Chapter 39: Chapter 39: New Roommates, Irina's Past and Present
After Irina Lowell was sorted into Gryffindor, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley, who appeared in the original books, were sorted in order of their surnames.
Soon, the sorting ceremony ended, and the welcome feast officially began after Professor Dumbledore's brief speech. Among the feasts at Hogwarts, only the welcome, Halloween, Christmas, and end-of-year feasts were the most sumptuous, so even the self-righteous little snakes of Slytherin couldn't help but turn into Hufflepuffs and tuck in heartily when faced with these delicacies.
After dinner, Lynn followed the group back to the Slytherin dormitory. But unlike last year, there were three new students in his dormitory this year - a platinum-haired boy and two black-haired followers.
"This is Crabbe, this is Goyle, my friends," the platinum-haired boy drawled, extending his hand. "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, the Malfoy heir. I think we'll make excellent roommates."
Lynn nodded slightly, unable to hide his surprise at seeing the infamous trio. Since he'd been assigned a private dormitory last year, he knew three first-years would be his new roommates, but he hadn't expected the Malfoy crew.
"Rowle. Lynn Rowle," he said. "As long as you don't disturb my studies, we'll get along famously."
With a graceful wave of his wand, Lynn performed a beautiful silent spell. Countless textbooks and alchemical materials flew out of his bag in an orderly fashion, arranging themselves neatly in a matter of breaths.
The Malfoy trio gaped. "Silent casting?" Draco sputtered incredulously. "But that's something only fifth years and up can do!"
Lynn turned to face them. "With enough talent and dedication to practice, even younger students can master it."
Disinclined to continue the conversation, Lynn hoped his new roommates wouldn't make too much noise and disrupt his alchemy work. Carefully removing the Desert Eagle Professor Snape had given him, he considered which arrays to use for enchanting the firearm.
The Malfoys, unfamiliar with Muggle artifacts, assumed the gun was simply a broken piece of iron and paid Lynn no further mind, turning to their own affairs.
"For the Desert Eagle, enchanting it with arrays enhancing agility, weightlessness, precision and reinforcement should reduce its burden," Lynn mused. "As for increasing its firepower, that will depend on enchanting the ammunition."
Retrieving his mithril carving knife, he prepared for alchemical work.
...
Two flowers bloomed, each beautiful in its own way.
While Lynn toiled over his alchemy, in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, Irina sat pensively on her bed.
In her previous life as a Muggle college student, she had accidentally discovered a refrigerated truck used by an Antarctic poaching gang during a summer trip. Slipping inside to free the captured penguins while the poachers were away, she became trapped when they returned and locked her in the freezing cold storage, where she eventually froze to death.
She had thought she would never wake again, but to her surprise, she was reborn in 1980s Britain to a middle-class family named Lowell.
Just as the reborn Irina prepared to live a successful second life thanks to her future knowledge, the Hogwarts admission letter shattered her Muggle fantasies. Only then did she realize she had been reborn into the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
Irina never considered refusing to attend Hogwarts and remaining in the non-magical world. A young, untrained wizard's uncontrolled magic would turn them into an Obscurial, which she desperately wanted to avoid.
Moreover, without sufficient self-defense abilities, even the wealthiest Muggle family would be helpless against the Killing Curse.
So she accepted the Hogwarts letter, resigning herself to entering the magical world. During the summer practicing spells, Irina discovered a preternatural talent for the Freezing Charm and all ice-based magic. She could even transfigure conjured water into solid ice with just a thought!
By the first day of term, Irina could cast the Freezing Charm silently, a remarkable feat she doubted any other student could match before attending Hogwarts.
Of course, she wondered about the origin of her special ice affinity, since her ancestors were all Muggles without wizarding blood.
But she soon convinced herself it was fate's reward for her noble sacrifice to save those penguins. Having frozen to death defending innocent creatures in her first life, her new life granted her power over ice and cold - a fair cosmic trade, she felt.
"Irina? What are you thinking about so deeply?"
The familiar voice beside her belonged to Hermione Granger, her curious roommate. Irina smiled, her expression radiating warmth like a gentle breeze, calming Hermione.
"Nothing important, just reflecting on some spell practice from the summer," Irina replied.
At the mention of magic practice, Hermione's eyes lit up eagerly. "Ooh, what kind of spells? I crammed in loads of practice too! Maybe we could share notes and tips?"
(end of chapter)
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