Hogwarts: Oh no, I've become Voldemort!

He didn't intend to pursue the matter of Harry and his friends stealing potions to brew the Polyjuice Potion. Now that Dumbledore had personally admitted the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, letting these kids run wild wasn't such a bad thing, except—

"How dare she steal my dragon blood! That costs 17 sieverts for an ounce!"

Snape gritted his teeth as he stared at a huge container on the wall cabinet. The crimson liquid inside had dwindled to a mere drop, meaning that at least six pints of dragon blood had been stolen by the thief!

He lost 120 Galleons just from the dragon blood!

But what he stole wasn't just dragon blood!

"Three drops of phoenix tears—I had to beg and plead with Dumbledore for them!"

“All the venom of the rune snakes—I’m not so upset about that, after all, I have a whole nest of snakes that I can extract venom from at any time—but how dare you—how dare you take my snakes with you?” Snape felt as if his chest was about to explode!

The boxes where he used to raise snakes were now empty, and even the few snake eggs that had just been bred had been taken away by Cyrus!

“A tuft of chimera mane—” Snape pinched his philtrum to keep himself from fainting.

As a creature classified as xxxxx dangerous, the Chimera has only been recorded as being killed by a wizard once, making magical materials from this magical beast extremely difficult to obtain and practically priceless!

Then, he meticulously listed out each of the stolen materials...

till the end:

“A whole bottle of morning dew, that’s cheap, you can collect it anywhere,” he said, his chest heaving violently as if he had gone mad, but he laughed, his voice sounding like he was biting a piece of iron. “But for this bottle of morning dew, I bent over and collected it leaf by leaf in the Forbidden Forest, almost breaking my spine!”

Snape fainted.

-

“I have a feeling Snape won’t let this go easily. I just hope he doesn’t find out we stole his things. By the way, you didn’t take any extra, did you?” Ron looked at Cyrus warily.

Cyrus pulled a few snake eggs from his sleeve, roasted them on his wand, and then tilted his head in thought for a moment:

"No!"

"Never mind all that, I'll treat you to roasted eggs."

Ron cracked one open without hesitation, and the aroma of snake eggs immediately wafted out.

Fragrant!

Why do I have to go to work on Mondays?!

Chapter 31 Lockhart: What could a lousy potion maker possibly have?

As soon as Snape woke up, he rushed to Dumbledore's office.

Now, he can't get those magical materials back because he has no evidence. The Ministry of Magic has never considered Legilimency as evidence because memories can be altered. But the loss of over a thousand Galleons still needs to find someone to compensate him.

He absolutely cannot be the one to suffer this humiliation!

When Snape arrived at the headmaster's office in a rage, he discovered that another annoying peacock was also there.

“Please wait a moment, Severus,” Dumbledore said quietly.

"Good afternoon, Snape." Lockhart flashed what he thought was a charming smile, which immediately annoyed Snape even more. "What brings you here? Did you find out that I'm planning to apply to the headmaster to start a dueling club, so you came here to be my assistant?"

"Duel Club?"

Lockhart's words briefly pulled Snape out of his rage, followed by a disdainful look, as if to say, "You?"

But Lockhart was completely unaware.

He probably thinks he's the perfect candidate.

“Dumbledore, the situation is very serious. People have been hurt. I think it is absolutely necessary to establish a dueling club and train everyone thoroughly in case they need to defend themselves one day! To use the methods I have used countless times to protect themselves—and I am also a member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, so I don’t think anyone is more suitable than me!”

He looked intently at Dumbledore, hoping to receive a positive response from him.

Dumbledore agreed in a very short time.

This greatly excited Lockhart.

"Believe me, you'll be so glad you made this decision!" He had a "you've hit the jackpot" look on his face. "Although I agreed to teach this course, the club doesn't count. This is just a small contribution I'm making to my alma mater, and it doesn't happen every time!"

“Thank you so much!” Dumbledore said with amusement. “Now, let me think about your assistant. How about Felius? He was a dueling champion in his youth.” Dumbledore strongly recommended him.

Lockhart's face changed immediately upon hearing the words "Duel Champion," and he paced anxiously back and forth in his office. However, he quickly came up with a suitable excuse.

“Phi, Philius… While he was indeed very powerful when he was young, I doubt he can keep up with me now. To be honest, if wizard duels hadn’t been canceled in Britain, I might be the champion now.”

Upon hearing this, even Snape found it utterly ridiculous.

Lockhart's gaze then shifted to Snape. He recalled Snape's behavior during his school days; it seemed he was often bullied by several Gryffindors? They were four years apart, and Lockhart wasn't entirely clear on Snape's school days. However, he vaguely remembered a student in Slytherin who disliked washing his hair and was often bullied by a few Gryffindors.

If that's the case, then he must not be very capable!

That's true, what skills could a grumpy potion maker possibly have?

You can't use that dry-frying technique in a duel!

Thinking of this, Lockhart's eyes lit up, and he immediately used a reverse psychology tactic:

“Professor Snape, you are one of them—ah, never mind, I’m afraid my powerful magic might hurt you, I’d better think of someone else.”

"You hurt me? Because of the lack of thought—"

Snape was so angry he laughed, and his gaze toward Lockhart became extremely hostile. "Coincidentally, I also know a little about duels."

"That's wonderful!" Lockhart, fearing Snape would refuse, rushed forward and slapped Snape's shoulders hard. "That's settled then, Dumbledore! Snape will be my assistant. Don't worry, I won't let the children's Potions professor get hurt!"

Snape disgustedly brushed his hand off his shoulder, then ruthlessly rubbed the back of his hand against his cloak.

“Since you’ve reached an agreement, that’s wonderful,” Dumbledore said happily, preparing to see his guest out. “So, Severus, what brings you here?”

Snape was reignited in his anger by Dumbledore's words, and he blurted it out before Lockhart even left the headmaster's office.

"I'm here to report a few petty thieves—they stole my potion ingredients!"

"A thief?" Lockhart, who had almost stepped out of the principal's office, immediately turned around and strode over. "It seems my dueling assistant has run into a little trouble. But catching thieves is no joke—if you've read my books, you'll know I've done it countless times. Finding clues and catching the culprit is never a problem for me!"

He turned around enthusiastically, determined to take on the task himself.

"Leave it to me. I can catch the murderer as early as tomorrow!"

But Snape and Dumbledore ignored him. They communicated through eye contact.

"The school board will compensate you for your losses," Dumbledore said. "Also, note—"

“I’ll keep an eye on her even without you telling me!” Snape tossed his cloak aside, turned and left.

"What's wrong?" Lockhart was still wondering why Snape had suddenly left when he hadn't come seeking help.

Not wanting to miss any opportunity to show off, he quickly followed and started chattering in Snape's ear: "Seriously, Snape, if I were in charge, I could definitely catch the culprit red-handed! I'm only helping you for free because we're colleagues, otherwise it would be a different price! Come on, take me to your office, I have an automatic tracking spell that can find the murderer instantly!"

Snape, recalling his ability to make Harry's hand bones disappear and then heal in reverse, immediately shuddered, fearing that his spell might destroy all of his other potions!

And the thought of Harry's hand bones being removed made him even angrier.

I've been protecting that kid without any shame, and this guy actually dared to hurt Lily's son?

You're finished, kid!

“The Duel Club—I’d be happy to be your assistant!” Snape laughed cruelly.

(Translation: Just wait to die!)

But Lockhart was already lost in his own dazzling illusion.

"Alright then. We'll have one before Christmas. I might need you to help me with a little demonstration. Don't worry, it won't hurt you. We won't use any high-damage magic, just defensive spells to disarm you and protect you from armor. Okay, that's a bit difficult. How about a disarming spell?"

Thank you to reader 1338459675374563328 for the 500-point reward! Thank you so much, boss!

Also, please, my darlings, keep reading! It's really important to me, sob sob.

Chapter 32 Snape: You better be!

Cyrus felt he was being targeted.

Ever since he stole Snape's tiny collection of treasures, Snape has had his eye on him.

When he wandered around the school, the man would suddenly appear from time to time, his gloomy eyes scrutinizing him without restraint, as if he were interrogating a heinous criminal. Cyrus guessed that he was probably trying to use Legilimency, but it had no effect on him.

As for class time, it goes without saying that Snape practically had "I don't like you" written all over his face.

"Miss Weasley—could you please tell me what the different uses of dragon's blood are?"

During the last Potions class before Christmas, Snape very deliberately called on Cyrus and asked him a question that pained him deeply.

“Twelve, sir.” Cyrus stood up.

He almost thought Snape was going to ask him, "What do you get when you add narcissus root powder to wormwood infusion?" Turns out, it was just about the uses of dragon's blood. But it was definitely something from the first-year textbook.

"The twelve uses of dragon blood were discovered and summarized by Headmaster Dumbledore. Dragon blood has hemostatic, analgesic, and therapeutic properties... It can be used to make various cleaning agents, spot-removing agents, and to treat warts."

"You're right—" He was clearly very unhappy. "Then, why don't you tell me again about the effects of the Phoenix Tears?"

“But sir, we don’t learn from the phoenix,” Cyrus retorted without backing down.

“But I think you might need to know—about the uses of phoenix tears, venom of the Neven, mane of the Chimera… so that you don’t know what will save your life if you’re poisoned, don’t you think?” He was practically stating that he already knew that you—Ginny Weasley—were that despicable thief.

But Cyrus remained unmoved and even expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for your concern, sir. If I were to actually obtain so many expensive medicinal herbs, I would certainly remember your advice today."

Snape was even angrier: "Now, tell me, what can morning dew be used for!"