Chapter 38: Chu Yang vs. Snape

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Hermione suddenly caught Chu Yang by the sleeve and asked in a low voice, “Can you tell me what really happened? I don’t believe for a second that so many people would spend the whole night in the common room. What would be the point?”

“I heard the Slytherin common room is at the bottom of the Black Lake. It’s dark and cold down there. What could possibly be fun about that?”

Hermione tended to think more like an adult. In fact, even Professor McGonagall had found the explanation difficult to believe, which was why she had gone straight to the infirmary after class, taking the opportunity to visit Malfoy.

Chu Yang could not be bothered to invent an excuse. Sooner or later, people would find out that he had beaten them up anyway.

After all, they had merely been knocked unconscious. They had not lost their memories.

So Chu Yang simply told her the whole story. “Last night, they blocked me at the entrance to the dormitories. They said I wasn’t pure-blooded and had no right to stay in Slytherin, and they intended to make trouble for me. I was tired and sleepy and only wanted to go to bed. I didn’t have time to fool around with them, so I had no choice but to invite them all out.”

At that, Hermione came to an abrupt halt. She opened her mouth wide and stared at Chu Yang in shock.

“When you say ‘invite’… do you mean the same ‘invite’ we normally use?”

Chu Yang thought for a moment, then shook his head. “There was a slight difference.”

“I suspect it was more than slight.” Hermione drew a deep breath. The temperature around her seemed to drop several degrees. “The school will hold you accountable for assaulting your classmates. Aren’t you afraid?”

“How could one person assault so many people? They were the ones assaulting me. I was acting in self-defense.” Chu Yang rolled his eyes and spread his hands helplessly. “Was I supposed to stand there and let them bully me?”

“That’s true. They were the ones who started it!” The moment Hermione imagined Chu Yang being ostracized by the other Slytherin first-years simply because he was not pure-blooded, she immediately sympathized with him and grew indignant on his behalf.

The two of them continued discussing the previous night as they made their way into the classroom.

“Isn’t Hermione one of us Gryffindors? Why is she always hovering around Chu Yang?” Ron felt inexplicably uncomfortable as he watched the two of them chatting so happily.

“They’re all classmates. There’s no need to draw such a sharp line between them,” Harry replied matter-of-factly, not seeing anything strange about it. “Besides, they probably have more in common. They’re both clever and well-read.”

Having learned their lesson in Transfiguration, the first-years hurried to their seats as soon as they entered the classroom, terrified of incurring Professor Snape’s displeasure.

Compared with Professor McGonagall’s sternness and meticulous discipline, Professor Snape was positively terrifying. He was gloomy and intimidating, and it always felt as though anyone who angered him would suffer a dreadful punishment.

Only after all the students had taken their seats did Professor Snape enter from outside.

He strode in with such force that his robes billowed dramatically behind him.

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Perhaps he thought he looked impressive, but to Chu Yang, the moment he entered the room he looked like a giant moth flapping its wings.

“This subject does not require you to wave your wands about like fools, nor does it require you to babble meaningless incantations. I doubt that many of you possess the ability to appreciate the profound science and precise craftsmanship involved in potion-making.”

Professor Snape leaned against the teacher’s desk, making no attempt to conceal the coldness on his face. He was just about to continue when a sweep of his eyes revealed that a great many students were missing.

“This is hardly the first class of the morning. Why are so many of you late?” Professor Snape glared at the empty seats, anger filling his voice. “And they are Slytherin students, no less!”

He slammed one hand down on the desk with a heavy bang, making everyone’s heart jolt.

At that very moment, a knock sounded from outside.

Professor Snape, who had been preparing to continue berating the students, frowned. Anyone interrupted in the middle of an impassioned speech would have been displeased.

He straightened his robes, then swept toward the door like a gust of wind. When he opened it, Professor McGonagall was standing outside, having just returned from the infirmary.

Professor McGonagall first glanced into the classroom. When she saw Chu Yang, an exasperated expression crossed her face. She then gestured for Professor Snape to step outside and speak with her.

As Professor McGonagall explained why the Slytherin first-years were absent, Snape was initially bewildered. Then he fell silent.

The students whispered among themselves, wondering why Professor McGonagall had called Snape out of a lesson in progress.

At that age, children were curious about everything.

About five minutes later, Professor Snape returned to the classroom with an indescribably strange expression on his face.

He did not go to the lectern. Instead, he walked straight up to Chu Yang and stared coldly down at him.

“Mr. Chu Yang, perhaps you can tell me how you managed, with nothing but your fists, to keep several dormitories’ worth of students from attending class today?”

“I am genuinely curious. But do not tell me that you, a boy from an orphanage, also know some form of Eastern martial arts. That would be almost too ridiculous.”

Snape mocked Chu Yang without the slightest restraint, and his words immediately sent a shockwave through the classroom.

The reason those Slytherin students had been unable to attend class was that Chu Yang had beaten them!

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The classroom erupted in an uproar.

Harry and Ron stared at Chu Yang with their mouths hanging open, their eyes filled with admiration. Good heavens—had he really taken down all those people by himself?

Only yesterday, Ron had told Harry that if a non-pure-blood wizard like Chu Yang went to Slytherin, the outcome would certainly be ugly.

Harry had been worried about Chu Yang as well.

When he saw Chu Yang safe and sound that morning, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As the only two orphans in their year, Harry could not help feeling a sense of shared misfortune if anything happened to Chu Yang.

Of the infamous trio responsible for the most point deductions, Hermione was by far the calmest, having already learned the truth from Chu Yang. Even so, she remained deeply worried for him. Professor Snape looked absolutely furious.

Chu Yang rose to his feet and replied calmly, “Professor Snape, I truly don’t know any martial arts. But as you said, I grew up in an orphanage. The environment there was not exactly peaceful, and fighting was a compulsory lesson for every child.”

“Besides, if I may be so bold, a wizard who cannot cast spells without a wand is not much stronger than a Muggle…”

Chu Yang’s comparison between Muggles and wizards enraged Snape outright.

He strode forward until his face was almost touching Chu Yang’s.

“You have made a grave mistake, Mr. Chu Yang!”

Snape glared viciously at him and shouted, “Do not imagine that your fists can solve every problem. They may be enough for now, but what about two or three months from now? Once those first-years you bullied pick up their wands and learn how to cast spells, what will you do then? Rely on your fists again?”

The confrontation between Snape and Chu Yang made the already frigid dungeon feel even more unbearable. The first-years watched the two of them in terror, scarcely daring to breathe.