Regardless of the punches that missed him, Asterion walked towards Neville with calm and slow steps.
"What happened? Where is your hatred?" Asterion spoke sarcastically while displaying a cold and indifferent smile.
"Technically, I should never care about someone who would never touch me if I didn't want to, but your family had to be my enemy. But don't worry, your body will be of great help to me and my plans. Feel honored, Neville, for you will finally be useful." He spoke, but his voice could not be heard by others, except himself and Neville.
Neville, who heard everything, gritted his teeth, his blue eyes were so cold they could probably freeze the Gobi Desert.
He spoke to Asterion for the first time.
"If it weren't for your cursed family, my parents would be fine," he said. "I would have a happy family, and my grandmother wouldn't look at me with disappointment."
"I swear by all that is sacred, I will kill you and your cursed family," Neville finished, stepping back as he assumed a fighting stance. His hoarse and cold voice hung in the air.
"Hahaha~" Asterion laughed. He pushed his hair back and smiled, displaying a sadistic and malicious grin. "I wouldn't complicate things, but because of your words, you and anyone you care about will suffer, Neville Longbottom."
"At this moment, your grandmother is sitting in an armchair in the living room, looking at the portrait of her son and daughter-in-law above the fireplace." With each word Asterion spoke, Neville's pale face grew paler.
"Neville, I will break you," Asterion spoke, his eyes cold. "I will destroy your family during the Christmas holidays in December. In the meantime, I want you to know that I will be watching you every moment. I want you to know that I will be coming, and you can't do anything to stop me. You will be a prisoner of your own paranoia while I delight in watching you and your family burn in the flames, just as London burned once." Asterion finished, mere inches from Neville. The boy remained completely paralyzed, shocked by the disturbing threat.
Asterion reached out and grasped Neville's neck, whispering in his ear. "See? Just a movement of my hand and your neck will snap. How does it feel to have your life in someone else's hands? Do you hate yourself? Do you hate your weakness? Do you hate the fate that made you this way?"
Asterion looked directly into Neville's eyes as he spoke.
Releasing Neville's neck, Asterion smiled gently as he held his face with kindness. "I will kill you; it will be painful and cruel, but don't blame me, blame yourself, for being weak and incompetent. Weakness has always been the original sin of the world."
Without caring about what he had done to a thirteen-year-old teenager, Asterion stepped back and snapped his fingers, releasing the sound vacuum around them.
Turning to Professor Irene, Asterion spoke with a calm and indifferent tone. "I surrender, Professor. Neville has won."
He then turned back to Neville and spoke coldly. "Enjoy the taste of victory, Neville, for it will be the only triumph over me you'll have. Think of it as my mercy toward you. You see, I am very kind."
With that said, he exited the ring, indifferent to the stares falling upon him.
Irene looked at Asterion walking away and at the terrified, still frozen Neville. Like a veteran Auror, she could imagine what Asterion had said to Neville. The hatred between House Longbottom and House Black wasn't a secret, although this hatred was only on the part of House Longbottom.
Technically, House Black had never done anything against House Longbottom. The tortures suffered by Alice and Frank Longbottom were caused by Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband, along with other accomplices. Apart from Bellatrix, who was born a Black, House Black hadn't actually done anything against House Longbottom.
But since House Longbottom didn't have a target to channel their hatred towards, they focused on House Black.
Irene sighed and looked pityingly at the boy. She didn't know how he had been accepted into Hogwarts, but it was foolishness to live under the same roof as their enemies. As for speaking up for Neville, that thought never crossed Irene's mind. Going against a Special Grade Wizard? Sorry, she wasn't so altruistic as to want to sacrifice herself for a student.
Among the Gryffindor girls' group, Rose frowned with displeasure. While the others couldn't hear the words exchanged between the two, she could, and every cold and sadistic word impacted her mind.
Asterion had revealed himself to be cold, cruel, and incredibly sadistic.
It was a side of him that Rose had never witnessed before, a dark and obscure side that she didn't appreciate one bit. She preferred his sarcasm, his honesty, and the noble behavior he usually displayed, worthy of a true noble, not the cruel and sadistic monster she was seeing at that moment.
With clenched fists, Rose stared at Asterion with determination.
"I won't let you succumb to the dark side, Starlight!"
As for Neville, Rose was determined to help him. In her eyes, he was blaming the wrong people. Transferring someone else's sins onto another just because of their family ties was incredibly wrong.
She would help both reconcile, even if it meant throwing a few punches at both boys.
In the Slytherin boys' group, no one spoke or attempted to initiate a conversation with him. Even a fool like Draco could see that Asterion was in a bad mood. The temperature around him even seemed slightly colder than the surrounding environment.
While Asterion kept his gaze fixed on Neville, who had recovered from his fear, something unexpected happened. The descendant of House Longbottom showed no sign of fear when their eyes met; instead, he stared deeply into Asterion's eyes.
The heir of House Black saw a burning hatred against him in Neville's eyes, but he wasn't shaken. He realized that Neville possessed a trump card to protect himself from his wrath in December.
If asked what it could be, Asterion had his suspicions, or rather, two of them.
Albus Dumbledore and the press.
It was evident that Albus Dumbledore would protect his allies; it would be the minimum that a leader would do when his subordinates were under threat.
Neville could also use the press to warn about the imminent attack from Asterion against House Longbottom, causing many to turn against him.
However, if Neville thought that Asterion would back down in the face of the most powerful man in the world, he was mistaken.
Asterion was determined to wipe out the entire House Longbottom, indifferent to the consequences. He didn't care if he was discovered; he would even attack during the day to witness the horror on Neville's face when the time came.
As for the consequences of his actions, Asterion was aware. He would likely be labeled as the Dark Lord, but even in the face of such serious consequences, he wished to send a clear message, a bloody and cruel message to everyone, enemies and allies alike. Especially with the imminent arrival of Voldemort and the potential civil war within the Pure-Blood Faction.
Suddenly, as Asterion was deep in thought, he felt his hand being held, and his fingers intertwined with slender ones. In the next moment, he felt another soft and delicate body pressed against his own.
He didn't need to see to know who was holding his hand and leaning on him; there was only one person who could do that – Daphne, his fiancée.
Looking sideways, he found her head resting on his shoulder, looking directly at him with a gentle and warm gaze.
The anger Asterion felt when Neville spoke about killing his family faded like ice in the sun in the face of that warm gaze.
He said nothing, and Daphne remained silent.
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"Author's Thoughts: Hogwarts has been unexpectedly irritating and boring to write, it's killing my desire to write, so I'm going to speed things up a bit. Let's start the missions! I hope you enjoyed it :D
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Next Chapter: Chapter 60 - School Council, Chapter 61 - Mission (1), Chapter 62 - Mission (2), Chapter 63 - Mission (3), Chapter 64 - Mission (4), Chapter 65 - Mission (5), Chapter 66 - Consequences of the Attack (1), Chapter 67 - Consequences of the Attack (2), Chapter 68 - Invasion of Hogwarts (1), Chapter 69 - Invasion of Hogwarts (2), Chapter 70 - Invasion of Hogwarts (3), Chapter 71 - Invasion of Hogwarts (4), Chapter 72 - Invasion of Hogwarts (5), Chapter 73 - Invasion of Hogwarts (6), Chapter 74 - Invasion of Hogwarts (7), Chapter 75 - Invasion of Hogwarts (8), Chapter 76 - Invasion of Hogwarts (9), Chapter 77 - Invasion of Hogwarts (10), Chapter 78 - Invasion of Hogwarts (11), Chapter 79 - Post-War (1), Chapter 80 - Salazar Slytherin's Heir (1), Chapter 81 - Salazar Slytherin's Heir (2), Chapter 82 - Salazar Slytherin's Heir (3), Chapter 83 - Salazar Slytherin's Heir (4).