The Old Ones of Hogwarts

Chapter 56: The Gaze in the Dark

The questions for the first year of school did not stump the newly enrolled wizards.

Everyone quickly entered the lounge.

then.

The two class leaders, one male and one female, each gave a speech to demonstrate their presence. Both were quite eloquent, and the lounge erupted in enthusiastic applause, showcasing their high emotional intelligence.

Satisfied, the two began assigning dorm rooms to the first-year students.

Ravenclaw has only seven young wizards this year.

Perhaps it was due to the prefect's favor, or perhaps he was just lucky today, but after the four junior wizards formed a dormitory, he was assigned to the three-person dormitory.

Coincidentally.

Nigo, who left a lasting impression on Ian at the banquet, and a boy with green hair, became Ian's roommates for the next seven years, sharing a room but not a bed.

The dormitory's interior decor matches the color scheme of the lounge outside. Five desks are arranged side by side in front of the window, and flannel curtains hang in front of several beds.

"Ian Prince".

After stuffing his suitcase under the bed, Ian introduced himself to his roommates, who were busy emptying the contents of their suitcases.

"William Smith, I remember you. You took a full ten minutes during the sorting." The green-haired boy had many freckles on his face, a feature popular among Europeans and Americans.

That's not a lot.

"Has it been that long? I only remember chatting with the Sorting Hat for a few minutes." Ian was a little surprised. He shook hands with William, the freckled boy who came up and extended his hand.

"I also feel that time flies by. The Sorting Hat may have stolen some of our time, which is probably why it has been able to live for so long."

The young black wizard also joined the chat.

"My name is Michael Jordan."

He then added a self-introduction.

"Great name, you'd be perfect for Quidditch." Ian wasn't one to hold grudges, until he saw Little Nic pull out a huge bag of fried chicken legs and fries from who-knows-where.

"Do you want some? I secretly hid some during dinner." Michael put a large bag of food on the table and then frantically ate a chicken leg.

"You have a bag that has been enchanted with an expansion spell! I've seen descriptions of them in extracurricular books!" William, with his green hair, looked at the small cloth bag on Michael's bed with surprise.

Ian stared intently at the still-steaming chicken leg in Michael's hand.

Good guy!

Now he finally understood the awful reason why the food in front of him disappeared so quickly before!

"Yes, that was a gift my mom gave me a few days ago as a start-of-school present," Michael said somewhat shyly, while munching on a chicken leg.

"I don't know why, but my mom never let me eat these things when I was little, even though they're really delicious..." he said, squeezing a little more ketchup into his mouth.

A very unique way of eating French fries.

"My mother didn't give me anything. She was an ordinary person who didn't know magic. Only my father was a wizard, but my mother made all the decisions in our family."

"My mother also manages the money, perhaps because she's quite clever. But our family is very poor, and any money we have has to be used to support my younger brother and sister."

William hesitated for a moment, but still picked up a handful of fries and began to eat them slowly.

"Mixed-race, that's not bad either. Although I come from a pure-blooded family, I've never met my father since I was a child. He died shortly after I was born."

"It's said he died in a battle with a mysterious man. My mother often cries and says he fell just before dawn," Michael said, his voice tinged with sadness.

but.

This did not affect his speed in showing off his chicken leg.

"He must love you," Ian offered some comfort.

"That's true. I've always known he loves us. The reason he joined that struggle was because of my birth. He wanted to create a more stable environment for my future."

Michael finally choked up and couldn't eat the chicken leg anymore.

"You're at least better off than me. I'm an orphan and I've never seen my parents since I was little." Ian joined the dorm's misery contest at this point.

Not surprisingly.

He received two pairs of eyes filled with pity.

"You're so pathetic."

"Here, have two chicken drumsticks."

Both of them were completely outmatched, and Michael even handed Ian a chicken leg—he actually preferred a few watermelon jellies to something like this as a late-night snack.

"No need, I'm on a diet."

Ian shook his head and refused. He looked at Michael's bed, where the empty bag clearly didn't look like it contained any watermelon jelly.

Michael probably really showed off all of this at the party.

"You're so thin, why do you need to lose weight?"

William's eyes widened.

"If I were you, I would eat more. You're too thin." Michael nodded in agreement and stuffed the chicken leg that Ian had been given into his own mouth.

"I have to eat. My mom said I'm still growing brains."

have to say.

He has a really big appetite.

"I need to review what I learned in the textbook. I don't want to be unable to answer the professors' questions in class tomorrow." William packed his things and pulled out his textbook.

He turned on his small desk lamp, sat down at his desk, and began to diligently read.

"Actually, there's no need to be so nervous. Even children from pure-blood families don't learn any magic before starting school. We just need to listen attentively in class."

After Michael finished eating and drinking, he headed to the restroom.

That makes sense.

Ian thought Blackie was right, but William clearly had his own convictions. He sat down at his desk and buried himself in his books, as if he were reviewing knowledge related to "The History of Magic".

"Why are you sitting at the table too?"

After washing up, Michael walked out of the bathroom and found that Ian was also sitting at a desk.

"I'm just writing a letter home to avoid worrying the adults at the orphanage. They're all very nice people," Ian said, showing the papers on his desk.

Michael peered over suspiciously and then confirmed that Ian wasn't the kind of roommate who would secretly roll something and then lie to others; Ian was indeed writing a letter with a quill pen.

[Dear Dean Elena:]

I have settled in at Hogwarts School for Gifted Youngsters. The students here are very friendly, and the professors are invaluable experts in their respective fields.

Please don't worry. Tell Daniel and Joey that no one has bullied me because of my background, and the school has a very strong academic atmosphere.

if……】

The letter wasn't finished yet.

Michael only glanced at it and didn't look at it closely.

"Perhaps I should write a letter to my mother tomorrow." He seemed to be inspired, and after yawning, he went to his bed.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

This may well be a kind of talent.

Amidst his roommate's exceptionally gifted snoring, William put on his earplugs and continued studying, while Ian carefully considered his wording as he wrote a letter to the orphanage to let them know he was safe.

Because of Hogwarts' unique nature, and the confusion charm the school had cast on several adults at the orphanage, he could only try his best to disguise Hogwarts as an elite Muggle school.

This is not an easy task.

after all.

The kind of life students at elite universities should lead is entirely up to his imagination. If he accidentally writes something absurd like rich people eating rice with braised chicken, that would be quite bad.

"Swish swish swish~"

The quill pen made a soft, persistent sound.

William's small lamp was very bright, perhaps some kind of modified Muggle item. Ian, who had finished writing his letter by the light, washed up and then went to bed.

William was still studying diligently on his own.

A light drizzle had begun to fall outside the window.

In the quiet of the night.

A faint flash of lightning streaked across the sky. In the brief, dim light outside the window, no one noticed a pair of peculiar eyes watching the dormitory.

It was a strange creature with a pair of blue wings, hanging upside down under the eaves, clinging to the roof tiles. Its shape resembled both a reptile and a giant butterfly.

It clung to the eaves, its gaze fixed on the Ravenclaw dormitory. Its small, peculiar eyes reflected the sleeping Ian… his little head.

[P.S.: Thanks to the experts for pointing this out. I've revised the question in the previous chapter. Actually, I just wanted to write about questions where there are multiple answers when considering logical deduction!]