The killing intent vanished.
Instantly.
The crushing pressure disappeared like it had never existed.
People gasped.
Some collapsed into chairs.
Others clutched their chests, hearts racing.
Lucien stepped forward.
Slow.
Measured.
He looked down at Varian Selwyn—not with anger, not with rage—
But the way one might look at an ant.
The Great Hall was so silent that the crackle of candles sounded deafening.
Then—
Lucien laughed.
Softly.
"What did you want?" he asked.
Varian's mouth opened.
No sound came out.
Lucien nodded, as if that answered everything.
"Good," he said calmly. "Then listen."
The Story
"Let me tell you a story."
His voice carried.
Not loud.
Not sharp.
But everyone heard it.
"There was a child," Lucien continued, "who lost his family and was sent to an orphanage."
Some students shifted uneasily.
"By luck," Lucien said, "he was adopted by a family. They loved him. Their granddaughter loved him."
Akeno's hand trembled slightly.
Lucien didn't look away.
"Two years later, the adoptive parents died of old age."
A hush fell deeper.
"The child was seven."
Lucien's eyes flicked briefly to Varian.
"He became the heir. Responsible for protecting the family name… and the sister he loved."
No one breathed.
"For one year, everything was peaceful."
Lucien tilted his head.
"Then a man appeared."
He pointed—casually—at Varian.
"A man very much like you."
Varian flinched.
Power Measured
Lucien asked calmly,
"How much power did that man's family have?"
Varian, Marcus Flint, Graham Pike, and Derrick Vance shook their heads desperately.
Lucien smiled faintly.
"Four times the wealth and influence of the Malfoy family."
The Great Hall froze.
Even professors stiffened.
"Do you know what that man tried to do?" Lucien asked.
Silence.
"He attempted to assault the child's lover."
Lucien's voice didn't change.
"Four days later," he continued, "that man lost everything."
No emotion.
Just fact.
"He was relocated to America. His wealth—everything his ancestors built—was transferred to an eight-year-old child."
Murmurs rippled through the hall.
"Only then," Lucien said softly, "did everyone understand why the old couple left their inheritance to that child."
Names That Followed
"They gave him many names," Lucien said.
"Most forgotten."
He paused.
"But two remained."
The pause stretched.
"Lionhardt Beast."
"Asura."
A chill crawled down spines.
Lucien looked directly at Varian.
"Do you want to know the child's name?"
Many already knew.
Lucien answered anyway.
"Lucien Aurelius Lionhardt."
The same boy standing before them.
The same boy who had just ended the room with a thought.
❓ The Question
Lucien took one final step forward.
His shadow fell over Varian and the others.
"Now," Lucien asked quietly,
"do you want to experience the same life?"
Varian shook violently.
"No—no—no—"
He broke.
Varian Selwyn collapsed, urine spreading across the floor.
Marcus Flint followed.
Then Graham Pike.
Then Derrick Vance.
All four sobbing.
Shaking.
Broken.
Lucien looked away.
Disgusted.
What Hogwarts Understood
Lucien turned back to Akeno and Susan.
"Let's go."
They walked out.
No one stopped them.
No one dared.
That day, Hogwarts learned something far more important than spells or Quidditch.
Lucien Lionhardt did not threaten.
He warned.
And warnings from him were not repeated twice.