Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 67: I won't stand on ceremony with Snape!

"I..." Harry stammered.

His expression practically screamed that he knew it.

"Please tell me, I really want to know what's hidden down there!" Daphne blurted out her question almost impatiently.

The opportunity to obtain the answer to the puzzle without having to force it through Cerberus is a rare and precious one!

However, Harry did not answer her immediately. Daphne's actions puzzled him: Why do you want to know so much about what Dumbledore is hiding in the castle?

"Because I'm curious too!" Daphne tried her best to look like a curious child.

But Harry still found it suspicious.

Daphne's actions were rather suspicious, and given her Slytherin affiliation and her performance in her first flying lesson, Harry felt he couldn't tell her what he knew before figuring out her motives.

"Did you already know there was one inside—?"

"Cerberus"

"Yes, Cerberus." Harry was also carefully examining Daphne's face, hoping to glean some clue from her features.

"I actually had a similar experience before, and by chance I found out what was locked inside."

"Huh?" Harry was stunned.

"Well, it's no coincidence that you ran into me tonight. I often sneak out of the common room at night to wander around." She paused, then added, "Nighttime wanderings aren't just a Gryffindor privilege."

Daphne's words bridged the gap between Harry and her, earning her Harry's trust.

"I see. But I don't really know what was inside. I only know it was a small package that was previously in Gringotts, which Hagrid moved out—and on the same day Gringotts was invaded!"

Daphne vaguely remembered the news. The news of Gringotts being invaded was widely known among the pure-blood families, causing considerable trouble for Gringotts. Many pure-blood wizards chose to retrieve the treasures from their own vaults.

Despite Gringotts' repeated assurances that nothing had been stolen, a crack has appeared in the bond of trust between the two sides.

Although, Harry did provide her with a fairly useful clue.

"I'll try to investigate this later."

"That's great, thank you!" Daphne's face lit up with a bright smile, and she made an excuse that it was getting late to head back to her dorm.

As the two reached the stairwell and were about to part ways, Daphne suddenly said, "I heard you beat Malfoy up in that duel? Well done!"

Harry laughed, a very happy laugh.

"Is he not popular in Slytherin either?"

"Of course, I'm so annoyed with him!" After saying that, Daphne went down the stairs. Her heart was pounding, because she felt she was finally one step closer to unraveling the mystery behind the trapdoor.

Harry suddenly realized that not everyone in Slytherin was an unpleasant person.

……

"Oh? A special kind of invisibility cloak?" Rice noticed a detail while listening to Daphne recount her adventure from the previous night.

While invisibility cloaks are expensive, they are not uncommon in the magical world. A simple one is a cloak with an illusion charm applied, while a more luxurious one is a cloak woven from the fur of an invisibility beast.

But according to Daphne, Harry's Invisibility Cloak was as smooth as water, which was very interesting, because Rice knew that the fur of the Invisible Beasts didn't have that feel, and there were very few fabrics in the wizarding world that were as smooth as water.

He had the idea of ​​meeting Harry and borrowing his invisibility cloak to study him.

Just when you're feeling sleepy, someone brings you a pillow. Before Rice could even put his ideas into practice, Harry took the initiative to find Daphne.

"Would you like to go to Hagrid's Cottage for Christmas this afternoon?"

This was a pretty good suggestion, and Daphne agreed. Rice sat to one side, engrossed in reading the letter Lupett had sent.

For him, once the problem has been assigned, he will not interfere with the students' problem-solving process.

"There are some potion ingredients that are simply unavailable for purchase." He narrowed his eyes.

Lupert has been trying her best to search for medicinal materials, and has even activated the connections in Knockout Alley, but many of the ingredients for magic potions are already in short supply and have high demand, so it is not something she can collect in a short time.

These materials were nothing to Slytherin back then, who possessed the world's largest and most comprehensive potion vault. However, time has passed, and even if later generations left some unused ingredients, a thousand years is enough for the magic in the materials to dissipate completely.

The fact that my descendants used my potion ingredients shows that they don't consider me an outsider. So why should I be polite to those who inherited my potion storage?

Rice suddenly understood.

So at dinner, Daphne noticed that Rice had a faint smile on her face the whole time.

"Rice, you seem to be in a good mood."

"Of course, I am proud of the heirs of Slytherin House. They have done a great job of maintaining the house's fine traditions." After opening Snape's potion storage room, Rice was certain that Snape had at least inherited a part of his spirit.

The potion ingredients here are amazingly complete. Except for those that require specific dark creatures, all other potion ingredients can be found here!

Rice was moved by Snape's efforts, so he took a little of everything as a sign of respect.

Interestingly, Rhys discovered that Snape was using the potion storage room he had left behind, but it seemed that Snape hadn't mastered the various security mechanisms inside. Before leaving, the kind-hearted Rhys activated a few of the less dangerous mechanisms, hoping to let Snape know that there were still many secrets he hadn't discovered in this storage room.

Rice's nonsensical words left Daphne completely bewildered. She scratched her head and grabbed a kidney pie for herself.

She also had a fruitful day; Harry was quite adept at getting information out of Hagrid, and Hagrid inadvertently revealed part of the truth—that the item was related to Nicolas Flamel.

The name was unfamiliar to Harry, but it was a household name to Daphne.

Nicolas Flamel, the master of the Philosopher's Stone!

Now she knew what was hidden under the trapdoor.

Both of them were in a good mood.

No one noticed that Snape was absent from dinner that day. However, when the young wizards and other professors who stayed at Hogwarts saw him the next day, they were all shocked by the barely concealed murderous intent on his face.

"Severus, you seem to be in a bad mood?" After hesitating for a moment, Professor McGonagall asked Snape about his condition.

*Thud!* Snape broke the fork in his hand.

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. The next update will be at midnight—I still recommend reading it in the morning.

(End of this chapter)