Chapter 34 – A Speech on the First Night.

[Chapter Size: 3000 Words.]

Third Person POV

Hogwarts.

...

...

The sound of a large group of people talking arose throughout the hall as Severus entered the room, remaining discreet while the Invisibility Potion continued to take effect.

He found a crowd of Slytherin students gathered in the middle of the common room, listening to none other than Rabastan Lestrange, Rodolphus's younger brother, the latter being married to Bellatrix Black.

Rabastan was openly addressing the crowd. He seemed to be the next leader of the house, being the most important student among the seventh-years, with Rosier being the second most important in the hierarchy.

Severus approached from one of the corners without drawing anyone's attention. Realizing he needed to maintain his invisibility, he had taken a second Invisibility Potion and moved through the crowd.

"As you all know, this is an important year for Slytherin's future. More than that, for the people of our house who are active out there. Our families, all of them, have already chosen a side!"

'So that's it. An open recruitment speech for the Dark Lord,' Severus thought calmly.

He found a place beside the wall, between those giving speeches and all the listeners from different years, wearing Slytherin robes.

Severus observed each person's face. Some looked proud and euphoric. Others showed doubts and even seemed to shrink back a little.

It was obvious that not everyone shared the ideals of blood supremacy, Muggle extermination, and selective breeding among pure-bloods.

But there was something quite important that they did not seem to take into consideration.

The number of pure-bloods was very small...

Even among all the wizards in Great Britain, they were a minority. After all, there were only twenty-eight families considered truly pure-blood, along with a few smaller ones. Adding together all the members of all those families, they did not amount to more than a few hundred individuals combined.

While the wizarding population of Great Britain exceeded three thousand individuals, pure-bloods represented only one-sixth of that, merely a fraction of the whole.

At the same time, the Muggle population of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland exceeded 55 million people at that time.

What could a few hundred wizards possibly do against such an absurd number of Muggles?

It was foolish to think the way they did about dealing with non-magical people. And they wanted to promote open extermination, alert Muggles to their existence, and simply expect there to be no consequences?

Severus could not see the situation that way; Muggles possessed an extremely high capacity for adaptation.

Perhaps wizards could frighten them during the first few decades. Perhaps they could force them to retreat temporarily while controlling their governments.

But inevitably, they would develop weapons and methods capable of destroying wizards once they learned of their existence and their methods... That reign was doomed to failure from the very beginning.

Even if he himself were not a variable in the wizarding world, since he would not allow that to happen anyway. Even if Voldemort completely took over the Ministry of Magic and gained total control of the wizarding world, it would not last forever.

Perhaps they could rule for a few years. Perhaps for a few decades, maybe they could torture and subjugate tens of thousands of people... But sooner or later, the Muggles would react.

They would create weapons to deal with the threat, and within a few decades, the balance of power would shift completely.

If Voldemort truly possessed a good strategy, perhaps he could act before that happened. Perhaps he could exploit the Muggles' vulnerabilities before they had time to respond.

But Severus deeply doubted that Voldemort possessed such intellect. It was clear from what Severus already understood through his memories that the man seemed to be nothing more than a petty and extremely powerful wizard, someone who mastered the Dark Arts like few others, yet was completely blinded by his own obsession with power. He would bring about the destruction of the wizarding world itself through his thirst for power, after all, the Muggles would not forget them and would begin hunting them across the entire world.

And with that reflection, Severus returned his attention to the room. He saw Heloísa in a corner with several first-year students, but she was grouped together with four other students, somewhat excluded from the main group.

None of them bore the crests of important families on their robes or belongings, which meant they were like him, or as he had been.

Muggle-borns or half-bloods.

After all, even he himself had not managed to avoid prejudice because of his birth status. Only when Lucius Malfoy intervened did things calm down during the first few weeks, as Malfoy saw potential in Severus.

"And that is why we must set a good example. We represent our families. We represent our house. We will not show weakness before the others," Lestrange continued his speech.

Severus could not help but wonder where Slughorn was. He should have been there as the house representative, but he also did not see Regulus Black or Avery.

That meant Black or Avery had been assigned to keep Slughorn occupied while they carried out that speech.

And the fool Slughorn did not even seem to realize he was being made a fool of by his own students, who used his arrogance against him.

Severus set that aside and turned his attention back to Lestrange when he saw a student approaching the group. It was none other than Avery, but he was alone, which meant Black should be with Slughorn.

"Well? Did you find Snape?" Lestrange asked loudly.

The newly arrived student shook his head. "No. He's not in his room. He's nowhere in Slytherin," said Avery, who was also one of Severus's roommates.

"Where did he disappear to? Didn't he leave in front of everyone?" Lestrange seemed quite irritated by that.

Then he turned his attention back to the first-year students. "Forget it. I'll talk to him later."

Severus felt like responding, but he remained silent. He wanted to see what Lestrange would do with the first-year students. He would only interfere if he crossed the line.

"Well, now you can understand a little about how our house is organized. I see several members of important families among you. That's good." Lestrange pointed at some of the first-years.

Many of the first-year students puffed out their chests with pride, representing their families' power and wealth; Slytherin placed great value on connections.

"But I also see some interesting groups among you." He pointed toward the students who were with Heloísa.

There was one more girl and three boys. All five immediately shrank back.

"I've heard that none of you belong to any important families. Nor are your parents, or at least both of them, wizards. You're half-bloods, correct?"

Every gaze in the room turned toward them. They were not the only half-bloods present in Slytherin, and those older half-blood students looked at them with a certain pity, while the rest looked at them with contempt.

Those same half-blood students were also targets of disdain within Slytherin. Severus had received the same treatment at first, though he had become an exception later on.

His talent, knowledge of the Dark Arts, and exceptional abilities had earned him special treatment. Many believed he could represent a promising future for the house.

But that did not mean all the other half-bloods in Slytherin received the same treatment. Even he himself was not entirely free from the contempt of some, after all, he was still a half-blood.

As for the others, they were treated as second-class citizens within Slytherin itself. And now those new students seemed destined for the same path.

"Yes, sir. My mother is a witch. My father is a Muggle..." one of the boys replied timidly.

A few chuckles immediately began to spread among the older students.

"In other words, your mother is a blood traitor," someone said.

"As far as I'm concerned, she's a whore who spread her legs for a filthy Muggle..." another immediately added.

Several laughs echoed through the hall. The boy could not help but shoot a furious glare when he heard that about his mother.

"Enough," Lestrange said, and the hall fell silent.

"We are not here to use vulgar language." Rabastan looked at the fourth-year student, who immediately shrank back.

"We are pure-bloods. We do not lower ourselves to Muggle behavior," he said in a tone laden with false moral superiority.

Soon after, he turned his attention back to the boy. "And you. You'd better wipe that angry look off your face. You're just a half-blood who has just entered the prestigious House of Slytherin. You should respect your superiors, understood?" Lestrange said as the student nodded, despite being clearly dissatisfied.

He paused, still looking at the other children. "And among you, I've heard there's a Muggle-born. Who else here is a half-blood?" he asked.

The other two boys and the girl raised their hands, along with the boy who had already spoken.

Only Heloísa remained still, looking somewhat frightened.

'She shouldn't have come here...' Severus closed his eyes for a moment, wondering where he had made the mistake that led the girl to see him as a role model.

He was certain he had told her that she should not choose Slytherin.

"Then you're a Muggle-born." Lestrange stared at Heloísa.

"It's not the first student like that to appear in recent years, but it's certainly quite unusual."

All the other students turned their eyes toward her as well. That seemed to frighten the girl.

"She's not worthy of Slytherin!" someone shouted.

"She should be expelled!"

"We should speak to Slughorn immediately!"

Voices began to rise from all directions, as if Heloísa were the worst plague imaginable. Lestrange watched it all without interrupting.

Then he looked back at Heloísa.

"Know this: your kind should not be welcome here, little girl."

It was at that moment that Severus was about to act, but suddenly, he felt a change in the air.

The frightened girl remained protected, but the entire atmosphere around the common room began to cool rapidly.

"Well..." Severus smiled as he noticed the change. It wasn't him doing it; there was another being capable of freezing all of Slytherin in an instant.

'Obviously, I'm not going to let them intimidate this child,' Articuno said in his mind.

Everyone began to feel the temperature drop abruptly. Even the windows overlooking the depths of the Black Lake began to freeze.

"What is this?!" Lestrange immediately stood up, and all the Slytherin students looked frightened.

The temperature, which had been close to twenty-five degrees Celsius, plummeted to eight in just a few seconds.

And it kept falling.

Four degrees.

Zero.

Minus two.

Immediately, everyone began to feel an intense cold.

"What is this?! Who's doing this?!" Lestrange shouted quickly, grabbing a coat from his nearby bag, while many students immediately started retreating from the front rows.

The first-year students closest to Heloísa began freezing even more.

"It's her! She's doing something!"

Some of the pure-blood first-years started pointing at Heloísa, feeling their fingers go numb.

'Stop, Articuno. You're going to hurt a lot of people if you keep this up, although some of them already deserve it...' Severus immediately said.

Articuno began reducing the intensity of the cold. He wasn't even being serious; otherwise, the Slytherin common room would have become an ice cave within seconds.

Heloísa had no idea what was happening, but she was the only one unaffected by the temperature, and that became clear to everyone.

Even Lestrange, carrying all that arrogance, immediately began looking at the girl with caution. This was far from normal...

"What did you do?" he asked in a serious tone.

That first-year did not seem nearly as simple as she appeared, and every eye turned back to Heloísa. Fear and curiosity had replaced the disgust from before.

The girl panicked.

"I don't know!" she immediately replied. "I don't know what's happening!" she repeated.

It was at that moment that Severus decided to put an end to that little show.

"Lestrange, honestly, I expected many things from you, but intimidating a child? Where's all that dignity you were preaching about two minutes ago?"

A voice echoed calmly throughout the hall.

Everyone immediately turned their attention toward its source, a corner to the right.

But there was no one there. It was then that Severus began to materialize, canceling the effect of the Invisibility Potion.

There was immediately a wave of exclamations and surprised murmurs as they saw him there, appearing with his arms crossed and leaning against the wall, while his eyes remained fixed on the small platform where Lestrange stood.

No one said anything immediately; they were all still quite shocked by Severus's sudden appearance.

Even Lestrange was speechless for a few moments.

Heloísa was the only one to let out a sigh of relief when she saw him. If there was anyone capable of helping her there, it was Severus.

"Snape..." Lestrange muttered, remembering the very student the Bloody Baron had mentioned aloud. The students immediately began whispering among themselves.

"It's been a few moons since I've seen you, Lestrange. But you still haven't answered my question..." Severus said calmly.

There was not the slightest trace of fear or hesitation in his voice. He was openly speaking against the one considered Slytherin's leader at that moment.

After all, every year there were students who assumed informal leadership positions within the house. Lucius Malfoy had occupied that role when he reached his seventh year.

Now it was Rabastan Lestrange's turn.

Rabastan's older brother, Rodolphus Lestrange, had not become Slytherin's leader because there had been an even greater political weight involved. After all, the Malfoy name carried more influence than the Lestranges, and Lucius had been Rodolphus's classmate in the same year.

After him, Bellatrix herself had wielded that influence as the house leader. Severus remembered that period very well. Under her leadership, Slytherin had been true chaos.

Other leaders emerged every year, but none of them strayed far from the circle of families aligned with the Death Eaters.

It was obvious that Voldemort and the great pure-blood families exerted enormous influence over Slytherin and wanted to maintain it, especially while the Dark Lord himself was searching for promising geniuses.

And that year, Lestrange was the chosen one. There should have been no one to challenge him.

Next year, it would probably be one of Severus's old friends. Mulciber was somewhat foolish, but Avery possessed a certain cunning. Most likely, he would be the one to assume that position when his turn came.

But none of that mattered now. Severus faced the current leader without the slightest trace of fear in either his eyes or his voice.

To him, Lestrange was merely a foolish child, someone he could easily surpass in any field. After all, Severus had been a king in his previous life. He had ruled for more than two hundred and forty years. He had led thousands of people. He had faced wars, conspiracies, and crises that shaped entire kingdoms. He had saved the world twice from threats that sought to destroy humanity.

What could a young noble wizard, even one belonging to a famous and dark family, possibly represent in the face of that?

"Severus Snape... Is that really you?" Lestrange replied with another question after recovering somewhat.

His eyes narrowed as he observed the boy standing there with his arms crossed.

His appearance had nothing to do with the one everyone remembered. But Severus did not seem to care about the questions hidden within the countless gazes fixed upon him.

He continued looking only at Lestrange.

"Does appearance matter that much? I don't think it should. In any case, it really is me. I've just changed a little," Severus replied in a courteous tone.

"Changed a little?"

The question seemed to linger in the minds of everyone present.

Lestrange continued observing him for a few seconds.

"Even if you've changed a little, what exactly are you questioning, Snape?"

The change in Severus had been radical. No one changed that much, especially while sporting eyes completely different from the ones he used to have. Even so, being openly questioned on the very first day irritated Lestrange even more.

"What?" Severus raised an eyebrow. "I can't question a seventh-year student who's intimidating first-years simply because of the blood running through their veins? Is that what you call dignity?"

The question echoed throughout the hall.

"It is not your place to question us, Snape."

Lestrange's voice hardened, his face turning grim.

"I don't know what happened to you, but a half-blood has no right to tell us what we should or shouldn't do."

Severus merely offered a faint smile.

"You seem irritated by a simple question."

He took a step forward.

"But dodging the subject and responding like that only shows how pathetic you look. You want to be Slytherin's leader this year, so why not set a better example than trying to make children cry..."

Severus's smile widened slightly.

"Instead, try intimidating a sixth-year, for example?"

The provocation hit its target immediately. Severus's eyes began to glow.

It was an open challenge.

Directed straight at Slytherin's current leader.

The atmosphere in the hall seemed to change once again.

After all, it was precisely that night that authority within the house was meant to be reaffirmed. Lestrange had naturally assumed the position of leadership.

But now someone was questioning that in front of everyone.

And it wasn't just anyone.

It was Severus Snape.

However, instead of responding with arrogance or anger, Lestrange hesitated.

Because, for the first time that night, he felt fear.

Those green eyes were completely different from Severus's usual black eyes, and they continued to shine.

There was something dangerous in them, something that sent a chill down his spine.

It was like facing a predator. As though, if he continued moving in that direction, nothing good could come from that confrontation.

'What is happening...?' was all Lestrange could think.

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