Chapter 14.

  After Halloween, it was November.

  The Quidditch season had begun. The first match was between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

  Unlike in the inal story, Harry did not bee a Seeker, and there was no plot involving Quirrell attempting to curse Harry on the Quidditch pitor Srying to save Harry only to be misuood by Harry and his friends.

  The final result of the match was that Slytherin's Seeker, Terence Higgs, caught the Golden Snitch, leading Slytherin to victory and further extending their lead over the other three houses.

  However simir to the inal story, Harry and his friends still suspected that Snape had sinister iiarding the treasure hidden in the fourth-floor corridor. After some iigation, they mao extract the name Niel from Hagrid. In the following days, the three spent time in the library diligently searg for clues reted to Niel.

  However, all of this had nothing to do with Soren.

  Soren had been living a very fulfilling life during this time. Besides the daily studies and homework, he also mao participate in activities of the Charms Club and the Transfiguration Club. The advanced knowledge exged and researched iwo clubs beed Sreatly.

  Meanwhile, Soren had pnned for his life at Hogwarts for the few years. With the Occlumency Spell, Soren had the means to hide his thoughts, and it was time to start exeg the three majoals he o aplish before Voldemort's return:

  First, he must enhance his own strength. Soren had already po learn stronger spells, as well as the very important non verbel spell and wandless casting in practical bat.

  In addition, he must address his weakness of insuffit magical power. Due to the limitations of his magic, many powerful spells he had long coveted were out of reach because their magical power requirements exceeded his own level, f him to only admire them on paper without the ability to practice. Solving this problem was not easy; he hoped to search for and gather various legendary artifacts through ih resear the history of magic that could be applied in bat.

  In the First Wizarding War, a rge part of the first Dark Lrindelwald's strength came from the Elder Wand in his possession, which he obtained after extensive researto historical dots to locate the whereabouts of the Deathly Hallows, ultimately seizing the Elder Wand from a wand maker.

  The above two points were Soren's initial pns; however, after disc the wonders of bloodline power, Soren added a researpo on bloodline power to his inal pns, hoping to uhe power hidden within his own bloodline.

  Bloodline magic had long been lost in the modern magical world, where bloodline manipution research is strictly prohibited. Soren currently pced his greatest hopes in the restricted se of the library, which requires the signature of the headmaster or any professor to access, so he o pn around this issue.

  Sed, he aimed to develop a force loyal to himself, an anisation simir to the Death Eaters or the Order of the Phoenix.

  Just looking at Tom Riddle, who began recruiting followers during his time at sakes it clear that the school is where the most wizards gather, and it is the best pce to establish a fa. Whether Soren aims to bee the Dark Lord or to restore his family's glory, this is essential.

  Third, to explore Hogwarts.

  As a magical fortress with a history spanning over a thousand years, Hogwarts is undoubtedly hiding tless secrets inside and outside the castle. No one, including the successive headmasters, dares to cim they know all the secrets of Hogwarts. What intrigues Soren the most is that since Slytherin could leave a Chamber as a legacy, what about the other three great wizards, who were also founders? Did they leave behind any legacies that were not mentioned in the inal story?

  Each day, Sore a siderable amount of time practig nonverbel spells, wandless casting, and the family spells of the four major families: the Malfoys, the Bcks, the Lestranges.

  Iingly, these four families followed distinctly different paths in their research of family spells:

  The Malfoy family leaned heavily towards mind magic; the Bck family favored soul and transformation magic; the Lestrange family's magic bore the strong influence of curses, fog on inflig physical pain and harm.

  After disc each family's ination towards magical research, a vague yet bold idea suddenly fshed through Soren's mind: could the magical preferences of these pure-blood families correspond to the powers hidden within each family's bloodline?

  He had already realised that he possessed araordinary talent for mental magic, perhaps due to his awakening of the Malfoy family's bloodline power.

  The Bck family produymphadora Tonks, a natural-boramorphmagus; this might expin the Bck family's preference for transfiguration magic.

  In the inal he Lestrange couple were adept at the Cruciatus Curse, having tortured a pair of Aurors into madness, possibly due to their ialent for using dark curses.

  If his specution holds true, since he has awakehe Malfoy family's bloodline power, could he also awaken the powers of other families?

  Thinking of this, Soren couldn't help but feel a strong sense ency. Unfortunately, resources on bloodline magic are extremely rare, ae his extensive reading, he still has a limited uanding of this field, especially sidering he has at least a quarter of Bck blood and a quarter of another family blood in his veins.

  His grandmother passed away before his birth, but he vaguely recalls his father mentioning that his grandmother was from the Lestrange family. This means that he actually carries the bloodlines of these four families. If he could awaken the powers of other bloodlines, his strength would surely see a remarkable increase!

  Soren's researd practi family magid spell-casting teiques tinued until the sed week of December.

  At this point, he radiated fiden every move, feeliremely proud of the strength he gained from her ret rigorous training.

  He could now somerform wandless and nonverbal magic skillfully. The wand was merely an aid for him, no longer a y. Meanwhile, Soren had also ceased his practical dueling practice with Dobby; not because Dobby was no longer a match for him, but because he had reached a bottleneck, aless practice would yield no further improvement.

  [Wandless magic acquired!]

  [Nonverbal magic acquired!]

  Soren rubbed his ; it was time to prioritise expl Hogwarts.

  However, before that, he o prepare for the two-week Christmas holiday. inally, Soren po explore Hogwarts during this Christmas break, but Narcissa had sent a letter a month ago requesting that the two brothers must return home for Christmas, sidering it was the first time her sons had been away from home for so long. Soren pletely uood Narcissa's longing for her children.

  The day before Christmas, when Soreurhe books he had borrowed from Madam Pi the library, he was stopped at the library entrance by Hermione.

  Hermione's expression showed a hint of hesitation; to be ho, she had summoned a great deal of ce to approach Soren this time.

  Influenced by Harry and Ron, she had never had a good impression of Slytherin. If it weren't for Soren savi time, she likely would never have crossed paths with him. Now, as she fronted him, she felt a mix of anticipation and fear and said, "Hello, Mr. Malfoy. I haven't had the ce to express my gratitude for your help with the troll i, so I specifically came here today to say thank you."

  Soren looked at the girl who represehe intelle Harry's trio. Hermione's youthful features still bore the innoce of childhood, along with her fluffy hair and promi froh, resembling a simple, lovely neighbourhood girl. Of course, girls ge signifitly; after her fourth year, Hermione would begin to showcase her feminine charm.

  Soren was not g iiful surroundings within Slytherin; Daphne was stunning and poised; Meredith was cool and graceful. By appearance, Hermione didn't stand out pared to them.

  However, Soren had a siderable fondness for this principled, determined, and intelligent girl. Throughout Harry's worldwide search for Horcruxes, even Ron had eventually left, but Hermioayed by Harry's side until the end.

  Soren responded kindly, "You're wele, Miss Granger. Although we are from different houses, we are all cssmates at Hogwarts, so I'm just doing what I should do."

  Hermione's eyes lit up as she smiled and said, "Yes, we are cssmates. I hope we help each other iure."

  Soren nodded and was about to leave when Hermioopped him again. "Um... do you know who Niel is?"

  Soren raised an eyebrow, oh—the trio is already advang the plot of the Philosopher's Stone so quickly. "Niel is the greatest alchemist in history. He is the only knowor of the Philosopher's Stone, which is also known as the Sorcerer's Sto create the Elixir of Life and turn stoo gold. He is also a friend of Professor Dumbledore. Is that enough?"

  "I got it, it must be the Sorcerer's Stone!" Hermione suddenly realised aedly said to Soren, "The Sorcerer's Stone must be hidden in the forbidden area on the fourth floor. That three-headed dog must be there to protect the Stone—Hagrid said it was an agreemeween Dumbledore and Niel."

  "Oh, and then? Knowing that there's a Sorcerer's Stohen what?" Soren asked curiously.

  "And then—um..." Hermioated for a moment but tinued, "We suspect that Snape wants to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. Harry saw that his leg was injured; he must have been bitten while trying to get past the three-headed dog."

  Soren looked at Hermioh a scrutinizing gaze and after a long pause said, "Listen, you are suspeg a professor, even acg him, and this could get you into big trouble."

  "The most important thing is that Professor Snape has been teag at Hogwarts for over a decade, and being the head of a house shows that he has Dumbledore's trust. I don't believe anyone could harbor ill i under Dumbledore's very nose for so many years. Although Professor Snape may not be fair in how he treats students in css, and I know students from other houses, especially Gryffindors, don't like him, I still don't think he should be subjected to unfounded accusations."

  "But..." Hermioill waue.

  "Think about it; if you think of it, why 't others?" Soren looked into Hermione's eyes and said, "Do you really think that Professor Dumbledore, Professonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout are pletely unaware of Snape's injury?"

  "Alright, I think we should stop this topic here. As a Slytherin, no matter how much I say, you probably won't listen. You might just think I'm defending my head of house... Tomorrow is the start of Christmas break, and I haven't started pag yet, so I'll take my leave now. I wish you a Merry Christmas." After finishing, Soren waved his hand and turo leave. I-so-distant corridor, Daphne and Meredith looked over with curious expressions, waiting for him to return to the Slytherin dormitory with them.

  Hermioched Soren's figure gradually fade away. She had sensed an unpleasant tone in his st sentend, for some unknown reaso an inexplicable sorrow rising in her heart. Could it be that she and Harry and Ron really held a bias against Snape? Is it truly impossible te the divide between Slytherin and Gryffindor?

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