Slytherin's Allegiance
After subduing this beautiful female subordinate, and since there was nothing else he needed to use her for the time being, Skylar arranged for her to enter Ravenclaw's Chamber to read Ravenclaw's extensive library, as well as the mainstream Europe newspapers from recent years that Skylar had his House Elf collect beforehand. This would allow her to quickly grasp the latest developments in the wizarding world, increase her magical knowledge, and also pass the time.
The last point is especially important. Thinking of the strange, intense look in her eyes when she looked at him, Skylar made up his mind not to have too much contact with her for the time being. Food and daily necessities would be delivered to her by the House Elf at regular intervals.
Sarf is still missing a wand, but as someone of unknown origin, it might be difficult for her to purchase one through public channels, especially since Skylar doesn't want to reveal her existence too quickly.
Fortunately, when Skylar was in his second year, he had salvaged a Basilisk horn from the Basilisk's corpse, and he also owned a herbal trading company with an international trading license issued by the Ministry of Magic. Under the Apparition led by Dobby, he found his long-lost partner, Ali Bashir, and had a meeting with him.
Since Ali and Skylar made their connection, with a steady stream of funding and the green light from the Department of International Magical Cooperation, he has been thriving and living a very comfortable life. Compared to his frustrated and unsuccessful character in the original story (who failed to import the Flying Carpet), in this world he has successfully made a name for himself in the international trade world. He is a well-known figure in various Europe countries, and even in Africa, North America, and South America, he is quite famous.
Ali was deeply grateful to Skylar. Although he had a unique business acumen and a keen sense of future trends, he lacked political skills and the wisdom to build connections. This led him to a common predicament in his past experiences: he would see a lucrative market, but he would often be blocked by the legal provisions of the authorities, and could only watch helplessly as the business opportunity slipped through his fingers.
Since reaching the cooperation agreement with Skylar, he felt it was the wisest decision he had ever made in his life, a turning point in his destiny, and the foundation for his meteoric rise. So when he learned that Skylar had something to entrust to him, he didn't hesitate and treated Skylar's matter as his top priority.
Skylar asked him to do two things. The tasks were not difficult, especially for him in his current state; they simply required him to travel across continents, which would be quite time-consuming.
The first thing to do was to go to North America and find the finest Snakewood for his wand. Indeed, since Sarf was a Parseltongue, Snakewood paired with Basilisk horn would obviously be the most suitable wand for her. Hogwarts' history tells us that Slytherin, one of the Four Founders, used Snakewood Basilisk-Horn Wand, which, combined with his Parseltongue, made him virtually invincible. And the Snakewood Slytherin used to make his wand was the very same snakewood he found across the Atlantic Ocean to North America.
The wood used for making staffs is actually different from ordinary wood. In addition to the age of the tree from which the wood is sourced, a skilled staff maker can even deduce the magical conductivity of the wood by looking at the grain. Therefore, not every branch growing from a Snakewood tree is suitable for making a staff.
For example, there is a Snakewood tree within the grounds of Ilvermorny School. This Snakewood tree was planted unintentionally by the Founders in the early 17th century with Slytherin's wand. It is less than 4 centuries old and can only be considered barely qualified to be used to make a wand.
The Snakewood that Skylar entrusted Ali to collect had to have dark gold patterns on it, meaning the tree must be at least 6 centuries old, with thousand-year-old Snakewood being the most ideal.
The second thing was to go to South America and sign an exclusive agency agreement with the Polachi Alchemy Workshop in Peru for the Europe market, specifically to be responsible for the sales of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder within Europe.
In the original story, this product was eventually introduced by the Weasley Twins. Because it was ideal for escape, it became a hot-selling item during the Voldemort and Death Eaters uprising. If Ali had secured exclusive distribution rights before the war began, eliminating all competitors, it would have been a highly profitable business.
After saying goodbye to Ali, Skylar returned to Hogwarts, only to receive a report from Daphne that since the disappearance of the leader of the Ghosts Society and those Pure-blood families, coupled with Draco's deliberate withdrawal from public view, Slytherin had almost reached a consensus—that Skylar should be respected!
Even if a few students remain loyal to the House of Selwyn, the Fawley Family, and others, forming a separate faction within Slytherin, their small numbers and limited influence mean they pose little threat. It's fair to say that over 80% of the Slytherin House students follow Skylar's lead.
Chamber of Secrets, Skylar sat firmly on his throne atop the seventh tier, like a king wielding absolute power, his cold gaze sweeping over the six people standing below.
Below the platform, three men and three women stood ramrod straight, heads bowed and eyes lowered, utterly respectful. If anyone else were present, they would be astonished to find that all the Prefect of Slytherin House were gathered here; some were Prefect in the past, while others were newly appointed Prefect who had replaced the recently missing students.
The newly appointed prefects are 7th-grade boys 'Prefect Gulie Pisgood, 7th-grade girls 'Prefect Vinia Pierre Sworth, and 6th-grade girls 'Prefect Narelle Wakanda.
The original Prefect were Cassius Warrington, the sixth-year male Prefect; Terence Higgs Family, the fifth-year male Prefect; and Serona Osbert, the fifth-year female Prefect.
Gulie's father, Arnold Pisgood, was originally Obliviator in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Recently, he has been promoted one after another and is now the captain of the Law Enforcement Patrol, commanding both the investigation team and the Hit Wizard force.
Vinia's father, Bernie Pierre Sworth, who was originally a Weather Charm charmer in the Ministry of Magic's maintenance department (every window and ceiling in the Ministry of Magic can display different weather conditions, which is actually the effect of the Weather Charm), was suddenly promoted to head of the intelligence department in the Auror force, and gained control of all the Auror investigators, informants and intelligence sources.
Madam Wakanda's position at the Ministry of Magic remained unchanged; she was still the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. However, with the deliberate support of certain high-ranking officials within the Ministry of Magic, the office's power had grown increasingly significant. Many junior wizards who violated International Statute of Secrecy and the Trace Alert had received warnings. It was rumored that Willie Widsing, who had caused several toilet backflow incidents, had been sent to Azkaban by her. It was also said that Madam Wakanda's former superior Umbridge, had attempted to intervene in the matter to exonerate Widsing, but Madam Wakanda firmly refused.
The House of Warrington had already fully aligned themselves with the House of Malfoy long ago (when Cassius sided with Draco). After Skylar resolved his differences with Draco, Cassius, who held Prefect authority, also switched sides to Skylar under Draco's arrangement. The House of Warrington's strength was only considered low among Pure-blood families, but Cassius himself was quite capable, as evidenced by his selection as the Slytherin representative to participate in Merlin's Trial a few years prior.
Terence and Skylar the first to establish a relationship. His father, originally the head of the Pest Advisory Bureau of the Biological Management and Control Department, had now been promoted to head of the Beings Division, overseeing all alien creatures within Britain, such as the Centaur Liaison Office, the Goblin Liaison Office, the House-Elf Relocation Office, the Werewolf Registry, and the Vampire Registry. Under his arrangement, all the data and records of House Elf, Werewolf, Vampire, Hag under Skylar were destroyed, as if they had ceased to exist in Great Britain.
(Note: The Department of Biological Control is the second largest administrative body in the Ministry of Magic. Its ranks are divided into three levels: the Director has the most power and oversees the entire department; the three division chiefs are ranked second and each oversees a division; and then the directors of the various offices.)
Serona's House of Osbert, was originally a subsidiary family of the House of Malfoy. Her great-grandfather, Onxos Osbert, served as Minister for Magic from 1789 to 1798, but he was actually just a puppet of Skylar's tenth ancestor, Septimus Malfoy. At the time, many in the wizarding world believed that Osbert was merely a puppet of Malfoy, while Septimus Malfoy was the de facto leader of the Ministry of Magic.
Now, with the House of Malfoy's resurgence in politics, the House of Osbert, which had gradually faded from the political scene, has once again come into the public eye. Serona's father, Unctuous Osbert II, has entered the Biological Control Department and become the head of the Beast Division, overseeing all the breeding, research, and trade of mammals within the Britain. Under his arrangement, the Greengrass Family has been granted several permits for breeding new species of magical creatures, including the Pygmy Puff.
The purpose of these six Prefect's visit is self-evident; they represent not only themselves but also the attitude of their respective families.
After they swore allegiance to Skylar placed a cursed magic mark on each of them, imprinting a pure black dragon emblem on each of their arms. The lifelike Black Dragon on the emblem spread its wings, baring its fangs and claws, as if it were about to take flight.
The basic principle of this cursed mark magic was learned from "The Secrets of the Darkest Art," and it was originally the same magic as Voldemort's "Dark Mark." However, Skylar was not satisfied with the function and deterrent power of the Dark Mark, which is why he abandoned what he was doing and chose to prioritize intercepting the curse on Sarf.
In his opinion, the Blood Curse on Sarf was far more intimidating than the Dark Mark. Skylar speculated that Sarf's predecessor, Nagini, was probably a subordinate of a dark sorcerer hiding in Borneo, Southeast Asia. The Blood Curse was likely a means for that sorcerer to ensure his subordinate's loyalty. Because Nagini had left Borneo without permission, he could only suppress the curse's effects with his own magic, but ultimately failed and transformed into a snake.
After studying the "Gorgon's Curse" extracted from Sarf, he combined the characteristics of the two spells to create this new seal magic, which he named "Sleeping Dragon Mark".
Besides being able to track the location of the mark holder at any time, like the Dark Mark, and summon all mark holders to gather using specific incantations, the Sleeping Dragon Mark also allows Skylar, as the caster, to control their life and death. No matter when or where they are, with just a thought from Skylar, he can completely transform them into beasts, turning them into mindless, inhuman animals, thus virtually eliminating the possibility of these people betraying him.
Skylar knew he wasn't omniscient or omnipotent, and the possibility of traitors hoping to escape detection still existed. Therefore, Skylar installed another layer of insurance— the Taboo. If anyone uttered the word "Sleeping Dragon" outside Skylar's secret base, Skylar would sense it, indicating that a leak had occurred within the organization.
Of course, these were merely additional means. Skylar knew perfectly well that the most reliable method was often a close-knit relationship of interests. Only by tightly binding the interests of these people's families to his own cause, forming an alliance where they would share both glory and ruin, would these people be extremely unlikely to betray him unless they were willing to sacrifice their entire families.
Despite being only six Prefect, each of them had their own network of connections and supporters, and their allegiance marked the beginning of an era in Slytherin dominated and controlled by Skylar.
Skylar arranged for them all to join the Sleeping Dragon Society and began recruiting senior students for him. These students would graduate in a few years, at which point he could arrange for them to intern in various corners of the business and political worlds, becoming Skylar's support in the world outside of school.