"You..."
As the excited little Slytherins hoisted the fallen troublemakers into the air, Labas came over to Ezio with a complicated expression.
"I have something I want to talk to you about."
Ezio beckoned Labas over and motioned for Harry to join them, too.
People made way for them, clearing a spot by the fireplace in the corner of the room. They sat down.
"I don't know how to describe you, but I have a feeling you're going to cause a lot of trouble."
As a soon-to-be adult and a senior boy who also served as a Slytherin Prefect, Labas wasn't so easily swept along by Ezio's words. Still, he admitted they had struck a chord.
He hated the deadweight who had wormed their way into Slytherin, too. His club had originally been established to bring together the best members of the house, and he knew perfectly well that they were Slytherin's true core.
But nobody had ever openly driven out those "vermin." For one thing, families were involved, and no one wanted to sour those relationships. For another, these idiots were like toads squatting on your feet: unpleasant, but not enough of a problem to warrant making a big fuss.
"The worst that can happen is that I beat up the kids and their parents come after me. If they play by the rules, they can't touch me at Hogwarts. If they don't, I won't be the one who suffers."
Ezio knew what the consequences of his actions might be, but he didn't mind facing the backlash. He had nothing in the Wizarding World, so he needed to fight for something—and at Hogwarts, the risks of doing so were as low as they could get.
And if it came to trouble outside Hogwarts, honestly, Ezio wasn't afraid of these people making a move. That wouldn't happen for at least a year, and by then, he'd have enough power to protect himself.
Dumbledore was right. As long as he was at Hogwarts, no one would dare come looking for trouble. Dumbledore was the greatest shield Hogwarts had; nobody dared challenge his authority and power there.
The title of White Wizard King was recognized throughout the Wizarding World, even if people didn't say so out loud. After all, Dumbledore's close friend had been Grindelwald, the leader of the Alliance of Wizards who once stirred up the world. No one was naïve enough to think Dumbledore was some harmless pushover.
Dumbledore had defeated his friend, but he had never denied his relationship with Grindelwald.
People were multifaceted and complicated.
"As I recall, the Wizarding World has a tradition that's been passed down to this day." Ezio stroked his Elder Wand and spoke calmly. "The Honor Duel. It's the only ritual in the Wizarding World that allows you to kill someone legally, right?"
"When two wizards believe the other has sullied their honor, they can call for this duel, which must be publicly announced and witnessed."
"Wizards can use any magic they like on the dueling platform, except the Unforgivable Curses, and kill their opponent. Unless one of them throws down their wand and surrenders, the duel doesn't end until one side is dead."
"Yes... That's a thing." Labas broke into a cold sweat. As a Pure-blood wizard, he knew all about it. His family had fought Honor Duels against other wizards in the past. They were life-or-death battles that staked the family's reputation and the duelist's personal honor. Surrender wasn't an option.
The consequences of surrendering in an Honor Duel could be worse than dying in one.
"But aren't you afraid they'll come after you outside school?" Labas wiped away his sweat. He wasn't naïve enough to think those people wouldn't pull any dirty tricks.
"Catching a wizard who can Apparate is harder than reaching the sky. I can always go abroad during the holidays. Once I'm out of England, the Ministry of Magic can't do anything to me."
Ezio smiled casually. He didn't mind revealing some of his magical ability. Apparition was risky to learn by yourself, but it wasn't actually that difficult to get the hang of, and Ezio wasn't going to pass up the chance to try. He knew just how convenient teleportation could be.
"You've actually learned it?" Labas stared at him in astonishment. As a sixth-year, he had only just reached the age when he could start learning Apparition. He wouldn't take the test until the end of the school year.
"It's not that hard, is it?"
Ezio shrugged. "All you need is enough focus, a target, and determination. I've got all three."
"Fine, fine..." Labas clicked his tongue, feeling a little put out. "Slytherin's lucky to have you. Are you sure you didn't come from some wizarding family?"
"Should I take that as you doubting my ability to found a wizarding family?"
"Of course not!" Labas shook his head at once, then grew serious. "I have a younger sister who's coming to Hogwarts next year. Want to meet her? Hanna's a beautiful little angel."
"A guy like me, who's destined for hell, shouldn't lead an angel astray."
"Hanna would be heartbroken. She'd definitely be into a guy like you—handsome and talented."
Labas didn't care in the slightest that Ezio claimed he was going to hell. Wizards didn't believe in Muggle gods. Many so-called miracles throughout history had actually been magic. People might pay lip service to them, but nobody truly believed.
"Now, let's talk business."
Ezio ended the banter, and Labas straightened up, too. He was starting to feel a little more confident in his junior.
"My plan to make Slytherin great again isn't just an empty slogan. I intend to do something about it. There are plenty of idiots like Marcus the gorilla in Slytherin. Even in my year, there are two walking embarrassments."
Ezio glanced to the side, and Labas followed his gaze.
"Crabbe and Goyle, the Malfoy family's lackeys. It's not just the two of them who are stupid; their fathers are idiots, too. Death Eaters, after all. They're all brain-rotted scum."
Labas didn't mince words. "My family never got involved with You-Know-Who." He glanced at Harry beside him and continued, "Two of my relatives died fighting You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. They were Aurors. Not all Slytherins are bad."
Harry nodded but said nothing.
"Let me give you an example." Labas was quite attentive to Harry, since he was famous throughout the Wizarding World—and, clearly, on good terms with Ezio.
"If Azkaban were filled entirely with prisoners from Hogwarts, half of them would be Slytherins, forty would be Gryffindors, seven or eight would be Ravenclaws, and the remaining two or three would be Hufflepuffs who'd been bullied to the breaking point."
"When it comes to Dark wizards, the supposedly best-reputed Gryffindors aren't much better than Slytherins. Most of them are impulsive idiots. They can cause trouble even when they mean well, and then refuse to admit they did anything wrong. I know of a Gryffindor idiot who tried to save a Muggle child from being beaten, but killed the child's parents right in front of them. The child had been beaten for stealing money from home, yet that idiot insisted he was delivering justice. He was sentenced to life in Azkaban."
"So judging whether wizards are good or bad by their house's reputation is wrong. They say Merlin was a Slytherin, yet he was a legendary wizard more famous than the Hogwarts Founders, with countless great achievements in his life."
"Merlin was a Slytherin?" Harry's eyes widened.
"The timeline doesn't quite line up." Ezio disagreed with that claim. "Merlin lived around the fifth or sixth century, while Hogwarts was founded no earlier than the eighth or ninth century."
"But..." After thinking it over briefly, Ezio added, "Merlin also believed in Pure-blood supremacy, which did fit with Slytherin's ideals. They both championed the idea that the gifted should rule. If Merlin really had gone to Hogwarts, Slytherin would definitely have been his first choice."
"All right, let's stop getting sidetracked with history."
Ezio looked at Labas. Those earlier remarks had been deliberate; Labas had been trying to avoid discussing this with him. But clearly, he couldn't dodge it now.
"Fine." Labas shrugged. If he couldn't avoid it, he'd just have to accept it.
"I need to establish a system for selecting future Slytherins, so we can weed out the deadweight."
"But we can't kick them out of Hogwarts, can we?"
"Of course not. But we can minimize their influence. There's no room for people like that in Slytherin. They can either become the soil beneath our feet, or leave Hogwarts on their own. They can always choose Durmstrang, can't they? It's not like they have nowhere else to go."
"I don't need to explain in detail how to squeeze all the value out of them, or how to make them appreciate Slytherin's mercy, do I?"
"I'd certainly like to hear your ideas," Labas sighed, "but I have to prove my own worth, too, don't I? All right, I admit it—I come from a family with a bit of a tradition in this sort of thing."
"This is going to be difficult, but if you're serious about doing it, you'll have to be able to withstand some pressure. For instance, our dear Head of House, Professor Snape. You'll need to get his approval before setting up a class system within the house."
"I can handle Snape. He might even want to have a heart-to-heart with me tomorrow."
Ezio spread his hands. He wasn't particularly afraid of Snape, even if the students at Hogwarts saw him as some kind of Dark Lord.
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