"Fear can enlarge the pupils by thirty-seven percent." Hermione Granger appeared at the doorway clutching her textbooks. The freshmen of Slytherin College would attend classes simultaneously with Gryffindor College.
"You should give him Dragon Blood Ink." Hermione squatted down to help pick up the other person's textbook, "Page 214 of Human Weakness: Prince's Secret mentions that Ian has quite a fondness for those who give him gifts."
She finally got to read the book she'd been yearning for.
However.
This advice, which probably would have been useful, did not get any thanks.
"What does a Mudblood know about pure-blood traditions!"
The freshman suddenly pushed Hermione away.
Their reddened eyes burst out with twisted pride. The word struck the air like an evil curse, and in the corridor, many little wizards turned to look in his direction.
"Who dares speak such vile and despicable slander!"
The one who reacted the most was Miss Greengrass, who just happened to be passing by.
Upon hearing this term, she was hit as if by a bolt of lightning.
Her pale golden hair seemed to almost stand up from anger.
"Damn it! Whom are you trying to kill!"
Daphne rushed directly to the freshman, grabbed the freshman's clothes, and shook him violently. She roared at him like a stimulated tigress would.
"You must apologize! You have to apologize to this lady!"
She seemed to become a messenger of justice.
The freshman was so shocked he couldn't react.
"Miss Greengrass, but... isn't this our consensus?" He came from a branch of a pure-blood family and wasn't updated on the situations in the Wizarding World.
"Who has consensus with you! Slander! This is blatant slander!" Daphne's voice was tremendously loud. She also turned her head towards Hermione, the girl Ian brought to school.
"Don't listen to his nonsense! The Greengrass family sponsored twenty-three Muggle research projects! Last week my father opposed the proposal to ban Muggle-born students at the Wizengamot!"
She seemed eager to prove her family's "equality perspective."
The tone was passionate.
She even wished she could declare it through a loudspeaker to everyone.
...
While Miss Daphne was being suspicious.
Thinking Hermione was sent by Ian to test her.
Her PTSD set in.
Meanwhile.
The little wizard didn't go to the classroom for lessons, but instead went to the abandoned bathroom, opened the hidden door using Parseltongue, and without hesitation, climbed down, continuing all the way.
Considering the screams the little wizards talked about at night.
Ian had a hunch.
Therefore.
To verify his suspicion.
He didn't go to the Underground Palace.
Instead, he went to Slytherin's Secret Chamber.
In the dim candlelight, he slowly stepped into this space forgotten by time. The chamber's air was heavy and oppressive, as if breathing itself had become difficult. The stone walls around him were engraved with ancient runes that flickered with a ghostly green glow in the darkness, as if some mysterious power were flowing within them.
Suddenly, a pungent smell of blood rushed into his nostrils, causing Ian to furrow his brows. He followed the scent directly to its source.
"Oh no! My precious!"
The little wizard let out a heart-wrenching cry.
What appeared.
Was exactly what his bad premonition was about. A gigantic Snake Monster lay quietly in the center of the chamber, its body already stiff, its eyes closed, unable to open again.
This Snake Monster once served as the chamber's guardian.
Its scales shimmered with cold light under the sun.
The scales were covered in already dried blood, and its body was riddled with scars, clearly showing a fierce battle had taken place. Most sorrowfully, the Snake Monster's body had shrunk.
It was the appearance of devoured flesh. Not only that, Ian seemed to sense an inexplicable emptiness, as if the Snake Monster's soul had also been entirely consumed by some force.
Last night.
There's no doubt something significant happened here.