As Crabbe's sudden attack triggered Ailey's automatic defense, the young witches and wizards who had been watching the confrontation couldn't help letting out a collective gasp of shock.
Although they were only first-year students, many of the children who came from wizarding families were already somewhat familiar with basic spells. Ever since they were young, they had played games pretending to be Aurors, casting imaginary spells at one another in their backyards or living rooms.
Because of that, a few of them could immediately recognize what had just happened.
One boy—the same young wizard who had asked Ryze about the Lumos Charm earlier that morning—suddenly cried out in excitement. His eyes sparkled with admiration as he stared at Ryze.
"Merlin's beard… am I seeing things? That was the Shield Charm!"
He practically shouted the words.
"That's a defensive spell fourth-years learn! And Ryze just cast it without even using a wand!"
The moment those words were spoken, the surrounding students erupted into shocked murmurs.
"What?! Wandless magic?"
"Ryze already knows wandless casting?"
"That's impossible! We're all first-years!"
"Is he really the same age as us?"
Another student looked at Ryze as though he were staring at some kind of magical prodigy.
"At this rate, he might as well graduate from Hogwarts right now!"
The excitement quickly spread among the Ravenclaw students nearby. Their voices grew louder and louder as the discussion escalated.
Professor Sprout, who had been working with magical plants inside the greenhouse, finally noticed the growing commotion during the class break.
She straightened up, frowning slightly.
Something clearly wasn't right.
Quickly brushing the dirt from her gloves, she grabbed her wand and hurried toward the group of gathered students.
When she arrived, her sharp eyes immediately landed on the scene: Ryze standing calmly, Crabbe clutching his fist in pain, and Draco Malfoy nearby looking extremely uncomfortable.
Professor Sprout's expression grew stern.
"Mr. White. Mr. Malfoy."
Her voice was firm.
"What exactly is going on here?"
She then looked toward Crabbe, who was still grimacing and rubbing his hand.
"And what happened to Mr. Crabbe?"
Draco Malfoy was only eleven years old, and despite his usual arrogance among students, he still felt nervous when facing a professor.
Under Professor Sprout's serious gaze, he immediately lost much of his confidence.
He stammered, clearly unsure of how to explain things.
Of course, he didn't dare admit that he had been provoked by Ryze's earlier remarks, nor that he had personally ordered Crabbe to attack him.
However, Draco was quite skilled at shifting blame.
Suddenly, he pointed toward Ryze's chest.
"Th-there!"
"That guy has a strange magical creature on him!"
Malfoy raised his voice as if he had discovered something terrible.
"It came out of his chest and attacked Crabbe!"
Professor Sprout frowned slightly and turned toward Ryze.
She clearly expected to hear the truth from him.
Ryze remained perfectly calm.
He nodded politely to the professor before gently raising his hand.
"Ailey."
At his quiet call, a small magical creature instantly appeared.
The tiny being floated gracefully into the air, circling above Ryze's head with light and agile movements.
Its delicate wings shimmered faintly in the sunlight, giving it an almost ethereal appearance.
"Professor Sprout," Ryze said calmly, "this is the creature Mr. Malfoy was referring to."
Then he added in a slightly amused tone,
"Little Dragon—oh, sorry."
Ryze briefly glanced toward Draco.
"It seems Draco doesn't like it when I call him that. He also doesn't want me mentioning that he's technically my cousin's nephew. I'll try to be more careful in the future."
A few students nearby couldn't help snickering.
Malfoy's face immediately turned red with anger.
But Ryze simply continued speaking as though nothing had happened.
"Anyway, this is Ailey."
"Regarding Ailey's situation, I contacted Professor McGonagall before coming to Hogwarts and asked for permission."
As he spoke, Ryze calmly took out two folded documents from his robes.
"These documents contain the necessary approvals."
He handed them to Professor Sprout.
"One is from Professor McGonagall, allowing Ailey to accompany me at Hogwarts."
"The other confirms that Ailey is currently part of Professor Babbling's research project."
Professor Sprout accepted the documents and began examining them carefully.
Ryze had deliberately kept these papers with him ever since arriving at Hogwarts.
He knew sooner or later someone would question why he had brought a magical creature into the school.
Having written proof made it easy to silence such doubts.
Still, Ryze hadn't expected the first person to challenge him would be Malfoy.
Typical Draco Malfoy.
The most reckless troublemaker in the Harry Potter universe.
Someone who never learned his lesson and never backed down from picking fights.
While Professor Sprout read through the documents, Ryze raised his voice slightly so that the surrounding students could hear him.
"The protective magic that just appeared wasn't actually cast by me," he explained.
"It was a defensive barrier automatically triggered by my familiar, Ailey."
He gestured toward the tiny creature circling above him.
"Ailey sensed that I was in danger, so it activated its protective magic."
"If no one had tried to attack me," he added calmly, "Ailey wouldn't have reacted at all."
Ryze then shrugged slightly.
"After all, I'm only a first-year student. How could I possibly perform wandless magic?"
Of course…
There was one exception.
Arcane Comet.
But Ryze wisely kept that particular secret to himself.
Meanwhile, Ailey continued gliding gracefully above his head, occasionally letting out soft chirping sounds.
The Ravenclaw students quickly began nodding in understanding.
So that was what had happened.
It wasn't wandless magic at all.
It was simply Ryze's magical familiar protecting him.
Some students suddenly remembered seeing the same little creature earlier on the Hogwarts Express.
At the time, none of them had known who its owner was.
Now the mystery was solved.
It belonged to Ryze.
That explanation made sense.
But even so…
It was still unbelievable.
Among the students present, both Ravenclaw and Slytherin had children from pure-blood wizarding families.
Draco Malfoy himself was one of the most obvious examples.
Yet even the heirs of such families weren't extravagant enough to bring magical familiars like this to school.
At most, they might carry protective charms or enchanted amulets given by their parents.
A creature like Ailey was on a completely different level.
As the students whispered among themselves, a few began forming their own theories.
From the earlier conversation between Ryze and Malfoy, it seemed that Ryze had some connection to a pure-blood family.
Perhaps he was an illegitimate child who hadn't yet been officially acknowledged.
But if that were true…
How could a "bastard," as some might cruelly put it, receive such a valuable magical familiar?
And when they compared Ryze and Malfoy standing side by side, the contrast was striking.
Ryze appeared calm, confident, and completely composed.
Malfoy, on the other hand, looked flustered and embarrassed.
If someone unfamiliar with the situation were asked to guess, they would probably assume Ryze was the real pure-blood noble.
Several Ravenclaw students couldn't help letting their imaginations run wild.
In their minds, complicated family dramas began unfolding.
Secret heirs.
Hidden bloodlines.
Bitter rivalries between noble houses.
The more they thought about it, the more dramatic the story became.
Meanwhile, Professor Sprout finished reading the documents.
Although she usually spent most of her time inside the greenhouses caring for magical plants—and rarely paid attention to student gossip—she was more than capable of understanding the situation in front of her.
After glancing at the surrounding students, she turned her attention toward Draco Malfoy.
Her expression was no longer gentle.
"Mr. Malfoy," she said firmly.
"Am I correct in understanding that you provoked Mr. White first… and then ordered Mr. Crabbe to attack him?"
The authority in her voice was unmistakable.
Draco immediately froze.
Realizing that his attempt to shift the blame had failed, he didn't dare say anything further.
Instead, he simply lowered his head and remained silent.
His reaction was as good as an admission.
Professor Sprout sighed quietly.
She might normally be kind and patient, but she was still the Head of Hufflepuff House.
When discipline was required, she would not hesitate.
Pointing first at Malfoy and then at Crabbe, she announced the punishment.
"Spreading rumors about a classmate on the very first day."
"Encouraging another student to physically attack someone."
Her voice echoed clearly across the greenhouse.
"For this behavior…"
"You, Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Crabbe will each lose twenty points for Slytherin."
A shocked murmur ran through the students.
Twenty points was no small penalty—especially so early in the school year.
Professor Sprout continued calmly.
"I will also discuss your behavior with Professor Snape after class. Together we will decide on the appropriate additional punishment."
She then gestured sharply toward the Slytherin side.
"Now return to your places."
"Class will begin shortly."
Malfoy didn't dare protest.
Not even a little.
With his head lowered and his pride badly wounded, he turned around and slowly walked back toward the Slytherin students.
Goyle followed behind him silently.
Inside, Draco felt both furious and humiliated.
He had only heard vague mentions of Ryze during occasional conversations between his parents.
From what he understood, Ryze was supposedly the illegitimate child of some pure-blood family.
Someone who had grown up powerless in a Muggle orphanage.
Someone who would likely depend on the charity of noble families in the future.
That was what Draco had believed.
So after being humiliated by Harry Potter the previous day, Draco had been eager to restore his reputation among the Slytherin first-years.
When he saw Ryze, he thought he had found the perfect target.
But things had gone completely wrong.
Ryze wasn't weak at all.
Not only had he remained completely calm, but he also possessed a powerful magical familiar.
When Draco had impulsively ordered Crabbe to attack, he had still believed the situation was under control.
Even if he lost a few house points, beating Ryze would have been worth it.
After all, everyone knew Professor Snape favored Slytherin students.
And Draco's father was a Hogwarts school governor.
Recovering a few lost points later would have been easy.
In Slytherin House, where strength and dominance were valued above all else, sending a few Gryffindor students to the hospital wing each year was practically a tradition.
This should have been nothing.
But Draco had miscalculated.
Completely.
Ryze stood there without a scratch.
Crabbe was the one howling in pain.
Worse still, Ryze had mocked him—saying he fought like a Muggle.
Now, as Draco returned to his fellow Slytherins, he could feel their eyes on him.
Some looked disappointed.
Others looked amused.
A few even seemed openly disdainful.
Draco clenched his fists tightly.
He forced himself to remain silent.
For now, he would endure this humiliation.
But he swore to himself that he would investigate Ryze's background thoroughly.
And when the time came…
He would make Ryze regret today.
For more chapters
patreon.com/Liamlivingstone