Ivy was undoubtedly provoking the entire Slytherin common room.
The upper-year Slytherins, who had been enjoying the spectacle, exchanged glances, none of them expecting things to escalate so quickly.
"Ivy? May I call you Ivy?" Still standing before the first-year students, the female prefect, Gemma Farley, raised her hand and wand in front of her chest to show that she meant no harm. "Actually... you didn't have to do that. The silent disarming spell you just cast was more than enough to demonstrate your strength."
"I believe that among the first-year students... no, perhaps among all the Slytherin students, you are the top. But believe me, provoking the entire house will only make you unnecessary enemies... And we—pure-blood families—should be your allies..."
A smile appeared on Ivy's face, and Gemma Farley breathed a sigh of relief, the atmosphere relaxing slightly.
"Crushing people's spirits and then trying to win them over—that's quite the strategy," Ivy said with a chuckle. "But you, all of you, seem to have forgotten something. Only those with equal or similar strength can become allies."
Gemma Farley's momentary relief quickly turned to worry.
She hadn't expected this seemingly charming and polite kid to be a madman, taking down a senior student with a single move and relentlessly challenging all the upper-year Slytherins.
While they, the pure-blood wizards, would always prioritize self-preservation, that didn't mean they would remain indifferent to a direct provocation. Perhaps it was time to teach him the meaning of humility.
Even if he could easily take down one upper-year student, what about five? Ten? A hundred?
"Come on, pick up your wand and let me see if you're worthy." Before Gemma Farley could fully compose herself, she heard Ivy issue the ultimatum.
"I... ahh—Disarm!" Gemma Farley exhaled, then suddenly launched an attack, a red spell shooting out at close range, a sneak attack that no ordinary person could react to at such a distance.
"Shield Charm." Ivy calmly cast the spell, his experience from hunting down fire-gray serpents in the Forbidden Forest making his response effortless. The attack from Gemma Farley appeared slow and easy to counter.
The red beam from the disarming spell collided with the purple shield Ivy summoned and immediately bounced back, with Gemma Farley letting out a muffled grunt as her wand flew from her hand.
"A sneak attack is a good tactic, but next time, try not to focus on the target so much, or it'll be too easy to reveal your intentions." Ivy casually tossed Gemma Farley's wand onto the ground, offering advice.
This was like delivering a finishing blow and then flaunting it, even typing out a taunt afterward—truly heartless.
At first, Gemma Farley thought Ivy had shown mercy—didn't the previous person hit by the disarming spell still lie unconscious on the ground? But after hearing Ivy's words, her small Slytherin pride felt as if it would have been better just to stay unconscious.
"Besides this female prefect, is there anyone else brave enough to step forward?" Ivy wasn't planning to let the other Slytherins off the hook so easily. He waved his wand, causing all the expensive furniture in the common room to move aside and clear the space. Then he mocked, "Since when did Slytherin's pride turn into cowardice? What you're doing is nothing but bringing shame to the so-called pure-blood families."
"Come on, dying standing is better than living on your knees." Ivy continued to provoke. "Besides, even if you do kneel, I'm not sure I'll let you off the hook."
"Who do you think you are?" Finally, someone stepped forward—a freckled boy, his words flying from his mouth, his tongue almost hitting his eyes. "Do you know who my father is? He works at the Ministry of Magic... Ah!"
"I don't know, and I'm not interested." Ivy interrupted his speech with a silent spell, sending him into an uneasy sleep. "What a bunch of rabble. Is there anything you're good at besides boasting?"
Ever since Voldemort, with his ridiculous pure-blood ideology, had swayed most of the pure-blood wizards and waged a long, drawn-out war against Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, the so-called pure-blood wizard families were now nothing more than a bunch of half-hearted, double-dealing fools.
After all, the wizards who worshipped the pure-blood ideology either died in the war or were locked away in Azkaban.
The wizards who followed Voldemort in his rise to power could be divided into three main groups. First, there were Voldemort's most loyal followers—some joined because of the pure-blood ideology, others because of the Dark Lord's power, and they would follow him unconditionally, no matter what idiotic decisions he made. Representing this group were the Lestranges, Barty Crouch Jr., and others.
So when Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, they couldn't accept it and continued wreaking havoc in the wizarding world until they were captured.
The second group was the opportunistic aristocrats led by the Malfoy family, who hoped to use Voldemort's power to gain more influence in the wizarding world. They initially saw Voldemort as a benefactor and frontman, never expecting him to fully embrace dark magic, even creating the "Dark Mark," an advanced dark magical brand.
Once these self-proclaimed benefactors were branded with the Dark Mark, they instantly became pawns and tools, no longer owning their lives or futures.
When Voldemort fell, these old fools immediately abandoned him, choosing to betray their comrades or rely on political maneuvering to regain their freedom.
The students remaining in Slytherin were mostly from these families or had deep connections with them.
As the saying goes, "Once bitten, twice shy."
So when Ivy forcefully provoked them, no one in the entire Slytherin common room dared to confront him. Because the real tough ones weren't in prison—they were already in their graves.
The third group of Voldemort's followers were complete fools. These people had no brains and joined the Death Eaters purely because it was trendy. They believed that Voldemort was great simply because other pure-blood wizards said so, but they couldn't even articulate why.
People like Wormtail, Peter Pettigrew, and Regulus Black were part of this group.
Once they joined the Death Eaters, they quickly realized things weren't as they seemed, but only a handful were able to wake up from their foolishness. Most of them died under Voldemort's oppressive rule, becoming stepping stones and cannon fodder for his cause.
Looking at the trembling students in the common room, Ivy shook his head in disappointment.
Is this the Slytherin I know?
Not to mention that there wasn't a single wizard capable of casting advanced dark magic, but even the title of "most troublemaking house" had been completely stolen by Gryffindor. Even if someone loudly declared, "I want to follow you," Ivy would have given them an out.
Now it seems... Rebuilding the glory of Slytherin is our unshirkable duty!