Chapter 582 Autumnal Equinox

Thursday, Potions class.

Prefect Parvati sat down next to Hermione holding a stack of parchment papers, and glanced at her while counting the numbers, a little curious: "Hermione, why are you already wearing a turtleneck sweater? Is it very cold recently? "

"..."

Hermione's cheeks were hot, and she tugged on her collar with an unnatural expression: "Well... I'm a little afraid of the cold."

"Then please be careful and don't catch a cold."

"I know, thank you, Parvati."

"Oh, it's been really bad recently. The weather is bad, there are a lot of homework, and the difficulty of the course papers is also increasing..."

"It's time to prepare for the exam."

"I don't know what the grade of the paper I submitted last time was, but I'll be satisfied if I can get an A."

"You must be fine!"

"Thank you for your blessing haha..."

Parvati counted the Gryffindor roster and found that after collecting the homework, she did not stay any longer. She stacked the parchment and walked to the podium to hand it over to Professor Snape.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, and turned her head to meet Loren's smiling gaze. Her cheeks, which had not yet dissipated, were blushing again, and her neck, which was hidden under her high collar, felt congested and stuffy.

"Be careful not to catch a cold, Miss Granger."

"You still said that!"

Hermione thought of the embarrassing red marks on her neck and became so angry that she couldn't help but punch him.

Not far ahead, Professor Snape stepped down from the podium and began to return the last homework. Interestingly, he could obviously hand over the papers to the prefects to help distribute them, but he insisted on handing them out personally. In the hand of a student, you can closely observe the student’s first expression after seeing the result. I don’t know what kind of bad taste it is.

"As you can see, if someone hands in an answer sheet like this on an O.W.L.s exam, the grade I give you will be the grade on your certificate... This should give some of you a sense of confidence in yourself. A clear understanding.”

With a sarcastic curve at the corner of his mouth, Snape slapped a scrawled paper on Harry's desk and tapped the long, pointed, black "P" on the top corner with his slender fingers.

Out of the corner of his eye, he observed him walking towards the next classmate. Harry was about to lower his head when he quickly noticed the gaze from the table next door. He looked up and saw Malfoy turning his head so quickly that his neck was about to shake off the afterimage. .

"..."

Harry felt as if he heard a few sneers. He silently moved the ink bottle next to him to cover the dazzling "P", and then began to read the annotations on the paper.

Although Snape has a bad teaching attitude, his professional skills are generally good. His comments can always point out the omissions and errors in the paper, put forward targeted revision suggestions, and even list recommended reading references at the end of the article. books.

It's just that the wording is a bit vicious.

Loren and Hermione received a cold look from Professor Snape. It had nothing to do with their grades. The main reason was that they only cared about themselves and did not help some students who were lagging behind. Professor Snape, who always valued unity and friendship, was deeply dissatisfied.

Loren expressed his innocence about this. He once gave Harry some suggestions for revising his thesis, but he was unwilling to adopt them.

"Judging from the overall level of the class, this homework is really terrible. If it were an exam, most of you would fail... I hope that you can spend more time on this week's topic paper. I need to spend some time studying different types of antidotes and put some effort into analyzing their similarities and differences, otherwise I will have to put those idiots who got "P" in solitary confinement! "

Snape's tone was cold and stern, and Harry felt a fever on his face. He pretended to cough twice and turned away, only to find Ron at the same table winking at him, which felt a little strange.

"He only said people with a "P" should be put in solitary confinement, right? Then I'm lucky! "

Harry caught a glimpse of the "D" on his scroll and fell silent.

As we all know, the results of Hogwarts are ranked according to OEAPD, which are excellent, exceeded expectations, passing, failing, etc., which is terrible...

He thought he was at the bottom with a "P", but he didn't expect Ron to be at the bottom.

What a good brother!

Harry silently made up his mind that he would study hard in this lesson and never let Snape find out about it and judge him badly. He read the instructions on the blackboard at least three times before starting to operate. When he encountered something he was not sure about, Steps promptly asked Loren and Hermione for help, and prevented Ron from having direct contact with the crucible. Although the prepared enhancement potion was not as clear turquoise as the table next door, it was at least blue.

At the end of get out of class, he delivered a bottle of enhancement potion sample to Snape's podium in a show-off and relief mood.

"Did you see that Snape didn't curse anyone during this lesson, nor did he stand next to anyone and curse with his gaze? He didn't even get angry when Seamus sent him a bottle of pink potion. It's incredible!"

Harry was talking to a few friends in a trance, when they left the main basement classroom, walked up the stairs, and walked through the corridor to the Great Hall for dinner.

Loren put his hand on Hermione's shoulder, turned around and said, "Maybe I saw you studying hard, and I was relieved and happy for a moment."

"Really?" Ron said in surprise, and told Harry seriously, "From now on, the job of appeasing the old bat will be left to you. The mission is solemn, and it should be regarded as for Gryffindor. Harry will do his best to Go and learn Potions!”

"..."

Harry rolled his eyes and didn't bother to answer him.

Hermione was holding her small cloth bag, still immersed in the joy of the only normal enhancement potion prepared in the class, her eyebrows curled: "It's not as bad as last week, is it? The homework after class is not too bad. Bad, we’ve written similar papers before, that’s a good thing, right?”

Her voice suddenly changed: "You don't have to worry about the paper grades. I mean, he was graded according to the standards of the O.W.L.s exam. You don't have to expect to get the highest grade. It would be great to pass this stage... From now on to There will definitely be a lot of changes in the exam, and we have enough time to improve and progress..."

Harry and Ron were excited by the words and looked at Loren in tacit understanding.

Loren spread his hands.

"Hermione!" Harry sighed, his tone resentful, "If you want to know what grades we got, just ask."

Hermione's words faltered, and she said without much confidence: "I don't...I don't mean that, but if you are willing to tell me..."

"And you said you didn't want to know!" Ron scolded sternly.

Hermione was a little embarrassed, and the little witch who felt she had been wronged dragged Loren away dejectedly. The outstanding student with a bad personality only deserved to sit at the end of the long table for lunch.

Harry and Ron relaxed and found a seat next to Ginny.

"There's no class in the afternoon, Harry. Let's go to the court early after lunch, okay? How about you practice with me before the weekend training? You know, I have a bit of a feel for the ball..."

As Ron spoke, he poured the soup into his bowl. He muttered for a long time without getting a reply, and then turned to look over -

Harry and his sister were seen very close to each other, both of them had their heads lowered, and their way of communicating was very strange. They hesitated for a long time before they could say a word.

"Hello... Ginny." Harry said softly.

"Oh... hello." Ginny's face was slightly red and her eyes were fixed on the smooth and reflective disk. "You guys came a little late, so I left a chicken drumstick for you..."

"Oh..." Harry was confused by the aroma of the food or the girl's body, and his mind was in confusion. He tried his best to think of something interesting and witty to say, but Snape kept flashing in front of his eyes. The "P" is long and pointed.

"The weather is nice today...huh?"

He was so embarrassed that his toes were scratching in his boots. The weather, he was actually talking about the weather. Is this some old-school gentleman's novel from the last century...

"Yeah, it's just right for Quidditch. I only have one class in the afternoon, how about you?"

"Well, I...we don't have classes in the afternoon."

"Then...we..."

Harry was so blessed at this moment that he blurted out: "Meet you on the Quidditch pitch at three o'clock!"

"Okay, Harry."

Harry happily took a bite of the chicken leg, turned around and poked his good friend with his elbow: "Ron, how about we go practice football in the afternoon?"

Ron snorted coldly and dragged a large piece of bacon and eggs in front of him: "I don't want to play ball!"

"Why?" Harry felt strange. "Today is a good day to play Quidditch. I can also practice your goalkeeping skills with you. You just need my agile and flexible hitting to help you develop your sense of the ball, don't you?"

"Because I have to write a potions paper in the afternoon!" Ron took a bite of bacon and drank a big sip of pumpkin juice.

Harry: "..."

He was not allowed to touch the crucible, so why did he drink the wrong medicine?

…

September 23, Saturday morning.

In an ancient Eastern tradition, this day is called the autumnal equinox, which means that autumn has officially arrived.

The genius has just turned on, and there is still a sleeping silence around the castle. Only the chirping of diligent birds can be heard in the forest. The ray of sunlight that shines through the window of the principal's office seems to have just been created, and the dust is swirling in the golden light spots. Dance.

Phoenix Fox looked up at the golden dust, its bright black eyes reflecting the rising sun outside the window, shining brightly. Dumbledore was standing in front of the window looking at the village in the distance:

"Have you really thought about this, Severus?"

"I never hesitated..." Snape's voice was very soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing the floating light dust. "For more than ten years, I have been eager to make up for the mistakes I made, or to repay the life debt I owed. . Now, I have grasped this opportunity..."

Dumbledore's silver beard and hair were glowing with gold, as if they were about to melt in the morning sun. He sighed and said: "You overestimate the mistakes you have made, Severus. Sometimes we are just a choice of fate. Without you, there would be other options.”

"Destiny has its own choices...but I also have my own choices."

"..."

Saying goodbye to the verbose old headmaster, Snape returned to the underground office, put on a hooded cloak, and carefully checked to make sure there was nothing with the Hogwarts logo on him, and then sat down Waiting quietly behind the desk.

Within a few minutes, the sound of hard-soled low-heeled leather shoes came from the corridor outside. The wooden boards of the office were knocked unceremoniously. Umbridge, wearing a pink cardigan, opened the door and looked around the ground. office, while holding his voice and saying:

"Professor Snape, your office is too shabby, with dim lights and shabby decoration. After this matter is over, I will definitely let Hogwarts allocate a tower to you as an office in the name of the Ministry of Magic..."

Snape glanced at this man. If Dumbledore hoped to use those words to make him more or less shaken, now Professor Umbridge completely eliminated the impact of those words and even made him more determined. .

Seeing the toad's triumphant appearance, Snape hummed noncommittally: "It's best to change into more low-key clothes, Professor Umbridge. You know, there are some places where it's not convenient to reveal your identity."

"Don't worry, it was ready for the last ambush..." Umbridge patted her pink leather bag, "I'll put it on when I leave Hogwarts."

"Then let's set off."

The two of them went out together like this, walked out of the castle foyer and onto the road outside. It was still early at this time, and most of the little wizards were nostalgic for their weekend beds, and they didn't meet anyone along the way.

"Professor Umbridge, I would like to ask, how many people know about this transaction?"

"Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone, not even Minister Fudge knew." Umbridge's eyes flashed with a cunning light. She was prepared to take the credit for this investigation alone. As for what Snape wanted thing……

Anyway, they didn't sign a contract, and it was too late for her to fulfill it after she took the position of minister.

"Really? Ms. Umbridge is really cautious and careful..."

"Of course!" Umbridge smiled coquettishly. It was with these careful thoughts that she was successfully promoted from the Office for the Abuse of Magic to the Legal Enforcement Department, from a staff member with no background to a senior deputy minister.

After walking along the road for ten minutes and stepping out of the gate carved with a wild boar, the road ahead suddenly became clear.

Umbridge easily took out the cloak and put it on. The black cloth covered her short and fat body, which made it more pleasing to the eye.

"Finally we are out of the range where Apparition is prohibited." Umbridge's voice was still sickeningly sweet. She looked up and saw Hogsmeade in the distance, with smoke rising from the roofs of some houses. "Can we directly Can you tell me the location of the transaction? It would be easier for us to apparate there..."

It would be best if there was a chance to get rid of this Snape.

"Of course..." Snape said with a sneer in his voice, "The place of transaction is - Malfoy Manor."

The smile on Umbridge's face froze. She was keenly aware that something was wrong. Before she had time to think about it, a red curse light had already hit her face -

"[Fainted]"