Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 168 Recent Developments at the Castle
Next, Snape briefly examined the remaining odds and ends, such as the Golden Snitch, the Black Crest Ring, the Chocolate Frog card, and candy. After confirming that there were no hidden dangers, he returned all the items except the mirror to Regulus.

The security check was temporarily over, and Snape took out two more high-performance Comet series flying brooms.

"Here, take this." He shoved one of the handfuls into Regulus's hand, who was clearly still reeling from the series of events that had just transpired.

Regulus instinctively caught the broom handle, the cold, smooth wooden feel coming from his palm.

He looked down at the familiar tool in his hand, his expression momentarily dazed.

The next moment, a strange change occurred.

The moment he habitually spread his legs and naturally stepped onto the broom, the timidity, cowardice, and unease he felt vanished instantly.

Instead, there was a forward-leaning back, a slightly raised chin, and a renewed focus and confidence in those blue eyes.

At this moment, he was no longer the boy huddled under the curtains in Grimmauld Place, but the spirited Slytherin Seeker on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch.

“Hold me, Kreacher,” Regulus’s voice was much calmer.

Upon hearing the command, Kreacher looked at the broom that was suspended off the ground, and immediately climbed onto the back seat with both hands and feet. He stretched out his two thin arms and carefully wrapped them around Regulus's waist.

"Come with me." Snape nodded simply, pushed off with his legs, and the broom rose lightly into the air.

Regulus took a deep breath, suppressing his unease and worry, and then pushed off the ground, rising up in the air.

Two brooms shot towards the sky filled with the glow of sunset, passing through the fluffy clouds.

The wind high in the sky blew through their hair and robes. Regulus felt the long-lost freedom and speed, squinted his eyes slightly, and his tense nerves seemed to relax.

Just as they broke through the thick clouds and arrived above the sea of ​​clouds, purple-orange light splashed across the entire sky, and the setting sun emitted its last rays.

Below were surging clouds, and above was a burning sky.

Snape slowed down a little, glanced back to make sure they were still following closely, then found his direction and slightly turned the broom head.

"Keep up!" His voice could be faintly heard amidst the howling wind.

Their speed increased again.

After flying for about twenty minutes, a huge, blurry outline appeared in the clouds ahead.

As the distance closed, the magnificent magical ship, which had been suspended high in the sky, floated silently at the juncture of the heavens and earth.

This was their destination, the last bastion for the exiled Hogwarts students and teachers. The evening breeze fluttered the Hogwarts flags hanging on the deck, and the huge magical sails billowed in the air, emitting a low whistling sound.

Snape slowed down, standing shoulder to shoulder with Regulus, and carried him and Kreacher steadily through the barrier.

The broom tip gently brushed the hull and landed on the broad deck of the Founder's Ship.

Regulus nimbly rolled off and caught Kreacher, who was about to fall to the ground.

“Welcome home.” Snape said calmly as he took the flying broom from Regulus.

This simple sentence caused Regulus, who had just stepped onto the unfamiliar deck, and Kreacher, who was tightly clutching the hem of Regulus's robe, to both pause slightly.

"Home? Will this become our new home?" A warm feeling mixed with trepidation welled up inside Regulus. Before he could even process the question, a familiar and vibrant voice rang out:
"Severus, you're back! Didn't you see anything on the way... wait!" It was the short Professor Flitwick running over. He shrieked with delight when he saw Snape standing next to him, "Merlin's big shorts!"

“Regulus Black? Oh, it really is you! Kid, it’s so good to see you!”

He instinctively wanted to rush forward and embrace him, but his steps suddenly faltered, the lingering surprise on his face replaced by wariness. His eyes swept over Regulus's pale, young face, and his voice deepened: "But...child, you..."

“Professor Flitwick,” Snape stepped forward and explained, “Regulus has just broken free from the Death Eaters’ shackles and chosen to stand with us, on the side of justice.”

"Although we seem to be the weaker party at present."

Professor Flitwick still stared at Regulus with suspicion.

Snape understood his concerns, reached out, and took Regulus's arm.

Regulus almost instinctively wanted to dodge, but he forced himself to let Snape roll up his black sleeves.

A patch of pale skin was exposed to the air.

Professor Flitwick leaned closer, his small eyes narrowed, and carefully examined the area that was almost blended into the skin. He then gently touched it a few times with his fingers, and his brows gradually relaxed.

"Beautiful spell!" He looked up at Snape, his eyes filled with admiration.

“Regulus, child, welcome home.” He softened his expression, turned to Regulus, and said gently, “Come with me, I’ll take you to see Professor McGonagall. We need to know a few things.” He held out his small hand, gesturing for Regulus to follow.

“You come along too, Severus.” Professor Flitwick glanced at Snape again. “After all, you’re the one who brought him back.”

In the spacious and warm captain's cabin.

Professor McGonagall sat behind her desk, her expression serious, her hands clasped on the table. Snape leaned silently against the door, while Professor Flitwick sat in an armchair beside them, watching them with concern.

With intermittent additions from Klee, Regulus struggled to recount his hellish experiences of the past few months.

He was forced to watch Death Eaters "hunt" Muggles for amusement, and the scene was etched into his mind like a nightmare.

Even more terrifying, his cousin Bellatrix, during a “party,” even screamed and ordered him to personally participate in torturing a captured Muggle old man.

He couldn't do it; he backed down and cowardly avoided it.

But this only earned him Bellatrix's rage and humiliating insults, calling him a "weak disgrace to Black," and a Cruciatus Curse matching his cowardice.

In his fear and the collapse of his self-belief, his other cousin, Narcissa, offered him a lifeline: to go to the exiled Hogwarts, to the real Hogwarts.

“I…I can’t take it anymore…those screams…their eyes…” Regulus’s voice was hoarse, his hands were clenched into fists on his knees, his eyes were closed, and his body was trembling slightly.

Professor McGonagall stood up, walked around the table, and stood before him. Her usually stern face softened with gentle concern.

She reached out, hesitated for a moment, and then gently placed her hand on Regulus's tense shoulder.

“Don’t be afraid, child, don’t think about those terrible things anymore,” she said. “You are safe here. No one can hurt you, and no one will force you to do anything against your will. You’ve done well; you’ve chosen the right path, and that takes a lot of courage.”

At the same time, her gaze passed over Regulus and looked at Snape questioningly.

Snape nodded firmly.

“Professor,” he said softly, “Narcissa is one of our partners, and as you know, I’m leaving this time to see her.”

“Regulus,” Snape said, walking to the table after Regulus had calmed down a bit, “How is Hogwarts, I mean the castle?”

This question immediately drew McGonagall and Professor Flitwick's attention back to Regulus.

Regulus wiped away his tears and exhaled.

"It's...it's still relatively normal, I think." He looked up, his gaze slightly unfocused. "At least school is still in session. Because you took all the mud with you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Snape's gaze was fixed on him coldly.

Regulus jolted awake, immediately realizing he had misspoke, and a flicker of panic crossed his face.

“This kid,” Snape thought, “though he was terrified by the atrocities of those lunatics, his pure-blood supremacy is still deeply ingrained. The Black family’s influence is not so easy to wash away. Rebels like Sirius are the real outcasts.”

“Sorry! Muggle-born students!” Regulus quickly corrected. “Yes, without them in the school, the remaining students are all pure-bloods and half-bloods, and they haven’t faced much hardship.”

“Well… it’s not entirely alright,” he licked his lips. “We’ve been regrouped. Now, purebloods live together, occupying the towers of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and even eat at the same table.”

"The mixed-race students live in the Hufflepuff dormitory area. As for the original Slytherin basement dormitory, it has been sealed off, supposedly to protect precious artifacts."

“Moreover, there’s only one house left in the school now…” He glanced at Professor McGonagall, his voice lowering, “It’s Slytherin.”

"The signs of the other houses have been removed. The curriculum has also changed a lot. Defense Against the Dark Arts—no, it's now called 'Practical Application of Magic'—is taught by a group of Death Eaters on a rotating basis, and the content is terrifying..."

“Hmph,” Snape scoffed, breaking the silence, “that’s not so bad. At least it proves we had foresight.”

"If the Muggle-born students were left in that castle, they would probably end up in the kitchen, crammed into the cupboard with the elves, drinking soup if there was any soup left."

Professor McGonagall nodded heavily, agreeing with Snape's assessment.

“Alright,” she rang a small bell on the table, “go and get some rest, Regulus.”

A moment later, a house-elf dressed in a neat tea towel knocked on the door.

“Professor McGonagall?” The house-elf bowed respectfully, then turned to Snape and bowed again. Snape nodded slightly to her.

“Mipper,” Professor McGonagall said, pointing to Regulus and Kreacher, “take Mr. Black and his house-elf to the empty cabin C-7 and make sure they are familiar with the ship’s rules and living quarters.”

“Also,” she glanced at Kreacher, “this is Kreacher, Mr. Black’s house-elf. Tell Hobby in the kitchen that Kreacher is good at making French onion soup, stews and pies, and that he can go help out in the kitchen.”

“Yes, Professor,” Miper replied loudly, glancing at Regulus and Kreacher, and gesturing for them to follow. “Sirs, please come with me.”

Regulus nodded gratefully to everyone before following Miper out of the captain's cabin. Kreacher followed closely behind, still clutching Regulus's robe tightly.

After they left and the door closed, Professor McGonagall said seriously to Snape, "I'll have the house-elves keep a close eye on Regulus's condition. That boy..." She frowned, "...your handling was timely, Severus. But we must remain vigilant."

“I understand,” Snape said. “Everyone’s safety is the most important thing.”

……

time flies.

In the days that followed, "Mr. Green" took over Professor Flitwick's part-time job teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. This was a great relief for Professor Flitwick, who was already juggling multiple jobs and extremely busy.

However, Grindelwald's first lesson in office went a little awful.

While demonstrating a rather fancy mobile spellcasting technique, he seemed to underestimate the floor of the ship's cabin beneath his feet and nearly stumbled and fell.

Although he managed to regain his balance in time, the former famous dark wizard was clearly still bothered by his "loss of composure".

He suspiciously inspected the floor, scrutinized every student in the classroom, and finally announced a temporary suspension of classes with a grim expression.

After asking Professor Flitwick to return to teaching for another week, Grindelwald plunged into the cabin and began tinkering mysteriously.

A week later, when Grindelwald reappeared in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, he appeared unusually confident, even showing a hint of excitement at being eager to demonstrate his results.

No one knows what he did to prepare that week, but the students could clearly feel that his classes had become more "exciting".

At the end of November, the exiles' long-prepared secret radio station finally opened in full swing.

Radio waves from Hogwarts Lookout Station began to penetrate the clouds and broadcast throughout the British Isles.

The radio broadcasts directly addressed the atrocities of the Death Eater regime: exposing their systematic persecution and killing of Muggles and all non-pure-bloods.

The hosts, in a somber and angry voice, broadcast a series of horrific events, clearly demonstrating that under the new regime, the massacre of Muggles had transformed from a clandestine operation into a near-public and heinous "entertainment activity."

Of particular note is that, thanks to the efforts of Dirk Clysway, a Muggle-born wizard, former member of the Slug Club, and one of the core members of the One Heart Society, the Hogwarts Lookout began broadcasting in goblin, giant, and even troll language.

Despite Clydeway's private complaints to Snape that broadcasting to mentally challenged trolls was a waste of time and magic—his exact words being, "Trolls weigh a ton but have brains the size of a booger; they can't understand the radio!"—Clydeway declared.

But Snape simply reassured him, "If we don't take over the propaganda front, the enemy will. Even if it only affects one giant, it's still valuable."

In fact, he knew very well that Clysway didn't want to continue this "troublesome task" largely because of the embarrassment he felt when he made those strange "snoring" sounds in front of others.

However, the result is what matters most.

Surprisingly, despite the Death Eaters' tight control over Gringotts, the staff at the watchtower were astonished to find that their listener feedback included quite a few goblin listeners.

These Gringotts employees seemed quite dissatisfied with the Ministry of Magic's takeover of the bank and were clearly keeping an eye on the storm in their own way.

　Thank you to Pig Can Fly, Reading Travels, and Book Friend 20220819235225730 for the monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)