Bab 15: Chapter 14

"Prefect!" I heard just as I was turning around one of the castle's many corners.

I usually don't react to such an arrogant and even insolent tone directed at me, especially since the speaker was clearly not a member of my, hmm, Inner Circle, but…

But the owner of this voice was one of those rare exceptions to which I do respond. After all, if this person had not been so agitated, as evidenced by her rapid speech, she would have addressed me with greater respect. Stopping, I turned in the general direction from which the voice had come.

The corridors were far from empty, so pinpointing the exact location was physically impossible.

"Hmm… Edelfelt…" I quickly spotted the approaching bearer of that surname, along with her voluminous blonde hair, though it was darker than mine. Perhaps it's honey or sandy in color…

Combined with her blue attire and draped cloak, she looked more like a Muggle aristocrat than a magical one. However, aside from magic, the line between them isn't that significant. After all, the cloak is merely the outer garment, and underneath, the clothing is not so different from what Muggles wore in centuries past.

This amusing hypocrisy doesn't upset me; it merely entertains me. As philosophers say, we are all hypocrites in some way, so it's nothing too serious.

What stood out most about the Finnish girl walking toward me, though, was her rather archaic hairstyle of spiral curls… Yes, unlike those seen in various anime, these were quite tight and, Merlin forbid Edelfelt ever hears this, resembled sausages.

Still, while such a large volume of hair might restrict an ordinary person, for a wizard, it does not. It's a simple matter to magically lighten the weight of one's hair. And, frankly, it's not even the strangest thing you might find on a wizard's head, believe me.

Yes, it would be easy to grab them in close combat — that's a fact. But if a wizard allows an enemy within arm's reach, it's already a guaranteed death. After all, the only creatures that deliberately close in during a fight are various monsters, and they are more likely to tear you apart with fangs, teeth, claws, and the like than to grab you by the hair. There are also more rational vampires, but they'd rather sink their teeth into your neck. Besides, rational and reasonable bloodsuckers are exceedingly rare.

In magical duels, due to the lightness of her hair and the rather clever design, this hairstyle didn't hinder her. Edelfelt had already proven this to some half-bloods who had grown up in the Muggle world and thought defeating such a supposedly ridiculous blonde would be easy.

Moreover, the fighting style of this Finnish family didn't involve much running or dodging, if we really get into the details.

On top of all this, it's an excellent disguise for one's abilities. Even purebloods familiar with all these nuances fall for the false inconvenience, let alone anyone else.

And that same Avada Kedavra, capable of piercing all magical shields, has to hit directly or at least graze the body. If it only touches the hair, it doesn't count.

I'm not sure how those who wrote this in the Durmstrang textbook found out, but… I can speculate.

"Greetings, Lady Edelfelt. The weather today is indeed surprising us with some unexpected rain... " In more common terms, my words meant that this person had appeared out of nowhere, as unexpectedly as snow falling in the middle of summer. At the same time, I wanted to make it clear that I wasn't upset about it.

It's all rather simple, really. But to the uninitiated, without some careful consideration, my words might seem like nonsense.

"Ho-ho!" I was greeted with their usual haughty laugh, muffled by the back of their hand covering their mouth. "As always, such noble manners worthy of a pure-blood!" Though, for the most part, it was just a mask. And it all started... Oh, I really shouldn't have told her, more than two years ago, that she looked like a villain from a romance novel.

She had such a look of interest back then that, at first, I didn't even realize I had given her a bunch of details. And how shocked I was when she came to Durmstrang with new behavior, incredibly similar to the villains I had described from rom-coms... Well, yeah.

"I've heard my little brother has joined our house?" she continued in a supposedly arrogant tone, though her face clearly showed interest. After all, how else could I describe this fourteen-year-old "himedere"? *

"...You have some interesting sources." A hint of sarcasm slipped into my voice, despite my attempts to hide it.

She's his older sister. Does she seriously not know? Or is she up to something tricky?

"My little brother lives with our relatives, so I don't see him very often," Edelweiss explained, as if making a concession, to which I simply nodded with a slight smile.

So that's how things are... Interesting, for wizards, anyway. But I won't press for details since they don't seem eager to make this public. In fact, they're hiding it.

A smirk appeared on my face as I noticed several students grimace at the sight of Edelweiss, as if they had just eaten a pile of lemons that weighed as much as her hair.

Considering how her behavior irritates those unaware of the mask she wears, I could almost applaud her. After all, in any battle, whether magical or verbal, one thing is crucial: that infamous, much-abused term from the last decade in my reality — yet still relevant — composure, which Edelweiss obliterates with her behavior and appearance.

As for actual combat... Strong emotions only enhance three of the Unforgivable Curses and a few other dark spells of similar level. But that, in turn, is just a small fraction of Dark Magic that can be used in a fight.

Almost all other spells require precise execution and pronunciation, which are greatly hindered by hands trembling from anger, clenched teeth, or involuntary cursing.

In verbal battles, anger simply clouds one's ability to think clearly and make the right decision without being swayed by emotions. With local teenagers, this tactic works like a charm. As for adults and more experienced individuals... I'm not so sure. But in certain situations, it might just work.

Everything would be fine with her mask, if only Edelweiss didn't ruin relationships with many wizards, even those she hasn't interacted with yet.

The opinion most pure-bloods hold of her... isn't the best. Gossip here is dangerous. This isn't like old ladies gossiping on benches in front of apartment buildings; it's far more complicated.

"Returning to your question, my lady... Yes, the rumors are true. He does indeed resemble you..." I said in a neutral tone, making an unobtrusive gesture—imperceptible to the untrained eye — inviting her to walk with me down the corridor.

"Oh, re-e-eally..." she drawled with some unidentifiable, but not particularly pleasant, undertones. I don't know what you did to upset Luvia, kid, but I offer my condolences in advance. "That's good... No, even better." The blonde made such a face that I couldn't help but recall one of her family's nicknames... "The Noble Hyenas." Because, despite their elegance and impeccable manners, which are impossible to criticize, they sometimes behave... To put it politely... not very nobly or generously.

"Glad to hear you're doing well," I said, closing my eyes as I noticed the change in the girl's expression.

"...Everyone's gone now," the Finnish girl exhaled with some relief as we found ourselves in one of the more distant, unpopular, and deserted corridors. Her arrogant and mocking tone vanished almost instantly.

I still find such a sharp shift remarkable.

"But someone could still appear, Luvia," I said with no real enthusiasm, just out of formal politeness.

Yes, our relationship was somewhat closer than we let on in public. After all, we communicate quite frequently... I even suspect that her parents somehow noticed that her slightly eccentric behavior didn't bother me at all, and so they decided to establish ties with the Stahlwolfs. And through us — with others. Because, of course, we couldn't possibly be associating with someone questionable, right?

This brings their nickname back to mind. The family latches onto new opportunities with the strength of a hyena's jaws. And let me remind you, those are almost twice as strong as a lion's.

To pull all of this off, she had to constantly stay within my and my mother's sight. Naturally, this didn't particularly please my companion. She was used to commanding everyone, not running around and trying to be seen twenty-four hours a day. I completely understood her because I had gone through something similar, even in this life. Unfortunately, the Stahlwolfs here aren't the most powerful... Some upperclassmen were more influential.

And let's not even talk about my previous life.

So it's not surprising that we got along fairly quickly. At first, we even had something like an agreement... I was supposed to show her parents that we were on good terms and convince my mother that the Edelweiss family were decent people, and that we shouldn't believe every silly rumor. On her part, she provided me with a few minor favors at Durmstrang.

After all, she had, with the same hyena-like tenacity, seized the role of leader in the third year, or rather, now the fourth year, of the Wolf House. Having the support of such a person would never hurt, especially if I could eventually dump routine tasks on her. There's always routine, even in those so-called "intrigues," right?

Over time, we didn't even have to pretend to be good acquaintances. It takes significant intelligence to pull off the role of an airheaded, arrogant fool, and still manage to win and hold the position of leader, especially at such a young age. Therefore, it's easy to establish good communication with someone like that. Especially if that person isn't burdened with unhealthy ideas or thoughts.

Yes, yes, Gertrude, I'm talking about you.

Sigh. I feel my self-esteem dropping again. There are so many intelligent people around, and most of the time I only manage to keep up thanks to my experience from my past life.

...Though, my self-esteem soars again when I hear about the antics of the adult idiots at the Ministry. Compared to them, I'm a real genius. Hey, Yankees, I get it — it's easier to control people with limited intelligence — but this is taking it too far, isn't it? This will end badly for everyone involved, all at once!

Do you understand, my overseas not-at-all-friends?