The crisp, pleasant sound of a silver spoon tapping against a cup rang out.
Everyone's attention was drawn back.
At some point, Professor McGonagall had returned to the staff table. Under the expectant gazes of the young wizards, Dumbledore stood up with a calm smile, raised his hand, and announced:
"Now, let the feast begin."
The moment his words fell, various delicacies appeared on the house tables, filling the air with enticing aromas.
Exclamations arose one after another as chicken drumsticks piled like small mountains nearly poked Tiger in the nose.
How the bloody hell was this done?
Tiger looked genuinely surprised and instinctively glanced under the table, drawing mocking looks from the other Slytherins.
Head BoyAtlantic Burstrode didn't even bother to hide his sneer as he exchanged glances with those beside him.
Country bumpkin...
Under the horrified gazes of Malfoy and others, Venom extended its dark, twisted tentacles, lifted an entire untouched roasted turkey, and tossed it into its hideous maw.
As if entering a meat grinder, accompanied by teeth-grinding sounds of bones cracking, the roasted turkey—larger than a head—was instantly chewed to bits.
"Bloody brilliant... crunch crunch... this old codger only said one sentence... crunch crunch..."
Venom made satisfied sounds. After swallowing the turkey, it grinned widely and turned its head toward Tiger.
"Remember that idiot headmaster whose bones you crushed? I thought this old git would be like that tosser—blabbering on and on with rubbish."
"Damn it, a whole bloody hour and more. You know what? I really wanted to eat him then."
"I'm surprised too..."
Tiger replied casually.
But then, as if remembering something, he grabbed his knife and fork while his fierce face filled with displeasure.
"But honestly, this old bastard's no pushover. We can't take him right now."
"Otherwise, I'd definitely make that son-of-a-bitch hat taste what the hell 'no bloody malice' really means."
With that, Tiger speared an entire grilled lamb chop and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing with savage intensity.
His strong, powerful jaw moved slightly, crushing the ribs within the lamb chop like a wild beast.
This completely different style from Slytherin made all the Slytherins at the long table unconsciously frown, including Head GirlGemma Farley.
Although her face remained composed and her movements elegantly refined, as if unaffected by any external disturbance.
But one piece of the evenly cut steak on her plate suddenly slipped out...
Damn tiger!
Filthy beast!
Under the surprised gazes of those around her, Gemma Farley casually flicked her finger.
"Scourgify..."
The steak on the plate, including the fallen piece, instantly vanished from the table.
"Beautiful wandless magic." A Slytherin sitting beside her looked genuinely impressed.
Only Malfoy and others were still staring dumbfounded as Tiger bit and swallowed an entire beef rib, meat and bone together.
"Merlin..."
"Are this bloke's teeth made of bloody iron?"
"Of course..."
A hoarse, low voice responded.
Tiger mischievously turned his head suddenly, Venom's hideous, terrifying fangs somehow covering Tiger's cheek.
As if seeing a ghost.
Draco Malfoy's face went deathly white, and in his instinctive attempt to flee, he nearly toppled backward off the bench.
"Hahaha!"
Tiger slapped the table and roared with laughter at his successful prank, even high-fiving Venom's tentacle.
The wild laughter wasn't particularly noticeable in The Great Hall, but it was jarringly out of place at the Slytherin table.
Unlike the noise and chaos of other houses.
The restraint ingrained by pure-blood upbringing meant that even Slytherin students' dinner conversations were kept to whispered levels.
Snape at the staff table watched Tiger coldly. For some reason, he sensed this git would be an even bigger headache than Potter.
Including that dead Potter...
"Brilliant prank!"
The Weasley Twins had been watching Venom the entire time.
Seeing Malfoy nearly scared to tears, the brothers cheered uncontrollably, wishing they could be sitting there themselves. They said in unison:
"He should be in Gryffindor. Merlin's beard, The Sorting Hat must've been scared senseless."
"No, he's a Shelby."
Harry remained silent for a moment before voicing a different opinion. "Surrey's biggest gang."
"No house would suit a Shelby. Perhaps The Sorting Hat was right after all."
Thinking of The Shelby Family's reputation in Surrey, Harry felt inexplicably suffocated.
That was a gang. Although he'd never seen one firsthand, he'd seen plenty on television.
Smuggling, gunfights, vendettas, black market operations, territorial disputes, blood on their hands...
No matter what.
In his eyes, no one could be worse than gangsters—not even the SlytherinsRon complained about.
"What's a gang?"
Ron ate with grease dripping from his mouth. He held a drumstick in each hand, his mouth bulging as he asked.
Several students from wizarding families also looked curiously at Harry, including The Weasley Twins.
"Er..."
Harry hesitated slightly.
Looking at the young wizards around him, he suddenly realized—The Shelbys were The Shelbys, but Tiger was Tiger.
He didn't want his words to cause Tiger to face discrimination at Hogwarts.
After all, the word "gang" wasn't exactly flattering.
At this moment, Seamus Finnigan from a half-blood family, chewing on apple pie, mumbled an answer:
"They're like dark wizards in the Muggle world."
"My dad was once robbed by gangsters on his way home at night. It was really dangerous..."
In the wizarding world, dark wizards robbing ordinary wizards was equally common, with murder and theft hardly unusual.
"Oh... bloody hell..."
"Natural Slytherin..."
Seeing the young wizards around him change expressions, Neville looked anxious. He gathered his courage to intervene:
"Tiger's a good person!"
"On the train, I shared a compartment with him. He was very... very kind..."
Hearing Neville's voice, everyone turned their attention to him.
Although "dark wizard" and "gang" carried danger, for Gryffindors filled with curiosity, these words also symbolized the allure of unknown territories.
Being watched by so many people for the first time, Neville's words immediately became stuttered.
"And... and... Venom..."
"It... is also very good... really..."
That mutated Obscurus?
Everyone unconsciously frowned, their glances toward Tiger flashing with wariness.
Venom's appearance was utterly grotesque—no matter how you looked at it, it couldn't possibly be associated with "good."
Realizing no one believed him, Neville frantically rummaged in his pocket.
In front of everyone, he clumsily and frantically pulled out a card from a stack of wizard cards and held it high.
"Look!"
"This... this is..."
Neville, almost too anxious to speak, finally closed his eyes and shouted the last sentence:
"Venom gave it to me!"
The Gryffindor table suddenly fell silent, and even the teachers at the staff table turned to look at Neville.
Looking at the card glowing with faint purple light, Ron forgot to swallow the drumstick in his mouth.
"Adalbert Waffling... Merlin's saggy left—that Obscurus gave it to you?"
Meat scraps tumbled from the corner of his mouth as Ron's envy practically overflowed from his eyes.
He reckoned that even if this card were lodged in Venom's throat, he'd dare reach in to retrieve it—and give Venom's teeth a good scrub while he was at it.
At this moment, other Gryffindor students also caught sight of the white-bearded wizard in the card clearly, and exclamations erupted one after another.
At the staff table, Professor Flitwick set down his knife and fork, his eyes brimming with longing as he gazed at Neville.
"Merlin, he's incredibly fortunate. I'm just missing this one card..."
"What a remarkable coincidence—so am I."
Dumbledore looked at him with a chuckle, his wise eyes rarely showing such genuine interest.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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