meet you, Senior. You can call me Harley."
"Thanks, Harley." Angelina smiled as she looked Harley over. "I never expected you to be such a pretty girl.
"We thought you'd be a handsome young man!
"Looks like the Daily Prophet tells the truth once in a while after all.
"If you have any questions, come ask me. I'll do my best to answer them."
"Thank you, Angelina!" Harley said sweetly, nodding obediently.
Angelina was instantly smitten. She felt as though she were looking at an adorable kitten.
She wanted to pull Harley into her arms and ruffle her lovely hair like she was petting a cat.
"So cute!" Angelina said, managing to resist the urge to ruffle Harley's hair.
"If anyone gives you trouble, tell me. I'll get the Gryffindor upper-years to beat them up!
"Go on, eat up. The food's about to get cold." Angelina pointed to the steak in front of Harley. "Try it with the black pepper sauce. It's delicious."
Only then did Harley realize the Sorting was completely over. A feast had appeared before them, and the students were all eating heartily.
Harley took two pieces of steak, poured sauce over them, and ate in small bites while keeping an eye on the High Table.
Of the three gazes she'd sensed earlier, the first two had seemed relatively friendly. The last one, however, had been extremely cold and had triggered a warning from her Spirituality.
The gaze had disappeared, but Harley had barely managed to remember where it came from. She scanned the High Table until she spotted the person.
He was a pale young man with a thick scarf wrapped around his head. It was hard to see him clearly from where Harley sat, but she could just make out that the scarf covered the entire back of his head.
He was now speaking obsequiously to the black-haired professor who had watched Harley earlier. He was hunched over slightly, as if he were afraid of the professor.
From the shape of his mouth as he spoke, Harley could tell that the professor with the scarf seemed to have a slight stutter.
But Harley didn't dare underestimate him. No one dared to underestimate a Demigod. Yes, the professor with the scarf wrapped around his head seemed to be a Demigod.
Still, something about it felt strange. When that professor had looked at her, his gaze had swept over her and set off her Spirituality's warning.
But now, as Harley watched him, she received no warning at all.
After all, a Witch was a spellcasting Pathway with keen Spirituality, and Harley herself had spent a long time at the Demigod level.
So in theory, watching the Demigod professor should have triggered some sort of alarm, even without activating Spirit Vision.
"Angelina," Harley said in a soft, sugary voice, waiting until the older girl had swallowed her food. "Who's the professor with the scarf wrapped around his head? And who's the hook-nosed professor who never washes his hair?"
Angelina drew back the hand she'd been reaching out to take a kidney pie with. After glancing at the High Table, she whispered to Harley, "The professor with the scarf is our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Quirinus Quirrell.
"He used to teach Muggle Studies. He started in the job five years ago, right after he graduated.
"But after teaching for three years, he resigned and went travelling for a long time. Then he came back to Hogwarts and applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.
"Luckily for him, the last Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirrell's predecessor, left without warning, so Professor Quirrell got the job."
Angelina paused. After looking at the hook-nosed professor, she lowered her voice even further and said, "The hook-nosed professor who hates washing his hair is Professor Severus Snape. He's the head of Slytherin and our Potions professor."
Angelina frowned. "He doesn't like Gryffindor and is always taking points away for the strangest reasons."
"Then he probably doesn't like me either." Harley nodded, looking thoughtful. "He was staring at me the whole time, right in the eyes. It was such an unpleasant look!"
Angelina smiled. "It's all right. Professor Snape can be awful, but the worst he'll do is take away some points. He won't hurt students.
"Actually, no one at the school would hurt a student! Students are absolutely safe at Hogwarts. It's the safest school in the world!"
No kidding, Harley thought. With a Demigod and someone who seemed to be a Demigod on staff, the school was bound to be safe.
And with the castle brimming with Spirituality—or magic, as they called it—even if a Grounded Angel attacked, it could probably hold out for a while.
Harley asked no more questions and began eating quickly. She cut her steak into small pieces, took only tiny bites, and chewed with her mouth closed.
But inside, Harley was nowhere near as calm as she looked. There was such a bizarre Demigod lurking nearby, and he seemed to bear her ill will.
She had to find a way to regain her strength as soon as possible. She hadn't expected this world to be so unsafe either!
Harley steeled herself and resolved to devote more time to Potions.
Before you continue