Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 60 Professor Snape Takes the Blame

Faced with Quirrell's sudden retreat, Rice was slightly confused: Why didn't he continue? Did he sense in advance that he would definitely lose, so he gave up? Or was he afraid of being discovered, so he stopped? Or did he think that this was pointless, and that even if he threw Harry off the broom, it wouldn't affect the match or Harry's health?

He looked at Quirrell and then chuckled. The reason wasn't as complicated as he thought: Quirrell had been knocked down.

For this simple and unadorned reason, Quirrell was defeated on a physical level.

The person who knocked Quirrell down was also an acquaintance, Hermione, a freshman at Ravenclaw. She also keenly noticed that Harry's broom was malfunctioning, and then spotted the culprit in the crowd... Severus Snape.

He stared intently at Harry in the sky, his expression grim, muttering to himself. He looked so much like a villain doing something bad that Hermione didn't hesitate to consider him an enemy.

Having spotted her target, Hermione rushed toward Snape, intending to expose his wicked nature in front of everyone. Fortunately, while navigating through the crowded stands, she accidentally bumped into Professor Quirrell, who was engrossed in his magical duel, and thus achieved her goal unexpectedly.

The solution steps were correct, but the algebra was wrong. However, an unexpected error occurred during the calculation, ultimately leading to the correct answer. This perfectly illustrates Hermione's actions in this case.

Professor Snape was unaware that he had been unfairly blamed; all he knew was that Harry's crisis had been averted.

He immediately shut his mouth, pretending he hadn't done anything; he couldn't let anyone discover that he had cast a spell on Potter's broom. The Headmaster of Slytherin had cast a spell on the Seeker's broom during a Quidditch match—and this was a match between Slytherin and Gryffindor! If discovered, it would be a disgrace, impossible to clear his name. Even if proving his innocence was easy, the damage to his reputation would be extremely severe, because the students simply wouldn't believe him.

Meanwhile, Harry in the sky found himself in a very awkward situation.

Both Rice and Snape's spells could stabilize their brooms, but when their spells were combined, an unexpected magical reaction occurred—Harry's Nimbus 2000 "malfunctioned" under the influence of their spells, remaining motionless high in the air no matter how Harry tried to steer it.

The two instigators, Rhys and Snape, soon discovered the situation. Snape's face darkened, while Rhys couldn't help but cover his forehead.

Rice didn't try to reactivate Harry's broom with a spell. He knew the problem was that three spells were clashing within the flying broom, causing it to temporarily lose the ability to receive external signals. The best course of action was to do nothing; the broom would return to normal on its own in a minute or two.

Now we can only hope the referee notices something amiss and stops the match. Where's the referee? Mrs. Hodge, please step in!

At this moment, Mrs. Hodge's attention was drawn to the scene and she did not notice the unusual behavior on Harry's side.

Just then, a golden shadow flashed past Harry, and Harry's breathing quickened: he was 100% sure that it was the Golden Snitch!

Unfortunately, his broom wouldn't obey him, pinning him to the spot and preventing him from moving.

The next second, the Slytherin Seeker, wielding a broom, whizzed past him and firmly grasped the Snitch in his hand. After catching the Snitch, he gave Harry a strange look, not quite understanding why Potter was just floating around watching.

Harry: !

Rice: ...

Snape: ...

Rice and Snape were stunned as the game ended unexpectedly.

How should I put it? Harry was indeed unlucky; the accident happened during those few short minutes of window time.

Snape: I was doing it for his own good. Without me, Potter would have been thrown off the broom. Isn't it normal for a little accident to happen during a rescue?

Rice: The reaction of magic is amazing, haha!

Both of them quickly completed their mental preparation and comfortably enjoyed their victory.

By the time Hermione arrived at Snape's side, the match was over, so she naturally hadn't caught him red-handed. Snape applauded the Slytherin team while glancing down at her.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing here? If you want to celebrate the victory with Slytherin, you're welcome to join us."

Hermione glared at Snape for a while, then stormed off in a huff.

Although I don't have evidence to expose your ugly true colors right now, I'll seize the opportunity sooner or later! She secretly vowed in her heart and decided to go find Rice immediately and tell him what she had just seen.

Harry landed back on the ground with the help of his teammates and handed his Nimbus 2000 to Professor McGonagall, who was rushing over. She would give the broom a thorough inspection.

The first Quidditch match of the school year ended in a somewhat absurd fashion.

After the match, Rice did not join the school's celebrations. He planned to take advantage of the faculty having lunch to go down to the fourth-floor corridor and find out what Dumbledore had hidden in the school.

However, as soon as he stepped out of the corridor, he was blocked by someone.

"Hermione, is there something you need?"

"Rice, I have to tell you something," Hermione said in a low voice after glancing around to make sure no one else was around.

Rice gestured for Hermione to begin speaking.

Hermione told Rice everything she had seen at the Quidditch match that day.

"Rice, Snape wants to kill Harry!" Her expression turned anxious. "I need your help to gather evidence."

Rice sighed: "Professor Snape, look at this, this is what happens when you don't take care of your image!" Putting himself in her shoes, if he didn't know the truth, he would also think of Snape as a villain.

"Hermione, it's not what you think. Professor Snape is innocent."

"I'm innocent too," Rice silently added in her mind.

"Rice!" Hermione began to get impatient when she saw that Rice didn't believe her.

"Snape is helping Harry, not harming him. If you don't believe me, you can go to Professor Flitwick and he will find out the truth for you."

This kind of investigation is not difficult; for Professor Flitwick, it's just a matter of magic.

Rice's suggestion made Hermione's eyes light up, but then dimmed again.

"But I have no evidence..." In Hermione's mind, reporting a professor without evidence was an extremely dangerous act, so she subconsciously sought out her most reliable classmate, Rice, hoping to get his help to gather evidence of Snape's crimes.

"Then write an anonymous letter, I'm truly impressed." Rice was genuinely worried about the incompetence of the modern young wizard.

He pulled out a piece of parchment and, with swift, flowing strokes, quickly wrote a letter recounting what Hermione had witnessed.

After showing it to Hermione and confirming that the contents were correct, Rhys tapped the letter lightly with his wand, and the letter turned into a small paper bird that flew toward the faculty seating area.

"Professor Flitwick will provide the answer. Snape is truly innocent. Why won't you believe me?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Update delivered. Sorry for the lateness; I was woken up by a phone call this morning and had to work overtime all day. The next update will be tonight.

(End of this chapter)