Vanessa shot a sharp look at Yaxley, her expression stern.

  "Enough. You are here to learn, not t outside agendas into this school. Focus on your studies."

  Yaxley scowled but remained silent after Vanessa's clear warning. She turned back to the group, dismissing them with a wave of her hand.

  "You will find your css schedules on the desks in your rooms. Your names are on the doors. Now, off to your dorms."

  As the students began to disperse, Yaxley, clearly still frustrated, muttered under his breath, "Slytherin is supposed to preserve the purity of the magical world. Now we're letting Muggle-borns into our house. Where's the honor in that?"

  Though Yaxley didn't name names, Alex khe ent was aimed at him. The other students had already caught on, and several pairs of eyes turoward him. He igheir stares and walked toward the dormitories, his face impassive.

  'Slytherin really is divided,' Alex thought. 'Some, like Vanessa, seem ral, just focused on their studies. But others, like Yaxley, are clearly caught up in pure-blood ideals.' He he information, knowing it would be important ter.

  The Slytherin dormitories, uhe others at Hogwarts, were located deep underground in the dungeons. Each student had their own private room, a luxury pared to the other houses. Alex leased to see his room—a vishly decorated space with a four-poster bed, emerald green and silver fabrics, polished stone walls, and two windows that offered a mesmerizing view of the ke's depths. The furniture was old but well-maintained, with carved desks and tables lit by dles and oil mps. Tapestries depig legendary Slytherin wizards hung on the walls.

  "There's even a carpet. As far as foes, I have no pints about being pced in Slytherin," Alex muttered to himself.

  After unpag his belongings and arranging his things, he began to pn for the future. 'First things first—stay low, out of trouble. Training and study will be my priority. I 't rely on anyone else to protect me, especially in Slytherin. I'll o build my skills quickly if I want to survive this new world.'

  The day, Alex woke at six in the m, his military habits kig iretched and gnced over at his css schedule: two spells csses in the m, followed by a history of magic css iernoon. Hogwarts had a clear structure—m csses from 9 to 11 with a break, lun the Great Hall, then afternoon csses, and finally, dinner. After that, students were free to do homework or socialize, with a curfew for first-years set at 9 p.m.

  Dressed ly and with his wand checked and ready, Alex decided to explore the castle early. He wao familiarize himself with the yout before the day truly began.

  The Slytherin on room was empty at that early hour, the dim green light from the ke casting strange shadows across the room. Through the windows, Alex saw the giant squid drifting zily through the water, its massive limbs swirling. The peacefulness of the se trasted sharply with the dark, dungeon-like feel of the on room.

  'Slytherin may have a cold reputation, but the view is incredible,' Alex thought as he made his way out.

  For the wo hours, Alex explored the vast Hogwarts castle. The moving staircases were both fasating and frustrating—he quickly learhat the stairs would shift at random, making it nearly impossible to memorize a clear path. Eventually, Alex resorted to using spells to jump across floors wheairs moved in inve dires.

  The castle was huge. The main tower had eight floors, and at the very top was the headmaster's office. The various s were scattered throughout the tower and its adjoining courtyard buildings. The towers ected to the main structure included Ravend Gryffindor's on rooms, and a drawbridge lihe astronomy tower. Beyond that, the tral tower, bck tower, aower were ected by another courtyard, with the library accessible through one of the corridors.

  The tral courtyard led to greenhouses, and a series of stone bridges ected the different wings of the castle.

  'This pce is practically a fortress.'

  Alex had made his way around the entire castle auro the Great Hall, where a few students were already having breakfast. Realizing that he was hungry as well, he sat down and helped himself to the food, piling eggs, toast, and sausages onto his pte.

  Just as he begaing, Vivian stormed in, looking a little upset.

  "Alex! I thought you hadn't woken up yet, so I waited for you in the on room this m," she huffed, walking over to him.

  Alex offered a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, Vivian. I got up early and decided to take a walk around the castle. You don't o wait for me in the ms—I'm used to getting up early."

  Vivian sat down with a resigned sigh. "I won't wait ime. But seriously, this castle is huge. What if you'd gotten lost? It's a good thing the path from our on room to the Great Hall is straightforward. Otherwise, I'd still be wandering around trying to find my way!"

  Alex chuckled softly. "Don't worry, I already walked through most of the castle. I even found our s, so you just follow me when we head to css ter."

  The two chatted for a bit, enjoying their breakfast.

  Suddenly, a flurry of owls flew into the Great Hall, deliveriers to the students. Alex received a few letters of his own, including one from Lily, another from Sirius, and one from Tom.

  Each letter was filled with gratutions on his acceptao Hogwarts, but Sirius's letter was full of excitement, asking which house Alex had been sorted into—surely, it had to be Gryffindht?

  'Sorry to disappoint, Sirius. You're not going to like the answer.'

  After finishing his breakfast and tug the letters into his robe, Alex and Vivian headed to their first css: Charms.