Damon practiced Charms in the Room of Requirement for the entire afternoon.
Before he had truly begun, he had never imagined that he could unleash such enthusiasm for Charms.
Even the simple, tedious repetition of casting spells never bored him—the flickering at the tip of his wand was something he could never tire of watching.
Not to mention that, with his expert-level talent for Charms, he could almost sense the direction and method of improvement with every cast, feeling his own progress each time.
It felt as though he had entered an immersive RPG, endlessly leveling up and preparing to defeat the Dark Lord in the future. It was an indescribably wonderful feeling.
It was not until dinner that he reluctantly stopped casting, only then realizing that he was actually quite mentally exhausted.
"Looks like I got a little too excited."
Damon shook his head and left the Room of Requirement for the first-floor dining hall.
Damon took a Daily Prophet Evening Edition from the Owl. It was still an all-meat feast, and he read as he ate.
"I didn't see you all afternoon. Don't tell me you went off and had fun with them too?"
Damon looked up—it was Hermione.
"No, I found a quiet place to read."
"Really? What did you read? I read The Growth and Changes of Magical Plants today. It was quite interesting, and talked about many strange phenomena involving magical plants. I also read Wonderful Quidditch Balls. Oh! Do you know Quidditch? I discovered that it's extremely famous in the wizarding world."
Once Hermione started talking about books she had read, she launched into a lengthy monologue and had to finish it all in one breath.
Damon set down his newspaper and listened with a smile, nodding from time to time—causing Hermione's cheeks to visibly redden.
For the first time, she suddenly realized that she seemed to speak too quickly, so quickly that others had no chance to get a word in. That was rather rude.
"Oh, have I talked too much?"
Hermione stopped herself in time and gestured for Damon to speak. But at that moment, four running figures, radiating heat, sat down on either side of Damon. "Damon, where did you go this afternoon? Did you know there's a Giant Squid in the Black Lake?"
"And it's really friendly! It even let me touch its head!"
They chattered excitedly about what they had seen that afternoon. Across from them, Hermione raised an eyebrow slightly when their conversation was interrupted and said no more.
Damon gave Hermione an apologetic smile and handed her the Daily Prophet Evening Edition. Hermione took it knowingly. Then he turned to his excited roommates and answered mildly:
"I went to the library to read."
Hermione, who had just taken the newspaper, quietly frowned and silently hid her face behind it.
"Damon! Come on!" Ron cried. "Do you know how many first-year girls are talking about you now? Instead of making friends with them, you hid in the library to read?"
"That's right, Little Ronnie, but I must correct you—"
"—it's not just first-years. Even third-year girls are quite interested in our Duelling Prince."
Two freckled red-haired boys, much like Ron, sat down opposite him.
"Damn it! I told you not to call me that!"
Ron protested furiously, while Harry secretly found himself interested in the nickname "Duelling Prince."
"Hello, Duelling Prince. I'm George Weasley—"
"I'm Fred Weasley, as you can see—"
"We're Ron's brothers."
The two spoke in perfect rhythm, winking at Damon as their round eyes sized him up from head to toe, seemingly plotting something.
"Hello, but it would be best not to mention that title."
Damon greeted them kindly, not particularly fond of being called the Duelling Prince.
"Third-year girls are talking about Damon too? Was what happened on the train really that sensational?"
Seamus cut in at the right moment.
"No, actually, they're discussing something else. About—"
"Why Damon White wasn't sorted into Slytherin."
"Mate, you have no idea. The Slytherin Common Room was in an uproar over it on the first day."
"But in the end, they concluded that it was your loss, not theirs."
After the two Weasleys finished, they watched Damon with great interest, as though they wanted to see his reaction.
"Is that so?" Damon had nearly finished eating. He set down his knife and fork and said lightly, "The Sorting Hat did originally intend to send me to Slytherin, but I refused."
"Why?"
That immediately caught everyone's interest.
"Because—" Damon's lips curled slightly, as though he could already see the effect this answer would have in the near future. "Malfoy said I was a Mudblood. How could a Mudblood join Slytherin? So although I was very tempted, I ultimately refused."
"So that's why—" A wicked grin appeared on George's face.
"Mate, that name really is awful. Want us to help you get revenge?" Fred looked at Damon.
"You want to spread this around?" Damon looked at the grinning Twins and nodded. "Sure. It is the truth, after all."
"Great! Just wait and see—"
"In a few days, everyone in Slytherin—"
"And the other Houses—"
"Will all know about it."
The brothers seemed to have thought of some idea, and immediately ran off in a whirl of energy again.
"I really don't know what they even came here for!"
Ron grumbled, deeply dissatisfied that they had started by bringing up his nickname, then abandoned him without a care.
"Oh, we only came to see how your first day was going—"
"Seeing that you're doing quite well, we can rest easy—"
"Little Ronnie~~~"
The Twins' voices floated in from afar. Ron's face instantly turned red, and he turned to look at Harry and the others, only to find that everyone except Damon was covering their faces and snickering.
"Fine! You lot!"
Ron lunged at Harry with bared teeth and clawed hands, drawing a round of startled cries.
Across from them, Hermione, who had buried her head in the newspaper, curled her lips slightly and muttered softly:
"These boys are so childish."
Damon excluded.
Hermione quietly lowered the newspaper and happened to meet Damon's gaze. Entirely unafraid, she gave a huff and mouthed, "Liar," at him.
She had spent the entire afternoon reading in the library. She had only seen Damon at the beginning, and he had disappeared afterward. That meant he had lied to Harry and Ron.
Hermione immediately thought that if Damon could lie to his roommates, then he might also lie to her.
But if Damon had not been reading in the library, nor had he been encountered by Ron and the others while they wandered around the grounds, then where could he have been?
Hermione thought about it for a while but could not figure it out, so she decided to put the matter aside for now—after all, remaining outstanding was what mattered most to her at present.
Tomorrow, they would have Defense Against the Dark Arts. Judging by Damon's skill with spells, even Hermione felt that it would be difficult for her to surpass him.
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