HP: Azkaban's Outstanding Graduate

"Good afternoon, Hagrid," Sagres greeted, peeking through the crack in the door and vaguely seeing two figures. "Are there other guests?"

“Oh, come in and have a word, Professor.” Hagrid turned his massive body to the side and flung open the door, the hinges creaking under the weight. “It’s Harry and Ron. I’ve invited them over for tea to celebrate their enrollment.”

Sagres squinted—the oil lamp cast a flickering glow on the oak table, and two small figures seemed to sink into Hagrid’s specially made giant armchair.

Harry's fingers were unconsciously picking at the rim of his teacup, while Ron's ear tips were flushed red beneath his red hair.

Sagles looked at the two boys sitting at the table and, unusually, greeted them: "We meet again, you two."

"Good afternoon, Professor."

The two boys hurriedly got up, their stammering voices barely audible, and Sagles nodded slightly.

Hagrid asked in a lighthearted tone, "Would you like some rock cakes, Professor?"

“Call me Sagres, Hagrid.” He waved away the bronze plate Hagrid offered him. “I’m here to ask you for a favor.”

"Tell me, Professor, is there anything I can do to help you?"

“If possible, I would like to buy some unicorn tail hair and beating willow branches from you.” Sagres was straightforward; to be honest, he preferred dealing with Hagrid.

"Don't say anything about buying, it's my honor to be able to help you!" Hagrid patted his furry chest, his huge voice making the hanging pot tremble slightly.

He reached out and pulled a patched dragon-skin bag from a nail in the wall. After rummaging through it for a bit, he pulled out a handful of clean white hair. "I just collected it last week and combed it under the moonlight a few days ago."

"As for the willow branches used for hitting people, are last year's ones acceptable?"

"Of course, thank you for your generosity, Hagrid."

"You're too kind, Professor. Please feel free to come to me if you need anything else."

"Thank you, Hagrid." Sagres put the materials into his pocket, thanked him, and waved his wand. The messy room instantly began to tidy up automatically, becoming neat and cozy in the blink of an eye.

Hagrid looked amazed and quickly thanked him, but Sagrais waved his hand and said, "It's just a small thing that I can do."

He stood up to say goodbye to the group, but turned back to Hagrid at the door and said, "Leave the moving and decorating of this year's Christmas tree to me, Hagrid. Please don't refuse."

Hagrid was taken aback by these words, and he instinctively replied, "Of course."

Then a genuine smile appeared on his face. "I mean, absolutely no problem, thank you, Sagres..."

Hagrid leaned against the doorframe, smiling as he watched Sagrais leave. Harry suddenly pushed Tooth away and came closer. "Hagrid, are you and Professor Greengrass very close?"

"Familiar?" He stroked his beard with his palm, which was as big as a baking pan. "As you can see, we do know each other, but we're definitely not familiar with each other."

“Of course, we’ve had our fair share of dealings,” Hagrid added.

Ron: "Then why did you give him so many magical materials for free? Those things aren't cheap."

“Don’t think like that, Ron. Professor Greengrass was invited back to Hogwarts by Dumbledore.” Hagrid picked up a piece of rock bread and stuffed it into his mouth. “Don’t let his youth fool you; his achievements are by no means small.”

"Don't worry, Hagrid, we've learned enough about his achievements these past few days." Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat helpless as they recalled Hermione's constant nagging in their ears these past few days.

Harry: "Tell us something we don't know, like the Gringotts theft you just mentioned..."

"I will not say another word about this!" Hagrid declared immediately.

"Do you know why Professor Greengrass was expelled?" Ron leaned forward, his face full of curiosity.

Hearing this, Hagrid's broad back visibly stiffened. He looked reluctant, but this time he didn't refuse. "This isn't a secret, I can tell you. But you can't tell anyone else; it's never good to gossip behind people's backs..."

"Don't worry, Hagrid," the boy assured him, patting his chest.

“That happened a few years ago, when he was in fifth grade.” Hagrid sighed, turning to the two boys. “Did I tell you he was a Ravenclaw?”

"No, but we already know that."

“Oh, well.” He paused, as if recalling something. “He was a true Ravenclaw! He didn’t leave the school once, not even once, for five whole years, from the time he entered as a freshman.”

"His family doesn't care about him?" Ron asked, puzzled. He couldn't help but interrupt him.

"I don't know, but I heard he didn't get along well with his family. Hmm, back then he'd occasionally come to me to ask about the habits of the creatures in the Forbidden Forest." He clicked his tongue. "Later, as he delved deeper into magic, he broke many school rules..."

"Violated school rules? What school rules?" Ron pressed.

“There are many examples, such as reading books in the forbidden section without permission, sneaking into the castle at night, and secretly entering the Forbidden Forest. In the end, he lost control of a spell and burned down a large part of the Forbidden Forest.” Hagrid picked up his teacup and took a sip. “Then, Dumbledore couldn’t withstand the pressure from the Ministry of Magic and had to expel him…”

Harry glanced at Ron and went straight to Hagrid, asking the question that had been on his mind: "What do you think of him? Hagrid, is he researching dark magic?"

“Dark magic? Uh, I don’t know.” Hagrid waved his hand. “But Professor Greengrass isn’t a bad person. For example, I didn’t like decorating Christmas trees. I just mentioned it casually, and he, still a student, offered to help me, even though he was expelled before Christmas…”

Chapter 6 Past Events

Late at night, in the forbidden book area

Moonlight streamed through the high window, weaving a black web on the moldy parchment. Sagras looked at the potion in his hand, hesitated for a long time, but finally pried open Lochtis's mouth and forced it down his throat.

However, before that, to prevent the stupid bird from going crazy again, he had already given it a "throat-locking and tongue-locking" treatment.

The raven's metallic black feathers trembled slightly, and clear lines began to emerge.

While waiting, he couldn't help but recall his experiences over the years.

He has been in this world for twenty-one years. By now, Sagres has successfully created seven spells using his awakened abilities, and has further derived and improved a series of spells from these spells.

These curses were once his means of survival in this world.

But now, this gift that came with his time travel stopped working three years ago—on the night of his coming-of-age ceremony.

This ability requires increasing magic power, and a wizard's magic power cannot increase indefinitely.

From his first magical outburst at the age of five to the solidification of his magical tides as an adult, Sargeras' magical growth slowed down over the next ten years, and almost completely stagnated at the age of eighteen.

This is the magical constraint inherent in every wizard, and no one, not even time travelers, can break it.

Although his total magical power far exceeded that of an average adult wizard, in reality, it was only about the same as the combined magical power of three seasoned strikers. He estimated that it was still not as good as an old monster like Dumbledore.

However, even though his total magical power was less than Dumbledore's, he was certain that the power of his spells was no less than Dumbledore's.

Because he knew that his spells had long since broken through the limitations of total magical power—with precise control of magical power, he could forge every bit of magical power into a deadly blade.

This almost obsessive pursuit can be traced back to that turbulent period.

His childhood experiences left him with an extreme lack of security, so for more than a decade after leaving his family, he has been frantically absorbing knowledge, and of course, seizing power along the way.

From black magic to ancient war magic, and even ancient runic magic, Sargeras embraces them all.

He walked through those ancient and dilapidated ruins, repeatedly digging out those ancient spells that had long been forgotten in the books and turning them into his own.

He read almost every book in the libraries of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Ilfamoni (USA). During his subsequent year-long travels, he also visited Beauxbatons in the French Pyrenees, the Moon Mountain School of Wizardry in Uganda, and the magic institute on a volcanic island in Japan...

Of course, the principals of these schools were unaware that Sagres had once "studied" in their library...

After more than a decade of relentless study, and the immersion in countless magical texts, the boy who once huddled in the Greengrass family library has now transformed into a magician capable of making the entire magical world tremble.

Improve spells? Create magic? This had long become an instinct ingrained in his bones. The difference was that he no longer relied on external forces, but on the knowledge in his own mind.

Sagras tapped the table lightly with his fingers. Loctis, who was preening his feathers, looked up, his obsidian eyes reflecting the deepening curve of his lips.

He recalled the life-or-death crisis in the North Sea three years ago—at that time, he was trying to improve Apparition, and the spatial ripples caused by the spell disturbed the sleeping Kraken.

Giant, python-like tentacles emerged from the trench and tightened abruptly upon touching him, but Sagres was still immersed in the illusion woven by the other party, and did not even notice the salty seawater entering his nostrils.

Even now, the thought still sends chills down his spine.

The monster's spiritual influence could bypass his ever-present magical barrier. If it weren't for Lochtis's piercing cry as he choked on water, tearing apart the illusion, he would probably have become a skeleton in the sea monster's lair long ago.

Fortunately, there was this silly bird at the time, although it often made Sagres's temples throb.

Sagres, who had almost been caught off guard, looked at the behemoth before him, and after a brief moment of fear came an uncontrollable rage.

Without hesitation, he pulled out his wand and used his most powerful spell.

A violent torrent of magic erupted, and crimson cursed light tore through the water curtain.

Then, the mountain-sized octopus was fried into minced meat.

And that damn trip to France...

Lochteis, in his greed for the mithril seal of an ancient book in the Beauxbatons Library, awakened a dark magic book that had been dormant for two centuries.

Panicked ravens darted wildly among the dome beams, and the ancient books swept down by their feathers activated magical restrictions one after another, eventually turning into a school-wide alarm about a dark creature invasion.

As he grabbed the raven by the neck right under the noses of the gargoyle patrol, the idiot was still clutching a half-eaten piece of mithril between his claws...

The memory was interrupted by footsteps. Sagrais looked toward the doorway, where Snape floated in, shrouded in a huge black robe.

He stared blankly at Sagrais, but when his gaze fell upon the raven, an undisguised disgust appeared: "Sagrais, only you would command such a strange thing."

Upon hearing this, Sagles nodded in agreement, his tone serious: "Indeed, Professor Snape."

The potions professor's disgust became even more pronounced: "What are you plotting, staying in the forbidden library in the dead of night?" His tone was blatantly scrutinizing and suspicious.

“As you can see, Professor…” He pointed to the raven on the table, “I’m researching dark magic, and of course, how to rule the world!”

Snape chuckled, about to utter a sarcastic remark, when Sagrais waved his wand at the raven on the table. Lochteid instantly flew onto his shoulder, cawing.

The throat-locking and tongue-locking had been lifted at some point, and it stood on Sagres's shoulder, letting out two piercing cries.

“Shut up! You idiot!” Sagrais snapped.

Then, looking apologetically at Snape who was about to speak, he explained, "I'm sorry, Professor Snape, I wasn't talking about you..."

“Sagres…” Snape’s face was grim, his deep voice filled with anger: “Perhaps you should learn how to respect your former professor.”

“Of course, Professor Snape.” Sagres gave a polite smile. “You can rest assured that I have absolute respect for you, but if you really feel that I have offended you, then deduct points from my score!”

After he finished speaking, he gave Snape a slight bow, and as he turned to leave, he turned back and added, "Oh, I forgot, you can't deduct my points now, Professor, after all, I am no longer a student of Hogwarts."

After saying that, he ignored Snape's grim expression and left the library with the raven Lochteis...

Sagres knew that Snape disliked him, and likewise, he also loathed the former Potions professor.

Their feud has a long history, and the reason for it is quite simple.

During my time as a student in Sagrada Familia, I was almost constantly subjected to insults and abuse. Among them, the Slytherin students were particularly active, earning the title of "foul talkers."

At first, Sagrais ignored them completely, because in his view, these insults didn't even qualify as insults.

How much damage could you do to someone who has the bloodline of a modern adult soul wizard?

It can only be said that it is not very harmful, nor is it very insulting.

So Sagles didn't even bother with a polite remark, choosing to simply ignore him.