Chapter 537: Undercurrent in the Slytherin Common Room

A student spoke enthusiastically in the Slytherin common room. "Look at that circular field with the familiar star pattern, it's exactly like the ring used in the International Wizarding Duels!" Randolph said excitedly.

People in the common room looked up, and pairs of scrutinizing eyes focused on him. The room was silent, apart from the slow pattering sound of the ghostly green lake against the basement window.

The Greengrass sisters put down their quills, and Astoria, the younger sister, blinked twice as if she had found something amusing, and she simply pushed the parchment, ink bottles, and thick reference books in front of her to her sister's side, while she leaned on the table with one hand and cocked her head to watch the fun, much to the annoyance of her sister Daphne. "Astoria, you little bore ..." Astoria made a face at her, causing Draco opposite to them to snicker as he lazily leaned back in one of the armchairs, Pansy who is occupying the seat next to him fiddled with an emerald green & silver silk ribbon bow. A little further away, Crabbe and Goyle are eating chocolate cake, and the crumbs splattered on the head of the Millicent Bulstrode's cat, which whimpered, as it raised its tail and wriggled free from its owner's thick arms to jump in front of a young first-year witch, "Go away, stupid." Who said, while her eyes stared intensely at Randolph's face.

Randolph wasn't too nervous to speak because of the gazes, instead, his voice raised involuntarily. He waved his hand so hard that the newspaper in his hand almost hit the student next to him in the eye, but he didn't notice it at all; his full attention is focused on what he is going to say next.

"This means ... that all my previous guesses were right, Professor Hap is finally no longer going to hide his strength!" He stated in a lower tone, his tone laced with obvious glee and anticipation.

"Did he hide it?" The male student who had almost been hit muttered in a whisper.

"Gee, I mean, if I had that kind of strength, I'd certainly want the whole world to know about it." Randolph paused for a few seconds with rather a theatrical indignation on his face, "Did you by any chance didn't notice that there were people in the papers dissing the professor a while back, saying he just knocked out a few drunks ..."

"I dunno much about that, I wasn't there during the Quidditch World Cup final." The boy said.

"I went!" Randolph said excitedly, "The Professor was just so cool! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The spell came flying towards him but ended up weirdly stopped in midair." He gestured haphazardly for a few moments and paused in thought to say, "Too bad it was such a mess that there aren't many pictures available."

"I know the professor is strong, but there's no way he could have knocked over a hundred of them at once, right?" His friend looked sceptical.

"How is it impossible?" Randolph said in a low tone, "The Professor saved Potter and the gang from the You-Know-Who, and I heard a Death Eater died then!"

"Randolph!" A student stood up and called out, his face looked as grim as that of his friend who is leaning against the rough stone wall. Nott said coldly, "Watch your words."

The first year witch's eyes widened, and she suppressed her excited voice in her throat while fidgeting and pulling a small green note from her pocket, as she pushed the fat cat in her way and flipped open the note to find the page marked 'Nott', as her eyes glued expectantly at the argument in the common room.

"Mafalda! How dare you push my cat?" Millicent glared at her viciously.

"Quiet," Mafalda waved her hand carelessly, "before I make you up in a story ..." It seemed like a terrible threat, and Millicent scowled at her and reached out to hold her cat back.

On the other side--

"Did I say something wrong?" Randolph yelled at Nott, "Which of my words do you think is wrong?"

Nott turned red as he tried his best to appear contemptuous and angry, "I was telling you to be careful what you say and not blabber on about the great-"

"Great? Who are you referring to?" Randolph interrupted him nonchalantly, "If I understand you correctly, you are speaking for the You-Know-Who?"

Nott stared angrily at Randolph, but what disturbed him more was that no one in the common room stepped forward to help him. The green light from the lamp hanging overhead shone on his face, sending a chill down his spine.

"I, no ... I just thought that it shouldn't ... be," he stammered.

"Then keep your mouth shut and don't always bring up your pureblood philosophy," Randolph said pointedly, "or I'll assume someone in your family is on the side of the Death Eaters!" He sat down with the air of a victor.

The Slytherin common room was eerily silent, except for Mafalda who enthusiastically scribbling in her green note ... Nott, promoting the philosophy of the You-Know-Who for the past month ... suspected of being influenced by Death Eaters... ...

All underclassmen fidgeted and kept quiet like quails, and those who are slightly older had some bad feelings in their hearts, wondering when the trend in Slytherin House seemed to have changed.

Regardless of the public opinion, Voldemort had always been a Slytherin flag, and before him, it was Phineas Black, but these two flags fell one after another until Felix Hap rose out of nowhere. But they had mixed feelings about the Professor - it is rumoured that the Professor had been treated unfairly by the House when he was at school, causing him to become unaffectionate with the House, which was fine, but as his influence grew, his fame overshadowed the others' day by day, to the point where he has finally reached a level that no one can ignore.

The things that made Slytherin students uncomfortable paled in comparison to his mind-boggling achievements.

For example, the pro-Muggle inclinations that had been secretly criticized were also completely ignored in light of the reality of how rapidly the 'Future World' company had grown and is expected to rival the Gringotts in just over a short period of time. A voice has even emerged that Professor Hap has a unique vision - with his foresight he clocked himself as 'Pro-Muggle', to accumulate wealth effortlessly ...

As for what the truth is, not many people care anymore.

When people mentioned Slytherin House, apart from the legendary figures like Salazar Slytherin and Merlin, the first person they thought of among the wizards who are still alive at the moment, would be Felix Hap rather than the house head Snape, beside the he-who-must-not-be-named.

The change occurred silently and was hardly noticeable to outsiders, but it is nevertheless wielded immense might.

A testament to this is that when news of the You-Know-Who's return emerged, a small group of people prepared to propagate extreme pure-blood philosophy in Slytherin House - just as their fathers had done during the last war - only to be surprised to find a lukewarm response that barely made a ripple.

It was as if there was no market for such talk anymore.

But there could only be one real reason - Felix Hap, who is considered as the new Slytherin flag, is against the pure-blood philosophy!

Despite the fact that he did nothing and gave no preferential treatment to the Slytherin students, he still managed to influence a large group of people just by existing.

It is a third-year Slytherin girl, Astoria Greengrass, who made them really aware of this. She casually said something like, "Professor Hap is definitely going to be Headmaster in the future, and he's a Slytherin, that's all that matters."

This comment sparked a discussion throughout Slytherin House, and they deliberated and concluded that it is a great truth.

If Professor Hap wanted to, there is no obstacle in his way.

Well ... perhaps the only obstacle would be the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, which is why many fantasized that Professor Hap could fight Dumbledore after the rumours of the Elder Wand came out.

How much power could an invincible wand exercise in the hands of Felix Hap, who has a great variety of ancient magic? The answer to this question is one that made the hearts of all who seriously pondered this question jump; is it possible for the greatest White Wizard ... of this era to stand up against the combination of this two?

But this talk gradually died down, as Professor Hap himself refuted the rumours denying the authenticity of the Elder Wand, much to the dismay of many Slytherin students.

But once some ideas are born, it's hard to dismiss them as nothing.

It is safe to say that in the last half a month, Slytherin House has experienced an undercurrent of ideological conflict from top to bottom. It was also during this collective, all-encompassing reflection that everyone had more or less developed their own inclinations.

Draco Malfoy watched the lukewarm response Theodore Nott received with a cold eye. He felt he needed to have a serious talk with his own father, and this Christmas is a good opportunity ... for the Malfoys to take control of their own destiny, and if not, then turn to the side that is destined to win.

Besides, Muggleborns aren't all that annoying ...

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