When the last young wizard set down their knife and fork, the feast officially came to an end.
Without warning, the grand banquet that still filled the table vanished — just as suddenly as it had appeared.
Dumbledore stepped to the front of the hall and began listing the usual announcements and reminders.
They were the same old rules as every year: no wandering around at night, no entering the Forbidden Forest without permission, no using magic in the corridors, talk to the captain if you want to join the Quidditch team, and — as always — do not enter the right-hand corridor on the fourth floor.
Honestly, the warning sounded more like an invitation. Louis clearly noticed that many students looked eager and excited.
"This year, we welcome a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor — Quirinus Quirrell," Dumbledore said in closing, introducing the oddly dressed, foul-smelling man to the students.
Then, under the headmaster's lead, everyone sang the school song together.
Louis hadn't seen that coming, but it didn't stump him either. He simply closed his eyes and mouthed along silently. Problem solved.
With that, the feast was officially over. Led by their respective prefects, the young wizards exited the Great Hall in a rather chaotic procession.
On the way to the Slytherin common room, Louis could clearly sense the social isolation — the students who looked down on a Muggle-born like him clustered around, making it hard for him to move freely.
So much for those kids saying they were too scared to mess with him — they still found subtle ways to cause trouble.
But Louis didn't care about petty gestures. What truly interested him now was the Slytherin common room.
Located underground, the Slytherin common room sat near the Black Lake, and even had a massive glass wall offering a view into the lake's depths.
It felt just like being in an aquarium.
After a brief tour of the dorm, Louis settled onto a couch in the common room. He placed his tall hat on the coffee table and watched a squid drift lazily past the glass with its waving tentacles.
Thanks to the lights in the common room, many fish liked to gather around, creating a lovely scene.
Louis shared a dorm with Draco Malfoy and his two cronies, plus a few other Slytherins he neither knew nor wanted to know.
Right now, they were busy engaging in what could only be described as a ritualistic — yet awkward — form of "pure-blood" socialization. Louis stayed out of it, partly to avoid bursting into laughter and partly to wait and see if any brave soul would dare come challenge him.
It wasn't that his sense of humor was too shallow — it was just that their antics were genuinely ridiculous. Louis suspected they were imitating their parents' social behaviors, trying to appear mature and dignified but coming off as childish actors in a clumsy play.
He couldn't bear watching them. Watching lively kids stuff themselves into stiff, formal roles, mimicking behaviors they thought were cool — it was no different from little kids pretending to shoot laser beams like Ultraman in his past life.
"But seriously, why hasn't anyone come to mess with me yet? Are they all cowards?"
Louis yawned. Everything around him gave a faint tremble.
To guard against any tricks these young wizards might play using unfamiliar magic, he had activated the levitation effect of the Chicken Talisman to amplify his mental detection radius.
As a result, everything nearby had a slightly weightless quality — like it might float off at the slightest touch.
But nothing happened. The dormitories buzzed like they were hosting parties, and no one came to bother Louis.
"Then again, Slytherins aren't like those Gryffindor hotheads. They're clever — self-preserving — they wouldn't just recklessly rush in," Louis said to himself as he picked up his tall hat.
"But this won't do. One must have persistence and determination. Giving up halfway is a bad habit. Let me teach you all..."
In the dimly lit Slytherin common room, Louis raised his head. The dark lake outside the window reflected his handsome features, flickering in and out of view.
"This is what it means to keep your word."
His left eye deepened, the darkness spreading outward into a thick black mist that slowly engulfed him.
"Is this really the extent of my mental power? Still not enough." Louis gazed at the illusionary black mist swirling around him and came to a decision.
A ring that served as a gateway to a pocket dimension flashed — and a syringe filled with pale blue transparent liquid dropped into Louis's hand. The needle pierced his skin, injecting a Mental Power Boost Potion into his body.
Using it now wasn't a waste — it had no side effects and would provide a small, permanent boost to his mental power. This was the perfect moment.
With the Ox Talisman enhancing his body, his mental strength surged tenfold. The rush of power instantly expanded the range of his illusion magic, blanketing the entire Slytherin common room — and even beginning to leak out the glass wall into the Black Lake beyond.
The writhing, shadowy black mist frightened away the giant squid and the surrounding fish, plunging the common room into darkness as it swallowed the light.
"Brute force doesn't suit a magician. Deception and fear — illusions — those are the true aesthetic of magic," Louis whispered as he walked through the darkness. The illusionary mist couldn't obstruct his vision.
"Not just anyone is worthy of witnessing the magician's self-funded grand horror performance," he murmured, step by step ascending the stairs.
---
🔥 Want more? 🔥
Unlock 25+ early chapters on my Patreon!
👉 Patreon.com/RedX43