Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 630 The Overlooker

Horace Slughorn's introduction of Salazar Slytherin was both expected and unexpected.

After all, he was over 1.8 meters tall, had a long beard, was extremely thin, wore a dark green robe in the style of a thousand years ago, and had a pair of sunglasses that covered half of his face. Anyone could guess his identity.

At the same time, since almost everyone present knew Horace Slughorn's temperament, his invitation to Salazar Slytherin seemed to be expected.

The only thing that surprised them was that Horace Slughorn was actually able to get Salazar Slytherin to come.

After all, Salazar Slytherin had always kept a low profile, and apart from making a brief appearance at the Cornelius Fudge Magical Union inauguration ceremony, he never showed his face in public.

Even within the Hogwarts campus, students rarely encounter Salazar Slytherin.

“It is an honor to meet you all here.” Salazar Slytherin stepped forward after Horace Slughorn’s opening remarks, raised his glass, and spoke in a hoarse, archaic English.

“Fate is so strange and cruel,” Salazar Slytherin said with a touch of sadness. “I never imagined that after parting ways with some of my old friends, I would be able to return here in this way, back to Hogwarts, back to the place where we poured our hearts and souls into our lives.”

“Back then we were young, we were full of passion, our ideals and ambitions were still burning brightly, and we hoped to build a sanctuary for our wizards.” Salazar Slytherin paused, then shook his head and denied, “No, more than that, that’s too light.”

“We want to build a divine kingdom for wizards, an Eden, a kingdom where we wizards can live forever,” Salazar Slytherin said. “This is where my differences with them came from. We had some disagreements about the general direction of our experiments, and eventually we parted ways. They went on with their experiments, and I went on with mine.”

“Now I have the opportunity to see our creation a thousand years from now,” Salazars Slytherin added. “You could say we’ve failed, or you could say we’ve succeeded.”

"We failed because the Hogwarts we created did not become what we envisioned, it did not become a divine kingdom, it did not become an Eden."

"But this place became Prometheus. This place became the spark for our entire wizarding world," Salazar Slytherin said passionately. "Look at you, look at your predecessors!"

"Those are the brightest stars in the wizarding world, the lights of hope that illuminate the darkness!"

"May your future be bright." Salazar Slytherin raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

slam-la-

The audience erupted in applause, and even Professor Trelawney, who had been complaining to Harry and Luna, couldn't help but applaud.

"Do you think Mr. Slytherin's speech might have been written by Tyrell?" Luna, who was also clapping, tilted her head and asked Harry.

“How could that be!” Professor Trelawney retorted upon hearing Luna’s question. “That must be Mr. Slytherin’s true thought. He truly is a great wizard!”

"He is far superior to Tyella, who stole my student."

Then, Professor Trelawney muttered something else quietly.

"What's going on? How come there are so many Tierras?" Amidst thunderous applause, the three dropouts from Durmstrang quietly left their dance partners and retreated together.

The one asking the question was Afjegrunia, the boy with short black hair.

"Could He have sensed something?" asked Lomonrosov Kuragin, the blond-haired, hook-nosed boy, nervously. "He definitely sensed something," Sergei Ivanov said in a low voice, his face grim.

"What do we do then?" Afjegrunia asked somewhat anxiously. "Should we still go looking for Slytherin? This is the best opportunity we could have!"

“Yes, we must go,” Sergei Ivanov said resolutely.

"But Tiera already has it."

“He already knew!” Sergei Ivanov interrupted what Avdegrunia might say, then frowned, seemingly quite disappointed in his follower’s audacity. “You don’t think it was a coincidence that he assigned us to the same dormitory as Him, do you?”

“Don’t think of others as stupid, Avde!” Sergei Ivanov reprimanded him in a slightly stern tone. “He definitely knows our past, He definitely knows everything about us! So we have been under His surveillance from the very beginning.”

"Sergei, what do we do then?" Lomonrosov Kuragin asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"When two Siberian polar bears fight, one of them will inevitably be injured!" Sergei Ivanov quoted a Russian proverb.

"Sergei, you mean..."

"Don't say it!" Sergei interrupted in time. "Let's go, let's go and toast Salazar Slytherin."

“He knows our past, He knows our ambitions,” Sergei Ivanov said. “So it’s perfectly normal for us to approach Salazars-Slytherin under these circumstances; in fact, it would be abnormal if we didn’t. As for the rest…”

“We’ll test the waters carefully.” Sergei Ivanov sneered, then picked up a glass of champagne from the table next to him, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp. “We’ve all had drinks tonight, and if we said anything inappropriate, He will forgive us. After all, we are legitimate students here.”

“Yes, Sergei!” Lomonrosov Kuragin seemed to have regained his courage instantly, and boldly said this, then started to walk forward.

—But Sergei Ivanov grabbed him.

"What are you doing?" Sergei asked urgently.

“Not to,” Lomonrosov Kuragin replied, puzzled.

“That’s not how you go,” Sergei said, frowning. “Go find your dance partner first, dance, have a few drinks, and then we’ll be together. Just act naturally.”

"Yes, Sergei!"

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the three who dropped out of Hogwarts, in the headmaster's office on the eighth floor of the tower, Dumbledore, who hadn't attended the ball, and Tyella, who hadn't attended the ball either, were sitting face to face playing wizard chess.

Their chessboard was strange; it wasn't a traditional wooden board, but a board that resembled a mirror reflecting water. Each square reflected a scene from the Christmas ball downstairs, and the scene that Sergei Ivanov, Lomonosov Kuragin, and Avdegrunia had just discussed was also reflected in their respective squares.

In addition, there are scenes of Draco Malfoy, and other students whose elders in the family have sided with Voldemort.

(End of this chapter)