"I'm not really sure... are you telling the truth?" Tom asked, a little urgently.
"Of course it's true! But it's not absolute—throughout history, it hasn't only been Slytherin's descendants who could speak Parseltongue. There were a few other wizards who could as well," Anne added.
Even though Anne mentioned that Parseltongue wasn't exclusive proof of being a Slytherin heir, it still piqued Tom's deep interest.
Wade silently observed everything from the side but didn't step in.
He was also curious to see how this Tom—already quite different from the one in the original timeline—would change after learning about his lineage.
However, it did surprise Wade that Tom was already getting clues about his ancestry from Anne.
It seemed the ripple effects of his "butterfly wing" were stronger than expected…
This also served as a reminder for Wade: going forward, he absolutely couldn't rely too much on impressions from the original canon.
After dinner, Tom headed to the library once more. As soon as he arrived, he started searching for books.
But this time, he wasn't looking for spellbooks or Transfiguration tomes.
He was digging into history books—and anything related to the Slytherin bloodline.
…
Wade didn't follow Tom to the library.
For Wade, the books available to students in the Hogwarts Library no longer held much appeal.
Only the Restricted Section still attracted him.
That section stored the black magic manuscripts and books that Hogwarts had collected over the years—books that were nearly impossible to acquire outside.
In terms of sheer volume, the Somnolen family's private library couldn't compare to the Restricted Section at all.
Besides all the magical knowledge, the most important thing was: the senior's notebook was hidden in the Restricted Section!
Naturally, visiting the Restricted Section during the day was out of the question.
If a student wanted to borrow a book from there, they first had to get a professor's signature. Then they had to tell the librarian which book they wanted.
The librarian would then retrieve it for them from the Restricted Section.
During this process, students were strictly forbidden from stepping foot inside the Restricted Section—approaching it would even earn them a warning.
So, if he wanted to sneak in for a proper look, he would need to use… unconventional methods.
Wade had already scoped out the place during the day, so he decided that tonight, he would head to the Restricted Section and retrieve the senior's notebook first.
Next would be entering the Forbidden Forest and, according to the notes, locating those ancient magical hotspots.
"Why did you go quiet all of a sudden?" Anne's voice interrupted Wade's train of thought.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just a bit tired," Wade replied casually.
At the moment, they were walking together back toward the Slytherin common room.
Since Wade was quite curious about her true intentions in approaching him, he hadn't rejected her attempts at contact.
For now, at least, they could be considered friends…
Or rather, Anne was—temporarily—the first friend he and Tom had made since entering Hogwarts.
"After wandering around all day, I'm feeling pretty tired too. Let's turn in early tonight. We've got classes again tomorrow..."
"Alright..."
"Pureblood."
As soon as the password was spoken, the entrance opened.
And just as it did, they happened to catch sight of two people exiting the common room.
"Hey, Wade!" Alphard greeted him with a miserable expression.
As for why he looked so miserable—well, it was entirely because a girl was currently yanking hard on his ear…
Wade took one look and instantly recognized her—wasn't this the same girl outside Platform Nine and Three-Quarters who had called him a Mudblood?
"Hello, Alphard. That's… quite a unique look you've got going on," Wade said with a smile.
Alphard looked like he was about to cry. "Help me!"
"You again!" Walburga glared at Wade furiously.
She couldn't help it—what Wade had said to her back then had hit a nerve, especially for a proud pure-blood witch like her. The lingering frustration was still very much there.
"Ah, Miss Black, we meet again. I wonder—where might you be dragging my roommate off to?" Wade asked calmly.
"I'm disciplining my brother! It has nothing to do with you!" she snapped.
"Alright, if you insist it's a family matter, then I suppose it really doesn't involve me. However… Alphard is my friend, and I would hope that, as a pure-blood wizard, he might still be treated with a shred of dignity." Wade's tone shifted into the same slow, theatrical cadence Snape was known for.
At the sound of that infuriating voice again, Walburga flinched back half a step like she'd been triggered.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"
Poor Alphard's ear was still in his sister's grip, so when Walburga recoiled, he was yanked sharply and grimaced in pain.
"What do you mean by that?" Walburga asked coldly.
"I mean, as pure-bloods—especially those from a family with such a distinguished history—grace should be a quality etched into your bones. And yet… I haven't seen the slightest trace of that word reflected in anyone from the Black family," Wade replied.
He gave Walburga that same pitying look again. "As I suspected the other day, I wasn't wrong. It's truly sad—born into a pure-blood family and yet completely ignorant of what it means to be elegant. The Black family… what a disappointment."
"You—!" Walburga was fuming, but despite herself, her grip on Alphard's ear loosened.
Alphard straightened up in relief, massaging his now-reddened ear, his eyes filled with gratitude as he looked at Wade.
Wade had not only saved his ear, but had said exactly what Alphard had always wanted to say aloud.
His sister, a so-called lady of a pure-blood family, immediately resorted to physical violence when angered—how undignified!
"On the contrary," Wade continued, "look at my friend Anne. As the young lady of the Rosier family, she has maintained the grace of a true pure-blood witch at all times. I've never once seen her lose her temper."
(P.S. I always thought it was Rozier.. Then I checked Google. Now I'm correcting it to Rosier. Sry)
Anne, who had been enjoying the show from the side, was caught off guard by the sudden praise.
However, when met with Walburga's sharp, thorny glare, Anne could only return a composed and ladylike smile…
It had to be said, as a child of the Rosier family, Anne truly had an air of nobility.
That graceful smile made Walburga falter with shame, and Alphard was completely stunned.
"I… I…" Deeply wounded in her pride, Walburga's eyes turned red. Without saying another word, she spun on her heel and left.
Alphard stared after his sister's retreating back. "Wade, you're amazing! I've never seen my sister like that… she's always the one making others cry, and now you've actually made her cry with just words…"
Wade tilted his head upward and said, "That's because your sister has finally realized her own shortcomings and feels ashamed. When she understands what truly defines the virtues of a pure-blood family, I'll be happy to be her friend."
Alphard caressed his still-red ear and asked, "By the way, your family is one of the pure-blood families that helped establish Canada a century ago, right? Where did your family originate?"
Wade paused, considering his answer. He vaguely recalled the most populated country in the world, but also remembered Dumbledore mentioning Bhutan in the canon. Finally, he replied, "Alphard, you really shouldn't go around prying into other people's family matters… but if you must know, my family originated from the Kingdom of Bhutan. Our ancestral home was located in the Eyrie."
"The Eyrie?! That explains it! Sigh… your Reynolds family is incredible, no wonder it's such an ancient pure-blood family from the East—always so refined. Our family simply can't compare," Alphard sighed with admiration.
(P.S. It's canon, guys! I'm not worshiping China or something! The Eyrie is a magical place which held the wizarding world's most ancient magic.)
He was now fully convinced by the nonsense Wade had spouted back at King's Cross. After all, even his father had been intimidated into silence at the time.
Wade curled his lips. If they believed he came from a prestigious and powerful family, that was only to his advantage.
However, Anne, who had been quietly observing the whole time, suddenly had a glint in her eye.
An ancient pure-blood family originating from the East? Then his family should be very old!
_________
Yo dear brothers and beautiful girls, the Powerstones have reset. I want you to throw as much as Powerstones as you can, and I'll be sitting here editing bonus chapters. I swear it's not for me—It's for Batman!
Read two weeks ahead at P^treon: Captain69
________
(Schedule: 10 chs/week)
Every 200 Power Stones = 1 extra Chapter
Every 6 Reviews = 1 extra Chapter