A New Plan

Jerry pushed open the door and entered the room. He saw that his luggage had already been placed beside the bed closest to the door.

The bed was a traditional four-poster, draped with green silk curtains and covered with silver-thread embroidery.

Likewise, the windows in this room had been enchanted. He could see the scenery beneath the lake outside, and even hear the faint sound of the water rippling overhead.

Falling asleep to the gentle sound of the water should be quite nice!

No wonder that prefect had said Slytherin's common room was the best among the four Houses.

Aside from being a bit too green, it really was quite nice.

"Alright, Crookshanks, don't be so impatient. I'll let you out right away!"

Seeing Crookshanks meowing at him from inside the cage on the bedside table, Jerry hurriedly raised a hand to soothe it while stepping forward to open the cage.

Since Crookshanks was very clever and could find food for itself, Jerry had never kept it in a cage back at the orphanage.

This was the first time. It must have been frantic.

"Meow!"

The instant Jerry opened the cage, Crookshanks let out an excited yowl and shot toward the window like a yellow bolt of lightning.

"Crookshanks, stop!"

Jerry's heart jolted as he immediately realized what was happening and hastily shouted at Crookshanks.

However, it was already too late.

Crookshanks stared at the large and small fish swimming outside the window, its eyes gleaming with excitement, before ramming headfirst into the invisible magical barrier in the middle of the window.

It was like crashing into a sheet of transparent glass.

"Splat!"

Crookshanks slid down from the barrier. Its already flat, pancake-like face seemed to have become even flatter.

"Oh, you stupid cat. I take back what I said about you being clever!"

Jerry covered his forehead, both amused and helpless.

Still, as a cat with Kneazle blood, Crookshanks had a far sturdier body than an ordinary cat. That little collision was clearly nothing to it.

It got back to its feet in confusion, then pressed itself against the window and scratched at the invisible magical barrier with its paws. Tilting its head at the fish swimming outside, it seemed to be starting to question its life as a cat.

Jerry stopped paying attention to it and began unpacking his luggage, picking up the class schedule placed on the table.

Just then, several familiar curses suddenly came from the doorway. Little Malfoy and his two companions had seen Jerry's name outside.

"Hello!"

Jerry greeted Little Malfoy and his two companions amiably as they pushed open the door and entered.

Since they were all in Slytherin and would be living in the same room, he felt they could ease their relationship somewhat.

After all, though Little Malfoy and the other two were a little nasty, they were not truly unforgivable people.

"I'm telling you, I'm not afraid of you! My father is a Hogwarts governor. If you dare lay a hand on me again, I'll have my father expel you.

"And Wizards should settle things with magic. Once we've learned magic, we should have a fair duel with magic!"

Little Malfoy had clearly made up his mind outside. The moment he entered the room, he stood five meters away from Jerry with Goyle and Crabbe, putting on a fierce front as he shouted in a vicious tone.

"No problem, really. I'm not someone who likes violence. As long as you don't provoke me, I won't do anything to you."

Jerry shrugged and agreed without hesitation.

Little Malfoy and the other two finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They might have strutted around arrogantly in front of other Little Wizards, especially Muggle-born Little Wizards, as if they were invincible.

But they were still only three eleven-year-old children.

After Jerry had beaten them up and intimidated them like that on the train, they had long since developed some psychological shadows.

In the original story, Little Malfoy and his two companions had fled in panic after Ron's rat merely bit them on the train. That alone showed that they were not nearly as brave as they looked.

After formally reaching an agreement to coexist peacefully, Little Malfoy and the other two were no longer as afraid of Jerry as before, and each began unpacking their luggage and making their beds.

That night, after Little Malfoy and his two companions had all fallen asleep, Jerry quietly got up, took his magic book, and left the room.

Unlike the other Little Wizards, who were already exhausted after the day's events, Jerry's physical condition meant he had not expended much energy at all.

It was just that being Sorted into Slytherin had caught him completely off guard.

Therefore, everything he had planned before now had to be scrapped and redone.

Unlike Gryffindor, if he wanted to gain as many benefits as possible in Slytherin, he had to be outstanding—outstanding in every respect, overwhelmingly outstanding.

Just like Old Voldemort had been when he was young.

Old Voldemort had also come from a Muggle orphanage and was a half-blood, yet he had thrived in Slytherin, where family influence, background, and blood status were paramount, becoming the idol admired by every Slytherin.

It was because he had been far too exceptional.

During Voldemort's years at Hogwarts, he had been poor but exceptionally intelligent; orphaned but both courageous and resourceful. He was a prefect, the school heartthrob, every girl's dream, and a model student.

He appeared polite and quiet, with a ravenous thirst for knowledge. Almost everyone had a good impression of him.

Slughorn, Slytherin's Head of House at the time, had especially adored him. Even when he asked about the forbidden Horcruxes, Slughorn had told him without concealing anything.

If Jerry wanted to learn as much magic as possible at Hogwarts, Old Voldemort was his model.

However, relying on his own learning ability would definitely not be enough. Forget dominating the entire year in grades—being around average would already be decent.

So, he planned to change his strategy and use a large number of Little Red Stars to accelerate his learning.

His original plan had been to use Little Red Stars as sparingly as possible, mainly to maintain his time in the Wizarding world and when learning a few important spells.

After all, subjects like A History of Magic, Astronomy, and Herbology were not urgently needed. He could slowly make up for them later, once he had earned more Little Red Stars.

Besides, each time he returned, he had to wait for a month in the main world before he could enter again.

Now that he wanted to follow Old Voldemort's example, he had to use Little Red Stars in large quantities. He had to strive to surpass everyone in every subject and become the best student, so that he could establish himself in Slytherin.

Most importantly, he had no relationship with Snape. If he was not outstanding enough, he would never catch Snape's eye.

Arriving at the Slytherin common room, Jerry sat on a sofa beneath its green glow. He activated Refreshing Mind, opened his magic book, and began memorizing tomorrow's A History of Magic lesson.