Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 161 A Night Visit to the Ministry of Magic

At the edge of a dense forest, after the momentary dizziness from Apparition dissipated, Snape immediately took out the token that sensed the location of the Founder's Ark from the inner pocket of his robe.

However, when he channeled his magic into the badge, attempting to pinpoint the exact location of the magical ship, the feedback he received indicated that it was at almost the same altitude as him.

“The Founders’ Ship is not in the sky.” Snape’s face darkened, and he turned to tell his companions about the discovery.

"What?!" Moody's hand was already on his wand. The Longbottoms and the Tonks family immediately tensed up, and Kate Prundgast instinctively moved closer to them.

“Let’s go take a look,” Snape said in a deep voice.

Without any hesitation, they immediately lowered their profile and moved quickly along the hidden path that wound along the coastline and the edge of the woodland, heading in the direction indicated by the token.

As they drew closer to the area indicated by the token, the salty smell of the sea began to fill the air, and the ground beneath their feet was gradually replaced by soft sand.

The sound of waves crashing against the beach became clearer, mixed with some strange human voices, which seemed to be muffled laughter.

Snape immediately raised his hand to signal everyone to stop, while he himself quietly crouched down, parted the bushes to create a barely perceptible gap, and cautiously peered out.

The sight that came into view startled him slightly, and he even felt a sense of absurdity:
On the golden beach, the first rays of dawn break. A group of blurry figures are running, splashing in the water, and building sandcastles, while a few taller children are playing simple beach volleyball.

At the edge of the beach, the figures of several adults could be vaguely seen. They walked casually, but their positions subtly protected the playing children in the middle, while they vigilantly scanned their surroundings.

Snape immediately recognized the short wizard among them, whose height was very distinctive.

"Phew..." He let out a long sigh of relief, straightened up, and shouted towards the beach, "Professor Flitwick, it's us, we're back!"

The shout shattered the tranquility of the beach in the early morning. The students playing on the sand stopped curiously and looked over. The adult wizards on guard immediately turned around, and when they saw that it was Snape, a relieved smile appeared on their faces.

The people behind the bushes breathed a sigh of relief and filed out.

Flitwick and Professor Boubagi immediately jogged over to greet them.

“Severus, Alastor, Emily, thank you Merlin, you’re all back safe and sound!” Professor Flitwick’s voice was filled with excitement. “Oh, Frank, Alice! Ted, Andromeda, and little Dora! That’s wonderful, you’re all safe and sound!”

In this heartwarming moment of reunion, Snape did something that surprised everyone.

Without warning, he raised his arm and pointed his wand at Mrs. Prendgast, who stood somewhat uneasy at the edge of the crowd.

“Don’t move, Ms. Prendgast,” he said. “Please wait a moment.”

Professor Flitwick's smile froze, and he reacted swiftly by raising his wand, his wariness overshadowing his joy at the reunion, though he had no idea what was going on: "Severus, what's going on?" Almost simultaneously, Moody swiftly moved to Kate's other side, forming a pincer movement with Snape, subtly encircling Kate in the middle.

The Longbottoms and others, who had just been rescued, were also stunned, looking at the sudden standoff with bewilderment.

“Sir,” Kate’s face turned pale instantly, her eyes filled with shock and confusion, “What…what is this?”

Snape didn't answer her question immediately. He kept his wand pointing at Kate, and his tone softened, as if explaining to everyone, but also to Kate herself: "Relax, everyone. Don't be nervous. It's just a small confirmation procedure."

“Professor Bubbaje, I need your help with something.” He turned his head slightly to look at Professor Bubbaje, who also looked surprised. “Please bring Reese Polk, a first-year student at Hufflepuff School, here immediately. Thank you.”

“Okay, I’ll go right away!” Professor Bubbaji didn’t waste any words and immediately nodded in agreement. He turned around and ran quickly towards the beach, searching for that familiar little figure in the crowd.

The few dozen seconds of waiting felt exceptionally long. The students on the beach also noticed the unusual situation and looked around curiously, but were gently reassured by Gideon and the others and did not approach.

Soon, Professor Bubbaje hurried back, leading a little girl with neatly combed short brown hair and a look of confusion and curiosity on her face. It was Reese Polk.

Before Reese could approach the crowd, Snape flicked his wrist very slightly, and the wand he had been holding slipped silently into the depths of his wide black sleeve.

"Good morning, Mr. Snape, Professor Flitwick!" Reese bowed politely to Snape and Professor Flitwick.

As she looked up to greet the others, her gaze naturally swept over everyone, but instantly settled on Mrs. Prendgast's face.

“Aunt Kate?!” Little Rachel’s eyes widened, her face bursting with incredible surprise.

She instinctively wanted to rush over with a joyful shout, just like she always did.

Snape, however, simply raised his hand and silently blocked Reese's path.

“Reese,” he leaned down slightly, his voice carrying a reassuring strength, “Don’t worry.”

Reese stopped in her tracks, puzzled, and looked up at Snape, her little face full of confusion: "Professor? He's my aunt."

“Raisie, I know you miss her. But do you remember what I said to you in Potions class,” Snape said? Hint: that earned you your first badge of merit.

Reese paused for a moment, then instinctively replied, "'Caution is the first lesson you learn when you step into my classroom.'"

She took a small badge out of the pocket of her robe.

“I remember, sir.” Although she said this, her eyes couldn’t help but glance anxiously at her aunt.

“Very well.” Snape nodded. “Now, I need you to maintain that caution. As with potion making, verify the identity of this lady before you.”

“Sir…” Reese was a little confused by the question, her little face scrunched up. She looked at Snape’s serious face, then at Aunt Kate’s face, which showed a mixture of fear, grievance, and expectation, and seemed to understand something. She asked hesitantly, “Are you worried that she’s an imposter?”

“Clever,” Snape said approvingly.

Reese fell into a brief moment of thought, her small brow furrowed.

Kate looked at her niece with concern, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she held back.

Finally, Ruixi seemed to have thought of something, and her little face lit up.

“Aunt Kate!” she mustered her courage, looked up, and called out to Kate, who was a few steps away, “What was the design on the scarf you gave me last Christmas?”

“A scarf?” Kate tried to recall. “It was a Niffler with a little snowball on its head. I embroidered its nose crooked, and your mother laughed at me for it…” Hearing this answer, the last trace of doubt on Reese’s face vanished completely. She turned to Snape, nodded vigorously, and gave him a very affirmative look: “Yes, sir, she is my aunt, absolutely true!”

Snape was relieved. He patted Reese's head and stepped aside, saying, "Go ahead."

"Auntie!" Reese jumped into Kate's arms like a cheerful little bird. "Auntie, it really is you! What brings you here? I've missed you so much!"

Kate hugged her tightly, kissing her hair, the shock and grievance from before completely dispelled by overwhelming joy.

Snape walked up to Kate and nodded slightly: "Ms. Prundgast, I apologize for my earlier rudeness. These are extraordinary times."

“No, no, sir.” Kate hugged Reese and shook her head repeatedly. “You did the right thing. No need to apologize! Thank you, thank you for protecting Reese so carefully.”

After comforting the reunited aunt and nephew, Snape approached Professor Flitwick.

The group walked back towards the beach.

“Professor,” Snape asked in a low voice, his gaze sweeping over the students playing on the beach, “what’s going on here? Why are the students here, and why are they being made to come down?”

“Severus,” Professor Flitwick stroked his beard, a gentle smile spreading across his face, “it’s Halloween! I know the situation is tense, but the children need to relax and get some fresh air, don’t they?”
"Spending all day on the boat, with only the glaring sun and monotonous white clouds as far as the eye can see, I'm afraid the children will get sick from being cooped up all the time. On this rare holiday, I'm taking them down to walk on the beach and listen to the waves."

“Don’t worry,” he added, “we are very careful. All students handed in their wands before coming down, and we keep them safe. There will be no magical fluctuations that could alert the Ministry of Magic.”

Snape looked at the students on the beach, who had temporarily forgotten their fear and wandering, laughing and running freely, and nodded slightly: "That's good, everyone really needs to relax."

He paused, then remembered something else and asked in a low voice, "Professor, has Mr. Green returned?"

“No news yet.” Professor Flitwick shook his head, a hint of worry on his face. But he quickly shrugged, trying to sound casual. “But he’s that guy, isn’t he? I guess he might have his own plans, or he’s run into some minor troubles he needs to deal with.”

Snape didn't ask any more questions, he just hummed in response.

Although somewhat worried, he shared Professor Flitwick's opinion. If even Grindelwald couldn't escape unscathed, then probably no one in the world could. He chose to trust that Grindelwald could handle his "mission."

So Snape walked to a high rock at the edge of the beach and silently took on the duty of guarding; Moody also leaned on his cane under a tree not far away, keeping watch in another direction; the rescued Longbottoms, the Tonks family, and Mrs. Prundgast were led back to the Founders' Ship by Emily and Professor Bubbage.

……

A few hours earlier, in London, England, the streets were deserted and dark.

Gellert Grindelwald appeared silently in a secluded alley.

Before him stood a dilapidated red telephone booth, several panes of glass broken and missing, revealing rusted iron beneath the mottled red paint.

The phone booth was right next to a dirty brick wall, covered in graffiti and unrecognizable. The receiver of the old-fashioned telephone was slumped on the hook, and the cord was loose.

Grindelwald walked straight over and reached out to take the receiver.

Instead of pressing the number keys "62442" like a normal visitor, he casually tapped the inside of the microphone with his wand.

hum-

The phone booth suddenly shook, and the ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

Immediately afterwards, the sidewalk outside the glass window began to rise slowly, like an elevator car, while the entire phone booth, along with Grindelwald, sank into the ground.

After sinking for about a minute, a thin beam of golden light suddenly shot out from a gap in the phone booth, routinely trying to sweep over the visitor's entire body.

However, the golden light swept through the air as if it were nothing, passing through Grindelwald's feet, body, and finally his face without any obstruction.

Jin Guang seemed to pause in confusion, then wandered aimlessly around the "empty" phone booth for several seconds before reluctantly disappearing.

Then, a cold, mechanical female voice rang out in the small space:
"Guests of the Ministry of Magic, you will need to go through security and register your wand at the checkpoint. The checkpoint is located at the far end of the main hall. The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the phone booth door popped open with a bang.

Grindelwald strode out and entered the iconic main hall of the Ministry of Magic.

Late at night, the hall was extremely dimly lit, with only a few wall lamps emitting a faint glow.

Grindelwald stood at the far end of the hall, the gleaming dark wooden floor stretching out beneath his feet and disappearing into the gloom in the distance.

Looking up, the high peacock blue ceiling is inlaid with countless constantly moving and changing golden symbols, like a huge high-altitude bulletin board, shimmering faintly in the dim light.

The walls are inlaid with dark, glossy black wood panels, and at intervals there is a gilded fireplace that has not yet been lit.

In the center of the hall was an empty pool, without statues or the sound of flowing water.

The "Magic Brothers Fountain" sculpture group that originally stood here seems to have been moved, but has not yet been rearranged.

A small, stained sign lay upside down beside the pool, bearing the words "All proceeds from the Magic Brothers Fountain are donated to the St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries" with several distinct footprints on it.

Grindelwald's gaze swept over the ruins of the fountain, then over the few silver scimitars and bronze nuggets gleaming faintly at the bottom of the dried-up pool.

"Hmph." A disdainful snort escaped from his nose.

He didn't linger, but walked with a calm stride straight to the only place with a faint light at the end of the main hall.

At the security checkpoint, next to a dim, solitary lamp, a slightly balding red-haired man was slumped over the table, snoring evenly.

Grindelwald's footsteps startled him awake.

　Thank you to Xiaodizi, Zhentianming, Pigs Can Fly, and Book Friend 20250228154854452 for the monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)