Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

Snape's gaze swept back and forth between Harry, Ron, and Neville.

The chaotic scene he had imagined did not materialize; the three people were surprisingly calm and composed.

Finally, Snape deliberately walked behind the three men, sometimes making noises on purpose, but he didn't attract their attention.

Sometimes he would stand quietly behind them, observing their every step.

The more you look at him, the more gloomy his expression becomes, like dark clouds or black soot at the bottom of a pot.

No error!

Dosage is accurate!

Standard procedure!

Snape frowned, somewhat puzzled as to what these people had gone through during the winter break and why their potion-making skills had improved so much.
These were the people he was closely observing. He remembered their behavior last semester; they were definitely not as calm as they were now.

Moreover, judging from their skillful techniques, they can make potions independently without the help of their teammates.

This surprised Snape.

After all, in his eyes, none of these three students had much talent for potions.

Harry and Ron had absolutely no talent for potions. Neville actually had some talent for potions, but the aloof and arrogant Snape refused to admit it. He had misjudged this student.

While Ron, Harry, and Neville were making potions, they felt a chill on their backs, but then they remembered it was springtime and the weather was still a bit chilly, so they didn't pay much attention to it.

Snape stared at them for a long time, then turned and left, saying in a cold voice:

"There's only half an hour left. Teams that haven't started making potions yet can leave now. There's not enough time left for you to make a single potion!"

Some people, upon hearing the time, frantically speed up their steps, only to make a mess of things.

Either too much of this ingredient was added, or that ingredient wasn't properly processed; potion accidents happened frequently.

Some students, however, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the time.

The students' potions were just a few steps away from completion, and there was plenty of time left.

Snape took in the starkly different expressions of the two groups, and his own expression grew even more somber.

Ron's companion whispered, "Ron, Professor Snape stood behind you and watched you for a long time. I didn't dare to move, afraid of being scolded by the professor."

Ron suddenly realized, "Ah, Professor Snape is here?"

He didn't feel anything.

His companion nodded quickly: "I've been watching you for a long time. I was afraid he would suddenly make a sound and scare you. If you accidentally flinch, our potion will be ruined."

Ron glanced at his companion, wanting to say something, but in the end he kept quiet.

Forget it, it's not surprising that Snape suddenly spoke up.

During their winter break, they practiced Occlumency, and Snape would always find various reasons to scare them, saying it was to train their minds and keep their thinking calm at all times.

Under Snape's torment, he and Harry had gradually developed a "calm and collected" mindset.

So even if Snape were standing right behind him and suddenly spoke, Ron didn't think he would be so startled that he would throw the potion bottle in his hand.

The fact that the student who was considered a poor student had suddenly become a top student made Snape feel somewhat uneasy.

But seeing that Lin Xia, Hermione, and Draco were performing as well as ever, his mood eased a bit.

At least these eugenics will always be eugenics, and it's unlikely that they will become worse.

But then Snape realized that these people weren't Slytherin students, and his expression darkened even more.

Damn it, why are all the promising talents in recent years in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff?

Neither the impulsive lion nor the mediocre badger seems capable of shouldering great responsibilities!
"Jingle Bell--"

As the bell rang, Snape walked expressionlessly to each group and scored the potions they had made.

Almost every group was subjected to Snape's sharp tongue.

"I never expected you to make scabies medicine. Do you think you're still a freshman? Even freshmen can do it better than you. It's such a basic and simple medicine, and you can even get the ingredients wrong."

Snape, expressionless, said, "I think your brain is even worse than a troll's. You might as well start from first year and repeat everything!"

The other young wizards chuckled softly upon hearing this.

Snape turned his head and looked in the direction from which the laughter came, saying sarcastically, "Do you have the right to laugh at him?"

"At least their group managed to make the potion, but it's not what I wanted. Your group didn't even make a single potion. I'll give their group a 60 out of 100, which is barely acceptable, but I'll only give your group a 0 out of 100."

Snape turned his head again and caught sight of another little wizard covering his mouth and chuckling.

"And you, don't think you're immune just because you're watching the show. The potion your group made looks like a finished product, but it's actually the worst kind of counterfeit."

If we actually put your group's magic potion on the market, we don't know whether patients will buy it to cure their illness, create new diseases, or worsen their existing conditions.

Other groups failed to make potions because they lacked talent, but at least they didn't try to scam people into buying them. But your group, which looks promising, will only bring disaster to the buyers.

"Hogwarts is too lenient with you all; they didn't even introduce a negative score system. Otherwise, I would give this potion you made a negative 100 points!"

Snape's mouth spewed out a torrent of words like a machine gun.

Now, all the young wizards dared not show any expression on their faces. They stood there like weak, pitiful, and helpless quails, wishing they could shrink their bodies into themselves.

Before he knew it, Snape had arrived at Neville's group.

Neville's companions closed their eyes, their faces filled with tragic determination as they awaited the onslaught of the storm.

He waited a few seconds, but Snape didn't speak, so he cautiously opened his eyes.

There was no one in front of them.

The potion they made sat quietly on the table.

The young wizard immediately looked back and saw that Snape had come up behind them and was commenting on the group behind them.

Neville's companion cautiously asked, "Neville, did you hear Professor Snape's comments? I didn't hear anything. Was he even in our group?"

A look of confusion crossed Neville's eyes.

He said, "The professor came, but only glanced at me and left without saying a word."

He had assumed the professor would criticize him harshly and take pleasure in attacking him, since that's how he'd always gotten by.

Even he didn't expect that Snape would just glance at him and leave.

My companion asked, "So, did we pass the test, or did we fail?"

Neville shook his head: "I don't know."

Snape not only ignored Neville, but also the groups of Ron, Harry, Lin Xia, and others. He didn't comment on any of these groups.

After he had reviewed all the potions made by the young wizards, he raised his pale head and said with an arrogant yet merciful air, "The groups whose potions were not reviewed by me have successfully made them."

This potions lesson has now come to an end.
-
same moment.

After returning from Professor Binns' office, Professor McGonagall thought it over and decided to convene an impromptu meeting of the faculty.

The information provided by Professor Binns is crucial.

She felt it was related to the evil spirit she sensed at the school this time.

Perhaps, as Professor Binns said, it wasn't that an evil god descended upon Hogwarts, but rather that a student embraced the power of that evil god.

If that evil god is extremely good at disguising himself, then ordinary detection magic rune arrays would indeed be unable to detect that he possesses the power of an evil god.

Professor McGonagall thought to herself, "We must strictly control the evil gods, especially the outstanding students who can read forbidden books. The younger and more talented the young wizards are, the easier it is for them to lose themselves in the power."

That evening, all the professors who could come to Hogwarts gathered in a secret space.

The discussion focused on the evil spirit aura that the school's consciousness had suddenly detected last night.

Some professors do not participate in teaching; they stay at the university for better research.

Hogwarts has many mysterious spaces, all of which are suitable for conducting research.

These research professors are very impatient with attending faculty meetings.

However, because of their broad thinking and quick wit, they are often able to come up with other unique perspectives.

Therefore, all professors involved in the research are required to attend any meeting convened by the vice-principal.

This space was vast and bright as day.

However, the bright daylight wasn't due to the space's own light source; rather, what met the eye were complex arrays of magical runes.

These magical runes shone like stars in the sky, converging into streaks of twinkling meteors.

Because there are so many nodes in the magic rune array, and each node is glowing, it makes this place seem like a dazzling starry sky.

But its beauty is just its outer garment; in reality, it hides enormous power.

Every professor who sensed this immense energy felt a sense of awe.

McGonagall chose to hold the meeting here because of the magic runes here.

If the professor gets too carried away in the discussion and accidentally starts using his wand, she can immediately suppress it using the power of the runes.

Once everyone had arrived, the professor, who specialized in research, eagerly asked, "Minerva, did you call us all here because of some new discovery?"

McGonagall glanced at everyone and said thoughtfully, "I've received some new information, but I can't tell you the source. I can swear this information is accurate, and the person who provided it is trustworthy."

Another professor asked anxiously, "What exactly did you receive? Has the aura of the evil god been located? Has an evil god really infiltrated Hogwarts?"

The other professors couldn't help but feel a chill.

They were actually quite worried if an evil god had infiltrated Hogwarts.

As a professor, I am well aware of how powerful evil gods can be.

Even the weakest evil god should not be underestimated.

Let alone what would happen if students encountered evil gods, even professors like themselves would probably not escape death if they did.

The wizarding world currently lacks effective methods to deal with evil gods.

Every method capable of annihilating an evil god requires a long period of planning and the use of extremely powerful magical runes.

This method can be used in the wild.

But not at Hogwarts.

Hogwarts is a very sophisticated castle with many mysterious places. Using too much energy could potentially damage the castle.

Not worth the candle.

This is why whenever something happens in the castle, they can only investigate by manpower, and dare not introduce a massive amount of energy to sweep it away.

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and said in an extremely calm voice:

"The message I received wasn't that an evil god had descended upon Hogwarts, but rather that a student might be involved—"

She paused, "Or perhaps the professor embraced the power of the evil god's world and used that power for his own purposes."

As soon as these words came out.

The other professors all had very unpleasant expressions on their faces.

Without prior arrangement, they all thought of the same person.

The person who turned the modern wizarding world upside down.

Tom Riddle!
Dark Lord!
Voldemort!
Ordinary wizards might not know how Tom Riddle made his fortune, but as professors at Hogwarts, they knew all too well.

Tom Riddle was so troublesome because he read a book on advanced dark magic about soul splitting in the forbidden library and learned the Horcrux longevity technique.

Even if a Horcrux is destroyed by a wizard, there is always another Horcrux hidden somewhere.

Moreover, the Dark Lord left a prophecy: one day, he will return!

That means if the Horcruxes become more and more powerful, they can also provide power to the Dark Lord.

As everyone knows, this method of soul splitting causes irreversible damage to the soul and is very likely to make the wizard's temperament very strange, or even extreme.

For example, Tom was too extreme, throwing himself directly into the arms of the evil god and unable to resist the temptations of the evil god's world.

Tom Riddle alone has made many ordinary wizards feel insecure at the mere mention of his name.

What if another Tom clone appears now? What will happen to Hogwarts? What will happen to the wizarding world?
Can the current wizarding world withstand the disaster and fear brought by a second Dark Lord?
Soon, a professor reacted decisively, saying, "We must investigate thoroughly and find that student!"

“We will conduct comprehensive testing, checking the aura of wizards every week to see if there is any evil god aura mixed in.”

"This would be too costly in terms of manpower and resources, and wouldn't our reaction be too extreme? Is this news even true?"

A professor who looked quite old suddenly spoke up: "What worries me more is that no matter how much we investigate, we won't be able to find out who this student is. You know, back in the day, the mysterious man was the epitome of a perfect gentleman at school."

"Then shall we start with the top students and implement comprehensive supervision?"

Snape suddenly spoke up, his tone sarcastic and cynical.

“You said they are outstanding students. If we don’t give them more power and instead try to monitor them, do you think they will be happy?”

"Becoming more outstanding only leads to greater limitations. Even if outstanding students have no intention of cooperating with the evil god, they might still side with the evil god under pressure from Hogwarts!" (End of Chapter)