The publicity of the dueling club had a magnificent opening and a perfect process, but it ended in a mess.
Everyone heard the savior, Har
The publicity of the dueling club had a magnificent opening and a perfect process, but it ended in a mess.
Everyone heard the savior, Harry Potter, ordering the snake to attack Justin in an evil voice. Every time the rumor blew, it became more intense.
Harry was confused. Younger wizards hid when they saw him, but Damon and others stayed with him, calming his panic.
"Parseltongue! You are a Parseltongue!"
Ron, a native of the wizarding world, explained to the confused Harry.
"What am I?" Harry asked.
"Parseltongue!" Ron said. "You can talk to snakes!"
"I see," said Harry. "I mean, this is the second time I've done it.
At the zoo, I accidentally released a python. It pounced on my cousin, Dudley. The Python said it had never been to Brazil. I was unaware I was a wizard then.
"A python told you it had never been to Brazil?" Ron asked in a weak voice.
"Why?" Harry said, "I bet Damon could do it, too."
"Damon can, but Harry, this is no ordinary skill!
Harry, this is terrible."
"
"What's terrible?" Anger rose in Harry. He'd done something good, so why didn't anyone understand? Even Hermione and Ron. "What's wrong with everyone? If I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin—"
"Harry, that's not what Parseltongue is,"
Damon said.
"What you said is different from the Parseltongue effect. To us, it sounds like you're communicating with the snake using the most evil, incomprehensible language in the world."
Harry stared at him in amazement.
"I'm speaking another language? But—I didn't realize it—how could I speak another language and not know it?"
Hermione looked worried.
"Did you know? Salazar Slytherin was a Parseltongue, and the snake symbolizes Slytherin. I'm afraid everyone in the school will think you might have some connection to this giant."
"But I'm not! I belong to Gryffindor. That's the Sorting Hat's decision."
Harry was puzzled.
"You'll find it difficult to prove that," Hermione said. "He lived about a thousand years ago. From everything we know, you're very likely his descendant."
Harry's heart sank.
"
"Relax, Harry, it's nothing," Damon patted his shoulder. "This is very cool. You shouldn't be sad, but proud. It means you've mastered a skill others haven't. Regardless of its usefulness, it shows your uniqueness."
"But even you can't speak Parseltongue. Damon, am I really born an evil Slytherin?"
"Relax, although I can't, but as far as I know, you are not the only Gryffindor who knows Parseltongue."
He looked at the worried people and began to gossip about his teacher again:
"
Dumbledore learned Parseltongue and mastered Mermish and Gobbledegook. Does this mean he is evil?
"Dumbledore too?!"
Harry suddenly found acceptance, while Hermione and Ron were also shocked—they had never imagined Dumbledore would be involved with Parseltongue.
But Damon was Dumbledore's apprentice, spending more time with him, so his words were always persuasive.
"
It's not mediocre to be envied. You're outstanding, and that's why you're criticized. You defeated Malfoy, made significant progress, and even stopped a python that Professor Lockhart couldn't. You've become quite outstanding.
Damon winked at him, and Harry's worry and grievance melted away.
"Damon—" He looked at the young man in front of him with emotion.
No one's words carried more weight, more heartwarming than his.
Even with Dumbledore present, it was the same.
"Alright, stop looking at me like that. By the way, I'm going to the Ministry of Magic. You guys should do your best."
For the next few minutes, two things became the talk of the young wizards.
One was the duel between Professor Snape and Damon, particularly the draw—how could the dueling prince tie with a professor, and the second year had only just begun!
Anyone who witnessed that duel could never say that Professor Snape had let him win—and anyone who wasn't there rashly jumped to that conclusion would be ridiculed and mocked.
Had it not been for Malfoy's impressive spell prowess in the dueling arena, Slytherin might have been divided again—even so, they were still trying to find a way to win Damon over.
However, Damon was so elusive that, aside from the Great Hall and classrooms, they could hardly see him anywhere—the library, the Gryffindor Common Room, the Black Lake—he was nowhere to be seen.
Whether they sought to challenge, attack, worship, or follow, the vassals and busybodies couldn't even find the opportunity to initiate contact—unless they resorted to direct force in the Great Hall, in full view of the crowd.
Indeed, one person did just that—the challenger was dangled from the ceiling chandelier by Damon, where he spun around in the air for over a hundred times before being rescued. Afterward, almost no professors made a single comment, save for Snape, who gleefully deducted five points from Damon's grades.
After this duel, his prowess deterred all ambitious individuals from stepping over him to gain power.
Those who followed him, however, were stopped by witches who appeared out of nowhere before they could even approach Damon.
Currently, aside from Damon's roommates and Hermione, no one can communicate with him without his permission. Because of this incident, Hermione, whose personality had already begun to change, became even more popular among the girls, and no one dared to exclude her anymore.
But all of this was predicated on Hermione showing no signs of pursuing Damon. She was constantly forced to hand him love letters—the older students' enthusiasm was terrifying, and even Hermione often found it hard to refuse.
Think about it: they didn't push you; they simply found you the books you loved. You could borrow anything you wanted from the library—even banned books, someone could get them through connections with professors.
Gryffindor students would even personally supervise your essays—even if they were already perfect, you couldn't stand the collective effort.
When they heard that Hermione wanted to outperform Damon in class, their enthusiasm intensified—they just wanted to compete fiercely! Defeat him! Do not pursue him!
Hermione, passionate about learning, was puzzled by her peers' interest in Damon, especially given their shared love of knowledge.
But there was nothing she could do; she couldn't refuse their "once-in-a-lifetime requests."
Damon received love letters from Hermione every few days, accompanied by a look of despair.
If Damon hadn't said, "Relax, just leave it to me," Hermione would have tried to stop it all.
Damon always smiled after reading the letter but never replied. Hermione assumed he enjoyed it and felt no burden.
And his smile really made the witches who were paying close attention feel happy.
Their feelings were seen, even if they
were not re
ciprocated, but that was enough.
As for the second thing, it was naturally Harry's Parseltongue.
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(End of this chapter)