Chapter 628: The Trip to Hogsade Weekend
Slughorn clearly made a miscalculation. As Felix handed Snape the honey wine with a stiff expression, he thought to himself.
Slughorn must have been impressed by the unique background of the special friendship between Severus and Lily during the first wizarding war. It's not surprising; professors are often well-inford, but their knowledge usually stays on the surface, rarely delving into the deeper conflicts and emotional entanglents among students.
Moreover, noticing Harry using an old textbook in class – and knowing that Harry isn't short on money – Slughorn's attention to Harry was a bit curious. Felix could easily deduce that the textbook used to belong to Snape.
"Here you go, Harry... Oh, I forgot, you're not of age yet," Felix withdrew the hand offering the drink.
"Oh, don't be too strict, Felix. It's okay to have a little less," Slughorn blinked and said.
He seed to have realized that Snape's relationship with Harry wasn't as he had imagined. So, skillfully changing the subject, he patted Harry on the shoulder. "Looks like I've kept you too long. You should go find your friends, right... here, Harry." With that, he casually picked up a high-footed cup from the tray carried by a passing house-elf and handed it to Harry.
Harry just wanted to leave the scene of trouble as quickly as possible. He thanked Slughorn and hurried away. It wasn't until he felt the sharp gaze on the back of his head move away that he breathed a sigh of relief, Slughorn's professorial voice still faintly audible behind him.
"Alia Bones did well, back in the day..."
"Harry?" a familiar voice said.
"Nev, what are you doing here?" Harry said in surprise. Neville was hiding behind a wide gold curtain, his head adorned with a string of blinking lights, his face reflecting various colors.
"I, uh, ca to take a break," Neville said cautiously.
Harry followed his gaze and saw the Gringotts sisters, dressed in beautiful erald robes, surrounded by a small group of people in the center. He was a bit puzzled. "Why are they talking to you?"
"They... spoke to ," Neville stamred, his expression still sowhat frightened.
"Just because of this?"
"Of course – not just that, but also Blaise Zabini, Marcus Belby, even Malfoy!" Neville said in shock. "Their behavior was strange, as if they were different people." He suddenly looked up, seemingly frightened by his own words.
Harry understood a bit. "Do you think they've been Imperiused, or soone replaced them with Polyjuice Potion?" he asked quietly.
Neville looked carefully at Harry's face. "You know the reason, don't you?"
"It's just the social etiquette they admire," Harry said casually.
The two looked at each other in silence. Neville glanced at Harry's goblet and casually asked, "Where did you get your juice?"
"Professor Slughorn gave it to ," Harry said vaguely, finishing the overly sweet juice, feeling his throat clogged. He pulled out his wand, turned the cup into a small stool, and sat on it. Neville stared at Harry's stool.
"Do you need help?" Harry asked.
"Thank you so much," Neville quickly said.
So, the two of them hid behind the curtain, sitting on the small stool, chatting happily. Harry tried a few tis and successfully used a Silencing Charm to bring over a plate of at pies from the table.
"Want so?" Harry asked, holding up a pie.
"Thank rlin, I'm starving," Neville said with a smile.
They wolfed down the food, eyeing the others in the office. Only when the singing on the ceiling disappeared did the two co out from behind the curtain.
"Oh, rlin!" Hermione suddenly appeared, almost bumping into them. She stared at the suspicious oil stains on their mouths – Neville still held an empty plate – and looked beyond their shoulders at the golden curtain.
"Never mind," Harry said, burping, while discreetly pushing the small stool back into the curtain. "Is the party over?"
"I guess..." Hermione said, turning her head.
At this mont, Professor Slughorn walked to the center and said with a smile, "I hope everyone had a good ti tonight. I can assure you, this won't be the last..." People started leaving one by one. Felix and Snape walked into the corridor, whispering.
"What's hidden in Room 7?" Snape asked bluntly.
Felix raised an eyebrow.
"This year, that place suddenly closed, and the temporary room next door was not very effective. I heard complaints from students," Snape said. "And... Professor Bagshot also showed interest."
He briefly said two sentences and then left.
Is this a warning? Felix wondered. As far as he knew, Snape had been low-key since the beginning of the school year, seemingly wanting nothing to do with Harry and Dumbledore after Voldemort's downfall.
By mid-October, the school finally posted an announcent confirming the date of the first Hogsade weekend.
On that morning, Harry woke up early, the sky outside dark, the wind howling. He stared at the curtains of the four-poster bed for a long ti, unable to fall asleep, so he simply pulled out the book "Advanced Potion Making" from under the bed to pass the ti.
Since the unpleasant small party, Harry had refused to bring this book, which made him extrely embarrassed, to Potions class. For the past two weeks, he and Ron had been reading a book together, until Ron's owl Pigwidgeon brought the new textbooks from Flourish and Blotts.
After that incident, this "Advanced Potion Making" was shelved – accurately speaking, under the bed.
Hermione's words saved its fate. At that ti, she was stuffing magical symbols into a ghost book. "Objectively speaking, this book is actually good, and there are quite a few notes from Professor Snape."
Harry figured that the reason he ended up with this book was that at the ti, only he could barely identify Snape's sticky and ssy notes. During the O.W.Ls exam period last school year, he was responsible for organizing useful notes. When the new school year started, its value significantly diminished.
Harry opened the book from the middle to the back, staring at the blank space with the spell – Invisible Sword, with the simple words "to enemies" below it. In fact, there was more under it, with two different fonts providing comnts.
One comnt was for the spell itself: A cutting curse, cast quickly and silently; with a little practice, it can cut off a person's head, and it works better on stones and tals. The counter-curse is quick healing, recite it three tis (acknowledged by the inventor of the spell).
This paragraph had once deterred Harry.
Under Professor Snape's comntary was Hermione's evaluation (she seed quite annoyed), 'Terrible incantation, are boys of that age all violent in their minds? And I can confidently say that this is an illegal curse...'
Harry grinned silently. He could fully imagine Hermione's mood when she wrote this passage. Although he wasn't sure why the professor associated the spell with cutting off soone's head
– a thought that Harry found quite terrifying – it was undoubtedly a glaring warning for him.
Professor Snape also left quite unconventional comnts on other handwritten spells –
Nail Growth Hex (a minor hex with good codic effects) ...... Earplugs Hex (essential for the library!); and the Adhesive Jaw Hex (effect is sticking the tongue to the palate, aiding in practicing silent casting).
Harry stared at the explanation of the Adhesive Jaw Hex, his thoughts montarily drifting elsewhere. Would this spell be useful for practicing Animagus transformations? Sirius once told them a particularly unreliable piece of advice: using Stupefy and Petrificus Totalus can prevent unconscious swallowing (or chewing) of Mandrake leaves during sleep. Harry thought, with the addition of the Adhesive Jaw Hex, one wouldn't have to worry day or night...
Harry shook his head vigorously; this was definitely a bad idea.
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