Tiger, my dear boy." Dumbledore shook his head with a helpless smile. "Calm down."
"The Sorting Hat was simply frightened by your Obscurus. The chaotic, disordered emotions of an Obscurus would terrify anyone."
"You can let your Obscurus come out for a moment. I promise nothing like this will happen again..."
Obscurus?!
Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, many students' stunned expressions suddenly shifted, and a roar of discussion erupted.
Faced with questions from the younger years, Ravenclaw upperclassmen explained with trembling voices what an Obscurus was.
"Isn't that basically a nuclear bomb?!" A Muggle-bornGryffindor first-year couldn't help but exclaim.
Hair-raising panic quickly spread between the houses, especially among the pure-blood nobles who knew all too well about Obscuri.
Draco Malfoy's face turned deathly pale.
"Merlin's fattest knickers!"
"How dare Dumbledore! How dare he bring an Obscurus into Hogwarts!"
"I'm writing to my father!"
Theodore Nott, sitting beside him, muttered expressionlessly:
"I want to scream too..."
Blaise Zabini held a pocket watch, looking at his mother on the watch face—who had outlived several husbands—blowing him kisses, his face full of despair.
"Mum... I knew it. This damned fate is finally my turn..."
Dumbledore's subsequent words were drowned out by the tide of noisy discussion.
However, Tiger still heard every word crystal clear. A subtle look of surprise flickered across his violent expression, and he nodded slightly, as if reaching some agreement.
Venom's twisted tentacles, clearly displeased, roughly hurled The Sorting Hat into the distance.
That ear-piercing shriek had nearly reached sonic resonance levels, making Venom extremely pissed off.
Professor McGonagall summoned The Sorting Hat to herself with a Summoning Charm, breathed a sigh of relief, then pointed her wand tip to her throat and looked sternly at the students below.
"Quiet! Quiet! QUIET!"
The deafening rebuke echoed through The Great Hall, and the noisy discussions gradually subsided.
"Beautiful nonverbal spellcasting, Minerva."
Dumbledore applauded appreciatively, but Professor McGonagall didn't give him much of a pleasant look.
"Headmaster, now is not the time for this."
"Oh, of course, of course."
Dumbledore's smile remained as warm as ever, making Professor McGonagall grit her teeth in frustration, yet she couldn't say anything.
"Children, allow me to interrupt."
A strong, vigorous voice rang out. Even the usually proud pure-blood noble children couldn't help but straighten their backs, their eyes showing a hint of solemnity.
"Mr. Shelby'sObscurus isn't what you think—it's a mutated type."
"I stake my reputation and that of several old friends as guarantee that Mr. Shelby will not lose control."
Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, Dumbledore blinked and said with a somewhat mischievous tone:
"Of course, provided you don't provoke him."
"Please remember our school motto."
"Never tickle a sleeping dragon."
Seeming to sense some inexplicable malice, Tiger looked back fiercely toward the staff table.
However, this uncomfortable gaze disappeared the moment he turned around.
In its place were various kinds of smiles—cold, displeased, kind, or curious...
"Now then, the Sorting Ceremony continues."
"Mr. Shelby."
"Please return to the stool."
Seeing the students had completely calmed down, Professor McGonagall looked sternly at Tiger, her gaze carrying a warning.
"I imagine you're hungry too, aren't you?"
"Of course, I'm bloody starving."
Tiger raised an eyebrow, then cast a warning look at The Sorting Hat—dark and terrifying.
Venom's hideous, twisted head gradually took shape, with pale, abyssal eyes and sharp, razor-like teeth, causing the students below to cover their mouths and gasp softly.
"Wicked..."
"I want one too..."
George and Fred were full of envy, and the Gryffindor students sitting beside them unconsciously nodded in agreement.
"Oh..."
The moment The Sorting Hat covered Tiger's head, it let out an irrepressible trembling sound, its brim tilted high.
Sensing Tiger's violent emotions, The Sorting Hat's ancient fabric seemed to pale by several shades.
In fact, The Shelby Family had eliminated no fewer gang members than Voldemort had killed.
The agony of Tiger crushing his enemies' bones inch by inch was no less excruciating than the Cruciatus Curse.
Chicago typewriters, grenades, and RPGs were far more efficient than wands...
"Az..."
The Sorting Hat, about to shout "Azkaban," forcibly swallowed its words.
Venom's meat-grinder-like teeth were right beside it, drool dripping onto the brim.
[Merlin...]
[You're the most insane little wizard I've ever encountered. I still think Azkaban would suit you better...]
The sigh in Tiger's mind was full of helplessness.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The Sorting Hat's shout echoed through The Great Hall. Tiger impatiently stood up and roughly threw the hat back onto the stool.
The Sorting Hat couldn't help but cry out in pain. Watching Tiger's rapidly departing figure, it murmured softly:
"Actually, it's about the same—one's a reserve, the other's regular army. How foolish of me..."
Unlike the other students, not a single person at The Slytherin table applauded.
But Tiger didn't give a damn. He walked straight over and sat beside Draco Malfoy.
"Oh, little morsel."
"You look quite delicious."
Faced with Venom's teasing, Draco Malfoy's hair stood on end, his pale cheeks trembling uncontrollably.
He cast pleading looks at his friends, but Crabbe, Pansy, and the others silently lowered their heads.
Diagonally across, Head GirlGemma Farley sitting at the head of the table nodded slightly at Tiger and said coolly:
"Welcome, Mr. Shelby."
"And this... Mr. Obscurus."
"Oh, chocolate bean, you can call me Venom. Also, I quite fancy your flavor..."
Faced with Venom's terrifying stare, Gemma Farley's expression remained unperturbed.
Her unsmiling, refined features seemed to perpetually maintain a state of cold aloofness.
"Shelby! How dare you..."
Head BoyAtlantic Burstrode looked furious and wanted to say something, but was silenced by Head GirlGemma Farley's commanding gaze.
"Burstrode..."
"Please maintain your manners."
"Shelby is a member of Slytherin. Compared to him, you're more like a rabid dog..."
Gemma Farley's voice had no great fluctuation, nor any trace of familiarity, as if she were addressing a stranger she'd just met.
"Shut your stinking gob, you bitch."
Tiger was clearly uninterested in the pure-blood nobles' verbal games. He smiled maliciously and raised his middle finger, causing every student at the table to blanch.
Only Head GirlGemma Farley remained composed, still wearing that eternally unchanged iceberg expression.
"Mr. Shelby, please maintain your manner..."
Before she could finish speaking.
Venom's elongated tongue had already slithered to her ear, the putrid stench from its fangs unmistakable.
"Darling, a word of advice—you'd better shut that pretty mouth before I secretly devour your head."
"Tiger has precious little patience, and I never disobey my master's commands..."
Gemma Farley's eyes finally rippled, like a calm lake surface disturbed by a sudden breeze.
Her hand beneath the table clenched into a fist, fingertips white from excessive pressure—whether from fear or desperately trying to maintain control over emotions threatening to spiral.
Venom's whisper in her ear was like the caress of a cold serpent's tongue. She couldn't dismiss it as empty threats.
Filthy, crude, barbaric, violent...
She had never encountered such a creature masquerading as a person. It filled her with unprecedented shock and revulsion.
With just verbal probing, the bastard had ruthlessly torn away all pretense, displaying that kind of unrestrained provocation and arrogance—directly overturning the table in her face.
The pure-blood nobles' usual methods seemed to completely lose their effectiveness against this Shelby.
For the first time in her life, Gemma Farley felt a sense of powerlessness and sudden loss of control. The sensation was absolutely revolting.
Damn Shelby!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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