Chapter 484: Prefect's Box

After placing the luggage in the Malfoy family's private box, Sherin met up with Daphne, Murray, and Susan in the box. Then, the four of them walked side by side towards the prefect's private box.

After a summer vacation, the temperaments of the three have quietly changed - Daphne's coldness has become more calm, and there is a hint of imperceptible majesty between her brows; Murray's intellectual temperament, which used to be a little immature, is now more natural and smooth, and there is a natural calmness in his every move; Susan is more stable and generous than before, and her gentle smile hides a firmness that should not be underestimated.

In addition, there was a more powerful magical power lingering around them, flowing like a mist. Xie Lin only thought about it for a moment and immediately understood the reason - they had all passed their fifteenth birthday, and their magic power had ushered in a new round of leaps and bounds.

After passing through several carriages, Xie Ling came to the prefect's carriage at the front. Before opening the door of the carriage, he took out the prefect's badge from his pocket and pinned it on his chest, then opened the door and walked in.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, everyone in the carriage turned their heads to look over.

Xie Ling saw many acquaintances.

Ron and Hermione from Gryffindor, Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw, and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff were all made prefects.

Of course, their predecessors, the 6th and 7th grade prefects, were also here.

All eyes in the carriage turned to Xie Ling. His appearance seemed to be some kind of silent signal, causing the prefects who were originally chatting casually to subconsciously remain silent for a moment, but no one was surprised by his appearance.

To be honest, if Shalling fails to be elected as this year's prefect, Hogwarts will become a laughing stock in the international education community.

However, Xie Ling was calm and composed under the gaze of the crowd, not feeling uncomfortable at all. He walked into the carriage leisurely, his dark robe made him look tall and slender, and his every move was casually elegant.

His eyes swept across the crowd in the car, as if he already knew everything. There was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, neither overbearing nor distant, just the right measure.

The three girls following behind him were equally eye-catching—Daphne was cool and dignified, Murray was calm and confident, and Susan was gentle and generous. The three of them surrounded Sherin, giving people the feeling that they were more like the core staff of some noble than prefects.

Sherin randomly picked a seat and sat down. Daphne and Murray sat on his left and right, while Susan sat next to Murray. The whole layout made him naturally become the focus of the carriage.

Cedric Diggory, the Head Boy, was the first to come forward, with his usual gentle smile on his face, and took the initiative to extend his hand: "Sherin, congratulations on becoming a prefect."

Sherin smiled slightly, raised his hand and shook his, his palm was warm and strong. His eyes swept across the carriage and then fell on another student union president - Gryffindor's Elsie Montgomery.

Montgomery is undoubtedly an outstanding student, with long blond hair falling softly on her shoulders and blue eyes that reveal shrewdness and confidence. Not only did she win 10 certificates of excellence in the OWL exam, she was also the champion of this year's Finkleigh spellcasting competition.

In addition, she was also well-known in the social circle of Hogwarts - Sherin remembered that she was once Roger Davis' girlfriend. Two years ago, the two were caught dating at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop by Sherin, and the relationship ended because Roger later fell in love with Fleur.

Today, Montgomery is still a recognized beauty in Hogwarts. In Schelling's opinion, in terms of beauty alone, she can be ranked among the top five in Hogwarts today.

She smiled and held out her hand to Sherin: "Welcome to the prefect team."

Sherin smiled gently, shook her hand, returned the greeting appropriately, and asked gracefully, "How is Ms. Montgomery these days?"

Montgomery was slightly stunned by this, and then he smiled in surprise: "You know my mother?"

"We have had some exchanges in academic journals." Schelling's tone was steady and a bit nonchalant, but it made people feel awe for no reason. Ms. Montgomery was one of only seven registered animagi in this century, and her academic attainments were extraordinary. Schelling's correspondence with her was not something that an ordinary student could do.

Xie Ling's casual remark instantly shocked many people in the carriage - everyone knew that Ms. Montgomery was an important figure, and Xie Ling not only knew her, but also had academic exchanges with her. For a moment, many prefects looked at Xie Ling with a bit of complicated meaning.

However, at this moment, a light cough broke everyone's thoughts.

"Okay, everyone is here." Cedric cleared his throat, trying to regain control, and began to explain the duties and powers of the prefects.

However, despite his diligence and clear organization, as time went on, the attention of many prefects had already begun to wander.

After all, everyone knows the duties of the prefects, which are nothing more than patrolling, maintaining order, stopping violations, and leading freshmen to adapt to the campus. In contrast, the prefects' dedicated meeting rooms and washrooms are more exciting.

However, Cedric, whether he was too serious or was trying to show off, gave a detailed and methodical explanation for more than half an hour. In the end, many people showed impatience and secretly looked at Xie Ling - after all, since he entered the door, his calmness, elegance, and innate aristocratic demeanor had already overshadowed Cedric's brilliance, making many people subconsciously want to see if he was also impatient with this lengthy explanation.

However, Xie Lin just leaned back in his chair quietly, tapping his fingers on the armrest, with a faint smile on his face, as if everything was under control. He didn't seem to care about Cedric's speech or the impatience of the people around him, but it made people feel that he was the real controller here.

Cedric's lengthy speech finally came to an end. There was a perfunctory applause in the carriage, and the atmosphere suddenly became much more relaxed.

Next is the time for the prefects to socialize freely, which is also the part that many new prefects look forward to the most.

Everyone knows that being a prefect is not just a position, but also a symbol of status - this small circle brings together the smartest and most promising students at Hogwarts, and the connections established during this time on campus are very likely to become a key step towards their success in the future wizarding society.

As expected, as the free exchange began, the entire carriage soon divided into several small circles, and everyone started chatting in twos and threes. At this moment, everyone's attention was attracted by one person - Shaylin Malfoy.

Elsie Montgomery was the first person to approach Sherin.

When she came over, her long golden hair shone softly under the light, she had a proper smile on her face, and her manners were elegant and confident. Her eyes stayed on Xie Lin for a moment, and then she said naturally, "Xie Lin, how was your summer vacation?"

Xie Lin smiled slightly, gently raised the teacup in his hand, and responded leisurely: "Not bad, although it's a bit busy, but it's still fulfilling."

Actually, Sherin and Montgomery were not strangers to each other. Both of them were members of the Transfiguration Club and had had many exchanges in the club's activities before.

Sherin remembered the description of her in the original book - she had two younger sisters who were in the fourth grade of Hufflepuff, and a three-year-old brother. Her mother, Mrs. Montgomery, was an upright pure-blood wizard. In the seventh book of the original book, Mrs. Montgomery was retaliated for refusing to help the Death Eaters. In the end, her five-year-old son was bitten by Fenrir and was seriously injured. He died in the hospital. Although Sherin was not close to the Montgomery family, he knew the value of excellent talents in the wizarding world. If the wizarding society wanted to move forward, it could not do without excellent talents. The Montgomery family obviously had enough talent for Sherin to pay attention to, which made Sherin want to help them and change the tragic experience of the broken family in the future.

The two of them started talking quickly, ranging from their summer vacation experiences to the latest research of the Transfiguration Club to the recent changes in the wizarding world. Their conversation was natural and smooth. Compared to Ron, who was from the same school, the conversation between Elusi and Sherin was obviously more relaxed and happy, and even had a tacit understanding. If it weren't for the different colors of their wizard robes, it would be hard to tell that they belonged to different schools.

During the whole process, she always had a sweet smile on her face, her eyes never left Xie Ling, and her eyes showed approval and appreciation from time to time.

This scene was particularly glaring to Ron. Just now, he had tried to talk to the beautiful president of the same college and introduce himself, but she just sent him away in a lukewarm manner. If she was not sociable, it would be fine. But now she was so enthusiastic with people from the hostile college. It was clearly looking down on him!
He sat not far away, his mouth tightly pursed into a line, his fingers unconsciously clenched the cup in his hand. Although he tried to stay calm, the gloomy light in his eyes was still keenly captured by Xie Ling. Xie Ling didn't say much, but just looked at him meaningfully, with the corners of his lips slightly raised, as if everything was under control.

In fact, although Cedric was the president of the student union, the atmosphere of the entire carriage was centered around Schelling.

Whether he spoke or remained silent, everyone's eyes were on his actions from beginning to end. His words, actions, and even a look could affect the atmosphere in the car, and this invisible influence quietly weakened Cedric's presence.

Of course, Cedric also noticed this. He glanced across the carriage and saw that almost all the prefects' attention was focused on Sherin. He couldn't help but feel some indescribable complicated emotions.

But at this moment, Xie Ling gave him a slightly apologetic smile, as if silently saying: "I didn't mean to steal your limelight."

Cedric was stunned, and his slight displeasure suddenly disappeared. He even felt that such a scene seemed natural - after all, the boy in front of him was the double champion of the Triwizard Tournament and the Potions Championship, and he had made a name for himself in the Wizengamot. Everyone in the wizarding world knew that he would be the rising star of the wizarding world, the next Dumbledore.

On the other hand, Ron was not immersed in this "Schelling whirlwind". He was holding Hermione tightly and trying to build his own small circle around the Gryffindor prefects. In his pocket, a thick book "How Prefects Gain Power" accidentally appeared, and the edges of the pages were slightly curled, obviously he had read it countless times.

When his eyes met Xie Ling's, he straightened his back deliberately, raised the corners of his lips in a provocative arc, and his eyes were full of hidden unwillingness and ambition.

Xie Lin raised his eyebrows slightly, glanced meaningfully at the book in Ron's hand, and then smiled softly - there was no sarcasm or hostility, only the indifference of a bystander.

This made Ron's expression freeze, and his face became even uglier.

……

Sherin had just finished talking to Montgomery when he saw Daphne, Murray and Susan being surrounded by several male prefects. The leader was none other than Gryffindor's Cormac McLaggen, who was in high spirits, as if trying to show off his wit and confidence, and the others followed suit, trying to make themselves felt in front of the three girls.

A sneer flashed in Xie Ling's eyes. Poor guys, what they didn't know was that they didn't stand a chance at all.

He sat down casually at one side of the box, his slender fingers sliding nonchalantly along the rim of the teacup, his expression calm and composed, as if he didn't care about anything around him.

The prefects in the entire carriage were talking animatedly, but he was always the most eye-catching person on the scene - even many people who were originally chatting with the student union president couldn't help but cast their eyes towards him frequently.

At the same time, Hermione, who was sitting not far away, had been secretly watching Sherin. She bit her lower lip lightly, her hand unconsciously clenched the corner of her robe, as if to cheer herself up, and then walked towards Sherin. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and it was obvious that she mustered up a lot of courage to make this decision.

When Hermione appeared in front of Xie Lin, he was slightly startled and looked up at her. There was a flash of surprise in those clear eyes, but then he raised his eyebrows and showed a gentle and distant smile.

"Miss Granger, what do you want to talk to me about?" His voice was as calm and steady as ever, his tone neither hurried nor slow, polite yet measured, as if he was waiting for her opening remarks.

Although these words seemed polite, they invisibly widened the distance between the two. Hermione shuddered slightly, and for some reason, a strange sense of loss rose in her heart.

"Malfoy," she tried to suppress the complicated emotions in her heart, and kept her tone calm, but still a little reserved, "Congratulations on winning the Potions Championship... and becoming a prefect."

Sherin smiled slightly, his eyes stayed on her face for a moment, and then he spoke slowly: "Oh? This is really rare, Granger, thank you."

His tone was relaxed, as if he was casually accepting an insignificant congratulation. Then he paused, and the smile on his face deepened. "Then I also want to congratulate you on becoming a prefect, but -"

He deliberately dragged out the last syllable of his words and looked at her meaningfully, as if waiting for some interesting reaction. "Are you planning to follow Percy's example and patrol around with the Prefect's Handbook every day?"

Hermione's expression froze, and the blush on her cheeks instantly spread to her ears.

"I - I won't!" She retorted subconsciously, her tone even a little hurried, as if someone had touched on her secret.

"Oh?" Xie Lin raised his eyebrows slightly, his tone was a little amused, "Really? But I remember that some people like to read the school rules very carefully and make sure they can recite every rule by heart."

Hermione's lips moved as if she wanted to argue, but in the end she just glared at him and muttered angrily, "I just want everyone to follow the rules!"

Xie Lin chuckled, picked up the teacup, and casually slid his fingertips along the rim of the cup, seeming to be very satisfied with her reaction. He raised his eyes and looked at her through the rim of the cup, his tone lazy but meaningful: "Well, then I hope you can manage your partner well."

Hermione was startled, then realized that he was referring to Ron. She subconsciously looked in Ron's direction, only to see him talking to several Gryffindor prefects, with a serious expression, but also with some kind of emotion that she could not understand.

Her brows furrowed unconsciously, and a sense of inexplicable worry arose in her heart.

But soon, she regained her composure and looked at Xie Ling again with a complicated look in her eyes, but she didn't say anything more.

Xie Ling smiled. The story had finally come to this moment. In principle, he did not dislike the Harry Potter trio in the original book. He even rescued Harry from Voldemort once and Hermione from Morgan Le Fay once. But the premise of all this was that they should not stand in his way...

The Sleeping Dragon Society has become the most precious thing in his heart. He only hopes that Harry and his three friends will have some self-awareness and stop getting involved in the affairs of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore. In this way, at least they don't need to become enemies... (End of this chapter)