A week had passed since the duel. It had been an internal conflict within Slytherin, and no students from the other three Houses had learned of it.
As for Skylar seriously injuring Gallup, Snape had not publicized the matter either. After all, he bore some responsibility for the incident, so Skylar had fortunately escaped punishment.
After hearing Skylar's declaration, the atmosphere among Slytherin's younger students gradually began to change.
Every professor at Hogwarts felt, to varying degrees, that Slytherin was different from before—Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both noticed that the Little Snakes were practicing more diligently than ever, while the quality of their homework had risen sharply; Professor Sprout found them more enthusiastic and proactive as well, often volunteering to help carry plants and equipment in the greenhouses or tidy up the grounds; even in cold-hearted Snape's eyes, the Little Snakes had become more united and helpful. With the assistance of the other Little Snakes, even Goyle and Crabbe had successfully brewed potions...
By comparison, the Gryffindor students seemed especially mischievous, the Ravenclaw students rather self-admiring, while Hufflepuff, though equally hardworking and friendly, appeared overly dull and passive.
There was one more matter. On the night after the duel, Daphne quietly came alone to Skylar's private dormitory to find him, and they had an open, candid discussion regarding the declaration he had made before the duel.
Daphne was no fool. On the contrary, as the eldest direct-line daughter of the Greengrass Family, she had received the family's full cultivation since childhood and was intimately familiar with the power struggles among pure-blood families.
Ever since meeting Skylar, she had sensed that he possessed lofty ambitions and hidden aspirations. This twelve-year-old boy often displayed a maturity of thought and decisiveness in action that did not match his age.
Sharp-minded as she