What happened that day was only a small episode in Scott’s school life, and he soon put it behind him.
Although he had seen through Miss Travers at a glance, her magic felt completely different from that of an ordinary young witch or wizard.
When a wizard killed someone with their own hands, their magic would undergo a subtle change.
This change could not be hidden.
Scott had only noticed this after awakening his magical perception and observing many different wizards.
If he painted an oil painting of Miss Travers’s magic, there would be a black-and-red “scar” somewhere on the canvas.
It would not be obvious, but it would still look out of place.
Scott had no intention of investigating why an eleven-year-old girl had already killed someone.
He was not an Auror.
As long as she did not cause trouble for him, he had no interest in interfering in something completely unrelated to him.
Still, whenever Scott thought about the girl, he could not help thinking of Professor Flitwick.
The professor had never killed anyone, which had surprised Scott.
At noon that day, Scott left the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom with two of his roommates and prepared to go to the Great Hall for lunch.
“Milton?”
In the corridor, Scott and Roger noticed that Milton had fallen behind and turned around.
Both of them were shocked.
Milton was slowly shuffling forwards with empty eyes and no energy.
His usually smooth long hair was now slightly messy, and he looked like a soulless Inferius.
Several Hufflepuff students who had attended the lesson with them walked past him and could not help sniggering.
“Hey!
Pull yourself together, Milton!”
Roger walked back, placed an arm over Milton’s shoulders, and led him forwards at a quicker pace.
Scott smiled helplessly and followed them.
During the lesson, Lockhart had called Milton to the front of the classroom to play the banshee from Break with a Banshee.
His reason was that Milton had “the smoothest long hair in the entire classroom.”
Judging from Milton’s current state, the classroom performance had dealt him a heavy blow.
“I knew this would happen!” Roger complained loudly, “Everything I said on the train came true, Scott!
Lockhart is even worse at teaching than Quirrell!”
A Ravenclaw boy walking beside them immediately agreed in a loud voice.
“You’re right, Roger!
Look at what that idiot did during the lesson!
No magical theory, no magical practice, only stage plays where everyone acts like fools!”
Milton suddenly let out a loud sob.
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about you, Milton,” the boy, Dylan, hurriedly added.
“I mean, well, your performance was still quite good.”
“Forget it, Dylan!” A girl, Kayla White, walked over angrily, “Lockhart is completely useless.
Merlin!
I was looking forward to his lessons before term started because his books were quite good!
Poor Milton, you should refuse him next time!”
Several passing Hufflepuff girls immediately became angry after hearing her.
“White!
How dare you speak badly about Professor Lockhart behind his back!”
“Do you know how hard Professor Lockhart worked?
Look at those masterpieces in your hands!”
“Of course Kyla is right!
You idiots!”
Dylan quickly stood in front of Kyla, and the group began arguing all at once.
Seeing this, Scott immediately pulled Roger and Milton away.
“I cannot believe Lockhart has so many admirers!” Roger made a retching expression.
“Those girls must have been blinded by that idiotic smile of his!”
“He is certainly good at presenting himself.”
Seeing that Milton still had no energy, Scott tried to comfort him.
“Milton, perhaps you would rather stay out of everyone’s sight for a while.
You should return to the dormitory and rest.”
Roger also said, “Don’t worry.
We’ll pack some lunch for you.”
Milton sobbed again.
“Oh!
Yes, I need to stay away from people for a while.
Thank you!”
After thanking them, he hurried towards Ravenclaw Tower.
Watching him leave, Scott said to Roger, “Lockhart seems to have a habit of repeatedly targeting the same person.
As far as I know, a second-year Gryffindor laughed at his Cornish pixies during their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, and Lockhart has called on him to perform in every lesson since.”
“But Milton didn’t offend him, did he?” Roger did not understand.
“No, Milton did offend him,” Scott said helplessly.
“Milton believes Lockhart’s lessons are an insult to the art of theatre.
You know he has never been good at hiding his feelings.
Lockhart must have seen the way he looked at him.”
“The way he looked at him?” Roger’s expression changed.
“I understand.
It was [Milton’s contempt]!”
Roger had experienced that look himself and still remembered it clearly.
“Roger, whether for Milton’s sake or for the peace of our dormitory.”
Scott patted Roger on the shoulder.
“Please volunteer to take Milton’s place during the next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the most handsome of the four boys in our dormitory.”
“Oh?
Since you put it that way, all right!”
As they entered the Great Hall, Scott suddenly stopped and looked down towards the bottom of the staircase in the entrance hall.
“What is it?”
Roger followed Scott’s gaze and clicked his tongue in surprise.
“Mm?
That boy is a first-year, isn’t he? The source of this chapter is g.com.
He’s already standing close to three girls and whispering with them?
Perhaps the number of his ex-girlfriends will soon surpass mine!”
“Something is wrong.” Scott’s eyes turned cold.
“Jacob Kent and Caitlin Rowle.
In case you’ve forgotten, those two first-years had a conflict on the first day of term.
Caitlin Rowle accused Jacob Kent of pushing her down the spiral staircase in Ravenclaw Tower.”
Roger said in surprise, “But now they’re spending time together?
Along with two Slytherin girls?”
Scott frowned.
“The blonde Slytherin girl is Jasmine Travers.”
“Her?”
Surprise appeared on Roger’s face.
Eddie had naturally been unable to resist telling Roger about Scott’s vague warning concerning Jasmine Travers.
He asked Scott, “What do you mean?”
“What happened on the first day of term was likely not that simple,” Scott said.
“That girl, Jasmine Travers, was likely involved.”
At that moment, Travers suddenly raised her head from below the staircase and met Scott’s eyes again.
Scott ignored the polite and distant smile on her face.
At that moment, his gaze seemed to pass through her eyes and see directly into her mind.
The girl immediately stopped smiling and lowered her head to avoid his gaze.
“Jacob.”
Scott called the boy’s name.
“Mr Trollope.”
Jacob raised his head and greeted Scott politely.
“It’s time for lunch,” Scott said.
“Yes, thank you for reminding me.” Jacob smiled.
Looking at the expression on the boy’s face, Scott lowered his eyes and said nothing more.
He only nodded, then turned and entered the Great Hall.
“What is it?” Roger followed him and asked quietly.
“That boy has changed.”
Scott gave this vague answer, then walked directly to the Ravenclaw table and sat down.
Roger sat beside him.
“Scott?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Scott shook his head and began eating.
But the crease between his eyebrows did not disappear.
(End of Chapter)
…
T/N :
Feed me Power Stones to keep me motivated.
This translation is pure volunteer work, so every bit of support helps me continue.