Chapter 120 About Slytherin
Della was sitting with Draco in front of the Slytherin fireplace warming herself when news came that Nearly Headless Nick and Justin had been petrified and that Harry was at the scene.
Hearing the increasingly lively discussion in the lounge, they looked at each other in surprise and Draco put down the snack in his hand.
"How is it possible? Could it really be him?" He frowned and said with great confusion.
"I think this time it's probably the same as what Professor Snape said last time. Harry just appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time." Della lowered her eyes and squeezed the snack with a little force.
"Hey! I didn't mean to listen to you guys talking," Trevor Ewing, who was sitting in an armchair with his back to them, suddenly turned his head. He was sitting very close to the fireplace, and the fire made half of his face shine. "But it's too coincidental that he appeared there when that Gryffindor was a Parseltongue."
"It's really such a coincidence..." Draco was startled by the senior's sudden talk, but after he came to his senses, he replied reluctantly.
"..." Della felt that there was another meaning in Trevor's words, because the heir, to be precise, was not the enemy of Slytherin. Not only that, the saying that 'Harry Potter is actually the next Dark Lord' was also quite popular. She estimated that many people in Slytherin were thinking of testing Harry.
"What do you think, Della?" Trevor said as he stood up and sat next to Della. "I remember that you had a good relationship with him."
Draco's face became even more sour, but he didn't say much. He just held his face and rolled his eyes to the other side.
Della put down the snack in her hand, thought for a moment, and slowly spoke, "I think there is a bit of a generation gap in fame here," she lowered her voice slightly.
"What do you mean?" Trevor demanded.
"Although it is generally believed that Parseltongue is related to Salazar Slytherin, the earliest known Parseltongue is Herpo in ancient Greece, and there was no major discontinuity in Parseltongue until the Middle Ages when Slytherin appeared—" Della was halfway through her words when Draco suddenly stood up.
"And the Potter family is a very mixed family. Perhaps their ancestors married a Parseltongue who was not very good," Draco shouted excitedly, "because what they inherited was too bad, and it was not until Potter that this talent was revealed."
Faced with Draco's sudden loud voice, everyone in the lounge looked at him. Draco seemed eager to let others know that Harry was not the heir. He immediately walked into the crowd and began to talk about what Della had just unfinished. Of course, he also added a lot of extra words.
"That Potter, how can he be a Slytherin? He hangs out with the Weasleys all day long. He's definitely not one!"
"What were you going to say just now, Della?" Trevor looked at Draco, who was very excited in the center of the crowd, with a strange look in his eyes, but he quickly turned his gaze back to Della.
"It's not a very useful idea, senior, but I think a murderer would not keep exposing himself like this. It's not only unreasonable, but also..." Della's last tone hesitated.
"Not like a Slytherin either." Trevor continued the sentence for Della. After he finished speaking, he and Della both laughed. Then, Trevor slowly said, "But, this is not a bad thing."
"At least now," Trevor's face still had a smile that had not yet faded, but there was no emotion in his eyes, "Slytherin will no longer be the public enemy of the whole school."
Hearing this, Della was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect Trevor to say this because as far as she knew, this senior was quite good at socializing. The remarks just now were something Della had never heard in the social circle. But there were indeed clues. At least at last year's college cup, the other three colleges were not happy with Slytherin's loss and recovery.
Della was at a loss for words and fell into a rare silence.
Although many Slytherins would use another way to express this matter, saying that they are proud of their eccentricity, there are also many maladjusted people in the academy. Those who remain silent not only fail to gain internal recognition, but are also subject to unanimous discrimination against Slytherins from the outside.
Yes, the word discrimination can indeed be used.
But the reason why Slytherins are discriminated against is precisely because they discriminate against many other wizards.
The more Della thought about it, the more she felt that this was a false proposition. She felt that in the matter of discrediting Slytherin, people inside and outside had reached a unity that would never be achieved under normal circumstances.
This made Della forget about Harry for a moment. She suddenly felt that Slytherin was quite pitiful, but she was powerless to refute those discriminatory behaviors.
So when Dumbledore came to talk to her for the first time tonight, Della asked this question to the Hogwarts headmaster.
Dumbledore seemed surprised that Della would ask this question. Apparently, he was not prepared for this question. After his long white beard trembled twice, he slowly said to Della, "Why do you want an answer, Della?"
"Because I can't figure it out, no... no," Della shook her head and looked at Dumbledore, "Because I'm a Slytherin."
"I can't give you a very definite answer, Della. When I was a professor at Hogwarts, the other three houses didn't hate Slytherin as much as they do now. But when Voldemort was in power," Dumbledore paused, "Slytherin House was almost the cradle of the Death Eaters."
"The discrimination they face now comes not only from the differences in their ideas, but is also rooted in all the blood and tears during the war. Although there are more than just Slytherins joining the Death Eaters, their numbers are overwhelming." Dumbledore said as he paced to Della's side.
"So the reason I can't figure out this problem is because I'm too naive?" Della's eyes were still confused.
"No, more than that, you are different than most people now. You have made your own choice." Dumbledore looked at Della steadily.
"What?" Della didn't understand.
"Many people have the opportunity to choose all the time, but when faced with already formed ideas, they have no awareness of making choices and will only accept them. Even more serious, they will deliberately cater to those ideas, even if that is completely wrong from a moral point of view." Dumbledore continued.
"And those who hold opposing ideas will also examine these ideas from the opposite side. This is also a manifestation of 'accepting ideas'." Della continued Dumbledore's words.
"Yes, you are very smart, Della." Dumbledore smiled and stroked Della's head with his skinny hand. "Then you should be able to figure out that this situation is not so easy to break, whether from the inside or the outside. Many times, you can only wait."
So should we wait for the situation to change spontaneously, or wait for an opportunity to change the situation?
Della didn't ask this question. She knew that it was time for her to think about it, so she quickly calmed down and smiled at Dumbledore. "So what did the headmaster want me to do today?"
"What am I to you, Della?" Dumbledore said as he fed Fawkes, who was sitting on a shelf on the other side, a handful of food and changed the subject again.
"What a strange question, Headmaster." Della's smile remained unchanged, but she suddenly added a lot of sincerity to it. "But I can also answer you that you are more like my teacher than any other professor in Hogwarts."
"That's an answer that makes me very happy." Dumbledore laughed twice. He looked at Della, then at Fawkes beside him, with an unfathomable look on his face. "So I have to advise you, Della, that getting involved in what's happening now may not be a good choice."
"But I am indeed a good candidate for investigation, Principal." Della frowned slightly.
"The relationships in this world are very mysterious. I know you have enough reasons to fight against the connection between you and him, but through blood ties, what is projected from him to you is much more than you can imagine, and those will hinder your resistance." Dumbledore said in a ambiguous tone.
"Professor, I don't think it's a good thing for Gryffindor to speak like that." Della was confused. She seemed to have grasped something, but also felt that she didn't understand anything, so she simply said a witty remark to Dumbledore in a very light tone.
"Well, let me make it clear," Dumbledore said helplessly, his half-moon glasses shining as brightly as his deep eyes, "If you are worried about Harry, go and talk to him, that's enough."
"You don't understand at all, Headmaster, but I will go talk to Harry." Della nodded, agreeing with Dumbledore's words, but she was still a little unwilling to give up. She continued, "Is your advice to me just now mandatory?"
"No, no, of course not. No teacher has ever been able to completely control a student, especially a student like you." Dumbledore looked Della up and down. He saw more of the shadow of the past Riddle in this girl. Dumbledore couldn't say that this was a good thing, but he also tried to make it not a bad thing.
"Just think of this as an after-dinner chat, Della," Dumbledore said gently, regaining his usual calmness. "Go back early and be careful on the road."
"Okay, Principal, I will consider your suggestion carefully."
Della spoke very politely, but because she was too polite, it always made people feel that she didn't take her words to heart. Dumbledore ignored this and waved goodbye to her.