As everyone's breathing grew heavier, seven o'clock arrived.
Shawn walked through the crowd and stepped onto a raised platform in the common room, coldly surveying the students gathering before him.
Their lazy expressions and incessant yawning infuriated him. This was supposed to be an elite house?
But Shawn had looked into it. The students weren't entirely to blame.
The wizarding community was too small, decent jobs were scarce, and competition was fierce. A culture of simply coasting through life had taken hold.
The wonders of magic also made self-sufficiency easy. Unless someone wanted a high standard of living, they generally had little desire to grow stronger.
As a result, Hogwarts maintained a fairly relaxed curriculum. Under one of Dumbledore's guiding principles, it essentially practiced "happy education."
Classes only began at nine each morning. After one long morning lesson, it was lunchtime again. Two afternoon lessons lasted until five, and that was essentially the school day over.
So anyone who wasn't especially disciplined or eager to learn would gain little from school.
But he was a man determined to break the International Statute of Secrecy and harvest Faith Value from the entire world.
Naturally, that would require the support of plenty of talented people. Inheriting Wizarding Purism was still a distant prospect, so he could only train them himself.
Starting today, Hogwarts' relaxed learning environment would cease to exist-and Slytherin would be the starting point.
Everyone present watched Shawn, wondering what he would announce and how he would deal with those who hadn't shown up.
Shawn wasted no words. He simply drew his wand and flicked it.
Dozens of little blue water snakes slowly formed by the dormitory entrance, then scattered and slithered through the gaps beneath the closed doors.
Before long, muffled screams rang out one after another. Disheveled, soaking-wet students fled their dormitories in a sorry state.
Many staggered on trembling legs. It wasn't the cold-they had received quite a shock.
Several of the first students out began swearing viciously.
"Fuck, Shawn! Have you lost your mind?"
"You damned pure-blood disgrace! I'm telling the Head of House you attacked us!"
"Ah! You'll be expelled! You definitely will this time!"
"..."
Not content with hurling abuse, they drew their wands and aimed at Shawn, preparing to cast spells.
Before they could finish their incantations, however, a blue Water Python coiled down from overhead and instantly engulfed them.
Having used Water Prison so often, Shawn had developed a few tricks. He could leave the prison hollow and periodically sprout tendrils carrying electric currents to touch those inside. That way, he could punish them without injuring them while giving them a lesson they would never forget.
No wonder "Yang Electrotherapy," the scourge of internet addiction in his previous life, had become so notorious.
The students who emerged afterward saw the wretched figures inside the Water Python and immediately shut their mouths in terror, recalling the fear of being at his mercy on the train yesterday.
Shawn ignored them and continued coldly.
"Now that everyone is here, as your new chief, I have four announcements to make for the glory of Slytherin."
"First, you will maintain an elegant bearing at all times. Slytherin has no need for slovenly, vulgar people. Whether walking, sitting, or lying down, your conduct must be impeccable."
"Second, you will follow the study schedule I set. Slytherin has no need for ignorant people. From now on, everyone will gather in the common room at seven every morning for an hour of independent study, and again at seven every evening for another hour."
"Third, I will establish the Spell Guidance Club. Slytherin has no need for weaklings. Every Saturday and Sunday, I will set aside time to teach you spells."
"Fourth, and most importantly, discrimination based on blood is strictly forbidden. Don't talk to me about pure-blood supremacy. If I hear so much as a word of it, you will be severely punished!"
Shawn spoke with commanding confidence. Naturally, some dissenters tried to interrupt, but Water Prison taught them how to behave.
There was resistance, of course, but it was nothing serious. He merely spent a little more magic to suppress it with a casual flick. The Old Beekeeper's signature technique certainly was useful.
And so, accompanied by a chorus of shrieks, Shawn continued.
"The prefects of each year, including the Invisible Prefects, will join me for a short meeting afterward. Hmm, Draco will serve as first-year prefect from now on."
"Right, you may speak now. Who agrees? Who objects?"
Once he finished, apart from a few troublemakers foaming at the mouth inside their water prisons, not a soul in the common room dared speak. They all stared at Shawn in terror.
Even Draco, newly appointed prefect, had his eyes wide open.
After a long silence, Alice finally spoke in support of Shawn. She stepped to the front of the crowd and declared loudly.
"Our chief is right! Slytherin's culture should have changed long ago. Elegance, strength, and the pursuit of glory are what we should strive for-not blind arrogance. That will only lead to our destruction!"
Draco's expression kept shifting, his fists clenched tight as Shawn's words from the previous night repeated endlessly in his mind.
At last, he too stepped forward and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I support our chief! Strength, nobility, and glory-that's what it truly means to be a Slytherin!"
Goyle and Crabbe were a pair of yes-men. They foolishly followed him forward and joined in the shouting.
Then, apart from a handful of individuals, the first- and second-year students also stepped forward and gathered beneath Shawn's platform.
As Draco's childhood friend, the lion-faced Pansy Parkinson grew frantic. She hurried forward and tugged at Draco.
"Draco, have you gone mad? Do you have any idea what you're doing? Uncle Malfoy will kill you!"
Draco shook off Pansy's hand and roared wildly.
"I know exactly what I'm doing! Pure-blood glory is already a thing of the past! I want to become stronger! I want to restore my family's glory, not cling to rotten ideas and slowly wait to die!"
Pansy felt as though she no longer recognized her childhood playmate, whose only solution to anything had always been to "summon Dad." Her heart was in turmoil.
With the Malfoy family's heir declaring his support for Shawn, more and more people gradually raised their hands and shouted Shawn's name.
"Nobility, strength, glory!"
"Shawn! Shawn! Shawn!"
"..."
Those shouting also spontaneously pushed the pale, silent students out of the crowd.
These were mostly the so-called "pure-bloods" and their followers. Together with the troublemakers who had fallen out of the water prisons, they numbered just over twenty, with students from every year.
Looking at the students' eyes, Shawn felt immensely satisfied.
He checked the system quest [Conquer Hogwarts (Stage One)] and saw that its progress had reached 95%.
Hmm, those troublemakers will need a few more lessons. I probably need them to stop openly defying me, at least, before I can finish the first stage. As for offering grand promises now? That's useless. In their eyes, my Black family has already fallen, and I can't offer any tangible benefits. Better to cut through the mess and crush them with authority and strength. That's the most direct, fastest way to finish the quest!
After pondering for a few seconds, he raised a hand to quiet the cheering crowd, then addressed those who remained unconvinced.
"You don't have to accept my principles or my rules. I don't care. But as long as you belong to Slytherin and I am its chief, I will never allow you to remain mediocre! You may resent me and curse me in private, but if you break my rules-hmph, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Shawn radiated authority, inspiring admiration in many of them. The younger they were, the more fervent they became.
Even Theodore Nott, a first-year student from one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families, cheered for Shawn. No matter how his sixth-year sister Gloria quietly tried to persuade him, he refused to leave. (Theodore's characterization hasn't gone off track; a detailed explanation comes later.)
Alice's heart pounded. A man like Shawn was truly worth following.
In her eyes, Shawn really did have a halo above his head at that moment!
The twenty-odd dissenters moved their lips, still indignant and wanting to argue. But when they saw several companions still twitching on the floor, they wisely shut their mouths.
They resolved to complain to Snape and write to their families as soon as they could!
Hearing no objections, Shawn waved a hand and gave his instructions.
"We've lost a little time today, so there won't be a morning study session. Tidy up the common room and rearrange it into a suitable study space. The other prefects will come with me."
Shawn led the way toward his room.
Slytherin had six official prefects, two each in the fifth, sixth, and seventh years. With four Shadow Prefects, that made exactly ten.
However, only seven followed Shawn's orders without question. Those who stayed behind were Gloria Nott, the sixth-year female prefect; Montague, the seventh-year male prefect; and a fourth-year Shadow Prefect. All three belonged to the dissenting group.
When Shawn reached the dormitory entrance, he abruptly turned back. Seeing the three still hesitating, he spoke icily.
"Do I need to invite you personally? Perhaps I should ask the Head of House to strip you of your prefect positions instead?"