Seeing that all the students had calmed down after the ghosts left, McGonagall nodded satisfactorily and finally opened the doors.
Asterion noticed that the dining hall was much larger than depicted in the movies, which was perfectly normal; the number of students in Hogwarts reached into the thousands.
Looking up, he saw the famous starry sky above the dining hall. He appreciated the beauty of the stars for a moment and then refocused on his surroundings. All the older students were seated at eight tables, two for each house. Slytherin had the smallest number of members, while Gryffindor and Hufflepuff vied for the house with the most members.
The Gryffindor members were the loudest, followed by Hufflepuff; the Ravenclaw members were quieter and more discreet, whispering instead of talking aloud. The Slytherin members were in complete silence; Asterion almost instantly felt the gaze of most members fall upon him. The ones who didn't look were probably those with Muggle-born or mixed-blood descent, who ended up in Slytherin.
Looking over to the teachers' table, Asterion's gaze fell upon the current most powerful wizard in the world – Albus Dumbledore.
And Asterion had to admit, the man was unparalleled in power, even more so than Gellert Grindelwald.
Albus Dumbledore possessed the most devastating innate technique in the world, capable, according to rumors, of annihilating the world itself. Looking at him, Asterion confirmed that these rumors were true.
Rumors said that the man's innate technique was related to the sun, and Asterion believed it. The tiny amount of magical energy emanating from Dumbledore carried an unimaginable scorching heat.
As if sensing Asterion's gaze, Dumbledore turned his eyes to him with a gentle and warm smile. If it weren't for the immense magical energy of the man, Asterion might have mistaken him for a simple innocent old man.
"What do you think, Lady Potter?" Asterion murmured to Rose, beside him.
Rose rolled her eyes at the way he addressed her. He called her "Lady Potter" on purpose to annoy her, but she still responded sincerely.
"Strong, about 1.5 times the magical energy I currently possess. If I want to surpass him, it should take me about two to three years. But if we were to fight using only innate techniques, I should win now, since his technique is entirely focused on destruction."
"Just to clarify, you just said you would defeat the current strongest man in the world," Asterion commented, still incredulous at Rose's arrogance. Let's not mention the vast difference in combat experience between Rose and Dumbledore; just the number of spells the man could cast was headache-inducing for any Special Grade Wizard.
With an irritating smile, Rose looked at Asterion with an arrogant air and declared, "It's not arrogance, it's pure reality. Besides, he won't hold the title of strongest man in the world for long; that title will be mine."
From that moment on, Asterion didn't consider himself arrogant; Rose possessed that characteristic more than he did.
…
Beside a chair in front of the teachers' table, Professor McGonagall picked up a scroll and announced the first name on the list.
"Abbott, Hanna."
A visibly nervous girl emerged from the crowd of freshmen and took her seat in the chair, facing all the students directly.
Professor McGonagall picked up the Sorting Hat and placed it on Hanna's head.
Thirty seconds later, the hat shouted loudly.
"Hufflepuff!"
The Hufflepuff table erupted into applause!
McGonagall transfigured the girl's robes to match the chosen house theme.
Hanna stepped down from the chair with a smile and quickly made her way to the Hufflepuff table.
Professor McGonagall continued calling out one student after another until it was Asterion's turn, which didn't take long as he was at the top of the list.
"Black, Asterion."
The hall almost instantly fell silent. In England, Asterion's fame was almost as great as Rose's, especially with the help of Rita Skeeter. The peak of Asterion's fame came after his birthday party, when Rita wrote an article about the relationship between Asterion and the fearsome Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald.
One could say that no one would be surprised if Asterion declared himself a Dark Lord.
"Asterion doesn't seem so scary; he's very polite and courteous. I don't see why everyone is afraid of him," Hermione said beside Rose, noticing the fear in many people. But how could she know the terror people lived through thirteen years ago, where everyone lived under constant fear of being killed at any moment.
Rose just smiled and didn't care about the tense atmosphere in the hall; her attention was entirely on Asterion. Now she could understand why he was so cold and indifferent.
Ignoring the stares falling upon him, Asterion walked, and everyone made way without saying a word.
Before taking his seat, Asterion directed his gaze to the teachers' table, focusing on the man in the purple turban beside Severus Snape.
Even before arriving at Hogwarts, Asterion had decided to deviate from the original story. After all, only a fool would stay under the same roof as a lunatic like Voldemort, who wouldn't hesitate to destroy Hogwarts to achieve his plans.
So, Quirinus Quirrell needed to die. Asterion was undecided about how and where, maybe he would even call Rose to join in the fun. After all, both of his parents had perished at the hands of Voldemort.
But initially, Asterion didn't expect Voldemort to actually appear as in the original plot. After all, Rose was a Special Grade Witch; even at his peak, Voldemort wouldn't stand a chance against her, especially now that he was just a fragment of a soul.
However, to his surprise, he could feel an absurd amount of resentment emanating from Quirinus. There was no doubt that the former Dark Lord who once terrorized all of Britain had been reduced to a mere parasite.
Asterion was simply perplexed by how Voldemort expected to defeat Rose.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall looked confused by his sudden pause.
"It's nothing, Professor, just pondering something interesting," Asterion replied indifferently. With that said, he took his seat and crossed his legs, one over the other, looking out across the entire dining hall as a king would gaze upon his subjects.
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Author's Thoughts: As I said before, apart from some events and classes that take place in the first year, don't expect everything to happen the same way, I've already planned it and everything is ready, I just need to write.
Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
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Next Chapter: Chapter 44 - Hogwarts (3), Chapter 45 - Classroom (1), Chapter 46 - Classroom (2), Chapter 47 - Classroom (3), Chapter 48 - First Class of Defense Against Cursed Spirits (1), Chapter 49 - First Class of Defense Against Cursed Spirits (2), Chapter 50 - Request (1), Chapter 51 - Request (2), Chapter 52 - A Treacherous Game of Chess (1), Chapter 53 - A Treacherous Game of Chess (2), Chapter 54 - A Treacherous Game of Chess (3), Chapter 55 - A Treacherous Game of Chess (4), Chapter 56 - Magical Self-Defense Tactical Training Class (1), Chapter 57 - Magical Self-Defense Tactical Training Class (2), Chapter 58 - Magical Self-Defense Tactical Training Class (3), Chapter 59 - Magical Self-Defense Tactical Training Class (4), Chapter 60 - School Council, Chapter 61 - Mission (1), Chapter 62 - Mission (2), Chapter 63 - Mission (3), Chapter 64 - Mission (4).