An Ambitious Little Eagle

An Ambitious Little Eagle

Bell's expression changed. It was no longer the look one gave a mentally challenged person with concern, but one of pity.

Feeling utterly uncomfortable under Bell's gaze, Roommate-kun could not help asking, "What is it? Are you going or not?"

"Ha!?"

Bell sighed and patted his roommate on the shoulder.

"Bro, let me teach you some common sense: a treasure from a thousand years ago isn't called treasure nowadays—it's called an 'antique.' And as far as I know, nobody in the Magical World speculates in antiques."

"So, never mind whether this so-called treasure even exists. Even if it does, and you find it through some ridiculous stroke of luck, what could you possibly get? You should know that no magical item could survive a thousand years intact without meticulous maintenance. So all you'd get would be a pile of Scrap Metal, maybe a few corroded old books that would crumble at a touch. By the way, can you even read writing from a thousand years ago?"

"How could that be!"

Roommate-kun wore an expression that said Bell simply did not understand magic.

"I heard there are powerful spells unique to the Four Founders hidden in the treasure! As long as I get them, I can become as powerful as the Four Founders! No, even more powerful than them!"

Bell sized up his roommate from head to toe. He had not expected this Little Eagle to have such ambition. Perhaps the only reason he had not been sorted into Slytherin was that he was not pure-blood? Hmm... what was his name again?

"So you're saying that Hogwarts' four founders spent their entire lives establishing this magic school. Then, instead of leaving their precious magical knowledge to their descendants, or passing it on to their students, they dug a hole somewhere nobody knew about and buried it? For a thousand years? Then why did they build a school in the first place? Were they crazy?" Bell mocked.

"Besides, according to surviving history books, the four founders' greatest achievement was establishing Hogwarts. Not a single book records how immensely powerful they were. At most, they mention that Gryffindor was skilled at dueling and decent with a sword; Slytherin was proficient in Dark Magic and was also a Parselmouth; Lady Ravenclaw was the most knowledgeable and very beautiful; while Hufflepuff... hmm... had a gentle temperament?"

Doesn't that last one feel a little too disrespectful to Hufflepuff? Or maybe she would be delighted to hear that assessment? Bell thought.

"So, are you hoping to gain Gryffindor's dueling experience? Then why not ask our amazing Head of House—Professor Flitwick? Don't let his small stature fool you. As far as I know, Professor Flitwick was once a dueling tournament champion. Or do you want Slytherin's Dark Magic knowledge? Then why not ask our amazing Potions Class professor—Professor Snape? With Professor Snape looking the way he does, you do not even need to investigate. One glance is enough to tell that he is absolutely a master of Dark Magic. Or perhaps you want Lady Ravenclaw's vast magical knowledge? Then why not ask our amazing Library keeper—Madam Pince?"

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Roommate-kun interrupted Bell.

"I can understand the first two, but I've never heard that Madam Pince is particularly formidable."

"Madam Pince is not formidable, but she manages Hogwarts' Library! If you make Madam Pince unhappy, she can stop you from entering the Library to read. So, have you already mastered all the knowledge in the Library?"

Bell cast his roommate a disdainful glance. These days, everyone knew that librarians and janitors were the two professions you should never offend. With that level of intelligence, he still wanted to hunt for treasure?

"If what you want is Hufflepuff's gentle temperament..."

Bell rubbed his chin and carefully examined Roommate-kun before him, from top to bottom and then bottom to top.

"Then I really can't help you. So, kid, times have changed. You need to learn to look ahead."

Clearly, Bell's earnest advice failed to reach Roommate-kun's heart. Roommate-kun firmly believed that the times haven't changed!, so he was extremely unhappy. He especially disliked the way Bell looked at him. He always felt that Bell was looking at him like he was an idiot (Bell: "That's right, your instincts are sharp."), and it made him uncomfortable all over.

The furious Roommate-kun got up and went to find Bell's other roommate. The two whispered together for a while, occasionally shooting glances in Bell's direction, before finally sneaking out of the common room together.

It seemed Shanna's expectations were going to be dashed. Even after coming to Hogwarts, Bell still could not make any friends.

Bell had actually expected this long ago. Based on his secret observations and eavesdropping, the three most popular topics among Hogwarts' Little Wizards were currently Harry Potter, Chocolate Frog Cards, and Quidditch teams. Basically, as long as you talked about Harry Potter and the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, everyone could become friends with you... What!? You've collected all the Chocolate Frog Cards!? Then we can't be friends anymore, goodbye... What!? You don't support the Chudley Cannons!? Then we can only be enemies. Eat my road roller!

Of course, the main reason Bell could not make friends was that he never took the initiative to talk to the other Little Wizards. He even frequently roasted people until they had nothing to say, as the poor Roommate-kun from earlier could attest. But Bell did not care about that. As far as he was concerned, having a little sister was enough. What more could he possibly want?

Setting aside those useless thoughts, Bell lowered his head and continued with his homework.

Hopefully, his two roommates would make it through the night safely. If they were caught by the caretaker Filch, detention would be the least of their problems. After all, ever since Harry enrolled, Professor Snape's feelings had been anything but simple these past few days. They were an inextricable mess; he did not know whether to love or hate. So if Filch was clever enough, he would definitely send anyone he caught to Snape's office. Bell would not be surprised if each of them got a hundred points deducted.

Although Ravenclaw was the least concerned with the House Cup among Hogwarts' four Houses, that did not mean the Little Eagles could simply laugh it off when they saw that their House's accumulated Gemstones in the Great Hall were not even half as many as any of the other three Houses.

After all, everyone cared about their pride, and children's self-esteem was especially strong. Moreover, Ravenclaw was a House full of top students, and since Hogwarts was founded, it seemed they had truly never come in last.

So, it was foreseeable that if Bell's two roommates really were caught wandering around at night, then at such a young age, they would have to experience the coldness of the world.