After Snape left, the room felt empty and quiet. Chu Yang released his owl from its cage and added an extra portion of food."Eat up, Big White Fatty. If we ever fall on hard times, you'll need to put on more meat as emergency rations."
The owl, which had been burying its head in the food, shuddered and slowly pulled its head out of the pile.
Chu Yang smiled to himself, satisfied with his little prank.
Exhausted, he collapsed onto the bed. His eyes closed almost immediately. He didn't know how much time passed before he vaguely heard voices near his ear.
"Goyle, Crabbe—although I missed the Sorting Ceremony this time because I was sick, my father arranged a double room for me so I could rest properly. He even said he'd personally come to school to give Dumbledore a piece of his mind!"
"And when that happens, I'll make Father have all those monsters in the lake cleared out!"
"There's someone sleeping here—it looks like my roommate. Let's go say hello…"
Before the words even finished, Chu Yang opened his eyes and saw Malfoy and the other two standing stiffly in front of him, their bodies frozen, staring at him in shock.
"So… you're my new roommate?" Chu Yang said irritably, still groggy. "You woke me up. Do you know that?"
"I-I'm sorry!" Goyle and Crabbe bowed at ninety degrees in unison.
The Malfoy family background was indeed impressive.But at school, Chu Yang's fists were also very impressive.Both of them understood that clearly.
"You two cowards! Why are you being so respectful to him?" Malfoy barked loudly. Fresh out of the hospital wing, he was full of energy and clearly unaware of how dangerous his situation was.
At that moment, Chu Yang was fully awake. Sitting on the bed, he stared at Malfoy with an unfriendly expression.
"Draco, there's something I haven't had the chance to tell you yet…" Goyle leaned over and whispered, recounting all the "exciting events" Malfoy had missed over the past two days.
As he listened, Malfoy's face changed dramatically. His earlier arrogance vanished completely. Half-doubting, he asked, "You're joking, right? How could he possibly knock down that many people bare-handed?"
Goyle and Crabbe shook their heads at the same time. Goyle added quietly, "Draco, you'd better believe it…"
Malfoy was about to say something more when Chu Yang pulled a bookmark from his book, coated it with Armament Haki, and flicked it out.
The bookmark shot from his hand like a cannonball and embedded itself squarely into the doorframe above the three of their heads.
More than half of it sank into the wooden frame as easily as cutting tofu.
Malfoy's pupils shrank violently. Goyle and Crabbe screamed. The three of them instinctively grabbed each other's hands and stumbled backward toward the door.
"Sorry," Chu Yang said with a half-smile, sitting on the bed. "I have a bit of a temper when I wake up. What are you standing there for? Come in and sleep—it's already late."
Then he looked at Goyle and Crabbe."What? Are you two planning to stay the night as well?"
The moment he said that, the two big lads abandoned the trembling Malfoy without hesitation and bolted for the door, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"You two damned traitors!" Malfoy shouted, furious and terrified. He wanted to run too, but his body had no strength left—his legs felt as heavy as lead.
A chill suddenly shot up the back of his neck. Malfoy's breathing quickened, his voice trembling as he said, "I-I'm very sorry… for disturbing your sleep…"
"I accept your apology, Mr. Malfoy," Chu Yang yawned and lay back down. "I hope you don't wake me again. Preferably, don't make a sound at all. I'm a very light sleeper."
Malfoy glanced up at the bookmark buried deep in the doorframe and swallowed hard—then immediately clapped a hand over his mouth.
In the quiet, empty room, even the sound of swallowing felt painfully loud.
Even though Chu Yang said he could stay and sleep, Malfoy didn't dare remain in the same room with him. He tiptoed out, carefully closing the door behind him.
Poor Malfoy—his very first night after leaving the hospital wing was spent in the common room.
Fortunately, no one fought him for the sofa, and the fireplace never went out.
In the flickering firelight, Malfoy curled up on the couch and eventually fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, he woke to a wave of incredulous laughter.
Opening his eyes, he found himself surrounded by classmates—and even upper-year students.
And worse—
Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin House, was standing right in front of him.
"Well, well. I only came to check—just in case," Snape said darkly. "I didn't expect the common room to actually have a guest last night. Do first-years find this place so irresistible that they're competing to sleep here?"
"Get up. Malfoy!"
Snape's roar made Malfoy jolt upright. All drowsiness vanished as he scrambled off the sofa in a panic.
The laughter around him grew louder—until Snape's gloomy gaze swept the room.
The students immediately lowered their heads and hurried out of the common room.
Disheveled, Malfoy picked himself up and still took the time to fix his hair before bowing respectfully. "Good morning, Professor Snape."
"Good morning? I don't think there's anything good about it!" Snape snapped angrily. "Your classmates already slept here last night, throwing Slytherin etiquette out the window and costing the House points on the very first day of term!"
"And now you've done the same?" Snape's voice echoed like a storm through a canyon. "May I ask what you think would happen if your father saw you behaving like this at school?"
Malfoy shuddered and immediately begged in a low voice, "Professor, please don't let my father find out. He'll kill me…"
Seeing Malfoy's fear, Snape took a breath. "Now tell me—why did you sleep here?"
Malfoy hesitated, but under Snape's sharp stare, he haltingly recounted what had happened the night before.
"A small slip of paper embedding itself into a doorframe like a blade, without any magic involved?" Snape sneered. "Mr. Malfoy, are you telling me a bedtime story?"
"Perhaps I should help you submit this to the Daily Prophet or The Quibbler. A future great novelist—Draco Malfoy!"
Malfoy burst into tears. "Professor, I didn't lie! Goyle and Crabbe both saw it!"
This time, Snape found himself uncertain.
Could something that absurd really be true?
(End of Chapter)