The professor at the front of the room, adjusting some slides, added, "While the Patronus Charm does require a great deal of happiness, I must remind you that emotions generated by cheering potions or happiness spells aren't genuinely powerful. You must draw upon real, personal feelings..."
Lys Black sat at the very back of the classroom, clutching her wand, her gaze fixed on the classmates who managed to produce the most silver mist until the end of the lesson.
Unfortunately, none of them succeeded in casting a full-fledged Patronus. If someone had, Lys would have stopped them then and there to ask for guidance.
But no, no one succeeded. So Lys just sat there, hugging her wand, staring at her classmates for half the class.
As she left the classroom, she passed by Evans, who gave her a look that screamed, "Just as expected."
She shot back a "What are you looking at?" expression before walking off. Lys considered herself far too busy to be bothered.
That evening, Lys cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself and snuck into the Restricted Section of the library.
Her current Disillusionment Charm worked well as long as she didn't move too quickly. This was a trick her mother had taught her during their time hiding in the forest.
Lys first pulled out a book related to curses and quickly flipped through it. She was still trying to figure out how to undo the curse on the elongated stone bracelet she had found last time.
However, she spent so much time reading this time that her vision started to blur. After some hesitation, she decided against conjuring a light source. Instead, she moved to the side of the second bookshelf, where a book emitted a faint green glow.
For three days, Lys strained her eyes reading in the dark. By the time she was copying notes from the student in front of her during her Runes class, her vision was so blurry she could barely see.
When she consulted Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse warned her that if she continued reading under the covers, she would end up needing glasses.
What?! Glasses, like Potter?! Lys was appalled.
Her mother already disliked her messy hair, which bore a resemblance to Potter's. If she added glasses to the mix, wouldn't that make her even more unattractive?
So on Sunday, after finishing all her homework, Lys snuck back into the Restricted Section that evening. This time, she pulled out a bird claw from her pocket—a gift from Hagrid back in her third year as thanks for helping him care for a magical creature.
The claw wasn't ordinary anymore. In the darkness, it clutched a white crystal that emitted a faint glow.
Only Lys, holding the claw, could see the light. It was dim enough that she had to press it close to the book for proper illumination.
As she was engrossed in her reading, she heard the sound of Professor McGonagall, carrying a lantern, entering the library. Don't ask how Lys knew it was her—only Professor Trelawney and Professor McGonagall wore high heels, and Trelawney's steps were always dragging. McGonagall's, on the other hand, were sharp and precise, each step striking fear into the hearts of students sneaking around at night.
Hiding behind the bookshelf, Lys waited anxiously for McGonagall to leave. When the coast was clear, she let out a sigh of relief and rolled her eyes. Next time, she thought, she'd better get a signed permission slip from a professor. Reading like this was not only bad for her eyes but also nerve-wracking. Plus, it left her too tired to focus in class during the day.
On her way out, Lys spotted that thick, heavy book she had come across before. Remembering her fear of being descended from monkeys, she couldn't help but pick it up again. She had been joking when she said she'd tear it up—it was, after all, school property.
This time, she realized the unfamiliar text on the book was in Runes. Frowning, Lys put the book back and returned to her dormitory to sleep.
She had Potions class tomorrow and couldn't afford to doze off.
The next afternoon was a Care of Magical Creatures lesson.
Lys had little interest in the subject or its professor, who had lost five fingers to dangerous creatures. She usually attended the class with minimal enthusiasm.
Occasionally, she would pay attention, but only because her father had once said that all elective subjects were rubbish.
However, the professor seemed to like Lys. She was skillful, quiet, and had managed to care for an interesting snake.
In class, the professor often showcased small, non-aggressive magical creatures. Today's subject was Billywig insects, and the task was to collect the floating stingers from their tails.
While not particularly dangerous, the task was tedious. Billywigs were highly irritable and aggressive, and their stings caused swelling. If a wizard was stung multiple times, they could end up floating off the ground.
Billywig stingers were a key ingredient in Fizzing Whizzbees. Gagong, Lys's snake, retreated into its lizard-skin pouch at the first sign of an attack, leaving only its head poking out to sneakily snatch a Billywig or two when Lys wasn't paying attention.
By the end of the class, Lys walked back to the castle with half her face swollen from stings. Though she had applied a potion, it would take another hour for the swelling to fully subside. Her face throbbed painfully, and her swollen eye was reduced to a narrow slit, making it hard to see.
As she passed by students on her way back, she noticed their hostile and wary expressions whenever they saw a Slytherin student. Lys was baffled.
But she didn't care. She had books to read and was determined to figure out how to wear the bracelet her mother had given her. It would surely pair perfectly with her father's ring.
In the next Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Lys finally understood why the other students were even less friendly toward Slytherins.
It turned out that a Gryffindor girl who had been called out of the previous class had almost dropped out of school. Dumbledore had managed to persuade her to stay.
Her family had been slaughtered by the Dark Lord's followers for being a pure-blood family that supported Muggle rights and refused to pledge loyalty. The couple responsible for the massacre was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband, fanatically loyal Death Eaters. After killing every wizard and even the house-elf in the household, they had cast the Dark Mark over the burning house.
The surnames Black and Lestrange carried significant weight among pure-blood families as prominent Slytherin lineages. This incident solidified the perception that Slytherin was a haven for Dark Wizards.
Lys had never paid much attention to such matters. To her, her parents were her guiding stars. As for pure-bloods, half-bloods, or Muggle-borns, she had no opinion.
In fact, Lys had read extensively about Norse myths and legends to support her claim that her family hailed from Scandinavia. These tales often described gods taking human forms and marrying mortal women, resulting in wizards with extraordinary abilities.
Thus, Lys believed that all wizards, if traced back far enough, had some Muggle ancestry.
She dismissed the notion of pure-blood supremacy, seeing it as nothing more than a power struggle for dominance.
After witnessing the "might makes right" mentality in Knockturn Alley, Lys no longer believed in anything else. Strength was the ultimate currency, whether in fights or in earning her parents' attention. Power was everything.
That said, it was true that pure-blood families often produced more talented offspring, thanks to their magical lineage and accumulated knowledge.
However, this recent massacre was a step too far, affecting even Lys, who usually stayed out of such matters.
A sixth-year Gryffindor girl even went out of her way to pick a fight with Lys.
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