I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 534 Compound Decoction Plan

"Is that so?" Bellatrix stood up. Her striking gray eyes gleamed coldly. "You've never been loyal to the Dark Lord, have you, Severus! Because you're a liar, you never tell the truth, am I right?"

"Or should I remind you? There's a young wizard at Hogwarts who possesses ancient magic, and he's related to Vynda Rozier by blood, right? A direct descendant? Where did he get his ancient magic?"

"He is the heir," Snape said calmly.

"You're kidding me! An heir? What bullshit heir? You think I'd believe that? The Dark Lord would believe that?" Bellatrix sneered, her eyes growing increasingly dangerous. "Oh—he's just a lucky kid who got ancient magic—do you dare say that?"

That's just the way it is.

"Facts? If that's true, then why does the inscription on the stele unearthed from the Tower of Divinity record methods for acquiring ancient magic? If it's truly destined and no one can take it away, how did that American girl succeed!" Bellatrix exclaimed irritably. "What heir? That's just to fool those ignorant and foolish ordinary wizards. There must be some kind of technique, a technique passed down through generations. In ancient times, this kind of magic could definitely be used by everyone."

She became so impatient and irritable that the birth of this child was entirely influenced by Irving.

The meeting with Owen after Christmas deeply affected her, as did her senior, Tom. When they realized that unimaginable monsters existed in the world, the pursuit of greater power became their most urgent need.

Having learned from Voldemort's example, both Bellatrix and Tom Cruise abandoned their plans to cooperate with the Outer Gods. After all, no one wanted to unknowingly become a monster themselves.

Therefore, seeking ancient magic became the only option.

For months, they have been searching for traces of ancient magic, leaving no stone unturned.

Thanks to her previous loyalty to the demon king who had turned into a monster, Bellatrix knew a lot of secrets about ancient magic.

In particular, information about the Purifiers and the fairies is gathered and sent to her. That's why she knows so much.

"Heh—" Snape chuckled noncommittally. "Perhaps!"

"Perhaps?" Bellatrix was completely flustered. She had her wand in her hand, and if she wanted, a great battle would break out here in the next second.

"Sister—please, don't," Narcissa grabbed Bella's arm, her pleading gaze falling into her eyes.

If a fight breaks out here, it will definitely attract other people.

Neither the Ministry of Magic nor the monster's henchmen will be able to leave here today.

"Hoo—" Bellatrix was momentarily lost in thought, having not heard her sister address her that way in so long. She quickly recovered, took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and then looked intently at Snape. "Aren't you afraid I'll tell that monster about your betrayal?"

"Ha—you can try," Snape laughed. "See if he'll believe a traitor or a loyal subordinate."

"Loyalty—you disgust me," Bellatrix said, frowning.

But as Snape said, she had no leverage over him.

Before she came, Tom had asked her to make a deal with Snape, but she didn't want to hand it over to him at all, which is why she kept acting tough, hoping to get what she wanted without any effort.

But now—

"Alright," Bellatrix said, her face ashen. "Let's speak frankly."

"For months, Dumbledore has been pestering Barty Crouch, hoping to get something from him, and I'm sure you know what it is!"

"We'll use that as a trade," she said, "in exchange for my child mastering ancient magic. The timeframe is this summer. If my child still hasn't mastered ancient magic by the end of summer, I'll give that thing to that monster."

A cold smile played on her lips. "Believe me, if that thing ends up in his hands, you'll never have another chance to get it."

"This isn't something I can decide," Snape said dryly. "Knowing Dumbledore as I do, he should agree. But—unfortunately, it's not something he can decide. You'll have to talk to that silver-haired brat."

"That's something you should consider," Bellatrix said coldly. "You only have twenty-four hours to think it over. I'm taking Draco with me now, and without Draco on the Hogwarts Express tomorrow, people will be suspicious. You have to resolve this. I don't care if you use Polyjuice Potion to have someone impersonate him, or whatever. Consider this a signal. If you can resolve this, then it shows you're willing to cooperate, and I'll come back to you. If I don't see 'Draco' get off the train tomorrow, then—ha—say goodbye to that thing forever!"

After saying this, Bellatrix told her sister to go and call her son to leave.

Before she arrived, she had not actually received any orders to protect Draco, and Tom wouldn't have bothered with such matters. Narcissa's agreement with Snape was a private one.

But what she just said was purely because she couldn't stand Snape's attitude and deliberately wanted to disgust him.

A few minutes later.

As the door opened, a whiff of smoke mingled with the damp stench emanating from the filthy river near the house, leaving only one person in the living room.

Snape's expression was grim and uncertain.

Bellatrix's purpose was beyond his expectations.

Several days earlier, when he learned that Narcissa would be coming to pick up his son, he had already guessed that Bella would definitely come along, and that she would be carrying out the orders of that young Voldemort.

But he guessed that the other party might just want to cooperate on intelligence or force him to pledge allegiance to Voldemort. He never expected that they would seek ancient magic.

They never expected that Bella would use that thing to threaten them.

The final Horcrux—Gaunt's Ring.

After gathering his thoughts, Snape didn't linger and left the house as well.

He was going to see Dumbledore.

------

That night.

Owen stayed with Hermione the whole time.

They were in the Requirement Room; it was close to the holidays, and no one would come here.

He told the girl about history from 100,000 years ago, including some of his guesses, in great detail.

There's nothing to hide.

And it can't be kept secret, because Hermione will come into contact with those bas-reliefs at any point in the future. The wizards of the Alliance might even seek her out for joint research. After all, besides the paintings, those bas-reliefs also contain much more complex and intricate ancient runes—the very earliest runes from tens of thousands of years ago, which modern wizards simply cannot understand.

Only a handful of people could understand those runes, and Dumbledore was among them.

This is why his office is filled with so many bas-reliefs and parchments.

Hermione, on the other hand, had studied the ancient runes in the Chamber of Secrets of Hogwarts, as well as the runes on the ancient puppets in the Tower of Divine Gifts. Those were the versions closest to the original runes. It could be said that she had reached the forefront of the world in terms of runes.

The wizards of the Federation will certainly go to Hogwarts to invite Professor Bascida Babling, an expert in ancient Nirvana, to participate, and Professor Bascida Babling will certainly recommend Hermione to them.

Dumbledore seemed to have no reason to object.

Irving himself didn't fully understand those bas-reliefs; he just glanced at them briefly.

Some of the details still require further research by others.

The two returned to their respective common lounges the next morning.

The Hufflepuffs were overjoyed at Owen's return. They chatted and laughed, telling him about the interesting things that had happened in the castle over the past month, mainly in Hufflepuff.

It's a pity they have to part ways today; they can't talk much more.

Before they could even exchange a few words, Professor Sprout suddenly appeared in the lounge and called Owen away.

"Professor?" After leaving the Hufflepuff common room, Professor Sprout unusually did not head towards the upper floors, but instead led him down another floor.

This prompted Owen to speak, because just below them were the Slytherin common room and Snape's office.

"Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you in Professor Snape's office."

"What?" Owen looked at the professor in confusion, but didn't ask anything further.

Because Professor Sprout certainly knows nothing.

Snape's office was located in the basement of Hogwarts Castle, at one end of the same corridor as the Potions classroom.

Not far from the Hufflepuff common room, the two arrived at the office door in just a few minutes.

Knock on the door.

A muffled sound came from inside.

I pushed open the door and went inside.

Snape's office was constructed entirely of long, solid, gray-black stones, giving it a heavy and cold feel. The ceiling was arched, and a dimly lit magical crystal chandelier hung above the arched stone doorway leading to the only entrance.

Its shape resembles three giant hemispheres interlocked, forming a unique and complex spatial structure.

The shelves along the wall were filled with glass jars, three layers high, all containing brown, red, and amber solutions in which snakes, scorpions, toads, and other creatures, as well as the eyeballs and organs of a certain type of creature, were soaked.

In the center of the office was a large rectangular table, about 1 meter wide and 3 meters long. On the table were scales, glassware for measuring solutions, beakers of dried herbal ingredients, and other potion-making tools.

At that moment, a number of people were standing near the table.

Bill was tall and thin; Fred and George covered their noses, as if there was a strange smell in the room; Sirius Black had the same expression, his face full of disgust; Mad-Eye had a cold face, his blue magic eye darting around in its socket; Tonks' short hair had turned pink again, and she was holding Professor Lupin's hand beside her, winking at Harry, Hermione, and Ron; Professor Lupin looked embarrassed, unsure of where to look; Kingsley, still unable to shake off his bald head, looked solemn and was the most normal-looking person present; and there was another one they didn't see often, Mundungus Fletcher, a short, slovenly, and lewd-looking wizard, who was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but no one liked him.

"Hey—Owen." A beautiful figure suddenly appeared, pressing her hand against Owen's cheek. "Did you miss me?"

"You—" Owen stared in surprise at the woman before him. Roy Sylph? What was she doing at Hogwarts?

"Why are you here?"

"Calling me 'Auntie' is so rude," Roy said unhappily, then pinched Owen's cheek hard.

"We've received intelligence that something unexpected might happen today," Sirius Black said as he approached Irving.

However, Irving noticed that the dog godfather seemed to be subtly diverting some of his attention to his aunt.

"Intelligence?" Irving asked. "Where did you get the intelligence?"

"The Confederation captured an imposter a few days ago," Kingsley explained. "From him, we learned that the Mystic has been resurrected and is plotting an attack on the Hogwarts Express."

"Attack the train?" Harry exclaimed in shock. "Is he insane? There are so many young wizards on the train, could he—"

"He will only kill those who oppose him, or those who betray him." Finally, Snape, the occupant of the office, spoke. "Like you, Miss Know-It-All, and Draco Malfoy, who has already betrayed him."

"Malfoy?" Harry's eyes widened again. "He betrayed Voldemort? How could that be!"

"I don't need to explain to you, Potter. And don't ever say those three words again," Snape said. "That doesn't prove your courage, it only proves your stupidity."

"Shut up, you snotty-nosed brat!" Sirius immediately looked away, turned to face Snape, and said, "It's none of your business to criticize my godson."

"Ha—what a consistent form of stupidity," Snape scoffed.

"What—are you asking for a beating?" Sirius Black drew his wand, ready to teach that annoying brat a lesson.

"Alright," Dumbledore said at this point. "What we need is to solve problems, not pointless arguments."

Then he explained to Harry, "Tom has cast a spell on the name Voldemort, so he can sense the location of anyone who says it. Harry—before, he couldn't find you because of your mother's magic, but the protective magic stopped working after you came of age. So don't say that name carelessly anymore."

"Oh—" Hearing this, Harry nodded listlessly, it was unclear whether he had actually remembered the sentence.

On the other side, Dumbledore withdrew his gaze, looked up and met everyone's eyes, "Regarding the attack, we cannot be certain that it will definitely happen."

However, precautions are still necessary. After discussing with Professor Snape, Kingsley, and Alastor, we decided to use Polyjuice Potion to have members of the Order of the Phoenix hidden among the young wizards, responsible for their covert protection.

(End of this chapter)