My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 351, Chapter 348: Snape's Fear

Lynn certainly hadn't forgotten about the rat problem, or rather, ever since he returned to Hogwarts this semester, he had been keeping an eye on the Death Eater who had been hiding for over ten years by having the portraits in the corridors help him keep an eye on it.

The mural hasn't reported last night's events to Lynn yet. If Lynn finds out about this, even if Xiaomai doesn't come to him today, he will still specifically find Xiaomai to warn her about it.

Peter Pettigrew is no saint. Harry's father, regardless of his character, is undoubtedly a good friend.

It is said that when they were students, James and Sirius both succeeded in learning Animagus, but Peter Pettigrew failed because of his mediocre talent. In the end, it was with the help of James and the others that Peter finally mastered Animagus.

Despite such a deep friendship, which James trusted so much that he entrusted the safety of his wife and children to him, Peter ultimately chose to join Voldemort, who was at the height of his power, for fame, fortune, or something else.

This ultimately led to the tragedy of the Potter family and indirectly caused Voldemort's defeat.

This shows how ruthless and heartless Peter Pettigrew was in the original story. Now he must know about Sirius Black's escape. Under such a life-or-death crisis, if Umaru teases him again, who knows what he might do when pushed to the limit.

Therefore, Lynn warned him with utmost seriousness.

"Whether it's you or Hermione's cat Crookshanks, don't ever try to mess with Scabbers again. What you did last night was very dangerous."

Seeing Lynn's serious expression, Xiaomai nodded quickly, like a chick pecking at rice.

Although she is a bit playful in her daily life, she would never dare to act recklessly when it comes to matters of principle.

After explaining things to Xiaomai and letting her leave, Lynn sat alone at her office desk, gently tapping the surface with her fingers.

The message that Umaru brought him actually contained another very important piece of information.

The bait that Tom had cast out seemed to have caught the fish's scent.

"I just explained it very clearly to you, you were supposed to put the frog's brains in before the salamander's blood! That's how the potion works! But look at the rotten thing you've done!"

Snape's voice, though not loud, was exceptionally cold and echoed in the spacious Potions classroom, sending chills down the spines of every student who heard it.

Harry felt that Snape's temper was more volatile than before. He didn't dare to talk back at this moment, but silently poured out the waste potion in the cauldron and prepared to start making a new batch.

"If I don't see your final classwork by the end of get out of class, you're coming to my office tonight. I want to personally watch you finish preparing it!"

Snape uttered those words harshly, then turned to find Neville, who was helpless against the potion that seemed about to explode.

Taking advantage of Snape's distraction, Hermione and Ron quickly switched places. Without her help, Harry certainly wouldn't have been able to prepare the potion in this lesson.

"What's wrong with Snape lately? It's like everyone has offended him."

Hermione asked with a puzzled look as she deftly processed the frog's brains, her technique clearly more skilled than Harry and Ron combined.

"Isn't he always like this?" Harry muttered under his breath as he prepared the salamander blood, dried nettles, and other ingredients. "But lately it seems to be more pronounced. Maybe it's early menopause."

Hermione stirred the liquid in the crucible and then added the frog's brain matter, saying irritably.

"Don't make jokes like that in front of girls!"

Near the end of Potions class, Harry, with Hermione's help, finally managed to brew the enhancement potion, albeit with great difficulty.

Although the potion was of poor quality due to the rush to finish it, which inevitably earned him a barrage of Snape's ridicule, it was still better than the torture of having Harry go to his office to prepare the potion himself.

After Potions class, the students clearly noticed that Snape seemed to be in a bad mood lately, so none of them dared to stay in the classroom for long and they all ran away in a flash.

Snape, who was left behind, waved his wand with a dark expression, returned all the items in the Potions classroom to their original places, and then strode out of the classroom.

After leaving the house, he did not go downstairs to his dean's office, but went straight up the stairs to the third floor.

Upon reaching the third-floor corridor, he headed straight for the stone monster guarding the principal's office.

"I want to see Dumbledore."

"No password?" the stone monster said in a muffled voice.

Snape, seemingly losing patience, said impatiently, "Just inform him he'll see me!"

The stone golem grunted twice in dissatisfaction, as if it had some kind of conversation with Dumbledore, and then jumped away from the position it had been guarding to let Snape in.

Snape went up the spiral staircase behind the entrance and finally entered the headmaster's office.

Before he entered, Dumbledore seemed to be looking at some document. When he saw Snape, he put down what he was doing and asked with a smile.

"Why are you looking for me again, Severus? How's Remus doing lately?"

Even in front of Dumbledore, Snape still wore that sour face.

"He couldn't be better, unless I put a madness drug in his wolfsbane potion."

"Don't say that. I know you won't do it. Everyone makes mistakes. You were no different back then. You have a chance to atone for your sins, so of course you should give others the same chance."

"I didn't come to you to talk about this, Dumbledore." Snape seemed very anxious, and his gaze towards Dumbledore was unusually filled with fear.

"I detected his presence! It's very clear and strong; he's not dead! Or rather, even after all this time, he's come back to life and is right here in this castle!"

Dumbledore remained silent for a long while.

"You're right."

"You know who I'm talking about!" Snape interrupted him impatiently, then abruptly pulled up the sleeve of his robe, revealing an arm tattooed with a python emerging from the mouth of a skull.

"This mark is burning hot! It's enough to prove that what I said is true. That person didn't die thirteen years ago. He's back! Otherwise, no one could control the Dark Mark."

He paced anxiously back and forth in the principal's office, looking more nervous than ever before.

"He didn't die, the prophecy was wrong, Harry Potter didn't kill him! And now he's back at Hogwarts, which means Dumbledore, I think you know very well what that means!"

(End of this chapter)