The Doge eventually gave in after much grumbling, reluctantly chewing on its dog food—sprinkled with broccoli, no less. Fortunately, Marius
The Doge eventually gave in after much grumbling, reluctantly chewing on its dog food—sprinkled with broccoli, no less. Fortunately, Marius Cloud took pity on the poor creature and popped open a tin of meat for it, which finally seemed to appease the beast.
Still, as they left the dormitory, Marius could hear it muttering under its breath:
"I'm truly Schrödinger's Dog…"
"Cruel dog-abusing tyrant…"
It went on and on until Marius turned back and hit it with a wordless charm right in the face, silencing it at last.
He still wasn't entirely sure why Snape wanted to see him, but after a moment's thought, Marius decided it was better to be prepared.
Opening his system panel, he noticed the notification still hanging there from when he'd defeated all six of the House Prefects:
Congratulations to the Host for defeating all members of the Slytherin Prefect Council! Reward: One Spin of the Prize Wheel!
No potential points this time—but Marius was far happier with this reward.
In all the prizes he'd received so far, there were generally three categories:
Direct attribute or skill upgrades.
Potential points he could allocate freely.
And the rarest and most valuable—a random draw for entirely new powers or items.
And there was no doubt—the random draw was the jackpot. It meant he'd gain a completely new ability, and Marius was all for that.
"Alright, System—start the draw!"
The Archmage System obeyed instantly. The wheel spun wildly, lights flashing so fast they almost blurred together—until it slowed and stopped on a single line of text:
[Congratulations! You have acquired the Level 1 skill: Absolute Control!]
"Absolute Control?" Marius blinked. The name sounded… cool enough, but when he read the description, he felt a bit lost.
Host can perfectly control every controllable part of their body, achieving 100% precision.
"Uh… System, can you explain exactly what that means?"
The System responded quickly:
For example, gymnasts or divers often have the physical capability to perform high-scoring moves, but they need countless hours of repetition before they can execute them flawlessly.
With 'Absolute Control,' the Host only needs to understand the exact details of a movement. As long as your body is physically capable of performing it, you can execute it flawlessly without any practice or adjustment time.
Marius scratched his head.
Compared to skills like Mental Scan, this didn't seem all that practical… but deep down, he had a nagging feeling this ability wasn't as simple as it looked. The real potential would have to be discovered by him.
Shaking off his thoughts, Marius made his way toward Snape's office.
Passing through the Slytherin common room, students from all years stood respectfully when they saw him, greeting him with the deference due to their House's rising star. Marius merely waved in acknowledgment—his mind was elsewhere.
What exactly does Snape want from me?
It was odd when he thought about it—Snape wasn't the kind of man to suffer a loss quietly. Yet his behavior in Potions class had been… strangely restrained.
There's definitely something up here. I can smell the plot twist already.
By the time Marius finished this thought, he was standing before the dark, oppressive door of Snape's office. For some reason, he had this mental image that opening it would reveal either the laboratory of a deranged scientist… or a direct gateway to the Underworld.
Deciding not to overthink it, he pushed the door open.
Sure enough—inside was a scene straight out of a laboratory. But instead of a mad scientist, there was a mad Potioneer.
Snape stood at his workbench, completely absorbed in whatever he was brewing.
"Figures," Marius muttered. "Not a science nut—just a potion fanatic."
"Who's there?!"
Snape spun around, wand in hand so fast it would've put a duelist to shame.
When he saw Marius, he lowered his wand—but his tone remained as dry as ever.
"It's you? Coming in without knocking? Incredibly rude. I should take points from Slytherin—"
"Yeah, yeah," Marius cut him off impatiently. "I did knock. You just didn't hear it, so I came in."
In truth, he hadn't knocked at all. But seeing how absorbed Snape was, Marius knew the man wouldn't have noticed either way.
Snape glared at him coldly but didn't press the matter. As Head of Slytherin House, he wasn't exactly eager to dock points from his own House. Since Marius had given him a face-saving excuse, he decided to take it.
"So, Professor Snape, what exactly did you call me here for?"
"The Quidditch trials for this term will be starting soon," Snape said, stepping away from the workbench.
"Oh," Marius replied flatly.
"…Do you know which House won the Quidditch Cup last year?" Snape asked after a pause.
"No."
"…What about the year before that?"
"No."
"…The year before—"
"All no," Marius interrupted. "Not interested in the slightest."
The truth was, he really had no interest in Quidditch. The game's rules were riddled with loopholes. In his opinion, any sport where catching one golden trinket instantly ended the match and handed your team 150 points—regardless of the score before—was the athletic equivalent of poisoned candy.
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T/N:
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