Battle in the Corridor

Back in the common room, Roy was still thinking about what Elias had told him.

Seeing Cedric bent over the table, diligently doing his homework, Roy wanted to hear his opinion.

"Did I do something to offend Slytherin? Do they hate me that much?"

Cedric stopped writing and looked up at the bewildered Roy, his tone full of helplessness.

"You only just noticed? I'm starting to think a Slytherin would have to spit in your face before you realized they were hostile."

Hearing Cedric say that, Roy asked in confusion.

"What did I do? I haven't done anything bad."

Cedric shook his head and explained to Roy.

"Because you hurt their sense of superiority. Most Slytherin students look down on people from poor backgrounds, and some are extreme supporters of blood purity."

"My father said that the essence of Slytherin prejudice is protecting their fragile sense of superiority. Pure-bloods discriminate against half-bloods, and half-bloods turn around and discriminate against Muggles."

Cedric shrugged. "You stand out too much, and neither your background nor your behavior is anything like what an 'elite' should be. That hurt those elites' sense of superiority. They can accept someone like Aisling standing out, but a Muggle-born orphan like you—the kind of person they look down on most—stepping over their heads? That scares them."

Cedric summed it up with a single concise sentence.

"They aren't afraid of being looked down on by people better than them. They're afraid there'll be no one left for them to look down on."

"Is that so..."

Only after hearing Cedric's answer did Roy understand how feudal and backward the Wizarding World's mindset was. He could not help sighing.

Seeing that Roy had been preoccupied all day, Cedric stood up and threw an arm around Roy's shoulders, just as Roy often did to him.

"But only some people in Slytherin are like that. Most of the other students still like you. Fred and George were loudly spreading the story of how you knocked out a professor with one spell in the corridor earlier. Most students admired you when they heard it."

As if Killer Bee, a man who had killed countless people, would be upset over something so trivial. Don't make Brother Bee laugh. Had he given those pathetic Slytherin scum too much face?

Still, thinking of his conversation with Aisling on the train, Roy truly did not think she was a bad person. He was more willing to believe that he had done something wrong.

"Forget it. Let's go eat." Roy stopped dwelling on it and headed for the dining hall with an arm around Cedric.

"Wait, my homework isn't—"

Roy was too strong, and Cedric was simply dragged away by him.

At the dinner table, Roy became the main target of teasing. Tonks sat beside him, constantly rubbing his golden hair as she mercilessly teased the thoroughly flustered Roy.

"Look at our Little Dumbledore. On his very first class, he nearly beat a professor to death."

Roy had now earned the nickname Little Dumbledore. Mainly because he had performed so brilliantly and had clashed badly with the young witch from Grindelwald's family. Besides, many students had seen Dumbledore take him to Diagon Alley. Combined with Roy's ability, everyone believed that Dumbledore had taken special notice of him because of his talent.

Fred and George also came over to join in, teasing Roy as everyone laughed happily. After all, Roy himself looked pretty funny, didn't he?

Roy helplessly let them say whatever they wanted. None of them meant any harm. Glancing toward the Slytherin table, he saw that the looks sent his way were always hostile. Now he understood: to some people, someone like him simply did not deserve to excel.

You'd better know your place. Otherwise, I don't mind teaching you a lesson.

After dinner, Roy did not go to the newly built base in the Forbidden Forest, nor did he go to the library to read. Instead, he returned to the common room with everyone else.

After copying some of Cedric's homework and listening to the students nearby gossip about school for a while, Roy heard the most explosive rumor of the day: that he had knocked out Professor Thorn. He picked up his toiletries and headed alone toward the boys' washroom on the seventh floor.

If he really got into a fight with someone, Roy did not want to drag anyone else into it.

After coming up the stairs, Roy glanced toward the washroom and spotted fifth-year Ronan Voss and Avery Selwyn lurking suspiciously around the corner.

"They really don't know when to quit."

Roy did not bother hiding himself. He openly walked down the corridor as though he knew nothing, and both Ronan and Avery noticed him from around the corner.

When he reached the corner, the two rushed out and slammed into Roy, intending to knock him over. They had not expected Roy's small body to contain the strength of a troll. He sent Ronan, who was in front, crashing to the floor instead.

"Ow! You filthy Mudblood, don't you watch where you're going?"

Ronan clutched the spot where he had been hit and struggled to get back up.

"Haha, who told you two to walk around blind? Get lost. Just seeing worms like you from Slytherin pisses me off. If you don't get out of here, don't blame me for beating you so badly your own mothers won't recognize you."

The two had considered what they would do if an older student or professor passed by, but this was a situation neither of them had expected.

"You lowly—"

Avery had barely opened her mouth when Roy kicked her straight away.

Avery was sent flying by the powerful kick. Her head slammed into a suit of armor placed in the corridor, and blood immediately spilled as she passed out on the spot.

"Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me tell you to get lost?"

Ronan had just climbed up from the floor when he realized Roy was so ruthless and so strong. Panicking, he pulled out his wand and tried to attack Roy.

"You overestimate yourself."

Roy was furious. The magic within him boiled and surged madly, while red light flickered deep within his originally blue eyes.

Ronan's hands were already trembling. He frantically fired a barrage of spells at Roy, throwing in several Dark Magic spells as well.

Yet every spell was blocked by an invisible barrier before it could reach Roy. The barrage did not even slow Roy's advance. Throughout the entire process, Roy never even drew his wand.

"What a bunch of stinking maggots. I thought your Dark Magic would be something impressive. This is it?"

One Dark Magic spell was reflected back intact and struck one of Ronan's knees. Crying out in pain, Ronan dropped to one knee.

Without using his wand, Roy raised a hand and fired a Dark Magic spell directly at Ronan's other knee. This spell was far stronger than Ronan's own. Ronan felt as though his knee had been set ablaze and collapsed completely to his knees.

"You... what are you doing?! My father is the head—"

"Your father is nothing to me. I'm your daddy."

Roy kicked Ronan in the face. The kick produced the sound of cracking bone, and Ronan flew a long distance before passing out.

Roy stepped forward, spat on them, then gave the two people lying on the ground several more kicks. Thinking they would both be bedridden for at least a month, Roy was finally satisfied.

"Obliviate."

Two pale wisps of smoke rose from the tip of Roy's wand and connected to the bloodied heads of the two people on the ground.

"There. Problem solved. What bad luck. I was planning to take a shower, but forget it. I won't bother now."

There had been no witnesses. After altering their memories, no one would know that he was the one who had beaten them.

But when Roy turned around, he saw a familiar figure.

A voice cold yet tinged with madness echoed through the pitch-black corridor.

"I remember the girls' washroom is on the second floor. So, you sent those two, didn't you, dear Aisling?"

Red light flickered in Roy's eyes, and a warm, friendly smile like Homelander's spread across his face.