[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]
Third Person POV
Hogwarts.
...
...
The dueling class was simple. Students were no longer allowed to challenge each other as they had the previous year, as the professors themselves were now organizing balanced pairs to identify talents and try to improve weaknesses.
Snape faced several students as he was called, not bothering to fight more than once. One of his challenges was against Lily herself, who seemed so nervous that Snape had to end the fight with a single spell, binding her with a rope around her body, as she was unable to continue.
The professors were slightly confused, while the Gryffindors shouted in anger against him. However, Snape simply shook his head at the two professors, indicating with a look that they should not pair them against each other again.
After that, he faced seventh-year students, who proved to be a bit more challenging. Although they started off nervous, they soon realized that Snape was not as violent as they had imagined. He dueled them using various spells, holding back but still defeating them in the end.
Lily did not lose another duel, while Clarisse and Pandora also performed very well, even defeating seventh-year students. This continued for two hours until Snape ended the session.
Clarisse and Pandora left the room alone, blending into the crowd of students, until they were approached just outside by none other than the History of Magic professor.
"Excuse me." The woman said in an authoritative tone, holding a handkerchief close to her nose. It was a common sight, as she had a sensitive nose and was always seen with that handkerchief during classes.
"Yes?" Clarisse asked, narrowing her eyes, while Pandora observed calmly, curious.
"Is Mr. Snape still inside?" Rosaria asked.
"No, he left before us," Clarisse replied, somewhat suspicious.
"He always does that," Pandora said with a smile.
"I see... But I needed to deliver something to him. Is he in the Slytherin dormitory?"
"No, he sleeps elsewhere," Clarisse replied simply, showing no interest in providing further information.
Rosaria sighed. "Alright, I'll try to talk to him another time." In the end, she turned and walked away through the corridors, attracting enchanted glances from the students, especially the male ones. It was no secret that many students found her to be an incredibly attractive professor, despite her reserved and even stern demeanor with everyone.
"Hey, don't you think this is strange? Why is that woman so interested in Snape? She only looks at him!" Clarisse murmured, suspicious.
"Maybe Snape has won her heart too... Who knows?" Pandora commented, not seeming to care much.
"But she's 200 years old! She's old!" Clarisse replied, looking a bit bothered.
"Are you jealous? I don't think Snape would pick one over the other," Pandora said with a suggestive look.
"What are you talking about?!" Clarisse protested, while Pandora just shrugged and continued down the corridors.
Meanwhile, in the Room of Requirement, Dobby was standing beside Snape, tending to the place.
"I've finished all my chores, sir. It's great to be back working for Master Snape! But I have still been taking care of the Room of Requirement while you were away!" Dobby said enthusiastically.
"Alright. You may continue your work. I will look over some letters I left aside. Leave me alone."
"Alright, Master Snape," Dobby replied, nodding. "If you need me, just call my name."
Snape merely nodded as the elf disappeared. Now alone, he turned his attention to the box near the cauldrons—this was the box where he had stored all the letters after collecting them from the magical post upon returning from Transylvania.
The first letter was from Arthur Greengrass. He expressed his happiness that Snape had reappeared and mentioned that Clarisse had written to him, saying that Snape had not yet returned to Hogwarts. Since Snape's shop was closed, Arthur had been worried but was relieved to know he just needed more ingredients.
He also informed Snape that he would be sending a new shipment of ingredients and herbs so he could restock and that he would send the supplies directly to his shop.
Snape made a quill write on his behalf, replying simply with thanks and requesting monthly resources, as his stocks were running low. He still couldn't believe that the next batch wouldn't last long.
Then, he picked up the next letter. It was a talking letter, which quickly levitated and formed a mouth.
"Severus Snape!" the furious voice exclaimed.
Snape immediately recognized the tone. Bellatrix did not seem to be in a good mood when she wrote that letter. He watched it with a tedious expression.
"You promised me you would come train me, but you haven't said anything else about it! Are you breaking your word? I believed you were a man of your word! I've been sending letters since the beginning of the year. I expect you to keep your promise and respond to me!"
Snape yawned as she finished. He picked up another quill and let it write on its own while he mentally dictated a brief response:
"I will appear at Black Manor within a few days."
After that, he picked up another letter—one of the most important ones he had ignored. It bore the symbol of his mother's family: the Prince family. Snape had set this one aside because he saw no reason for them to contact him. Still, he decided to read it now to understand what they wanted, knowing that sooner or later, he would have to deal with them.
The letter was from a great-uncle, written directly to him. Snape read in silence, his eyes narrowing more and more as he absorbed the contents.
"I see..." he murmured, setting the letter aside.
There were also other old letters, sent by girls he had simply ignored. Some of them complained about his lack of response, including Pandora, who had apparently taken the initiative upon realizing he wasn't replying to anyone during the holidays.
He left those aside. None of them were truly important. The others were just simple correspondence or, in some cases, threats from noble families angry because their sons and grandsons had been beaten by Snape.
It was already getting dark at Hogwarts when Snape decided to make one more stop before heading to the Common Room.
He discreetly appeared in the entrance bathroom to the Chamber of Secrets, observing the place carefully.
He noticed a head emerging from the stall doors. It was Moaning Myrtle, who narrowed her eyes upon seeing him there again. However, her expression quickly changed when she realized that Snape was not alone.
As soon as she saw the creatures beside him—the 21 shadow knights and a black phoenix wrapped in darkness—her eyes widened in pure terror. They were deaths like her, yet at the same time, different. Darker and more powerful.
The creatures' eyes were fixed on her, emanating an overwhelming sense of danger. Even as a ghost, Myrtle felt something that should have been impossible: sweat running down her face.
At that moment, she experienced a fear greater than anything she had ever felt in life. Not even the memory of the basilisk that killed her terrified her as much as this sight.
Snape's aura was cold and menacing. He seemed capable of destroying her right there, even after death.
"AHHHH!!!"
With a high-pitched scream, Myrtle immediately vanished.
Snape narrowed his eyes as he watched her flee. In truth, this reaction occurred with all the ghosts in the castle. Every ghost that saw him simply disappeared. He had already noticed this throughout the day, but he had never seen such an intense reaction up close.
He probably knew this had to do with the power he had gained upon becoming the Monarch of Shadows—the one who controlled the dead. The ghosts reacted instinctively to his presence.
Snape had appeared there just to test this. He watched as his shadow shifted and, in the next instant, the black phoenix appeared before him.
"Can you teleport me directly down there?" he asked.
The phoenix simply flapped its wings, emitting a mysterious sound.
"I see... So I need to reach the place first before you can teleport me," Snape murmured.
The next moment, he clenched his fist and struck the ground with a single punch.
BOOOOOOOMMMMM!
The entire area exploded. The bathroom was completely destroyed with just one blow.
Snape observed the scene, surprised by his own strength.
"My strength has increased… a lot," he murmured, tightening his fist.
He quickly realized that the noise would draw attention. Without wasting time, he jumped into the newly opened hole.
The black phoenix followed him, casting a spell to automatically repair the bathroom. As he descended into the Chamber of Secrets, the bathroom was restored in an instant.
The caretaker, who had heard the explosion, ran to the location only to find a spotless and silent bathroom. He looked around, confused, searching for any signs of destruction or even Moaning Myrtle, but there was nothing.
"How strange..." he murmured.
Meanwhile, Snape arrived at the Chamber of Secrets. Once again, he had to use his strength to open Salazar Slytherin's door.
This time, he simply destroyed it with slightly less force, but still effortlessly—there was no longer any need for multiple punches.
Salazar's portrait observed everything calmly, already aware of Snape's presence. As soon as the door was reduced to pieces, Snape stepped into the chamber.
"You could have knocked. I would have opened it for you. After all, as you can see, that door isn't capable of stopping you," the portrait of Salazar remarked with a sarcastic tone.
Snape merely shrugged. Ignoring the provocation, he entered the chamber, watching as the black phoenix followed right behind him.
"Tell me… Can you teleport me directly here as well?" he asked.
The creature spread its wings, seeming to nod in response. Snape smirked, satisfied with the silent answer.
"Hey… What IS THAT?! A black phoenix?! What the hell is that thing?!" Salazar's portrait exclaimed, stunned as he stared at the creature before him. It was the first time he had ever seen anything like it.
"Maybe one day I'll tell you," Snape shrugged again, while the man frowned, still intrigued by the phoenix's color. A phoenix like that shouldn't exist, yet he could certainly sense a certain power emanating from it—a power tied to death, vastly different from the one he had wielded when he was alive, despite now being nothing more than a portrait.
"Anyway, I came to return this."
Snape picked up a book and placed it back on the shelf.
"Ah… so the school year has begun," the portrait murmured. He had no sense of time or what was happening on the surface.
"It started two weeks ago, but I only returned to Hogwarts now," Snape explained.
"I see… And you really went to Dracula's castle? Boy, you actually did something that reckless?! From what I can see, you're still alive, so I assume you didn't go through with it."
"Not only did I go to his castle, but Dracula himself assigned his daughter to spy on me," he responded casually.
"What do you mean by that? You really went there… and he let you live?" The man seemed confused. He couldn't believe that Snape could have faced that ancient monster and emerged unscathed.
"We fought, but in the end, I got what I wanted," Snape replied, shrugging while browsing through more books on the shelf, ignoring Salazar's narrowed gaze.
"Hey, do you have any idea how to cancel the effects of a Love Potion?" he asked, still scanning the book titles, looking for something related to it.
"I might know of a certain formula… but you won't get that answer without first answering my questions," the portrait challenged.
Snape looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
"You want to know about the black phoenix, don't you? Very well, then," he said, but quickly added, "I'll explain it another way."
With that, he simply turned and began walking out of the chamber.
"What do you mean by that?" Salazar's portrait asked, suspicious.
"Be patient and stay there. I'm sure you'll see soon enough," Snape replied as he descended the entrance stairs.
He returned to the main part of the chamber, where the basilisk's body lay. A portion of it had already been removed, but it was still preserved by the magic of the house-elves.
"It's time…" he murmured to himself.
He needed to extract a new shadow, and a basilisk as a guardian would be extremely useful. After all, they were immune to magic.
If he could summon a shield using the basilisk's body around him, he would be immune to any spell, no matter what it was.
-------------Nexts Chapters ----------------
Chapter 166 - The disguise.
Chapter 171 - The wizarding world begins to weaken.
Chapter 181 - Dealing with the Arrogant Nott Family
Chapter 190 - The Battle in the Muggle World 03.
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