Hogwarts from another world

Matthew returned to the Slytherin common room with Elaine Shafik.

They were still chatting about Christmas vacation-related topics...even though Christmas had already passed for more than a month.

Just as they were passing by the auditorium——

Suddenly, Miss Shafiq covered her forehead and screamed in pain.

"What's wrong?" Matthew frowned and asked quickly.

"Matthew...my head...hurts so much..." Elaine said tremblingly.

She looked like something unexpected had happened.

"Should I take you to the school hospital?" Matthew asked with great concern.

It's still quite a while before lights out, so it's definitely too late to send her to the school hospital.

"No..." Elaine said very weakly, "Send me to Professor Slughorn..."

Matthew frowned again for a moment.

"Please, Matthew...I feel like I'm going to die..." Elaine Shafiq begged.

"Okay, I'll send you there now!" In this case, Matthew Wakefield could only nodded.

……

Supporting Elaine Shafik, they resumed their journey back to Horace Slughorn's office.

To be honest, Matthew felt that the girl next to him seemed to be acting a little weird...

Not only the sudden "attack" behavior... but also many things before, Matthew felt strange.

Many times, to him, she behaves like two people looking at each other... Sometimes she is very enthusiastic towards him, like a friend who talks about everything; but sometimes she is very cold, and even deliberately avoids him... …

But when this situation occurred, he could not ignore it. He had no choice but to listen to Elaine and send her back to Slughorn's office.

Soon, they were back in front of the Potions Professor's office.

After a gentle knock on the door, Horace Slughorn stuck his head out.

He had changed into a green velvet pajamas and a nightcap of the same color.

"Matthew...what's going on?" he asked loudly, "I'm ready to rest."

Before Matthew could speak, Slughorn's expression changed when he saw Elaine Shafiq acting strangely...

"Oh, my God!" he exclaimed.

Then, without any hesitation, Professor Slughorn picked up the little girl and ran to an inner room with her in his arms.

Then he ran out in a hurry, holding a small bag in his hand.

Matthew could only stand aside with some boredom, watching Slughorn open the medicine bag and add a little of this and a little of that into a small crystal bottle... all the potion ingredients that had already been processed.

His movements were so fast that Matthew couldn't see clearly.

After only a few minutes, he picked up the crystal bottle, stirred it, and ran back to the room.

Matthew couldn't even see the final color and shape of the potion inside.

After handing the potion in the crystal bottle to Miss Shafik, Slughorn finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Matthew didn't say anything during the whole process, nor did he show any interest.

It wasn't until Slughorn finished his work that he asked: "What's going on, Professor? Is Elaine okay?"

"Of course...thanks to you for sending her here in time..." Slughorn quickly replied, "Poor Elaine, she has had a congenital hereditary disease since she was a child, and she needs to take potions in time to suppress it..."

"That's it." Matthew smiled and nodded.

But deep down, Matthew was even more confused...

Because he felt that what Slughorn said was not the truth, but more like a temporary excuse.

Just a few minutes after taking the drug, Elaine climbed out of bed...she looked completely normal.

"Then let's say goodbye again, Professor." Suppressing the confusion in his heart, Matthew said calmly.

Before Slughorn could speak, suddenly, there was a knock on his office door again——

……

"Wait a minute, Matthew," Horace Slughorn frowned, "There are still guests at this late hour!"

He walked slowly towards the door.

Matthew could only continue to stay where he was and wait...

The door was opened, as if it had been forced open.

"Severus?" Slughorn exclaimed.

"Professor Slughorn!" The voice of "Severus Snape" did come from outside.

But now the Transfiguration professor's voice was far less gentle and approachable than usual in class.

"Don't try to be a faggot!" He said coldly, "It's time to make a choice!"

"Severus..." Slughorn's voice sounded like he was frightened, "I still have students here..."

"This is the final warning!" "Severus Snape" continued, not caring about Slughorn's words at all, "You are a smart man, you should be able to guess what is about to happen..."

"Okay..." Slughorn stammered and nodded, "Thank you, Severus... I will consider it..."

"You don't have much time left..." "Severus Snape" said the last sentence before turning and leaving.

Through the figure observed through the crack in the door, Matthew could confirm... that familiar black suit, it seemed that the person who had just left was indeed their Transfiguration professor...

……

The two children in the back room looked at each other a little.

They seemed to have heard something not good.

Horace Slughorn returned with a dejected look on his face, worry written all over his face.

"What's going on, Professor?" Elaine Shafiq asked very innocently, "What do those words of Professor Snape just mean?"

Matthew had expected Slughorn to refuse to answer.

Unexpectedly, he opened a bottle of mead directly, and then waved his wand, conjuring three wine glasses.

"I...should we go back?" Matthew asked softly, "It's not far away from lights-out time..."

"No, there is still time to drink a few glasses of wine with a decadent old man..." Slughorn shook his head sadly, and then started to pour the wine with his head down:

"By the way, let me tell you another story!"

"The story from fifteen years ago..."

……

To be honest, Matthew was originally not very interested in the "story".

But when Slughorn suddenly mentioned "the story from fifteen years ago," he suddenly brightened up.

There is no doubt that all the weird things that have happened recently, whether it is the escapees from Azkaban, the strange activities in the Order of the Phoenix, or the undercurrent in Hogwarts, seem to be related to what happened in Hogwarts fifteen years ago. Something to do with...

But the truth about that matter cannot be found in any book.

If the only channel that can access the truth is probably someone like Slughorn.

Matthew quickly cheered up.

Slughorn calmly handed two glasses of mead to the two children.

Then he picked up his own cup and drank the mead in one gulp.

"I'm afraid you are all curious about the three fugitives from Azkaban... why did they break into Hogwarts after escaping from Azkaban?" Slughorn's face was affected by alcohol. , flushed red, and at the same time he also spoke:

"Because all three of them were students at Hogwarts, just fifteen years ago...their names are James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pedro... "

Matthew once overheard Slughorn mention this passage in the Two Broomsticks pub through Hermione's listening device.

"In fact, it's not just the three of them..." Slughorn continued, "The students in that class of Hogwarts can be said to be full of talents, and they are all concentrated in Gryffindor House... except for In addition to the three names just mentioned, there are also Remus Lupine and Severus Snape..."

Matthew was stunned. Could it be that Severus Snape in this world really graduated from Gryffindor House?

"... It's hard for you to imagine that all five boys in the same college are very smart and talented. Maybe Peter is a little less talented, but he is still good enough... This is the first time I have seen him in Hogwarts for so many years. Until...I have them all in my arms..."

"Wait, Professor..." Matthew couldn't help but interrupt him, "The 'Severus Snape' you just mentioned refers to our Potions teacher, Professor Snape. What?"

"Of course not," Slughorn sneered, and then said without hesitation, "He's fake!"

This view was not shocking to Matthew; but when it came from Slughorn's mouth, it was a bit intriguing.

"Fake?" Elaine Shafiq said in surprise.

"Because of what happened fifteen years ago, the whereabouts of the real Severus Snape have always been unknown," Slughorn continued. "For fifteen years, no one knows what he looks like now or what he looks like now." No one knows what he is doing...and the person who claims to be 'Severus Snape' is naturally very likely to be pretending..."

"...Others may not be able to tell," Slughorn said coldly, "but I am still very familiar with my protégé!"

Matthew only felt that the amount of information in it was a bit overwhelming, making it difficult for his brain to turn around.

"So what exactly happened fifteen years ago?" he asked softly.

……

Slughorn suddenly paused for a long time, as if lost in thought, and as if retrieving his memory...

"Fifteen years ago, those five children in Gryffindor House... they were very smart, so smart... that they discovered things they shouldn't have discovered..." He seemed to have made up his mind, and said quietly:

"They discovered Headmaster Gellert Grindelwald's secret!"

"What secret?" Elaine Shafiq asked curiously.

"It's about the secret of the principal himself..." Slughorn continued, "I have been holding these words in my heart for many years, many, many years... Now I finally decided to say them out——"

"Gellert Grindelwald is not the principal of Hogwarts at all. He seized control of Hogwarts through violent means, so he does not have the authority of the principal of Hogwarts at all..."

"...Those children somehow sneaked into the principal's office and learned the secret..."

"But it's not just that!"

Slughorn paused again for a long moment.

"Headmaster Grindelwald used a very powerful confusion spell, allowing him to have certain authority within Hogwarts, but this is far from enough..."

"...Because Hogwarts itself is a very powerful magical creation. After thousands of years of it, it has been strengthened and transformed by successive principals, and its power is unbelievably powerful!"

"Even wizards like Principal Grindelwald are incomparable... In other words, those children seem to have found a way to wake up the sleeping Hogwarts Castle..."

"...With the power of Hogwarts Castle, we can even drive away Principal Grindelwald!"

"Did they succeed?" Elaine Shafiq asked nervously.

"There is no doubt that they failed..." Slughorn shrugged, "This is mainly because -"

"They have a traitor among them!"

……

"Traitor?" Matthew shouted in surprise.

"That's right," Slughorn nodded. "The traitor betrayed them when their plan reached the most critical step...the people who were loyal to Principal Grindelwald shattered their conspiracy..."

"...And there were far more than the five of them involved in this plan. Many students in Hogwarts at the time agreed with their views, such as my favorite Lily Evans... They should have been killed in one fell swoop!"

"However, there was a spy hiding in Hogwarts who issued a warning at the last moment... Those children all escaped... and those who agreed with their views but had not yet exposed themselves, also destroyed all that was not conducive to Their evidence..."

"...From now on, the wizards involved in this incident have either been imprisoned in Azkaban, or are hiding incognito...Only Lily Evans, she still clearly opposes Grindelwald and is at large... …”

Slughorn shook his head regretfully:

"Honestly, I sympathize with those children... No, they can't be called children anymore. If they are all still alive, they would be at least in their thirties now... But it's just sympathy. They are too hot-blooded. He was taken advantage of and eventually went astray..."

"So..." Matthew said with a serious expression, "Those three Azkaban escapees, now that they have returned to Hogwarts, are trying to wake up the sleeping Hogwarts Castle again and bring Glinde back to Hogwarts." Will Principal Wo drive me away?"

"Yes," Slughorn nodded, "Not just them, all the strange things that have happened in the castle recently are centered around this purpose...So, there may be something in the castle in the near future. Field fusion..."