Whether it was Newland or Sigefin, both of them were very famous figures within their respective houses.
This kind of "fame" was not a compliment.
Newland's ruthlessness was extreme even by Slytherin standards.
On top of that, his "Mudblood" bloodline meant that basically no one in Slytherin was willing to associate with him.
Of course, no one really dared to bully him either.
Because those who truly had the power to bully him looked down on doing such things, like the genuinely noble Emily.
And those who wanted to do it didn't really have the ability, Draco, for example.
So after stuffing the heads of several bullies into toilets in succession, Newland became something like a venomous viper among snakes in the Slytherin snake pit.
Anyone with even a little sense would avoid getting close to him.
After all, you never knew when some trivial action might offend Newland and bring down his frenzied retaliation.
This kind of isolation was actually very painful, but Newland didn't care.
The qualities of Slytherin's early founders had long since been corrupted under Voldemort's influence.
Today's Slytherin House had become a warm nest specially designed to breed refined egoists.
Slytherins produced by such an environment weren't just hostile toward students from other houses, sometimes their hostility toward internal weaklings, and the exploitation of them, was even more insane.
Newland had seen far too many people who, because they weren't pure-bloods, were treated like dogs by pure-bloods, ordered around and humiliated.
He knew very well that if he didn't want to repeat the path of his predecessors, he had to live in an overwhelmingly dominant way.
As for Sigefin, he was the complete opposite.
From the very first day he entered Gryffindor, Sigefin showed everyone his dream, to become a true knight.
And Sigefin really did live that way.
He was generous and helpful, doing his utmost to assist anyone who encountered difficulties.
And his surname, Gickert, was the same as that of a legendary knight.
Of course, he hadn't done anything like charging at windmills.
But in some sense, his actions were even more absurd and ill-timed than that knight's.
For example, when encountering a lost first-year, a normal person would point them in the right direction, or simply lead them to their destination.
Sigefin was different.
He would unhesitatingly point them in the opposite direction, then follow them the entire way, only jumping out to explain everything and show the correct path after the "victim" realized they were going the wrong way.
Neville, that poor little chubby boy, had once been one of Sigefin's key "support targets."
The problem was that Sigefin's way of helping involved extremely harsh training, dragging Neville off to exercise, lose weight, and do unpaid labor.
In Sigefin's words, he was trying to train Neville from a weak, crying baby into a real man.
But after all that, Neville hadn't become a man, he had nearly lost half his life instead.
By all rights, someone with such a bizarre way of thinking should have been beaten up long ago.
There was no shortage of reckless brutes in Gryffindor.
The issue was that Sigefin himself was very strong. In the lower years, some people could still teach him a lesson, but once he entered the higher years, there were very few in Gryffindor who could beat him.
What's more, Sigefin's intentions weren't actually bad.
Everything he did came from good intentions, it was just that something was wrong with his head, which led to everything turning out so terribly.
And so, even though Sigefin's way of doing things was completely different from Newland's, he ended up receiving the same treatment as Newland within Gryffindor.
Most importantly, their completely opposite approaches to life made Newland and Sigefin utterly incompatible. They were like fire and water, frequently trading sarcastic remarks the moment they met, and sometimes even coming to blows.
After this happened again and again, even students from other houses grew rather unfriendly toward the two of them.
Yet on this particular morning, people were surprised to discover that the two of them were actually walking together.
In the Great Hall, students who had been listlessly eating breakfast instantly perked up.
They stared wide-eyed as Newland and Sigefin walked side by side through the hall, feeling as if their entire worldview had been shattered.
Some students who were drinking milk didn't even notice it spilling all over themselves, they were completely stunned by what they were seeing.
It wasn't until Newland and Sigefin disappeared from view that the hall erupted with a collective "Whoa!"
Immediately afterward came a wave of whispered discussions.
Some troublemakers even chased after them with strange grins, eager to investigate the relationship between the two.
Newland and Sigefin were actually well aware of all this.
Watching yet another pair of girls look at them with oddly ambiguous expressions, occasionally covering their mouths and giggling, Newland finally couldn't take it anymore.
He took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and suddenly sped up his pace.
He felt he couldn't keep walking side by side with Sigefin like this any longer.
Otherwise tomorrow, no, it wouldn't even take until tomorrow.
By this afternoon, all kinds of bizarre rumors about him and Sigefin would be spreading throughout Hogwarts.
That would be a devastating blow to the image he had worked so hard to maintain.
After speeding up, Newland quickly moved ahead of Sigefin.
But before he could relax, Sigefin behind him inexplicably sped up as well, instantly returning to his side.
"Stop walking next to me, you crazy lion!" Newland cursed under his breath. "Can't you see how those people are looking at us?"
Sigefin's face was expressionless. His lips moved slightly as he replied, "Of course I noticed! But why should you be the one walking in front of me?"
"So you'd rather be gossiped about by those weird people than walk behind me?"
"What, can't you take what they're saying? Then just obediently walk behind me."
"Why should I!? I'm walking in front!"
"Then let's settle it with our abilities!"
With the argument over, Newland and Sigefin immediately switched into speed-walking mode.
They chased each other, constantly accelerating, sometimes Newland was in front, sometimes Sigefin rushed up and overtook him.
But more often than not, the two were still walking side by side.
And because they were trying to go as fast as possible without actually running, their expressions and movements looked even more awkward.
From a distance, it looked as though the relationship between the two went far beyond ordinary friendship.
This made quite a few girls nearby giggle dreamily again.
Shaking off the onlookers, they speed-walked all the way to the door of the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor of Hogwarts, where they finally stopped.
One of them propped his arms on his knees, the other leaned against the wall, both panting heavily.
"I… I got here first!"
Sigefin raised his eyebrows and said firmly.
Newland sneered dismissively. "Bullshit! I was clearly the first to touch this wall!"
As his words fell, the door to the Room of Requirement finally opened.
Newland and Sigefin exchanged a glance, finally stopped arguing, and squeezed their way inside.
Unlike usual, the Room of Requirement did not present itself as a spell practice room or a meeting room this time.
Instead, it was a library packed tightly with dozens of enormous bookshelves.
Judging by its size alone, this library was only slightly smaller than Hogwarts itself.
Newland and Sigefin silently scanned their surroundings. Suddenly, Newland spoke, "Lord Flamel isn't here."
"But the problem is, he's the one who told us to come to the Room of Requirement this morning," Sigefin said with a frown. "Snake, what did his message to you say?"
Newland glanced at Sigefin and replied, "Pretty much the same as yours. Lord Flamel said he had a gift for..."
He stopped halfway through his sentence.
Sigefin turned his head in confusion and saw Newland standing there with his mouth wide open, staring in disbelief at the nearest bookshelf.
Or rather, at the shelves packed full of books.
Sigefin followed his gaze and carefully examined the spines of the books. Soon, his expression became just like Newland's.
Because on the spine of a black-brown book at the very top of the shelf were the words, Secrets of Advanced Dark Magic.
Whoosh!
Newland rushed forward like a gust of wind and snatched Secrets of Advanced Dark Magic from the shelf.
His eyes glowed red, as if he had long been familiar with the book's reputation, and he flipped through the pages with practiced ease.
Unfortunately, this copy had already been edited by Link and Emily. All the pages in the latter half describing taboo rituals like Horcruxes were completely blank.
A flash of disappointment crossed Newland's face, but he quickly regained his excitement and eagerly began reading the earlier content in detail.
In the wizarding world, where knowledge and power were essentially equal, pure-blood families' monopoly on knowledge had reached an insane level.
So for a "Mudblood" wizard like Newland, who had no background, simply being able to access this knowledge was already a blessing.
He had no right to be picky.
Sigefin watched Newland with a complicated expression.
It was clear that he wanted to step forward and stop Newland from reading Dark Magic.
But in the end, he only sighed, shook his head, and went to examine the other shelves on his own.
And once he did, he quickly became absorbed as well.
Because the library didn't contain only Dark Magic.
Animagus transformation, Legilimency, Occlumency, the Patronus Charm, Disillusionment Charm…
Almost every spell and piece of knowledge Sigefin could think of was present in this library.
Even Sigefin, a boy from a pure-blood wizarding family, was deeply shaken.
Because much of this knowledge was only available in Hogwarts' Restricted Section.
For a time, neither Newland nor Sigefin had any interest in arguing.
Each occupied a corner of the Room of Requirement, enthusiastically absorbing knowledge from the books.
The entire library fell completely silent, with only the soft rustling of turning pages remaining.
This silence lasted until the light outside the windows gradually dimmed and the magical lamps inside the Room of Requirement lit up automatically, only then was it broken by the sound of a door opening.
Link and Emily slowly walked into the Room of Requirement.
The sound of footsteps jolted Newland out of his sea of knowledge.
With bloodshot eyes, he glared irritably toward the source of the noise.
He even swore to himself that if Sigefin dared to interrupt his studying, he would fight him to the bitter end this time.
But when his eyes met Link's and Emily's, he froze.
"Well?" Link said with a slight smile. "Are you satisfied with my gift?"
The displeasure on Newland's face instantly turned into excitement and fanaticism.
He hurriedly stood up, wanting to say something.
But perhaps because he hadn't had a single drop of water all day, his body felt terribly weak. He barely moved before collapsing back onto the floor.
Under normal circumstances, Newland would never have allowed something like this to happen.
Growing up without dignity had made him extremely sensitive and caused him to value his pride above all else.
But at this moment, Newland crawled and scrambled his way to Link's side and said gratefully, "Thank you, Lord Flamel! Thank you…"
"Whoa! Read all day long? Your legs went numb from reading?"
Link said with a laugh, pulling several wooden-stoppered vials from a pouch at his waist and handing them to Newland. "Have some nutrient potion. This stuff's good, I used it a lot in the past."
Newland accepted the vials with repeated thanks.
Seeing him drink the potion without hesitation made Link smile even more.
He could tell that Newland had truly submitted this time.
The impact of an entire library full of precious magical books was simply too great.
Compared to this, mere authority meant nothing.
Because in the wizarding world, power was the foundation of everything.
As long as he could turn this knowledge into power, Newland would never need to worry about authority again.
At this moment, Sigefin also heard the noise and came over.
He respectfully gave Link a knight's salute and expressed his gratitude.
Compared to Newland, he appeared much more elegant and composed.
But that couldn't hide his sincere heart.
So Link didn't treat him any differently and tossed two vials of nutrient potion his way as well.
Only after the two of them finished drinking the potion and recovered some energy did Link speak, "As you can see, this library is your reward."
"As long as you remain part of the D.A. Army, you may freely read and study the books here."
"The only thing you must remember is that no information about this place is allowed to be leaked."
"You are also not permitted to take any of the books out."
"All studying must be done inside this library."
Newland and Sigefin nodded repeatedly in agreement. Seeing this, Link waved his hand to indicate they could do as they pleased, then sat down on the sofa together with Emily.
Emily gently massaged Link's temples, her movements extremely soft.
Link found this very enjoyable.
In fact, after finishing his inspections and "training" of Old Barty, the Kennedy siblings, and the others, Link had been thoroughly enjoying this comfortable life.
If he felt like attending class, he would go. If not, he would skip class with Emily and go enjoy the view at the Astronomy Tower.
Or they would run off to the kitchen to make some small desserts by hand.
All of it was a wonderful life experience.
It was the kind of leisurely life Link had long dreamed of in his previous life.
Of course, he swore never to try the latter again after doing it just once.
It wasn't because their cooking was bad, but because when the house-elves saw them doing things themselves, they felt they hadn't done well enough, and each one cried their eyes out.
This was probably one of the benefits of having power.
After gathering a large number of capable subordinates, Link could completely become a hands-off boss and enjoy his life.
Only, this period of calm now carried the feeling of a quiet before the storm.