Damon practiced spells in the Room of Requirement for an entire afternoon.Before he began, he never imagined he would be so passionate about spells.
He never tired of simple, repetitive spells—the tip of his wand flickered, and he felt he could never grow weary of watching it.Moreover, with his expert-level spellcasting talent, he could sense the direction and method of optimization with nearly every spell he cast, feeling progress each time.
It felt like he had entered a somatosensory RPG game, constantly upgrading and working hard to defeat a great evil in the future. It was exhilarating.It wasn't until dinnertime that he stopped casting spells, still craving more.
Only then did he realize he was utterly exhausted."It seems I got a bit too excited," Damon muttered, shaking his head as he left the Room of Requirement for the cafeteria on the first floor.Damon grabbed a copy of the Prophet Evening News from an owl, which, as usual, featured a full meat feast, and read while eating."I haven't seen you all afternoon.
Did you go out to play with them?" Hermione asked, approaching him."No, I found a quiet place to read," Damon replied."Really? What did you read? I read a book called Growth and Change of Magical Plants today. It's quite interesting—it discusses many strange phenomena of magical plants.
There's also a book called Magical Quidditch. Oh! Do you know Quidditch? I found out it's quite famous in the wizarding world."Once Hermione started talking about books, she spoke at length, barely pausing for breath.Damon set down the evening paper, listening to her with a smile and nodding occasionally, which made Hermione's cheeks visibly flush.She suddenly realized she might have spoken too quickly, leaving no room for others to interject—a bit impolite."Oh, did I say too much?" Hermione stopped and gestured for Damon to speak.
At that moment, four lively figures plopped down on Damon's left and right, brimming with energy. "Damon, where were you this afternoon? Did you know there's a giant squid in the Black Lake?""And it's quite friendly! It even let me touch its head!" another added.They buzzed about their afternoon adventures.
Hermione, noticing the interruption, raised her eyebrows slightly and fell silent.Damon shot her an apologetic smile and handed her the Prophet Evening News. She took it with a knowing glance, and he turned to his excited roommates, responding warmly, "I went to the library to read."Hermione, who had just opened the newspaper, frowned subtly and raised it to cover her face."Damon! Please!" Ron exclaimed. "Do you know how many first-year girls are talking about you now?
And you're not making friends with them, just staying in the library reading books?""That's right, little Ronnie, but I must correct you—" a red-haired boy began."Not just first-years—third-year girls are also very interested in our Duel Prince," another finished.
Two red-haired boys with freckles, resembling Ron, sat across from him."Damn it! I told you not to call me that!" Ron protested angrily.Harry, meanwhile, seemed intrigued by the nickname "Duel Prince.""Hello, Duel Prince. I'm George Weasley—""And I'm Fred Weasley, as you can see—""We're Ron's brothers."The twins spoke in unison, winking at Damon and eyeing him as if plotting something.
"Hello, but I'd prefer you not mention that title," Damon said kindly, uninterested in the "Duel Prince" moniker."Third-year seniors are discussing Damon? Was what happened on the train really that sensational?" Seamus interjected."No, actually, they were discussing something else—about why Damon White wasn't sorted into Slytherin," George said."There was a big fight in the Slytherin common room on the first day because of it," Fred added.
"They concluded it was your loss, not theirs."The Weasley twins watched Damon with interest, eager for his reaction."Is that so?" Damon, nearly finished eating, set down his knife and fork. "The Sorting Hat did consider Slytherin at first, but I refused.""Why?" everyone asked, their curiosity piqued.Damon's lips curled slightly, as if anticipating the impact of his words.
"Because Malfoy called me a Mudblood. How could a Mudblood join Slytherin? So, though I was tempted, I refused.""It was actually because of that—" George grinned slyly."Mate, that name's awful. Want us to help you get revenge?" Fred offered."You want to spread this?" Damon smirked at the twins and nodded. "Go ahead—it's the truth.""Brilliant! Just wait—" George began.
"In a few days, all of Slytherin—" Fred continued."And the other houses—" George added."—will know about it," they finished together.The twins, clearly scheming, hurried off."I don't even know why they came!" Ron muttered, annoyed at his brothers for using his nickname and ditching him."Oh, we just wanted to see how you spent your first day—
""And seeing you're doing fine, we're relieved—""Little Ronnie!" the twins called from a distance.Ron's face reddened. He turned to Harry and the others, noticing everyone but Damon was stifling laughter."Right, you lot!" Ron lunged at Harry playfully, sparking a chorus of surprised shouts.Across from them, Hermione, buried in the newspaper, smirked and muttered, "These boys are so childish."Except for Damon.
She lowered the paper, meeting Damon's gaze. Unfazed, she huffed and mouthed "Liar" at him.Hermione had been in the library all afternoon and only saw Damon briefly at the start before he vanished. He'd lied to Harry and Ron.She wondered if he'd lied to her too. But since he wasn't wandering the grounds with Ron and the others, where had he been?
Hermione pondered but couldn't figure it out. She decided to set the question aside for now—after all, staying excellent was her priority.
Tomorrow was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Given Damon's spellcasting prowess, even Hermione felt it would be tough to outshine him.
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