Chapter 39: An Ambitious Little Eagle

Bell's expression changed. It wasn't the gaze of caring for someone with intellectual disabilities anymore; it turned into a look of pity.

Bell's roommate, who felt uncomfortable under Bell's scrutiny, couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Are you going or not?"

"Sigh!"

Bell sighed and patted his roommate's shoulder.

"Bro, let me tell you something: a treasure from a thousand years ago, if found today, isn't called a treasure anymore; it's called an 'antique.' And as far as I know, nobody in the magical world is into antique trading."

"So, let's not talk about whether the so-called treasure really exists. Even if they do exist and you miraculously find them, what can you get from it? You see, no magical item can withstand a thousand years without proper maintenance. So, you'll end up with a pile of junk, maybe a few books corroded to dust. Can you even read the language from a thousand years ago?"

"How is that possible!"

His roommate looked at him with an expression that clearly said, "You don't understand magic at all."

"I heard that the treasure contains powerful magic unique to the four founders. If I can get them, I can become as powerful as the four founders! No, even more powerful than them!"

Bell looked his roommate up and down, failing to see any ambition in him. Perhaps he wasn't sorted into Slytherin just because he wasn't pure-blooded? Hmm... what was his name again?

"So, you're suggesting that the four founders of Hogwarts, after dedicating their lives to creating this magical school, didn't pass down their precious magical knowledge to their descendants or students, but instead, they buried them somewhere unknown for a thousand years? And even if they did, why bother building a school? That's crazy!" Bell scoffed.

"And according to existing historical records, the biggest achievement of the four founders is creating Hogwarts. There's no mention of them having such great power. At most, it's mentioned that Gryffindor is good at dueling and swordsmanship; Slytherin is good at dark magic, and he's a bit of a snake guy; Ravenclaw is knowledgeable and beautiful; and Hufflepuff... um... gentle?"

"I feel like the last one was a bit disrespectful to Hufflepuff. Or maybe she would be happy to hear that? Bell thought.

"So, do you want Gryffindor's dueling skills? Why not ask our amazing headmaster, Professor Flitwick? Don't let his height fool you; I heard Professor Flitwick was once a dueling champion. Or do you want Slytherin's dark magic knowledge? Why not ask our amazing Potions Master, Professor Snape? Just look at him; you don't need to know much to realize he's a master of dark arts. Or maybe you want Ravenclaw's vast magical knowledge? Why not ask our amazing librarian, Madam Pince?"

"Wait a minute!"

His roommate interrupted Bell.

"I can understand the first two, but I've never heard of Madam Pince being that amazing?"

"Madam Pince may not be amazing, but she's in charge of the Hogwarts library! If you upset Madam Pince, she can ban you from entering the library. So, have you mastered all the knowledge in the library?" Bell sneered. In this day and age, everyone knows that "librarians" and "janitors" are the two professions you don't want to mess with. With this level of intelligence, he still wants to find treasure?

"If you want to obtain Hufflepuff's gentle personality..."

Bell rubbed his chin with his hand, carefully examining his roommate from head to toe.

"I'm really helpless about that. So, kid, times have changed; you need to learn to look forward."

Obviously, Bell's earnest advice didn't resonate with his roommate. His roommate firmly believed that "times haven't changed!" So he felt very unhappy, especially disliking the way Bell looked at him, always feeling like Bell was treating him like a fool (Bell: "That's right, you're very perceptive."). It made him feel uncomfortable all over.

The angry roommate got up and went to find Bell's other roommate. The two of them whispered to each other for a while, occasionally glancing in Bell's direction, and finally sneaked out of the common room together.

It seems that Shanna's hopes would be dashed. Even at Hogwarts, Bell still couldn't make friends.

Actually, Bell had expected this. Based on his observations and eavesdropping, the most popular topics among Hogwarts students were Harry Potter, Chocolate Frog cards, and Quidditch teams. Basically, if you talked about Harry Potter and his lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, everyone would be your friend... What?! You've collected all the Chocolate Frog cards!? Then there's no friendship to be had, goodbye... What?! You don't support the "Cannon"? Then we can only be enemies; let's duel it out!

Of course, the main reason Bell couldn't make friends was that he didn't actively engage with other young wizards and often antagonized others, as evidenced by his poor roommate just now. But Bell didn't care about that. For him, having a sister was enough; what else did he need?

Putting aside those useless thoughts, Bell bowed his head and continued his homework.

He hoped his two roommates would be safe tonight. If they were caught sneaking out by Filch, being put in detention would be the least of their worries. You see, Snape's mood had been exceptionally complicated these days because of Harry's enrollment. It was like a tangled mess of emotions; he didn't know whether to love or hate. So, if Filch caught them, he must send them to Snape's office. By then, even if each of them lost 100 points, Bell wouldn't be surprised.

Although Ravenclaw House cared the least about the House Cup among the four Hogwarts houses, it didn't mean that the young Eagles could just laugh it off when they saw that the number of gems accumulated by their house in the Great Hall was less than half of the other three houses.

After all, people have their pride, and children's self-esteem is particularly strong. Moreover, as a house full of academically excellent students, it seemed that Ravenclaw had never been at the bottom since the founding of Hogwarts.

So it was predictable that if Bell's two roommates were caught sneaking out at night, they would have to experience the cold reality at such a young age.