Orochimaru travels to Hogwarts

Chapter 115 Professor, Our Negotiations Have Broken Down (First Update)

Orochimaru could swear that Harry's face was paler than ever before.

Even his lips started to turn blue.

"What did Professor Dumbledore say?"

"He also wanted to—oh, not immortality, but he also wanted to resurrect people, but that path was not feasible."

Orochimaru spoke slowly, watching Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak before continuing, "By the way, he also wants me—no, he wants you to promise him something."

"What is it?"

The door to the septic chamber, which Harry had just pushed open, closed again. Harry poked his head out from under the Invisibility Cloak, curiously watching Orochimaru.

"He told you to stop me before things get too bad."

Orochimaru spoke calmly, but Harry was stunned.

Although he is young, the experiences he has had over the past year have given him a sense of enlightenment.

The world is ever-changing, and people are like duckweed and grass, often powerless and unable to control their own lives.

"He's dreaming, Orochimaru."

Harry pushed open the door and left without hesitation.

The ever-changing world can dampen the spirits of the elderly, making them yearn for a stable and uneventful life.

But for the boy—

They are not afraid, nor are they dreadful, because they have tomorrow, and they always have hope.

Hope is always the most precious thing.

Orochimaru stared at Harry's back. Although the figure was hidden by the Invisibility Cloak, he could still see the light of hope burning on Harry, spreading like wildfire.

It's beautiful, like the spring sun.

He shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh, closed the bathroom door, and walked towards his dormitory.

This night is destined to be very long.

When Orochimaru returned to his dormitory, Malfoy was still fast asleep, showing no intention of going to Snape's office to receive his detention sentence.

Orochimaru glanced at his Kimimaro, raised an eyebrow, but did not wake him. Instead, he straightened his wizard robes again, turned around, and walked out of the bedroom.

He has gotten what he wanted, and now it's time to clean up the mess.

Snape's office was right next to the Potions classroom.

In fact, students never wanted to go near this classroom, no matter what. After all, the professor's teaching style was harsh and unforgiving, as if he had a grudge against the students.

When Orochimaru transformed into Malfoy and knocked on Snape's office door, Snape's slightly tired voice came from behind the door.

"Come in, Draco."

Orochimaru gently pushed the door open.

Snape had his back to the door and didn't turn around even when he heard the knocking.

Orochimaru paused slightly, shifted a little to the side, and then discovered what had captured Snape's full attention.

Two snakes.

One is green, and the other is white.

The two small snakes were probably dead; their bodies were stiff and curled up on the desk in front of Snape.

They were unharmed, as if they had simply fallen asleep and died.

However, Orochimaru, who had been immersed in the soul for many years, still sensed something different about these two small snakes.

Their souls are slightly off-center.

Not much, it's like someone once reached out, trying to pull a bit of their soul out, but quickly gave up.

According to Orochimaru's own human experiments, this was a failed animal experiment.

Snape was unaware of Orochimaru's deduction. He simply glanced silently at the two snake corpses placed on the table, then took out his wand and waved it lightly.

The next moment, the two snakes vanished from Snape's table as if they had never existed.

"Please don't tell anyone what I just did, Draco?"

Snape turned around, looked at Orochimaru who had transformed into Malfoy, and said in a calm tone.

He was clearly pleading, but his tone sounded like he was giving a command.

Orochimaru remained unmoved, only turning his gaze to Snape's now empty desk.

"What were you just doing, Professor?"

Snape paused upon hearing this.

"Do you think it's realistic to extract the soul of one snake and transfer it into the body of another?"

Despite being a wizard, Snape questioned Orochimaru like a Muggle researcher.

"Theoretically, it should be possible, right? But why is it that neither extracting nor inserting a soul can be done at all?"

"Could it be that snakes don't have souls?"

What snake are you talking about, Snape?

You clearly wanted to ask someone a question.

Orochimaru calmly raised his head, looking at Professor Snape, who appeared casual but was actually very concerned about his answer.

He understands now.

Although Professor Snape had realized that he was impersonating Malfoy, he chose to play dumb.

Snape, who was under strict supervision by Dumbledore, could only communicate his thoughts and ideas with him without any hindrance through this method.

Those ideas about how to resurrect the dead.

but----

"I don't know, Professor. I'm just a first-year student, even though I'm Draco Malfoy."

After Orochimaru finished speaking, he admired Snape's suddenly tense facial muscles as if he were admiring a windmill being blown by the wind.

Snape's lips twitched first, then his eyes began to twitch uncontrollably.

He took a deep breath, trying to suppress all the anger he felt from the failed experiment and being teased by Orochimaru.

However, he failed.

Whoosh!

Snape suddenly stood up and rushed towards Orochimaru, grabbing Orochimaru by the collar. His large, hooked nose was almost touching Orochimaru's face.

"Don't think you can keep all the secrets!"

"In this magical world, there are plenty of ways to get people to tell the truth!"

"Whether it's a truth serum or mind control, it can make you reveal all your secrets!"

Snape interrogated Orochimaru almost frantically, but Orochimaru only felt sorry for the professor.

If one never sees the light of hope in their life, then so be it.

He will be slowly hammered by life and regret, eventually turning into a thin sheet of paper, burned away by the fire of time.

But if there were even the slightest glimmer of hope, he wouldn't accept his fate.

Snape had resigned himself to his fate, accepting the reality of Lily's death and the mistake he had made that he could never undo.

But what Dumbledore shouldn't have done was to let him monitor him and to let Snape stop him from studying the soul.

Because this will plant a seed for Snape.

If we let this child continue his research, he really might succeed.

As for what success?

Orochimaru cast a pitying glance at Snape, his face still full of compassion even though Snape was holding him by the collar.

The allure of resurrecting a loved one is a poison that no one can resist.

As for himself, he didn't need to do anything now. He just needed to wait quietly for Snape, who had just felt hope ignited but then felt that hope shattered, to surrender.

Silence once again filled Snape's office.

Orochimaru remained silent, as if Snape's outburst was nothing more than a mild spring rain.

Dozens of seconds later, Snape's expression suddenly softened, as if he wasn't the one who had just been yelling at Orochimaru.

"I have a way to keep your secret. It's very simple. If you follow my instructions, you can learn it in a semester at most."

"From now on, no one will ever know what you're thinking. Not even the Dark Lord and—and him!"

""

It looks very tempting.

Professor, your proposal is very tempting.

Orochimaru lowered his eyelids slightly, but still decided to refuse Snape's offer.

The enticement that follows coercion is not a very appealing outcome. It's a bait laced with poison, designed to lure those with weak wills.

Moreover, Snape's identity is special, and he will be of great use to me in the future.

If I had listened to Kabuto's threats and inducements back then, the outcome would probably have been very different.

For a true spy, if they cannot wholeheartedly follow you, then betraying you for information is a perfectly normal thing to do.

If this is true in the ninja world, then it must be true in the magic world as well, right?

Orochimaru lightly raised his hand and slowly placed it on the back of Snape's hand.

A glimmer of hope suddenly appeared in Snape's eyes.

He thought he was about to succeed!

But Orochimaru's next move was even colder than he had anticipated.

Orochimaru took Snape's hand and slowly but firmly moved it down, putting it into Snape's coat pocket.

"Thank you for your concern, Professor. Although the situation is a bit tricky, I think I can handle it."

Orochimaru spoke lightly, neither turning away nor making any demands.

He simply stared calmly at Snape, waiting for Snape's reply.

He refused to exchange his knowledge and intelligence for Snape's terms as an equal party in the transaction.

He never negotiates terms.

He was the one who set the conditions.

The silence was so unbearable that Snape almost hallucinated that he was back on the night he first met Dumbledore and begged him to save Lily.

Dumbledore never negotiates conditions; he is always the one who sets the conditions.

But Slyke Anguill is not Dumbledore, is he? How could he possibly be better than Dumbledore?

Snape gritted his teeth and stared unblinkingly at Orochimaru, hoping that his determination would make Orochimaru abandon his unrealistic plans.

They clashed in silence, preferring to perish together rather than surrender first.

But accidents always happen quickly.

Footsteps suddenly sounded outside Snape's office; Malfoy's arrogant and haughty footsteps were so clear and distinct.

Snape and Orochimaru immediately realized something.

The game of pretending not to know that Malfoy is Orochimaru in disguise is coming to an end, along with the exchange of information about souls and resurrection.

Although neither of them gained anything, at least they both showed their determination, didn't they?

Orochimaru thought to himself with amusement, gently patted the back of Snape's right hand, which was hidden in his pocket, and turned around.

He gently pushed open the office door.

A small crack appeared in the door, through which they could see Draco Malfoy slowly walking towards them.

"Professor, the negotiations have broken down."

Orochimaru said calmly.

But in that instant, Snape yanked his hand out of his pocket and slammed it against the door.

"Don't steal the Philosopher's Stone. Quirrell won't come, and neither will the person you met before!"

This is a piece of intelligence with no requirements whatsoever, yet it is also invaluable.

This was also a piece of information that greatly pleased Orochimaru.

This shows that his training is beginning to show results.

He didn't directly respond to Snape's kindness, but instead raised his hand, pressed down on the other half of the office door, and closed the door that had just been half-opened.

Then he turned around.

Could you tell me about Occlumency, Professor? I'm very interested in it.

""