"Well, not bad. To deal with the lack of magic, they've decided to create spells that use it in minimal amounts, but are still quite effective in battle..." Flipping through the book with interest, Alan thought. "It's a pity I can't cast openly yet. I don't want to expose myself for now, and I doubt a place like this has no tracking charms. Eh... How inconvenient it is to read such basic books..." He sighed heavily and picked up another one. "History of the Wizarding World... Hm... He read this book." Records from it surfaced in his head, along with a huge number of other books and lessons from the old ghost Severus usually ignored while staring at his red-haired friend. Though Severus let almost everything go in one ear and out the other, it was no trouble for an Archmage to hear it all. "Interesting... This place is already more than a thousand years old, and it was founded by at least Magisters*, which means a lot must be hidden here. After all, even in my world, plenty of old people, one step from death, left a legacy so their names would be preserved forever in history. So I should dig into the past, and maybe I'll find something..." The book flew out of his hand and slid neatly back onto the shelf. "I think I can start with the founder of Slytherin. After all, I only have two years to find everything those four might have hidden. And if my memory serves, Salazar adored snakes and could speak their language. And he had a basilisk as a pet, so maybe somewhere in the school he could have hidden it... Though no, that's nonsense." Smirking at his own thoughts, he scanned the shelves. "That wizard couldn't have left such a dangerous reptile stored in a SCHOOL, where there are countless children. And to hell with 'Mudbloods'; a huge number of noble children study here. I doubt he would risk his own neck just because he loved snakes. After all, first and foremost, Salazar founded Slytherin House and accepted only smart and cunning wizards, mostly from the nobility. He couldn't have been an idiot, by definition." He took a book describing Slytherin's life, but he had not even opened it when Severus's memories surged up again. They contained a full description of the book in his hand, and several others as well. "Question: will I learn anything new here at all?! It feels like he's already read everything?!"
He put the book back on the shelf, stared at it for a moment, then turned and headed for the exit of the section.
"I need to fully digest the memories, otherwise this is too inconvenient. I'll have to go through every piece tonight... Eh... And I need to visit Slughorn. He seems like a normal guy, I think we can find a common language."
When Alan left the library, it was already half past six, and there were two and a half hours left until his meeting with the Head of House. In that time, he wanted to learn more about Slughorn in detail, and study Severus's behavior, gestures, and manner of speech better so he would not get caught. After all, Alan doubted he could stand against the professors and the Headmaster now, just because he had reached the rank of Archmage in his own world. Besides, he mainly used powerful spells that demanded terrifying amounts of magical power. The simpler attacking ones, he had barely studied, only a couple dozen. But even those were too demanding for this world. So first, he needed to adapt to the new reality, to the absence of a powerful magical core, and learn how to survive with it...
Two hours later.
After thinking it through and combing the memories, he found everything he needed and left the room with his mind at ease.
When he stepped into the common room, someone called out to him, and that "someone" was the same boy who had stood up for Alan earlier.
"That wasn't bad, and I see you've finally realized that Gryffindor isn't the best company."
"You're right. They really aren't the best company."
"I'm glad to hear that. Even if we lose five points today, taking fifty from Gryffindor will hit the house much harder." Smiling contentedly, Macmillan patted him on the shoulder.
"Why do you think we'll lose points?" Alan asked with a smirk, raising an eyebrow. He glanced at the wall clock, then looked back at Macmillan. "Let's talk another time. Slughorn is waiting for me."
"Of course. If you have any problems, you can always come to me." Macmillan patted his chest, where the prefect's badge rested, and said it proudly.
"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."
And as soon as Alan left the Slytherin common room and disappeared around the corner, Macmillan thought over Severus's words and left as well. He went the opposite way, toward the hall with the special hourglasses. They held precious stones instead of sand, and the number of points for each house was recorded in them...
A few minutes later, Alan reached Slughorn's office and knocked.
"Come in, Severus..."
Slughorn's office was decorated in dark green, like the common room. In the corner, along the walls, stood two tall cabinets. One was filled with books, and the other with various potion ingredients. Between them sat a table, and behind it Slughorn smiled at the young man entering.
"Have a seat. Tea?"
"No, thank you, Professor." Alan sat opposite him and shook his head. "By the way, what about that word? Did you check?"
At the question, Slughorn smiled warmly and nodded.
"That word is indeed not recognized as an insult, but I still ask you not to call Miss Evans, or others whose parents are ordinary people, that anymore. Officially it may not be insulting, but for many it is still unpleasant."
"I understand, Professor. I won't call Miss Evans or anyone else that in the future."
"Good. I'm glad to hear it. Now let's move on to why I called you today." Slughorn took a sip from the glass on the table, and his gaze turned more stern. "What happened to you?"
"There it is, that question. Now the main thing is not to give myself away... Hm?" For a split second, Alan caught a sweetish smell, and his mind fogged slightly. "Veritaserum... I still acted too suspicious..." With a heavy sigh, he calmly stripped the potion's effect from his body. "Professor, there was no need to use Veritaserum. You taught us yourself to always be on guard when speaking with an experienced potion-maker. And I respect you deeply, I would not lie to you."
Slughorn was not surprised to hear that. He had no doubt the boy could detect the potion; it was only a test of Alan's abilities. After all, only a few potion-makers could remove its effect so quickly, and one of them was sitting in front of him. When Slughorn saw the effect vanish, he gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"Good. Then tell me what happened between you and Miss Evans. I was sure you were in love with her."
"I don't want to talk about it much, but I'll say this: she betrayed me... twice," Alan said with a sad smile.
Seeing that look, Slughorn felt uncomfortable. For a moment he had suspected someone was impersonating the boy in front of him, or that someone had taken over his body, but he had not imagined it would be something so ordinary. Severus's behavior no longer seemed strange. Slughorn also knew about the incident after one of the exams, when the Marauders hung Snape upside down and his robe rode up, exposing his dirty underpants to everyone (and after that Severus started wearing trousers). Of course, they had been punished. Slughorn knew about other cases of bullying as well, and he had offered help more than once, only to be refused every time. So he could hardly do much. Slughorn would gladly have taught the Marauders a lesson himself, but he had no right to; if he did, he would be thrown out of the school instantly, and might even face serious punishment from the Ministry of Magic*. All he could do was take points and punish them under school rules.
"Is that so..." Slughorn began, but Alan did not let him finish.
"And when I thought about it, I realized I'd been too soft with everyone. I loved Lily, but she just used it, keeping me like a pet dog. And do you know what's the funniest part?" Alan asked, looking painfully at the stunned professor. "She went to my enemy, to the one who bullied me all these years, to the one who humiliated me in front of everyone. She even gave him a spell I created myself! Tell me, Professor, how am I supposed to treat her?!" Alan's voice rose into a shout, and he stared furiously at Slughorn, who simply did not know how to support him.
"Severus, I..."
"I'm sorry, Professor, for the outburst. I'd better go." Alan stood and headed for the door without turning around.
Slughorn watched his student's back and wanted to stop him, but he rejected the idea.
"It's better for him to be alone and cool down right now..." Slughorn thought with a heavy sigh, taking a sip from his wine glass to steady himself. In all his long years of work, nothing like this had ever happened, and he did not know what to do or how to react. "I need to talk to him tomorrow, for sure..."
*In Alan's world, the ranks of mages: apprentice, journeyman, master, magister, Archmage, Great Archmage, Creator. The Ministry of Magic of Great Britain (eng. British Ministry of Magic) is the main administrative institution of wizards. The main goal of the Ministry is to prevent Muggles from learning about the existence of wizards. The main law the British Ministry of Magic operates under is the Statute of Secrecy, which regulates relations between the magical and Muggle worlds (for example, clothing). The Statute also has Article 73, which regulates activities related to magical creatures of the magical world
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