Soon, Cyrus heard another familiar voice she had encountered in the void—it was Professor McGonagall. Led by Professor McGonagall, Cyrus entered the Great Hall, holding Angus's leash. In truth, even with her bandages, Cyrus could roughly perceive everything around her.
The last time she had needed Angus's guidance in Diagon Alley was because her standoff with Dumbledore a few days prior had heavily taxed her eyes, and her perception had not yet fully recovered at that time. In an unfamiliar environment, Angus instinctively took on the role of Cyrus's guide dog, and this unspoken cooperation between them had lasted for a long time.
Cyrus stood quietly at the very end of the line, unlike the peers around her who were excited, thrilled, and somewhat uneasy.
The twins and Jordan had all been sorted into Gryffindor, and before leaving, they even waved to Cyrus.
Then her name echoed through the Great Hall:
"Cyrus Sean."
Students from all four houses and the various teachers watched as a girl dressed entirely in black, with a black ponytail, her face half-hidden, short in stature and extremely thin, holding the leash of a Muggle dog breed, walked slowly up the steps, guided by the animal.
Calm and composed. Cyrus quickly sensed two gazes fixed on her from the staff table. Professor McGonagall, with a stern expression, clutched a very old, wide, tattered hat in one hand and placed it gently on Cyrus's head.
Then Cyrus felt the hat on top of her head twitching, and a somewhat raspy voice came through:
"Welcome back..."
While Cyrus was still wondering, she heard the hat on her head shout out loud:
"Slytherin!"
The sorting process was so fast that even Cyrus had not expected it; she didn't even get a chance to communicate with the magical Sorting Hat.
At Professor McGonagall's signal, Cyrus walked down the steps, approached a green-decorated long table, and found an empty seat to sit down. Strangely enough, whenever a young wizard was sorted into a house, even if there wasn't a collective welcome from the whole school, the students of their own house would at least show some form of welcome.
Yet when the Sorting Hat shouted Slytherin, there were only a few sparse and perfunctory responses. Gazes filled with either surprise or sarcasm focused on Cyrus. Cyrus sat quietly, feeling the scrutiny of eyes carrying various emotions. Soon, hushed discussions broke out all around:
"Have you ever heard of her last name? There are no Seans among the pure-blood families of Britain."
"Then she must be a half-blood, look at how cheap her clothes are."
"Her style of dressing is so weird, and she's even walking a strange dog."
"Could it be a Mu—a Muggle last name?"
"No way! Slytherin only ever takes pure-bloods, half-bloods at most."
Soon the Sorting Ceremony ended, and after Dumbledore finished speaking, he waved his hands, causing exquisite dishes to appear one after another on the long tables.
While the surrounding students were devouring their food voraciously, Cyrus merely sat quietly, staring blankly at the steak in front of her. At that moment, the girl next to her nudged her arm, then tilted her head and sneered:
"Don't even know how to eat, or have you never seen such ordinary food? Looks like she's a poor half-blood, no doubt about it."
The girl laid heavy emphasis on the word "ordinary," as if saying so could somehow highlight her own nobility.
Cyrus ignored the girl's taunts and showed no intention of eating. Seeing that Cyrus was ignoring her, the girl stomped her foot angrily and left her alone. Cyrus would not eat any food prepared by others; in her mind, she was wondering how to sneak into the Forbidden Forest that Dumbledore had mentioned tonight to hunt for food for Angus.
After dinner, the prefects of each house led the first-years back to their respective common rooms. Cyrus was walking at the back of the group, and just as she was about to exit the Great Hall, two fluffy red heads squeezed through the crowd. George and Fred called out to Cyrus, pulling out a sandwich wrapped in four or five layers from inside their voluminous wizard robes.
"Cyrus, we can't finish this, come help us get rid of this sandwich."
George shoved the sandwich into Cyrus's hands, while Fred produced a bag of Every Flavour Beans from the side. "The sandwich was made by our mum; if she finds out we only ate sweets, she'll kill us. Cyrus, do us a favor. And eat the sweets while you're at it, they're really good."
"Where did these two shabby Gryffindors come from? I knew she didn't belong in Slytherin, hanging out with Gryffindors of all people." The three of them caught the attention of the Slytherin students, and jeers directed at them followed immediately.
"Hey! Let me show you something cool!" George was about to pull something round and roly-poly from his wizard robe when Fred pulled him back. Fred glanced at Cyrus, who was standing there in a daze holding the sandwich and candies.
"George, have you forgotten we have a more important mission tonight? Don't waste time on them."
"George! Fred! Don't push me to dock points from you on the very first day of term!" An angry shout came from the Gryffindor line in the distance. The twins made faces in that direction, then looked back at Cyrus.
"Alright, if we don't go back now, we'll get detention from the almighty prefect. Cyrus, we'll see you tom—" "Let's go, George, Cyrus is tired too." Before George could finish his sentence, Fred pulled him away.
Cyrus ignored the disdainful and mocking gazes around her and put the sandwich and candies back into her pocket. She walked down the steps and arrived at the Slytherin dungeons. The stone door at the entrance required a password to enter, and after the prefect stated the password "Pure-blood," she reminded everyone that the password would change every two weeks. Though underground, it was not gloomy at all; the overall interior was decorated in a style full of nobility and elegance.
The two Slytherin prefects arrogantly and proudly warned the first-years of the rules and principles of Slytherin. Unlike other houses, Slytherin valued strength above all else. Every year, students could challenge the prefects, and a successful challenger would become the house prefect. Of course, the price of failing a challenge was facing the retaliation of the entire Slytherin house.
Cyrus leaned against the wall, mentally tracing the route she had just walked; she did not want to get lost in this massive castle later.
Snape also arrived at the common room hall. With his appearance, the surrounding air seemed to drop in temperature, and all the chattering students fell instantly silent.
He crossed his arms, his gaze sweeping over every single person. "From today onwards, the only thing you need to know as students of Slytherin is: do not cause me trouble. I will only say this once. Of course, I'd naturally prefer to have some stupid trolls deal with the stinking slugs in the greenhouse." Saying no more, Snape couldn't even be bothered to stick around for the prefect challenges and left.
First-year incoming students were not permitted to join the prefect challenges, so Cyrus headed straight for the dormitory. As luck would have it, she was assigned to the same room as the girl who had mocked her during dinner. Seeing her walk in without even a word of greeting, the girl stepped right up to Cyrus and hissed furiously into her ear:
"Did you hear what I said?!"
Cyrus rubbed her ear and looked at her. Furious beyond belief, the girl pointed at the dormitory door and yelled:
"How did I end up sharing a room with a half-blood like you? And that filthy dog of yours has to sleep in this room too?! Unbelievable!!"
The girl's loud and piercing voice echoed out of the bedroom, and a few girls from neighboring dorms poked their heads in to look. This girl was Lynna Shafiq; as a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, she naturally could not endure sharing a room with a strange-looking half-blood, let alone sleeping in the same room as an animal from the Muggle world.
Cyrus stepped closer and closer to the hysterical, throwing-a-tantrum girl, who began to back away as she gradually felt a sense of unease. Suddenly, the female prefect rushed in and halted Cyrus's advance. She looked at Lynna, then at Cyrus, and finally cast a somewhat disdainful look at Angus.
"Miss Sean, while the school does not have rules prohibiting the keeping of canine pets, as a Slytherin, one must mind their etiquette at all times.
Your pet has clearly frightened Miss Shafiq. And Miss Shafiq, while Slytherin acknowledges internal competition among house members, please observe basic rules and order. Room assignments are fixed."
The female prefect, Seraphina Travers, belonged to a pure-blood family just like Shafiq, and naturally leaned toward helping the future heir of the Shafiq family. But seeing that it was the first day of term and that Cyrus appeared to be blind, she didn't single her out too harshly. Though she didn't know Cyrus's bloodline status, she was most likely the nameless descendant of some half-blood.
Cyrus stopped moving forward and instead turned around to continue unpacking her luggage. Angus let out a low growl at the jumpy Shafiq and walked away on his own to lie down in the spot furthest from her.
Lynna Shafiq found it difficult to stir up trouble in front of the prefect, so she resolved in her heart to write home and complain thoroughly so her family could get her a different room. Cyrus was also somewhat irritated; with a roommate like this, it would be hard for her daily trips to the Forbidden Forest later on to go unnoticed.
Now, under Dumbledore's surveillance, she had to act with an even lower profile. Her luggage was exceedingly sparse; apart from what was needed for her studies, she had only two sets of clothes. She hadn't even bought an owl, as Cyrus didn't believe she had anyone she could possibly contact.
Then she remembered the food the twins had given her in her wizarding robes. She took it out and threw it into the trash can without the slightest hesitation. Hungry as she was, she still would not eat food given to her by others. She could not understand the twins' behavior; could she sense no malice from them, or were they deliberately hiding it?
After nightfall, Cyrus lay in bed until she heard Lynna Shafiq's steady and deep breathing as she fell into a sound sleep. Lightly, she retrieved her Invisibility Cloak and left swiftly with Angus.
She was not in a hurry to head to the Forbidden Forest; figuring out the general layout of the castle was of the utmost importance. She certainly didn't want to get lost at a critical moment. Cyrus discovered that those wandering at night were not just the castle caretaker Argus Filch and the patrolling duty professors, but also a few aimlessly roaming ghosts.
The caution and self-concealment skills she had forged during her experiences living in the primeval forest came in very handy. Once she had roughly figured out the routes near the Slytherin common room and the castle exits, she slipped into a washroom. Dumbledore surely didn't have the peculiar hobby of peeping into washrooms.
Cyrus retrieved her night-operations clothing from her Undetectable Extension Charm-enchanted pouch and changed. Items enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm were far too expensive, so she had been forced to buy the cheapest kind, but the space inside was still sufficient to hold her two sets of clothes and several vital weapons.
She was dressed entirely in black once again, though the fabric of the night gear was thicker yet lightweight. Leather pockets capable of holding weapons were strapped to her waist, arms, and thighs. Her loose school robes had also been replaced with a short cloak, exposing Cyrus's slender waist.
Cyrus had updated every single one of her weapons using all of her remaining funds. Her dagger was forged from hardened goblin stone, capable of easily piercing tough beast hide and flesh, and she was also equipped with several throwing knives. On her back remained that old hunting rifle—thermal weapons crafted by goblins were simply too expensive and rare. A newly maintained compact handgun was also concealed near her lower leg.