T/N: Sorry for not uploading yesterday, was busy studying and forgot. Next weeks my last week of school, so I have loads of exams and wont be able to translate much so I'll be doing only one or two chapters of each fic for each upload. Sorry.
The next morning, after a great night's sleep, Andrew woke up, briefly organized his thoughts and gains, and cheerfully went off to eat breakfast.
Although the first class today was Transfiguration, he had no intention of submitting his paper just yet. He wanted to polish it more — even if it was still crude, every bit of improvement counted.
However, during breakfast, he noticed something odd: the owls were flying into the Great Hall like lunatics, and packages were falling like snowflakes.
He barely managed to shield his bowl from being contaminated with owl feathers.
"Heavens, what happened?"He curiously asked a nearby student who had just received a package, though Andrew hadn't remembered their name.
"Obviously — Magic Legends," the student answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Oh, Magic Legends, right — today's the 5th. Publishing day...
Andrew froze for a moment, then immediately remembered — to distance himself from any association with the story, he hadn't even read the edited version.
But why are there so many readers at Hogwarts?!
Andrew even saw owls landing at the professors' table!
This could kill me!
I should've known. I've just been lying to myself...
Watching his excited peers eagerly tearing into their owl-delivered bundles, Andrew was finally forced to face his own miserable reality.
The famous best-selling author Gilderoy Lockhart could plaster his face all over newspapers, and he — in contrast — sat utterly unmoved.
He maintained a perfect poker face and had a flawless contingency plan. His mindset was already adjusted. A minor issue, not worth mentioning.
"I spent my allowance too quickly, so I had to choose between the owl and the magazine."
Andrew put on a look of regret.
"That's a shame... but if I finish reading it tonight, I could lend it to you — just... about that Charms homework…"
"No problem at all."
Andrew stayed in full disguise mode.
Now was not the time to pretend ignorance. In enemy territory, blend in with the crowd. Show interest, don't stand out as indifferent — or you'd be marked.
Just one issue — with the release of the new issue, the next manuscript deadline was now on the horizon. He had to submit the next story by the first of next month at the latest.
"Tsk tsk, look over there."
Just as Andrew was completing what looked like a pleasant little trade, his roommate Hal nudged him. "There."
Andrew glanced — nothing strange stood out.
"No, there — the girl passing by the Slytherin table."
Andrew finally noticed an utterly unremarkable Ravenclaw girl — average height, average looks, nothing noticeable. But as she passed Slytherin, the students recoiled from her like she was the plague.
"What's up with that?"Andrew whispered, "Don't tell me she's some professor's illegitimate child?"
It wasn't a wild guess — it was rare to see the usually arrogant Slytherins behave like that.
"Oh no," Hal replied, "She's what the Slytherins call the one who must not be mentioned."
"…Huh?"
"Yup. A Muggle-born witch. An existence that completely breaks their rules."
Why does this sound like something straight out of a Mary Sue fanfic...?
Perhaps seeing Andrew's confused expression, Hal quickly explained:
"Seriously?"
"Yup, seriously."
Andrew nearly burst out laughing — it really was a rule-breaking existence.
Simply put, Europe is full of nobility, and in the wizarding world, pure-bloods are essentially recognized as nobility too. They've taken pride in that for years.
Take the Malfoy family, for example — their ancestors openly supported the current Muggle monarchy. Though they retreated from public life after the Statute of Secrecy, they still loved bragging about ancestral glory.
Nobility and pure-blood go hand-in-hand.
Other pure-bloods did the same — linking their image with noble heritage was great for status.
But… walk the night roads long enough, and you'll meet a ghost.
While the magical world was enthusiastically pulling in fresh blood from Muggles, they happened upon a girl whose family had a real castle, a real inherited title, and a provable, respected lineage. She even had the right of succession.
Things were normal at first. The girl, Elizabeth, was polite, studious, and didn't clash with anyone. Aside from an intense interest in ancient runes, she wasn't remarkable.
But near the end of first term, she was insulted as a Mudblood.
Once she understood what the word meant, she exploded — retaliating with vicious remarks about the offender's bloodline, name, honor, and noble status. She even sent a letter to the school board with her family crest and proof of status to formally denounce the incident.
If it had been any regular Muggle-born, no one would've cared. But unfortunately for everyone, Elizabeth's documents were all authentic — and she was even distantly related to several school governors.
That created a dilemma. If they rejected her, they were denying the glory of their own ancestors. But if they accepted her — did that make her a "glorious pure-blood"?
It was a total glitch in the system. Andrew could vividly imagine the headache she caused the board.
Rumor had it, the final compromise was to treat her like the descendant of a Squib from a noble pure-blood line who had now returned to the magical world. (Hal said they verified her as a pure-blood descendant; Andrew guessed it was just a face-saving workaround.) Not a true pure-blood, but to be treated as such.
Too bad those pay-for-title noble ranks aren't recognized — otherwise faking a pure-blood identity would be kind of fun.
Andrew amused himself with that dangerous thought and chose to ignore the surrounding drama — ancient runes and ancient magic were entirely separate things anyway. Regardless of future complications, he was a first-year who just wanted to study Transfiguration quietly. No other ambitions.
Time to eat and wait for class.
Andrew calmed himself. After finishing a not-so-great breakfast, he found a good seat in the Transfiguration classroom, ready to ambush Professor McGonagall afterward for a quick progress report.
Unfortunately… he was over-optimistic. Some students really feared nothing.
"Confiscated. Hufflepuff, minus one point."
A copy of Magic Legends was slammed down on the podium by Professor McGonagall. "This is the final time I'll say this — any distraction during Transfiguration can result in serious consequences. Not even a moment of inattention is acceptable."
It was clear Professor McGonagall was suppressing her anger — Andrew immediately abandoned his plan to talk to her after class.
No new problems right now. Self-study. I'll just hand in the essay with Monday's homework.
So thought Andrew.
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