Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 102 Yixinshe
Snape returned to the dueling arena, looked at the students below, and twirled his wand nimbly between his fingers.

His top priority right now is to continue tonight's dueling club activities; he can't let so many eagerly awaiting young wizards down.

“It seems our Professor Malfoy has more important matters to attend to,” Snape said, feeling the gaze of hundreds of eyes on him. “Perhaps I shall continue teaching everyone dueling techniques. Does anyone object?”

A buzzing sound came from the audience; the students seemed somewhat confused about how things had unfolded that evening.

“Things aren’t peaceful outside,” Snape suddenly raised his voice, interrupting the whispers. “The Death Eaters are rampaging everywhere, and the walls of Hogwarts won’t protect us forever.”

"What spell do you use when you need to defend yourself? Levitate? Color Change? Or—" His gaze swept across every face, and his wand suddenly pointed to a training dummy in the corner, "—like this?"

A flash of red light, and the dummy instantly exploded into several pieces of wood, which scattered on the floor.

"Ah—" Several first-grade students exclaimed in surprise.

Snape waved his wand expressionlessly: "Restore to normal."

The fragments were reassembled, and the dummy stood there perfectly intact.

“Dummies can be repaired,” Snape said softly, “but if you are struck by a curse, you may not be able to be healed. In the face of an accident, being able to spend the rest of your life in St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Injuries is a luxury for many. If you don’t know what St. Mungo is, you can ask the students around you.”

After the students' murmurs subsided, Snape continued, "You should all value practice so that you can effectively protect yourselves if you ever need to defend yourselves. For example, an effective defensive charm, the Armor Charm, whose incantation is 'Armor Protection,' is something you should all master."

“Miss Mary MacDonald,” Snape suddenly called out, and Mary looked up in surprise, “would you please come up and demonstrate the use of the Ironclad Charm for everyone?”

Mary walked onto the stage with some hesitation.

“Raise your wrist a little higher,” Snape instructed briefly, gently adjusting her posture with his wand, “like this. Remember, the power of a spell comes from unwavering will.”

“Come on, let’s try. Don’t use a silent spell.” He took a step back. “Watch out—a snarl!”

"Armor for protection!" Mary shouted.

A burst of heat erupted from the tip of her wand, forming a semi-transparent barrier in front of her.

Snape's spell struck the barrier and vanished like raindrops falling into a lake.

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.

“Very good,” Snape clapped his hands. “As you can see, Mary resisted my tickling curse very effectively.”

“Next, I’ll demonstrate the Disarming Charm,” he said, pointing his wand at the dummy. “Puppet, come here!”

The puppet flew onto the stage.

"To ensure the new students are aware, the Disarming Charm's incantation is 'Expel Your Weapon,'" Snape said, casting the Disarming Charm on the dummy.

The wooden stick in the dummy's hand flew into the air, where he gently caught it.

“Alright,” he said, “everyone can form teams to practice the Disarming Charm, or any other spells, but please don’t cause permanent damage to your classmates. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

For the next hour, the auditorium was transformed into a giant practice area.

Snape weaved through the crowd, lingering several times near the spot where Professor Malfoy had fallen. He would sometimes correct the students' staff-holding posture, and sometimes patiently demonstrate the pronunciation of the spell. With his help, Quirrell even nervously completed his first successful Disarming Charm.

“Don’t curse your classmates,” he warned as he passed two Gryffindors practicing with each other, “unless you want to spend the weekend at Ms. Pomfrey’s.”

As the practice drew to a close, Snape noticed that the atmosphere in the Great Hall had completely changed. Even the most timid and introverted students were chanting spells aloud.

"How do you feel?" Snape stepped back onto the dueling stage, tapping his throat with his wand, his voice amplified by a megaphone spell.

“That’s awesome!” Bertram Aubrey from Hufflepuff shouted.

“Much better than Malfoy!” Quirrell chimed in, then seemed to realize what he’d said and quickly shrank back.

Snape's lips curled up slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

“I believe Professor Malfoy taught you something else today—about the superiority of pure-bloods.” He paused, his dark eyes sweeping across the room. “Mary, who just demonstrated a beautiful Ironclad Charm to you, comes from a Muggle family.”

"Moreover, as you all have seen, the illustrious patriarch of the Malfoy family, a noble pureblood, couldn't even withstand two moves from me. To be precise, one move. He even had to go to the headmaster to complain."

A burst of laughter filled the auditorium.

“It’s clear that almost nothing he says is credible. But there is one point in his view that is worth considering—” Snape raised his hand to signal for silence, “We need to unite.”

"It's not about uniting around a pure-blood wizard, but about all the people from all four houses coming together. Regardless of bloodline, house, or ability, as students of Hogwarts, we all face the same threats, and we must get along as harmoniously and unitedly as we did at the founding of the school."

“Therefore, I propose the formation of a society,” Snape continued. “If you agree with this idea, you are welcome to join. We will call it the Order of the One. There will be mutual assistance within the society, and discrimination and bullying will be strictly prohibited, both internally and externally.”

"Then why should we unite around you?" a defiant voice rang out from the crowd. "Why should we be 'united' with Slytherin? How many dark wizards has your house produced?"

The atmosphere in the auditorium suddenly fell silent.

Snape didn't get angry; he recognized Sirius's voice, but he didn't care.

“That’s exactly the problem,” he said calmly. “I wouldn’t ask that question. I don’t care which college you come from, what your background is, or how strong or weak you are. Everyone is equal.”

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but Lupin grabbed his sleeve.

To everyone's surprise, Lily Evans raised her hand.

“Miss Evans?” Snape said.

“I want to join,” Lily said clearly, “Lily Evans, Gryffindor.”

“Very good,” Snape said, taking a roll of parchment and a quill from his robes and writing down her information.

Then, more hands went up—"Pandora Flaherty, Ravenclaw..."

The quill pen automatically recorded the name of each applicant.

Beside the auditorium, Sirius said to Lupin and Peter with some dissatisfaction, "Let's go! This is simply—"

“Actually, I think Snape has a point,” Lupin said softly, looking down. “The rivalry between the four houses has indeed caused too much unnecessary conflict, and no one has ever done anything like what he did before…”

Sirius stared at him incredulously: "You're on Snotty's side?"

“I…” Lupin said hesitantly, “I just…” Sirius’s face darkened, and he turned and strode toward the exit.

Peter quickly followed; Lupin gave Snape a complicated look before chasing after him as well.

Just as they were about to leave the Great Hall, they bumped into Dumbledore.

"Ah, is it over, Mr. Blake?" the principal asked kindly.

Sirius nodded stiffly and walked past the principal to leave.

Dumbledore stepped aside, but called out to Lupin: "Remus, your performance surprised me. It takes great courage to stand up for yourself in front of your friends, and you did very well this time."

Lupin blushed, whispered "Thank you, Professor," and then hurriedly chased after him.

Dumbledore walked slowly toward the dueling stage, and the students automatically parted to make way for him.

Snape was looking down at the names of the applicants when the surrounding silence caught his attention.

He looked up and paused for a moment when he saw Dumbledore.

“Ah, Professor,” Snape quickly regained his composure, “would you like to join our student society as well?”

“Well taught, Severus.” A smile flickered in Dumbledore’s eyes, then he turned to the other students. “However, joining a club is an important decision, and to some extent it will determine how you spend your school life. So, there’s no need for you to rush into making a decision tonight. You can think it over carefully before going to see Severus.”

"That concludes today's dueling instruction," he said. "Everyone can go back and rest now."

The students began packing up and leaving, excitedly discussing tonight's practice.

Dumbledore looked at Snape: "Come to my office, there are some things we need to discuss."

On the corridor leading to the headmaster's office, Snape couldn't help but complain, "I walk this road far too often, Professor. I hope I can come here less often in the future."

“If you don’t cause trouble,” Dumbledore replied gently.

“I’ve always been like this, Professor,” Snape shrugged. “I like a quiet life, you know that.”

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head.

The stone beast jumped aside, and the spiral staircase slowly carried them up.

When they entered the circular office, Abraxas Malfoy was pacing anxiously back and forth inside.

"Finally here!" Malfoy's complaint came at him. "Dumbledore, I thought you were going to keep me waiting until dawn!"

“We mustn’t interrupt the young wizards’ practice or spoil their fun, Abraxas,” Dumbledore said calmly, gesturing for Snape to sit down. “A worthwhile dueling lesson is worth the wait.”

"Am I more important, or are those brats' games that they don't care about?" Malfoy demanded angrily.

Dumbledore and Snape exchanged a glance and wisely remained silent.

Malfoy began a lengthy accusation against Snape for "disrespecting his teachers" and demanded severe punishment for him.

“I was demonstrating the duel as you requested, Professor,” Snape replied calmly. “Your lack of skill is not my fault.”

“Dumbledore, look at this!” Malfoy’s face was contorted so badly he was almost unrecognizable. “This is the student you’ve taught!”

“I thought you would be calmer, Abraxas.” Dumbledore produced a plate of pastries and a bottle of wine at the opportune moment. “Try it; I hope it will soothe your anger.”

Malfoy picked up a biscuit, took a bite, and immediately spat it out: "Too sweet! It's practically inedible!"

"Dobby!" he shouted.

With a loud bang, a house-elf wearing a dirty pillowcase appeared in the center of the office.

"Master, are you summoning Dobby?" he asked in a shrill voice, his ears twitching nervously.

"Go and get some real snacks!" Malfoy commanded. "Now!"

Another loud bang, and the sprite vanished.

A moment later, Dobby returned with exquisite pastries and stood respectfully beside his master.

“Such behavior,” Malfoy said, waving a waffle, “must be severely punished, this rude boy!”

“No problem,” Dumbledore said. “Perhaps we should prohibit Snape from continuing to take Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.”

“If we don’t have class, then we don’t have class. It’ll save us time,” Snape thought, his gaze falling on Dobby—the house-elf stood trembling to the side, his ears drooping, thin and bony, covered in wounds. “But, could we ask Malfoy to release Dobby? Malfoy has been wronged by me, and I’m afraid he might take it out on Dobby.”

“No classes?” Malfoy’s voice brought Snape back to reality. “Solitary confinement isn’t enough! We need the old, harsher form of punishment—hang him by the wrists from the ceiling for days!”

“Hmm, what about the Imperius Curse…” Snape continued to ponder ways to free Dobby. “If we use the Imperius Curse to control Malfoy and give Dobby a piece of clothing, would that release him? I’m not so sure.”

"Although Lucius's act of giving Dobby the socks was not motivated by subjective intent, it was at least a voluntary act. If the owner is under the control of the Imperius Curse, his actions are not out of free will, and the determination of the magical contract may be controversial."

“Moreover,” Snape thought, glancing up at Dumbledore and rejecting the idea, “Dumbledore would never allow himself to do such a thing.”

He continued to listen absentmindedly to Malfoy and Dumbledore's conversation, his fingers stealthily moving towards his socks. The Imperius Curse might not be effective and was too risky, but Transfiguration… the robes weren't suitable, and he couldn't take off his trousers…

After thinking it over, it's clear that socks are the most convenient option, which explains why Harry made the same choice.

Recalling the living transformation techniques he had learned in Advanced Transfiguration class, Snape quickly took off one of his socks while Dumbledore was comforting Malfoy.

He held out the tip of his wand and lightly touched the sock.

The sock twisted in Snape's palm and transformed into a small, dark red serpent with black spots on its scales.

“Professor Malfoy,” he suddenly stood up, interrupting the other’s endless complaints, his voice unusually humble, “I realize the mistake in my behavior and sincerely apologize to you for what just happened.”

As Snape spoke, he extended his hand as if to shake hands and apologize, but as Malfoy grasped his hand in confusion, he slipped the snake into Malfoy's palm.

　Thank you to the following users for their monthly tickets: I will always love Ximo-chan, Xiangpiaopiao Strawberry, OJ_OZ, Zhang Jiuman, EVA Lone Wolf, Fan Shuchen, A Gentle Breeze Blows the Bright Moon, Plate Armor Spirit Master, Rucald, Star Pirate Ship, and Book Friend 20190101114655273.

　　------

　　I originally wanted to use a more roundabout method to free Dobby, but I found myself unwilling to let Dobby continue to suffer (o)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)