A dark mass of young witches and wizards gathered before the enormous archway, queuing to enter.
They discussed all sorts of things in little groups, their buzzing chatter echoing through the entrance hall like a lively swarm of bees.
Zhang Xiao stood in the Slytherin queue and surveyed the students. Quite a few lowered their heads, afraid to meet his eyes.
A few others gave him bitter smiles, seemingly trying to make their position clear.
The Extreme Pure-bloods had previously been beaten down so thoroughly that they could only huddle together and keep their heads low.
Now, as though they had received a shot in the arm, they were swaggering again. A few brainless ones even dared to give him challenging looks.
Fine. Just wonderful.
Zhang Xiao chuckled. Voldemort had not even returned yet, and they already dared to challenge him. Once Voldemort came back, would they climb onto his head and shit and piss all over him?
Previously, more than eighty percent of Slytherin had worn Azure Luan Society badges. Now, fewer than sixty percent did.
Still, the Slytherins who had removed their badges had not joined the Extreme Pure-bloods. They had moved into the neutral camp instead.
Fence-sitting and seeing which way the wind blew were indeed unavoidable parts of human nature.
Zhang Xiao was considering how to teach those Extreme Pure-bloods a lesson.
Then he heard Professor McGonagall call out:
"Mr. Zhang, Granger! Both of you, come with me!"
The bustling Entrance Hall fell so quiet that a pin dropping could have been heard. The students looked curiously at the professor, wondering what had happened.
Zhang Xiao, however, guessed why she wanted them. It was probably about the Time-Turners.
He stepped out of the crowd and joined Hermione.
Professor McGonagall wore a pointed witch's hat, and her