Chapter 513: Jiao Sheng Arrives

The first day of February.

The golden candlelight flickered gently on the ceiling, illuminating faces filled with anticipation. At the long table, students were whispering - tonight, Dumbledore would announce the arrival of the exchange students. Many people were wondering what kind of wizard would come this time? Would it be a European nobleman or a mysterious magician from the East?
At the Slytherin table, students were talking in low voices in groups of three or four, discussing the exchange students who would arrive tonight. Compared to the heated discussions in other houses, the atmosphere in Slytherin was much calmer, but many people were still quite interested in this matter.

Blaise Zabini was not present, as he had gone to another school as an exchange student, so he could not participate in the discussion. In his usual seat, Draco was lazily leaning against the long table, fiddling with silverware absentmindedly while listening to the conversations around him.

"Which two schools do you think they are?" Pansy held her chin up, with a hint of curiosity in her tone, "Is it Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, or some place we haven't heard of?"

"It's unlikely that Beauxbatons will do that," Nott shook his head. "They are unlikely to exchange students with Hogwarts unless they have a special purpose."

Crabbe frowned, as if he didn't understand why they cared so much about this kind of thing: "No matter who you are, you have to follow the rules of Hogwarts, don't you?"

Astoria chuckled softly, her eyes falling on Xie Lin who was sitting opposite her: “Xie Lin, what do you think?”

Daphne also looked over and said, "Yes, you are always well-informed about this information. Haven't you heard anything?"

Xie Lin smiled slightly, his fingertips caressing the rim of the cup nonchalantly, and said lightly: "As an exchange student, no matter who it is, you will know when you come."

His attitude made Draco narrow his eyes and look at him carefully. Obviously, Sherin had guessed the identity of the exchange student.

Draco snorted in dissatisfaction, but did not intend to press the issue. He wanted to see who could make Sherin smile without saying anything.

Just as everyone was whispering, Dumbledore slowly stood up and raised his hands, signaling everyone to be quiet.

"Dear students, I am very happy to announce that we will soon welcome two outstanding exchange students from different countries." His blue eyes sparkled behind his half-moon glasses. "Their arrival is not only an academic exchange, but also a symbol of closer connection between the wizarding world. I believe that they will find a sense of belonging at Hogwarts and achieve success in their studies."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the hall slowly opened.

Two figures walked in slowly.

The first person that caught my eye was a tall young man. He had deep black eyes that seemed to be able to see through all the hypocritical disguises. His messy black hair was casually scattered, making him look a little unruly, but the most eye-catching thing was the long diagonal scar at the corner of his left eye, which added a bit of danger to his handsome face. His steps were steady and powerful, like a cheetah ready to attack at any time.

Sirzechs Vongola - from the Italian Vongola family, a huge organization that rules the wizarding mafia, and an ancient ally of the Malfoy family. He is the direct heir of the Vongola family, the second son of the current head of the family, and has pure Sicilian blood. Interestingly, although he lives in Europe, the school he comes from is Kodostorev in Russia, which is said to have a school spirit that is more in line with the domineering mafia lifestyle.

Draco's mouth opened slightly, almost doubting that he had seen it wrong. As the next heir to the Malfoy family, he was naturally familiar with the family's history. In the history of the Malfoy family, the Vongola family had always been an important ally, and the alliance between the two sides could even be traced back several centuries.

He originally thought that this wizarding family far away in Italy was out of his reach, and perhaps he would have to wait until he officially became the head of the family before he would have any intersection with them. However, he did not expect that he would meet the direct descendants of the Vongola family in Hogwarts.

In contrast, Xie Ling, who was standing aside, was as calm as usual, and there was even a glimmer of understanding in his eyes.

As early as last year, he had received intelligence from Italy that the Vongola family intended to send their second young master to the UK for training, and at the same time take this opportunity to further deepen their ties with the Malfoy family. Sherin was already prepared for this person's appearance, and even had a very good understanding of this person's personality, preferences, strengths, and specialties.

Sarzes stood in the middle of the auditorium, looked around, and raised the corners of his mouth with a smile of unknown meaning.

Walking with him was a slender and elegant girl. Her black hair was as black as ink, flowing smoothly behind her. She wore a silver hair ornament with cherry blossoms carved on it, which swayed slightly with her steps. She had fair skin, delicate features, and eyes that were like a lake in the middle of the night, quiet but with a sharp light hidden in them.

The uniform she wore was obviously different from the Hogwarts style—the golden wizard robe was embroidered with intricate silver threads, carrying an oriental mysterious charm.

She walked gently to the side of Sirzechs, looking calm and elegant.

Akabane Sakurazuki - from Japan's top Mahotokuro School of Magic, she is a well-known top student, which can be seen from the uniform she wears. In that school, only the best students are allowed to wear golden uniforms.

At the same time, she has another unknown identity - Xie Ling's pen pal. The two have been communicating with each other since Xie Ling was nine years old, exchanging magical experiences, and even met at the Quidditch World Cup last year.

At that time, before leaving, Xie Lin had invited her to visit the UK and promised to treat her well, and Yingyue gave him an ambiguous look and nodded to indicate her agreement. Unexpectedly, more than a year later, the two met again.

The hall was silent until Dumbledore smiled and clapped. Then the students came to their senses and started clapping enthusiastically. The female students in particular were the ones who whispered about how handsome Sirzechs was and how cool and mysterious Akabane Sakurazuki was.

Dumbledore stepped forward with a kind look in his eyes: "Welcome to Hogwarts, both of you. I hope you can enjoy your time here and benefit from it."

He paused and continued, "Before you came here, you should have learned about the Hogwarts sorting system, right? According to convention, you can choose your own college."

As soon as these words were spoken, the students immediately became interested - the exchange student program was not the first of its kind. Many years ago, Hogwarts had an exchange student program every year, but it was suddenly discontinued for some unknown reason.

Some of them already knew this - according to past precedents, most exchange students would choose Ravenclaw, which focuses on academics, a few adventurous ones would go to Gryffindor, and very few would choose Hufflepuff. And Slytherin? That was almost impossible.

But what surprised everyone was that Sirzechs spoke without hesitation -

"Slytherin."

Then, Akabane Sakurazuki smiled slightly and said calmly -

"Me too."

The auditorium fell into a brief silence.

Even the Slytherin students looked at them in surprise - Slytherin, which had never accepted any exchange students, actually welcomed two at once tonight!

But soon, applause broke out from the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy was the first to stand up with a satisfied smile: "It seems that we have a new member."

Sarzes smiled slightly and looked at him, as if they had reached some kind of tacit understanding. Akabane Sakurazuki sat down calmly, not caring about the looks from the people around her.

Before the students from other colleges came to their senses, Sherin had already raised the corners of his mouth calmly, looking at the two new members of Slytherin, with a meaningful light in his eyes.

……

The arrival of the two exchange students did not bring much change to the days at Hogwarts.

Especially for the fifth-year Slytherin students, life is still so dull and boring, and the heavy academic pressure and tight study pace make them have no time to pay attention to the changes brought about by the exchange students.

In fact, the same was true for the two exchange students. Since they were both seventh graders, their schoolwork was heavier than Xie Ling's, and they also needed to work hard to integrate into the new campus life. In the next few days, Xie Ling never found a chance to communicate with them alone.

Occasionally they met briefly in the common room, and they just nodded to each other and passed by each other without any deep conversation.

Of course, Hogwarts has not remained unchanged.

At least Schelling noticed that there were some subtle changes in the atmosphere at Hogwarts.

Although the first day's welcome banquet allowed everyone to see these two wizards from foreign countries, their true identities, backgrounds, and abilities were still hot topics among the students. In the lobby, corridors, and common rooms, whispers could be heard everywhere, especially when the exchange students passed by in the corridor, the students could not help but take a few more glances, trying to get more information from their words and actions.

During meals, the young Slytherin wizards always paid special attention to the interaction between Sherin and the two exchange students. After all, in the Snake House, everyone knew that Sherin was the real spiritual leader, and his attitude often determined everyone's views on the newcomers.

However, to their surprise, Schelling had almost no communication with them. (End of this chapter)