After I parted ways with Harry and the others, I also said goodbye to my mother and walked into Diagon Alley. My destination was Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
"Elaina!"
Once the shop came into view, I spotted Draco Malfoy leisurely eating ice cream out on the terrace. For the record, the flavor he was eating was a double scoop of pineapple chocolate and cheese pistachio, and it actually looked quite delicious.
Besides Draco, I also saw Marcus Flint and Miles Bletchley showing off their muscles to each other, as well as Adrian Pucey, who was reading alone with elegant composure while spooning an affogato, made of vanilla gelato drowned in hot espresso, into his mouth.
When I approached, Flint noticed and waved his hand with a "Yo."
"Ah, thank you for your hard work, senpai."
Since I am both from a respectable family and part of a sports team, I bowed slightly as proper etiquette demanded and made the appropriate display of humble respect. The truth is that I would gladly have a Dementor suck away all the manners nonsense, but sometimes humans, being social animals, have to follow the illogical customs of society.
"Yeah, this summer has been seriously exhausting."
Flint let out a wry smile. Looking closely, I noticed a Boston bag by his feet, bulging in a way that did not match his casual outfit of a T-shirt and jeans.
"I hesitate to ask, but are those textbooks?"
"You got it. This is my last push."
Now that he mentioned it, Flint senpai was in his final year. Since there was the N.E.W.T. exam at the end of term, even Flint, who was expected to enter the Magical Law Enforcement by family tradition, had finally begun to buckle down and tackle his most dreaded subject: studying.
"I casually asked Gemma to help me put together a schedule, and she made such a hardcore plan that I thought I would die of overwork."
"How much studying did she tell you to do, exactly?"
"Prepare to be shocked. Six and a half hours a day. No breaks on weekends."
"Isn't that the normal amount people study?"
Honestly, I expected seventh years to study closer to nine hours a day.
Well, Flint also had Quidditch practice, and it was summer holiday after all, so Farley senpai must have shown some mercy.
Flint gave me a look that said he simply could not believe what he was hearing. I was just about to answer with "Um, you are an exam candidate, remember?"
"Hey everyone, long time no see!"
Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. Gemma Farley, the Slytherin prefect, arrived with medium-length black hair in a glossy wolf cut fluttering behind her.
She wore a black camisole under a stylishly sheer white blouse tied in the front to show her midriff, paired with beige linen shorts that flaunted her long slender legs, and black heeled sandals. It was far too bold and provocative for a prefect, much less merely activewear.
The moment her figure came into view, I could actually hear several boys around us gulp in unison.
To be honest, she looked more like someone from a Muggle fashion magazine than a witch in the middle of Diagon Alley, which was full of people dressed in bizarre robes. She stood out so much it was almost surreal.
"Um, Farley senpai."
"Yes?"
"I think that outfit may be a bit too stimulating for wholesome male students."
Farley senpai responded with a dreamy, provocative smile, placed her hands on her waist, bent one leg at a sharp angle into an S-shaped pose, and displayed the smooth curves of her body. While the cheerful Bletchley senpai clapped and yelled "Woohoo," Flint senpai actually looked away and stared at the ground.
I see, she was doing it on purpose.
A moment later, fifth years Warrington and Montague arrived, followed by sixth year Terence Higgs, and the Slytherin Quidditch team was fully assembled.
Since both Farley and Higgs were former team members, a chaser and seeker respectively, it should be obvious why I remained in Diagon Alley today.
Yes, we were participating in the Slytherin team tradition, "Four Days of Summer Training Camp on the Isle of Wight."
The Isle of Wight, located in southern England, was a famous resort and holiday escape. The Slytherin Quidditch team held their annual training camp there during summer break, a very luxurious tradition disguised as something "down-to-earth" that was in fact extremely posh.
Of course, that did not mean Professor Snape was coming as a supervisor.
Most members of Slytherin came from pure-blood families and had known each other forever, so to be honest, the whole thing was just an excuse for students to spend their summer vacation at a resort. The final day included barbecues, surfing, yachting, fireworks, and whatever else we felt like doing.
Parents seemed perfectly happy about pure-blood heirs spending time together, and since the luxury hotel belonged to the Shafiq family, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight and the biggest hotel magnates in the Wizarding World, they simply left everything to us.
However, things were slightly different this year.
"Sorry, sorry, I am late."
"Why am I here too?"
"We are winning this year we are winning we are winning we are winning…!"
What appeared were three seventh years: Penelope Clearwater, the calm and intelligent Ravenclaw prefect, her boyfriend Percy Weasley of Gryffindor, and Oliver Wood, muttering like he was chanting a spell.
And that was not all.
"Yo, Elaina!"
"How have you been?"
Fred and George showed up next. I congratulated them again on winning the Galleon lottery, and we chatted about the trip to Egypt they took with the prize money when suddenly—
"Hey everyone. Sorry we are late."
"Looks like we are the last ones."
Finally, two handsome upperclassmen arrived: Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff and Roger Davies of Ravenclaw. Now everyone was present.
"Thank you for inviting us."
"We will be in your care for the next four days."
Cedric and Davies bowed. Flint replied with a spirited "Sure thing."
"If we are going to train, it is better to have the right numbers for realistic practice. Do not worry about it."
"Marcus, do not act like Gemma's idea was yours."
Clearwater promptly called him out. Flint only shrugged with a blank expression.
Draco and the others, and even the Weasley twins, were left wide-eyed at the unexpected sight.
"Um… are you all actually on good terms?"
"Surprised?"
Flint asked with a grin, and I nodded honestly.
Not only did Slytherin and Gryffindor share a famously hostile history, but Penelope Clearwater was even Muggle-born.
"To be honest, I assumed you all hated each other more."
"At first, it was kind of like that."
Clearwater laughed wryly.
"But look at this."
Clearwater-senpai flashed a mischievous smile, leaned forward slightly, and pressed her chest toward me.
Her outfit was simply a white sleeveless blouse paired with a chic navy tight skirt and stockings, but her pale skin — untouched by sunlight — and the straining buttons on her chest, as if they might burst at any moment, were certainly the kind of thing that would stir a man's heart. Or rather, wow, she was huge.
"…"
Looking closely, her looks actually were not bad at all.
Her long wavy blonde hair was swept glamorously to the side, and behind the red under-rim glasses shone intelligent sapphire eyes. It was a very different aura from the handsome model-like Farley-senpai — more like the seductive dream teacher type.
"I see. Pure-blood supremacists could not resist temptation below the belt."
"That is not it!"
Clearwater-senpai's lips puffed out in a sulky pout, and she tapped her left breast, where a badge gleamed in gold letters: Head Girl.
"My apologies. I am also part of the ninety percent of normal men and women, so I did not notice."
"Elaina-chan, you are getting pretty poisoned by being around so many boys, aren't you?"
Well, you know…
When you throw one lone girl into a pack of athletic guys and force her to listen week after week to nonstop talk of food! girls! weight training! or whatever, you get used to that kind of atmosphere whether you want to or not.
Anyway, I could more or less guess why Flint-senpai had accepted Clearwater-senpai.
One reason might be that after I teamed up with the twins and Lee Jordan last year to circulate Muggle racy magazines and fashion magazines, anti-Muggle sentiment in Slytherin had softened a little. But honestly, as students rise in year level, they tend to make friends or find romantic partners in other Houses, so House rivalry naturally weakens among upper years.
And although I thought Slytherin might be the one exception, even pure-blood supremacists are practical Slytherins. As they approach adulthood, they learn at least enough ordinary social ethics to survive.
Even someone like Lucius Malfoy, infamous for pure-blood ideology, does not spout discriminatory remarks in front of Minister Fudge or in public, as if he has no sense of propriety.
You sometimes hear stories in the Muggle world like "I went to a rally for some group known for xenophobic views and everyone there was surprisingly normal." In a sense, pure-blood ideology is a kind of counterculture against the currently dominant equal-rights mainstream culture.
And older students like Flint-senpai have to think about life after graduation.
Once you enter the working world, it is entirely possible that a pure-blood Slytherin and a half-blood Gryffindor join a company together and both serve under a Muggle-born Hufflepuff boss.
So learning to maintain a polite smile while hiding inner contempt — knowing when to distinguish true feelings from outward appearance — is also one of the survival skills that allow pure-blood families to remain the elite of the wizarding world.
Most importantly, Clearwater-senpai may be Muggle-born, but she has strength and ability. That is likely the biggest reason.
The reason pure-bloods are respected in Slytherin goes back to the fact that most noble pure-blood families are elites who possess power or wealth. And ambition and cunning, the virtues Slytherin values, ultimately lead to glorifying strength.
In that sense, Slytherin's motto — the acceptance of "the strong devour the weak" and "cling to the mightiest tree" — is the polar opposite of Gryffindor's chivalry of "help the weak and strike down the strong."
However, the flip side is that if someone is strong and powerful, they judge by results, not method. It is not unusual to hear that Lucius Malfoy respects Professor Snape, a half-blood, because of his mastery of the Dark Arts.
If Clearwater-senpai were just a "lowly Muggle-born failure," she would be beaten down like a drowning dog. But since she is a prefect and even Head Girl, it is all too Slytherin to flip attitudes instantly and cozy up to her.
Of course, you could say Clearwater-senpai's attitude in return is mature professionalism — or maybe passive avoidance — as she ignores pure-blood superiority posturing and gets through things smoothly.
"So, Percy too?"
"Yeah, they sent him his Head badge and… wait."
Percy-senpai puffed up his chest to match Clearwater-senpai, and sure enough he had a shiny gold badge. Only, for some reason, the letters on his read: Humungous Bighead.
Everyone eating ice cream burst into laughter. Realizing it was the twins' prank, Percy's face turned beet red and he raised his wand, while his girlfriend Clearwater-senpai tried to calm him down with a "there, there."
＊＊＊
And so, when we arrived at the luxury "Shafiq Resort" on the Isle of Wight beach, the place waiting for us was exactly what you would call a rich person's summer villa getaway.
Because Sirius Black was still at large, the place was crawling with intimidating security guards, but the hotel itself was incredibly lavish.
The white-walled, columned buildings were like an ancient Roman aristocrat's mansion, arranged in a Mediterranean style around a vast courtyard with fountains. Inside were cafés, restaurants, bars, spas, and even hot springs.
And those were only the shared areas. Beyond the villa-style facilities stretched a pier over the sea leading to numerous tropical-style overwater cottages floating on the water.
"Whoa—!"
The overwater cottages offered full 360-degree ocean views, with terraces that projected directly over the sea so you could dive straight into the water. The floors were glass, allowing you to lounge on the sofa and watch fish and aquatic magical creatures below.
Each cottage was rented out by building, two to four people to a room. I ended up sharing with Farley-senpai and Clearwater-senpai.
After dropping off our luggage, Farley-senpai and I changed into sports T-shirts and shorts and headed for the beach. Flint-senpai and the others were already warming up and chatting.
"Alright, let's get running."
Following Flint-senpai, we jogged along the beach as the sun dipped lower. Since students from other Houses were present, the infamous Slytherin training was toned down to light beach running. The faint fishy sea breeze and the sound of waves rolling in regularly drove home the feeling that we were really at the ocean.
And just like that, our summer training camp began.
(End of chapter)
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