From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 316 Snape's Occasion
"Okay! Now that we've met Albella, it's time to head to the Potions Professor's office!" Harry ended the argument about the goblin rebellion and hurriedly moved out their original plan.

"I wonder if Mrs. White and Professor Snape are still there." Hermione nodded, "I hope we don't miss too much."

"Mrs. White and--Professor Snape?" Ariana looked at the three of them suspiciously. "Although I know that Professor Snape has always taught Potions in the past, but isn't he teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts now? Why did he appear in the Potions professor's office?"

"This... is complicated." Harry said with embarrassment. After a series of twists and turns, the relationship between the trio and Ariana was undoubtedly much closer, but there was still a lot of information that was not synchronized.

This includes the fact that Professor Snape has a romantic relationship with Mrs. White.

"Generally speaking, complicated interpersonal relationships mean dramatic scenes." Ariana analyzed with experience, "Don't tell me first, let me guess."

Hermione opened the door to the utility room and stuck her furry head out to look around.

Ariana behind her was still talking excitedly: "I don't know if you have noticed that most of the professors at Hogwarts are single, and I haven't heard of anyone getting married and having children."

Harry had a premonition that Ariana's next words would definitely be related to the relationship between the professors, so he interrupted her and said, "Let's put Albert back in the bottle first! We need to go to the Potions Professor's office quickly."

"I guessed right, didn't I?" Ariana shook her finger, and the black mud monster obediently crawled back into the small bottle she carried with her. "Is there some romantic relationship between Mrs. White and Professor Snape?"

"That's right!" Ron's tone was full of suppressed excitement, "And we are going to destroy this relationship. To be more precise, we are going to destroy Snape's unrequited love!"

"Oh!" Ariana let out a short scream, "I thought we were going to give assists! But this is not bad, it's much more enjoyable than the boring college life!"

"Okay! There's no one in the corridor!" Hermione waved at them from the door, "Hurry up!"

"Hermione - we are not conducting a secret operation! There is no need to be so sneaky, we just go to Mrs. White to ask for some knowledge about potions!" Harry covered his head in pain, and then looked at Ariana, "Also, if you have noticed, Ariana, why do we call Mrs. White 'Madam'?"

"Oh! You're right, Harry." Hermione giggled twice. "When I walk with you, I'm always worried that Professor McGonagall will jump out from the next corner and say she's going to deduct points from us. And now there's another guy who's not very obedient, which makes my unreasonable worries even greater."

"Madam?" Ariana covered her mouth. "You mean, she is a married woman! Wow! So exciting! This is not only a love story between colleagues in school, but also such a taboo triangle relationship!"

"Don't talk so weirdly... We are doing the right thing..." Harry no longer had the strength to speak. That was why he didn't want to tell anyone else. If any of the four people present was not careful with their words, rumors about Mrs. White and Professor Snape would probably spread all over the place immediately.

Especially for a guy like Professor Snape, who always treated people with a serious face and sneers. When the teachers and students in the school found out about his love affair, Harry dared not imagine the rumors that followed. People are willing to discover the unknown side of someone, otherwise Rita Skeeter's groundless news published in the Daily Prophet would not have been believed by so many people.

As they were talking, the four of them had already come from the utility room to the corridor in the underground part of Hogwarts Castle. This place was originally the dungeon of the castle, but Salazar Slytherin didn't mind it at all. Not only did he build the college's common room here, he also hid his own study in the deep and winding underground tunnel.

After turning two corners and passing four or five Slytherin students who were eyeing them with suspicion, the foursome finally - bumped into Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger... and Miss Dumbledore." Professor McGonagall gave a probing look from behind her serious oval-framed glasses. "This is not a common combination."

Hermione almost forgot to breathe. Ron poked her back with his wand. Hermione gasped like a drowning person who was successfully rescued by CPR. "Professor McGonagall! We are here to consult Mrs. White about something about the Potions class!"

Professor McGonagall didn't seem to doubt it. She glanced at the four people's faces one by one, and finally nodded with a smile: "Before you officially start the first potions class in the fourth grade, you want to consult the Potions Professor? This must be your idea, Miss Granger. In any case, you are indeed at the age where you should think about the future. Potions is very useful for any profession."

"Yes!" Hermione quickly agreed, "Harry heard that to become an Auror, he needs to get five certificates in NEWT! Among them, he is most worried about Potions. You know, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape has always been a little... Although the situation has improved a lot in the past year, we are still a little worried that our foundation is not enough."

"Auror?" Professor McGonagall showed a pleased smile on her face, and patted Harry's shoulder twice to express encouragement. "I believe you will become an excellent Auror, Harry."

Harry, who had no idea that he wanted to be an Auror, accepted Professor McGonagall's kindness with the most guilty expression.

Fortunately, his guilty conscience was regarded as a kind of modesty by Professor McGonagall. She said, "If you have any questions about Transfiguration, you can always come and ask me. You know where my office is."

"We have Hermione!" Harry blurted out, and then explained, "I mean, she is your best student, isn't she? She is good enough to help us with Transfiguration. If there is a problem that Hermione can't solve, it won't be too late to come to your office."

"I'm really pleased to see your change, Harry. Is it because of Sirius? I was thinking about working with him for a few more years!" The joy on Professor McGonagall's face was enough to reveal her usually serious appearance, but then she sighed, "In the past three years, Hogwarts has met many excellent Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, but they all couldn't stay in school for various reasons. This is really a pity."

Perhaps noticing the inappropriateness of her words, Professor McGonagall added: "Of course, I'm not saying that Professor Snape's teaching level is bad, but he... Anyway, I'm very happy to see that you are so eager to learn."

Professor McGonagall then said goodbye to the four of them and left the basement with a smile.

"Oh..." Ron shook his head as he looked at her back. "Professor McGonagall's expectations of us are really low. She was so happy just to see us take the initiative to ask questions to the professor... Should we..."

"You're right, Ron, we should let her worry less, but for now let's focus on our task." Although Harry also liked the feeling of being praised, he knew that the more important thing was to maintain the relationship between his father and mother. After watching Professor McGonagall leave, the four of them quickly arrived at the door of the Potions Professor's office.

After a brief eye contact, Harry became the warrior who stepped forward and knocked on the door.

But he only knocked twice before the office door opened impatiently.

Unlike the mother's face as imagined, standing in the shadow was Snape's sallow face.

"Who's here, Severus?" Harry heard his mother's voice from inside.

It was all because of Snape's large black robe, which completely blocked them all.

Snape won't stop us from going in, will he? Could this be the first test of the day?

Harry was wondering whether to raise his voice to let his mother know that he was coming.

Then Snape's cold voice was heard: "It's Harry. And some of his friends. Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, and Miss Dumbledore."

"Let them in, Severus." Harry was relieved by his mother's voice. Snape would definitely not refuse her request openly.

Sure enough, Snape moved his bat-like black robe and led them in. Because of Snape's cold eyes when he opened the door, the four of them dared not speak and could only secretly look around the office belonging to Mrs. White.

This office originally belonged to Snape, where he stored potion ingredients. However, after Mrs. White became the new potion professor at Hogwarts, he generously handed over his ingredient room to her for safekeeping, reported to Dumbledore, and connected an empty classroom next door to this room, and added a fireplace and a bed.

Snape's daily office is in the Slytherin Headmaster's office, just a few steps away from here on the other side of the corner.

Mrs. White's office is very different from Slytherin's daily gloomy decoration style. The fireplace is burning brightly. In addition to various strange potion ingredients, there are many green plants and flowers in the room. I don't know who has the ability to make them bloom underground without seeing the sun, but I guess it must have taken a lot of effort.

Just like the green plants and flowers in the room, Mrs. White, who was sitting by the fireplace, greeted the four students with a warm smile: "Welcome to visit me, but I remember that the fourth grade class will not start until Friday. Are you here...?"

Hermione glanced at Snape carefully and was surprised to find that there was not much impatience on his face. Hermione thought that this was because Snape wanted to leave a good impression in front of Mrs. White.

"The person asking the question is Mrs. White, Miss Granger," Snape said coldly, "You don't have to keep staring at me. She is your real Potions professor."

"Yes, sir." Hermione said quickly, "In fact, we want to ask, what is the main focus of this year's potion class? In the past three years, we have learned many potions with fewer steps. This year, will we start with advanced potions with more steps, or will we start with potions that can help us in our future lives, such as antidotes?"

"Hermione must be your best student, right, Severus?" Mrs. White was not in a hurry to answer Hermione's question. Instead, she asked about their studies.

This was the worst scenario Harry could think of before entering this office. He had originally imagined that the questions from four people would be enough to wear out Snape's patience, and as long as he got angry at the four students, his goal for today would be achieved. But he never expected that Mrs. White would actually put the topic before Snape's mouth.

"Miss Granger is very active in every class." Snape said leisurely, "But I must say that what impressed me most was always her arms raised high and her inflexible mind. Other than that, her potion work is still of standard. Of course, it is far worse than when you were in school."

"You've made me blush with your praise, Severus." Mrs. White smiled happily, and then comforted Hermione who looked very nervous. "Good girl, 'pretty standard' is already a very high evaluation from Severus, and his vision has always been higher than everyone else. As for what he said about you 'not very flexible', I guess you must have followed the standards in the book for every step, right? Potions is a subject that is still progressing today. Unlike the sophisticated Transfiguration, potion masters can always innovate on the standard formulas in the textbooks, constantly changing each step, and striving for perfection, so that the finished product can be more outstanding. Therefore, in Severus's opinion, following the standard is obviously only a passing level. If you can't find the imperfect steps in the textbook, you won't get a high score from him."

After listening to this, Hermione's originally pale face regained its color and she nodded thoughtfully.

"Speaking of Harry, Severus?" Mrs. White asked again. "You know Sirius asked me to keep an eye on him."

"Harry..." Snape deliberately dragged out his tone, making the four students' hearts beat fast, before continuing, "He has amazing creativity, keen insight, and impressive reaction speed."

Mrs. White laughed heartily. No mother would remain indifferent to others praising her son. "Thank you for praising him, Severus, but I'm afraid this is not about his performance in Potions class? I heard that you and Sirius were training him in dueling? Perhaps this is about his performance in dueling class?"

"As for Potions..." Snape said briefly after a pause, "He can make potions."

Done!

Harry only had this horrified thought in his mind. Snape, who had been targeting him for three years, had actually changed his personality! Not only did he give him extra points in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, he even praised him in front of his mother. This caused their original strategy to completely fail. Now they could only find a way to get Snape out of the way. At least he couldn't be in the same room with Mrs. White anymore!

(End of this chapter)