The Evil Thoughts of Hogwarts and the Genie

Just as Avery didn't understand what was wrong with saying it, James was completely baffled as to how he dared to say the word so openly.

For Avery, the word wasn't even an insult; it was simply stating a fact.

Lily Evans' parents were both filthy, stupid Muggles, so she was the dirtiest of the dirty stuff, the dirtiest of the dirtiest.

Thinking this way must have made Avery feel much better. He was the only son in the Avery family, and growing up, he had been the object of his parents' expectations and love. Before coming to Hogwarts, he always thought he should be a magical prodigy, the most outstanding among his classmates.

The potions class he had just attended shattered his illusions, and Avery was furious as a result.

Avery was not happy, but could accept it, when Snape from the same house was praised by the professor; however, he was particularly embarrassed and annoyed that the girl from Gryffindor also received praise.

Thankfully, Professor Slughorn's question led to the truth! This woman was actually a Mudblood—no wonder Father said Mudbloods were all magic thieves!

Avery felt the fire of anger burning within him grow stronger, and the word burst forth.

However, at this point, Avery could hardly be described as truly malicious. He didn't realize that he was using someone's background—something they couldn't change—to differentiate and insult them.

He was more interested in regaining a sense of superiority and security. He was just like any other poorly educated Muggle kid, only he used the same words his parents always used in front of his classmates. He used these words to replace terms like "pretentious stupid girl" or "show-off redhead," nothing more.

Therefore, when James Porter went through the whole process of being furious and then stunned, and then even angrier, he punched Avery hard in the face, Avery was completely dumbfounded by the blow to his face.

Not only was he stunned, but Travers and the Moorselbers standing beside him were also stunned. Among the Slytherins, the one who reacted fastest was actually Alecto Caro, who hadn't joined their group in their conversation.

Carlo's father and brothers had all been "baptized" by that great man, becoming a far more dangerous group than ordinary purebloods. The much-loved Alecto also learned a few simple but useful spells from them in their spare time.

"All Stones..."

"Legs stiffen and he dies!"

But she still lacked combat experience. Alexo's past practice targets were only house-elves who wouldn't fight back. Therefore, the other one not only reacted faster than her, but was also less hesitant to hurt others.

The moment Sirius Black raised his wand, a large burst of sparks shot from the tip of his wand, aimed directly at the girl's face, causing a scream; not enough, seeing that Avery, who was much bigger than James, had recovered, Sirius cast a leg-locking spell on him, causing Avery to lose his balance.

"It's a shame I didn't practice 'Clear Water Like a Spring' properly, otherwise I could have given you a good cleansing of your stinky mouth, Avery."

Sirius strode forward and walked to James's side, scanning the restless Slytherins across from him with a cold gaze that seemed out of place for his age.

He looks far more dangerous than Potter, who just stands there foolishly swinging his fists.

"You pathetic megalomaniacs. You shameless idiots who can only comfort yourselves with the 'purity' of your ancestors, thinking you're still superior." Uh, he's quite good at swearing.

"If you're thinking of bringing your family's theories to school, ha, I suggest you save your energy—our headmaster is Dumbledore, and that one sentence alone is enough for him to expel you and make you a Muggle!"

With his legs locked, Avery, utterly disheveled, glared angrily at the two people in front of him. His face burned with pain, and he felt his classmates' gazes flashing like knives, as if they wanted to slowly torture him.

"Black...you, you damned pure-blood traitor!" Avery gritted his teeth. Compared to Potter, the eccentric who was no longer considered one of the same kind by other pure-blood families decades ago because of his close association with Muggles, he couldn't understand why the Black family would say such a thing.

Just then, Avery's gaze pierced through the gap between the two and caught sight of Edmund Soman, who had just emerged from the classroom.

The classmate, who hadn't been involved in the conflict, was watching them with great interest. When he saw them looking over, he calmly waved to Avery.

Avery's mind raced, and he immediately shouted:

"Sorman! Go and fetch the dean!"

Upon hearing this, Edmund replied without the slightest hesitation:

"What, is someone going to die? Evro, are you the one who's going to die?"

?

Avery froze, then flew into a rage. He glared at Edmund and yelled, "You're a traitor too—are you going to side with Gryffindor?!"

Edmund chuckled and strolled forward without any sense of crisis, patting Jaime, who was still trembling with anger, under Sirius's scrutiny.

"It's not that I'm planning to be a traitor." This statement almost offended both sides. "Strictly speaking, I don't remember ever joining a clique led by you. You don't think we're in cahoots just because we were assigned to the same college, do you?"

"I will only stand on the side of the victors; only those kinds of people are qualified to talk to me."

Edmund smiled as he glanced at his Slytherin classmates. The children, who had been indignant, calmed down after hearing his pointed words.

"So, if you want my help, you'd better fight James and Black. Whoever wins, I'll help them. Whether you want me to call the professor or endorse your theory, you'd better figure out who's better before bothering me, right?"

"You're crazy—"

"This is not right!"

Avery and James both disagreed with Edmund's statement. The former disagreed because Edmund, as a fellow student, refused to side with him;

The latter firmly believes that "pure-blood theory is unacceptable" and further argues that anyone who believes in it is an idiot. Therefore, he feels that even if he and Sirius both lost, the theory of pure-blood is still wrong.

Edmund was amused by the two stubborn men.

"Don't be like that, why are you taking it so seriously? Although I really want to encourage you to have a wizard duel—but... sigh, we haven't even had a Charms class yet! We don't even know the Levitate Charm... With what you've learned so far, you can't kill anyone."

Edmund spoke in a teasing tone, shrugging his shoulders in a gesture of regret. His good looks, however, drew laughter from the girls.

Only Pollyanna shuddered, sensing that he seemed serious.

However, with him there to change the subject, those who wanted to break up the fight had a chance to act. Passing the trembling Peter Pediru, Lupin stepped forward, grabbed Blake's wrist, and patted James on the shoulder.

“Even if we call the professor, I don’t think we’re in the wrong,” Lupin said calmly. “But, James, this will cause trouble for Evans—I don’t think she deserves this; she could have been unaware of that word.”

Lupin's complexion had been poor; despite his tall stature, he looked sickly. But when he glared at Avery, his eyes were quite intimidating.

In fact, if a real fight broke out, even if Edmund remained neutral, Slytherin would still have a significant advantage.

Before the dispute even began, the controversial Lily Evans had already been led far away by Snape, while the other two Gryffindor girls, eager to learn potion-making techniques from her, also hurried along.

Only four boys remained in Gryffindor, while Slytherin had eight.

However, this is only on paper.

If they really fight...

Avery observed Travers, Murseb, and the others out of the corner of his eye, and thus became fully aware of the situation.

They are Slytherin.

...Slytherin's virtues do not include "unity".

Avery's arrogance immediately subsided. He glared at Potter through gritted teeth—because he didn't even dare to continue provoking Black with his eyes.

But James was equally defiant, looking as if he wanted to rush up and bite him.

Avery was so furious that he had to turn his anger towards the most inexplicable person in the entire fight:

"Sorman, you're such a coward! I think you're just a show-off who's afraid of getting beaten up, that's why you spout all that nonsense!"

Edmund's expression turned somewhat strange upon hearing this.

"That doesn't make any sense, Evra."

"Just like you believe in pure-blood theory, I simply believe in a different viewpoint—which, in a way, is quite regionally specific..."

Edmund was smiling one second, and the next he drew his wand and uttered a rather comical-sounding spell: "Big Boom!"

The spell coalesced into a powerful force, instantly sending Avery flying.

Edmund's move was undeniably insidious, essentially a sneak attack; and the spell itself was incredibly powerful, something that shouldn't be something a first-year student could master.

The turn of events was so sudden that no one even cried out; the children were all stunned. Edmund cleared his throat dramatically and once again became the center of attention.

"My belief is quite simple: strength is supreme, and the strong are respected. That sounds much more reasonable than pure-blood theory, doesn't it?"

He laughed and looked around at everyone again, hoping someone would come up with a joke for him.

Unfortunately, Travers was pale, clearly frightened; James was also stunned, not reacting at all. Edmund could only click his tongue in boredom and mutter indifferently:

"You Englishmen... it's all Dumbledore's fault for being too domineering, making you fall behind international trends even in advocating extremism."

"Everything is for the greater good—as Grindelwald once said: Only the strong deserve to stand."

"Have you heard of UMNO?"