novelraw Chapter 295, Section 294: What happened to the date we agreed on?
Chapter 295, Section 294: What happened to the date we agreed on?
Chapter 295, Section 294: What happened to the date we agreed on?
Hermione slid slowly to the floor, her back against the office door.
My heart was still pounding in my chest.
Lockhart's last meaningful look lingered in her mind—why was he so interested in the love potion, and why did he say things like the side effects were so good?
It's absolutely terrifying to think about.
There was something that made Hermione unable to stop herself from thinking about it—that's just how her brain is; curiosity always takes over, and she has a tendency to keep thinking until she finds the answer.
Most top students actually share this characteristic.
Hermione, the academic star of Gryffindor, was even more obviously impulsive. Staring repeatedly at Snape on the ceiling, Hermione had a wildly imaginative idea.
"Unless Professor Lockhart is very much of an Englishman," Hermione suddenly exclaimed, her eyes widening as an absurd thought crossed her mind, "he's been keeping an eye on Professor Snape!"
"We also need to put a love potion on Professor Snape." Clutching the note in her hand, Hermione secretly unfolded it and glanced at it. It was indeed an "ambiguous" message that made her scalp tingle.
The handwriting is very sparse.
It simply told her to go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office later. If this note had been given to Hermione as a junior wizard, she would have thought it was Professor Lockhart giving her some extra tutoring.
however.
This was for Professor Snape—it couldn't possibly be that Professor Lockhart wanted to tutor Professor Snape, could it? That makes no sense! Upon closer examination, the information on this little note immediately became ambiguous.
"Oh my god! Have I accidentally discovered the professors' secret?"
Hermione's heart surged with turmoil, her fingers unconsciously twisting the overly long sleeves of her black robe. Lockhart's words, in retrospect, still seemed rather strange.
I must invite you to try my lemon cake another day.
This sounds exactly like a date invitation!
"Oh, Merlin above." Hermione covered her burning face, her thoughts racing uncontrollably. "This is too much! If the other Gryffindor students found out..."
Her thoughts hadn't drifted any further.
Suddenly.
As a sense of danger rose within her, Hermione noticed a strand of her long black hair suddenly and silently fall, brushing past her nose and landing on the ground.
That's obviously Snape's hair color. After all, Hermione is still resembling Snape—anyone who's ever brewed Polyjuice Potion knows that the recipe is in the book "Potions of Power."
Its duration varies depending on the amount of potion consumed, and Snape gave Hermione a very large dose of the potion to prevent her from reverting back to normal during class.
It must last at least twelve hours.
It's still quite some time before Hermione turns back to her original form. To be honest, after experiencing the magic of this potion, Hermione has been pondering a very peculiar question—if someone drinks a potion containing hair from their childhood, will that person become their younger self?
Hermione didn't know the answer to that question.
However, Ian could definitely answer that if he were here. Since Fleur, Fred, George, and even Mundungus, who are older than Harry, can all become Harry, then becoming younger is certainly not a problem. Therefore, if someone still has their childhood hair, like baby hair, then that person can actually become their baby self.
That's how magical potions are.
"Miss Granger, can you really be so distracted, even in the face of a dangerous attack?" Snape asked, noticing Hermione's startled expression followed by a cloudiness in her eyes.
His annoyance was tinged with a hint of helplessness—these Gryffindor students were truly a bunch of clueless idiots.
"Um...did you attack me?"
Hermione froze.
Feeling the gaze of the upside-down bat, a chill crept up her spine. Due to Ron's remarkable influence, she had even begun to suspect that Snape intended to silence her.
"Miss Granger."
Snape's chilling voice came from the ceiling, "I'm not attacking you, but warning you that your rotting brain had better stop those disgusting thoughts right now."
obviously.
Snape was well aware of Hermione's wild imagination. After all, he was an old and experienced man, and even without Legilimency, he could guess what Hermione was thinking just by looking at her ever-changing expressions.
"Uh... I don't... I don't have any now." Hermione looked up abruptly and saw Snape hanging upside down, pointing his wand at her, with a wisp of black mist still lingering at the tip.
Her face flushed red as she jumped up. She had initially wanted to retort directly, but in the end, she could only guiltily change her tune, "I'm just wondering if Lockhart will tell on me!"
This is indeed a pretty good way to change the subject.
Miss Beaver does have some quick wit.
As expected, Snape was also concerned about this issue and couldn't figure it out. He fell into contemplation and weighing the options, and for a moment, the office fell into an eerie silence.
on the ground.
Neville's "coma" posture became even more rigid.
She didn't even dare to tremble her eyelashes.
"Lockhart," Snape finally spoke, his voice barely audible, "his thoughts and actions are as incomprehensible as his. You must avoid him until the curse is lifted."
Yes.
Snape now feels like he's been cursed by Ririm; hanging upside down from the ceiling, he really does look like a bat. He's even starting to desensitize himself to his childhood trauma.
of course.
The premise is that no other junior wizards should see it. Now that three junior wizards have seen it, his mental defenses have been broken. If it weren't impossible, he would really want to cast a forgetting spell on all three of them.
Unfortunately, Albus Dumbledore clearly wouldn't agree to him doing such a thing.
"Yes, I understand. I also felt his eyes were very sharp; he probably already noticed something was wrong. Asking about the potion recipe was just a test." Hermione nodded, still shaken. Her gaze drifted to the neatly cut lock of hair on the ground: "Professor, what was that spell...?"
This was clearly a resurgence of curiosity.
"That's not your concern. You can't even learn simple magic properly, yet you want to learn such advanced magic?" Snape's wand flashed threateningly.
"Those who are never greedy will die a terrible death."
His cryptic words seemed to carry a hint of malice.
However, Hermione didn't care as much as before. Anyway, Snape's way of speaking was just so unpleasant. She got used to it and just treated it as him talking nonsense.
"So it's not wrong for me to care about my friends, is it?"
Hermione rushed to the unconscious Ron, knelt down to check his pulse, and seeing that it was very weak, she panicked, "Professor Snape, what did you do to Ron?"
This is because they're afraid Ron might actually kick the bucket.
"Weasley won't die."
Snape sneered, "This is a necessary measure to prevent him from continuing to do bad things with his trollish intellect. The Weasleys are just that stupid and oblivious."
His malice towards the Ron family was truly immense.
But what is the reason for this?
Of course, it must also be related to some of Ron's family's "righteous" beliefs. Hermione didn't refute this, but simply walked quickly to Ron and Neville and tore off the duct tape from their mouths.
Hermione frowned.
"They're just too curious."
He also knew that Ron and Neville must have barged in and seen Snape, the Hanged Man.
"That's why Gryffindor students die so quickly."
Snape responded coldly.
"How can I save them?"
Hermione hadn't yet realized that Neville was just faking his unconsciousness.
Snape did not respond.
It's just casting a spell.
A silver cauldron suddenly flew in front of Hermione.
He began instructing Hermione on how to brew potions.
soon.
The dark green liquid inside the crucible began to churn.
"Stir seven times clockwise, then add two drops of peppermint extract," Snape coldly instructed. "Be careful with the dosage if you don't want him to sleep forever."
Hermione worked with complete concentration, her movements extremely careful, as if afraid of harming Ron. When she poured in the last drop of the potion, the liquid in the cauldron turned an eerie fluorescent color.
It looks a bit creepy.
"Force it down his throat."
Snape had a lot to say.
It has to be said, the potion he personally instructed was incredibly effective. Ron jumped up the moment the potion touched his lips: "Ugh—it tastes like a vixen's urine and a troll's boogers!"
His eyes were clear.
"I...I'm suddenly all better!" Neville's ears were exceptionally sharp. Hearing Ron's description, he sat up with a jolt, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"There's absolutely no need to take any medicine!"
He vehemently refused the potion Hermione was about to offer him.
Because they were still tied up.
Neville could only twist his fat body to dodge.
"How come there are two Snapes!"
Ron's exclamation echoed throughout the office.
"Cough cough! I really didn't see wrong! This is real!" Ron exhaled, staring wide-eyed at Hermione. "Good heavens, how can there be two Snapes?!"
"I am Hermione!" Hermione couldn't take it anymore and tugged at her collar, revealing her Gryffindor crest underneath. Perhaps she wanted to remind herself that she was still a Gryffindor.
"I gave so many hints!"
Hermione's voice sounded quite helpless.
"You…" Ron stammered, "How did you become Snape too?!"
His level of knowledge was certainly insufficient to explain this matter.
after all.
Although the Weasleys were pure-bloods, they couldn't afford potions like Polyjuice Potion. Naturally, Ron wouldn't immediately think of something he hadn't encountered before.
"It's a compound decoction," Neville suddenly said, his voice still a little breathless. "I smelled a strange odor earlier, kind of like... mandrake juice mixed with bezoar."
The chubby boy surprisingly demonstrated his remarkable knowledge of herbal medicine.
of course.
He might be considered a theoretical master, because once he gets into the game, it's truly a disaster. Snape specifically pointed out that he's the kind of player who's likely to die in Potions class.
Hermione smiled slightly: "You guessed right, it really is a compound decoction."
Ron was speechless with shock: "So...you're Hermione? You turned yourself into Snape?! You...you're going to boil him into a potion? Well done!"
"What did you say?" Snape the Hanged Man roared, waving his wand, and a flash of green light appeared.
"Whoa!" Ron suddenly covered his mouth, and a slug sprayed out and fell to the ground with a thud.
"Ron!" Hermione rushed over immediately and wiped the sticky residue from the corner of his mouth.
"Professor Snape!" She turned and glared at Snape like a cat with its fur standing on end. "He's my friend! How could you cast a curse on him?"
He insulted me.
"Snape said coldly."
"He's worried about me!" Hermione said angrily. "You know what? They thought you turned me into a potion, that's why they came to rescue me! This is my friend caring about me."
These words were spoken.
Snape, who had no friends, was rendered speechless.
Snape was silent for a moment.
A complex emotion flashed in his eyes.
"The Weasleys are getting dumber with each generation. How could anyone think that wizards can be used as medicine? Are they still living in the Middle Ages? That's not a thought any normal person would have."
Snape spoke in a low, somber tone.
Now.
Hermione, who was initially quite angry, fell silent. She had previously held similar views on Ron's bizarre ideas, albeit in a more subtle way.
"You are not allowed to insult my family!"
Ron's face turned red, and he jumped up to reach for his wand, but an instinctive vomiting caused him to vomit up another slug. The sticky slug looked incredibly disgusting on the ground.
Hermione and Neville both moved away from him.
"Don't barge into the professor's office again," Hermione said helplessly, unsure how to break the curse. "Especially now... I'm Snape."
"How were we supposed to know it was you!" Neville muttered. "You're such a convincing imposter."
Hermione frowned. "They're too curious."
She was talking about her second and third brothers, and of the trio, she was the most curious. However, when it came to courting death, Ron, who was currently lying on the ground vomiting, was the one who was most likely to do it.
Fortunately, Snape didn't intend to torment Ron for too long, and soon had Hermione brew another potion for Ron—the one hiding to the side trembled as if she felt she had figured something out.
Snape is teaching Hermione.
Ron was the experimenter who always jumped out on his own.
The clever Neville immediately shut up.
She even burrowed around on the ground a few times and re-attached the tape to her mouth—just as Neville had predicted, Hermione turned back into a little girl after brewing the potion.
however.
Snape simply told Hermione to go back to Gryffindor and come back tomorrow for her potion and the so-called "antidote." He did not allow Hermione to take Neville and Ron away, those two unlucky guys.
"You can leave," Snape said ominously, "but they stay."
"What? But—"
"Either leave now," Snape's wand glowed green, "or join them in experiencing the newly developed Vomit Spell." "You can go," Snape said ominously, "but they stay."
"What? But—"
"Either we leave now," Snape said, his wand glowing green, looking as if he might unleash a spell at any moment, "or we can join them in experiencing the newly developed Vomiting Charm."
have to say.
The threat posed by the Killing Curse was perhaps not as strong as the threat the slug posed to the little girl. After weighing the options, Hermione, who felt that Snape wouldn't kill, had no choice but to abandon her attempt to rescue her two friends.
She left the office.
As Hermione stepped out of the cellar, she was filled with worry for Ron and Neville. She dragged her weary steps up the stairs, only to see a dazzling golden light under the torches in the foyer.
All I saw was...
Lockhart leaned against the stair railing, his exaggerated smile gone.
"Miss Granger."
His blue eyes were unusually sharp.
"Didn't we agree to go to my office?"
Words that are neither a smile nor a laugh.
It instantly froze Hermione's blood.
(End of this chapter)