Chapter 15: The Welcome Banquet
There are too many people here. Not to mention the other professors at Hogwarts, at least the Heads of House and Dumbledore are powerful wizards.
Not to mention, there’s also a noseless Socket Man, who is probably hiding behind someone’s head and barely surviving.
Vaughn glanced at the professors’ table and accurately located the one with the purple scarf wrapped around his head.
Now is not the time to claim rewards, we’ll talk about it later when we’re alone!
With a thought, he closed the System Panel, ignored the pointing and whispering from everyone in the Great Hall, and leisurely walked to the Slytherin Academy’s long table.
Plop!
The loud sound made the Great Hall fall silent for a moment. It was Draco Malfoy, whose already pale face had now turned a ghastly white. He scrambled to his feet, not daring to look at Vaughn, his robes rustling as he tried to run to the other end of the long table.
“Hi, Draco!”
Classmate Draco froze in his tracks and stiffly turned around: “W-w-w-Weasley… sir…”
“You can call me Vaughn. We’ll be in the same house from now on, so please take care of me.”
Vaughn patted his shoulder, startling him. He tried to force a smile, but the muscles in his face were completely unresponsive, contorting into a grimace more unsightly than a cry.
He then looked at Crabbe and Goyle beside him. Those two foolish cowards had buried their heads on the table, trembling so hard their teeth were chattering.
At this moment, seemingly unable to stand it any longer, a senior student with a ‘P’ badge on his chest leaned over and hissed, “Hey, little Weasley brat, get back to your seat and don’t cause trouble for me!”
Vaughn carefully observed his tall and sturdy physique and his indescribable appearance, and replied with a smile, “Of course, Prefect.”
The Prefect nodded in satisfaction. To reward Vaughn’s obedience, he led the applause to welcome him.
The other Slytherin students at the long table exchanged glances, but seeing the Prefect’s face, they clapped sparsely, “welcoming” the red-haired Weasley, the traitor of a pure-blood family!
Vaughn was unfazed and smiled as he sat down next to Malfoy.
The applause from the Slytherin long table finally eased the awkward atmosphere. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and said:
“Ahem, silence! The Sorting Ceremony will continue!”
Afterward, no further incidents occurred, and the Sorting Ceremony quickly concluded. Dumbledore, seemingly unaffected, stood up and gave a speech of indeterminate meaning, then announced the start of the feast.
Food instantly filled the long table.
Of course, there weren’t many varieties. The meat was quite abundant, but the staple foods were very monotonous.
It was all potatoes and potatoes. After eating them for so many years, Vaughn lost his appetite just seeing them.
“Dear Draco, I think Professor McGonagall was right. Since we’ve been sorted into the same house, we should be like family.”
Vaughn picked up a roast lamb chop, something he’d loved since his previous life, and said while slowly gnawing on it, “So I’ve decided to forgive your offense on the train and let’s get along happily from now on, okay?”
“…”
Is the truth really like this?
Malfoy’s eyes glazed over. For some reason, he felt his vision darken. He looked at the delicious food in front of him, wanting to stuff himself to forget certain things, preferably to the point of being unable to bear it, go back to sleep, and then wake up to find it was all a nightmare!
Unfortunately…
“Draco, bring me the pudding.”
“Mmm, authentic Yorkshire flavor, I like it. Draco, bring me the lamb chops.”
“Huh? You’re not eating? Potatoes will make you happy, Draco, don’t always wear such a long face, smile!”
“See, Draco, you’re so likable that even the Slytherin ghost wants to sit next to you… Mr. Ghost, what is your name?”
The newly arrived ghost, covered in blood, with a blank expression, and radiating a chilling aura, replied: “Baron…”
The short sentence, every punctuation mark seemed to carry the scent of blood.
Malfoy, his stomach full of potatoes, could no longer hold it in. He covered his mouth and sprinted towards the side entrance of the Great Hall, which led to the lavatories.
When the feast ended, Malfoy returned looking utterly drained, his complexion almost as ghastly as the ghost’s.
The male and female Prefects of Slytherin Academy were responsible for leading the first-year students to their respective dormitories. The male prefect was the one who had scolded Vaughn earlier.
He had introduced himself, but Vaughn didn’t remember his name.
To be honest, apart from Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass, who would only enroll next year, Vaughn felt no need to remember the students from the recent few years in Slytherin Academy.
They were either mentally deficient, heavily brainwashed by their families, or had questionable appearances. When reading novels in his past life, he thought that Slytherin only accepted misfits and oddballs!
The imposing-looking Prefect, with his regrettable appearance, led the first-year students to the Slytherin Common Room, located underground. Outside the window was the bottom of the Black Lake, giving it a unique atmosphere, but earning it the nickname “Dungeon.”
Seemingly feeling quite pleased with himself for successfully stopping Vaughn at the banquet, he went through the usual explanation of the house rules in the Common Room and then forcefully clapped Vaughn on the shoulder:
“Weasley boy, I don’t care what conflict you have with Malfoy, but in Slytherin, at Hogwarts, you must abide by my rules. And I hope you will show more respect to Malfoy. He’s also pure-blood, and the Weasley family has long since…”
“Prefect.”
Vaughn smiled and interrupted him, “Before you lecture me, I have a question I’d like to ask you, a question about a spell.”
The Prefect frowned, “Weasley, is this how your poor parents taught you manners?”
“That spell is called—”
Vaughn raised his wand and looked at him coldly.
Only then did the Prefect realize something was wrong and quickly pulled out his wand. Just as he was about to utter the spell:
“Expelliarmus!”
A flash of red light burst!
The Prefect’s sturdy body was sent flying backward.
With a splat, he hit the large bay window of the Common Room that separated them from the lake, and slowly slid down.
The first-year Slytherins and some older students playing in the Common Room stared in stunned silence.
They dazedly watched as Vaughn cast another “Stupefy” spell, completely knocking the Prefect unconscious, then kicked his head and searched his pocket for a piece of parchment.
Vaughn picked up the parchment, which recorded the dormitory assignments, and found his name.
Then, with a calm gaze, he scanned the crowd, finally settling on Malfoy.
“Dear Draco, did you see what just happened?”
Malfoy shivered violently and hurriedly said, “N-no?”
“No, not smart enough. You should say that you saw this… whoever he is, raise his wand to attack me, and I was forced to defend myself, understand?”
Malfoy seemed to understand and nodded repeatedly.
“Very good!” Vaughn’s gaze swept over the crowd again. His wand was still in his hand, and no one dared to move.
He nodded in greeting, “That’s all, goodnight, gentlemen!”
With that, he left directly.
