Everyone present last night knew that the reason for their conflict was simply an improper allocation of dormitory beds.
Wilson had indeed been impulsive yesterday, but Kate had ultimately remained unharmed. Based on this fact alone, even if Snape wanted to punish them, he wouldn't be too harsh.
However, with just a few light words, Kate had swapped the concept of a simple student conflict for 'school violence'. Wasn't this precisely hitting Snape's rawest nerve?
Any reader who had read the original works knew that he had been bullied by the four Marauders during his student days. If one were to name the teacher in the school who hated bullying the most, it would undoubtedly be him.
Coupled with Kate's manipulative, feigned innocence adding fuel to the fire, it was already a stone-cold fact that Wilson would be in detention for more than half a month. And as for Kate, since she had already practically written the word 'snitch' on her forehead anyway, what was the harm in adding a bit more fuel?
Leaving the dungeons, Kate walked briskly up the stairs, intending to finish her Transfiguration homework before starting her first training session in Occlumency.
But unexpectedly, just halfway up the steps, she bumped into Peeves, who happened to be floating out of a wall. Peeves, Hogwarts' favorite mischief-making poltergeist, existed as a manifestation of the pent-up stress of thousands of years of Hogwarts students. Unlike ghosts, Peeves could touch solid objects and move them; only the Bloody Baron and Dumbledore could keep him somewhat in line.
"Ha, caught a student all alone!" Peeves floated toward her with a grin, holding a wastepaper basket filled with waste paper in his hand. With a whoosh, the waste paper smashed toward Kate's head like huge hailstones.
Peeves was just waiting to laugh at this timid-looking pretty girl, but to his surprise, the waste paper only fell for a few seconds before suddenly freezing in mid-air.
"You found the wrong target for your prank, Peeves," Kate raised her head, looking at him calmly.
After saying this, she ignored the fellow floating in the air and walked away on her own, leaving only the waste paper still suspended in its original spot.
Peeves frowned and stepped forward curiously to touch one of the pieces of waste paper, but unexpectedly, it was like triggering a chain reaction. All the waste paper exploded one after another, causing Peeves, who was in the middle of it, to yelp and scream.
Kate, who had already walked far away, heard the noise coming from behind and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She knew the explosion couldn't hurt Peeves, but teaching him a lesson was always good. If he wanted to deal with her in the future, she had plenty of ways to make him suffer the consequences.
As she walked near the Slytherin common room, she was called out by a familiar voice behind her. Turning around, she realized it was Malfoy and the others, who had just returned from exploring the castle.
Besides his usual two followers, Kate noticed a black boy of the same age following him. Oh, she remembered now—Blaise Zabini, a character who had appeared in the original story.
It was said that his mother was a very famous and beautiful witch who had been married seven times; every husband died under strange circumstances, leaving her a large inheritance. A veritable Black Widow.
Thinking back to crossing the Black Lake that day, Malfoy must have pulled him along, which was why Pansy ended up on Kate's boat.
While her thoughts wandered, Malfoy walked up to her, a gloating smile on his pale little face. "You went to the Head of House's office?"
"Mm." Kate had always been very puzzled by this guy's attitude. You could say he intentionally opposed her, but sometimes he showed kindness; yet if you said he wanted to help her, he would occasionally make sarcastic remarks. She didn't know what Lucius had told his son.
"Well? Did the Head of House say he was going to give you detention?" Malfoy looked even happier upon hearing her confirmation, as if he couldn't wait for her to suffer.
Kate was speechless for a moment and could only say, "He is very angry. I think you'd better not ask about it."
Saying this, she turned her head, spoke the password to the stone wall, and walked straight in.
Malfoy's eyes widened. He looked back at his two followers, then looked at the new friend he had just made. "Blaise, what is with her attitude? If I hadn't told the Head of House that it was Wilson who picked the fight first..."
"Draco, honestly, your attitude would make girls feel annoyed," Blaise analyzed calmly. Having a mother like a witch-queen, he had known how to analyze a girl's heart since he was a child.
Malfoy was tongue-tied for a moment. "But I helped her!"
"The Head of House didn't say he would let her off back then either, and he even told you to mind your own business."
Now Malfoy's face turned even redder, and he stammered, unable to say a word. However, Blaise asked with some confusion, "I've never understood. Apart from being good-looking, Shafiq doesn't seem to have anything worthy of your attention."
Of course he didn't understand. Malfoy secretly ground his teeth, remembering what his father had told him when they returned from Diagon Alley that day. Father said that Shafiq would be a rival to the family in the future, and also a rival to him.
But Father only said she was a rival, not an enemy. Moreover, compared to a guy like Potter who didn't know what was good for him, Shafiq, although cowardly in personality, was at least tactful.
"Hmph, let's go for another walk outside!" Malfoy frowned tightly, turned around, and left with a swagger.
Blaise looked at his retreating figure thoughtfully, raised an eyebrow, spoke the password to the stone wall, and walked in. He saw Wilson brushing past him with an ashen face. Kate Shafiq, on the other hand, was writing her homework at a table as if nothing had happened, as if all the noise from the outside world had nothing to do with her.
"What happened?" Blaise walked over to his roommates and asked in a whisper. One had to know that when boys gossiped, they were even more enthusiastic than girls.
The roommates spoke all at once, quickly reconstructing the scene for him of how "Shafiq fanciedly retorted against Wilson."
"I didn't expect that Shafiq, who looks so soft and weak, to have such a sharp mouth."
"Soft and weak? Have you ever seen a weakling use the Protego charm so proficiently? Are you kidding?"
Although these words were intentionally spoken to avoid Kate, she still heard quite a bit. In Slytherin, these little snakes generally worshiped strength; otherwise, back in the day, there wouldn't have been so many Slytherins responding when Voldemort raised his arm and called.
In such an atmosphere, although Kate was a snitch and had a mediocre, cowardly personality, one couldn't deny she was powerful. Under the filter of worshiping strength, cowardice could be interpreted as benevolence, and snitching could be seen as following the rules.
Even if the Slytherin students didn't like her, most would be wary of her because of her strength, rather than turning to bullying. Kate calmly dipped the tip of her quill in ink.
No rush. There was still a long time ahead.
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