Though the Hogwarts supply list specified that students could bring owls, cats, or toads as pets, most professors were lenient, turning a blind eye to students who brought rats, Puffskeins, spiders, snakes, and other unusual creatures.
Even Lys Black's massive venomous snake was tolerated, as long as it didn't harm anyone.
One girl, however, reported Lys's pet, claiming it violated the rules and demanding the school confiscate or even exterminate such a dangerous creature.
While Professor McGonagall dismissed the complaint, the girl remained relentless. She somehow acquired a snake of her own and confronted Lys after a Care of Magical Creatures class.
Accompanied by another girl, she strutted around with a sickly little snake, mocking Lys at every opportunity. Lys found it odd—why were these two girls everywhere today? Did sixth-years have so few classes?
They taunted her with phrases like, "Slytherins are all dark wizards, cruel and evil," chattering incessantly. Lys ignored them.
"Oh, look! A Slytherin who turned her snake into a pig!"
That comment, however, struck a nerve. "If you're ignorant, read a book. Gābēng's breed looks like this. I've taken excellent care of it!"
"Look at the one you're holding—is that your pet? It looks like you can't even afford to feed a snake thinner than your finger. It's practically dying!"
The girl tossed her hair dramatically and struck a pose. "Only sinister, filthy things would even consider being my pet! I brought it along to show you Slytherins what's what." She tossed her hair again. "Slytherins are just like this snake—vicious and venomous, hiding in corners to do their dirty work."
"One day, we'll make you like this," she sneered, casting a Cutting Curse. But her poor magical control left the snake half-severed, blood spurting everywhere as it writhed in her hands.
Unprepared for such a gruesome scene, the girl screamed in shock, frozen as blood splattered her face and robes. Her companion had to slap her hand red before she finally dropped the snake.
Watching the two girls hurl threats and then jump and scream like lunatics, Lys felt utterly baffled. She raised her wand and repeatedly cast healing spells on the snake.
After conjuring a cage with a Transfiguration spell, Lys decided to take the snake directly to Professor McGonagall. Clearly, these two girls were unwell.
They had inflicted harm without any clear necessity.
But behind her, the girl raised her wand at Lys, screaming, "It's all your fault, you damned Slytherin! Your snake is doomed!" She didn't dare directly threaten Lys, so she targeted the snake instead.
Had this madwoman done her homework, she would have known that while Lys Black might be a low-ranking Slytherin, no one dared provoke her without reason.
After all, everyone remembered how she single-handedly sent four self-proclaimed Gryffindor marauders to the hospital wing.
Since then, it was well understood: never point a wand at Lys Black or harm what she values. This formidable lunatic would otherwise leave you alone.
Unfortunately, the girl hadn't heard—or perhaps someone like Alecto Carrow, eager for drama, hadn't told her.
Lys countered with a Disarming Charm, sending the two girls' wands flying. Just as she was about to retaliate, a seventh-year senior rushed over, casting two Shield Charms on the girls.
"Don't act rashly! Detentions and point deductions aren't worth it!" Lys glanced at the senior and remembered she was a Gryffindor who didn't discriminate against Slytherins—the same one who had seen her experimenting with dark magic on a hillside and hadn't scolded her.
Even Cross Weasley came running after them.
Holding her wand, Lys reconsidered. True, she was busy enough, often burning the midnight oil to study. Detention would mean less time for reading.
"Classmate, I saw everything. It was their fault. I'll report this to Professor McGonagall. They'll get detention and lose points. You see..."
The red-haired Weasley protested breathlessly, "But she's a Slytherin!"
Lys looked at the four in front of her, all wearing the same gold-and-red-lined robes but radiating different emotions—resentment, confusion, grudges, and relief.
Handing the cage with the snake to the clear-eyed Gryffindor, she said, "I won't use spells."
"My snake isn't something someone like you, who only craves attention, can covet," she said, punching the girl straight in the eye.
Stepping back, she watched the other three freeze in shock. Then, waving her wand, she cast a healing spell on the girl.
"Mess with me again, and I'll hit you, heal you, and hit you again. Next time, you might not meet someone as..." Lys paused, searching for a refined word but failing. "...as excellent and reasonable as this person to help you."
Taking back the snake cage, Lys walked a few steps before hearing the Weasley exclaim, "She actually hit a girl!"
Lys ignored him. So what? A girl can't be hit? Those two tried to attack me first.
On the second floor, she handed the snake to Professor McGonagall, explaining that a Gryffindor seemed mentally unstable.
"She inflicted harm without any clear necessity. I suggest you don't return the snake to her."
When Professor McGonagall asked for the student's name or description, Lys feigned ignorance and left.
But McGonagall soon found out, as the girl tearfully reported the incident herself.
Connecting this with the earlier complaint about Lys's snake, McGonagall, exasperated, gave the girl two nights of detention and deducted 10 points from Gryffindor. She lectured her: "You can be reckless but not violent. You can have justified hostility but not baseless prejudice."
She also reported recent conflicts to Dumbledore, who, during a dinner, loudly discussed the tense situation outside with the heads of the four houses.
"I don't want to see division and exclusion happening here."
Despite his words, conflicts merely went underground, no longer reaching the professors.
After all, most Slytherins were indeed intrigued by the Dark Lord's rhetoric.
Power, status, glory, pureblood supremacy, victory, profit—his promises resonated deeply with Slytherins, ingrained over generations. Those uninterested wouldn't end up in Slytherin.
If not for Lys's pursuit of power being shaped by her parents' choices, she might have been drawn to the Dark Lord's representation of strength.
But her mother had mentioned that the Dark Lord's followers had become increasingly unruly, and he liked marking his followers, forbidding them from sharing clear information about each other.
The Dark Lord must have issues—otherwise, he wouldn't be so extreme and paranoid. But what exactly, Senna couldn't pinpoint. It was just idle talk with her father; Senna had no substantial opinion.
After all, her family was as pureblood as could be, far from the targeted groups.
Recently, news of Death Eater attacks frequently surfaced—families decimated, Muggle towns ravaged.
Rumors even claimed the Dark Lord had recruited werewolves and Dementors, as incidents of children being bitten by werewolves surged.
These families always had at least one member who opposed or resisted the Dark Lord.
During History of Magic, a Ravenclaw student was informed that his sister had been attacked by a werewolf yesterday and died today. Half the class turned pale; some were even ashen-faced.
Some girls directly burst into tears. The boy often showed off his sister's adorable photo, saying she'd join Hogwarts next year.
Someone muttered a curse under their breath, "Damn this war!"
Amidst the somber atmosphere, a Slytherin laughed.
It was someone from the Thomas family, rumored to be Death Eaters. In the Slytherin common room, they were often mocked as the Dark Lord's wallet, contributing nothing but money—a true opportunist.
"This is the benefit of choosing the right master. Rebels deserve to be bitten to death by those filthy beasts!"
Two Ravenclaws angrily told him to shut up, but to their surprise, Lys Black at the back of the classroom raised her wand and silenced him.
Most students turned their eyes to her. Pale-faced, Lys muttered for a moment before saying, "It's class time," then slumped back in her chair, clutching her wand in silence.
The classroom returned to quiet.
Aside from Professor Binns's century-old, murmured lecture, only Thomas's muffled struggles could be heard.
Even the Slytherins around him refused to lift the curse. In these tense times, Slytherins weren't afraid to stand in the spotlight, but not because of an idiot pushing them there.
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