From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

“Ivy? Can I call you Ivy?” The female prefect, Gemma Farley, who was still standing in front of the first-year students, held her hands and wands in front of her chest to show Ivy that she had no hostility. “Actually… you didn’t have to do that at all… that Silent Disarming Charm just now fully demonstrated your strength.”

"I believe that among the first-year students... no, perhaps among all Slytherin students, you are second to none. But believe me, provoking the entire house will only make you many unnecessary enemies... and we, the pure-blood family, should be your allies..."

A smile appeared on Ivy's face, and Gemma Farley breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing it, easing the tension slightly.

"If you can't suppress them, try to win them over. That's a good strategy," Ivy said with a smile. "But you, you all, seem to have forgotten. Only those with equal or similar strength can become allies."

Gemma Farley's heart, which had just been at ease, was now in her throat again.

She never expected that this seemingly handsome and polite child would be such a madman, not only defeating a much older wizard with a single move, but also relentlessly challenging all the older students in Slytherin at the same time.

While these pure-blood wizards certainly prioritize self-preservation, that doesn't mean they'll remain indifferent to genuine provocation. Perhaps it's time to teach him a lesson!

Even if he can easily handle one upperclassman, what about five? Ten? One hundred?

"Come on, pick up your wand and let me see if you're worthy." Gemma Farley hadn't even finished mentally preparing herself when she heard Ivy issue her ultimatum.

"I... huff... expel your weapon!" Gemma Fari exhaled, then suddenly launched an attack. A red spell shot out, almost like a sneak attack. At this distance, an ordinary person would have no chance to react in time.

"Armor Protection." Ivy's spell for dealing with the situation was steady and composed. The Fire Serpents who poached in the Forbidden Forest were far more ruthless than these young wizards who hadn't even left their ivory towers. The prefect's attacks were as slow as a tortoise in his eyes, so he dealt with them with ease.

The red light emitted by the disarming spell collided with the purple shield summoned by Ivy and then bounced back the way it came. Gemma Farley only managed a muffled groan before the wand was already in his hands.

"A sneak attack is a good tactic, but next time you execute it, don't keep staring at where you're aiming, otherwise it'll be too easy to give away your intentions," Ivy said, casually tossing Gemma Farley's wand on the ground.

This is equivalent to not only killing the opponent in a one-on-one fight, but also showing an emote, and then typing a sarcastic message in the public chat. It's like killing someone's spirit.

At first, Gemma Farley thought Ivy was showing mercy, since she couldn't see someone lying on the ground with the Disarming Charm. But after hearing Ivy's words, her little bit of Slytherin pride suddenly made her think that it would be better if he just passed out.

"Besides this prefect, is there no one else who dares to step forward?" Ivy had no intention of letting the rest of the Slytherin off the hook. He waved his wand to clear the way for the expensive furniture in the common room, and then continued to mock, "When did Slytherin's pride turn into cowardice? What you've done is a disgrace to the so-called pure-blood families."

“Come on, it’s better to die standing than to live kneeling,” Ivy continued to entice. “Besides, even if you really kneel down, I might not let you go.”

"How dare you!" Finally, someone stepped forward. This freckled boy was spitting everywhere, his lisp almost touching his eyes. "Do you know who my father is? He's in the Ministry of Magic... Ah!"

"I don't know, and I'm not interested in knowing." Ivy interrupted his speech with a silent spell, causing him to drift off to sleep. "What a rabble. Is all you can do besides boast?"

Ever since Voldemort, with his flawed pure-blood theory, won over most of the pure-blood wizards and waged a protracted war against the Order of the Phoenix led by Dumbledore.

The so-called pure-blood wizard families of today are nothing more than a bunch of indecisive and treacherous good-for-nothings.

After all, the wizards who upheld the pure-blood theory either died in the war or are still imprisoned in Azkaban.

The wizards who initially rose to power under Voldemort's leadership were primarily composed of three groups. First, there were Voldemort's most loyal followers. Some were drawn by the pure-blood theory, while others were drawn by the Dark Lord's power. Therefore, regardless of Voldemort's irrational actions, they would unconditionally follow him. Notable figures include the Lestranges, Barty Crouch Jr., and others.

Therefore, after Voldemort himself was defeated by Harry Potter, they simply could not accept this fact and continued to cause trouble in the wizarding world, so they were quickly arrested and brought to justice.

The second group consists of aristocratic opportunists led by the Malfoy family. Most of them simply hoped to gain more space and power in the British wizarding world by leveraging Voldemort's influence. So initially, they only saw Voldemort as a recipient of funding and a frontman, but they didn't expect him to actually master the art of dark magic and even create the sophisticated "Dark Mark."

So when the "Black Mark" is placed on them, these guys who consider themselves the Black Lord's patrons instantly become lackeys and rags, and even their lives no longer belong to them.

Therefore, when Voldemort fell from power, these unfortunate old men immediately abandoned their master, choosing to betray their companions or rely on political opportunism to gain their freedom.

The vast majority of students still in Slytherin today come from these families or have deep connections with them.

As the saying goes, "Once bitten by a snake, twice shy."

So when Ivy forcefully provoked him, not a single person in the entire Slytherin common room dared to confront him directly. Because the real tough guys weren't in prison, they were in the grave.

Voldemort's third type of followers were complete fools and idiots. These people had absolutely no brains, and their purpose in joining the Death Eaters was quite simple—just following the crowd. Because other pure-blood wizards around them said the Dark Lord was good, they believed that the Dark Lord was truly wonderful, but as for how good or wonderful he was, they couldn't explain it in any way.

Guys like Peter Pettigrew and Regulus Black are all like that.

When they joined the Death Eaters, they quickly discovered that things didn't go as planned, but only a handful truly came to their senses. Most died under Voldemort's oppressive rule, becoming stepping stones and cannon fodder in his cause.

Looking at the students shivering like chicks in the common room, Ivy shook her head sadly.

Is this still the Slytherin I know?

Not to mention that there isn't a single person capable of casting advanced dark magic, even the title of the most troublesome house has been completely snatched away by Gryffindor. Even if someone were to publicly declare, "I want to follow you," Ivy would still give them a way out.

Now it seems... that it is our duty to restore Slytherin's glory!

Chapter 20 Rumors

"There it is, look!"

"where?"

"Next to the tall, red-haired boy."

"The one with glasses?"

"Did you see his face? Where's that lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead?"

Harry didn't sleep well last night, not only because of the throbbing pain in his scars, but also because he was afraid that everything that happened at Hogwarts was just a dream of that poor little boy living in the closet.

However, since leaving the dormitory today, these concerns have vanished and have quickly turned into worries.

Because there were always whispers following him from who-knows-where. Students from various colleges lined up in long queues, standing on tiptoe to inquire about him, trying to catch a glimpse of his face.

They walked back and forth down the same corridor, staring intently at Harry's face, or more precisely, at the scar on his forehead.

This situation undoubtedly caused Harry great distress.

Because Hogwarts is a magical castle, and he was just a first-year student who had just arrived!

There are countless staircases in the castle, and most of them can move. Some will even play tricks on you when you're about to be late, making the step you're about to step on disappear and leaving you stuck in a sorry state.

Not only that, the doors in the castle are also quite temperamental. They won't open for you unless you ask them to open them properly or give the correct password.

There are also walls that disguise themselves as doors; they only disappear after you crash into them, revealing the real passage or dead end.

Therefore, it is very difficult to remember exactly where something is, because everything is moving around due to magic.

The figures in the portraits would visit each other, and often only the picture frame would remain in one place, making it difficult to find a suitable person to ask for directions.

And Harry was certain that those gleaming suits of armor scattered throughout the castle could actually move. Sometimes they would suddenly burst into song as you passed by, startling you, before standing at attention with an air of smug satisfaction; other times they would relax and drift off into harmless slumber when no one was around.

Harry even saw in the clock tower that a suit of armor had been torn apart by its companion because its singing was so awful! But later, the armor that had done it all came back together and put its companion back together. Perhaps it was some kind of interaction that deepened their bond? Harry thought to himself.

Harry and Ron's first class today is Transfiguration, taught by Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor.

They almost arrived late because of the treacherous stairs, but luckily when they entered the classroom, Professor McGonagall herself had not yet arrived; there was only a tabby cat sitting upright on the podium.

"We made it!" Ron's smile was so bright it was obvious even to a blind man. "If we had been late, I can't even imagine how bad Professor McGonagall's face would have looked."

The tabby cat sitting upright on the lectern seemed to understand his words, gave them a reproachful look, and then jumped off the lectern.

But before it landed, the tabby cat had already transformed into Professor McGonagall herself.

Ron stared blankly, mouth agape: "Wow...that was so cool!"

“Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Weasley.” Ron’s praise did not ease Professor McGonagall’s tense expression. “Perhaps I could do something else that would be more useful. For example, turning you or Mr. Potter into a watch, so at least one of you wouldn’t be late.”

"We're lost." Harry, under Professor McGonagall's serious gaze, blurted out the truth.

"You mean we should just change the map then?" Professor McGonagall didn't give them a chance to argue further. "You don't need a map to find a seat, do you?"

Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration had long since amazed everyone. Every young wizard in class was eager to learn the skill, but they soon discovered that Transfiguration was a rather rigorous course.

Moreover, for a first-year wizard, being able to turn a match into a needle is already quite an achievement.

So Harry's first Transfiguration lesson was just a waste of time after taking a lot of notes, and he didn't manage to make a single change until the end of get out of class.

Of all the young Gryffindor wizards, only two had their matches change. One was Hermione, whose match successfully turned into a sharp silver needle, earning Gryffindor five points from Professor McGonagall.

Another one is Seamus Finnigan, who successfully lit his own match with his wand without any physical contact. I really don't know how he did it.

Today, Gryffindor's second period was in the afternoon, a herbalism class held in the greenhouse behind the school.

Since it was still early, Harry and Ron decided to take the opportunity to explore the castle and familiarize themselves with the route to class.

Somehow, the whispers that had been surrounding Harry all morning disappeared, and the word "Slytherin" began to appear frequently in people's conversations.

This change made Harry both happy and a little disappointed.

I'm happy because I'm finally free from those piercing gazes, but I'm also disappointed because of Ivy.

He began to miss his humorous, witty, and powerful friend.

Harry initially didn't believe Ivy's claims about ancient magic, his age of 144, and his past as a Slytherin student.

He believed that these outrageous remarks were just jokes Ivy made to make everyone laugh, but now that Ivy has actually entered Slytherin, is it possible that those jokes were also true?

It's said that Slytherin is full of guys who want to become dark wizards. Fred and George even said that the older Slytherin students use the younger ones for dark magic experiments. I wonder how Ivy is doing. I really hope he's safe and sound.

When Harry and Ron returned to the Gryffindor common room after lunch, passing by the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found it already packed with people.

The crowd chatted and laughed loudly, occasionally letting out gasps of surprise. Standing in the center of the crowd were Ron's identical twin brothers, Fred and George.

"...Absolutely true!" Whether it was Fred or George, they patted their chests to assure each other, "Last night, Fred and I went out for a night stroll and ran into Snape at the dungeon exit! He was using a levitation charm to lift a bunch of unconscious Slytherin students!"

"No wonder only two Slytherin students showed up for the Magical Creatures Protection class this morning; the rest were at the school hospital!" said a Gryffindor student who looked like an upperclassman. "So what happened to make so many people miss the first day of school?"

Harry saw Fred and George exchange a glance and say in unison, "It's definitely a dark magic accident!"

Chapter 21: He was put in solitary confinement on the first night of school.

As the mastermind behind the "Dark Magic Incident," Ivy's smug process was interrupted by Professor Snape, who rushed to the scene after sending dozens of Slytherin upperclassmen into a restless sleep.

“Ivy-Doom!” Ivy felt he could almost hear Professor Snape's teeth grinding together. “What have you been doing?”

“Hmm…” Ivy decided to tell the truth, “A friendly magical exchange? Don’t worry, I just put them all to sleep. Absolutely no one was fatally injured in this magical exchange.”