Draco's eyes immediately lit up, following the playing card as it swayed from side to side.
"Yes, yes, I recognize it! That's the alchemical item you used on the train. It was amazing."
Shawn kept waving the playing card in his hand, tempting him as though he were teasing a puppy.
"You really want it, don't you?"
Draco looked at him eagerly.
"Can you give it to me?"
"If you teach Goyle and Crabbe ten practical spells, including the Disarming Charm and Shield Charm, it's yours."
Draco immediately perked up.
"Really?"
Shawn rolled his eyes at him, put the card away, and returned to sit by his own bed.
He began seriously infusing the Cards in his hand with Water Prison in its Water Python form.
Meanwhile, Draco rallied his spirits, tossed his drooping hair back with a flourish, and turned to Goyle and Crabbe with a stern expression.
"Neither of you is allowed to sleep tonight until you learn the Levitation Charm!"
Goyle and Crabbe shot resentful looks at Shawn in the distance, their feelings a tangled mess.
They knew Shawn was doing this for their own good, to help them grow stronger, but with their knack for learning...
Shawn spent two hours concentrating before he finished a single playing card. He had only attended one day of classes, yet he was already a little faster than before.
"So paying attention in class is worth it. I just wonder when I'll be able to pull off a Cards version of Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin."
He put the Cards away, intending to make only one tonight, then opened the system to take a look.
Host: Shawn. Class: Wizard/Card Magician. Magic power: 40 (adult: 100). Talents: Lightning elemental affinity max. Water elemental affinity level 1. Parseltongue level 1. Dark magic 8 (Azkaban). Transfiguration 5 (exceptionally gifted). Expand... Talent points: 1. Skills: Occlumency max. Dark magic: Killing Curse level 3,... White magic: Water Prison level 5, Avis level 5,... Level 1 faith: 1700./Level 2 faith: 67./Level 3 faith: 0. Quests: [Steal the Chosen One's fame (stage one)], rewards: 10,000 level 1 Faith Value, 1 Legendary Value. [Conquer Hogwarts (stage two)], rewards: 200 level 2 Faith Value, 1 Legendary Value. [Inherit Grindelwald's Army], rewards: 300 level 2 Faith Value, 1 Legendary Value.
The rewards for all three quests were certainly tempting, but each quest was harder than the last, and he did not have much Faith Value left.
Shawn sighed.
"Ugh, getting stronger is so hard."
He gritted his teeth and prepared to sneak out to the Room of Requirement on the Seventh Floor. There was still something there he could milk for benefits.
But when he looked up, he saw Draco sternly teaching Goyle and Crabbe.
Sneaking off won't be easy.
I can't ruin the image I've built of holding myself to strict standards.
He could only abandon the idea and take out Professor McGonagall's notes on Transfiguration to read.
The night passed without another word.
No, that was not quite right. There were still plenty of words that night. Only at three in the morning, after killing off hundreds of millions of brain cells, did Draco finally manage to teach the two idiots.
His own Levitation Charm was now almost at level 2, definitely better than Hermione's.
Draco suddenly understood the second reason Shawn had made him teach the two idiots.
After that, the rest of the night truly passed without another word.
At six thirty in the morning, Draco felt as though he had only just fallen asleep when another electric shock sent him tumbling under the bed.
Climbing out from under the bed with dark circles beneath his eyes, Draco shot a resentful look at Shawn, who was about to leave.
Draco sounded close to tears. "Getting stronger is so hard!"
But after washing up and taking his two lackeys to the first-year study area in the common room, he immediately reverted to his usual self.
He raised his little chin and began boasting shamelessly.
"Ha! You idiots can't even manage a simple Levitation Charm. You're worse than Goyle and Crabbe! You two morons, show them how it's done."
Watching from the raised platform, Shawn could not help pressing a hand to his forehead.
Once again, not everyone had shown up that morning, though the absentees were the three people he had accidentally knocked unconscious with electricity the night before.
Their prefect had requested leave on their behalf, and Shawn approved it without making an issue of it.
After eight, Shawn led the students toward the Great Hall in two orderly lines.
When they encountered Filch, the castle caretaker, Shawn greeted him politely.
"Good morning, Mr. Filch."
The hundred-odd students behind him exchanged looks. They had no problem greeting professors and fellow students.
But Filch was a Squib.
Even Alice, who supported Shawn unconditionally, felt somewhat reluctant.
Seeing that no one behind him had spoken, Shawn spun around.
"Where are your manners?"
Left with no choice, everyone mumbled a vague, "Good morning, Mr. Filch."
Filch had already frozen when Shawn greeted him. Now, hearing over a hundred people greet him together, he was so startled that his broom fell from his hands.
Shawn paid him no further attention and led the group toward the Great Hall again, nodding to everyone they passed with impeccable politeness.
He still had a new quest to win over the other three houses, so he had to start laying the groundwork little by little.
For the sake of strength, he had to be able to swallow his pride.
Still, this hardly counted as swallowing his pride. He was simply being more polite.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, the Slytherin students once again took their seats in order and ate quietly.
"Tsk, Slytherin really is something. My girlfriend over there says they even have morning and evening study sessions now."
"Really? Slytherin students already have an easier time finding jobs after graduation than we do, and now they're working this hard? Do they have to make things so competitive?"
"Ugh, I guess I'm not cut out to excel. I'll just sit around and rot. Ger, let's play some Quidditch at noon."
"..."
Harry had not gone to the Ravenclaw table that day. He kept going to see Hermione, and gossip had already spread through Gryffindor that the Chosen One liked surrounding himself with girls.
Beside him, Ron drank a glass of Pumpkin Juice. Seeing Harry reading even while he ate, he curled his lip.
"Harry, is that really necessary? We're still kids. We should be having as much fun as we can right now."
The corner of Harry's eye twitched. He had heard that Ron's older brothers were all outstanding. Even the mischievous twins got decent grades, so why was Ron like this?
Harry was kindhearted, after all, and could not bring himself to say anything that would discourage his roommate.
The twins sitting opposite them suddenly chimed in.
"Hey, Harry, why don't you come sneaking around at night with us? It's a real thrill."
"Here's a secret: there's a beast locked up in the forbidden area on the third floor. It seems to be guarding some sort of treasure."
Harry abruptly raised his head, suddenly seeming to make a connection: the treasure Hagrid had taken from Gringotts.
He hurriedly finished the chicken drumstick in his hand, grabbed his books, and went to find Hermione.
Ron watched Harry run off to find that Miss Know-It-All again and felt a pang of hurt.
Everyone envied him for being Harry's roommate and good friend, but he knew Harry disliked him a little.
He looked over at the Slytherin table again, watching the impressive figure Shawn cut at its head, and envy, jealousy, and resentment flashed in his eyes.