A night in Slytherin

Well done, Draco!

All the effort I put into you wasn't wasted!

Argus really could barely hold back his laughter this time.

Dumbledore had racked his brains to summon him here, only to let Argus drag him through a lengthy bout of guilt for nothing.

In the end, all his efforts had come to nothing!

"Headmaster, it's getting late. If there's nothing else, I'll head back."

"So many of my fellow Slytherins are waiting for me. It wouldn't do to keep them waiting too long."

"Wouldn't you agree?"

Argus suppressed the wild upward twitch of his lips and bowed politely.

After receiving Dumbledore's reluctant permission, he followed Snape back to the Slytherin Common Room.

The moment he entered, he saw dozens of pure-blood first-years led by Draco, Pansy, and Daphne, wands in hand, warily watching the first-years and older students opposite them.

Even before making contact with Britain's pure-blood families, Argus had known.

The pure-blood families were divided into several factions, and beyond the Sacred Twenty-Eight, there were quite a few powerful pure-blood families.

The pure-bloods Argus had won over, led by the Malfoys, accounted for only a portion of them.

He knew he couldn't bring every pure-blood family under his command.

Winning over some, suppressing others, and purging the rest was the right approach!

Now was the time to establish his authority!

"Argus, you're finally back!"

"Well done, Draco."

Argus stepped forward to stand before the others, looking at Draco with approval in his eyes.

He turned to face the other Slytherin students.

"Didn't you say we were going to select a chief?"

"Let's begin!"

Prefect Amiri Carrow spoke coldly. "All first-years are present."

"The selection for first-year chief begins now."

"Any challengers?"

A boy as thin as a skeleton immediately stepped forward.

His eyes fixed directly on Argus.

"Klein Shafiq!"

The Shafiq family, one of the twenty-eight pure-blood families.

They dealt in potions, but had been suppressed during Voldemort's rise and never recovered.

Someone who could be won over.

Information about him immediately surfaced in Argus's mind.

When he enrolled, he had asked Vinda to gather information on his peers from Britain's pure-blood families, precisely so he could take targeted measures at school whenever necessary.

He raised his wand across his chest and performed a textbook wizard's dueling salute.

"Argus Grindelwald!"

Once both sides had formally entered the dueling area, Amiri Carrow used magic to clear the surrounding clutter aside.

"Begin the duel!"

"Oppugno!"

The moment the words fell, Klein Shafiq eagerly unleashed his best spell.

Unfortunately, he was only eleven, just old enough to start school.

Even though he had learned magic at home beforehand, the limits of his age and talent meant that this Oppugno was only level 1 by the system's standards.

Although Argus had previously exchanged all his achievement points for talent, he had learned no small amount of magic and knowledge while farming those points.

He simply hadn't had time to reflect on it or practice.

Even so, most of his spells were around level 2, with some even reaching level 3.

The number of spells he had mastered far exceeded that of ordinary students!

"Incendio!"

Argus pointed his wand at the birds in midair, and raging flames rapidly swallowed them.

Without losing momentum, the fire flew straight toward his opponent!

Shafiq froze in terror.

The spell he had practiced for so long had actually crumbled at a single blow!

In his panic, he even forgot to dodge!

"You fool! Get out of the way!"

As Snape barked his reprimand, he drew his wand, ready to intervene.

Just before the flames touched Shafiq, they abruptly vanished.

Only scorching residual heat remained, burning his face bright red.

"Are you all right?"

Shafiq had squeezed his eyes shut in terror, certain he was going to die, when he suddenly heard a gentle voice beside him.

Only when he opened his eyes did he realize he had fallen to the floor, and a slender hand was reaching toward him.

"I... I'm fine."

"I'm glad you're all right. The purpose of magic is to protect, not to fight to the death. If my mistake had injured you, I'd have been too guilty to sleep tonight!"

His words echoed through the common room, causing an uproar.

Was that something a Dark Lord's son could say?

Several people kept repeating Argus's words about the purpose of magic, finding more meaning in them with every repetition.

Shafiq looked up and met Argus's gentle gaze.

In his eyes, Shafiq saw not the slightest mockery of the loser.

Only deep concern!

He really seems to care about me!

Before this, Shafiq's impression of Argus had been that he was a Dark Lord's son, an evil wizard!

When he stepped forward, he had already prepared himself for a trip to St. Mungo's.

Yet not only had he escaped without the slightest injury, he had even received the other boy's sincere concern!

To think that just moments ago, he had been annoyed at Argus for taking so long to arrive.

A deep sense of guilt welled up in Shafiq's heart.

He stammered out a couple of replies.

The overwhelming might Argus had displayed while casting his spell and his gentle reassurance after the duel kept replaying in his mind.

After gazing at Argus for a long time, he scrambled to his feet and bowed deeply to him.

"Esteemed Mr. Grindelwald, you are a powerful wizard and a noble worthy of respect."

"Thank you for your guidance. Fighting you is the honor of my life!"

The entire duel had lasted barely a dozen seconds from start to finish, and no blood had been shed at all.

This greatly surprised the older students and Snape.

Shafiq raised his head, puffed out his chest, and proudly returned to the first-years.

In his eyes, Argus was a great wizard and, even more importantly, a person of noble character.

Even in defeat, he bore no resentment!

"Next challenger, please step forward."

"Are there any more challengers?"

Amiri Carrow repeated himself several times.

Only silence answered him.

This year's first-years wanted to show off, but they weren't fools.

A single spell had made it clear that Argus's strength was on an entirely different level from theirs.

Fight him? Were they looking to die?

"Does no one else wish to challenge him? Then I declare Argus Grindelwald the first-year chief!"

The moment he finished speaking, enthusiastic applause rang through the common room.

[Congratulations to the host on becoming Slytherin chief. Achievement earned: Chief (first year)]

[Achievement point reward: 100]

One hundred points. That's not bad.

I should be able to get another batch in second year.

Across seven years, that's seven hundred points in total. Good thing Draco and the others stepped up, or I'd have lost out badly!

After Argus had calmed the excited Draco and the others, he heard Amiri Carrow speak again.

"Now that the first-year chief has been decided, we will begin the chief ranking battles."

"Does anyone wish to issue a challenge?"

"Chief ranking battles?"

Argus was a little puzzled.

He knew Slytherin had chiefs, with one selected from among the first-years every year.

But what were these ranking battles?

Draco explained, "Slytherin's hierarchy is extremely strict, so strict that there are rules about where you sit at meals and activities."

"For lower-ranked students in the lower years like us, we're even forbidden from attending certain activities if there are too many people."

"The ranking battles determine our year's rank through duels between the chiefs."

Only after hearing Draco's explanation did Argus understand what "first year" meant in the system achievement!

So "first year" didn't refer to him being in his first year, but to him only being the chief of the first-years!

In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless!

With things like achievement points, the sooner I get them, the better. Raising my strength as quickly as possible is the right approach!

Without enough strength, no matter how many forces I command, they'll be nothing but castles in the air!

"Argus, you're not planning to..."

Noticing the change in Argus's eyes, Draco nearly cried out in surprise.

Then, recalling Argus's strength, his face immediately lit up with delight.

"That's right! With your strength, you might not beat the upper years, but handling a second-year should be more than easy enough!"

"Go on, show them what you're made of! Before you got back, that second-year Diderot Yaxley was making the most noise!"

Argus smiled faintly and stepped out of the crowd.

"First-year chief Argus Grindelwald challenges second-year chief Diderot Yaxley!"