Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 294 Awakening

Hermione, Harry, and Ron returned to the common room, where they put their books away and chatted for a while to relax.

Of course, they didn't chat for long before Harry was pulled aside by the Quidditch team. After repeating the player selection process several times, it was time for dinner.

Dinner couldn't compare to the opening banquet, but it maintained Hogwarts' usual standards, so there was nothing to complain about.

Just as they finished eating and were chatting, another person from their former team came over with a roll of parchment. It was Jack Slough, the batter who joined the team after the twins were suspended.

"Here you go, Harry." He was panting as he sat down next to Harry, grabbed a cup, poured himself a full drink, and gulped it down before saying, "I'm exhausted... Oh, right, I forgot to ask, when is the selection tournament?"

"It's not decided yet, Jack." Harry repeated what he had said countless times before. "I'll let you know once the date is set, and it'll be posted in the common room."

"Okay, I thought it was this weekend..."

Jack Slaughter continued speaking, but Harry's attention was drawn to the open parchment. Before Jack could finish, Harry pulled Hermione and Ron away.

They waited until they found a secluded corner before opening the parchment again. It read:

Dear Harry:

I plan to start giving you individual lessons this Saturday. Please come to my office at 8 PM. I hope you have a great first day of school.

Your faithful

Dumbledore

P.S.: I like sour popping candy.

"Sour lollipop?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"The password to his office," Harry explained quietly. "Looks like I don't have to go to Snape. That's great!"

"Yeah, he must be furious," Ron chimed in.

Established beliefs are not so easy to change, especially since they may have already forgotten what Hermione said.

Hermione didn't seem to care about their attitudes, but glanced at the time and said, "Alright, I'm off to see Snape now, who's probably in a bad mood. Wish me luck..."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, realizing the same thing. Hermione had walked right into a trap!

"Okay, Hermione, good luck..."

With their heartfelt wishes in mind, Hermione went alone to the castle's basement and knocked on the door of Snape's office.

"Knock knock knock"

She knocked three times, and the door opened automatically. Hermione went in and saw Snape sitting calmly at his desk. Seeing her enter, he flicked his wand, sending a chair flying, and pointed to it, saying, "Sit down."

After Hermione sat down, Snape waved his wand again, and two thick notebooks flew out of the storeroom, landing on the table with a heavy thud.

Snape pushed the notebook toward Hermione and said calmly, "This is for you."

Hermione froze, staring at Snape in astonishment. Snape, however, wore a look of disdain and coldly said, "What? Have you been spending too much time with those two idiots and caught their stupidity?"

"Take these and go look at them from the side. Don't make a sound. You can go back at 9:30."

After saying that, he turned around and casually picked up a stack of parchment from the table to look at it.

Hermione instinctively picked up the two thick notebooks, randomly flipped to a page, and the familiar handwriting made her feel a little dazed.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes to calm herself for a long time, Hermione suddenly asked, "Professor, how... is he?"

"How should I know?" Snape said irritably. "He gave it to me a month ago. Who knows what his situation is now?"

He looked into Hermione's determined and stubborn eyes, and after a long while, he slowly said, "It's good in some ways, and bad in others; it should be like this..."

"Professor, is it good or bad?"

Snape's face showed a hint of impatience, but he didn't react. He waved his wand, and a spell landed on the office door.

"How's your Occlumency training going?" he asked.

"It should be fine," Hermione replied.

Upon hearing this, Snape did not reply, but instead pressed his wand against Hermione's forehead and used Legilimency.

He looked calmly at Hermione, and Hermione looked back at him calmly as well. After a while, he put away his wand and placed his hands naturally in front of him.

"If that fool Potter could do even a third of what you do, things would be much easier," Snape said. "But even so, I must remind you that you must not say a word I say to you today to anyone, especially Potter and Weasley!"

"Of course, Professor, this isn't the first time." Hermione nodded and readily agreed.

Upon hearing this, Snape stared at Hermione quietly for a long while before softly saying, "All things considered, he has finally passed the Dark Lord's test this time."

"What's going on! Shouldn't he have already..."

"You should learn to listen politely, Miss Granger," Snape interrupted Hermione coldly. After Hermione indicated that she would not interrupt again, he continued, "I should have told you before that the Dark Lord doesn't easily trust anyone, especially young wizards like Strayed."

"To gain the Dark Lord's trust, one must inevitably pay a price. And for Strayder, completely severing the possibility of returning is the price he must pay."

"But Professor, he's already done so much! Werewolves, giants, Azkaban, and the Department of Mysteries, he even brought him things he hadn't found himself!" Hermione seemed a little agitated, while Snape was much calmer.

"It seems he told you a lot, through those little gadgets he made?" Snape glanced at the pendant on Hermione's chest and said, "Here's a piece of advice: don't try to contact him with that thing again. It's very dangerous, especially since he's right under the Dark Lord's nose now."

"That's right, he did a lot for the Dark Lord, but he did even more behind the Dark Lord's back!"

"Don't underestimate the Dark Lord, just like that arrogant guy Potter! Do you really think the Dark Lord didn't notice anything?"

"Ha!" Snape sneered. "You have the same problem as him, always thinking everyone else is a fool. A wizard who hasn't even graduated yet, managing to fight a wizard who can single-handedly breach Azkaban's defenses to a standstill time and time again?"

Do you think the Dark Lord is an idiot?

Hermione shook her head.

"Hmph!" Snape snorted, paused for a moment, and then sighed, "Strider paid a heavy price this time. Just as I said, he personally cut off any possibility of returning, showing the Dark Lord his determination."

"However, he still softened..."

"But he killed Mundungus Fletcher!"

"But he could have done better!" Snape snapped. "Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Scrimgeour—he could have done better! If it weren't for Dumbledore's cooperation, you'd be reading his death in the Daily Prophet by now!"

Hermione fell silent. Although she had anticipated how difficult things would be for Ike, she had never imagined it would be this bumpy.

Snape, seeing Hermione's somewhat dejected expression, didn't give her time to process it, and continued, "For the final victory, necessary sacrifices are inevitable..."

"If one day my life can help us defeat the Dark Lord, I will not hesitate to let him kill me!"

"You must be aware of this, Granger!"

(End of this chapter)