New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤
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As the son of an excellent magizoologist, Steve was, like James, a child born to older parents.
But he was clearly much kinder than James and far less arrogant.
He even had a strong desire to share.
“I think I will probably be sorted into Hufflepuff. My dad was in that House. What about you?”
Steve asked them cheerfully.
Snape’s lips tightened.
He seemed about to mock Steve’s choice, but Callan immediately gave him a warning look.
In the end, Snape only curled his lip, snorted, and said nothing.
Lily looked uncertain.
In this compartment, Snape clearly liked Slytherin, while Callan had openly sneered at it earlier.
She had no idea which House was supposed to be better.
“A good choice,” Callan praised without the slightest hesitation.
Then he grinned.
“As long as it is not Slytherin.”
“What is wrong with Slytherin?”
Snape asked in a low, unwilling voice.
“Only a small opinion,” Callan said as if it were nothing.
“As far as I am concerned, almost everyone there is rubbish.”
There were only a few people in the compartment, and Callan did not intend to disguise what he truly thought.
Snape froze.
Lily’s mouth fell open in surprise.
This was the first time Callan had shown such an extreme opinion in front of them.
Snape in particular remembered that when he had asked Callan about the source of his money, Callan had also said some people in Spinner’s End were rubbish.
He quietly clutched his pocket tighter and began to worry about his future life.
Steve looked from one face to another and realized something had gone wrong.
Had these three not come in together?
Were they not friends?
How had things become like this so quickly?
After a brief silence, Steve tried to smooth things over.
“Well, Houses, you know.
I actually think people are too prejudiced about them sometimes.
Take Hufflepuff.
The first female Minister for Magic in history was from Hufflepuff, but so many people still look down on the House.
“And my dad too. Even though his book became a Hogwarts textbook, those old impressions have not changed. It is all prejudice. Just prejudice.”
Callan nodded along.
“Exactly. Prejudice really does go too far. I hate people who are prejudiced against Houses. And Slytherin students.”
“Uh.”
Steve opened his mouth and found nothing to say.
There was no saving this conversation.
“Are you done yet?”
Lily slumped over the table and asked Callan weakly.
Being caught between the two boys suddenly felt exhausting.
Was he done?
In truth, Callan had not intended to interfere too much with Snape being sorted into Slytherin.
It was not the sort of thing that could be changed easily.
It was like a wand.
First came what kind of person you were.
Only then could it be decided which House suited you best.
Callan was not arrogant enough to think he could completely change a person in a short time.
That was why, although Snape had already changed in small ways, Callan had not chosen to interfere before.
He knew it was impossible.
But Lily’s earlier words had affected him a little.
Since Snape had already begun showing interest in magic that was not Dark, Callan did not mind nudging him further in that direction.
It would be a shame to waste such a hard-won opportunity.
Unfortunately, judging from the present, the timing was not quite right.
“Slytherin is not exactly the best House for studying anything outside the Dark Arts.”
Callan left that final hint and said no more.
Lily immediately sat upright and looked at Snape.
“Is that true, Sev?”
Snape frowned.
“Lily, do not listen to Callan’s nonsense. How could all Slytherins be Dark wizards? And I already promised you…”
At that point, his face reddened again.
“Um, actually…”
Steve, who had seemed almost invisible until then, suddenly spoke.
“There have always been more Dark wizards from Slytherin than from any other House, even though Hufflepuff has more students.”
Snape immediately glared at Steve in anger.
When he was not facing Callan or Lily, he had never been timid.
Steve only smiled, unconcerned.
He occasionally heard things about Dark wizards from his father.
However people described it as a difference between Dark magic and ordinary spellwork, he really did not like Slytherin much.
“What is that?”
Callan had originally planned to keep watching the show, but he suddenly noticed something dark blue, like a ribbon, wrapped around Steve’s wrist.
“Oh, this is sort of a toy my dad made for me. It can also be used as a handkerchief.”
Steve untied the blue ribbon, gripped both ends, and pulled.
The entire ribbon grew with the motion, stretching even after Steve had spread his arms completely.
It clearly had far more room to expand.
“It is shed Occamy skin.”
Occamy!
In that instant, Callan was both startled and delighted.
The Ministry of Magic rated magical creatures from X to XXXXX.
The higher the rating, the more dangerous the creature.
Occamies were classified as XXXX, one level below the highest category.
Of course, such classifications were only for ordinary people.
Hagrid would not care about them, and Newt Scamander was hardly ordinary either.
The difference was that one of them was simply reckless, while the other truly had the skill to handle magical creatures.
An Occamy’s greatest trait was its ability to expand or shrink at will.
It could grow large enough to fill an entire space or shrink itself to fit the space available.
Steve’s “toy” probably possessed the same property.
Steve generously handed the ribbon over.
Callan took it eagerly, running it between his fingers and testing how far it could stretch.
“If you like it, you can have it,” Steve said carelessly when he saw Callan’s reaction.
“I have plenty of similar things. My parents make them for me all the time. I have more than ten ribbons like that alone.”
As he spoke, Steve opened his luggage and cheerfully introduced the contents.
“This is a Billywig stinger.
I picked it up in secret.
If it stings someone, it makes them giddy and causes them to levitate.
“There are also fans made from all kinds of feathers. Thunderbird, Diricawl, Augurey, Occamy too. And this.”
Steve picked up a large piece of white cloth made of pale hair.
“We have a Demiguise at home. I always collect the hair it sheds. Over time, little by little, I made this invisibility cloak.”
Then Steve said excitedly, “It would be great if you were sorted into Hufflepuff too. Then we could sneak around Hogwarts at night and never get caught.”
After seeing the dazzling array of magical items in Steve’s trunk, Lily and Snape had long since forgotten the earlier argument.
They looked strangely at Callan, who was inspecting the items one by one.
Then Lily asked Steve curiously, “What is that thing like a spinning top?
“Why does it keep glowing?”
“Hm?”
Steve picked up the glass top in confusion.
“This is a Sneakoscope. My dad specifically told me to bring it. If there is someone suspicious nearby, it lights up and spins.”
Steve placed the Sneakoscope on the table, and sure enough, it began spinning on its own.
“What is going on?”
At that moment, Callan happened to be holding the invisibility cloak.
He said as if nothing were wrong, “Probably broken.”
“It broke already?”
Steve picked up the Sneakoscope and knocked it twice.
Sure enough, it stopped glowing and spinning.
“Dad said he got it specially from someone he knows at the Ministry, and that it was the newest model. I did not expect it to be this bad.”
Steve complained gloomily for a few moments.
Lily’s and Snape’s expressions grew even stranger.
Under Callan’s quiet warning look, however, both of them lowered their heads at the same time and did not dare say a word.
They seemed to understand now why Callan had been so enthusiastic about Steve.
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Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.