Chapter 134
After the Wand Ceremony, Soren's life returned to attending classes and studying Transfiguration.
He had a fair grasp of Human Transfiguration and was confident he could master it before December.
A few days later, Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament was published. Rather than being a report on the tournament, it was more of a sensationalized depiction of Harry's personal life. The entire article focused on Harry, with the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions squeezed into the last line and misspelled, while Soren was not mentioned at all.
To make matters worse, Rita not only turned Harry's stammering into a nauseating long-winded narrative but also asked others for their opinions about him.
"Harry has finally found his first love at Hogwarts. His close friend Colin Creevey said that Harry is inseparable from a girl named Hermione Granger, who is stunningly beautiful and comes from a Muggle family. Like Harry, she is also one of the top students at school." This made Harry and Hermione the main targets of mockery from Slytherin students.
This drove Harry nearly insane. He even accidentally shouted at his dream girl, Cho Chang, once.
Naturally, Hermione also bore some of the unpleasantness, but she didn't shout at innocent passersby.
What concerned her more was whether anyone would misunderstand her feelings. However, thinking of the day when Soren held Daphne's hand as they entered the classroom, a hint of bitterness arose in her heart.
This was also the first time she genuinely felt envious of Daphne, who was born into a pure-blood family and could easily be chosen for Slytherin House.
She recalled the day she put on the Sorting Hat, which had asked her—Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?
Due to her admiration for the greatest wizard of the century, Dumbledore, she resolutely chose what she believed was the best house, Gryffindor.
She couldn't help but wonder what her life would be like now if she had chosen Ravenclaw that day.
Eleanor and Katarine did not attend classes with the Hogwarts students, even though Dumbledore had promised them the freedom to audit any class.
Eleanor spent most of her time on the ghost ship, personally guided by Karkaroff.
Katarine was similar, spending most of her time in the carriage, personally instructed by Madame Maxime.
After the Wand Ceremony, Soren had friendly exchanges with the two girls. As far as he knew, both the ghost ship and the carriage had been enhanced with a Seamless Extension Charm.
Not only was the space large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, but it was also divided into several smaller spaces, such as boys' dormitories, girls' dormitories, washrooms, offices, and classrooms. It was essentially a mini portable school designed for small class teaching.
Soren made good use of his hourglass, and besides his daily studies, he also set aside time every day to spend with Daphne, Moray, and Astoria to strengthen their relationships. While pursuing power to save Meredith was important, he couldn't take the efforts of the three girls for granted; he couldn't be so selfish.
That night, in the Potions classroom underground.
Under the dim light, the classroom felt even colder than usual.
"Professor," Soren said respectfully, "did you call me for something?"
Snape's gaze was still as dark as ever. In his low, smooth voice, he said, "Participating in the Triwizard Tournament was your own idea?"
"Yes, Professor," Soren replied, "I believe my strength is not much inferior to that of seventh-year students, and I have my reasons for participating."
A flicker of uncertainty passed through Snape's usually hollow eyes as he slowly said, "Is it because of Meredith? That girl from Shafiq?"
"Exactly." Soren looked directly into Snape's eyes. "To me, she is a companion, a family member, and someone I love."
Snape couldn't help but snort coldly. "Foolish!" He seemed to realize he was deviating from his usual aloof persona, pressed his lips together, and then coldly said, "With your background, appearance, and strength, what kind of woman could you not have? Why cling to the past?"
Soren secretly sneered, thinking that the professor must have projected his own past onto this situation.
"Professor," Soren said firmly, "if I abandon my partner today because of a small difficulty, how could I ever deserve a genuine relationship in the future?"
He raised his voice slightly, "Moreover, let alone that there is still a chance to save Meredith now, even if she has truly become someone else or remarried, I would still act like a real man and bring her back!"
Snape's eyes showed a rare change, and the temperature in the classroom became even colder. The perceptive Soren could even sense a subtle killing intent.
Hmph, it seems I've touched on your inner thoughts, old bat.
After a moment, Snape's eyes returned to their usual emptiness. He said flatly, "You are different from the Malfoys I know... you are an idiot..."
"Although I say you are foolish, since you have made up your mind," Snape continued, "as the head of house slytherin and a friend of your father's, I should assist you both publicly and privately."
He took a book from a hidden compartment in his desk and handed it to Soren. "Take this book; it is my usual research on magical notes and should help you with your abilities."
Hmph, Soren was well aware that Snape was seeing his past self in him—he clearly wanted to help Soren to make up for his regrets from the past, yet he insisted on maintaining a formal demeanor.
Of course, Soren would not mention that he had taken advantage of his goodwill.
"Thank you, Professor!"
"And one more thing," Snape's deep voice echoed softly, "this time, do not share this book with anyone, even if that person is your brother."
"Understood, Professor." Soren immediately grasped his meaning and couldn't help but smile.
Last semester, Soren had shared Snape's introductory potion notes with the Slytherin students without permission, and it seemed Snape was already aware of this.
Soren's actions had a reason; he was testing the waters, wanting to know Snape's bottom line.
Snape was a very complex person. He was a half-blood wizard who joined the Death Eaters due to his admiration for dark magic and power, despite being originally loyal to Voldemort. He switched sides because of the woman he loved. But that didn't mean he was truly loyal to Dumbledore.
He followed Dumbledore's orders merely to protect the boy he despised the most.
In the end, Snape was only loyal to himself, making him someone Soren could potentially win over.
It was not surprising that Snape knew about the incident from last semester, as Soren had no intention of hiding it from him.
Snape's reaction was quite interesting.
He did not criticize Soren for leaking his potion insights, yet he also did not praise Soren for significantly improving the potion levels for all of Slytherin.
He clearly knew about it but acted as if he was completely unaware, saying nothing.
And this time, he finally took the initiative to ask Soren to keep the notes private, even forbidding Draco from sharing them.
What does this indicate? It merely suggests that Snape's private assistance to Soren is based on Soren himself, unrelated to Slytherin or the Malfoy family!
This further highlights the importance of reputation.
Whether it is the Greengrass family, the Nott family, or anyone, as well as Snape before him, they all see a different possibility in Soren!
In this world, besides Dumbledore and Voldemort, there is a third possibility!
Snape lightly snorted and said coldly, "I take back what I just said; you are not too foolish."
["Snape's Magical Research Notes" obtained!]
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