After leaving the dormitory, Altair spotted a girl in the Slytherin common room who was in the same year as he was.
She had brownish hair and an air of arrogance about her. She looked decent enough, but there was something distinctly unpleasant in her eyes.
Altair knew who she was.
Her name was Pansy Parkinson.
Later on, she seemed to have had a somewhat ambiguous relationship with Draco for a time, though she never ended up marrying him. She was one of Draco's most loyal supporters.
Pansy was waiting for Malfoy. Hearing someone coming down the stairs, she looked up with delight. But when she saw that it was Altair, her expression immediately turned scornful.
"Although the prefect said Slytherin doesn't only admit pure-blood wizards, in the eyes of many people, some really don't deserve to appear here."
"Very true. I think so too. Especially little bitches who think they're better than everyone else."
Altair tossed back the reply without even glancing at her and walked straight out of the common room.
Pansy's face flushed bright red. For a moment, she could not even think of what to say.
The insults she had grown up hearing were things like low-born and filthy Mudblood. Where had she ever heard a word like bitch before? Still, Altair did not need to explain it. She understood perfectly well what it meant.
"I won't let you get away with this!"
She held it in for a while, but in the end, she still could not stop herself from shrieking.
By then, Altair had already left the dungeons and arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast. He took a seat at the Slytherin table. A few older Slytherins noticed him and greeted him with polite smiles.
Of course, most of them only gave him a cold glance.
The first-year Slytherins were no different. They only looked at him briefly. No one greeted him, and no one came over. After all, nobody knew one another yet.
Altair naturally did not care about that. Growing up in Shelby Manor, he had never had many friends to begin with.
"Breakfast."
Altair spoke to the plate in front of him, and all kinds of breakfast foods appeared at once. He chose a piece of toasted bread, a boiled potato, a glass of hot milk, and two fried eggs.
"This place really is convenient."
Altair took a sip of milk and sighed in appreciation. The house-elves were quite skilled. These breakfasts suited his tastes very well.
Even a simple boiled potato had a flavor to it that surprised him.
As Altair was eating, Hermione entered the Great Hall.
The Gryffindors greeted her warmly. Several first-years even waved and called her over to join them, but Hermione spotted Altair sitting there on his own.
Her steps slowed for a moment.
Then she gave the others an apologetic smile and came over to sit beside Altair instead.
"Breakfast!"
Hermione slapped the table, and a selection of breakfast dishes appeared before her.
"You probably shouldn't be sitting here."
Altair turned his head to look at her. The little girl seemed in good spirits. He could see both excitement and nervousness in her.
"I like it here."
Hermione said it stubbornly, then picked up a slice of toast and began eating quietly.
Since Hermione was willing to keep him company, Altair was not about to refuse. But before he could say anything, Pansy, sitting diagonally across from them, spoke up in a mocking tone.
"Hmph. So you can sit here just because you like it? This is Slytherin territory! What right does a Gryffindor have to come over here? No manners at all. No wonder you're with that Mudbl..."
Pansy never got to finish.
Altair had already raised his hand and pointed his wand at her.
"Langlock."
A flash of light shot out.
The expression on Pansy's face changed from shock to terror. Her tongue had stuck to the roof of her mouth, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not make another sound.
The surrounding students burst into an uproar. Some jumped to their feet in fright.
Prefect Gemma came hurrying over, a pained look all over her face.
"This is... really too much."
Gemma muttered under her breath and flicked her wand, casting a general counter-jinx, but it did not do much.
" How could a first-year possibly..."
Gemma stared at Altair in astonishment. She had not expected to be unable to undo a spell cast by a first-year, and it made her feel rather embarrassed as a prefect.
What had happened here quickly drew the professors' attention.
Dumbledore, Snape, and Professor McGonagall all made their way over.
Snape glanced at the cursed Pansy, and an odd expression crossed his face. Then he tapped his wand lightly, and Pansy immediately found that her tongue had returned to normal.
"Ahhh! You filthy Mudbl..."
Pansy cried out, but Snape cut her off with a sharp rebuke.
"Be quiet, Miss Pansy Parkinson! I do not want to hear that word again! If I do, you will be punished severely for it!"
Snape glared at her, startling her into silence. She shrank back and did not dare speak again.
Then Snape turned to Altair and asked, "Where did you learn that jinx?"
Langlock was a spell he had invented while still at school. It had never been passed around.
"I worked it out myself."
Altair was not lying.
Knowing the incantation alone was not enough to cast a spell. But Altair possessed Sauron's talent, and in dark magic and jinxes especially, his aptitude was astonishing.
In this world, if Altair ranked second in that regard, no one would dare claim first.
So he had only needed to think about it for a little while to reconstruct the spell completely and cast it successfully.
For him, it was easier than drinking water.
At least to drink water, he had to reach out and pick up the glass.
To reconstruct a spell, all he had to do was think.