Harry Potter: Shadow Eminence

Chapter 3

Dressed in a black wizard robe, smoothing out the creases, Brian looks at the Slytherin badge and gently sighs.

Clearly, he has arrived a bit late.

his predecessor belonged to Slytherin House; there is no doubt about that. However, he may not belong now.

At least he himself does not support the stupid pure-blood ideology at all and is intolerant of those tiresome rituals and stuff.

However, he is also relieved that he arrived just in time; otherwise, it would have been hard to conceal his secrets from the Sorting Hat's Legilimency or similar magic.

Undoubtedly, if he wishes to keep his life away from falling in a dung hole, he would have stay away from Dumbledore until he learns to perform Occlumency.

Although Dumbledore likely wouldn't misuse Legilimency or one wouldn't even know about it when that old man will do it, no one wants their mind laid bare before others.

He may just need to study magic step by step, observe the unfolding of the plot, and that would be a good way to deal with the nosless baldy issue.

All he needs to do is watch his Dark eater fantasy ridden father and hope he doesn't act recklessly.

The future will be bright; the bald voldy will be defeated by the Trio, and the world will continue to run as usual.

As for the troubles of Harry Potter, he does not want to get involved until necessary, and his identity as a pure blood is quite suitable for preserving his own safety amidst future turmoil.

As for himself.

A hint of confusion and self-mockery passed through Brian's black eyes.

A strange world, strange relatives, everything is strange; even in the world of his favorite novel, all of it is familiar yet unfamiliar, but ultimately he does not belong here.

For the first time, he felt a bewildering sense of not knowing what to do.

In his previous life, he was always independent and self-sufficient; he knew his goals and worked tirelessly toward them, only to encounter an accident just as life started to improve.

"Those people must be laughing like crazy," Brian chuckled cynically, "Or maybe, this is what they did."

"It's easy to guess, isn't it?"

Brian looked at the unfamiliar yet familiar version of himself in the mirror and thought, "Since I can't go back, then I'll just go with the flow."

However, he wanted to take charge of his own life, not wanting anything to randomly taken away from him, even time.

In this world that once deeply captivated him, everything seems possible.

What has always attracted him most in this world is magic.

"Magic... why not try to climb to the peak of magic, surpass the Dark Lord, surpass Dumbledore, surpass everyone?"

Brian looked deeply into his own eyes, which reflected a calm, deep abyss.

He could only go with the flow... for now.

Without a goal, he felt he might become a side character.

After organizing his textbooks, Brian remembered the strange event from last night in his mind.

He focused, and a line of text appeared in his mind:

[Hogwarts Witnessing System]

[Gain witness points by witnessing and participating in a series of major events in Harry Potter, enhancing magical power and climbing the peak of magic!]

[Witnessing the sorting ceremony, witness point +1]

[Witness points: 1]

Directory:

[Magic Power (Beginner) +] (The strength of magic requires not only knowledge but also greater magical power)

[Memory / General Knowledge (Beginner) +] (The speed of memory and understanding of all knowledge)

[Reaction Speed (Beginner) +] (The success or failure of battles sometimes depends not only on magic power but also on reaction speed and thinking speed.)

[Non-Verbel (Not Started) +] (Great wizards understand how to shorten spells or even cancel them.)

[Wandless Casting (Not Started) +] (Great wizards know how to control their own magic power; everything is centered around oneself.)

[Transfiguration (Not Started) +]

[Magical Theory (Not Started) +]

[Potion (Not Started) +]

[Alchemy (Not Started) +]

[Divination (Not Started) +]

[Linguistic Symbolism (Not Started) +] (Many languages and runes in this world require specific species or talents, but you can circumvent that.)

[Legilimency (Not Started) +] (A special type of magic that allows you to understand the intricate hearts of people.)

[Occlumency (Not Started) +] (A special type of magic that teaches you how to protect your mind.)

...

[Level: Not Started - Beginner - Proficient - Mastery - Expert - GrandWizard - Merlin]

[Among them, to upgrade to Proficient requires 1 Witness Point, Expert and Master require 2 Witness Points, and Merlin requires 3 Witness Points.]

[All witness events only include significant events from the original work; go witness it, experience it, and witness its conclusion!]

[Appropriate participation can double the witness points.]

[This will be a grand adventure!]

Brian touched this screen-like thing, but had no other reaction; it was just a virtual panel.

The "+" had a response, indicating that it could be strengthened through witness points.

Brian stared at the descriptions repeatedly, many of which were not very clear, requiring him to explore on his own.

But...

"this thing wants me to witness major events; isn't this a great opportunity?" He showed a rare expression of mixed laughter and exasperation.

It should be noted that most major events in this world revolve around Harry Potter.

If he were in Gryffindor, it would be simple—become inseparable best friends with the likes Ron and Hermione, and naturally witness nearly all the events.

But the problem is... he was a snake.

Moreover, his father was a Death Eater, which was almost common knowledge in the wizarding world.

His identity automatically placed him on the opposite side of the trio.

This meant he could never become one of Harry Potter's companions; instead, he would be watched suspiciously by him and would miss most events.

Brian quietly shifted his gaze away from the system; all the writings seemed to dissipate like clouds in the depths of his mind.

He still needed to think carefully about how to proceed; he wasn't particularly interested at the moment.

"Let it be."

Looking at the time, he woke up his still-sleeping roommates, who turned out to be Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle.

"This really makes it even less likely," Brian secretly pressed his forehead.

The staircases in Hogwarts were complicated, varying in width, some shaky, some changing directions, and some with small traps.

Of course, the route to the classrooms was not hard to find; just ask for directions. As long as you were kind and not with stupid ideas, the upperclassmen from the same house were not stingy in pointing you in the right direction.

With Crabbe and Goyle walking in front, one didn't have to worry about stepping into suddenly disappearing staircases. In fact, they always stepped on every pit they could find, while Malfoy followed behind chuckling quietly, which made Brian suppress a laugh.

Occasionally they would encounter the mischief-making Peeves, who was loudly cackling in the corridor and got mocked by Malfoy. After a while, the four finally shook off Peeves, who had been throwing chalk at them, and Malfoy ended up with a big bump on his head.

"I'm going to tell my dad about this and have him kick that horrible ghost out of Hogwarts!" Malfoy shouted angrily, "Brian, you have to tell your dad about this too!"

"Common Malfoy, i think it's funny." Brian chuckled and shook his head, brushing off the chalk dust from his clothes, feeling better for the first time.

Slytherin's first-year classes only shared Potions with Gryffindor, which always had a fiery atmosphere between the two houses. The other classes were much calmer.

Brian's favorite subjects could be said Charms and Transfiguration, as nothing could illustrate the magic's wonder better than they did.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, stood on a tall stack of books. His stature was remarkably small, but his teaching ability was high, always able to clearly explain the key points of spell casting.

Brian found that his talent was not too bad. Despite some setbacks, he successfully cast the spell during class, just a bit slower than Malfoy. This was still under the circumstance of wielding a rather uncooperative wand.

His current wand came from Ollivander's Wand Shop, measuring eleven and a half inches long, made of ebony, with a core of dragon heartstring.

However, it was evident that this wand was not quite suited for him after his arrival, as Brian felt it just wasn't smooth to use.

Of course, Crabb and Goyle were not so lucky; they couldn't successfully cast the spell even after class, only managing to make the tip of their wands emit some sparks. As a result, Professor Flitwick had to assign them extra practice to master the spell before the next class.

The two big guys played around for quite a while, only getting panicked just before the next Charms class began. They even forgot what the incantation was.

Brian had to remind them to not act like wild bulls, which finally enabled the two to barely perform the spell.

The casting of this spell required precise hand gestures, but the two, with their thick yet clumsy hands, found it difficult to complete the delicate movements.

Malfoy laughed uncontrollably from the side, especially when Crabb's wand tip uncontrollably shot out green sparks and emitted a "poof—poof—" sound, akin to flatulence. He was nearly laughing himself to death.