Slytherin Common Room

Among all the ghosts at Hogwarts, the Bloody Baron was the one every Little Wizard feared. Some particularly timid Wizards would even burst into tears when they encountered him alone, terrified by his frightening appearance.

The Bloody Baron also held the highest status and possessed the greatest power among Hogwarts's ghosts. Even Peeves, the prank-loving poltergeist who feared nothing, dared not defy the Bloody Baron's orders.

At that moment, a blonde young witch sitting opposite Goyle and Crabbe watched Jerry elegantly eating his steak. She nudged another sturdily built young witch beside her and whispered,

"Millicent, don't you think he looks so handsome?"

"Daphne, I still think Goyle is more handsome!"

The sturdily built Millicent turned to glance at Jerry, then looked back at Goyle across from her as she replied.

The blonde young witch: "..."

After the brief commotion caused by the ghosts, the banquet once again settled into a lively atmosphere. Everyone ate, drank, introduced themselves, and began chatting with one another.

Unlike the Muggle-born Little Wizards at the neighboring table, who were sharing all sorts of bizarre stories about receiving their Hogwarts acceptance letters,

the Slytherin Little Wizards around Jerry mostly talked about topics that highlighted their status, such as their families' wealth and their parents' social standing.

The family with the highest status was undoubtedly Little Malfoy's—one of the ancient Sacred Twenty-Eight. The elder Malfoy was also a Hogwarts governor and had close ties with high-ranking officials at the Ministry of Magic.

The richest, however, was a boy named Blaise Zabini. His mother, Madam Zabini, was a beautiful and famous witch who had had seven husbands.

Each husband had left a large inheritance to the mother and son upon his death, so their family was even wealthier than Little Malfoy's.

As the banquet drew to a close, Dumbledore stood up again and gave all the Little Wizards several warnings about the start of term.

Jerry summed them up. Mainly, they were forbidden from entering the dangerous Forbidden Forest, forbidden from casting magic in the corridors between classes, and students in their second year or above who wished to try out for Quidditch could register with Madam Hooch during the second week.

Most importantly, no one was allowed to enter the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor.

After the notices came the school song.

With a wave of Dumbledore's wand, a long golden ribbon appeared out of thin air. It twisted and coiled high in the air like a snake, forming line after line of the school song's lyrics.

When the song ended, the start-of-term banquet officially came to an end as well.

"All first-year students, follow me! I am your prefect, Gemma Farley. I will now take you to the common room!"

As the banquet dispersed, a girl of about fourteen or fifteen rose from the Slytherin table in her robes and called out to the somewhat bewildered Slytherin first-years.

The Little Wizards immediately gathered around the girl and followed her through the crowd toward the Slytherin Common Room.

Isn't the Slytherin Common Room supposed to be somewhere higher up in the castle?

Mixed in among the Little Wizards, Jerry watched as the prefect named Gemma led them toward the dungeons, and he could not help feeling puzzled.

He remembered that in the movies, Harry and the others seemed to climb some self-moving staircases before entering their common room through the Fat Lady's portrait.

"The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common rooms are in the eighth-floor towers, while the Hufflepuff and Slytherin common rooms are both in the dungeons. But I can tell you this: our Slytherin Common Room is definitely the best. You'll find out why soon enough!"

Gemma, who was walking at the front and explaining various school rules, happened to mention the location of the common rooms, clearing up Jerry's doubts.

They descended into the dungeons along the right side of the grand marble staircase in the entrance hall and passed through dark, maze-like corridors. Before long, Jerry saw a stone wall.

"Pure-blood!"

As Gemma spoke the password to the stone wall, a stone door immediately appeared in the previously bare, damp wall and slowly opened.

"The only way to enter the common room is with the password. It changes once every two weeks, and the new password will be posted in advance on the notice board inside the common room.

"Remember, the password for these two weeks is—Pure-blood!"

Gemma explained to the Little Wizards with a proud, haughty tone.

The Little Wizards nodded just as proudly. Clearly, they greatly approved of Slytherin's password.

Just as expected of Slytherin!

Watching everyone raise their chins and put on the same smug little expression, Jerry somehow found these Slytherin Little Wizards rather adorable.

As they entered the common room, the first things that caught his eye were the magical lamps glowing green, each one suspended by chains, and the decorations made of animal skulls hanging on the walls.

His first impression was—so green!

What kind of bizarre taste did Slytherin have?

Still, it was not without its merits. At the very least, the fireplace, sofas, tables, chairs, and other furnishings in the Slytherin Common Room looked exquisitely crafted, with all kinds of beautiful carvings.

A medieval tapestry also hung on the wall opposite the fireplace, depicting famous adventures undertaken by Slytherins of that era. It was quite interesting to look at.

Of course, what Jerry found most interesting was the enormous window opposite the common room's stone door, which took up fully two-thirds of the wall.

Looking out through that great window, he could directly see the bottom of the Black Lake. Giant squid and all sorts of lake creatures leisurely swam past outside, giving him the illusion of visiting an aquarium in his previous life.

So the Slytherin Common Room had been built beneath the Black Lake, with magical barriers preventing the lake water from seeping through. This allowed the Slytherins living there to experience the mysterious feeling of being inside a shipwreck beneath the water at any time.

"Boys, go to the rooms on the left. Girls, go to the rooms on the right. Your class schedules should already be in your rooms. If you have any questions, come find me later!"

Gemma looked at the Little Wizards standing before the huge window in amazement at the scenery outside, gave them one final instruction, and then left.

The view from the window was certainly magical, but the Little Wizards had been exhausted by the day's events. After watching for only a short while, they scattered to find their rooms.

Jerry was no exception.

He left the common room even earlier than the other Little Wizards and headed toward the boys' dormitories on the left.

The names of the Little Wizards assigned to each room were posted on the dormitory doors, so he quickly found his own.

"Jerry Carmen, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe."

Looking at the four names posted on the dormitory door, Jerry smiled helplessly.

"I really am fated to be with these three kids!"