"What really... happened to me this time?"
Ian kept eating while glancing up at the staff table.
The only ones who showed up for breakfast on time were Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. They were not only casting odd looks at Ian, but also whispering to each other with their heads close together.
Professor McGonagall's gaze was particularly complex.
Professor Sprout's eyes held a hint of incredulity, and she quickly averted her gaze, as if feeling guilty after realizing that Ian had noticed their discussion, unwilling to meet the young wizard's eyes.
"Could it be that the news about me creating a super powerful potion has been revealed to everyone?" Ian was confused. He replayed all the events that occurred after he left the time loop in his mind.
Nothing was out of the ordinary, at least nothing that could have been discovered by others.
"Last night, many children from pure-blood families, as well as some particularly outstanding students, had dreams with varying degrees of clarity, but all recalled that you appeared in them."
"Some people remembered vividly, while others fuzzy. For instance, I remember quite clearly..." Aurora turned her head to look at Ian beside her.
"What did you dream about?"
Ian was still somewhat bewildered, but he already had an ominous feeling inside.
"They dreamed of you doing lots of outrageous things. Someone said you had a Dementor scaring everyone around the school, and someone else said you almost blew up every place in the school."
"Daphne and her girlfriend said they dreamed of you binding Marcus Flint to a Flying Broom and then setting it on fire, sending Marcus Flint truly flying."
"And you even threatened that if they told, you'd make them the first wizards to land on the moon..." Aurora was actually listing them with her fingers to Ian one by one.
It was clear she had deliberately gathered this information before Ian arrived at the Great Hall.
"..."
Ian's expression lost some of its composure.
What the hell.
These were all things he did in the loop, right before it was about to reset. How did they become scenes in the young wizards' dreams at night?
"And you? What did you dream?"
Ian realized that something bad was happening.
He had done things even more ridiculous than those. If all were dreamed of by the young wizards, he feared he'd never restore his already poor reputation at Hogwarts for life.
"I dreamed you used my magic wand to pick your nose... to pick the noses of the fantastic beasts in the Forbidden Forest, claiming you needed to collect some magic potion materials to brew a potion."
Aurora's tone was eerily soft as she spoke.
"Dreams, they are just dreams, nothing to take seriously."
Ian lowered his head guiltily and ate vigorously. He knew he might have been tricked by Salazar Slytherin once again. Wasn't it mentioned that the time loop exists independently of the real world?
"No, I don't think it's just a dream."
Aurora's words caused Ian's dining knife to pause for a moment.
"It should be a collective prophecy... I should go back and investigate why this is happening." Fortunately, the little German girl did not guess the truth.
The young wizard secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In his heart, he'd greeted the eighteenth generation of Salazar Slytherin's family. He genuinely felt his face flush, as if he could already see the rumors he would face.
Rumors aren't scary.
What's scary is that he actually did those things... Is this some sort of punishment from the founder? What happened to the promised custom server turning into this mess!
"Actually, I dreamed too."
Ian was just about to perform his usual tactic of blending into the crowd to avoid suspicion. But suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard from outside the Great Hall.
It was Snape, cloaked in a black robe.
He rushed into the Great Hall with his magic wand, covered in blood, not sparing a glance at Ian or anyone else, heading straight towards the staff table.
Many young wizards gasped, their terrified eyes fixed on Snape. His bloody appearance was indeed frightening, and some young wizards began to wonder aloud if Snape had accidentally killed a student.
"Silence!"
Professor McGonagall spoke sternly, calming the students' commotion. She looked at Snape with a puzzled gaze, her eyes lingering on the fresh bloodstains on him.
"There's been an incident, someone has died." Snape whispered to Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout, which Ian, filled with curiosity, overheard using some tricks.
"Where?"
Professor McGonagall immediately stood up.
"In the basement... I don't know who did it."
Snape's tone was tinged with unspeakable complexity.
"Take me there."
Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout exchanged a glance, then she immediately followed Snape towards the main doors, while Professor Sprout stayed behind in the Great Hall to keep an eye on the young wizards.
"Are there any prefects staying on campus? Go bring the students still in the common rooms!" Professor Sprout obviously knew what to do, her stern and serious expression causing the young wizards to grow anxious.
"What happened?"
"Was it a murder?"
"I knew where there are Succubi, there's no peace!"
...
The young wizards became a chaotic mess.
However, Aurora seemed unconcerned with what had happened, continuing to eat the food on her plate. When she turned to chat with Ian, she found he was nowhere in sight.