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This time around, the Dueling Club made a big splash across the entire school—especially because of Augustus and his epic triple-combo spell finish. It left a deep impression on everyone. His image among the Hogwarts students changed a lot after that.
Before, people just saw him as the teachers' favorite: smart, polite, always happy to help with schoolwork—a model student through and through. But ever since that duel, with the sky full of mysterious, awe-inspiring colors and that overwhelming magical pressure, Augustus had become something else entirely in everyone's eyes.
Now, he was the embodiment of mystery and power. And considering how young he was, it only added to his legend—someone this strong at his age? Who could even imagine what he'd become in the future?
Interestingly, Augustus's powerful display gave a lot of students hope when it came to dealing with the monster from the Chamber of Secrets. For some reason, they just felt that as long as they were near him, they wouldn't get attacked—whether it was the rumored heir or the creature itself.
So, whether he was in class, eating meals, studying in the library, relaxing in the common room, or just walking on the lawn outside the castle, tons of students would sneakily follow him around, always keeping a 10-meter distance.
Well, except most of the Gryffindors, of course. Those brave little lions never backed down from a challenge.
Still, the fear across the school spiked again when both Justin and Nearly Headless Nick were attacked. It really freaked everyone out. Strangely enough, it was Nick's situation that scared people the most.
"What kind of thing could hurt a ghost?" they asked each other in whispers. "What kind of dark power could harm someone who's already dead?"
After that, students rushed to book seats on the Hogwarts Express, desperate to go home for Christmas.
When Christmas morning finally came, it was cold and snow blanketed everything. Augustus got up in the dorm to find a mountain of presents stacked around the foot of his bed—way more than last year. And honestly, he didn't even recognize most of the names of the people who'd sent them.
Harry gave him a funny little Christmas elf doll that danced a Scottish jig whenever anyone came within 5 meters. The moment you stepped out of range, it flopped down like it was dead.
Loki sent a carved wooden bird that could record what you said, then—once you told it where to go—it would fly off and deliver your message by replaying your voice. Basically, a magical walkie-talkie bird with GPS.
Malfoy and Hermione both gave him books—The Origins and Safe Usage of Fiendfyre from Draco, and The Rise of House-Elves in Modern Society from Hermione. Very on-brand for both of them. Augustus, though, was much more interested in the Fiendfyre book. As far as he knew, Fiendfyre was an extremely dangerous dark spell.
If the caster lost control, there was no way out—it'd backfire and take you with it. There were plenty of cases in history of people getting killed by their own Fiendfyre. So yeah, super powerful, but also incredibly risky. Definitely not something to mess with lightly.
Lilian sent him a white scarf, very practical given the freezing weather. And surprisingly, Cho Chang also sent a gift—a beautifully carved wooden charm. It looked like it was meant to protect him, probably a thoughtful gesture given the whole Chamber of Secrets panic going around.
There were a ton of other gifts too, but Augustus didn't bother opening them all right away.
He walked out of the dorm and into the Slytherin common room, where he found Malfoy and his usual goons huddled together, deep in conversation.
When Augustus got closer, Malfoy quickly stood up from his chair.
"Afternoon, Augustus. You didn't go to the Great Hall for lunch?" he asked a little stiffly. Even after spending a lot of time together, Malfoy still had a weird sense of awe around him.
"Nah, wasn't that hungry." Augustus waved it off and smiled. "I liked your gift, by the way. That Fiendfyre book was perfect. I was just about to hit the library to look for info on it, and then boom—your present shows up. Great timing."
Malfoy looked genuinely flattered. "Glad you liked it! I figured it might be your kind of thing." Crabbe and Goyle both grinned like idiots from the side.
"What are you two grinning at? Show some respect to Mr. Augustus! You're getting way too sloppy lately." Malfoy turned on them, annoyed.
"Mr. Augustus, good afternoon!" they both hurriedly greeted him, looking a bit awkward.
"No need to be so formal," Augustus said with a slight shake of the head. But then he narrowed his eyes, staring curiously at the two. Something felt… off about their magical aura.
He quietly activated the Eye of Insight—and there it was. Faint images of Harry and Ron flickered inside Crabbe and Goyle's bodies. Augustus sighed and rubbed his forehead before quietly taking a seat nearby.
Seeing that Augustus wasn't going anywhere, Malfoy looked pretty happy and sat down again with the other two.
"So… where were we?" Goyle asked, turning to Malfoy.
Malfoy shot him a weird look, surprised that Goyle would speak up with Augustus sitting right there. He glanced over at Augustus and, seeing no reaction, relaxed a bit.
"You know I don't know, Goyle," he snapped. "I've told you a thousand times—my dad won't tell me exactly what happened last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened. I mean, yeah, it was fifty years ago and he wasn't even born yet, but he still knows everything. Says it's all confidential, and if I learn too much, I might look suspicious."
"But there's one thing I do know," he added, lowering his voice, "—someone died. A Mudblood. So, I'm betting someone's gonna die this time too. Sooner or later. Personally… I hope it's Granger," he finished with a smug grin.
Crabbe clenched his fists. Goyle gave him a warning glance and then asked, "Did they catch the guy who opened it last time?"
"Oh yeah. Whoever it was got expelled," Malfoy said. "They're probably rotting in Azkaban now."
"Azkaban?" Goyle asked, confused.
"It's the wizard prison," Augustus explained calmly.
Then he added, a little coolly, "If you're really curious about the Chamber, I'd suggest reading A History of Hogwarts. There's some background in there about Salazar Slytherin and the early days of the school—could be useful. Also, think about what Salazar's most famous magical ability was. That might give you a clue."
Goyle gave a forced laugh. "Oh, we're just casually curious, nothing serious. Thanks anyway, Mr. Augustus."
"Uh-oh!" Crabbe suddenly yelped. His hair started turning red and his nose stretched longer—they were running out of time. Ron was starting to turn back to himself. Harry caught the horrified look Ron threw his way and knew it was happening to him, too. The two of them sprang up at once.
"Gotta… uh… go take some medicine for stomach pain," Ron mumbled awkwardly.
And with that, they bolted from the Slytherin common room without another word.
"…What the heck was that about?" Malfoy muttered, frowning. "They were acting so weird today."
"Maybe they're just hitting puberty," Augustus said, watching them run off with a small, amused smile in his eyes.
"....."