The castle's underground corridor was like a winding tunnel, with torches flickering dimly on the walls.
Walking alone on the path to the Slytherin common room, Ino was deep in thought about the knowledge points discussed earlier. He also thought of a way to verify Dumbledore's thesis.
It wasn't too difficult: find an artifact similar to the Mirror of Erised, then transform into a black swan and see if this mind-probing tool gets frozen. If it does, it proves that the White Witch's ice heritage is unaffected by the Animagus transformation.
Later, he would need to research in the right direction, and the black swan would become a new magical creature.
Lost in thought, Ino soon arrived at the entrance of the common room.
"Pureblood!"
With the password spoken, the wall slowly revealed a space barely wide enough for one person to pass through.
...
9:30 PM.
This was the busiest time in the common rooms of the four houses, and Slytherin was no exception. The students' arrogance was only towards outsiders.
In a corner of the common room, Draco was sitting in a chair, speaking excitedly about something, surrounded by many younger students.
It's worth noting the interesting population structure at Hogwarts. Students from years 1-3 formed a group, years 4-6 another, and the seventh-year students yet another. These three groups rarely interacted much, even within the same house, mostly due to the age gap—after all, you can't expect an 11-year-old to have a deep conversation with a 17-year-old.
Meanwhile, upon seeing Draco, Ino decided to join him. Since he was at Hogwarts, he might as well enjoy himself; school life wasn't all about studying, there was also youthful play.
Seeing Ino quietly sitting next to him as a listener, Draco's enthusiasm grew even more. He began to talk vividly about his past adventures to the young students.
After a while, Draco seemed tired and opened a can of Butterbeer, drinking it like a bull.
"Ino, tell them a story! You haven't told a good one since the school year started. Last year, you promised a story about a snake," Draco said expectantly after putting down his Butterbeer.
Ino readily agreed, thinking that storytelling was something he was quite good at.
"Alright! I'll tell a story about a snake and love!"
It seemed like the noise level in the common room suddenly dropped several notches. Some younger students even ran off to call others, judging by their hurried expressions.
Unaware of the changes in the common room, Ino's mind was racing to come up with a fitting story on the spot.
A few minutes later:
"Around six hundred years ago, in a remote farm in medieval France, lived a young man named Leon. He was a half-blood wizard, but he made his living as a cowherd. One day, his cow ran madly into the distant forest..."
"... In the depths of the forest, by a pond, Leon found his lost cow. He also saw two beautiful ladies bathing by the pond. He recognized them as the pureblood daughters of the Angus family from the forest castle..."
Ino borrowed the opening from the Chinese mythological love story "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl," replacing the celestial beings with pureblood witches.
"... Over the course of a year, from acquaintance to love, Leon fell deeply for a girl named Annie. But he didn't know that everything was seen by Annie's sister, Anna, who was extremely jealous because she also loved Leon. To exact revenge, she secretly cursed her sister..."
"It was a cruel blood curse, turning the cursed one into an emotionless viper."
Combining elements from "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" with a modified "Legend of the White Snake," and adding the cliché of sisters falling in love with the same man and turning against each other due to jealousy, the story was full of various dramatic elements.
As the story progressed, Ino eventually lost track of what he was saying. It was evident the story was falling apart, as it was made up on the spot without any outline or planning.
He glanced around and noticed, to his surprise, that the common room was now packed with people.
Seeing so many attentive faces, he realized why Gilderoy Lockhart's success wasn't accidental. If the story collapsing went unnoticed, he regained his confidence and continued improvising.
"In the end, to avoid harming innocent people, Leon took the transformed viper, Annie, to a small island to live in seclusion. Their love eventually moved Venus, the goddess of love, who allowed Annie to temporarily lift the curse on Valentine's Day each year..."
As Ino finished, applause filled the room. Especially among some of the older Slytherin girls, who seemed enraptured by the story.
A pureblood lady falling in love with a half-blood wizard, facing hardships yet remaining devoted to each other—this was the kind of love they yearned for.
"Clink!" The sound of a Galleon hitting the table was heard.
A slightly hoarse voice came from the crowd: "I really enjoyed your story. As per the custom, here's your reward!"
Ino looked up to see the speaker, a seventh-year Slytherin girl prefect, Mina Burke, a pureblood from the Burke family.
Before he could respond, more coins started piling up on the table—Galleons, Sickles, almost covering the surface.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute! Let me say something!" Ino raised his hand to stop this frenzy.
"This story is free! I promised to tell it last term and only got around to it now, so take your money back!"
Hearing it was free, the students quickly reclaimed their coins. Many of them had impulsively tipped and regretted it upon cooling down, as not every pureblood bore the surname Malfoy.
Refusing the money while maintaining composure earned Ino the basic goodwill of many. Some senior students even showed thoughtful expressions.
As for Ino, he didn't overthink it. He didn't accept the money because the story was too cheesy; he couldn't bring himself to take payment for it.
Had these pureblood young wizards been exposed to better stories, this cliché plot might have been ridiculed.
This realization made Ino even more certain that Lockhart's success wasn't a coincidence. In an era of scarce entertainment, anyone with some talent could easily rise to prominence in the wizarding world.