Chapter 33 – Heading toward the Dungeons.

[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]

Third Person POV

Hogwarts.

...

...

Professor McGonagall still seemed lost in her thoughts, while her eyes swept across the entire hall, watching the students eat.

And, from time to time, they would occasionally go directly to the Slytherin table, where Severus Snape was seated, talking to the little girl who was, in fact, a Muggle entering Slytherin House.

Even so, her eyes kept settling on the figure beside her, who seemed to be looking after the girl. She did not know what to think about it... Severus Snape, the student who used to be a whirlwind of trouble, involved in inter-house fights and far from favorable in the eyes of the professors.

Her eyes returned to Albus for a moment. The Headmaster was also focused on that side of the Slytherin table, but only he and she seemed to notice. No other professor appeared to have seen Severus's arrival or even noticed him at first. Everyone else was acting normally, immersed in gossip and conversation.

Professor Minerva's eyes also settled on Slughorn, who was talking with Sprout and Professor Flitwick, speaking about the holidays and also about some student from his Slug Club who had entered the Ministry.

He had no idea of the tremendous change one of his students had undergone. So McGonagall sighed before turning her eyes back to the other students, especially to the Gryffindor table, where she found the seventh-year students, all looking proud.

Among them was Frank Longbottom, who carried himself with an air of pride. He was the best student among the graduating class. Speaking of him, her eyes soon shifted to the girls from the previous year, where Mr. Longbottom had been in a relationship with Alice since their fifth year. Even in some meetings, the young man's own mother, Augusta, would say that the two would marry once Alice graduated from Hogwarts, which would happen the following year.

Among the lionesses were also her other classmates, chatting excitedly, while the students from the same year exchanged a few words. The Marauders were quite animated, but also somewhat bothered.

Bothered because it was not only Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster who had noticed the changes in Severus. The girls seemed to be focused precisely because of him. Although they were not the only ones who had noticed, they were the most talked-about group at that moment at the Gryffindor table, with questions such as:

"Who was he?"

"Where did he come from?"

"Why wasn't he introduced as a new student?"

Just thinking about all of this, the Transfiguration professor could already feel a strong headache coming from it, since they would still have to explain Severus's existence and changes at some point. Or, at the very least, he himself would have to do it.

Her eyes also settled on the redhead among the lionesses, who was listening to her friends while also keeping her gaze on the Slytherin table. At the same time, she seemed to be looking for someone, as her eyes shifted from side to side, unable to find what she was searching for.

Not that McGonagall could really blame her.

The end of the friendship between Miss Evans and Mr. Snape was still recent. She had completely ignored him during the last days of the previous year, while he kept his eyes on her, trying to apologize, as was heard in the comments among the students.

And even though she tried to act differently, she could not stop looking toward the Slytherin table in search of her former friend. But what she ended up finding was the absence of that familiar hair, especially among the group of friends where Snape usually sat. This made her scan the entire table with her eyes, but without success in finding him. Obviously, that caught the redhead's attention, even if they were no longer speaking.

Professor McGonagall was able to notice all of these moments, wondering how she would react upon learning that her former friend was, in fact, there, beside a Muggle, in one of the corners of the hall, with a completely different appearance.

Marlene McKinnon and Mary MacDonald were beside her, gossiping and pointing toward the Slytherin table, asking about the possible new student, since they could not identify who he was. Even Miss Evans let her eyes fall on the boy, but she had no idea that he was precisely the student she had been looking for all night.

The professor's eyes finally moved away from the girls. Then she observed the fifth, fourth, and third-year groups, finding the same pattern. The female students were commenting about the mysterious Slytherin who was supposedly a new student and was drawing far too much attention.

But the other students were no different. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs kept their eyes turned toward the snake's table. Although Severus remained discreet, there were always two or three gazes that eventually found him, and that generated a good amount of gossip among groups of friends, all asking, "Who is he?"

Professor McGonagall merely sighed, hoping that it would not bring her too many problems among the house's students.

Soon after came the usual chaos. It was at that moment that several ghosts began appearing throughout the hall, emerging from the walls and even from the tables themselves. The first-year students were immediately startled by it, terrified, before the older students began comforting them and introducing the ghosts, especially the ghosts of their respective houses, who would be constant companions for those students within the castle.

The Bloody Baron seemed to be enjoying himself while talking with some Slytherin students. Until he went to one of the corners where Severus was and suddenly stopped among the fourth-year students, observing Heloísa carefully.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" he said, introducing himself to Heloísa. "I am the Bloody Baron. You are a new student, from what I can see. Welcome to Slytherin," he said proudly.

Heloísa felt a little intimidated. She looked at Severus, who merely nodded for her to continue.

"I am Heloísa. First year," she replied enthusiastically.

The ghost nodded. Then he turned his gaze toward Severus.

"And you, Mr. Snape... You look quite different," he commented, observing Severus with great interest.

"Hello, Baron," Severus simply replied.

The Bloody Baron's eyes fixed on Severus's for a few seconds before he nodded and began to leave. He seemed to be trying to see something in Severus, just as Sir Nicholas had done in the greenhouse.

Severus began to feel the eyes of the entire Slytherin table on him at that moment. When he turned his attention back to the center of the table, he found the sixth and seventh-year students staring at him.

His eyes swept across all those confused and doubtful gazes, observing several strange expressions as he analyzed each of them. Mulciber, Avery, Rosier, Lestrange, and all the others who were declared future Death Eaters.

Perhaps they had heard the Bloody Baron. Perhaps his former classmates' curiosity had finally been awakened.

He did not know, but it did not matter either.

Even so, he kept his eyes fixed on each of them and had an idea. He began trying to do the same thing Dumbledore had done, subtly. In the same way that he could capture memories from animals with whom he shared a bond, he tried to use Legilimency through eye contact alone.

'Is that Snape...?', a voice echoed from among the group. Since it was a voice from the mind.

'So they really had heard the Bloody Baron greeting him.' Severus thought.

'It can't be... What happened to him?'

'Where is our greasy and grumpy bat?'

'Why is he sitting so far away? And why is he with that Muggle?'

The voices began echoing rapidly through Severus's mind as he watched.

"Interesting..." he murmured, displaying a small smile, satisfied with his experiment.

It was nothing deep, only superficial and spontaneous thoughts, but it was already a good start toward advancing his mastery in that area. Reading minds was quite useful.

Then Severus began focusing on one student after another, capturing those thoughts without much effort. He did not care much about them and decided to try the same thing on other students.

Soon, he turned his attention to a group of girls talking nearby.

'Lady Nott looks so ridiculous with that kind of makeup, but it's a shame no one has the courage to tell her.'

'Wow, that girl is so jealous she disgusts me. I don't know why we still keep her in the group.'

'Did Alana gain weight? Serves her right, considering how many sweets she was eating during the holidays...'

'This year I'm going to make Lestrange fall in love with me...'

'Is nobody thinking about that new student? Isn't anyone going to ask who he is already? He's so handsome...'

Severus quickly shook his head, not wanting to hear any more of that nonsense. He sighed and returned to eating, while Heloísa continued with her questions.

The prefects quickly stood up, announcing that it was time to head to each house's common room. At the same time, the students began leaving their tables.

Heloísa followed Severus as soon as he stood up.

'I don't like some of the specific looks they're giving us.' Articuno commented internally, perched on his shoulder.

Severus merely shrugged. "I know. I can feel it even without looking back. They're my former classmates. They're full of questions about me, but we'll leave that for another time."

"First-year students, please follow me!" one of the Slytherin prefects called out.

Severus looked at Heloísa. "Everything will be fine," he said. "If anyone bothers you, let me know."

With those words, Heloísa nodded. Despite being reluctant to separate from him, she moved toward the group of children.

Severus then looked at Articuno. "I want you to stay with her and keep an eye on her. After all, she's Muggle-born. She won't be welcomed in Slytherin," Severus requested.

Articuno nodded before leaping from Severus's shoulder and flying over to the girl. Heloísa was startled, stopping in the middle of the path when she felt the weight on her shoulders.

Severus walked past her and touched her head, being watched by the other children.

"He'll stay with you, alright?" he said.

She nodded, despite her surprise, knowing what Severus meant.

And with that, Severus headed out of the hall. While a few prefects talked among themselves, their eyes settled on Severus, who was one of the first to leave the Great Hall.

"Is that really you, Snape?" asked a fifth-year student by the doorway, one year below Severus.

It was none other than Regulus Black, one of the prefects that year.

"Hello, Prefect Black. Well, being a prefect seems to suit you. I just hope you're different from that Gryffindor pup, Lupin," Severus openly mocked.

Regulus widened his eyes for a moment before nodding, but his gaze remained on Severus in a strange way, studying him, while Severus maintained a stoic expression.

"Of course," was all he replied.

Severus moved outside after that, taking advantage of the commotion already forming at the entrance. He was the first student to leave.

After all, he did not want to go to the common room immediately and instead kept walking until he finally reached the library.

The first thing he wanted to do was review his knowledge and see all the types of books the library had to offer. He would store that information to decide what he would begin studying, even if the subjects were more basic.

Madam Pince was not in the library at that moment, as she was also attending the welcoming feast with the professors and other staff members.

So Severus took advantage of it. Drinking an Invisibility Potion that he had prepared specifically for situations like that, in case any ghost or portrait saw him, he did not want to be reported.

He quickly began moving through the library, observing all the sections and even the Restricted Section, although he could not see the books very well beyond the bars separating the area. At the very least, he could read some of the titles.

Severus could not help but murmur in satisfaction. But there was nothing more he could do for now. He would have to return another time or send a small animal into the area to serve as his eyes.

The library door opened, and Madam Pince entered the room.

Severus did not care. He simply returned to the more public sections and continued mentally recording the titles of the books.

After some time, he finally decided to return. The library would not be open to students that night, but Madam Pince would certainly allow access during the school year.

In any case, he opened the door silently and closed it behind him. Madam Pince even looked up, but she saw nothing unusual. Although she found the sensation she felt strange, she returned to her duties.

Severus then headed toward the dungeons, encountering a few prefects along the way.

'What is the password?' Severus asked internally.

Articuno responded immediately, having already passed through there earlier with Heloísa.

'It's Greatness is born from ambition. Kind of stupid, isn't it?' Articuno gestured.

Severus rolled his eyes and returned to the wall.

"Greatness is born from ambition."

Quickly, a serpent's body began to manifest on the wall, moving and revealing a hidden door between its coils. There was the entrance to the common room.

Severus knew that the moment he entered, he would find all the students gathered there, from every year. And he certainly would no longer be able to hide himself.

He could still hear some of Articuno's observations through the bond they shared, while the magical bird remained perched on Heloísa's shoulder.

Now, however, he would have to deal with reality. He was certain he would have his first argument of the night with the Slytherin students.

With a gaze carrying a strange glimmer, he crossed the entrance.

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