"Alchemy? So you're interested in that? Unfortunately, Hogwarts hasn't offered that class for years," Padma said, looking up. "But I did spot a book called Marvelous Alchemy over there."
"I saw one titled Simple Alchemy Item Crafting over there," Hermione pointed in another direction.
"Thank you both for your helpfulness and impressive memory," Louis smiled. "I'll go fetch them. Mind watching my hat?"
"Go on, we've got this," Hermione replied.
Following the girls' directions, Louis quickly found both books—and even stumbled upon another curious one titled Comedy and Alchemy. With all three books in hand, he returned to the table and set them down.
By now, the girls had finished their homework and were each reading a new book. As expected from Ravenclaws—the academic atmosphere was intense.
Louis picked up Comedy and Alchemy first and began flipping through it while chatting casually, "Have either of you met the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor yet?"
"You mean Professor Quirrell?" Padma looked up. "Not yet, but I've heard from upper years that his classes are really boring."
"Yeah, apparently all he does is read straight from the textbook," Hermione added.
"That's odd, considering I heard he used to be a Ravenclaw too," Louis said while rubbing the corner of his eye. He tossed the book aside. He couldn't take it anymore—his blood pressure was rising. If he kept reading, he'd be tempted to tear the author limb from limb, and honestly, it wouldn't even be hard.
The author was Zonkos—the same Zonkos who ran the joke shop in Hogsmeade. Louis could walk there and back in the time it took to eat a meal and get rid of that hack.
He never thought such garbage could actually be shelved in Hogwarts' library.
He immediately switched to a different book to calm himself.
Louis's expression while reading caught Padma's attention. Curious, she reached for the tossed-aside book and skimmed it—her face quickly turned odd, and she threw it aside as well.
"This book is awful," she said.
"What book?" Hermione asked, intrigued.
"A pile of nonsense from start to finish. Total waste of time," Louis said, now immersed in Simple Alchemy Item Crafting.
This one was much better—clear, practical, and detailed. It even had diagrams. You could tell the author genuinely wanted to teach.
Hermione, skeptical, picked up the discarded book and read a page. Just one was enough to make her feel like she'd swallowed a fly.
"This book doesn't deserve to be in Hogwarts' library," she muttered.
Louis and Padma nodded in firm agreement.
By evening, the golden light of the setting sun streamed into the library and landed on the last page of Simple Alchemy Item Crafting. Feeling that he had probably hit his knowledge intake limit for the day, Louis chose not to use his Sharingan to memorize the book, opting to read it normally. Unsurprisingly, not much stuck.
"It's getting late. Shall we go eat dinner?" he asked as he closed the book and stacked it with Marvelous Alchemy, planning to borrow both.
"I'm not done yet, go ahead," Padma looked up. Hermione didn't even respond—completely absorbed in her reading.
Louis gently tapped Hermione's shoulder to pull her back from the sea of knowledge. "Hermione, dinner?"
"You go on. I'll read a bit more," she replied without lifting her eyes. She really was Ravenclaw material.
"Alright then. See you tomorrow." Louis waved goodbye and headed to Madam Pince to register the books he'd read from the Restricted Section and to check out the two alchemy books.
"Treat the books with care, and don't forget to return them on time," Madam Pince reminded him.
"Of course, ma'am," Louis signed his name and left with the books.
Compared to lunch, dinner was much more elaborate. Louis filled his stomach quickly and returned to the Slytherin dorms.
The common room was lively—some reading, some playing Wizard Chess, and others snacking on desserts they'd snuck out of the Great Hall. But the moment Louis walked in, the room fell into an eerie silence. Everyone turned to stare at him.
"Good evening, everyone," Louis greeted politely.
No one replied. Their stares were odd—an uneasy mix of fear and disgust. Some eyes, however, held a spark of admiration—those belonged to the Slytherin girls. They hadn't been tormented by Louis's illusions like the boys had, but they had heard plenty.
Not surprised by the cold treatment, Louis wasn't bothered. "If it's not your crowd, don't force it," as the saying goes.
He headed straight for the stairs, and everyone scrambled to clear his path like he was the Basilisk incarnate.
He was quite pleased with the respect.
As he opened the dorm room door, he found Draco Malfoy lying on his bed looking completely dead inside. His humiliation had spread school-wide—everyone now knew about his wet-pants incident. Even the portraits in the hallway were gossiping.
Damn those big-mouthed Gryffindors.
Draco clenched his teeth in rage, but there was nothing he could do.
His afternoon classes were torture—he constantly felt like people were whispering and pointing at him. He wanted nothing more than to vanish.
"That filthy Mudblood!" Draco growled. No one remembered exactly what happened last night. Draco only remembered that he wanted to teach the Mudblood a lesson and tried opening his luggage.
And then what?
Draco fell into deep thought, straining to recall the memory.
Suddenly, a voice shattered the silence.
"Sounds like you've still got a problem with me, Malfoy?" A nightmare of a voice echoed in the room. Malfoy jumped up from the bed and saw Louis at the door, casually removing his tall top hat.
"Y-you… when did you come in?" Draco stammered, pointing at him.
"Right when you said 'that filthy Mudblood,'" Louis replied coolly—his eyes suddenly sharp and piercing. "And I hate it when people point fingers at me."
Draco flinched, instinctively retracting his hand—then hesitated, thinking it made him look weak. His arm trembled like it was cramping.
"Don't… don't get cocky, you filthy Mudblood! Don't think I'm afraid of you! My father is a governor of this school! I can have you expelled anytime!" Draco shouted, his pride cracking under pressure, barking like a Chihuahua facing a three-headed dog.
"Oh really? Still got a big mouth, huh?" Louis's left eye flickered ominously.
The illusion he'd prepared surged toward Malfoy like a wave.
"You're too noisy. Let me remind you what fear really feels like."
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