Lykos stared blankly at the professor with the purple turban, only to meet a pair of cold, piercing eyes—completely different from the trembling, cowardly demeanor the man had been displaying.
"S-sorry, P-Professor Snape… I'm terribly s-sorry…"
After just a brief moment of eye contact with Lykos, the turbaned professor immediately returned to his cowering act, bowing and nodding repeatedly toward the man beside him.
"Be quiet."
The greasy-haired, hook-nosed wizard next to him impatiently raised his wand. The spilled liquid on the table vanished instantly.
Without sparing him another glance, the man turned his gaze back toward the line of first-year students. His eyes fixed on the green pupils of a skinny boy with round glasses, his expression unreadable.
Lykos silently withdrew his gaze.
The stuttering professor with the purple turban and the greasy-haired, hook-nosed man—those two obvious traits made it easy for him to identify them.
They were the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirinus Quirrell, and the Potions professor, Severus Snape.
That realization left Lykos's thoughts in turmoil.
Because he knew exactly who Quirinus Quirrell was.
A hidden Death Eater.
Even worse, the ultimate villain himself—Voldemort—was currently attached to the back of Quirrell's head beneath that turban.
And yet that extremely dangerous man had just told Lykos to come to his office tonight.
Lykos had a very bad feeling about this.
With a troubled mind, he sat down at the end of the Slytherin table. He forced a stiff smile and exchanged a few greetings with older Slytherin students nearby before staring blankly at the empty plate in front of him.
The lively, noisy atmosphere of the Great Hall felt completely disconnected from him.
Lykos realized that this transmigration might not be as simple as he had imagined. Staying away from the Savior Trio clearly wouldn't be enough to guarantee his safety…
"So the guy who made us wait ten minutes is sitting here, huh?"
While he was lost in thought, a slow, drawn-out voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Turning his head, Lykos saw a pale boy with light blond hair.
Even though the boy was standing and looking down at Lykos, his chin was still tilted upward arrogantly. His gray eyes had to roll downward just to see him.
In fact, he rolled them so far that most of the whites of his eyes were visible, making the pose look rather ridiculous.
And beside him stood two enormous boys—one on each side.
Before seeing them, Lykos would never have believed that an eleven-year-old could be that fat.
It took him almost no time to reach a conclusion.
The thin boy and his two bulky companions were Draco Malfoy and his cronies.
"Is there a problem?" Lykos asked casually.
His mind was still occupied with Quirrell and Voldemort. He had no interest in dealing with some spoiled young master.
"I'm just curious why it took more than ten minutes for you to be sorted into Slytherin," Malfoy said, still lifting his chin proudly. "The hat knew I belonged here before it even touched my head."
A look of extreme pride appeared on his face, and the two boys beside him cooperatively began clapping.
"Maybe I just have qualities from other houses too," Lykos replied lazily, glancing at him.
"I knew it. I've never heard of any pure-blood family named Hayden. No wonder that stupid hat struggled so much," Malfoy said with a smug smile, chin raised high.
"But you're lucky. Even as a half-blood, you still managed to enter the best house at Hogwarts."
He slapped the arms of the two boys beside him.
"This is Crabbe and Goyle. I'm Malfoy—Draco Malfoy. My father is one of Hogwarts' school governors."
He planted his hands on his hips, showing no effort to hide his superior background or the arrogance carved deep into his bones.
"You half-blood types—if you ever run into trouble, just use my name. I'll cover for you!"
"Well, thank you very much for that," Lykos said, baring his teeth in a smile that looked completely fake. "I'm Lykos Hayden. Nice to meet you."
He casually introduced himself using the name he had only learned a few minutes earlier.
Malfoy, however, was immersed in the pleasure of showing off his noble heritage. He didn't notice Lykos's indifference at all and assumed that Lykos was simply overwhelmed by the presence of such a distinguished wizard.
"If you plan to keep standing there, could you at least not block the walkway?"
Just as Malfoy was basking in his pride, a cold voice suddenly came from behind him.
He turned around angrily, wanting to see who dared interrupt his moment of showing off.
"You—"
The words stuck in his throat.
Standing in the aisle between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables was a girl who looked as delicate as porcelain.
Her long hair flowed smoothly like golden silk under sunlight, dazzling to the eye.
Her emerald-green eyes stared forward indifferently. Though she was speaking to Malfoy and the others, her expression made it seem as if they weren't worth acknowledging at all.
She was clearly only eleven years old, yet she carried an imposing aura—like a cold, untouchable ice queen.
"Do you have any other questions?" she asked calmly. "If not, please move aside and stop blocking the aisle so everyone can sit down."
Malfoy and the two large boys instinctively squeezed to the sides, leaving a wide path open.
"Thank you."
The blonde girl gave a faint nod and walked straight between them without hesitation. She took a seat at an empty spot at the Slytherin table.
Several students who had been stuck behind Malfoy's group followed quietly. They each found small seats, but all of them unconsciously kept a wide distance from the blonde girl.
"Wait… why did I move out of her way?"
Only then did Malfoy realize that he had lost face by stepping aside so easily. He stomped his foot in frustration.
"Crabbe, Goyle! Why did you two move?" he demanded, immediately shifting the blame onto his followers.
"I saw you move, so I moved," Crabbe said honestly.
"I saw Crabbe move, so I moved," Goyle replied with equal sincerity.
Malfoy: "…You two really are idiots."
If the white-bearded old man at the staff table hadn't chosen that moment to stand up, the trio might have continued arguing for quite a while.
"Welcome!"
With his long white hair and beard flowing, Dumbledore spread his arms wide and smiled warmly.
"Welcome to Hogwarts and the start of another school year!"
The headmaster had begun his speech.
Even Malfoy didn't dare oppose the headmaster on the very first day of school. He could only drag his two followers to sit down nearby beside Lykos.
But even after sitting, he still leaned over and muttered quietly to Lykos,
"I didn't move because I was afraid of her. I just didn't want anyone to miss a seat before the headmaster finished speaking."
"Sure, sure. I believe you," Lykos replied with a perfect eight-tooth fake smile.