As it turned out, age brings wisdom.
Gabrielle had now been thoroughly convinced by Snape and had fully embraced her role as Prefect, managing several dozen little first-years under her charge.
How could she best demonstrate her competence?
House points and academic performance were the most straightforward indicators.
As the big sister, having her subordinates perform poorly would be a disgrace to her reputation.
Thus, after classes ended, what should have been the most carefree year for first-years became their most miserable existence.
The group was dragged over by Gabrielle right after meals, forced to complete homework for every subject. Merely finishing wasn't enough—they had to ensure accuracy, too.
Mistakes had to be corrected on the spot, and spells not yet mastered would be taught through one-on-one tutoring by those who had already grasped them. Nobody was allowed to slack off.
Older students who witnessed this only laughed with schadenfreude.
Thankfully, their Shadow Prefect wasn't as demanding and didn't bother with such matters.
Even if he did intervene, he could never match Gabrielle's intimidating presence - after all, she was someone even Professor Snape had to humour.
Astoria, who had just returned from Wayne, shook her head helplessly at the scene but let Gabrielle continue tormenting their classmates.
However, for Slytherin House as a whole, this didn't seem entirely bad.
With Gabrielle's demands, Slytherin students now actively participated in every class, striving to earn house points. After several weeks, Slytherin's points had gradually caught up with Hufflepuff's, with both houses neck and neck. At this rate, surpassing Hufflepuff was only a matter of time.
The professors spoke highly of the first-year Slytherins, praising their active class participation and timely homework completion.
Compared to them, the newcomers from the other three houses seemed like unruly children.
In this rather chaotic manner, Gabrielle had genuinely become the big sister of Slytherin's first-years, surrounded by adoring followers wherever she went.
Wayne observed everything with amusement, even secretly encouraging the situation by having Astoria and Daphne keep watch to prevent older students from interfering with Gabrielle's methods.
Children are actually the most malleable. Aside from those born with malicious tendencies, most can be nurtured into decent individuals with proper values, even developing small acts of kindness.
But look at these twisted specimens in the wizarding world, especially Slytherin students - so many graduates end up becoming terrible people. Growing up to be good in that environment would be a real miracle.
The Sorting Hat should bear half the blame, with the other half lying with their families.
At twelve years old, could they possibly have concrete plans for their future? Absolutely not.
Yet after the Sorting Hat places students in a particular house, the next seven years continuously reinforce certain traits.
Making Ravenclaws believe they're smarter, Gryffindors more hot-blooded, Hufflepuffs convinced of their kindness, and Slytherins more fanatical about blood purity.
Perhaps Gabrielle's presence represents a breakthrough. Fortunately, she's just starting her first year now, like I did back then, with a full seven years to reshape an entire house.
From now on, he believed Slytherin's atmosphere would improve significantly.
The four great houses were all founded and passed down by the founders. Unless absolutely necessary, he truly didn't want to abolish or change them.
As for the families...
He felt that wizarding children started school too late, allowing a bunch of old fossils to brainwash them first.
Since they were going to be brainwashed anyway, why couldn't he be the one doing it?
At this moment, Wayne was already considering establishing several wizarding kindergartens and primary schools.
...
After Transfiguration class, Wayne and a group of students trekked to the Forbidden Forest.
By the sixth year, most students actually had more free time than in the fifth year, and the academic pressure had significantly decreased.
After career advice, they generally knew which subjects they needed to take, meaning useless courses could be dropped.
For example, Astronomy and History of Magic – almost no one continued with these two subjects, as they offered no help for future employment.
Even Hermione had given up these two classes, devoting her time to more important areas.
The sixth years weren't visiting the Forbidden Forest for Care of Magical Creatures class, but to attend Apparition training.
The instructor was an Auror sent from the Ministry of Magic, highly skilled in Apparition, who came weekly to check students' progress and prevent accidents.
Wayne would also come to observe when he had time. Apparition was actually quite dangerous magic, with many wizards losing limbs or even their lives to it every year.
Arriving at the destination, the Ministry Auror Tyndall was already there. Behind him stood a small platform with a massive statue placed upon it.
Once everyone had gathered, he began the lesson.
"Concentrate on recalling the image and location of where you want to go, and channel this intention throughout your entire body. Remember, it must be your entire body."
Tyndall emphasised strongly: "If you only manage to turn your face red, the consequence might be that only your head reaches the destination. You must visualise yourself as a single entity."
The students nodded gravely. This was no joking matter, and everyone listened with utmost seriousness.
"Good." Seeing their attitude, Tyndall nodded in satisfaction before continuing, "After completing these steps, you can imagine your magical power enveloping your entire body, with the place you emerge from being your desired destination. Understood?"
"Now, watch my demonstration first."
Tyndall walked to a spot ten feet from the platform. "Visualise the statue and the platform in your mind – I specifically arranged this to strengthen your memory. Then..."
Crack!
Before he even finished speaking, he had already appeared beside the statue.
One could judge a person's proficiency in Apparition by their preparation time, how quickly they recovered their posture after landing, and the noise generated during movement.
This Tyndall was indeed quite skilled, successfully casting the spell without much visible preparation.
"I must remind you all: you must think about standing on the platform, not 'entering' the platform's area. I don't want to have to pull any of you out from inside the structure. Now line up properly, three per group, and begin training."
Everyone immediately sprang into action. Wayne wouldn't compete for these precious opportunities, standing aside and watching with amusement as each person's face contorted into a constipated expression.
Malfoy's face turned red with strain, and after a long while, he suddenly jolted, then let out a long sigh and raised his hand. "Professor, I need to go back to use the toilet."
Wayne: "..."
Bloody hell.
Next was Norman, who kept walking forward with his eyes closed until he tripped over the platform and opened his eyes, shouting excitedly, "I did it! Is this what Apparating feels like? Just my calf hurts a bit."
"No, you didn't," Tyndall said expressionlessly. "This student, I suggest you visit the hospital wing. Your leg is bleeding."
Wayne shook his head. "This one's even more ridiculous."
By the end of the class, only a handful of students had successfully Apparated, and none had arrived at the correct location.
Except for Harry.
Whether he'd had a sudden breakthrough or Grindelwald's teaching was truly effective, Harry's magical power had been growing at an increasingly rapid pace over the past two years, and learning many spells had become effortless for him.
He was no longer that foolish boy who only knew Expelliarmus and Stupefy.
Soon, it was time to dismiss class. Seeing the dejected students, Tyndall comforted them, "You have a whole year to learn. Any student who masters it this year is considered talented and will have no trouble passing the test. Keep trying."
Everyone cheered up a bit at this and left after saying their goodbyes.
Tyndall gave Wayne a respectful bow before Apparating away.
"I need to be away for a few days, so I won't be at school," Wayne told Hermione on their way back.
Hermione's face fell. "Going to the Void again?"
"No," Wayne shook his head. "Grace and I have some matters to attend to."
"That's good." Hermione sighed in relief, then cautiously glanced around before whispering, "Is Senior Grace really Rowena Ravenclaw?"
When Wayne had gone to the Void before, to make Hermione and the others believe him, Grace had revealed her identity.
But even now, Hermione still found it unbelievable.
That one of Hogwarts' founders had lived for a thousand years, and... had become her sister, was utterly absurd.
"From the perspective of soul and memory, she is indeed Ravenclaw. But she now prefers to identify as Grace, so don't overthink it."
"How can I not overthink it..." Hermione muttered. "This is... Ravenclaw we're talking about. The most brilliant witch. I have so many questions I want to ask her."
"Fine." Wayne helplessly ruffled her hair. "She'll be coming to school for Halloween. You can ask her whatever you want then. We're all family, no need to be formal."
...
Egypt, the Sahara Desert.
Wayne and Grace descended from the sky, landing in a golden sea of sand stretching miles in every direction. For a hundred miles around, there were no oases, no human settlements - an almost completely isolated, quiet area.
"Here will do."
"Alright, whatever you say," Grace replied indifferently.
Wayne produced a golden war spear, its blade separated from the hilt and floating, exquisitely crafted.
Grace looked at him strangely. "Why are you taking out a spear instead of your wand?"
"You wouldn't understand," Wayne waved his hand. "This is called ceremonial flair. Step aside, I'm about to show off."
Grace shot her man a look one might give a mentally challenged person, then silently retreated behind him.
Sometimes she felt truly helpless—did the person she loved have some sort of affliction? He often made moves she couldn't begin to comprehend.
"Ahem!"
Wayne cleared his throat, turning to face the sun. Beneath the blazing midday heat, his golden war spear gleamed brilliantly.
Tapping the spear twice against the ground, Wayne spread his arms wide:
"Shurima, your emperor has returned!"
As his words faded, the desert trembled violently. Under Grace's astonished gaze, tens of thousands of sand soldiers armed with halberds and clad in helmets materialised before them.
Wayne raised the golden spear high, pointing it directly at the sun.
"Rise, Sun Disc!"