A magical journey that begins in Azkaban.

Chapter 534: Roger's Prank
Draco adjusted his mentality and returned to the castle, with a dangerous light flashing in his eyes. If George and Fred dared to make him unhappy, he would make the twins' families outside the school even more unhappy.

"Hey, Goyle," Draco called from the common room. "Lend me your bat."

Goyle handed the bat over without a word, and Draco took it and immediately swung it hard into the air, making a series of terrifying swish sounds.

"Next time we play against Gryffindor, I'll be the batsman." He gripped the bat tightly, his eyes flashing with ruthlessness.

"You're coming?" Goyle opened his mouth in surprise, unable to believe his ears. "You're saying that you want to give up the position of Chaser and become a Beater?"

"That's right! I'm going to hit them hard in the face with the Bludger."

"But what about the game?" Crabbe quickly reminded, "If you adjust your position, we might lose."

"Do you think our team will lose to those outsiders?" Draco sneered contemptuously and threw the bat back to Goyle. "I want both victory and revenge! I want to make Weasley understand that the stadium is not the auditorium!"

The castle was decorated for Christmas as usual. Hagrid dragged a huge pine tree through the hall. The scars on his face seemed to have faded a lot, and there were no new wounds.

Roger stood at the door, a gentle smile on his face, and greeted him: "How is the Forbidden Forest?"

"He's fine." Hagrid grinned, showing his teeth hidden under his thick beard.

Suddenly, his expression became alert, as if he remembered something he shouldn't say. He looked around to make sure no one else was eavesdropping, then covered his mouth and whispered, "My salary has been saved by the school for a long time, which is enough to fill his stomach."

Hagrid said, picking up the huge pine tree and carefully standing in the corner behind the teacher's seat, "But..."

He had a worried look on his face and scratched his shaggy head. “I’m afraid we’ll have to think of other ways next winter.”

Rogge nodded. As a giant, Grawp was an absolute glutton. To fill his stomach, one needed extremely strong financial resources. Hagrid could still get by this year, but next year, the year after... this would be a big problem.

"Perhaps you can store some food in the summer. Or, like the bear, let him hibernate to reduce calorie consumption."

Hagrid's eyes lit up, and he was obviously impressed by the idea. When Roger left, Harry and the others quickly emerged from the corner like alert little animals and ran towards him.

"Hagrid, I heard him mention the Forbidden Forest. Is he threatening you?" Harry asked with concern.

"No, no!" Hagrid shook his head quickly and muttered, "Rogge helped a lot and gave me good advice. Although I don't like him, he is indeed not bad."

"Maybe this is his disguise." Ron took the opportunity to slander, "Think about it, we are still two years away from graduation. He must want to take the opportunity to recruit a group of followers, just like what the Dark Lord did before."

"You mean, he wants to recruit me?" Hagrid couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Rogge is a pure-blood wizard. His head is full of pure-blood ideas."

Hagrid spread out his huge hands and continued, "I'm a half-giant, how could he be interested in me? In his eyes, I'm afraid I'm not even a wizard."

"But..." Ron opened his mouth to refute, but found that he could not find any loopholes in Hagrid's words. He frowned and racked his brains to think.

He had no choice but to bring up Voldemort again, raising his voice and saying, "The Dark Lord used to only have pure-blood subordinates, but now, he has even started recruiting vampires and Dementors."

"But the Dark Lord himself is a half-blood wizard." Hagrid said without even thinking, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"I'm just concerned about you, Hagrid." Ron's face turned red, as conspicuous as a monkey's butt.

However, he stubbornly insisted: "The dark wizards in Slytherin are particularly good at bewitching people. I am worried that you will be deceived."

"Perhaps, he...he will use Grawp to blackmail you."

Hagrid fell silent when he heard this, but in fact, he had the same doubts deep in his heart.

"Ron, how is your father?" He awkwardly changed the subject and walked towards the Forbidden Forest.

"It hasn't gotten better." Ron's expression immediately became serious, as if a heavy stone was pressing down on his heart. "Fortunately, the wound has stopped bleeding, and Dad doesn't have to drink a bottle of blood tonic every hour."

His voice gradually became quieter, and it was obvious that he had more bad news to tell: "But the head healer said that it would be best to continue hospitalization until the poison is completely resolved. Tonks said that the Ministry of Magic could not find any trace of the snake, as if it had never appeared."

Harry, who was standing next to him, remained silent, glancing at Ron from time to time, as if a huge rock was blocking his throat. He wanted to tell Ron: "I am the snake, and I bit your father."

However, Lupin had told him that it was not Harry's fault. He just accidentally entered Voldemort's mind in his dream and witnessed the whole process of Arthur being attacked.

Even so, Harry couldn't shake the deep feeling of guilt.

"St. Mungo's is too far from our Burrow..." The second half of Ron's sentence was swallowed up by the howling wind and snow, but Hagrid still caught a few words, it seemed that Arthur wanted to be discharged early.

He frowned, obviously worried about this idea. He knew how serious Arthur's injuries were and how terrible the snake venom in his body was. Leaving the hospital early would undoubtedly be risking his life.

However, Hagrid didn't know that the Weasley family was facing severe financial difficulties. Although the Ministry of Magic covered the basic treatment costs, the additional expenses were like a mountain, pressing on this already poor family.

In the past year, the prices of potions and herbs have skyrocketed, and each bottle of blood tonic has cost as much as 1 Galleon and 3 Sickles.

For the Weasley family, this was an astronomical sum. If Percy had not come to their rescue at the critical moment, the family might have been on the verge of bankruptcy.

The strong Molly kept these things in her heart and did not mention them to her children or friends. Unless they were at their wits' end, she and Arthur would not easily ask others for help.

The hall is preparing for tonight's dinner, and the air is filled with the atmosphere of the festival. The elves in the kitchen are like happy spinning tops, spinning and busying around the stove.

Roger came to the dungeon alone, waved his wand, and used the shining crystal wall lamp to dispel the gloom that had accumulated here for many years. While Snape was away, he prepared to give his teacher a surprise.

Holly laden with red fruits, white citrus chrysanthemums, bright poinsettias and pine cones were woven into a huge wreath, which Roger hung on the wall behind the podium, bringing a touch of warmth and vitality to the cold dungeon.

"It looks much better." Roger smiled with satisfaction, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

He waved his wand again and added some ribbons to the ceiling and walls, giving the place a brand new look.

"The teacher probably won't come today." Roger shrank his neck subconsciously. By the time Snape discovered the Christmas skin in the dungeon tomorrow, he would have been safely sitting on the return Hogwarts Express.

Suddenly, a bold idea flashed in Roger's mind. "Should I add a disguise spell to the door?" He stroked his wand, a hint of mischief flashing in his eyes.

Roger immediately cast a spell on the wooden door. "Hey, as soon as he pushes open the door, his clothes will turn into a red cotton jacket and a red hat on his head. Oh, it would be better if he grew a white beard..."

Roger looked around with a sense of accomplishment, admiring his masterpiece. The dungeon had completely changed, filled with a festive atmosphere. He took a deep breath, smelled the fresh scent of pine branches and holly in the air, and a warm feeling surged in his heart.

"It's time to get down to business." He turned to Snape's office, his eyes gleaming with excitement. After all, some of the less commonly used materials could be found in his cabinet.

Returning to the experimental table, Roger took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"2 drops of dragon blood tree venom, 0.1 ounce of eight-eyed giant spider silk, ancient resin fragments (amber fragments), royal jelly..." His movements were skillful and elegant, and the amount of processed raw materials was accurate to the millimeter.

The moment the flames start to rise, start timing based on your heartbeat. If you keep your mind calm and your hands steady, you will never make a mistake in the timing of placing the ingredients. If you use an hourglass to time, there will inevitably be errors.

As the raw materials were dissolved into the silver crucible one by one, the liquid medicine gradually took on a transparent crystal texture, emitting a strange light and aroma.

"Stir clockwise for 5 times, then add moonstone powder for adsorption, filtration and cooling." Rogge quickly produced a crystal adhesive with extremely high purity according to the formula requirements.

He found two pieces of scraps and lightly applied a thin layer of adhesive. When they came together, the adhesive released strong heat, like an invisible wave that completely eliminated the gap between the two pieces of material.

"There are no flaws, as if they were born together." Roger was secretly amazed at the powerful effect of the crystal adhesive. "It's a pity that it doesn't work on metal, otherwise it would definitely be very effective."

He carefully poured the adhesive into the silver bottle and cast several spells to ensure the firmness and sealing of the bottle. Just as he was about to prepare the rune etching water, the door of the dungeon was suddenly pushed open.

"Do you have to come?"

"Harry, now is not the time to lose your temper..." Before Lupin could finish his words, he saw a cloud of smoke spewing out of the wooden door, instantly enveloping him completely.

"Professor!" Harry exclaimed, quickly pulled out his wand, and shouted nervously: "This must be the conspiracy of the old bat..."

"Old Bat?" Snape's cold voice sounded behind them, chilling like the cold wind blowing through the valley, making people's spines chill.

When the smoke cleared, Lupin looked completely different: he had a white beard and was wearing a red Santa Claus suit.

In order to make the prank more perfect, Roger even added a spell to increase the fatness of the clothes, taking into account Mr. Snape's thin figure.

Snape looked at his old rival's funny appearance, a hint of sneer appeared on his stiff face: "It seems that our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, who is highly respected by students, needs to make up for the course of 'stay vigilant'. He was fooled by a student's prank. Tsk tsk, it's really disappointing, Lupin."

He turned to Harry, his eyes as sharp as a hawk: "In addition, Mr. Harry Potter, because of your disrespectful behavior towards the professor, Gryffindor will deduct 20 points." He stared into Harry's green eyes and punished him mercilessly.

Lupin seemed relaxed. He stroked his suddenly long white beard, his eyes sparkling with joy. "I think this outfit is pretty good! Hmm~ It also needs a big bag full of gifts to match it."

"Hey, maybe we should go ask Hagrid to borrow some reindeer and have a grand Santa Claus appearance."

"Then you should go sweep chimneys and do some tricks..." Snape said sarcastically, and his brows furrowed as he glanced at his much-changed Potions classroom.

At this moment in the dungeon, Rogge was quietly cleaning up the potion table with amazing speed and dexterity.

He knew that if he played a prank, he would at most be scolded by Snape; but if he failed to clean the potion table in time... what awaited him would be several tons of slippery, smelly slug entrails to be processed.

Roger held his breath and tiptoed towards the office. Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed in his ears.

"Mr. Roger, where are you going?" Snape's gaze pierced him like a sword, and a hint of disbelief flashed in his eyes.

He never expected that the person who committed all these "crimes" was actually his own student.

Snape was already used to the students' dislike, and was not surprised by the provocations of the pranksters. If it was the Weasley twins who did it, he wouldn't even blink an eye.

But now it seems that the King of Mischief at Hogwarts is someone else. He felt mixed emotions for a moment.

"You're actually here brewing potions on Christmas Eve, how diligent you are... I'm impressed!", he praised coldly, striding into his territory.

Even though he was prepared, the scene in the classroom still stunned him: the jingling silver bells behind the door, the sparkling crystal chandeliers on the wall, the reindeer carpet at the door of the office, and the Christmas wreath that was so big that it blinded his eyes...

Snape felt his temples throbbing as if they would burst at any moment. He took a deep breath, tried to calm his excitement, and began to count the potion ingredients that had been taken away: "Dragon blood tree venom, eight-eyed giant spider silk..."

Snape paused, walked to the potion table and took a deep breath, the sweet fragrance filling his nostrils.

His brows furrowed slightly, and his mind searched through his memory, trying to find the source of the smell. "This sweet smell should come from the beehive."

Snape stared at Harry and said sarcastically, "Mr. Potter, talent is not something to be smug about or to show off."

"If you were as diligent as Rogge, your Potions grades wouldn't just be above the passing line." After saying that, he turned to Rogge and brought him back with his eyes.

In front of Lupin and Harry, he did not criticize Roger for his misbehavior in his classroom. However, his eyes revealed another meaning: "Don't leave for a while, let's have a good chat."

Lupin looked at the new look of the dungeon and thought it was good. He smiled and said, "The Christmas Eve party is about to begin, Roger, go quickly..."

"No need." Snape waved his hand to interrupt him, and with a dull sound, the door closed tightly.

"Lupin, get out the Pensieve. Roger knows about Occlumency."

"I also want Harry to understand that not being able to learn is not necessarily the professor's fault." He suddenly laughed and said sarcastically, "Oh, I almost forgot, our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is not very good at Occlumency either."

He stared at Lupin and said, "Now, how far have you come, Harry?"

"You can clean up your thoughts and emotions." Lupin said, encouraging Harry with his eyes: "You have mastered it very well."

"Really?" Snape waved his cloak, walked up to Harry and looked at him.

(End of this chapter)