Chapter 4: Illusions in the Dungeon (Part 1)
The stone steps of Hogwarts Castle seemed endless.
Su Yu followed in the middle of the line, inching his way up step by step. The stone steps beneath his feet had been worn smooth and shiny by centuries of footsteps. Torches on the walls on both sides swayed gently in the night breeze, casting long, distorted shadows of everyone. At this moment, Su Yu only wished he could sit down quickly, preferably on a soft chair with a backrest.
"We're almost there," Hermione said, turning back from two steps ahead of him. She lowered her voice, but she couldn't hide the excitement in her tone. "I read in a book that the Great Hall of the Castle is at the top of the mountain, and after entering through the main entrance, you have to—"
"Hermione," Su Yu interrupted her listlessly, "could you save some energy until we get into the Great Hall?"
Hermione's mouth opened as if she wanted to retort, but in the end, she just huffed and turned back to continue walking up.
Kurama let out a satisfied hum in the soul space: "Finally, it's quiet. I suggest you carry some tape with you from now on and tape her mouth shut."
Su Yu didn't respond.
The group finally climbed to the stone platform in front of the main entrance of the Castle.
Su Yu followed the group into the entrance hall. Before he had a chance to properly look around at the surroundings, he saw a figure ahead.
Professor McGonagall stood in front of a huge oak door—the door leading to the Great Hall. She was wearing an emerald green robe, her black hair pulled tightly back, and the expression on her face was as stern as if it had been carved from stone. She held a roll of parchment in her hand, her gaze sweeping over the face of every first-year student, as if she were taking stock of a fresh shipment of cargo.
"First of all," Professor McGonagall's voice echoed in the entrance hall, clear and powerful, without a hint of unnecessary embellishment, "welcome to Hogwarts. The opening banquet will begin shortly, but before that, you will be sorted into your respective houses."
She paused, her gaze moving slowly through the crowd.
"Hogwarts has four houses—Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. During your time at Hogwarts, your outstanding performance will earn points for your house, while any violation of school rules will result in point deductions for your house. At the end of the year, the house with the highest score will win the House Cup. This is a very high honor. I hope each of you will bring glory to your house."
"The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin," Professor McGonagall said, "please wait here for a moment. I need to enter the Great Hall first to confirm that the Sorting Hat is ready."
She turned and pushed open the huge oak door. The moment the door opened, Su Yu vaguely saw four long house tables in the Great Hall, and hundreds of students sitting by the tables. Then Professor McGonagall walked in, the door slowly closed behind her, and the entrance hall fell quiet again.
Su Yu leaned against a stone pillar in the entrance hall, hands in his pockets, boredly observing the surrounding first-years. Most people's faces were written with nervousness—some were biting their lips, some were rubbing their hands incessantly, and some were muttering something, as if reciting some spell. Hermione stood next to him, the book in her hands already wrinkled from her grip.
Just at this moment, a voice came from the crowd.
"There are only so many Wizards in all of England, right?"
The voice carried an innate arrogance, as if hummed out through his nostrils. Su Yu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a boy with pale blond hair standing at the edge of the crowd. His chin was slightly raised, and his mouth carried a smirk. Standing on either side of him were two burly boys, like two walls of flesh.
It was none other than Draco Malfoy. The kind of person who wished he could stick a "I am important" label on his forehead wherever he went.
Malfoy's gaze passed through the crowd and landed on Harry. He stepped forward and walked towards Harry, with Crabbe and Goyle following behind like two loyal hounds.
"Harry Potter," Malfoy walked up to Harry, "I am Draco Malfoy."
Ron stood next to Harry, his nose wrinkling slightly. He coughed lightly, as if reminding Harry.
Malfoy's gaze immediately shifted to Ron. His eyes narrowed, and the curve of his mouth turned into a sharp line.
"Red hair, old robes." Malfoy's voice turned cold. "I don't think I even need to ask your name. My father told me that the Weasleys are all red-haired, covered in freckles, and have more children than they can afford to feed."
Ron's face was somewhat embarrassed. His fists clenched, and his lips pressed into a line.
Malfoy had turned back towards Harry, the arrogance on his face spreading again, and he extended his hand.
"You'll soon find out," Malfoy said to Harry, his voice carrying a condescending sincerity, "that some wizarding families are much nobler than others. You wouldn't want to make friends with the wrong sort, would you? I can help you with that."
His gaze slanted towards Ron, then retracted, the curve of his mouth perfectly expressing his entire definition of "the wrong sort."
Harry looked at Malfoy. His expression was calm.
"I think," Harry replied coldly, "I can tell who the wrong sort is for myself. Thanks anyway."
Malfoy's mouth twitched. He clearly hadn't expected this answer. But seeing Harry with the Weasley family, the filter in his heart regarding Harry as a Savior or the Dark Lord shattered into pieces. He huffed coldly, turned around, and walked away with Crabbe and Goyle.
Su Yu leaned against the stone pillar, taking it all in. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly—not because Harryhad rejected Malfoy, but because the whole affair seemed strangely absurd to him. A young master grows up hearing stories of that pauper, so upon meeting that pauper, he wants to be friends, condescendingly spewing a bunch of pretty words, only for the pauper to recall the humiliation of being bullied by someone just like this young master, and refuse to even shake his hand. As for the things Malfoysaid to insult Hagrid and Ron—Su Yu felt that in the young master's world, this probably didn't count as anything remarkable at all. He had mocked so many people, who were Hagrid and Ron? To him, this was just a part of daily social interaction, as natural as breathing.
Thinking of this, he chuckled.
It wasn't loud, but in the quiet entrance hall, it was clear enough.
Malfoy's head snapped around. His gray eyes pinned onto Su Yu like two knives, then quickly swept over Hermioneand Neville beside Su Yu.
"Never seen you," Malfoy's voice wasn't loud, but every word seemed squeezed out from between his teeth. "Probably a Mudblood."
His chin lifted even higher, and the curve of his mouth turned into a look of high-and-mighty contempt.
"A lowly Mudblood," Malfoy said unhurriedly, as if afraid Su Yu wouldn't understand, "dares to laugh at me?"
Hermione's face changed. She might not have fully understood the meaning of the word "Mudblood," but she understood "lowly," and she understood the full implication in that tone. Her hands clenched, her mouth opened, like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, her fur bristling all over, ready to pounce.
Su Yu reached out before she could speak.
He wrapped one arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her into his embrace. Hermione's body stiffened for a moment—she was furious, her muscles all taut like a string—but Su Yu's other hand gently patted her back, as if smoothing the fur of a bristling kitten.
"Alright, alright," Su Yu's voice was very low, carrying a lazy, coaxing tone, "don't be angry, don't be angry."
Hermione struggled a bit in his arms, still muttering something—probably things like "How dare he," "I'll let him know"—but Su Yu's hand didn't loosen. He kept her circled in his arm, like a slow, steady wall, blocking her anger inside and blocking Malfoy's gaze outside.
Kurama let out an ambiguous hum in the soul space: "Your way of handling it is to pick her up?"
"As long as it works," Su Yu responded in his mind.
"She's not your cheesecake; you can't just hug her and make her anger disappear."
"Shut up."
Hermione's struggle slowly stopped. Her face was still red, but the reason seemed to have changed from anger to something else. She lowered her head, buried her face in the collar of Su Yu's robe, and didn't speak again.
A hand landed on Malfoy's shoulder.
Malfoy turned back and saw Professor McGonagall's expressionless face. His complexion changed, and he quickly stepped back, retreating with Crabbe and Goyle to the edge of the crowd.
Professor McGonagall didn't say anything. She just glanced at Malfoy, then turned to all the first-years.
"Please follow me," she said, "the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."
She pushed open that huge oak door.
The Great Hall appeared before everyone.
And what was most astonishing was the ceiling of the Great Hall.
It was a deep, ink-blue night sky, studded with stars, some bright, some dim, with an occasional shooting star streaking across, leaving a silver trail on the sky.
Hermione stood next to Su Yu, her mouth slightly agape, her eyes wide.
"That's fake," she leaned to Su Yu's ear and whispered, but her tone carried an eagerness to share knowledge she couldn't hold back. "I read in a book that the ceiling of the Great Hall is enchanted to reflect the sky outside. That is—"
"Really?" Su Yu lowered his head, looked at her, and put on an exaggerated, feigned expression of surprise. "Miss Hermione? You're really amazing! You even know such details?"
Hermione's words suddenly stuck in her throat.
Her face turned red instantly—this time it was truly red.
"You—you knew it!" Hermione's voice turned into a shy and annoyed mutter. "You obviously knew everything, and you still—"
"I don't know anything," Su Yu put away his exaggerated expression, the corners of his mouth curling into a lazy arc. "It's you who know everything. I'm just someone who can't even tell left from right."
Hermione's face turned even redder. She turned her head away, no longer looking at him, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help curling up.
Professor McGonagall placed a ragged, pointed hat on a stool. The hat was patched and dirty, completely out of place with the magnificence of the Great Hall. Then—the hat split open a seam, as if someone had used invisible scissors to cut a mouth into the brim—and then it began to sing.
Su Yu didn't listen to the song carefully. He was watching other people's expressions. Hermione was listening intently, her lips slightly moving as if memorizing the lyrics; Neville stood next to him, his hands tightly gripping the hem of his robe, his face full of nervousness.
The Sorting Hat finished singing. Scattered applause broke out in the Great Hall.
Professor McGonagall unfolded the parchment in her hand.
"Whoever I call, come forward," her voice echoed in the Great Hall, "the Sorting Hat will tell you which house you belong to."
She cleared her throat.
"Hannah Abbott—"
A rosy-cheeked girl walked out from the crowd, stumbling as she sat on the stool. The Sorting Hat fell onto her head, hesitated for a moment, then shouted: "Hufflepuff!"
The Hufflepuff table erupted into warm applause. Hannah Abbott ran over with a smile.
Names were called out one after another. Su Yu stood in the crowd, hands in his pockets, waiting patiently. When he saw Harry walk forward, everyone in the Great Hallfocused their gaze on him.
"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat shouted.
The Gryffindor table exploded. The Weasley twins stood up and cheered loudly, Percy Weasley applauded reservedly, and a look of relief appeared on Ron's face. Harry took off the Sorting Hat and walked towards the Gryffindor table, his steps much lighter than when he arrived.
Names continued to be called out. Su Yu watched as one first-year after another walked up and was sorted into different houses. Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor—she sat on the stool for a long time, the Sorting Hathesitating on her head for ages. Neville was also sorted into Gryffindor—he almost forgot he was still wearing the hat, and when he ran towards the table, he almost tripped over his own robes, but the people at Gryffindor welcomed him with warm applause.
Su Yu continued to wait.
Another name. Another. And another.
He hadn't been called yet.
Su Yu frowned. He looked at the parchment in Professor McGonagall's hand—the paper looked quite long, densely packed with names—but the problem was that he had seen Harry, seen Hermione, seen Neville, and even seen Ron and Malfoy, all already called.
His brow furrowed even deeper. Wasn't it alphabetical order?
Professor McGonagall finished reading the names.
She flipped the parchment to the front, then to the back, and then to the front again. Her brow furrowed—just a slight movement.
Then everyone's gaze turned to Su Yu.
The Great Hall fell quiet. Hundreds of eyes stared at him—some curious, some sympathetic, some gloating, and some simply watching the show. Su Yu stood in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by these gazes, his expression unchanged.
He didn't have a social butterfly complex. He was just wondering if these people could stop being so noisy.
"What?" Su Yu muttered in his heart, "On the first day of school, I've managed to isolate the whole school, haven't I?"
Kurama was laughing hysterically in the soul space. Her nine tails were swinging wildly, and her laughter echoed in Su Yu's mind.
"Oh my," Kurama laughed so hard she could barely finish her sentence. "Oh my, oh my, it seems no one wants you. Why don't you—why don't you let me out—I'll eat everyone here—and then this school will be yours—how about that?"
A dark line appeared on Su Yu's face.
"Can you be serious for once?"
"I am being serious," Kurama's laughter finally subsided a little, but her tone was still full of schadenfreude.
"Shut up."
"Every time you tell me to shut up, it's when you need me the most."
Su Yu didn't reply. He cast his gaze back toward the staff table.
At the staff table, Dumbledore stood up.
His movements were slow, so slow that everyone could clearly see the process of him standing up. His silver beard glimmered slightly in the candlelight, and behind his half-moon spectacles, his blue eyes were calm and profound.
"Yu-Su-Fley," Dumbledore's voice echoed in the Great Hall, gentle and clear, "you have been sorted into Slytherin."
Su Yu was stunned for a moment.
"No need for the Sorting Hat," Dumbledore continued, a meaningful smile playing on his lips, "you can just go straight over."
Su Yu looked at Dumbledore. Dumbledore looked at him. The two stared at each other for about two seconds.
Su Yu seemed to hear the words Dumbledore said in his heart—"I certainly don't want the Sorting Hat to be eaten by that demon fox."
Su Yu shrugged. He stepped out from the crowd and walked toward the Slytherin table.
Hermione had been watching Su Yu from the Gryffindortable, and now seeing that Su Yu had a house, the expression on her face changed from worry to relief. Neville sat next to her and also let out a long breath.
Su Yu walked to the Slytherin table, and just as he was about to sit down, a hand blocked his path.
"Wait a moment."
The voice was icy, like water seeping out from the cracks in dungeon stones. Su Yu looked up and saw an older male student—a seventh-year, judging by the prefect badge on his robes.
Cedrian Evanwood. The seventh-year Slytherin prefect.
Cedrian's voice was not loud, but it was enough for everyone at the entire Slytherin table to hear, "You are a half-blood. It's not like there haven't been half-bloods in Slytherin, but half pure-blood, and the other half..." The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, as if he were tasting something not quite fresh, "What is the other half? Who knows?"
He turned his head and looked at the others at the Slytherin table. Their Slytherin had half-blood Wizards, but that didn't mean that just any half-blood could come here!
"Slytherin," he said, his voice carrying a lecturing solemnity, "will not let a half-blood of unknown crossbreed enter. This is our house rule. This is our tradition. This is our—"
He didn't finish his sentence, because a few more people stood up.
A fifth-year boy, a sixth-year girl, and another seventh-year girl—they were all prefects, as could be seen from their badges and the way they stood up. They stood beside Cedrian, their expressions displaying a shared, carefully maintained pride that had lasted for hundreds of years.
"Professor," Cedrian turned to the staff table, his voice respectful but neither servile nor overbearing, "we feel that Professor Dumbledore's assignment is inappropriate. Slytherin as a bastion of pure-blood has already fallen, although that was Salazar Slytherin's own will. But we cannot accept a half-breed of Eastern descent coming to Slytherin."
"As our pride in being pure-blood," another prefect took up the thread, their voice carrying an unquestionable firmness, "we will never bow our heads."
A low murmur of agreement rose from the Slytherin table. A few younger students also stood up, their expressions a mix of excitement and nervousness.
The atmosphere in the Great Hall suddenly became tense.
Dumbledore sat at the staff table, his blue eyes watching everything calmly from behind his half-moon spectacles. He didn't speak. He just looked at Cedrian, then looked at Su Yu, and then—the corners of his mouth curled up in an almost imperceptible arc.
"Yu-Su-Fley," Dumbledore's voice rang out in the Great Hall, "don't you want to defend yourself?"
Everyone's gaze turned back to Su Yu.
Su Yu looked up.
His expression was calm, betraying indifference. He looked at Dumbledore, then at Cedrian and the prefects who had stood up, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
"Defend what?" His voice was lazy, "Should I tell them that back East, only dogs care about bloodlines?"
He smiled. The smile was faint, but for some reason, the faces of several people at the Slytherin table changed.
"Heh," Su Yu's voice dropped, as if he were talking to himself, "but I don't want to explain anything. Right now, I just want to kill—"
"That's enough!"
Dumbledore's voice suddenly rose by a degree—only a degree, but it was enough to suppress all the whispering in the Great Hall. His face still wore that gentle smile, but there was a hint of unquestionable firmness in his blue eyes.
"This was decided after consultation with the Board of Governors," Dumbledore said, his voice returning to that unhurried rhythm, "Sean Foley's bloodline is not an issue. It is settled."
His gaze swept across Cedrian's face, then across the faces of the prefects who had stood up, and finally landed on the entire Slytherin table. His gaze was not heavy, but everyone who was seen by him unconsciously sat back down in their chairs.
Cedrian stood there, his lips pressed into a thin line. His fists clenched, then relaxed, then clenched again. He wanted to say something—Su Yu could tell, the things he wanted to say were churning in his throat—but in the end, he just nodded slightly and sat back down.
Su Yu sat down next to a girl.
The atmosphere in the Great Hall slowly returned to normal. Su Yu sat at the Slytherin table, watching everything before him with boredom. At the Gryffindortable, Hermione was looking toward him, her face full of worry; Neville was also watching, but his expression was more one of confusion; Harry and Ron were whispering to each other, not noticing him.
Su Yu nodded slightly toward Hermione. Hermione's expression relaxed a little, and she turned back to her own direction.
Dumbledore stood up. The buzzing in the Great Hallgradually quieted down.
"Before everyone enjoys the delicious food," Dumbledore's voice echoed in the Great Hall, carrying the composure of an elder and the mischief of a child, "I have a few words to say."
He cleared his throat.
"That is—Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
"Let the feast begin!"
He sat down.
Laughter and applause erupted in the Great Hall. Su Yuheard Hermione let out a sigh of resignation and amusement at the Gryffindor table, while Ron was laughing his head off beside her.
The feast began. Food appeared out of thin air on the golden plates—roast beef, fried chicken legs, shepherd's pie, peppermint humbugs, buttered mashed potatoes—aromas filled the Great Hall. Su Yu picked up a piece of beef, put it on his plate, and took a bite. Kurama was critically evaluating every item of food in the soul space, finally concluding: not as good as cheesecake.
The girl next to Su Yu then began to introduce herself: "Daphne Greengrass, in the same year as you. Su Yu, you need to be careful; these prefects definitely won't let you off. If they really try anything, I will definitely report it to the teachers immediately to save you. Don't worry." Su Yudidn't take this to heart, thanked her, and continued eating. Seeing that Su Yu was absent-minded, Daphne didn't say anything more; when they returned to the dormitory later, she would just have to see if the situation looked bad and quickly get a teacher over.
After the feast ended, Dumbledore stood up again to say a few words—about students not being allowed to enter the Forbidden Forest, about the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor being out of bounds ("otherwise you will die a very miserable death, but that is just my advice"), and about this year's Quidditch tryouts starting in the second week. Then, he cleared his throat again.
"Finally, before everyone returns to their respective common rooms, let us sing the school song together."
Su Yu's mouth twitched.
Dumbledore flicked his wand, and a golden ribbon floated from the tip, twisting into lines of text in the air. Everyone began to sing. Some chose one tune, others chose another, and the entire Great Hall turned into a pot of mush. The Weasley twins finished the whole song at the speed of a funeral march, while Su Yu kept his mouth shut the entire time, pretending to be a statue.
Kurama was laughing so hard in the soul space that she almost rolled off the Chakra.
"Your school song," her voice was intermittent because she was laughing too hard, "your school song is even harder to swallow than your hot and sour soup—"
The school song finished. Dumbledore flicked his wand, and the golden ribbon dissipated into the air. Students from each house began to stand up and followed their respective prefects back to the common rooms.
"Slytherin, follow me." Cedrian's voice came from the front. He stood up, didn't even glance at Su Yu, and turned to walk toward a small door on the right side of the Great Hall. The Slytherin students stood up one after another and followed behind him.
Su Yu stood up, brushed some non-existent breadcrumbs off his robes, and followed the line at a leisurely pace.
Hermione turned back from the Gryffindor line and waved at him. Su Yu waved back, then followed the Slytherins and disappeared behind that small door.
Behind the door was a stone staircase, extending downward, getting narrower and darker. There were fewer and fewer torches on the walls on either side, and the air became increasingly damp and cold. At the end of the stone steps was a corridor, and the walls of the corridor were rough stone.
Su Yu walked at the very back of the line.
"We've arrived." Cedrian stopped in front of a damp stone wall.
"The password for these two weeks is—'Half-breed'! You must remember it!"
He turned his head and said the password to the stone wall. The stone wall silently cracked open, then slowly slid to the sides, revealing a spacious, low-ceilinged underground space.
The Slytherin common room.
Su Yu walked in and looked around at the environment. The common room had a very low ceiling but was large in area, shrouded in a strange green light—that was the water of the Black Lake shining through the huge window on one side of the common room. The lake water flowed slowly outside the window, and occasionally a fish would swim by, casting a blurry shadow on the window. The walls of the common room were hung with dark green tapestries and silver ornaments, and the fire in the fireplace was burning brightly.
"First-years," Cedrian stood in the center of the common room, his voice sounding particularly loud under the low ceiling, "follow me. I will assign your rooms."
Su Yu followed the group through the common room and entered a narrower corridor. On both sides of the corridor were closed doors, with signs of different colors hanging on them, written with the names of students of different years.
Cedrian assigned the rooms one by one. Each time a name was called, a first-year student was pointed to a door and pushed it open to walk inside. Su Yu stood at the end of the corridor, watching the people around him become fewer and fewer.
Finally, he was the only one left.
Cedrian turned around and looked at Su Yu. There was no expression on his face, but there was an icy light in his eyes.
"You," he said, pointing toward the deepest part of the corridor, "that room."
Su Yu looked in the direction of his finger. At the very end of the corridor, there was a door that was smaller and older than the others. The paint on the door had mostly peeled off, the doorknob was rusty, and a damp, moldy smell seeped out from the door crack.
Su Yu raised an eyebrow.
"It's a four-person room," Cedrian's voice was unhurried, as if he were announcing something perfectly normal, "you get to live there alone, you should thank me, shouldn't you?"
He paused, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
"If you don't want to get beaten up every day in the future," his voice lowered a little, low enough that only Su Yu and the few older students standing beside him could hear, "you'll have to wash our socks. And our underpants."
A low chuckle sounded in the corridor.
Su Yu stood there, looking at Cedrian, and then at the older students standing behind Cedrian. They were all fifth-years or above, and their expressions ranged from arrogant to contemptuous, from contemptuous to cold, each different, but they all shared a common undertone: they thought this was a very interesting thing.
Su Yu laughed.
His laugh was not loud, but in the quiet corridor, it was as clear as a stone being thrown into a calm lake surface.
"You lot," Su Yu's voice was lazy, as if he were talking to a group of small children, "whoever is unhappy, just all stand out. Let's settle this directly tonight. Let's go to the common room. Don't act like kids fighting every day, I don't have the time to play with you."
The corridor went quiet for a second.
All the Slytherins came out of their rooms and walked to the common room hall; those who weren't participating came to watch the fun, and those who were participating stood out one by one.
Chapter 5: Illusion in the Dungeon (Part 2)
Blaise Zabini walked out from the crowd.
Su Yu watched him. This was a person he had noticed on the train—a boy with delicate features, wearing a tailored robe, his chin slightly raised, and his gaze carrying an innate arrogance, as if he were looking at mud on the ground no matter who he looked at. He walked up to Su Yu, stood still, and a scornful curve hung on the corner of his mouth.
"Blood traitor," Blaise's voice was not loud, but every word sounded carefully polished, "a guy who hangs out with a bunch of Mudbloods. You are unworthy of the Slytherin Common Room robe. You are unworthy—"
He did not finish. Because Cedrian walked up and stood beside Blaise.
"Me," Cedrian said, his voice calm and firm.
Another upperclassman walked out.
"Me."
Another one.
"Me."
One by one. Su Yu counted—everyone from the seventh year had stepped out, several from the sixth year had stepped out, several from the fifth year, three from the fourth year, and a few third-year students hesitated for a moment before also stepping out. In total, more than forty people stood in a circle, surrounding Su Yu in the middle.
"Don't say we're bullying you; today is just to make you suffer a little, to let you know who the real masters of Slytherin are!"
Malfoy stood outside the crowd, the expression on his face changing from initial smugness to a subtle confusion. His lips were slightly parted, and his grey eyes were wide, as if watching a performance he had never expected. Crabbeand Goyle stood behind him, the expressions on their two faces combined not even forming a complete thought.
Su Yu looked at these forty-plus people, the curve of his mouth unchanged.
He raised his hand.
Sand gushed out from his cuffs, flowing from his fingertips, silently covering the floor of the corridor like a yellow snake, winding around everyone's feet, and then blocking all the exits.
"Sand Coffin."
Su Yu's voice was very soft, like a sigh.
The sand erupted in an instant. The upperclassman at the very front—a sixth-year boy—didn't even have time to let out a gasp before he was wrapped by the sand. The yellow sand started from the soles of his feet and quickly spread to his knees, waist, chest, and neck. He opened his mouth wide, trying to call for help.
Su Yu clenched his fist.
The upperclassman screamed—and then, under everyone's gaze, his body turned into fine blood-sand, mixing with the yellow sand to become blood-red, swirling and scattering in the air like a silent, red rain.
The corridor was silent for about two seconds.
Then, screams erupted.
On the faces of those upperclassmen, all arrogance and scorn were torn to pieces in an instant, replaced by a primitive, naked fear. Their eyes were wide as if about to split, their mouths open to the maximum, and screams squeezed out from their throats, as sharp as a mouse that had its tail stepped on.
"Ahhhhhh—"
"He—he—"
"He killed someone—he killed someone—"
"Run—run!"
They turned around, desperately trying to run out of the corridor. Some bumped into the walls, some tripped over their own robes, and some shoved the people in front, wanting to squeeze out. But Su Yu did not open the door for them.
The sand rolled in the air like yellow vipers, catching up to every person running away. One—wrapped, shattered, blood rain. Another—wrapped, shattered, blood rain. Another—wrapped, shattered, blood rain.
Cedrian ran at the very front. He was a prefect; he knew every corner and every door in this corridor. His speed was astonishing, but every door here was blocked by sand.
The sand caught up to him.
It wrapped around his right arm and tightened. Cedrian felt a huge force coming from his arm, as if gripped by an invisible hand. Then—a sharp pain—his right arm shattered. It shattered into fine blood-sand and drifted into the air along with the yellow sand.
Cedrian fell to the ground. His face was deathly pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat, but he did not scream. He just stared wide-eyed at his right arm, where there was nothing left.
He regretted it.
The fine sand slowly crawled all over his body; he wanted to scream but was choked by the sand.
He regretted why he had stepped out. He regretted why he had said those things. He regretted why he had gone to provoke this—
"Enough!"
A voice exploded in everyone's mind.
"Wake up!"
Then, everything changed in an instant.
The corridor was still that same corridor. The walls were still those same walls. Cedrian stood in front of Su Yu, his right arm hanging intact from his shoulder. Those upperclassmen stood in the corridor, none of them running away, none of them bleeding, none of them turning into blood-sand.
They stood there, gasping for air, the expressions on their faces a mix of fear and bewilderment.
"This is—this is an illusion?"
"We—we weren't—"
"My arm—my arm is still here—"
Cedrian looked down at his right arm. It was still there. He moved his fingers; every one was there. His face was still pale, his forehead still covered in cold sweat, but his arm hadn't shattered.
He raised his head and looked at Su Yu.
Su Yu stood in place, but at this moment his eyes were red, the rotation in his pupils slowly stopping. He looked no different from before—still that lazy, uncaring demeanor.
Then, everyone noticed—standing beside Su Yu was a person.
Albus Dumbledore.
He was wearing a deep purple robe, his silver beard gleaming slightly in the dim corridor. His hand rested on Su Yu's shoulder, his blue eyes calm and deep behind his half-moon spectacles.
"Enervate and Revive," Dumbledore's voice echoed in the corridor, gentle and calm, "I had to use two spells to pull you out of the illusion." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the faces of those upperclassmen.
No one spoke. Those who had just woken from the illusion were still struggling between fear and confusion. They looked at Su Yu, subconsciously taking several steps back. Their feet were retreating, but their eyes did not leave Su Yu's face.
Su Yu looked at Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore," his voice was very soft, as he spoke that classic line: "Do you also want to dance?"
Dumbledore's eyebrows twitched.
Then, before anyone could react, the hand resting on Su Yu's shoulder suddenly tightened. Su Yu felt a sense of spinning, the corridor disappeared, the common room disappeared, the stone walls of the Castle disappeared—
They were standing deep in the Forbidden Forest.
All around were towering ancient trees, their trunks so thick that it would take five or six people to hug them. The crowns of the trees intertwined overhead into an airtight canopy, with only occasional wisps of moonlight leaking through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled silver-white spots of light on the ground.
Su Yu steadied his feet. His eyes flickered with red light in the moonlight, and the rotation in his pupils began to accelerate again.
"Professor Dumbledore," Su Yu's voice was exceptionally clear in the silence of the Forbidden Forest, "You want to test me, right? Sorting me into Slytherin was just waiting for them to come and cause me trouble. You knew I would make a move. Then you could seize the opportunity to act, to see exactly how much I'm worth."
Dumbledore stood opposite him, hands behind his back, his silver beard gleaming slightly in the moonlight. He did not deny it, nor did he admit it. He just looked at Su Yu, a complex, hard-to-read light in his blue eyes.
"Child," Dumbledore's voice was very soft, "I just wanted to—"
"Kurama!"
Su Yu's voice exploded in the Forbidden Forest, like a thunderbolt splitting the silence.
Golden Chakra gushed out from his body, like a layer of burning armor, wrapping around Su Yu's entire body, and then—then they began to expand, to deform, to condense into a huge, clear, living outline.
A fox.
A huge, golden fox with nine tails behind it.
She stood in the center of the Forbidden Forest, nine tails swaying wildly behind her, each one as thick as the trunk of a towering ancient tree. Each sway of a tail whipped up a gale, blowing the surrounding leaves into a frenzy. Her vertical pupils flickered with a cold light in the moonlight, and her mouth slightly grinned, revealing two rows of sharp teeth that looked like they had been scorched by fire.
Kurama looked down at Dumbledore, a low roar like distant thunder emitting from her throat.
Su Yu stood inside Kurama's head, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes had changed—no longer the simple red from before, but a more complex, more ancient color. Black tomoe rotated in the red pupils, three black commas connecting into a circle, and then transforming into a new shape.
Mangekyo Sharingan.
Su Yu took a deep breath. Then, he pressed his hands together.
"Susanoo."
Chakra gushed out from Kurama's body, condensing into a suit of armor on her. The nine tails of the Nine-Tails extended from the gaps in the armor, each one swaying, each carrying enough power to split mountains.
Kurama clad in Susanoo.
Su Yu had wanted to use this for a long time!
That huge, nine-tailed demon fox made of Chakra, clad in red armor, stood in the center of the Forbidden Forest. Her height—no, it could no longer be measured by height. Her head almost touched the clouds above the Forbidden Forest, and her tails swayed behind her, each one capable of sweeping across half the Forbidden Forest.
Inside Hogwarts Castle, everyone saw it.
The windows of the Great Hall were buzzing from the vibration. In the Gryffindor tower, students rushed to the windows, eyes wide. In the Ravenclaw common room, all the books on the shelves were trembling. In the Hufflepuffbasement, several lower-year students were huddled together in fear. And in the Great Hall—those students who had just escaped from the Slytherin Common Room—they stood in front of the windows, watching the huge, golden-flame-burning fox figure in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, the legs of several people already starting to shake.
A few timid ones—or perhaps it should be said, those with small bladders—could already feel some uncontrollable liquid dripping down their pant legs.
Su Yu stood in Kurama's head, looking down at Dumbledore. Dumbledore stood on the ground, looking up at the existence larger than any creature he had ever seen. His blue eyes twinkled behind his spectacles—not with fear, but with a complex, somewhat helpless light, as if saying, "I guessed correctly after all."
"Old man," Su Yu's voice came down from high above, amplified by Chakra into a deafening roar, "I call you Professor Dumbledore out of respect. But you've pissed me off—and the outcome will be miserable."
Kurama let out a low, agreeing roar above his head. Her tails swayed even more widely, and the gale she whipped up made the trees on the edge of the Forbidden Forestbend.
Dumbledore's mouth twitched.
He really did want to test Su Yu. He knew those students in Slytherin would not accept an Eastern half-blood—and would actively provoke him. He knew Su Yu would retaliate. He wanted to see just how capable this young man, with an ancient power sealed within him, truly was.
But he had truly messed up.
Dumbledore tilted his head back, looking at the nine-tailed fox clad in red armor, looking at the young man with his arms crossed inside her head, and looking at the thing currently coalescing in that fox's mouth—a sphere.
A sphere woven from red and blue Chakra, constantly rotating, expanding, and compressing. It hovered in Kurama's open mouth. The surrounding air was sucked toward it, leaves were swept into the sky, gravel on the ground began to tremble, and the entire Forbidden Forestbowed before that sphere.
Tailed Beast Ball.
Su Yu looked down at Dumbledore. Dumbledore's blue eyes narrowed behind his spectacles, and the expression on his face finally shifted slightly. My youth is back! he thought. How is one supposed to block this? With one's head? What on earth is this thing?
"Today," Su Yu's voice came down from above, "if I don't blast you to pieces, you old geezer, then I'm not surnamed Su. I mean it."
Kurama's tail lashed out violently—the Tailed Beast Ballcompressed to its limit, and then—
Dumbledore did not move. He did not pull out his wand, did not chant a spell, and did not make any defensive moves. He simply stood there, head tilted back.
"Boom!" Kurama spat out the Tailed Beast Ball.
The black sphere flew from her mouth, roaring with destruction as it smashed toward Dumbledore. The air was torn into a fissure before it, the ground beneath it was scorched, and the trees on either side were blown down—the entire Forbidden Forest prostrated itself before it, awaiting the arrival of destruction.
Dumbledore still did not move.
Inside the Castle, Professor McGonagall stood by the window, the expression on her face turning into a shock she rarely displayed. Snape stood beside her, his black eyes flickering in the light of the Tailed Beast Ball with a complex, unreadable gleam. Professor Flitwick raised his wand, chanting a super-powered Shield Charm. Professor Sprout stood in front of the greenhouse, her face filled with worry.
Then—a figure appeared in front of Dumbledore. A middle-aged man, wearing a robe in the style of the Eastern Continent, his long black hair lifted by the night wind.
He stepped out from the void, his form appearing exceptionally clear in the light of the Tailed Beast Ball—the expression on his face was one of helplessness.
He reached behind his back and drew a sword. He gripped the sword with one hand, and then—he slashed upward with a single stroke.
The moment the blade collided with the Tailed Beast Ball, the entire Forbidden Forest shook. Golden light exploded from the center of the collision, illuminating half the sky. The middle-aged man's robes whipped violently in the shockwave, but his body remained motionless. His hand held the hilt steadily, the blade cutting deep into the core of the Tailed Beast Ball—
The Tailed Beast Ball was split open. It was cleaved cleanly into two halves. The two halves of the Tailed Beast Ball shot toward the sky and exploded above Hogwarts Castle.
And above the Castle, another graceful figure appeared on the tower top. She stood on the highest tower of the Castle, her long hair floating in the night wind, and the moonlight casting a soft silver glow on her face. Her features were exquisite and beautiful, possessing a youthful liveliness that did not belong to her age.
She reached out her hand and waved it gently. A massive barrier expanded from her palm, spreading a translucent dome with a faint blue glow over the Castle. The two halves of the Tailed Beast Ball exploded in the sky, emitting a deafening roar—
Boom—a mushroom cloud rose above the Castle, golden flames and black smoke intertwining like a giant ignited flower. The barrier trembled violently under the impact, cracks spreading from the center outward like a spiderweb struck by a stone—and then, with a final roar, it shattered.
Shards drifted down from the sky like blue, transparent snow. The remnants of the shockwave rushed out from the shattered barrier and slammed into the Castle's stone walls.
Inside the Castle, everyone was screaming. Students in the Great Hall were knocked to the ground by the shockwave, the Gryffindor tables were blown askew, and Hufflepuffpumpkin juice was spilled all over the floor. Those Slytherin students—the ones who had just escaped from Su Yu's illusion—stood in the corner of the Great Hall, their faces as pale as paper, and some of them had legs so weak they couldn't stand.
Malfoy stood in the crowd, the expression on his face having changed from confusion to a pure, unadulterated fear. His lips were trembling, and his grey eyes reflected the mushroom cloud outside the window and the sky full of glass shards.
The explosion lasted for nearly two minutes. The golden flames slowly dissipated in the sky, the thick smoke was blown away by the night wind, and the moonlight shone on the Castle once again.
In the Forbidden Forest, the middle-aged man put away his sword. He looked up, watching Su Yu standing in Kurama's head, the expression on his face changing from helplessness to a pure, undisguised anger.
"You little brat!" his voice came up from the ground, "It's only been a few years since I was away? And you're already making such a big mess?"
Su Yu stood in Kurama's head, looking down at the man, and suddenly his expression changed. "Huh?" Su Yu's voice came down from above, "Dad? Why are you here?" He blinked. "I knew that old geezer couldn't possibly block my ultimate move, turns out it was you."
"Get down here right now!"
"I'm not going down," Su Yu said, his voice carrying the stubbornness of a child throwing a tantrum, "This old man is trying to disgust me on purpose, so I have to disgust him back. I have an even bigger move I haven't used yet—let me use it, and I'll beat him up first."
Then—a hand grabbed Su Yu's ear. That hand reached out from the void, fair, slender, with long fingers and nails painted a pale pink. It precisely, unquestionably, and with the force of "I've been putting up with you for a long time," pinched Su Yu's right earlobe, and then—twisted.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch—" Su Yu's voice came down from above, the cold, murderous seriousness from just a moment ago shattered in an instant, "Mom—Mom, I was wrong—stop pulling my ear—ouch, ouch—"
Kurama stood there, her nine tails frozen in mid-air. She did not stop the woman; she didn't dare to.
The woman walked out from the void and stood in Kurama's head as well, one hand firmly pulling Su Yu's ear. "You still know pain?" Her voice was very light, very soft, like a breeze in spring, "Then do you know, your father's sword strike just now almost didn't split it?"
????? That was called "almost didn't split it"? One-handed sword strike, one upward slash, and the Tailed Beast Ballwas in two halves. Yeah, sure, right, that's called "almost didn't split it"... Of course, Su Yu didn't dare say that out loud.
"Alright, alright, I know, I was wrong—I really was wrong—let go—"
The woman did not let go. She twisted Su Yu's ear, flew out from Kurama's head, and descended toward the ground. Kurama's figure dissipated the moment she left, slowly fading from the sky and returning to the depths of Su Yu's soul.
Kurama lay down in the soul space, her nine tails curled into a soft cushion, and buried her face into it. Her expression was one of subtle, slightly aggrieved helplessness, as if to say, "I couldn't help it, that woman's gaze was too terrifying."
Su Yu, with his ear twisted by his mother, flew in front of the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man—Su Yu's father—stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, watching Su Yu descend with his ear being pulled, his mouth twitching slightly. Then he stepped forward and flicked Su Yu on the forehead.
"You kid, what do you think you're doing? Want to destroy Hogwarts?"
Su Yu covered his forehead. His ear was still being pulled, his forehead had just been flicked, and the expression on his face turned into that of a wronged child. "That old man started it!" Su Yu's voice carried a righteous accusation, "He sorted me into Slytherin just waiting for those people to come and cause me trouble! He wanted to test me! He wanted to see how capable I was! He—"
"So you decided to blast him with a Tailed Beast Ball?" His father's voice held a hint of helpless amusement.
"..." Su Yu fell silent. His ear was finally released—his mother let go. Su Yu's mother looked up at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore stood not far away, his silver beard gleaming slightly in the moonlight, his blue eyes watching the family of three calmly from behind his spectacles. His expression was a complex one, subtle and slightly awkward, as if to say, "Alright, I do have some responsibility here."
"Professor Dumbledore," Su Yu's mother spoke up. Her voice was very light, very soft, exactly the same as when she was pulling Su Yu's ear, but for some reason, Dumbledore's eyes narrowed slightly, "If you don't give us an explanation this time—" She paused. A gentle smile hung on the corners of her mouth, a smile that anyone could see left no room for negotiation. "Then, like my son, I don't think there is any need for Hogwarts to exist either."
The Forbidden Forest was quiet for about three seconds. Then, Su Yu's father—the man who had just split the Tailed Beast Ball with one sword strike—suddenly turned around, faced Dumbledore, his expression changing instantly, following the wife is always the right choice!
"Ah, yes, yes!" His voice held an eagerness that said, "That's right, that's right, we are on the same side," "Dumbledore! You had better give us a proper explanation!"
So I'm just a throwaway? What about my explanation? How did it suddenly become the two of you? Su Yu raged impotently in his heart...
Su Yu's father shifted his body slightly and leaned close to Su Yu's mother's ear. "Um—" His voice was kept very low, low enough that only Su Yu's mother could hear, "Didn't we come here to beat this little brat up? Why did we suddenly change targets?"
Su Yu's mother rolled her eyes at him. The meaning of that eye-roll was clear—"What little brat? Who are you calling a little brat?" She turned back, looking at Dumbledore, the expression on his face returning to that gentle, unquestionable smile.
"This is my precious son," her voice was very light, as if stating a simple fact, "he just likes to cause trouble sometimes. What's the big deal about that?"
Su Yu's father nodded vigorously beside her. "Yes, yes, yes! Exactly, exactly!" His voice carried an eagerness that said, "My wife is right."
Su Yu's mother rolled her eyes at him again.
Dumbledore stood opposite them, watching this family of three, his mouth opening, closing, and opening again. He wanted to say something—he really wanted to say something—but the words of this family rushed over like a tide, and he couldn't even insert a punctuation mark. He suddenly felt that talking to this family was really exhausting.
Chapter 6: Illusions in the Dungeon (Part 3)
(If you guys feel like this is good, please try to give the book a rating, okay? Thank you everyone!! Thanks!)
Half an hour later, in the Hogwarts Principal's office, Dumbledore sat in his chair, with three cups of tea on the desk in front of him. One was for Su Yu's mother, one for Su Yu's father, and one was his own—he needed this cup of tea, very much.
Professor McGonagall stood by the window, the expression on her face one of calm, as if she had "given up on any basic understanding of this world." Snape stood by the fireplace, his black eyes flickering in the firelight with a subtle glow, as if he were watching a brilliant play.
Su Yu was not in the office.
He stood outside the door of the Principal's office, leaning against a portrait, chatting with a group of ghosts.
"—Really," Su Yu said to Nearly Headless Nick, "the day I learn the Impure World Reincarnation, I will definitely be able to resurrect all of you!"
Nearly Headless Nick floated beside him, the expression on his face a subtle look of both anticipation and disbelief.
"Impure World Reincarnation?" He repeated the term, his pronunciation a bit awkward. "What is that?"
"A forbidden jutsu," Su Yu said, hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall. "It can summon the dead back from the Pure Land, letting them resurrect in their original forms. Of course, it's not certain yet if it works on ghosts—after all, your state is quite special—but in principle, it makes sense."
"Oh?" The Bloody Baron's voice drifted over from the other side, deep and hoarse. "And when will you be able to learn it?"
"Hard to say," Su Yu shrugged. "The training conditions for this forbidden jutsu are very harsh. I don't know how long it will take."
Several ghosts let out a low chuckle. The laughter drifted through the corridor, carrying a sense of centuries of vicissitudes and a strange warmth.
Su Yu chatted casually with this group of ghosts like they were brothers—chatting about how Nearly Headless Nickdied, why the Grey Lady always sat in that corner without speaking, and whether the bloodstains on The Bloody Baron were real. Su Yu's attitude was very casual, like talking to old friends, which made these ghosts, who had been viewed by students with awe or fear for centuries, feel a strange sense of comfort.
The office door opened. Su Yu's parents walked out. Su Yu's mother walked in front, the expression on her face one of satisfied calm, as if the matter had already been resolved. Su Yu's father followed behind, the expression on his face one of smugness, as if to say, "I said a lot of things in there, but it didn't really matter."
"Come in," Su Yu's mother said to Su Yu, her voice very soft, "and say goodbye to the Professors."
Su Yu straightened up from the wall and walked into the office.
Dumbledore sat in his chair, his silver beard glowing slightly in the firelight from the fireplace. Professor McGonagall stood by the window and nodded at Su Yu. Snape stood by the fireplace, his black eyes flickering in the firelight.
"Everything is resolved," Su Yu's mother said to Su Yu, her voice carrying a calm that meant "don't ask too many questions." "Go back to the Slytherin common room. Be on time for class tomorrow morning."
She reached out and straightened the collar of Su Yu's robe, which had been pulled askew.
Su Yu looked at her.
"Wait, what? That's it? What about my compensation! I just got bullied for nothing??"
His father stepped forward and flicked Su Yu on the forehead again.
"What else do you want, kid? Don't worry about the compensation; the main thing is that you're still young and can't use it yet. We'll talk about it when you're older!"
Su Yu covered his forehead, the expression on his face turning into one of suspicion, as if to say, "Am I that easy to fool?"
Su Yu's mother looked at him. Her face was practically written with the words, "Yes, you are that easy to fool."
The two of them stared at each other for about two seconds. Then Su Yu's mother let go of his hand, turned around, and bowed slightly to Dumbledore and the Professors.
"We won't disturb you any further," her voice returned to that soft, polite tone, "please take good care of this child in the future."
Su Yu's father also nodded to the Professors. Then he walked to the office window and pushed it open. The night wind blew in from outside, carrying the damp scent of the Forbidden Forest and the faint saltiness of the distant lake water.
He unhooked the sword from his waist and tossed it into the air. The sword spun a few times in the moonlight, and then—it grew larger. It transformed from a three-foot sword into a flying vehicle the size of a small boat, emitting a faint silver light. Su Yu's father jumped onto it, then turned around, reached out, and pulled Su Yu's mother up as well.
Su Yu's mother stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She pressed her face against his back, her long hair fluttering in the night wind, the moonlight gilding her hair with a layer of silver light.
The two of them did not look back. No farewells. They didn't even look at Su Yu again.
The flying sword shot out of the Hogwarts window like a silver bolt of lightning, streaking across the night sky and disappearing into the end of the stars.
"Are they always like this?" Snape's voice came from beside the fireplace, deep and hoarse, carrying a weariness that said, "I've seen enough of this family drama."
"Always like this, because I might have been a freebie they got when they deposited money at Gringotts," Su Yu said.
Dumbledore stood up from his chair. His movements were a bit slow—not the deliberate kind of slow, but the slowness of someone who had "experienced too much today and needed a moment to recover."
"Alright," his voice returned to that gentle, unhurried rhythm, "Mr. Foley, you should head back too. Your classmates are probably waiting for you."
Su Yu turned around and nodded to the Professors. "Farewell."
But suddenly he felt something was wrong, right? Where did my'Su' go? Why was only 'Foley' left? Whatever, it's not important, maybe the old guy is getting senile...
He walked out of the office and went down the spiral staircase. The stairs creaked under his feet, and the portraits of the former Principals on the walls all shut their mouths as he passed—no one dared to say anything sarcastic at a time like this.
The Slytherin common room.
When Su Yu pushed the door open, no one was asleep.
They were sitting in the common room's Great Hall—seventh years, sixth years, fifth years, fourth years, third years, second years, first years—everyone. Some were sitting, some were standing, some were leaning against the wall, but at the moment the door was pushed open, everyone's gaze turned in unison toward Su Yu.
It was a strange gaze, difficult to describe in words. It contained fear, awe, curiosity, unease, and something that had been completely shattered and hadn't yet had time to be pieced back together.
As Su Yu walked in, several people unconsciously took a step back. Their feet shifted to the side as Su Yu passed, clearing a path for him to the corridor.
Crabbe and Goyle sat in the corner. Their faces were still white—better than they had been in the Great Hall, but only from the color of "paper" to the color of "milk." Su Yunoticed that the hems of their robes had already been replaced with new ones. They were fast—they had probably practiced it.
Malfoy stood at the back of the crowd.
Su Yu didn't look at them.
He walked to the entrance of the corridor and stopped.
"Everyone, hurry up and go to sleep," his voice was lazy, as if he were talking about the most ordinary thing, "there's nothing left to worry about."
He paused. "Give me a single room. We'll talk about other things tomorrow."
The corridor was silent for a second. Then Cedrian—the seventh-year prefect who had stood at the very front earlier and said in the loudest voice, "The pride of pure-bloods will never bow"—walked out from the crowd. His pace was fast, fast enough that it was almost a jog. He walked up to Su Yu and lowered his head.
"This way, please," his voice was very low, so low it was almost inaudible, "I will take you there."
He turned around and led Su Yu to the other side of the corridor, pushing open another door. That door was three times larger than the previous one.
"This is a single room with an en-suite bathroom," Cedrian's voice was still very low, so low it sounded like he was afraid of disturbing something, "the sheets were just changed today. I've already had someone add wood to the fireplace. If you need anything else—"
"No need." Su Yu pushed the door open and walked in.
Cedrian stood outside the door, hesitating for a moment.
"Good night," he said, his voice carrying a cautious, tightrope-walking care, "Young Master Sean Foley."
Su Yu did not look back. He just raised his hand and waved it casually.
Cedrian gently closed the door.
He stood outside the door and let out a long breath. His back was already soaked with cold sweat. The experience of today was a feeling he had never experienced in his life, something called "surviving a disaster."
He looked down at his intact right arm. His fingers were trembling, but his arm was still there. His arm was still there.
He turned around and walked back to the common room's Great Hall. Everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to speak.
Cedrian stood in the center of the Great Hall and took a deep breath.
"Everyone go back to sleep," he said, his voice much lower than usual, "tonight's events—no one is to mention them. No one is to speak of them outside."
He paused and swept his gaze across everyone's face. "No one."
No one spoke. No one argued. No one even dared to meet his eyes.
They turned around and quietly walked back to their respective rooms.
The corridor quieted down.
Su Yu stood in front of the single room's window, watching the water of the Black Lake slowly flow against the glass outside. The lake water was deep green, and occasionally a fish would swim by, casting a blurry, fleeting shadow on the window.
He took a shower. The hot water sprayed from the showerhead, hitting his shoulders. Kurama lay down in the soul space, her nine tails curled into a soft cushion, and she buried her face into it. Her breathing was even and quiet, as if she had already fallen asleep.
Su Yu turned off the faucet, dried himself off, and put on clean pajamas. He collapsed onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Kurama rolled over in the soul space. "Did you," her voice was very low, so low it was almost like sleep-talking, "play a bit too big today?"
"No." Su Yu said.
"You scared so many people that they wet their pants."
"That's because they're cowardly. You have to pay the price for what you do; bullying isn't a good habit."
Su Yu closed his eyes.
The lake water outside was gently lapping against the Castle's cliffs, a bird in the Forbidden Forest called once and then fell silent, and the fire in the fireplace flickered on the last piece of firewood and then quieted down as well.
Su Yu fell into a deep sleep in the Slytherin single room.
Kurama opened her eyes in the soul space. She looked at Su Yu, suddenly appeared beside him, found a comfortable spot in Su Yu's arms, and lay down.
She hummed, moved her nine tails toward him, and covered him with them. Then she closed her eyes too.