After the Cruor Flores training, I completely ignored dinner in the Great Hall and instead quickly asked Dudi, a house-elf in the Hogwarts kitchens, for a quick bite to eat. Judging by his tearful squeaking, I figured he thought I had missed his cooking over the holidays, considering that on the very second day back, I went to see him again instead of eating dinner in the Great Hall.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was so angry and annoyed from my failed attempts to anchor the wards that I simply had no stomach for company in the Great Hall. Even with Occlumency, it wasn't hard to tell when I was pissed off. Occlumency was a marvelous piece of magic, but it was definitely not perfect control, as some might imagine.
Emotions were what made us human, and without emotions, life had no meaning. Both the good ones and the bad.
After a quick dinner courtesy of Dudi—a healthy, delicious burger from a cookbook for me, which I estimated from the ingredients to have half the calories of a restaurant burger but higher protein content, and chopped chicken pieces for Styrax that were bigger than my own portion—full and satisfied, we headed off to the Slytherin common room.
I walked at a brisk pace, while Styrax lazily hitched a ride on my shoulder, grooming his paw... I was starting to get used to it.
There was still some time left until curfew, and I was in the mood for a relaxed end to the day. The guys and Agnes were great company... even if I'd probably have to play chess. But even losing at chess was fun and amicably competitive... well, at least for the others. I was used to being the worst at it in our group.
I stopped in front of the bare stone wall. Smirking in amusement, I spoke the password: "Power and Glory."
It really was a funny password, because it didn't seem to me that anyone was actually working on their magic to gain a serious amount of power... and most of the others were still riding on the glory of their ancestors. Sure, there were exceptions. There were above-average students among them, but in my opinion, none of them were truly powerful... then again, maybe I was just being overly critical.
As soon as the door appeared, I stepped inside without hesitation, with Styrax on my shoulder.
In armchairs and on couches, everywhere I looked, clusters of students—my housemates—were sitting. In the study area, others sat at tables, some of them working on assignments. The room held a pleasant, cozy atmosphere with a touch of green-and-silver luxury and the comforting crackle of the fireplace, even though it was still only September.
I could also smell the fresh, salty scent of sweat in the common room, alongside an old, musty odor hanging in the air. On top of that, various perfumes tickled my nostrils—fruity, spicy, but also unpleasantly sweet.
But it was training... identifying scents.
I made a beeline for my friends. A chess game was laid out on the table between Agnes and Draco, and both looked fairly tense. Tobias sat on the couch next to Theo with an open book, engrossed in his reading, while Theodore watched the chess duel with a smile.
"Looks like you're going to lose again, Draco," Theo teased him just as I came within earshot.
Draco's ears flushed red, he glared at Theo, and then hastily moved a piece—a pawn. Agnes immediately took it with her rook, causing Theodore to burst out laughing in delight.
"Damn it!" Draco cursed. "You did that on purpose, Theo!"
"He's just teaching you not to make hasty decisions, Draco," I spoke up, sitting down right beside the guys on the couch.
"Patrik!" Agnes blurted out. "Where were you? We were about to go looking for you!"
"No, we weren't," Draco and Theo said in unison. Then they glared at each other, and Theodore continued alone: "Agnes is just exaggerating... It's actually kind of sad that she doesn't trust you, Patrik."
He shook his head at Agnes with feigned disappointment, though the corners of his mouth were visibly twitching.
"I was just training... and I didn't feel like going to dinner in the Great Hall, Agnes," I offered her a smile.
Draco gave me a quick once-over and remarked with amusement, "You don't look like you had much success."
"Neither do you right now," I smirked, waving toward the board. Judging by the color of the pieces, it looked like Agnes was winning. Even if only barely. Meanwhile, Styrax hopped off my shoulder and wandered off. Bold as brass, he jumped onto Tobias's legs and then leaped down from the couch. I didn't even look back after him.
"Does it not bother you that Styrax just walked off like that?" Tobias asked with interest after lowering his book. "I've been thinking about getting a Kneazle."
"No, why should it? Styrax adopted me, not the other way around," I shook my head with a smirk. "Cats like their freedom, so if you get yourself a Kneazle, it's going to do whatever it wants too."
Besides, I wasn't worried about anyone hurting him. It was an unwritten rule that animals in the castle simply weren't to be harmed. Only an idiot would try.
"Pity he isn't more affectionate," Agnes chimed in. "Even Mrs. Norris is more affectionate than he is."
"Would you want Flint suddenly touching you? Just like that?" I laughed. "I don't think you'd leave him with just two scratches on his forearm."
Agnes wrinkled her nose, but before she could answer, Theo chimed in.
"Speaking of Flint, his group is bullying the Weasley girl again," he informed me with an arched eyebrow.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" I raised an eyebrow back in typical Rosier fashion. "I'm no knight in shining armor..."
Theo smirked at me, Agnes wisely kept her eyes on the chessboard, Draco gave me a satisfied smile, and Tobias didn't give a shit, already buried in his book again.
As long as nobody directly attacked the Weasley girl, I refused to handle her problems or hold her hand. The deal with the twins was clear... and the sooner she learned to defend herself, the better. In Slytherin, as a poor Weasley, she definitely needed thick skin.
While I was thinking, Agnes and Draco continued their game. After a moment of comfortable silence, Theo spoke up again.
"I think, Patrik, you won't have a choice," he announced with a broad grin.
His eyes gleamed. His smile couldn't get any wider...
"Not my problem," I shook my head, refusing to look toward the study area.
The noise in the common room was slowly dying down, so I could clearly hear threatening hissing coming from over there.
Theo burst out laughing heartily, a fierce glint appeared in Agnes's eyes, and Draco sighed, remarking dryly, "Styrax made the choice for you, cousin."
I immediately looked over.
The Weasley girl was sitting at a table with a quill in hand, staring down at her parchment with slumped shoulders. Styrax was standing on the table in front of her, hissing threateningly at a quartet of Slytherins, with the one in front daring to point his wand at him.
I stood up immediately and made my way toward them, while the common room gradually fell dead silent.
I didn't know the name of the guy in front with the wand. He was of average height, slender, well-dressed, with a fairly attractive face and ash-brown hair. Right behind him stood Flint with an amused smirk, another student, and Higgs from the Slytherin Quidditch team, who was the only one who didn't look like he was enjoying it.
"...blood traitor and her cat," he sneered.
"You'd better lower that wand," I said menacingly, stepping aggressively right in front of him. "That 'cat' is mine."
Flint, Higgs, and the other student stepped back without a word. The guy in front did lower his wand from Styrax, but only gave me a smirk.
"Rosier," he spoke mockingly. "I was meaning to get to you too!"
He raised his voice so the whole common room could hear him.
"It was quite interesting when the heir of the pure-blood House of Rosier appeared out of nowhere last year. Your father is sitting in Azkaban, nobody knows where you actually came from or who your mother is... and your behavior?" He chuckled under his breath. "Well, quite Muggle-like."
He watched me with cold arrogance in his gray eyes.
"Yeah?" I prompted, letting him continue. I still had no idea where he was going with this.
"Oh yes, I did a little digging over the holidays... and it's all starting to make sense. You're a Mudblood. Maybe adopted, maybe half-blood... simply inferior." He laughed again.
I looked at him in confusion. I still had no clue what he was driving at.
"Okay... and?" I spoke up after a moment of silence.
"And?" His pupils dilated, and he shook his head in disbelief. "You have dirty blood in noble Slytherin!"
"I still don't get what you're driving at," I shook my head in bewilderment and looked around.
The Slytherins were watching us, ears pricked up, catching every single word. Some were enjoying the drama, others were just curious, and others were frowning. Most had moved closer, carefully keeping their distance while waiting to see who would make the first move.
A little behind me stood Agnes, Draco, Theo, and Tobias with their wands drawn.
My little gang, I thought with amusement.
His pupils contracted for a second, and the smirk completely vanished from his face for a brief instant. He quickly put back on a mask of amusement, though venomous rage was already leaking through his voice.
"You really don't get it?" He took a step closer and aimed his wand at me. "You think you can just waltz in here with one of the oldest pure-blood names and pretend you belong? In Slytherin, we have no room for bastards who reek of Muggles and play at being aristocrats."
Again, I just shook my head in disbelief.
"You really are an idiot," I said at last.
He tried to say something, but I immediately shut his mouth with wandless magic.
For a moment, I was surprised by how easy and magically effortless it was. His magic must have been extremely weak.
"We are in Slytherin, where power, cunning, ambition, and pragmatism are valued," I spoke just as loudly as he had. "Only complete idiots who ride on the glory of their ancestors care about blood purity, which has nothing to do with power or ambition."
The guy went completely red. He gripped his wand so tightly I expected it to snap, waving it around like a complete fool.
Suddenly, I remembered the graveyard and Voldemort. In a flash, I weighed all the pros and cons. Potter was definitely stronger than this guy.
So I decided to flex my magic a bit.
"Even if I were an ordinary Muggle, you'd still be far beneath me."
Using magic, I pinned his arms to his sides and forced his knees down from behind until he dropped to his knees before me.
"You and..." I shrugged. "I don't know what your name is. Just you."
Theo's loud laughter and Agnes's giggles echoed through the common room.
"You'd still be kneeling before me like some bug."
With another push of magic, I forced him to bend all the way down to my shoes, making it look as though he were kissing them.
"You'd still be kissing my feet."
I held him like that for a moment before releasing him from my magic. He scrambled to his feet immediately and backed away, shaking. The flush left his face, replaced by a sickly pallor.
"Even if you were from the line of Merlin himself, you'd still be a nobody," I told him, watching with amusement as his trembling hands clenched into fists.
"Power is everything, and you..." I wrinkled my nose at him. "You have the magic of practically a Squib."
The gray eyes that had stared at me with such arrogance moments ago were now welling up with tears. I wasn't surprised at all when he finally bolted out of the common room.
"Idiot," I muttered under my breath as I watched him flee. Then I swept my eyes over the rest of the people in the common room.
"I am the pure-blood heir to the House of Rosier. My mother's name is nobody's business," I spoke firmly. "If I were Muggle-born, I'd admit it. Because power is what matters, not blood."
I paused for a moment, letting my words sink in.
"I am powerful because I built that power. Not because I carry the name Rosier. Blood alone doesn't make anyone strong. Your ancestors weren't admired because they were born into the right house, but because of what they accomplished."
I paused again. I could see some starting to squirm while others looked anywhere but at me, so I went on.
"If your ancestors saw you right now... would they be proud of you?"
I shook my head.
The tense silence was only broken by Theo's amused voice: "I hope so."
I turned to him with a smirk and nodded in agreement.
"Great, Patrik. Ego thoroughly stroked," Agnes declared with a smirk. "Can we continue now, Draco?"
She raised her hand and gestured with her index finger and thumb, pinching them together to show a tiny gap.
"I am this close to crushing him!"
"Only in your dreams, Agnes!" Draco protested, striding briskly back toward his armchair.
We followed him with amused smiles.
The game started up again, and the room slowly began to buzz with excited whispers, which I conscientiously ignored. Styrax stayed behind to keep the Weasley girl company, whose gaze I felt on me every now and then.
Little bastard, I thought with amusement.
Clever little bastard, I repeated to myself with a smirk.
He had cleverly tricked me into protecting the Weasley girl... bastard.
"That was Cassus Holloway," Theodore informed me after a moment.
"I couldn't care less what his name is," I shrugged. "Tomorrow at six in the morning, I'm going for a run. Who's in?"
"Me," Draco announced, his eyes still fixed on the chess game.
"I'm in too," Theodore agreed.
"Definitely not, guys," Tobias shook his head resolutely. "Every now and then last year was more than enough for me!"
I smirked at him in amusement, but in the end, I just shrugged... he was a Healer, after all.
"Agnes?" I looked over at her.
"Patrik," she replied, without taking her eyes off the game.
"Agnes?" I repeated, amused.
"Patrik."
Still nothing.
"Leave her be, Patrik. Agnes knows she wouldn't be able to keep up with our pace," Draco teased her with a smirk.
"Excuse me?" Agnes snapped. "You won't be able to keep up... I'll be there at six sharp," she promised with determination.
I patted my cousin approvingly on the shoulder.
Agnes sighed deeply and glared at me with an accusing look.
"Running in the morning when it's six degrees out, Patrik! If we were at least running indoors..."
Right then, Draco took her queen with a knight and let out a delighted chuckle under his breath.
Agnes immediately looked down at the chessboard, sighed heavily, and swore, "Fuck!"
***
Author's note:
Styrax is secretly going to run the entire castle and nobody can convince me otherwise.
Also, huge respect to Agnes for committing to a 6 AM run in six-degree weather purely out of spite for Draco. Would you join our squad for a morning run, or would you pass?
Some people are seriously such assholes that they think disrespecting others is totally fine... right up until you hit them square in the mouth. It's amazing how fast that turns them into respectful human beings!
P.S. Whose POV would you like to see next? Let me know in the comments so I can make a poll! I'm personally thinking about giving the POV to one of the students. What do you guys think?
***
Step into the Restricted Section
The shadows are shifting, and the story goes much deeper... If you can't wait for the next update, Advanced Chapters are already waiting for you.
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Upcoming Chapters – Already Written(15):
96. Morning Drills and Slytherin Deals
97. Thrill of the Fight
98. Calculated Risk
99. Flight and Fortune
100. Calculated Arrogance
101. GW: A Cunning Kind of Courage
102. GW2: My Best Friend
103. Pride Before the Haircut
104. Fire and Thunder
105. Better to Be Feared
106. A Serial Killer Under the Bed
107. The Legacy of Rookwood Castle
108. Worse Than Horcruxes
109. Cleansed by Fire
110. Running Dead
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