Chapter 65 Snape Was Not Pleased
The thoughts of Voldemort and the Death Eater "traitors" like Lucius remained unknown, but our Savior, Harry Potter, was definitely having a rough time.
If he were a Slytherin student, perhaps he would now be surrounded by a throng of madly adoring followers, strutting around and basking in the fear and respect of his schoolmates.
But alas, he was a Gryffindor.
Gryffindors were traditionally believers in conspiracy theories and the group most resistant to them. Towards Harry, with his Parseltongue ability, they could only point and whisper.
Even though Harry's close friends supported him, their small group was far too outnumbered. Under the weight of public opinion, the other houses also started to follow suit.
As the saying goes, when others say you are, you have to actually be it.
When someone accused Voldemort of being the Dark Lord, people were genuinely afraid. But if someone accused Dumbledore of being the Dark Lord, everyone would just join in with sarcastic remarks aimed at the old headmaster.
That was the difference.
Now, everyone was saying Harry Potter was the Heir of Slytherin, that he was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets, and that he had now "killed" two students. Dumbledore should expel such a troublemaker, or even send him to Azkaban.
After all, given the tradition of intermarriage among these ancient pure-blood families, if you randomly pointed at a pure-blood wizard, it wouldn't be surprising if tracing their lineage upwards revealed a connection to Slytherin.
Regardless of their faction, weren't all pure-bloods related in some way?
Maybe it was true!
Such conspiracy theories became the topic of conversation during breaks. Wherever Harry went, he could hear groups of people secretly glancing at him before whispering mysteriously to each other.
"You-Know-Who," that one, you know who I'm talking about—this title, usually referring to the Dark Lord, had temporarily become a synonym for him, the savior who had killed the Dark Lord, in the school.
Fortunately, Harry Potter was never one to back down. The more he was misunderstood, the more determined he became.
He not only wanted to prove himself but also vowed to expose the evil Heir of Slytherin!
So, he finally took out the book borrowing slip Professor Lockhart had given him (Chapter 013).
He was going to the Restricted Section of the library to borrow Moste Potente Potions and learn the ancient spell within, the Patronus Charm!
To prove he wasn't a dark wizard!
Yes, this kid just wouldn't move forward unless he was pushed.
At first, he was very excited to have found a way to prove that he, the "Parselmouth," wasn't a dark wizard. But the next morning, before he went to borrow the book, Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, urged him to hurry up and attend practice. When he realized that everyone didn't mind him being a "Parselmouth," he forgot all about it.
Luckily, the professor-signed borrowing slip hadn't been lost, otherwise, he really wouldn't have known how to bring it up with Professor Lockhart.
The Patronus Charm was difficult!
In Hermione's words, "It's simply not a spell that a second-year wizard can learn!"
But unlike the ever-rational Hermione, his good friend Ron was generally only excited about the outcome. He was so familiar with many things in the wizarding world that he immediately reacted, reminding Harry, "The Patronus Charm can be used against Dementors, Harry. If you can learn it, you won't have to worry about fainting when you encounter them, at least not during lessons to be laughed at by Malfoy and his lot anymore."
Malfoy!
Harry instantly strengthened his resolve to learn.
"I will learn it!" he told Hermione and Ron loudly.
Well, if that's the case…
He had also promised Professor Lockhart before that he would look for a way to deal with the Basilisk.
Wait!
"Ron, Hermione!" He suddenly jolted, his eyes wide as he looked at his two best friends. "Do you think the monster in the Chamber of Secrets could be a Basilisk?!"
His question was so firm, as if he already believed it to be the answer.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you had read the fifth-year Care of Magical Creatures textbook in advance like I did, you would have found that the author, Newt Scamander, said in the book that Basilisks have been extinct for over four hundred years!"
"Hey~" Ron looked at Hermione in horror, as if he were looking at a Basilisk. "Fifth-year textbook? Merlin's saggy trousers! You're reading fifth-year textbooks?"
This was even more outrageous than the monster in the Chamber being a Basilisk!
Hermione snorted at him, too lazy to bother with him.
Seeing that his two good friends were about to have another silent feud for days, Harry had to ease the atmosphere. He really didn't want his two friends to quarrel while everyone else was pointing fingers at him.
"Regardless of whether it's a Basilisk or not, we heard Parseltongue in the castle, remember?"
"Hiss hiss hiss~" (Kill him!) He tried his best, looking at a drawing of a snake in his notebook, finally speaking in Parseltongue, imitating the sound they had heard together.
"It must be related to snakes!" Harry looked at them earnestly. "Finding a way to deal with the King of Serpents will help us deal with those snakes that we don't know where they are!"
This was obviously reasonable.
But their progress wasn't very smooth; they still knew too little magic.
Because of this, before the next "Dueling Club" class, Harry kept staring at the colorful ice snake in the cage on the office shelf.
"Hiss hiss hiss~" (Attack me!)
He tried to command the ice snake.
Unfortunately, the ice snake was docile and non-venomous, unable to demonstrate the Basilisk's terror at all.
It didn't even have frightening fangs. It opened its mouth and bumped against the cage with a clanging sound, looking utterly harmless.
"Hey, Harry, what are you doing?" The hyperactive Weasley twins obviously noticed the commotion and came over to watch this interesting scene.
Harry held up the manuscript in his hand. "I'm researching how to deal with a Basilisk. I promised the professor I would definitely give him an answer."
"Basilisk?" George looked at the slightly dazed ice snake in the cage with a strange expression and made a face. "Oh, Merlin's ripped stockings, that's really scary!"
Fred nodded beside him with a very serious expression. "Yes, very scary!"
Then they both giggled.
Just then, a warm, magnetic voice sounded behind them, "Exploring the essence of things, finding their characteristics to create targeted solutions, this is always the research direction in the field of Defence Against the Dark Arts."
The surrounding onlookers were startled and turned around, seeing Professor Lockhart. They quickly greeted him in unison.
But then, a terrifying figure appeared behind Professor Lockhart.
Professor Snape!
Instantly, the once cheerful office fell silent.
A terrifying silence.
Ha~
Look who's the least welcome at our gathering?
Lockhart gave Professor Snape a silent smile, which made Snape's face even sourer.
He had come to Lockhart to retrieve the manuscript of his book, Severus Snape's Potions Classroom. He had made a new discovery while researching a potion's properties these past few days and needed to make some professional revisions to a part of the content.
Now, looking at the noisy young wizards in the office, he snorted coldly and simply stood to the side, arms crossed. "Professor Lockhart, if you don't mind, could I sit in on your lesson to the children?"
Intentionally making things awkward for the children, was he?
Lockhart sensed Snape's dark humor and chuckled. "Of course, anytime."
He wouldn't feel embarrassed just because a professor was present, seeming quite accustomed to displaying his wisdom in front of others.
The lesson continued as usual.
He clapped his hands, gesturing for the young wizards to look over. "According to the schedule, it's question time. Who has a question?"
Second-year Harry Potter and fourth-year Cedric Diggory both raised their hands at the same time.
Lockhart smiled and gestured for Cedric to go first.
Cedric looked visibly troubled, as if constipated. "Professor Kettleburn has been your assistant these past few days, constantly leading us in bravely fighting the dragons in the castle. Many students have been burned, Professor. Do we have any way to deal with dragons?"
Professor Kettleburn?
Assistant?
Snape beside him suddenly froze. Professor Kettleburn was substituting for the Defence Against the Dark Arts class?
With the Death Eaters and the school's Chamber of Secrets incidents these past few days, he really hadn't had the energy to pay attention to this.
He then fixed his gaze on Lockhart—you asked that old geezer Professor Kettleburn to substitute but didn't ask me?
I could do it too!
I could also be the substitute Defence Against the Dark Arts professor!
This damned fellow stole my Defence Against the Dark Arts position, and now he won't even ask me to substitute?
This ever-triumphant fellow must think that I, who was bullied since childhood, still bullied during my school years, the 'refined' Potions professor, am clearly not as suitable as Professor Kettleburn, who constantly babbles about going on adventures.
Right, Lockhart!
Answer me!
Well, regardless of Snape's inner monologue, Lockhart was now teaching very seriously.
"There are many ways to deal with dragons, but that falls under the scope of Care of Magical Creatures. Perhaps you should ask your Care of Magical Creatures professor; it would be more appropriate."
It wouldn't be appropriate for him to teach this; it would clearly be an offense to the other professors.
Cedric's face fell, looking as if he had constipation. "But our Care of Magical Creatures professor is Professor Kettleburn!"
Asking that old professor to describe the habits, ways of interacting with, and even the secrets to raising every type of dragon in the world would be incredibly detailed. No one knew more than him. But dealing with dragons…
Just look at the fact that the old professor only had one and a half limbs left.
In fact, many experts in Care of Magical Creatures, and even Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts, relied on innate talent. People like Hagrid were an example. There were masters who truly followed an academic research path, but not many.
Just then, a magnetic voice directly provided the answer, "The Extinguishing Spell!"
Seeing everyone looking over, Professor Snape's lips curled slightly. He strode forward like a large bat, came to the young wizards, turned around, directly squeezed Professor Lockhart to the side, and looked at the young wizards. "The Extinguishing Spell. The incantation is Extinguo."
"It is precisely because of this spell that the dragons, which once occupied the apex of magical creatures, now pose no more threat to wizards than trolls."
Professor Snape wasn't targeting every Gryffindor; at least his attitude towards Cedric was very gentle. This was a student that all professors liked. "You can come to my office after class, and I will teach you this spell."
Saying this, he turned his head towards Lockhart and held out his hand.
Lockhart blinked and it took him a while to realize that old Snape wanted the manuscript. He quickly pulled it out from a neatly stacked pile on the shelf.
Snape snatched it, walked straight towards the office door, and quickly disappeared from sight.
"!!!"
Lockhart had no idea what had suddenly gotten into Snape. He gestured for Cedric to sit down and then turned to Harry. "So, what is your question?"
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