Wanting to Fleece the Sheep, An Invitation

After one dull, tedious hour, the bell finally rang.

It wasn't only the young wizards listening to the lecture who felt as if a weight had been lifted; even Quirrell let out a long breath.

After packing up his things, Quirrell hurried out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

The way he didn't dare linger for even a second and rushed off in such a panic made it look as if he were going to carry out some master's orders.

Watching Quirrell's behavior, Lucien was speechless.

Quirrell was laying the act on way too thick.

Anyone who could become a professor at Hogwarts couldn't possibly be complete dead weight!

Even if I can learn some Defense Against the Dark Arts by reading, having a teacher guide me would definitely help me improve faster.

Who wouldn't want to make progress?

Who's going to make up for the teacher I'm missing here?

Lucien lowered his head and glanced at the Defense textbook. Most of what was recorded in it was theory.

In a real duel, victory was decided in an instant.

The judgment and response techniques required in that moment were not things you could fully grasp just by burying your head in books.

The thought that Quirrell would be teaching like this, coasting along for an entire year, made Lucien unable to keep from grumbling inwardly.

If Dumbledore hadn't suspected there was something wrong with Quirrell and been on guard against whether Voldemort had returned to Hogwarts...

Given Dumbledore's personality, which leaned more toward keeping problems right in front of him so he could keep watch over them, he probably would have fired Quirrell for performing like this long ago.

Eh, wait.

Fire a professor?

At that thought, a plan suddenly came to Lucien.

Since he was already my teacher, he should at least teach me something, right?

I'll see if I can fleece something out of Quirrell.

Mm, maybe I can even fleece something out of Tom!

After saying goodbye to Harry and the other two, Lucien picked up his books and quickly left the classroom.

His classes for the day were already over. It was time to get down to business.

Destination: the library!

The moment he entered the library, the entire atmosphere fell quiet.

This was not to say that all the young wizards were so sensible that they consciously kept from making noise.

Rather, there was a thin, elderly woman holding a feather duster in her hand, constantly prowling through the library like a lion patrolling its territory.

If any young wizard made a racket or damaged the books, she would wave the feather duster and drive them out.

Lucien swept his gaze around and soon found her.

"Madam Pince?"

Faced with Lucien's soft inquiry, the lady nodded.

Lucien then took out Professor Flitwick's book list and handed it to Pince.

After quickly scanning the contents of the list, Madam Pince frowned.

She looked Lucien up and down again, then suddenly asked, "What year are you in?"

"First year."

Lucien's answer made Madam Pince's frown deepen.

The main issue was that the books listed included Achievements in Charms, The Development of Silent Spells, Applications of Combined Spells...

These were all books that senior students preparing for their N.E.W.Ts would try to borrow, and even then, they would only borrow one or two at a time to study.

Looking at the list again and seeing no fewer than ten titles on it, Madam Pince strongly suspected that the first-year young wizard before her was pulling some kind of prank.

But Professor Flitwick's personal signature was on it, along with a magical mark that would be difficult to forge.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Madam Pince said flatly, "Wait here a moment."

The lady turned and walked toward the shelves. Without the slightest pause, she moved between row after row of bookshelves, seeming not to need to think at all as she pinpointed the exact location of each book.

Watching Madam Pince search for the books one by one instead of using magic like the Summoning Charm, Lucien felt that she must cherish books very much, choosing to do it herself rather than crudely summon them over.

As for the possibility that Madam Pince was a Squib who could not use magic, Lucien thought about it and felt it was rather unlikely.

The Restricted Section of the library held a vast collection of precious books. How could they possibly assign someone who knew nothing about magic to guard it? Wouldn't that just let students use magic to sneak in and help themselves?

Madam Pince soon gathered all the books and handed them to Lucien.

"You must not damage the books under any circumstances. Violators will be punished!"

"The borrowing period is one month. If you want to renew them, come back to me to register it."

Lucien nodded and thanked her.

After that, he found a few more magic books on Transfiguration and Potions. Once he had registered them with Madam Pince, Lucien prepared to leave the library.

He had just left the library and was passing a corner.

The tall stack of books blocked Lucien's view, and he failed to notice the person coming out.

"Ow!"

A startled cry rang out.

At the same time, Lucien was knocked off balance, and the books were about to scatter all over the floor.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

Lucien reacted even faster, pulling out his wand and throwing out a Levitation Charm at once.

The scattered books floated steadily in the air, then stacked themselves up again.

"Sorry. Are you all right?"

Lucien was just about to reach out and help the other person up.

"You're Lucien!"

Looking at the pale-blond girl sitting on the floor and rubbing her wrist, Lucien confirmed that he did not know her.

Yet she had already taken his hand and used it to stand up.

"I'm Daphne Greengrass."

"The eldest daughter of the Greengrass family."

Hearing Daphne's self-introduction, Lucien raised an eyebrow, but still replied politely, "Hello, I'm Lucien Grafton."

"Mm, I know your name. You were very outstanding at the opening ceremony."

"Didn't we have History of Magic together this afternoon?"

Lucien glanced at the house crest on Daphne's robes. Slytherin.

He noticed that she was still rubbing her wrist, as if she had strained it when she fell just now.

Lucien felt that bumping into someone had partly been his own mistake too, so he raised his wand.

"Episkey."

A wisp of white light wrapped around Daphne's wrist, and the pain immediately vanished.

"A Healing Charm? Thank you!"

Daphne expressed her thanks elegantly.

She felt that her judgment had been right. To be able to use magic so easily right after the start of term—Lucien really was someone extraordinary, and worth befriending.

"You're welcome."

Lucien only gave a soft hum and lifted his foot to leave. He planned to go to the dining hall, pack up a portion of dinner, then head straight back to the dormitory and start reading.

He could finally come into contact with advanced magical knowledge, no longer limited to the magic books anyone could buy outside. It filled Lucien with anticipation and joy.

Studying nonverbal spells, attempting to brew potions—tonight would be another fulfilling night!

"Lucien, would you like to have dinner with me?"

Seeing that Lucien was actually about to leave directly, Daphne quickly made her invitation.

As she spoke, an elegant and proper smile appeared at the corners of her mouth, and her chin lifted slightly, revealing her slender, fair neck.

As if receiving her invitation were an honor in itself.

When Lucien saw the little girl's expression and bearing, he found it inexplicably familiar.

How did she manage to make eating at the school dining hall sound so refined?

Greengrass. Ah, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, a pure-blood family.

No wonder she looked familiar. When he had attended banquets with Aunt Penelope before, the young noble ladies he had spoken with were all like this.

Uh, the young lady of a pure-blood family, Slytherin—the buffs were really stacking up.

Lucien suddenly had a hunch that this girl was probably quite troublesome.

There were still so many books to read, so much knowledge waiting for him. How could he have time to waste on her?

"Thank you for your kindness, but I'm sorry. I still have something to do today."

After saying that, Lucien lifted his foot and left, walking straight around Daphne.

The smile on the latter's face stiffened. She felt as if she still had not reacted. Had she just been rejected?