Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 169 Smoke and Flight

During this period, students are periodically organized to take short breaks, go for walks, or have picnics at relatively safe beaches, tranquil lakesides, or remote mountain forests along the mainland coast.

Standing on solid ground, breathing in the fresh forest air, and feeling the sunlight filtering through the leaves, these simple yet authentic experiences greatly alleviated the anxiety and sense of isolation brought about by long periods of wandering, gradually replacing the somewhat oppressive atmosphere on the Founder's Ship with optimism.

The students got tanned and laughed more, even though the starry sky above and the sea of ​​clouds below still reminded them that they were in exile.

Meanwhile, under Grindelwald's training in Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is rich in practical experience and highly personalized, the students' combat abilities have been visibly improved.

The classroom is no longer a place of dry theory and rigid defensive spell practice, but a combination of dynamic confrontation, environmental utilization, and precise counterattacks.

Grindelwald's teaching emphasizes preemptive strikes and "one-hit kills" to dismantle the opponent's fighting power, which makes Professor McGonagall somewhat worried.

After observing secretly for a while, Professor McGonagall couldn't help but complain to Snape.

“Severus,” she said, “I must say, Mr. Green’s teaching is astonishing. But don’t you think what he teaches goes beyond defense against the Dark Arts? It’s more like… a course to prepare for proactive offense.”

“Professor, offense is the best defense,” Snape said calmly. “As long as those dark wizards lose their ability or will to cast spells before we even make a move, we won’t get hurt. Don’t you agree?”

In fact, Snape was quite satisfied with this, especially since Grindelwald had agreed to give him individual training.

Faced with this logic, Professor McGonagall simply sighed helplessly and offered no rebuttal. Although she didn't entirely agree with Grindelwald's teaching methods, she knew that in this critical time, the students' safety was more important than certain philosophies.

During the third private lesson, when Grindelwald indicated that he had little more combat skills to impart to Snape and intended to end the lesson, Snape asked him a question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time:

"Mr. Grindelwald, let's set aside the matter of technique for now. I'd like to ask you, how do you manage to fly freely in the air without the aid of a flying broom or any external object?"

"Do you play Quidditch, Severus?" Grindelwald asked, glancing at him.

“Not really interested,” Snape shook his head expressionlessly. “I’m not a fan of sports involving chasing small balls on a broomstick.”

“Ha,” Grindelwald chuckled, “I agree. Quidditch really isn’t very interesting.” He then changed the subject, “So, have you read the book *The Amazing Quidditch*?”

Snape nodded slightly. He had a broad knowledge of the magical world and had naturally read the book. However, he didn't understand why Grindelwald had suddenly brought up this Quidditch treatise, or what its connection was to flying.

“That book actually mentions a key point, though many people may have overlooked it,” Grindelwald said calmly. “You might remember that Whip said that, to date, wizards have not invented any spells that allow them to fly in human form without any tools.”

"Although making an object or oneself float in the air is a common thing, it is completely different from true, autonomous flight."

“But when you brought us to the Founders’ Ship,” Snape looked up at Grindelwald, “weren’t you flying in human form?” He clearly remembered the scene of Grindelwald carrying him and Lady Rosier as they roared into the clouds.

“That’s not the case, Severus.” Grindelwald shook his head, a look on his face saying, “You haven’t observed carefully enough.” “What you see is only what you think.”

As soon as he finished speaking, without any warning, his body slowly left the deck and hovered inside the cabin.

Snape's pupils contracted sharply. He noticed a significant change in Grindelwald's feet beneath his robes.

They were no longer physical entities, but transformed into wisps of ethereal, ever-churning, and indistinct grayish-white smoke.

The smoke did not dissipate, but instead swirled and condensed like a living thing, supporting Grindelwald as he hovered in the air.

His upper body still retained a clear human form, but beneath the hem of his robe, there was a hazy, ever-flowing mist.

“See that?” Grindelwald’s voice remained calm, as if he were demonstrating a trivial little trick. “It’s just that you thought I maintained my complete human form while flying.”

He slowly fell back to the ground, and his smoky lower body reformed, transforming back into his feet clad in elegant leather shoes.

"Teacher, I want to learn this!" A flash of understanding appeared in Snape's eyes. "Please teach me!"

“This requires extremely high proficiency in human transformation and a subtle control over one’s own magic,” Grindelwald said, gracefully settling into his armchair. “It involves temporarily transforming a part of the body into a form more suitable for interacting with air currents and magical energy, while maintaining the stability of the core form and absolute concentration of consciousness.”

“If you want to learn,” his eyes lingered on Snape’s face for a few seconds, as if weighing or evaluating something, “it’s not impossible.” He nodded slowly, “Since you’ve been quite respectful to me, I’ll make an exception and teach you.”

"Consider this... compensation for destroying the method to restore your little snake to human form, and a small reward for your hard work in brewing medicine for Albus these past few days."

Next, under Grindelwald's demanding guidance, Snape began his arduous studies.

His goal is to master how to safely transform a part of his body into a state that is like magical smoke, somewhere between reality and illusion. According to Grindelwald, this form allows him to better sense and manipulate the magical flow and air currents of his surroundings, thus enabling him to fly.

The difficulty lies in the fact that, with the help of incantations, you must maintain a close connection between your mind and the transformed part, still regarding the part of your body that has turned into smoke as an inseparable part of yourself, and control it with strong willpower and continuous incantations, as naturally as you would control your own hands and feet, rather than letting it dissipate or drift away.

After a moment's thought, Snape decided to prioritize deforming his own feet, just as Grindelwald had demonstrated.

On his first attempt, he concentrated all his energy, pointed his wand at his feet, and chanted a complex incantation.

It took him a lot of effort before he could feel the sensation in his feet beginning to become blurred and light...

Looking down, I saw that the edges of my feet were becoming blurry, as if shrouded in a thin layer of gray mist.

However, the first attempt resulted only in a strong sense of imbalance. He couldn't feel any solid support beneath his feet. His feet, which had become "unstable," seemed to have a mind of their own, and uncontrollably drifted slightly to the side.

"Ugh!" Snape groaned, instantly losing his balance and falling forward. He hurriedly pointed his wand at the ground to catch himself. Grindelwald appeared beside him, tapped his wand lightly, and the two wisps of smoke, as if drawn by threads, quickly returned to their original positions, reforming into Snape's feet.

“Control,” Grindelwald finally spoke slowly, “is the core of the core. You must be aware of it at all times, treat it as part of your body. Your mind should be like controlling your fingers.”

“And,” he said with a mocking tone, “that’s why I prioritized deforming my feet, rather than other parts. Rather than… well, like your head. Otherwise, it might be your thoughts that drift away.”

Snape couldn't help but narrow his eyes and glare at Grindelwald. Luckily, he'd subconsciously chosen the same body part as Grindelwald. However, with Grindelwald as his free insurance, there wasn't much to worry about.

After shaking his head, he refocused and continued practicing.

The daily practice was tedious and arduous. Snape tried again and again, improving through the pain of losing balance, drifting, and even losing control in certain areas.

Finally, he was able to steadily transform his feet into controllable smoke-like shapes and firmly "anchor" them to his own will, preventing them from drifting away easily.

During a near-exhausting practice session, he stared wide-eyed at his "feet," which had turned into two wisps of pale gray mist, pouring all his willpower into them.

A little over a minute later, when he snapped out of his focused state and looked down at the grain of the wooden floor beneath his feet, he could barely make out that his body seemed to have moved forward slightly by about two centimeters.
It was a success, even though it was only a mere two centimeters.

This minuscule progress made Snape somewhat dissatisfied; it was still a long way from actual flight.

However, a hint of amazement flashed in Grindelwald's eyes as he stood to the side.

“Impressive, Severus.” His tone rarely carried a hint of approval. “I thought it would take you much longer to reach this point. Your talent and willpower are even better than I expected. No wonder that old man Albus likes you so much.”

"Remember, this technique of flying without the aid of external objects is an extremely profound and dangerous magic. Even if I were to reveal its principles to the world, very few people in this world would be able to learn it."

"Take your time, don't rush things. That's all for today's lesson."

……

As December progressed into its middle, a biting cold wind began to sweep across the sky.

One day, Snape was summoned to the captain's cabin by Professor McGonagall again. Her expression was more serious than ever.

“Severus, there’s an emergency,” Professor McGonagall said bluntly. “We’ve learned through secret channels within the Ministry of Magic that the surge in Muggle murders has prompted a strong reaction from the Muggle authorities, who have taken unprecedented emergency measures.”

"Just recently, a Death Eater was killed by a Muggle police officer with a metal wand while carrying out a 'cleaning' mission."

"Although the other Death Eaters at the scene immediately retaliated and slaughtered all the Muggle police officers present, the incident aroused strong anger and desire for revenge within the Death Eaters."

“What’s worse,” she took a deep breath and continued, “is that, on the advice of Dolores Jane Umbridge, the head of the Office for the Prevention of the Abuse of Magic—no, she’s now the head of the Muggle Administration Department. It’s a newly created department specifically for controlling and managing Muggle affairs.”

"In short, on her advice, the Ministry of Magic decided to take so-called 'special protection' measures for the Muggle Prime Minister."

"Special protection?" Snape said sarcastically. "Is it the Imperius Curse?"

“I think so too,” Professor McGonagall affirmed. “Before this, Voldemort’s new regime didn’t pay much attention to the Muggle government, but now, this newly established Muggle Administration has clearly changed its strategy.”

"They intend to control the entire Muggle society more efficiently by taking control of the Muggle government's head." Her voice was filled with anger. "By using Legilimency on several captured Muggle officials, they have located the secret location where the Muggle Prime Minister is currently hiding."

"These self-righteous, audacious, and utterly foolish pure-blood scum don't even bother to think about why, for so many years, all the wizarding societies around the world have agreed to go into secrecy instead of directly confronting Muggle society!"

“Severus,” Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, looked up, and stared intently at Snape, “we must stop them. We cannot let them succeed, or it could bring another disaster to the wizarding community.”

“I’ve thought about this for a long time, Severus, and you are the ideal person to carry out this task. You understand the affairs of the Muggle world and know how to act in it without attracting attention; your magic is profound enough to handle any potential conflicts.”

"Moreover, your adaptability and decisiveness are exactly what we need. We need you to infiltrate the Muggle Prime Minister's location and safely transfer him to a safe house in the Order of the Phoenix."

Seeing Snape's lips part slightly, Professor McGonagall spoke first.

“Don’t rush to answer,” she said. “You can refuse. It’s a bit…” She shook her head and added, “We have an alternative: young Kingsley Shackle, who knows a little about Muggle society.”

“Why not? I’m quite interested in this as well.” Snape only spoke slowly after Professor McGonagall had finished. “The mission location? I don’t think it’s 10 Downing Street, is it?”

“No, Muggles aren’t as stupid as those people think,” Professor McGonagall said. “Only administrative officials remain at Number 10. The Prime Minister himself has already moved to that secret location.” She handed over a slip of paper with a London address on it. “That’s where the Muggle Prime Minister is currently hiding.”

“This,” she said, taking another piece of parchment from the drawer and handing it to Snape, “is the location of the safe house. It’s one of the backup safe places that Albus left behind a long time ago; it’s very well hidden and has strong magical protection.”

Snape quickly glanced at the address on the parchment, memorized it, and then handed it back to Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall carefully put it away again.

“Be careful, Severus,” she concluded. “Your safety is just as important.”

“I understand,” Snape said. “I’ll get ready and leave.”

　Thank you to Pig Can Fly, Reading Travels, Yi Yun, Dream Moon Kaslana, Karl's Dragon, Book Friend 20220516034609272, and Book Friend 20210601154954872 for the monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)