If You Call Snape Godfather, You Are the New King of Slytherin!

After entering November, the weather at Hogwarts turned bitterly cold all of a sudden. Autumn had slipped away almost unnoticed, as if the late summer of the school term had vanished in a blink, leading straight into a winter where snowflakes were soon to be seen.

Life for the students at Hogwarts was becoming increasingly difficult.

Because of the incident at the Halloween feast, the professors had become visibly stricter. Assignments and essays that were one or two feet long at every turn tormented those academic slackers who were already struggling; they finally realized the fact that they were idiots, and writing essays felt like it was going to cost them their lives.

The Hogwarts library saw an unprecedented peak in foot traffic, which made Madam Pince extremely annoyed. She had to frequently deal with those who turned pages loudly and disregarded library discipline, leaving her in a foul mood twenty-five hours out of every twenty-four. This reached the point where even Ezio, who had originally been a quiet, sensible boy in her eyes—one full of respect and thirst for knowledge—no longer seemed quite so adorable.

But as the instigator, Ezio continued to go his own way. Especially after he single-handedly took down seven or eight seventh-year repeaters—who were mentally unstable from the heavy workload—in the corridor outside the library, those who held grudges against him had to extinguish any thoughts of ambushing him or picking a fight.

Those few who had used hexes to launch a sneak attack were left with broken wands and hung upside down from the bathroom ceiling. Peeves, excited, had scurried in clutching a dragon dung scoop borrowed from the Herbology greenhouse. The vomiting and wailing lasted for an entire afternoon, and no one dared to intervene. In the end, they received treatment in the Hogwarts hospital wing, and it was rumored they were even given a type of forgetfulness potion made from the venom of a Swooping Evil, just so they could forget that unbearable memory.

As for Ezio, he walked away with the reasonable excuse that "I was merely defending myself, and what happened afterward was Peeves acting on his own initiative." Snape symbolically deducted five points, and the matter was lightly brushed aside.

Slytherin remained as evil as ever!

But this statement was no longer applied to the other young Slytherin wizards; it had gradually become a term exclusive to Ezio. He generally didn't cause trouble, but the problem was that once something became linked to him, the situation would often unfold in the worst possible way for everyone else, only to end in a place that was basically harmless to him.

However, the library incident was soon forgotten, as the Quidditch season was about to raise its curtain once November arrived.

After several weeks of training and coordination, the new members added to each team were finally ready to play. Harry had a high level of enthusiasm for Quidditch. His performance in flying lessons was exceptionally outstanding, and Madam Hooch, who was always strict with the young wizards, praised him endlessly, publicly stating that Harry would definitely become the new pillar of the Slytherin team by the time he reached his second year.

The only one who expressed dissatisfaction with this was probably Snape alone. Harry's talent on a broomstick annoyed him slightly, likely because James Potter had also possessed great talent for Quidditch back in the day, which made him see the shadow of that damn man in Harry. Perhaps on some nights, Snape had even dreamt the fantasy that Harry was actually a girl named Harriet; he probably woke up smiling on those mornings.

"Ezio, are you going to watch the Quidditch match? It's Slytherin versus Gryffindor today, I feel like it's going to be spectacular."

Clutching a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, Harry spoke with great interest: "I'm definitely going to buy the newest, coolest broomstick when school starts next year. I can't wait to fly up into the sky."

"Then you could just go ride Buckbeak." Ezio didn't look up, remaining focused on the Potions notes in his hand. This was Snape's personal journal, which he had read through no fewer than three times, yet he still couldn't fully keep up with Snape's genius train of thought. It was too erratic, too innovative, and very difficult to learn, but it was fascinating.

"That feeling is different." Harry had ridden Buckbeak several times already. To be honest, even the latest Nimbus 2000 couldn't keep up with Buckbeak's speed. Although the Hippogriff was indeed average in terms of flight agility, in terms of acceleration and top speed, the current broomsticks—which topped out at no more than 160 kilometers per hour—simply couldn't compare.

"It's the feeling of freedom. When I'm riding a broom, it feels like I'm embracing the sky!"

Harry gestured exaggeratedly.

"If you really want to ride one, I'll give you my broom. I bought two anyway, so I can just give you the spare."

Ezio, who was not short on money, always bought things in pairs when purchasing necessities. Just like with his wand, he liked to be prepared for anything.

"Aren't first-year students forbidden from bringing broomsticks?"

"I'm going to start skipping grades next year, why are you telling me this?" Ezio raised his eyelids. He had already discussed it with the professors; he wouldn't attend the second year next term, but would jump straight to the fourth year. His practical skills were already more than sufficient, but he still needed to hone his basic theoretical studies. Once the fourth-year courses were finished and his theoretical foundation was solid, Ezio would be able to take the fifth-year O.W.L.s.

"Then won't we be unable to stay in the same dormitory?" Harry was a bit surprised, and at the same time, a bit envious. He couldn't achieve the ultra-high-efficiency learning that Ezio did; on one hand, his brain wasn't as sharp, and on the other, he couldn't manage the 20-hour-a-day, high-intensity study schedule that Ezio maintained, which was more ascetic than an ascetic monk.

"The dormitory stays the same, but the classrooms will change."

Ezio put down the notes and carefully tucked them away. "Do you want the broom or not?"

"I kind of want it..." Harry hesitated. "But I think I'll wait until next year. I'm not in a rush to play with it. Professor Snape seems to have an opinion about me wanting to join the Quidditch team; he probably doesn't want to see me neglecting my studies for play."

"I didn't expect your relationship with Snape to be this good now. Have you called him 'foster father' yet? I bet if you just called him that, he'd buy you a broom immediately, personally send you into the Quidditch team, and then have everyone carry you on their shoulders while shouting, 'Welcome the new King of Slytherin!'"

Harry rolled his eyes: "You don't have to lie to a kid like that, and besides, I'm not a three-and-a-half-year-old toddler."

"Yes, yes, you're an eleven-and-a-half-year-old toddler." Ezio replied perfunctorily: "Actually, Snape is like this because of your old man. Your father was an excellent Quidditch player, so when he sees you have talent for it, he doesn't feel very happy inside. If you don't coax him, don't even think about getting on the school team next semester."

"Huh?" The expression on Harry's face went blank.

"Didn't I tell you about this before?"

"Did... did you?" Harry scratched his head. He couldn't quite remember. He had a deep impression of his mother, but perhaps because his father hadn't appeared in his memory fragments, or perhaps because he had learned about his parents' past and understood that his old man had been a bit of a 'troublemaker' who loved to bully people at Hogwarts, Harry, as a good kid, had subconsciously distanced himself from him.

"There should be old Quidditch trophies and things in the trophy room. Want to go take a look?"

"I thought you did nothing but read books and practice magic." Harry curled his lip in a jab. "Even the biggest bookworm in Ravenclaw isn't as hardworking as you."

"Are you referring to Hermione? She'll be angry and bite you if she hears that."

"I didn't say who it was." Harry quickly denied it.

Ezio laughed out loud. "At least I go visit Hagrid every now and then. I know the principle of balancing work and rest. If you don't relax occasionally, it's very easy to lose your hair."

"Then let's go take a look!"