The Admiral of Hogwarts

"Oh, heavens, what on earth happened here?" Professor Flitwick was the first to rush over, squeezing through the crowd and witnessing an unbelievable scene: walls riddled with holes, students in shock, and a troll lying on the ground with its head split in two.

The students he had been worried about seemed to be in good condition, except for some who were visibly shaken, but there were no serious casualties as he had imagined.

"This is simply, this is simply a miracle. Merlin be praised." Professor Flitwick began to distrust his own eyes, even thinking he was hallucinating from excessive stress. But soon he confirmed that no one was hurt, then he clutched his chest with both hands, leaned against the wall, and showed a relieved expression.

The other professors who arrived later also couldn't believe their eyes. Even Professor Snape, who usually wore a deadpan expression, walked briskly to the troll in a manner completely out of character, then took out his wand and tapped the troll, as if to verify whether it was real or just a paper fake.

"You were too reckless, children." A few minutes later, after learning what had happened from the Ravenclaw students around him, Professor Flitwick shook his head and looked at Hugo and Venetia with a serious expression, "A troll like this is not something you first-year students should be dealing with."

"But if we hadn't intervened, our classmates might have suffered fatal injuries," Venetia said with a smile. "Besides, neither the broom closet nor the secret passage had entrances wide enough for students to enter quickly. Therefore, for everyone's safety, someone had to face the troll directly and buy time."

"Most importantly, the abilities we possess allow us to do this," Hugo continued. "Since we have the ability to do it, why shouldn't we?"

"Are you saying you know your abilities?" Professor Snape meaningfully swept his gaze across their faces, then stared at Venetia's burgundy eyes and asked, "Your strength—"

"It's innate," Venetia retorted without backing down, then said to the professors, "I've been very strong since I was a child, and Mr. Granger discovered this secret when we were exercising together earlier. That's why we were able to cooperate so well in saving people just now."

"Innate?" After hearing Venetia's answer, Snape asked with a distrustful tone, "Having strength is not a bad thing, but why did you hide it from everyone? Miss Vitorio, I suspect you might be—"

Perhaps because of Harry's enrollment this year, Snape had been vigilant since the beginning of the term. Therefore, he was extremely suspicious of the fact that two first-year students had defeated a troll that had inexplicably appeared, especially since Venetia's previous concealment of her strength had made him wary.

"Enough, Severus. Most people have secrets they don't want to reveal, and there's nothing abnormal about that," Professor Flitwick interrupted Snape before he could finish. In fact, when the term first started, Venetia, with her silver hair, red eyes, and extremely delicate appearance, had caught Flitwick's attention, because this kind of appearance was obviously not the normal appearance of a pure human.

One of the main reasons Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion in his youth was because he encountered all kinds of discrimination against his bloodline when he was studying and starting his career, which forced him to use violence to solve the problem from time to time.

Because of his experience in his youth, he seemed to see a younger version of himself when he saw Venetia. So, when Professor Snape felt that Venetia's concealment was suspicious, he immediately retorted with excitement.

"Alright, Severus, Filius," Professor Dumbledore said, stepping out from the group of students. "I don't think Miss Venetia did anything wrong, after all, everyone should have their own privacy. And I must say that Miss Venetia did a perfect job in this matter."

Saying this, Dumbledore didn't hide his appreciation. No matter what Venetia's bloodline was or why she had hidden her strength before, her willingness to stand up and help her classmates in this situation was enough to show her kindness, and everything else was just minor details.

"And besides Miss Venetia, both Mr. Granger and Miss Penelope showed their courage and kindness in this incident," Professor Dumbledore said, raising his voice to the Ravenclaw students who had gathered around. "Therefore, I will add 50 points to each of them."

"Albus—" After hearing what Professor Dumbledore said, Professor McGonagall looked at him with some dissatisfaction, "Aren't you giving them too many points? After all, they are just first-year students, and giving them points might encourage those children to engage in adventures that are too dangerous for them."

Professor McGonagall's concerns were not unreasonable, at least for the Gryffindor students, the possibility of making such adventurous behaviors was not small, and it would be troublesome if something really happened.

"You also heard that my points just now were for these students' courage in facing the troll and their kindness in helping their classmates. It's not because they defeated the troll." After explaining to Professor McGonagall in a low voice, Professor Dumbledore straightened his back again and warned the surrounding students with a serious expression.

"Although I added points to the three of them, I don't want you to learn from their actions. After all, if you don't have Miss Venetia's strength, this approach may bring you fatal harm."

After giving the final warning, Dumbledore's face returned to a smile: "Alright, now that the matter is over. You can now return to the Ravenclaw Tower to enjoy your Christmas dinner. I think the students from the other houses should be enjoying the dinner they just didn't finish in their house common rooms."

After speaking, Professor Dumbledore and the other professors began to examine the troll, trying to find out why it was able to escape earlier. Professor Flitwick was worried that something dangerous might happen on the way, so he simply escorted the Ravenclaw students all the way back to the Ravenclaw Tower.

The professor left after sending them to the Ravenclaw common room, and after Professor Flitwick left, the Ravenclaws in the common room suddenly became noisy.

Although Ravenclaw students are usually quieter, it doesn't mean they can remain calm when something like this happens. Soon, Venetia became the focus of today's banquet.

Just as Hugo was taking advantage of Venetia's distraction to hide aside and eat, Penelope and the black-haired girl he had tried to rescue earlier came over from the crowd. At this time, Hugo realized that the black-haired girl was Zhang Qiu, his second-year senior.

"Thank you," the two seniors bowed to Hugo at the same time to express their gratitude, after all, this was a life-saving grace. And from this moment on, Hugo also realized that he had two more acquaintances in the academy.