Chapter 38: Chapter 37 - Socializing Early in the Morning.

[Chapter Size: 3000 Words.] 

Third Person POV 

Hogwarts. 

... 

... 

Breakfast was peaceful in the Great Hall. 

Obviously, there were many looks from Slytherin directed at Severus, but he didn't care. His only conversational companion was Heloísa, who seemed happier there. At the same time, he also exchanged a few words with Articuno. 

Some professors were entering the hall. They had not yet arrived when the hall began to fill up, since it was still a little early. But it was possible to see Professor Flitwick and Professor Minerva arriving while they talked. 

Minerva's eyes fixed on Severus at that moment, and she did not look away. Severus noticed this to the point of turning his face toward the professor and staring back at her as well. 

Her eyes widened when their gazes met. They had already seen each other in Diagon Alley, but now she had a different look, one that lingered as she studied him in a strange way. 

Severus still did not fully understand the reason for that, but she seemed conflicted as she looked at him. Whatever she was thinking, he could not understand it. 

In any case, he returned to his meal. The Slytherin students had also arrived in a large group and immediately fixed their eyes on Severus in a much more malicious way than Minerva had when she had been staring at his back. 

Obviously, Lestrange was leading the group. His former classmates were there as well, such as Mulciber, Avery, and others. 

Severus intended to ignore them, but suddenly turned his gaze toward Mulciber. There were burns on his hands. 

Then Severus smiled. "I see you tried to open my things this morning. It's a shame I didn't warn you that I placed some magical barriers that launch flames." He said it openly, with a smile. 

Everyone at the table looked at him, surprised. At the same time, the entire group froze. 

Mulciber immediately glared back at him with a look full of anger, but Severus was not intimidated by all the tension coming from the group. 

He kept staring at Mulciber with a smile. "Next time, avoid touching other people's things. Or, if you want, go ahead. I have many ideas for all kinds of barriers and punishments they can cause. You could be a good test subject for me." 

"Watch what you say, Snape!" Mulciber could not endure the humiliation and growled, already reaching for his arm, ready to pull out his wand. 

"Do it, Mulciber. Make the first attack. At least then I'd have a good excuse for what I'm going to do to you afterward." Severus replied in a controlled tone; he did not even seem intimidated by Mulciber drawing his wand. 1

Heloísa seemed quite nervous beside him, but Severus did not care in the slightest. He merely displayed a satisfied smile. 

"Don't fall for his game, Mulciber." Lestrange, seeing that things were getting out of control, simply spoke. 

Then he turned his attention back to Snape. He seemed much more controlled than yesterday, much calmer. Occlumency, perhaps? "It seems you're eager to make all of Slytherin your enemy, Snape." 

Severus turned his eyes toward him. "What can I say, Lestrange? All I'm seeing at Hogwarts is a seventh-year student trying to intimidate children and another trying to tamper with my belongings. And yet you're saying I'm the one who wants enemies?" He smiled at the older student, speaking in an almost amused tone. 

Slytherin listened to the entire conversation while several students whispered quietly. Other tables also seemed to be watching, looking at Severus, and some were already hearing his name quite clearly. 

Lestrange said nothing for the next 5 seconds, merely resumed walking. "Let's go." That was all he said. 

As the group moved away, several still stared at Severus. There was curiosity in many of those gazes. 

Regulus Black seemed to be seeing Severus for the first time since he arrived. He stared at him intently, as if he did not recognize him. 

Severus did not care much about Regulus's gaze or anyone else's and returned to eating. 

Heloísa seemed a little frightened beside him. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked. 

"I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you." Severus replied sincerely. 

They might try to target him, but Severus could defend himself. The problem was Heloísa, who could become one of their targets. Even so, he could not simply give in. 

Those boys would clearly cause trouble either way. What he could do was face them and try to protect Heloísa. 

Well... if they hurt her, Severus would make every one of them regret it. 

"Anyway, go back to eating. I intend to leave a little earlier, and it's good to listen to the prefects. But there's also a map of Hogwarts here." Severus took something from his ring. 

It was a map of the floor they were on. "I enchanted it." In truth, he had used runes on the paper. 

Heloísa's eyes widened. "It's magical? What does it do?" she asked. 

"Pay attention." Severus opened the map in front of her. 1

He had used Ancient Runes from his other world as an experiment and managed to find a perfect combination to create a sort of assistant within the map. 

Severus looked at the parchment. "Show the way to Potions class." He spoke in front of the map. 

Immediately, the parchment began to change. First, it showed the Great Hall, isolating everything else in Hogwarts, where they were. Then it began tracing a path, showing only the parts of the route that the map displayed. 

There were two small footprints indicating the position of whoever was holding the map. Then a route appeared, guiding them to the stairs that led downward. 

After that, the map changed to a representation of the dungeons. Severus had used Hogwarts' own map as the foundation to create that enchanted parchment. 

"Wow... incredible!" Heloísa simply found it fantastic. 

Severus nodded. "It will be perfect for a first-year student like you. And it will show you if you take the wrong path." He spoke as he handed her the map. 

"You're giving this to me?" 

"Of course. I already know Hogwarts well enough not to need it." 

Obviously, Severus had practically everything memorized. Combined with his memories, it was almost impossible for him to get lost. Unless he ended up in some unknown part of Hogwarts. 

Which was not exactly a joke. He knew very well that the castle hid far more secrets than any description could ever reveal. 

"Thank you!" Heloísa smiled. 

Severus nodded, but someone approached them again. 

This time, it was not a Slytherin. Severus felt a feminine hand touch his shoulder. 

"What is this?" the girl asked, leaning over Severus to look at the map that was still showing the way to Potions class. 

"Hi, Iris!" Heloísa smiled at the older girl. 

Severus merely glanced to the side, greeting her with a slight nod. 

"How cool! It's an enchanted map!" She immediately realized. 

"Severus gave it to me. He made it himself!" Heloísa said proudly. 

"Really? I didn't know you enchanted maps too." 

"It wasn't a common enchantment. I used runes." 

"Runes? How interesting. I've never seen anything like that." Iris replied curiously. "Anyway, good morning to both of you. I'm going to sit with my table, but I wanted to greet you." She said, before turning back to Severus with a more serious look. 

"How is she doing?" she asked. 

Iris completely ignored the looks some Slytherins were giving her for approaching them like that. But the girl did not seem to care. 

"Well... as well as possible. But she'll be fine." Severus said. 

"Well, alright. My friends are calling me. Roberta also said good morning, but she's a little too shy to come over here." Iris said, giving a wink. 

"I hope to see you at lunch." That was what she added before returning to the Hufflepuff table, which was near the Gryffindor table. 

In any case, as soon as she left, Severus stood up. "I'm heading off. I should take care of a few things in the library." 

He turned his attention to Heloísa. "Try not to get into trouble. Articuno will be around as well. If you need anything, just let me know." 

Any problem Heloísa had, he could also sense through his connection with Articuno. 

"Can I come with you?" she asked. 

"You'd better stay to receive your class schedule, which Professor Slughorn gives to all students along with the prefects." Severus explained. 

Heloísa nodded, although she looked a little disappointed. 

Severus left the table while she continued examining the map. Perhaps he should try to turn it into something more practical for her in the future. 

He liked compacting things. It made everything much easier. 

Seeing that it was already time to start taking his potions, he used a wandless Tempus Charm, merely pointing a finger into the air. 

The time appeared before him as glowing numbers. Then he took from his ring a huge cup containing a purple liquid. It was his development potion, created with the ingredients he had managed to obtain in this world. It was not the same as the one from the other world, but by using similar ingredients and altering the genetic makeup of others to make them resemble those from the other world, he had succeeded. After all, he had invented this potion. 

He quickly shook it before removing the cap and began drinking while walking down the corridor. 

It was then that he came across Professor Slughorn together with Professor Octavia Strauss, the Music professor. 

Horace Slughorn broke into a wide smile when he saw him. "Oh, my boy! You shouldn't be drinking in the middle of the corridor. It's forbidden." He paused and chuckled. "But I'll let this one slide. We were talking about you at this very moment." He said with a broad smile. 

Professor Strauss was studying him. She seemed surprised, but still maintained a critical expression. 

He already knew that she was quite strict. "Professor Slughorn spoke about your interest in Music classes. I must say that I immediately refused your admission, but your professor did not seem willing to give up." She said while placing a hand on her chin. 

"But I must admit that you are quite different from what I used to remember." She fell silent. 

Severus merely nodded, but said nothing about it until she spoke again. "Tomorrow, at the end of the afternoon, I will have a class with my students. Be there at exactly six o'clock. You do know where the Music room is, don't you? I intend to see what you can do and will decide whether you stay in the class or not." She said. 

Severus nodded. "I appreciate the opportunity." That was all he replied, although he found the professor somewhat arrogant. 

"..." She said nothing more on the matter. 

"That's excellent!" Slughorn was by far the most cheerful of the three and even clapped his hands. 

Then the professor turned his attention back to Severus. "You're heading out already, right? Well, I need to give you your class schedule." 

He spoke while pulling some papers from the shoulder bag he carried, similar to Severus's, and handed them to him. 

As he took them, Severus found his entire sixth-year schedule... 

He had already expected to see it through Articuno, but since Slughorn had handed him the timetable, that was fine. 

The first class would be Charms with the Ravenclaw students. And as Slughorn had said earlier, at ten o'clock he would have Potions together with Gryffindor. 

In the afternoon, there would also be Transfiguration with Gryffindor. 

In addition, there would be a final Herbology class at four o'clock in the afternoon together with Hufflepuff. That did not mean he would be in the same class as Iris Scamander, since she was in her final year. 

In any case, Severus nodded and headed toward the library. There he found Madam Pince watching some of the students who were already looking for books before even attending their first classes. 

Severus was clearly one of them. As he began searching for some books he wanted to read, he realized that despite the number of books he owned, the library still contained a great deal of material that he could not simply take away, and of course, all of it related to magic. 

So he chose a more secluded place to sit and read a book that had caught his interest from the last shelves, but used telekinesis to make them fly into his hand. 

Meanwhile, in the common room. 

The sixth-year Gryffindor group entered the hall together. 

The Marauders were making noise, as always, standing out among the crowd as they sat down with the girls. Some of them laughed at their jokes. 

It was then, when they reached the table, that a seventh-year student approached them with some gossip. "Hey, have you heard?" 

"Tell me, did something interesting happen on the first day?" Sirius asked with a laugh as he sat down. 

"You can't imagine. I've heard that a huge commotion happened in Slytherin..." said Cedric Stick, a seventh-year student known for having a big crush on Marlene McKinnon and who was also part of the Quidditch team with her, Potter, and Black. 

"Really? And what do you know about it?" Marlene leaned forward with a flirtatious look while her friends began to laugh, seeing Cedric blush slightly. The girl enjoyed teasing him. 

"I heard there was a disturbance the night before. I also heard that Lestrange was openly challenged while giving a welcome speech." 

If Severus had been there, he would have raised an eyebrow upon hearing that and wondered how rumors spread so quickly. 

Clearly, some Slytherin student had talked about what happened. But, strangely, no one seemed to mention his name, even though he had been at the center of the entire situation. 

Even so, all heads turned toward him, full of curiosity. The Marauders also stopped joking around. 

"Seriously? Lestrange was challenged? But I thought he was the seventh-year leader this year." James Potter could not help commenting, curious. 

"No one knows for sure. But I heard it was a sixth-year student." Cedric paused before continuing: 

"But before things got worse, they were interrupted when Professor Slughorn appeared. I also heard things were going to get pretty ugly if it weren't for him. And it seems there was another disturbance in that common room this morning." He smiled. 

"I arrived late and didn't get to see it, but I heard that this same student simply started mocking Lestrange's entire group, along with Mulciber, Avery, and the others." He spoke as if he were sharing some major gossip. 

"Really? Who would do that?" Mary commented. Seeing someone humiliating Mulciber sounded like music to her ears. After all, he had done something horrible to her. 

Lily was also quite surprised by that, but kept her thoughts to herself. Even so, hearing the names Mulciber, Avery, and the others inevitably made her think of Severus. 

Her eyes immediately went to the Slytherin table. But she could not find him. 

She was not the only one who noticed Severus's absence, though for different reasons. The Marauders also looked in that direction. 

"He was here this morning. We saw him." Peter muttered quietly. 

"Yeah, we saw him at breakfast. There's no mistake. His name appeared on the map. I'd even open it to check now, but that would attract too much attention." Potter said in a low voice. 

They did not know what was happening in Slytherin, but there was also a great mystery surrounding Severus's whereabouts. After all, he had not appeared at dinner the previous night and was nowhere to be seen now during breakfast for quite some time. 

Even so, they had seen his name on the map that morning. 

"Stay here. Your class schedules." Professor McGonagall approached, interrupting the conversation and whispers among the sixth-year students. 

She handed each of them their class schedules while asking all the prefects to help distribute them and explain things to the first-year students. Lily and Remus received that task. 

But not before everyone began analyzing the week's subjects and which houses they would be sharing them with. "We have two classes today with Slytherin. Professor, could you spare us from that?" Sirius said with a laugh. 

McGonagall merely shot him a stern look. 

"Well, if we're going to have class with the Slytherins, we'll definitely see him there, right?" Peter muttered, returning to the subject of Severus. 

"..." Remus simply continued eating in silence, not getting too involved in his classmates' conversation. He did not have much to say about it, although, as always, he was willing to follow his friends. 

Meanwhile, Severus continued reading a book that he had found quite interesting. 

He could even borrow it, but he would need authorization from a professor. And he certainly did not want to owe Slughorn any favors. Who knew what that man might ask for in return later. 

He would only resort to that if he had no other option. But since it was a book about white magic spells, he could ask Professor Flitwick directly for permission. 

Especially because he was particularly interested in one specific spell: the Patronus. 

Suddenly, an alarm sounded beside him. It was his schedule system, which he had created using the same logic as Muggle alarm clocks. 

Severus had managed to develop a kind of alarm spell within the Tempus time magic. The system alerted him internally at designated times and was even used to wake him up. 

It was quite a practical tool for a student at Hogwarts. 

And so, leaving the library behind, Severus made his way through the corridors toward Ravenclaw Tower, where he would have his first class with Flitwick and the Ravenclaw students. 

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆ 

🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝 

I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey! 

🌟 RaccoonLeague | Patreon🌟 

Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague 

Extra Content Already Available: 

🏴‍☠️ One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra chapters! 

👑 Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 30 extra chapters! 

👑 Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! 30 extra chapters! [100%] 

👑 HOTD: Jon Arctic! 30 extra chapters! 

🌀 Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra chapters! 

🗡️ The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra chapters! 

⚡HP - Jon Arctic as Severus Snape! 30 extra chapters! 

⚡ Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! Finished! [100%] 

⚡Danmachi – The Alchemist! [Coming Soon.] 

Visit our Patreon for more!! 

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆