I Really Like It Here

There was nothing particularly special about Hogwarts' opening feast. Other than eating and drinking, they sang the school song.

After the feast, the prefects led the new students back to their respective common rooms.

Because Silan had stomped on his feet twice, Chris limped along at the very back.

"What happened to you, Mr. Nott?" McGonagall asked.

Hearing a professor ask about his injury, Chris immediately felt utterly wronged. He opened his mouth, ready to recount Silan's atrocities in full. He could even imagine Silan being put in detention.

Before he could say anything, however, Silan appeared from nowhere and supported him.

"Professor McGonagall, there's no need to worry. Mr. Nott merely twisted his ankle."

Chris felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. He could not utter a single word.

After explaining, Silan put on a concerned expression. "Mr. Nott, would you like to visit the Hospital Wing?"

Though the words sounded warm and caring, Chris could clearly feel those hands suddenly tighten around his arm like iron pincers.

A threat. A naked threat.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Mr. Prewett," Chris said.

"That's good, then. Let's go." Silan did not forget to bid McGonagall farewell. "Goodbye, Professor McGonagall."

Watching Silan's retreating figure, McGonagall felt both pleased and regretful.

How had such a model student ended up in Slytherin?

Nott felt incomparably aggrieved and only wanted to shout, "Professor! He's faking it all! Don't believe him!"

Only after leaving McGonagall's sight did Silan release him.

"Mr. Nott, you'd better not do anything foolish. Of course, I welcome you to do something foolish." Silan smiled gently, wearing the innocent smile of a young boy. "It's just that next time, my price will be higher."

Only after Silan had gone far away did Nott grit his teeth and curse under his breath.

Then, his gaze fell upon the prefect at the front of the group.

He happened to know William Rowle, and the Rowle and Nott families were fairly close. He began plotting to ask William Rowle for help after they returned to the dormitory, so they could teach Silan Prewett a proper lesson.

A true Slytherin would not care whether they were attacking a fellow student.

And as a first-year, he definitely could not be a prefect's match!

With that thought, Chris immediately felt emboldened. His legs no longer ached, and neither did his back.

Unlike the towers of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, Slytherin's common room was underground.

The prefects led the new students down a long, spiraling stone staircase. The farther down they went, the gloomier and quieter the atmosphere became. Though more torches had been placed along the way, there was still a chill that seemed impossible to dispel.

Silan could not help thinking that it was fortunate there was a spell like Scourgify.

Otherwise, clothes would not even dry in the Slytherin Common Room.

After descending the long staircase, the new students finally arrived before a damp, blank stone wall.

Prefect William Rowle held his head high, and the new students could practically see only his nostrils.

"You don't need to knock or use a specific spell to enter the common room, but you must say the correct password." William looked down his nose at everyone and called out the password. "Pure-blood."

After the password was spoken, a concealed stone door appeared in the wall.

Following the prefect into the common room, Silan secretly let out a breath of relief.

The Slytherin Common Room was not the cold, damp place he had imagined, piled with wet seaweed and rotten mud. It was a lavishly decorated, narrow underground chamber.

The walls and ceiling were built from rough stone. Green-glowing lamps hung from the ceiling on iron chains. Directly opposite the entrance stood an exquisitely carved fireplace. A fire crackled within it, warming and drying the entire common room.

The most eye-catching feature was undoubtedly the common room's large windows. Through them, they could see the rippling lake outside, along with quite a few strange-looking aquatic creatures.

The tables and chairs in the common room were all exquisite, exuding an air of extravagance.

That was hardly surprising.

Many of Hogwarts' school governors came from Slytherin, so naturally their common room would not be shabby.

While the new students toured the common room, Nott and William whispered to each other nearby. Their gazes occasionally flicked toward Silan, and faintly mocking smiles hung on their faces.

"Prewett, although we're both from pure-blood families, I still have to remind you that there are differences even among pure-blood families. After all, some families barely have anyone left. I do hope they can continue living well."

William walked up to Silan and elegantly adjusted his collar. Looking down at him, he said, "Oh, right. I arranged for you and Nott to share a dormitory. If he bullies you, you can come find me."

Of course, I'll bully you together with him, idiot.

William sneered inwardly.

"Prefect William, I didn't get that wrong, did I?" Silan slapped his hand away and shook his head. "I'm actually very disappointed."

"Disappointed?" William was somewhat confused.

Noticing the commotion, several new students nearby slowly gathered around.

Malfoy was drawn over as well. He hurriedly waved over his two lackeys to watch the show together.

"Slytherin has disappointed me greatly. I thought this place was full of shrewd ambition seekers, but I never expected there would be trash who took pride in their birth." Silan's voice was unhurried. "Things you are born with are not worth flaunting. Glory and power seized through cunning and force are what deserve admiration."

As he spoke, Silan deliberately cast a glance at Chris.

The implication was obvious.

"Arrogant!"

With a prefect backing him up, Chris became much bolder. He no longer bothered pretending to be meek, pulling out his wand to teach this arrogant fellow a lesson.

He was a pure-blood wizard and had been exposed to magic since childhood. Before school began, he had even learned a few spells.

But Silan was faster.

With his wand and incantation, Silan cleanly cast a Severing Charm.

"Diffindo!"

Chris Nott's hair immediately scattered through the air like autumn leaves.

It left him almost bald.

Chris was utterly horrified, and even his wand-waving motion stopped.

As a new student who had previously treated magic as nothing more than a toy, he became so stiff when facing a real fight that his body would barely obey him, let alone allow him to fight back.

Prefect William Rowle beside him was equally stiff.

As a prefect, he had some combat experience.

He quickly recognized that Silan had not cast some advanced spell, but merely a simple Severing Charm.

It was a minor spell recorded in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, one that almost everyone at Hogwarts could use.

However, its effect depended heavily on the caster's technique and focus. It could be used for crude destruction or for extremely precise cutting.

William raised a trembling hand and touched his collar.

His previously intact collar had somehow been cut open, and a faint red line remained on his neck. He had no doubt that if it had gone any further, his artery might have been severed.

But Silan had controlled it perfectly.

How much time and effort would it take to use such a simple first-year spell to that extent?

William did not know. He only knew that Silan was far harder to deal with than he appeared.

Was this really strength a first-year should possess?

Even if one searched through every Hogwarts alumni register, it would probably be difficult to find a genius who could rival him.

It was far too unwise to offend someone like that over an idiot like Chris Nott.

When the onlookers saw that Nott had lost his hair, they burst into laughter.

A few sharp-eyed students recognized that Silan had used a Severing Charm, and they could not help feeling secretly astonished as well.

Advanced spells depended on talent; basic spells depended on fundamentals.

To use a basic spell to such a level showed just how solid his foundation was.

Even Malfoy had to admit inwardly that this Prewett was probably only a little weaker than himself.

The crowd's laughter and the fury of losing his hair nearly drove Nott mad.

He shouted at the prefect, "Let's take him together!"

William swiftly drew his wand.

"Expelliarmus!"

Bang!

Chris arced through the air in front of everyone and crashed into a chair, his wand flying from his hand.

The intense dizziness left him disoriented.

"Prefect, what are you doing?"

William cursed inwardly.

Idiot! Moron! Can't you see that he deliberately held back?

And you actually tried to drag me into this!

What an utter idiot.

"Mr. Prewett, I believe this is a misunderstanding." William put on a smile, though his voice trembled slightly. "Slytherin welcomes you."

"The prefect is right. This is all a misunderstanding."

Silan glanced at Chris, then walked up to William. Standing on tiptoe, he elegantly adjusted William's collar. "Oh, look, I accidentally cut your collar, senior. After all, I'm only a first-year and still can't fully control my spells. You won't mind, will you?"

"No, no. It's only a small matter." William hurriedly shook his head.

His pupils trembled as he stared at the hand beside his neck. It felt as though a venomous snake were crawling across his throat, making him shake with fear, yet he did not dare move carelessly.

Silan flashed an incomparably bright smile. "Don't worry, senior. I'll help you tidy it up."

Waving his wand, Silan used a Repairing Charm.

"By the way, one Galleon."

William's mouth twitched. Couldn't I use Reparo myself?

And he was actually charging one Galleon.

But looking at Silan's smiling face, he did not dare refuse. He could only tremblingly pull out a Galleon and place it in Silan's hand.

After paying to avert disaster, William only wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.

But after taking only two steps, Silan called him back.

"Mr. Nott doesn't seem very willing to share a dormitory with me. I'll trouble myself a little tonight and sleep in the bed while Mr. Nott sleeps on the common room sofa."

"Of course, no problem." William agreed at once.

Who cared where that idiot slept?

With a wave of his wand, Silan tossed Nott's luggage out.

From beginning to end, neither of them asked Chris for his opinion.

"Oh, I remember now. Mr. Nott still owes Mr. Longbottom an apology." Silan smiled at Chris, who was staggering back to his feet. "And he owes me twenty Galleons. That was our original wager."

"I never agreed..." Chris said with difficulty.

"I said you wagered, so you wagered." Silan interrupted him with a smile and held out his hand. "A bet is a bet. Pay today, apologize tomorrow. Understand?"

"It was ten Galleons back then."

"And I said back then that my price would be higher."

Chris glanced toward William and found him hastily turning his head away, pretending not to see anything. He knew then that he could not count on him. Both angry and afraid, he dejectedly took out a money pouch.

Silan counted out twenty Galleons and tossed the pouch back to Chris.

He had to admit that these pure-blood wizards were truly rich. A random student carried so many Galleons on them.

"Goodnight, Prefect William. You may leave now," Silan said.

William tugged at the corner of his mouth. In the end, he managed a difficult "Goodnight," lifted his proud head, and walked out stiffly.

Silan returned to his dormitory and tidied up his luggage a little.

The Slytherin dormitories were large, and only two people shared each room, making them feel even more spacious.

The exquisite four-poster beds were draped in green silk curtains, and even the bedspreads were dark green, embroidered with delicate silver snake patterns. Silan was very satisfied.

This was far better than the orphanage.

After stretching, Silan walked to the window and looked at the enormous squid swimming past outside.

Slytherin really was quite nice.

The people here were polite, spoke pleasantly, and were generous with their money.

I really like it here.