HP: Those Years Sleeping with the Half-Blood Prince

Almost everyone's eyes were focused on him. At the Gryffindor table, Sirius suddenly sat up straight, his nonchalant expression vanishing instantly. His lips were pressed tightly together, and his gray eyes were fixed on his younger brother's back.

James stopped joking, nudged Sirius with his elbow, and whispered something.

Regulus seemed completely oblivious to all the stares he was receiving.

He walked to the stool, sat down, and Professor McGonagall placed the worn-out Sorting Hat on his head.

Almost instantly, the hat clearly called out, "Slytherin!"

A polite round of applause rang out from the silver-green long table.

Most of the older Slytherins, especially those from ancient families, gave a "it's only right" look and nodded slightly.

Chief Efriott Travers also clapped his hands lightly a few times.

Regulus removed his hat, placed it back on the stool, gave Professor McGonagall a slight bow, then turned and walked steadily toward the Slytherin table.

He didn't glance in the direction of Gryffindor, but sat down at a relatively empty spot near the end of the long table, his back straight, his gaze fixed on the plate in front of him, appearing both proper and aloof.

"Another Blake," Kevin said in a low voice, leaning closer to Ian and Severus, his tone neither particularly favorable nor unfavorable, simply stating a fact.

"He's quite different from his brother, isn't he? Sirius Black was sorted into Gryffindor, which nearly drove Mrs. Black crazy."

"The Black family... has too high expectations, and problems are bound to arise sooner or later," Aris calmly analyzed. "And Regulus Black's performance is more in line with the traditional pure-blood family heir, so you can imagine the pressure he's under."

Severus didn't speak, but simply raised his eyes and glanced at the freshman sitting quietly at the end of the long table.

"Every family has its own problems." Ian shrugged, his tone neither sympathetic nor sarcastic, simply stating the facts.

He was more concerned about the present. "Who cares? As long as he doesn't follow in his brother's footsteps and cause trouble everywhere, it's fine. By the way, do you think there will be syrup pies tonight? I'm a little hungry."

Not long after Ian finished speaking, the sorting results for the last freshman came out, and his attention was quickly drawn to the food on the table.

After dinner, Prefect Travers led the new students to the Slytherin common room, while upperclassmen left the Great Hall in twos and threes.

Ian and the others followed the flow of people down into the cellar and back to the common room.

A group of people had already gathered around the fireplace, talking in hushed tones. Regulus was surrounded by several senior students who also appeared to come from ancient families, and they were talking about something.

Regulus's reply was brief, with a polite but cold smile on his face.

"Let's go, there's nothing to see." Ian looked away, patted Severus on the shoulder, and said, "Go back and pack your things, you have class tomorrow."

Back in his familiar dorm room, everything was exactly the same as when he left at the end of last semester. Kevin immediately jumped onto his bed, hugged his pillow, and rolled around: "It's so comfortable here! My Comet 260, I'll take you flying tomorrow!"

Aris has begun to methodically open his suitcase and put the books back on the shelves, categorizing them by type.

Severus immediately checked the potion ingredients and equipment he had placed in his bedside table, and only after confirming that everything was in order did he begin to organize his own things.

Ian tossed his luggage onto the bed and lay down comfortably: "Ah, this bed is still the best."

Soon, the dormitory returned to its usual rhythm.

Kevin rattled off his plans for his flight training, Aris occasionally chimed in to correct one of his overly optimistic schedules, Ian responded half-heartedly, and Severus intently wiped his new set of glass instruments under the light.

The course officially began on the second day.

The workload in the second year is significantly heavier than in the first year. Charms class begins to teach spells with stronger offensive and defensive capabilities, Transfiguration requires transforming beetles into more complex buttons and maintaining their shape, and Potions class involves more dangerous or difficult-to-handle materials.

Severus remained far ahead in Potions class, and Professor Slughorn looked at him with such loving eyes that it was almost dripping with honey, generously awarding Slytherin points.

Under Ian's "cramming" tutoring, he finally stopped producing any more disastrous results and was able to keep up with the pace of the class.

Kevin's talent for flying was on full display in flight class, but his poor grades in history of magic caused Professor Binns to "stare" at him with empty eyes more than once.

Aris remained as steady as ever, handling all theoretical courses with ease; however, in practical classes, his overly precise and theoretical approach sometimes slowed him down.

Thursday afternoon was flight class. As soon as the bell rang, Kevin rushed back to the castle like a cannonball and headed straight for the cellar.

Ian was walking back slowly with Severus and Aris, discussing alternative uses for the Moonfox pus that Slughorn had mentioned in Potions class earlier that day, when Kevin intercepted them at the entrance to the common room.

"Ian! Come with me!" Kevin's eyes lit up, and he grabbed Ian's arm. "Now! I'm afraid the captain will leave if we're any later!"

"Where are we going? Explain yourself clearly." Ian was pulled so hard he stumbled.

"Quidditch team registration! Application! Didn't I tell you? The captain will be scouting new players at the stadium this afternoon!"

Kevin spoke rapidly, his other hand still tightly gripping his Comet 260, "Come with me! I'll feel more confident if you go!"

Ian looked helplessly at Severus and Aris.

Severus looked indifferent, as if it were none of his business, while Aris said coolly, "To be honest, the success rate of going on short notice like this isn't high."

"Oh well, never mind! Let's go first!" Kevin wouldn't listen to anything else, he just stared longingly at Ian.

Ian sighed and rubbed his arm, which had gone numb from Kevin's grip. "Alright, alright, I'll go with you. Severus, Aris, you two go back first?"

Severus nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Kevin called out to him again, a hint of embarrassment creeping across his face. "Um... Severus, you said you have good observation skills... Why don't you come along and take a look? Help me see if there's anything wrong with my flying?"

Severus stopped in his tracks, his eyebrows furrowing slightly, clearly showing no interest in the activity of "observing flight."

Seeing this, Ian interjected, "Why don't you go take a look? We don't have classes this afternoon anyway, so why not... investigate the actual performance differences of different broom models in the air? Aren't you interested in the effect data of various magical artifacts?"

Severus glanced at Ian, remained silent for a few seconds, and finally nodded.

"Great!" Kevin cheered and grabbed Ian, running outside.

When the four arrived at the Quidditch pitch, it was still early, but several brooms were already circling in the air, and several figures in green team uniforms were talking on the sidelines.