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Augustus never expected Snape to let him off so easily. For something that serious, all he had to do was write a reflection? That was it? Shaking his head, he turned away from the dungeon and made his way toward the Slytherin common room.
He descended along the floating staircases, switching between several of the ever-shifting steps suspended in mid-air.
Eventually, he arrived in front of the stone wall that marked the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Realizing he hadn't asked Snape for the password, Augustus stood still in front of the wall for a moment.
Guess there was only one way. He pulled out his silver wand and pointed it at himself. A beam of white light shot out. Visibly, his body seemed to dissolve into the air. Within seconds, he began to turn completely transparent.
If you weren't paying close attention, you wouldn't even notice him blending into the surroundings. Effortlessly, he slipped through the stone wall, his figure gradually reappearing once he was inside.
The Slytherin common room was already packed. Most of last year's prefects were here—except for Goren, who was a seventh-year now and no longer a prefect, and another girl prefect. The rest had all shown up. The sixth-year prefect in charge of selecting the new ones this year was a tall, rather handsome guy with long, light brown hair.
"Hey, Augustus, over here!" Lillian spotted him entering and waved him over from among the prefects. Augustus nodded and walked over through the crowd.
"You finally made it! What happened? You didn't even show up at the welcome feast—we were all worried about you." Lillian looked genuinely relieved as he approached. The other prefects turned to look at him too.
"Something came up along the way. I couldn't get on the Hogwarts Express," Augustus replied simply.
"You missed the train? Then how'd you even get here?" Malfoy squeezed over from the crowd, frowning in confusion.
"Turns out Ron's dad's car was nearby. We ended up driving here. It was honestly a terrible trip." Augustus waved it off casually.
"What? You drove? That sounds awesome! Why didn't you take me with you? I wish I'd been there too!" grumbled a petite red-haired girl among the prefects. Augustus recognized her—Hertha Kris, the only daughter of one of the Hogwarts board members, from the Kris family.
Augustus clearly didn't think the journey was fun at all. He shook his head slightly and turned his attention to the dueling ring for first-years.
Just as he expected, standing proud and tall in the ring was Loki Adams. No one else was in there.
"This kid's already wiped out three new students—each duel lasted less than twenty seconds. Gotta admit, he's got some skills," Malfoy said, glancing toward Loki with a flicker of jealousy in his eyes.
"What, no one else? If becoming a Slytherin prefect is this easy, then this is just boring." Loki's amber eyes scanned the crowd of new students, laced with disdain. "Show me some courage. If you can't even muster that, you don't deserve to be a Slytherin."
Even though his taunts were harsh, none of the first-years dared move. After watching how quickly he took down the last three opponents, no one wanted to embarrass themselves next.
Suddenly, Loki's eyes locked onto Augustus, who was standing just outside the dueling ring. A spark lit up in Loki's eyes.
"Augustus, sir, you're here too? Would you honor me with a duel? Ever since last time, I've been dying to face you head-on.
If you defeat me, I swear on my family's name—I'll follow you forever! I've always dreamed of seeing real magic in action. So please, before anything else, give me a proper duel!" Loki's voice trembled with excitement, his gaze fixed on Augustus.
Augustus was a little taken aback. This kid's hunger for magic was no joke. If he could just fix a few of his flaws, he'd actually have potential. After thinking it over for a moment, Augustus agreed. The sixth-year prefect in charge of the duels didn't try to stop him and simply let him step into the ring.
"Well, this just got interesting. That mouthy first-year actually dared to challenge Augustus. I hope he can at least last a full minute," Hertha Kris said with a grin, eyes gleaming as she watched Augustus step into the ring. She could still vividly remember the skies painted red last year.
"Interesting? Please. Augustus is in a completely different league. This kid doesn't stand a chance—it's suicide," Malfoy muttered. Unlike the others, he had seen Augustus in action before.
He knew you couldn't even compare Augustus to normal students anymore. This wouldn't even be a real fight. Loki would be lucky if Augustus used any real power at all.
Inside the dueling ring, Loki looked deadly serious. He drew his wand and pointed it at Augustus.
"Serpent Surge!" A massive black serpent exploded from Loki's wand with a deafening hiss. It slithered through the air, kicking up a foul-smelling wind that swept through the Slytherin common room. Most of the new students froze, eyes wide with fear, unable to move. The sheer pressure of that spell alone had shattered their will to fight.
"Oh? He actually knows that spell?" Hertha's light blue eyes flashed with surprise. "That's a third-year level spell. Didn't expect a first-year to pull it off."
Augustus smiled as he watched the serpent speeding toward him. A blazing red arrow began to form at the tip of his silver wand. Wrapped in roaring flames, it launched into the air in a flash. The giant black snake tried to dodge, but the arrow was just too fast.
A second later, it hit the serpent right at its weak spot. The snake writhed for a moment before vanishing into thin air.
Loki was clearly caught off guard by how easily his attack had been handled. He took a deep breath, readying his next spell—the one he'd been saving for last. If this one didn't work either, he was ready to give up.
"Sectumsempra!" As his voice rang out, the air around them shimmered with an invisible ripple. A sharp gust of wind shot toward Augustus.
"What?!" Hertha's usually calm face twisted in shock. She hadn't expected Loki to cast that. It was a spell even many upper-year students struggled to master. Most wouldn't dare try it unless they were confident—because if you messed it up, the one who got hurt would be you.
But Loki's casting was smooth. Clearly, he'd trained for this. Once you mastered it, Sectumsempra was an undeniable trump card in a duel.
Augustus' silver eyes remained calm and steady. The wind stirred his golden hair as the deadly, unseen curse flew straight toward him like a shadowy blade with no warning signs.
"....."