Wentworth thanked Snape, then went over to the pile of old books and began searching through them carefully. Before long, his eyes lit up. He picked up an old textbook and walked over to Snape.
"Professor Snape, I'll take this one."
Without looking up, Snape said, "I hope you won't damage this book, too. Remember to come find me after dinner!"
Wentworth readily agreed, then hurried out of the Potions Classroom.
When he stepped outside, he saw that the Slytherin first-years had already disappeared, while the Hufflepuff first-years were still waiting outside the Potions Classroom.
As soon as they saw Wentworth emerge, they crowded around him, all asking questions at once. He had no choice but to brush them off.
"Oh, it was nothing. I still had a few questions about Potions, so I stayed behind to ask Professor Snape."
The moment Wentworth finished speaking, the worry on the Hufflepuff first-years' faces vanished. They were replaced by looks of admiration. Someone even silently gave Wentworth a thumbs-up and patted him on the shoulder.
"Wentworth, I salute you. You're a brave man!"
Just then, Snape's voice rang out from behind them.
"If you don't want to leave, you can all come back inside!"
The Hufflepuff first-years fled in every direction.
Wentworth turned and bowed to Professor Snape, then left. Following behind the other first-years, he took the chance while no one was looking to open the old textbook he had borrowed from the Potions Classroom.
On the title page, one name was written in bold: the Half-Blood Prince!
After confirming that he had picked up the right book, Wentworth smiled with quiet confidence.
Suddenly, someone gave him a hard slap on the back, startling him. Wentworth quickly put the old textbook away and turned around. It was Cedric.
"Hey, how was Potions Class? Professor Snape didn't give you a hard time, did he?"
Seeing that it was Cedric, Wentworth finally relaxed. He spread his hands and said, "How could he not? He took five points!"
Cedric merely waved it off. "That's nothing. I thought he'd take at least thirty. Five points? That's just standard procedure. No one will blame you! By the way, what reason did Snape give for taking your points?"
Wentworth gave a bitter smile. "He said I was exchanging meaningful glances with Cassandra in class... What a joke!"
Cedric stared at Wentworth with a dumbfounded look. A moment later, an uproarious laugh burst from his lips.
Cedric laughed harder and harder, until he noticed Wentworth's expression darkening. Only then did he quickly stifle his laughter and ask, trying to keep a straight face, "Seriously, is there something going on between you and Cassandra? On the Hogwarts Express, I already thought you two seemed unusually close!"
Wentworth hurriedly denied it. "How could there be? I like girls who are tall and have big butts!"
Before Cedric could respond, an angry, embarrassed voice came from behind them.
"Wentworth, you're shameless!"
The two turned around in surprise. It was Cassandra. Wentworth immediately felt awkward. He was just about to explain when Cassandra snapped, "Just you wait!"
Then Cassandra strode past them without looking back and disappeared from sight.
Watching Cassandra leave, Wentworth and Cedric exchanged bewildered looks. After a long while, Wentworth finally said, "Actually, she still has plenty of room to grow. There's an old saying in the East: a girl changes eighteen times before she's grown!"
Cedric looked at him helplessly. "You think that's why she's angry?"
"Trust me, it definitely is!"
After that, they went to the Great Hall for dinner.
When Wentworth and Cedric appeared in the Great Hall and headed for the Hufflepuff table, many people greeted Wentworth warmly. He was a little overwhelmed by the attention.
After Wentworth sat down, people kept coming over to ask if he was planning to host another hot pot party soon. They only left after he repeatedly promised he'd let them know in advance the next time there was one.
Meanwhile, Cassandra watched Wentworth surrounded by people and clenched her teeth in secret.
"Cassandra, you don't look too well. What happened?"
Just then, Vane, a Slytherin Prefect, came over and asked with concern.
Since the new term began, Vane had come over to talk to Cassandra on his own more than once. The other Slytherin students had noticed and tactfully made room for them.
Hearing Vane's voice, Cassandra instinctively started to frown. She didn't like him much. Vane's father worked for her father, so he was always fawning over her.
Vane was doing it to curry favor with Cassandra, and she knew why. Girls matured a little earlier than boys, and growing up in a family like hers, Cassandra had seen plenty of people behaving this way.
But she simply didn't like it. You're a Prefect, for crying out loud—and a Slytherin Prefect, at that. Don't you have any dignity? Whatever happened to Slytherin pride? You're an embarrassment to Slytherin! That was what Cassandra thought of Vane.
Whenever this happened, she would think of Wentworth's face, always wearing an elegant smile. He seemed not to care about anything, yet also seemed curious about everything in the Wizarding World. Though he came from a mixed-blood family—or even a Muggle family—he seemed more like a pure-blood than many pure-bloods.
Don't ask Cassandra how she knew Wentworth wasn't from a Pure-blood family. Before she left for Hogwarts, her father had already given her a list of first-years worth keeping an eye on.
But now, when Cassandra heard Vane's voice, her eyes shifted. She relaxed her brow instead of frowning and deliberately put on an indignant expression.
"Vane, the Slytherins were looked down on today!"
Hearing Cassandra's words, Vane immediately looked furious. "What?! Who dares look down on Slytherin?"
So Cassandra told Vane what had happened outside the Potions Classroom that afternoon, embellishing the story as she went.
In short, Coke, the Hufflepuff Prefect, had led older students in blocking the Slytherin first-years' way, making the Hufflepuff first-years walk ahead of them.
Meanwhile, Wentworth was still waiting for the food to be served, completely unaware of any of it.
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