Why Damon White Doesn't Belong in Slytherin

Chapter 16: Why Doesn't Damon White Belong to Slytherin?

Damon spent an entire afternoon practicing spells in the Room of Requirement.

Before he truly started, he never imagined he could unleash such passion for spellcasting.

Even the simple, repetitive casting of spells brought him endless joy—the spark at the tip of his wand, he felt he could never tire of watching it.

Not to mention, with his expert-level talent in spellcasting, he could almost perceive the direction and method of optimization with every cast, feeling his improvement with each attempt.

This sensation was like stepping into an immersive RPG game, where he was constantly leveling up, striving to defeat the big boss in the future—the feeling was simply too wonderful.

It wasn't until dinner time that he reluctantly stopped casting, and only then did he realize that his mind was actually quite exhausted.

"Looks like I got a bit too excited."

Damon shook his head and left the Room of Requirement, heading to the first-floor dining hall.

Damon took an Evening Prophet from an owl, still a full meat feast, eating while reading.

"Haven't seen you all afternoon—were you out having fun with them too?"

Damon looked up—it was Hermione.

"No, I found a quiet place to read."

"Oh? What did you read? Today I went through The Growth and Changes of Magical Plants—quite interesting, it talks about all sorts of peculiar phenomena in magical plants. Also another one, Wonderful Quidditch Balls—oh! Do you know Quidditch? I've found it's quite famous in the wizarding world."

Once Hermione started talking about books she'd read, she launched into a lengthy discourse, determined to finish in one breath.

Damon put down the evening paper, smiled as he listened to her, nodding occasionally—which made Hermione's cheeks visibly redden.

She suddenly realized for the first time—her speaking pace seemed a bit too fast, leaving no room for others to interject, which was rather impolite.

"Oh, am I talking too much?"

Hermione stopped herself at the right moment, signaling for Damon to speak, but just then, four running figures, radiating heat, sat down on Damon's left and right sides. "Damon, where were you this afternoon? You know, there's a Giant Squid in the Black Lake!"

"And it's really friendly! It even let me touch its head!"

The group chattered about their afternoon adventures. Hermione across from them, seeing their conversation interrupted, raised her eyebrows slightly and fell silent.

Damon gave Hermione an apologetic smile, handed her the evening paper, and she took it with tacit understanding. Then he turned to his excited roommates and responded gently:

"I went to the library to read."

Hermione, who had just taken the paper, furrowed her brow quietly, using the newspaper to cover her face.

"Damon! Come on!" Ron exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how many first-year girls are talking about you right now? Instead of making friends with them, you're cooped up in the library reading?"

"Well said, Little Ronnie, but let me correct you—"

"—It's not just first-years. Third-year senior girls are quite interested in our Duelling Prince too."

Two red-haired boys with freckles, just like Ron, sat down across from him.

"Bloody hell! I told you not to call me that!"

Ron protested in frustration, but Harry quietly took an interest in the nickname "Duelling Prince."

"Hello, Duelling Prince, I'm George Weasley—"

"And I'm Fred Weasley, as you can see—"

"We're Ron's brothers."

The two spoke in tandem, winking at Damon, their round eyes sizing him up and down as if plotting something.

"Nice to meet you, but I'd rather you drop that title."

Damon greeted them amiably, unimpressed by the Duelling Prince moniker.

"Third-year senior girls are talking about Damon too? Was what happened on the train that day really that big a deal?"

Seamus chimed in.

"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 this from day one."

"But in the end, they concluded it was your loss, not theirs."

The two Weasleys finished, watching Damon with interest, as if waiting for his reaction.

"Is that so?" Damon had nearly finished eating by now. He set down his knife and fork and said calmly, "The Sorting Hat did initially want to put me in Slytherin, but I refused."

"Why?"

At that, everyone perked up with curiosity.

"Because—" Damon's lips curled slightly, as if he could already see the effect this answer would have in the near future. "Malfoy called me a Mudblood. How could a Mudblood join Slytherin? So even though I was quite tempted, I refused in the end."

"So it was because of that—" George's face broke into a mischievous grin.

"Mate, that title really is awful. Want us to get back at him for you?" Fred looked at Damon.

"You want to spread this around?" Damon looked at the grinning Twins and nodded. "Go ahead, it's the truth anyway."

"Alright! Just you wait and see—"

"In a few days, the whole of Slytherin—"

"And the other houses too—"

"Everyone will know about it."

The twins had thought of some scheme, and with that, they dashed off again in a flurry.

"I really don't know what they came here for!"

Ron grumbled, deeply annoyed that they'd brought up his nickname right off the bat and then abandoned him without a second thought.

"Oh, we just came to see how your first day went—"

"Seeing you're doing fine, we can rest easy—"

"Little Ronnie~~~"

The Twins' voices echoed from afar. Ron's face flushed bright red as he turned to look at Harry and the others, only to find everyone except Damon hiding their smiles behind their hands.

"Fine! Just you wait!"

Ron lunged at Harry with claws bared, sparking a chorus of startled yelps.

Across from them, Hermione buried her face in the newspaper, the corner of her mouth twitching upward as she muttered softly:

"These boys are so childish."

Except for Damon.

Hermione quietly lowered the paper, only to meet Damon's gaze head-on. She showed no fear, let out a "hmph," and mouthed the word "Liar" at him.

She'd spent the whole afternoon reading in the library, only spotting Damon at the very beginning. After that, he was nowhere to be seen—which meant he'd lied to Harry and Ron.

Hermione quickly connected the dots: if Damon could lie to his roommates, then he could just as easily lie to her.

But if Damon wasn't reading in the library, and he hadn't been spotted wandering the grounds by Ron and the others, then where was he?

Hermione thought it over for a while, couldn't figure it out, and decided to put the question aside for now—after all, for her at this moment, staying excellent was what mattered most.

Tomorrow was Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and given Damon's skill with spells, even Hermione had to admit she'd find it hard to surpass him.