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Chapter 754: Shops and Professors
Chapter 754: Shops and Professors
Almost everyone knows that the only real holidays at Hogwarts are Christmas and the end of the academic year. The so-called Easter break is just a time to catch up on two months' worth of homework in two weeks.
Of course, this year is no exception, and the homework is not only more, but also more challenging.
On the first day of the break, the library was already overcrowded, and several important books were borrowed within an hour.
However, those who came later found ways to cope by using the Copying Charm with friends or fellow students from their own houses.
If one didn't know the Copying Charm or if no one from the entire house arrived at the library early, they could only wait.
"This is crazy..." In the Gryffindor common room, Ron hurriedly put on his robe while speaking, "I woke up this early just to go to the library.
"On weekends, I usually sleep until after nine, but it's not even half past seven yet!"
"You should hurry up," Harry said as he also put on his robe. "Hermione clearly stated on the message coin that the library is getting more crowded, and it's already full. If we don't go now, she won't have an excuse to keep our seats for us anymore."
"Do you want to do your homework in the common room?"
At Harry's words, Ron subconsciously quickened his movements.
With such difficult assignments, if he had to do them alone, he wouldn't be able to finish even in two months, let alone two weeks.
Harry felt the same way, so they had to go to the library. Only with Hermione's help would they have a chance to complete the assignments before the start of school.
"Everyone's going crazy, both professors and students!" Ron muttered as they ran out of the common room together.
The corridor was empty.
The two of them hurried down the stairs.
"Harry, have you thought about how to deal with Professor Slughorn?" Ron asked in between his steps. "Has he invited you to his dinner parties or not?"
"No," Harry replied. "He hasn't invited me in a long time, but I heard that McLaggen goes three times a week, and Hermione goes twice a week."
"Why don't you just go directly?" Ron suggested. "He likes you so much, he definitely won't refuse."
"No, that would be too obvious," Harry shook his head. "I'm not going for the dinner party, but to find a way to get the memory about Voldemort from Slughorn's mind. If I go directly, he'll definitely be on guard."
"So, what should we do?"
"I don't know," Harry sighed. "But Hermione said last night that she would help me, but she didn't tell me how."
"I guess she's thinking of helping you," Ron said after a moment of thought. "As you said, she goes to the dinner parties twice a week, so she'll definitely find an opportunity."
"Hopefully."
...
Perhaps thinking of Dumbledore's task or being too engrossed in the conversation, Harry almost bumped into someone coming from the opposite direction.
"Sorry, it wasn't intentional," Harry apologized without looking at the person.
He didn't see who it was, but he recognized the familiar black robe, a color and style he never forget even after fifty years.
No way...
Harry's heart skipped a beat.
"Oh, Potter, didn't anyone teach you to pay attention to your surroundings when going up and down the stairs?"
A cold voice reached his ears.
"Or do you think the entire castle should serve you, the... well, the savior of the wizarding world?"
There was no mistake...
Harry looked up at the person approaching him, his gloomy face, and his greasy black hair.
"Snape..." he blurted out.
"You should address me as Professor Snape, Potter!" Snape said coldly. "Disrespecting a professor, Gryffindor loses ten points!
"I didn't!" Harry couldn't help but speak up, "I wasn't being loud."
"It's not up to you, Potter," Snape glanced at him. "Just because others call you the savior, do you think you can arbitrarily change the school rules?"
"I'm not being arrogant, and I don't want to be called the savior!" Harry stared at Snape, his neck veins popping, breathing heavily, his eyes turning red like an enraged bull.
"We were just having a normal conversation!" He glared at Snape. His hand also moved towards his wand in his pocket.
It seemed like if Snape mocked him again, he would give him a good hit.
But his intention was too obvious.
"What, do you want to attack me?" Snape sneered. "Gryffindor loses thirty points for attempting to draw your wand.
"To be honest, I really wish you would draw your wand, then you'd be sent home nicely. There's a train leaving in two hours.
"If you're lucky, you'll be the only passenger."
Harry's face turned even redder, looking like he might explode at any moment.
Ron, who was beside him, was more conscious and quickly grabbed Harry's hand, preventing him from taking out his wand from his pocket.
Snape waited a while longer, seeing that Harry didn't make any moves, and shook his head in disappointment as he walked past them.
"Damn it, I want to kill him!" Harry clenched his teeth as Snape's figure disappeared around the corner.
"I know, I feel the same, but it's not worth it, Harry," Ron quickly advised. "Snape is a professor, you can't risk being expelled for attacking him."
"I don't care!" Harry abruptly drew his wand, "Even if I get expelled, I'll make him pay!"
"Yes, yes, I know... but it's really not worth it." Ron pulled Harry's arm and headed downstairs, saying, "Attacking a professor with a spell, you'll definitely be expelled if you do that. Even Dumbledore won't be able to protect you."
"Think about the task he gave you. Maybe Snape is doing this on purpose to get you kicked out of school."
Harry suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Come on, Harry." Ron continued to pull him downstairs, "We all know what kind of person Snape is. You really don't need to risk getting expelled by going against him."
"Ron, you might be right." Harry said.
"You've changed your mind?" Ron said happily, "That's great, then let's go to the library quickly. We're still waiting for you."
"No." Harry shook his head and glanced upstairs, "You go to the library, I have something to do."
"What?" Ron was taken aback, "Don't tell me you're going to find Snape. You just said..."
"Ron." Harry interrupted him, "What I mean is, Snape might really be trying to get me kicked out of school."
He lowered his voice and said, "Snape and Malfoy have always been close, but we all know that Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater, and Snape is definitely one too. But he managed to gain Dumbledore's trust through some means."
"What do you want to do?" Ron asked, "And we've suspected this for a while, but no professor is willing to listen to us, right?"
"That's because we don't have any evidence." Harry said seriously, "As long as we can find evidence, we can expose Snape's lies... Now is a good opportunity, Snape actually came to the eighth floor."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Ron didn't understand, "He's a professor, so it shouldn't be a problem wherever he goes."
"But we've never seen him on the eighth floor before." Harry said, "Also, Professor Dumbledore isn't at school today, so he can't be going to the Headmaster's office either."
"You mean he has other intentions?" Ron realized.
"Exactly." Harry nodded, "So I must go and see. If Snape is up to no good, I can expose him in front of all the professors!"
Perhaps due to the recent deduction of fifty points, Harry's expression was determined as he turned and ran upstairs.
Ron hesitated for a moment and then followed him.
"Wait for me, Harry. It's too dangerous for you to go alone."
...
The two returned to the eighth floor and as they stepped onto the corridor, for some reason, they both slowed down and tiptoed as if they were sneaking around.
"Do you know where Snape went?" Ron asked.
"I don't know." Harry said, "But the eighth floor is this big, we can search slowly."
"Then how long will it take to find him?" Ron exclaimed.
But since they were already there, Ron could only accompany Harry and continue searching for Snape in each room.
However, after a full circle around the eighth floor, they still hadn't found Snape.
Determined, Harry decided to search again, this time quickening his pace and even openly opening the doors to suspicious classrooms.
But he still couldn't find Snape.
"Strange, why isn't he here?" Harry scratched his head, his face full of confusion.
"Maybe he went to Professor McGonagall's office." Ron suggested tentatively.
"Impossible." Harry shook his head.
He was convinced that Snape was up to no good. How could he possibly go to Professor McGonagall's office? That would be like walking into a trap.
"It could also be the Room of Requirement." Ron glanced at the nearby wall where the tapestry of the giant dancing was hanging.
"Don't forget, the Room of Requirement is broken." Harry reminded him, "We've tried countless times these past few days, but we can't get inside."
"Yeah, so where did Snape go?"
The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice someone approaching from behind angrily until...
"Ouch!" Ron cried out in pain, turning around and exclaiming, "Who hit me... Hermione? What are you doing?"
"I should be the one saying that!" Hermione said, still angry, and raised her hand to throw a small mirror.
This time, Ron was prepared and dodged it, but the mirror hit Harry's head.
"What are you two doing? Why aren't you in the library yet!"
"We're looking for Snape." Ron immediately thought of something, "Wait, how did you get back?"
As soon as he said that, Hermione became even angrier.
She had been kicked out, and to save seats for the two of them, she had refused at least seven people.
But the library was already full everywhere else.
Then, Madam Pince, who was at her wit's end, also kicked Hermione out, which just happened to free up three seats for others.
Thinking of this, Hermione was furious. She had sent a message to the two of them an hour ago, but they had taken so long.
"I'm sorry." Harry quickly apologized and explained what had happened.
...
"So, you deducted fifty points from Gryffindor?"
"Hermione, I told you earlier, didn't I, Harry? Stop provoking Snape. It won't do you any good." Hermione had no idea what to say anymore.
"I'm not provoking him," Harry said stubbornly, his neck stiff. "He always finds an excuse to deduct my points."
"Then talk to Professor McGonagall and see if she can get those points back," Hermione said, no longer bothering to argue. She turned and left.
Harry silently cursed Snape.
What Harry didn't know was that the person he was thinking of was just a wall away.
And half an hour ago, Snape had stood where Harry was now, pounding the wall twice with a complicated mood.
...
At this moment in the Room of Requirement, Snape had already taken a rough look around and returned to the Entrance Hall.
"Where's Cona?" he asked coldly, looking at Kyle in front of him.
"In the Runes Classroom," Kyle said, "the third classroom on the left on the second floor. If you don't have anything important, it's best not to disturb her."
Don't disturb Cona?
Snape seemed to hear something blasphemous and struggled to suppress the urge to draw his wand, "Do you know what you're saying?"
"Of course, Professor," Kyle shrugged nonchalantly, "But what's the problem? Learning Runes requires focus. Sometimes, a momentary distraction can cause you to miss the subsequent content. You wouldn't want to go and disrupt her, would you?"
Snape's expression froze.
"What?" Kyle suppressed a laugh, "What did you think I meant, Professor?"
"Of course," Snape took a deep breath, his thick skin covering his true thoughts.
"I warn you, stay away from her!"
"I can't," Kyle looked into Snape's eyes and said firmly, "Yes, you heard right. It's impossible, I can't do it, and don't even think about it!"
Snape was furious. The good mood he had just bought with Gryffindor's fifty points was instantly gone.
But soon he seemed to think of something and calmed down again.
"Then be careful," Snape gritted his teeth, his voice squeezing through his teeth, "Don't let me see you doing anything excessive, or there will be consequences. I mean what I say!"
"Don't worry," this time Kyle agreed without a second thought.
These words, he must not have meant for Snape to see.
Kyle immediately put on a standard fake smile and said, "Professor, the Potion Classroom is on the third floor. I'll take you there."
In the past few days, he had become very familiar with the layout, knowing exactly which classroom was for which subject.
Snape didn't say anything further and followed Kyle to the third floor.
Neither spoke during the journey, and the atmosphere became slightly awkward.
Feeling the awkwardness, Kyle broke the silence as they reached the third floor.
"Professor, have you ever considered changing jobs?"
"What do you mean?" Snape narrowed his eyes.
"Don't get me wrong," Kyle stopped in front of a classroom door, "I mean, open a potion shop or something. I have a store in Diagon Alley, a gift from Sirius Black."
"Oh? He's quite generous," Snape said with a dark tone, "Thank you, but what's your point?"
"Nothing," Kyle shrugged, "It's just... well, if Professor Dumbledore has any unreasonable demands, like sending you on a dangerous mission, you can refuse.
"Even if you can't be a professor, you can still sell potions in Diagon Alley. My friend, the Weasley brothers, have a shop in Diagon Alley, and they're making a good profit, much more than a professor's salary."
"What do you mean?" Snape asked, his face tense, not understanding why Kyle would suddenly say such... incomprehensible words.
Unconsciously, Snape thought of something but quickly dismissed it.
Impossible... Dumbledore wouldn't reveal his identity to others. Even if he was confused, it wouldn't be a student.
Snape stared intently into Kyle's eyes, hoping to find an answer.
Unfortunately, Kyle wasn't Harry, and under the protection of the Occlumency spell, he couldn't see anything.
Unconsciously, Snape reached into his robe pocket where he had a small bottle.
Truth Serum... he had brought it with him when he left today.
"It's fine," Kyle smiled, not paying attention to Snape's movement.
He pointed to the door next to him, "This is the Potion Classroom, but Professor, I must say, there's not much to see, and you might be a little disappointed."
Potions was probably the only class that hadn't changed much here. Aside from the types of potions brewed, the rest of the process was almost identical to the present.
But just as Kyle was about to leave, he was stopped by Snape.
"What do you know?" Snape asked in a deep voice.
"I don't know," Kyle smiled, "It's just that the Death Eaters are rampant these days. If one day Professor Dumbledore asks you to deal with them, you can find a reason to refuse... even if it's for Cona."
Snape fell silent, deep in thought. After a long time, he spoke softly, "The professor's task is to protect the students."
"I know," Kyle nodded, "I was just saying it casually. Professor, you don't have to take it seriously."
(End of Chapter)
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