Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

Snape didn't actually want to do it.

Although he disliked every student who wasn't a Slytherin equally, he was still somewhat proud of Lin Xia, a student with excellent grades, even when Snape occasionally mentioned her.

However, he failed to complete the tasks assigned by the organization, only helping to pass on a few messages that were known to almost everyone. The organization had already become dissatisfied with him.

If he doesn't do it this time, people might suspect that he has been turned.

Snape pondered for a moment and decided to enter Lin Xia's illusion first to see how well she could handle it.

If one's tolerance is too low, this advanced hallucinogenic potion cannot be used; a slight mishap could easily cause the wizard's mental state to collapse.

Upon entering Lin Xia's illusion, Snape was surprised to find that she was indifferent to the tragic surroundings and simply closed her eyes indifferently.

Snape leaned closer, wanting to see if her expression changed or if she said anything.

The result is nothing.

Neither sad nor happy, it seemed as if he was simply sleeping peacefully.

But Snape was certain she was not asleep.

When a person falls asleep, their consciousness relaxes, and when their mind is unguarded, they are more easily affected by illusions and pulled into those illusions.

Then all that will be left is ruin.

This made Snape take a deep look at Lin Xia; such a stable mental state, such stable emotions…

It's infuriating that she's not a Slytherin student!
Seeing Lin Xia's composure, Snape no longer hesitated. He took out the advanced hallucinogen he had prepared beforehand, and with a gentle wave of his wand, the liquid of the potion spread around Lin Xia's body.

Suddenly, the liquid vaporized with a bang, turning into a thin mist that surrounded Lin Xia and then gradually seeped into her skin.

Seeing that the smoke had been almost completely absorbed, he had a thought and spread the remaining thin smoke onto the other people to enhance their illusion.

Although using advanced hallucinogens can enhance the power of illusions and easily cause wizards to suffer mental breakdowns, it is not without its benefits.

That is, it can train mental strength.

Some wizards use this extreme method to hone their mental strength, but this cannot be done repeatedly.

Generally, after using it three times, mental strength will no longer increase.

The effects are best when using advanced hallucinogens for the first time.

Snape stared coldly at the rest of the group. "You got off easy!"

same moment.

The illusions the young wizard experienced became even more terrifying.

Ron was being forced to do practice problems, and he would be cut for every wrong answer. Because he was so nervous, he had already cut five times on his arm.

Suddenly, he heard a whooshing sound around him and found that the scene around him had changed abruptly. The terrifying punishment had been upgraded, and making a mistake would actually result in the removal of a body part.

Ron couldn't take it anymore and jumped up.

He's going to run away if he doesn't practice coding problems!

呲——

The next second, he was killed.

Then he went back to where he started and was forced to keep doing practice problems.

In Harry's fantasy world.

This time, he didn't dream of returning to the scene of his parents' tragic death; instead, he kept looking in the mirror.

He looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that many blurry shadows had appeared on his body.

There was the shadow of Dumbledore, the shadow of Professor McGonagall, the shadow of Snape... He even saw the shadow of the despicable and terrifying Voldemort in him!

Harry watched as his reflection in the mirror gradually became distorted, his expression changed, his demeanor changed, and his entire aura completely changed.

He became more confident and at ease, able to interact with different people in different social situations.

Harry felt deeply uncomfortable.

This isn't him, it couldn't be him, he wouldn't be like this.

The person in the mirror felt unfamiliar to him, as if his own consciousness was gradually being replaced by the influence of many people.

He became unlike himself; even his soul, body, and mind were completely covered by the thoughts and consciousness of others!

What terrified him most was that, looking at his increasingly unfamiliar self in the mirror, a scene suddenly flashed through Harry's mind—

He had seen reports about Voldemort in his youth, when he was a prominent figure at Hogwarts and was admired by many Slytherin students.

Wherever he goes, he is surrounded by a crowd of people who fawn over him.

Voldemort was also very good at dealing with people and was very sociable when he was young.

Harry discovers that his reflection in the mirror increasingly resembles that of a young Voldemort.

Although they don't look alike, their expressions are very similar.

In the end, he became the very thing he hated most!
The other characters experienced different illusions, each confronting their deepest fears.

Because Lin Xia absorbed the most hallucinogenic drugs, Snape focused on observing her reactions.

If Lin Xia showed any abnormality, he would immediately wake her up; he couldn't possibly ruin a promising talent for the sake of a so-called mission.

Snape originally wanted to enter her upgraded illusion to take a look, but he unexpectedly discovered that Lin Xia's mental power actually rejected his entry.

"Her mental strength is actually..."

Snape tried again to use Legilimency to enter her illusion, but was still rejected.

Moreover, because this was the second intrusion, the feeling of rejection was more pronounced than the first time; he was almost driven out as soon as he entered.

Snape had a premonition that if he intruded a third time, Lin Xia's mental energy would probably attack him.

"It's so powerful! This is not the kind of mental power that an underage wizard could possess!"
She could also erect a mental barrier in her mind; this level of mental strength was comparable to that of an elite wizard, and some high-level wizards, without special training, might not even be as strong as her.

Snape stared intently at Lin Xia, a question rising in his mind.

"Does this mean that wizards with talent in research generally have stronger mental strength than other wizards? Not only Lin Xia, but Draco and Hermione also quickly got into the zone."

Lin Xia is excellent, and it's not surprising that her mental strength is powerful, but to reach this level is truly exceptional, especially considering she's also learning magic rune arrays from Babuling! Could it be that Babuling taught her some methods of mental power?

As the idea popped into his head, Snape shook his head slightly; something still didn't feel right.

He had mentioned to Lin Xia before that magic runes could enhance mental power, and she had seemed quite surprised, so Babuling hadn't told her. Surely he couldn't just be helping her silently, could he?
Since he couldn't see the fantasies in Lin Xia's mind, Snape stopped worrying about it, withdrew all his mental energy, and focused on observing the expression on Lin Xia's face.

He was still quite relieved.

The fact that he could erect a mental barrier in his mind shows that his mental strength should not be underestimated.

Even if affected by advanced hallucinogens, they should be able to withstand it.

What kind of illusion does Lin Xia have?
It has to be said that the effects of the advanced hallucinogen were quite powerful. The scene in Lin Xia's mind suddenly returned to the apocalyptic era of her previous life.

Seeing the familiar yet unfamiliar scene around her, Lin Xia, who was usually calm, couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

The living environment in my previous life was actually far more dangerous than that in the wizarding world.

In that era, survival was an extremely difficult task for everyone, let alone having the mind to think about anything else. Resources were scarce, and people often faced the possibility of being murdered and robbed.

Every time a ruin is opened, many people die.

In that era, people were not considered people; they were merely consumables.

When survival becomes difficult, then procreation becomes meaningless. Everyone sees no hope and feels that the next generation shouldn't suffer like they did, so they might as well not have children at all.

But Lin Xia also knew that people in that era had a much stronger will to survive than those in the wizarding world.

The wizarding world is too comfortable, which is why it has been gradually worn down by the world of evil gods to this point.

Lin Xia saw herself in the illusion returning home in glory, receiving a warm welcome from her clansmen, and the clan chief earnestly hoping that she could stay in the family to take charge of the overall situation.

When she saw this, she gently shook her head.

No matter how realistic the illusion is, it is ultimately not the world of the previous life.

In a post-apocalyptic world, everyone struggles to survive.

If she were to descend upon the family as a powerful figure, the family members would not try to retain her with gentle means or beg for her favors. Instead, they would rack their brains to figure out how to skin her alive and drain her of her marrow!

The approach was still too lenient.

The moment Lin Xia's consciousness left, the illusion shattered and ceased to exist.

The next second, she opened her eyes.

Ahead, Snape kept an eye on Lin Xia, and when he saw that she had opened her eyes on her own, he made a point of checking her condition.

He was taken aback when he noticed her clear expression and peaceful gaze.

"Lin Xia, you broke free from the illusion on your own. How did you leave?" he asked.

Lin Xia said calmly, "The illusion was created too crudely. It was obvious at a glance that it was fake. When I realized that it was all fake, I automatically broke free from the illusion."

Snape frowned. "But... how can you break free from the illusion? Many people know it's an illusion, but they can't get rid of it."

Lin Xia thought for a moment and gave an explanation very seriously: "Perhaps their mental strength is too low, so they cannot get rid of the illusion. Even if they know it is fake, they can only participate in it."

When she broke free, she could sense that the illusion wanted to keep her there, but it couldn't stop her from leaving.

Because her will was stronger than the illusion created, it was impossible to keep her.

Snape looked at Lin Xia and suddenly said, "There is a special rune array in Hogwarts that can be used to test a wizard's mental strength. However, this array is not used often and is only opened on special occasions."

You can apply to the school to have your mental strength tested. If you want to join the Ministry of Magic after graduation, there's a special department that's perfect for someone with strong mental abilities like you.

Lin Xia asked, "Professor, is that department very dangerous?"

Snape said coldly, "No profession is absolutely safe as long as you work in the Ministry of Magic. Even clerks working in the Ministry of Magic often encounter criminals."

Lin Xia smiled faintly: "But if these criminals can enter the Ministry of Magic, there will definitely be a shackle added, and their impact will be weakened a lot. I value my life and would rather find a simpler job. I don't like fighting and killing."

Snape's lips twitched.

I don't know if Lin Xia was angry or if she just found it funny.

Who would believe the Mother of Wands, who created so many offensive wands, would say she doesn't like fighting and killing?
About half an hour later, some people gradually woke up from the illusion.

However, they did not break free from the illusion on their own initiative. Rather, the illusion's power weakened considerably as its time expired, allowing their consciousness to break free.

However, some people did not leave conscious and were instead frightened into unconsciousness.

Unfortunately, Harry, Ron, and Neville couldn't withstand the terror of the illusion and collapsed to the ground.

And Mikel...

He was the third to last one to regain consciousness, but he was in a very good state and showed no fear of the illusion.

Snape had not examined his visions, nor did he know what he had experienced that made his expression so calm.

This also shows that Snape didn't value him enough; in his eyes, Mikel was just there to make up the numbers.

As for the Weasley twins, they were full of energy, immersed in the illusion, repeatedly killed and resurrected, and played for a long time without having a mental breakdown, but they also couldn't find a way to leave.

Seeing that everyone was either awake or unconscious, Snape was somewhat annoyed that the Weasley twins were still not awake, so he simply knocked them both out and dumped them on Draco and Mikey.

“Take them back. With their shrunken cerebellum, they’ll probably have nightmares all night, but they’ll be fine when they wake up the next day.”

The next day.

Ron, Harry, and Neville woke up right on time.

They had no classes this morning, so they stayed in bed a little longer.

Mikel noticed they were awake and asked them what had happened the day before.

Ron mumbled in a daze, "Taking tests, endless tests, if you get a question wrong you'll be killed, either watching others die or watching yourself die. And dying isn't enough, you'll be resurrected and keep taking tests, you have to get them right, if you get one wrong you'll be killed again..."

Harry: "I saw myself in the mirror, and the person in the mirror was what I would look like in the future, but I felt that he was not me. It was as if he was just wearing my skin, but doing things that had nothing to do with me."

I felt very scared. I didn't want to become like the person in the mirror, but the people around me approved of it, including my friends and professors. No one thought it was wrong.

And he actually got along well with my aunt! Every holiday, the whole family would go on trips together, it was unbelievable, I was shocked!

Navey recalled his experiences with trepidation, saying:
“I dreamt that I went back to my childhood and was hidden away. There was a very strange, powerful and terrifying person who wanted to find me. He was like a grim reaper.”

If he found me, he would kill me. I kept hiding and hiding until I had nowhere left to hide, so I chose to die.

But when I opened my eyes again, I was back in the same place, and all I could do was keep running away.

From beginning to end, I never saw what the person who wanted to kill me looked like. Only one thought occupied my mind: I had to hide, or I would truly die.

Ron asked, "By the way, Mikel, what about you?" (End of Chapter)