Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 101 Snape's Revenge

The New Year's Eve dinner follows the same procedure every year.

Sorting, Dumbledore gives a speech, introduces the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, reiterates the prohibitions that almost no one will follow, then they start eating, and finally conclude with a chaotic rendition of the school song.

For decades, there has been absolutely nothing new about it.

But as the first grand banquet of the new school year, the food certainly didn't disappoint. Whole legs of lamb, ham, all kinds of meat, and desserts piled the table high.

The key point is that even with the joint resistance of several professors, the cockroach piles still stubbornly appeared.

Lick it, soak it, twist it, and it's still delicious!

Stuart and the others were no longer surprised by Ike's strange hobby, and even the girls like Mandy and Morag, who were initially very disgusted, no longer cared. Some of the younger wizards even followed suit and grabbed one themselves, but ultimately lacked the courage.

Throughout the entire dinner, perhaps only Ike and Dumbledore were enthusiastic about this disgusting-looking candy.

"Merlin..." Professor McGonagall glanced at Ike on the Ravenclaw table, then at Dumbledore beside him, and shook her head helplessly.

"Relax, Minerva." Dumbledore smiled and narrowed his eyes. "It's the opening ceremony dinner; one of us keeping a straight face is enough."

As she spoke, she turned to look at Snape on the far side, then turned back abruptly as if startled by that face colder than ice.

Snape was completely oblivious to Dumbledore's intermittent bouts of madness; his attention kept shifting between Harry and Lupin. Thanks to someone's deliberate actions, Snape's loathing for the former Marauders quartet had only intensified.

If he could, he would gladly give these "despicable, disgusting" guys a good beating...

No, the Unforgivable Curse should be used repeatedly, otherwise it won't be enough to quell the hatred in his heart.

"Crunch, crunch"

The knife had been cutting through the steak and onto the plate for quite some time, but Snape seemed oblivious, his eyes fixed coldly on Lupin as he continued to make rhythmic cuts.

In truth, Snape's hatred was primarily directed at James and Black, the two who were the instigators of everything. Lupin and Peter mostly echoed their decisions, given that one was usually timid and cowardly, and the other transformed every full moon, both harboring some inferiority complex.

But two of the former raiders were already dead, and another had just escaped from Azkaban. From the moment Snape learned of Sirius's escape, he had already resolved to kill him with his own hands. One reason was to avenge Lily, and the other was to vent the anger and resentment that had been building up in his heart for so many years.

Although no one knows where Sirius is right now, for Snape, Lupin is enough for the time being.

"Revenge will begin with a spiked wolfsbane potion," Snape thought, already impatient.

As for Harry?

Forget it, let's deal with Lupin first.

Out of sight, out of mind...

Lupin naturally noticed Snape's state but paid it no mind, appearing completely indifferent. As a former member of the Order of the Phoenix, accepting the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from Dumbledore was partly about finding a job and earning some money, but more importantly, it was about protecting Harry and ensuring that he could stop his former best friend's crimes if Sirius approached him.

He missed it once more than a decade ago, and he didn't want to miss it again this time.

As for Snape's revenge, Lupin had actually been mentally prepared. But perhaps the hardships he suffered from childhood made him more resilient than ordinary people.

Besides, Dumbledore is still around, so Snape can only resort to his old tricks and keep to himself.

Most importantly, it's Harry.

In the wizarding world today, only Ike knows the truth of what happened back then, but he has no intention of revealing it. For Ike, the most important thing in his third year is not the struggle between Snape and the survivors of the Marauders, but his studies.

Studying like crazy.

Of the twelve courses in total, only Ike and Hermione chose all of them throughout their third year. Due to their consistently good grades, the Ministry of Magic approved their application to use the Time-Turner, which was submitted to Professor McGonagall before the start of the school year.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Stradl, please come with me."

After the dinner, Professor McGonagall stopped Ike and Hermione, who were chasing each other, at the entrance of the Great Hall and led them back to her office.

After entering the room, ignoring the two people who were still exchanging glances, he took out a box from the drawer of his desk. Inside were two gold necklaces, each with a small gold hourglass hanging from it.

"This is a time-tamper," Professor McGonagall said, sounding more serious than usual. "You must swear that you will only use it for your studies and will not reveal anything about the time-tamper to anyone else."

"Spinning the hourglass once means turning back time by one hour, but it can only turn back a maximum of five hours..."

"You must be careful, as magic related to time is extremely unstable, and the slightest mistake could lead to extremely serious consequences..."

"You must remember this! Five hours, or five turns of the hourglass, is the limit!"

"And never meet your past self, or something terrifying will happen!"

Ike and Hermione readily agreed, solemnly accepting the Time-Turner from Professor McGonagall and carefully hanging it around their necks. Professor McGonagall gave them several more instructions and had them repeat them before she relaxed slightly.

He then turned around, picked up two books from the table, and handed them over: "These are the laws enacted by the Ministry of Magic regarding the possession and use of Time-Turners. You must memorize them, even recite them by heart."

"I certainly don't want to see either of you in the dock in Wisconsin..."

"Don't worry, Professor McGonagall, we will strictly abide by the rules of use." Ike quickly reassured her when he saw Professor McGonagall's gaze fall directly on him, and he didn't forget to pull Hermione aside.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall, we assure you, it will be used exclusively for studying."

"I hope so." Professor McGonagall glanced meaningfully at the two of them before returning to her chair.

"You should go back to your dorms now. I hope you won't forget the promises you made today."

"We understand, Professor McGonagall. Goodbye..."

The two bowed slightly and then slowly went out the door. As soon as the door closed, Hermione glared fiercely at Ike, then grabbed his clothes and headed for the stairs.

"We still have some things to take care of, and you're not getting away this time, Ike Strand!"

(End of this chapter)