Chapter 64: lethe river water and Discussions in the Headmaster's Office
The content on the parchment was not long, but Harry and the others read it twice.
Hodu said in the letter that something suddenly happened back in his hometown, and the situation was so urgent that he had to rush back first.
He also asked Harry and the others to explain the situation to the Professors on his behalf.
Ron pinched the letter, and the surprise on his face could hardly be concealed: "Wasn't Hodu right here just now? How did he suddenly say he went back to his hometown in the blink of an eye?"
Harry and Neville looked at each other, neither of them able to find an answer on the other's face.
They had just seen Hodu a moment ago.
If he really wanted to leave, he could have completely said so face-to-face, with no need to deliberately leave such a letter.
Before the few of them could continue guessing, Snapewalked back from outside with a gloomy face.
He had already searched the bathroom, and Hodu was not inside.
After entering the door, Snape saw Harry and the others surrounding something at first glance, immediately strode over, and snatched the parchment away with his hand.
After reading the content on it, a sneer curled the corner of his mouth, but he had already made a judgment in his heart.
Hodu had most likely run away.
He certainly ran fast enough.
Snape clutched the letter in his hand, turned his head to stare at Harry, and spoke coldly: "Harry Potter, you had better not get involved in this matter. Otherwise, I will make you and him get out of Hogwarts together."
Dropping these words without giving any chance for explanation, he turned around and left.
The three people in the common room looked at each other again.
Sneaking off to Hogsmeade Village at most only violated school rules; how could it be serious enough to get expelled from Hogwarts?
No matter how one looked at it, Snape's reaction didn't seem as simple as just discovering Hodu sneaking out of the school.
On the other side, Hodu had already returned to the villa in Beijing.
Looking at Hannah's current state, he felt it was better for him not to go back temporarily.
Anyway, Hannah could contact him, and that owl was truly magical; no matter where he ran off to, it seemed to be able to find him accurately.
Of course, things were not completely without a solution.
At this time, the night had descended, and the lights were on in the villa.
Hodu sat in front of the television, mindlessly watching the program, completely unaware that the matter of him taking the Philosopher's Stone had already been exposed.
This couldn't be blamed on him either.
It was impossible for a person's brain to remember all thoughts at every moment, especially those ideas that only flashed by.
At that time, Quirrell was in a dilemma and on the verge of losing, so Hodu had indeed briefly had a thought.
Since he had already taken the Philosopher's Stone that Lord Voldemort had always had his eyes on in advance, he might as well feel smug about it; once Lord Voldemortfound out, he would probably be furious to the extreme.
On one hand, he had forced Lord Voldemort to the point of having to expose himself; on the other hand, the Philosopher's Stone that the other party had racked their brains to steal was ultimately intercepted halfway by someone else.
With the two matters piling together, just thinking about it felt thrilling.
However, this thought only swirled in his mind for a moment, and Hodu quickly suppressed it.
Riding a winning streak was most afraid of recklessness, and he was not a person without reason.
Who could have expected that Snape would actually use Legilimency to dig up such a fleeting thought?
The thought passed by too quickly, and even Hodu himself did not remember it.
So until now, he didn't know what Snape had seen, nor did he know that the disappearance of the Philosopher's Stonehad given the game away because of it.
As for why he had to tell Hannah about the Philosopher's Stone, he truly had no choice.
He couldn't just directly tell Hannah that he had hurriedly fled because he played a prank at Hogwarts and was afraid that Dumbledore would check his thoughts with Legilimency, right?
However, Hodu did not believe he wouldn't be able to return to Hogwarts in the future.
As long as he mastered Occlumency, he could return in a grand and proper manner.
Or, there was an even more effortless method—making them forget about this matter.
Hodu's gaze shifted slightly.
Compared to learning Occlumency from scratch, the latter method seemed much simpler no matter how one looked at it.
He quickly thought of a magical creature, the Swooping Evil.
The appearance of this creature was somewhere between a butterfly and a bat, and its venom could make people forget a part of bad memories.
Self-studying Occlumency was not easy for Hodu.
Wanting to find a special ability that could resist Legilimency would likewise take a lot of effort.
Since that was the case, it would be better to try fusing with the Swooping Evil and see if he could directly obtain the related trait.
As soon as his thought was settled, he immediately began to take action.
Hodu first cast Transfiguration to turn himself into a middle-aged man, and then appeared in Diagon Alley.
He easily bought the Swooping Evil's venom in a material shop, turned around and rushed back to the Beijing villa, eager to carry out the fusion.
[Detected a fusible item, starting the parsing task.]
[Current fusion item: Swooping Evil]
[Parsing difficulty: Grade D]
[Parsing progress: 1 / 500]
[Current extracted trait: 1. oblivion venom]
[oblivion venom: Capable of producing venom that causes people to lose memory.]
[Note: The degree of this trait is linked to the parsing progress. After the parsing completion, a ten-thousand-fold trait can be obtained.]
[Current parsing efficiency: increases by 1 point daily, and parsing progress can be improved through related tasks.]
Seeing clearly what the system had extracted, Hodu finally relaxed a little bit.
Fortunately, it didn't extract abilities like sucking human brains.
He could clearly feel that as long as he activated the trait of oblivion venom, he could produce the same venom.
As for the production method, it was not complicated; fluids flowing inside the body could all be counted in, blood was, and saliva was as well.
Hodu immediately tried to activate oblivion venom.
In the next second, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
Under the influence of the All Things Spiritual Materialtrait, oblivion venom seemed to have undergone a slight change.
It did not continue to maintain the form of venom, but instead turned into a treasure capable of healing psychological trauma, the Oblivion Treasure.
Hodu thought about it for a moment, and then understood the reason behind it.
Between All Things Spiritual Material and oblivion venom, some kind of conflict probably arose.
To All Things Spiritual Material, venom belonged to harmful substances and could not be considered a treasure at all, so it did not allow this thing to continue existing in the form of venom.
Hodu picked up the kettle, poured clean water into the gold cup, and then picked up the cup and took a sip.
The change appeared immediately.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling only that the fatigue accumulated in his heart was washed clean all at once.
The physical exhaustion remained unchanged, but the mental fatigue disappeared completely, from the inside out.
This feeling was somewhat similar to a Potion to Induce Euphoria, but the effect was much stronger.
The Potion that originally needed to be brewed seemed to have turned into a natural Potion that could be produced at will.
What was more crucial was that under the effect of the ten-thousand-fold trait, this medicinal effect was already exaggeratedly strong.
Hodu himself possessed resistance to oblivion venom, but the thing in front of him was no longer judged as oblivion venom, so that resistance could not take effect on it.
He soon thought again that as long as he spat out a mouthful of saliva and diluted it with a large amount of clear water, he could brew an effect similar to a Potion to Induce Euphoria.
In this way, even the Potion brewing steps were saved, and it could even be produced in batches directly.
Of course, All Things Spiritual Material originally gave his saliva special effects, only that it hadn't been studied clearly before.
Now that the two traits were superimposed together, he could even choose the ultimate effect produced by his body fluids according to his own thoughts.
Since it was originally called oblivion venom, it naturally needed a new name now.
Hodu pondered for a moment and decided to call it lethe river water.
Moreover, he felt that the effect of lethe river water was probably not as simple as just producing a Potion to Induce Euphoria.
The scope of forgetting might even be able to touch the soul.
Going deeper into the mind, it was the soul.
lethe river water might be able to erase some negative emotions accumulated in the soul, but this did not mean changing a person's good or evil, it just cleaned up those negative impacts.
For example, being hit by Crucio, one of the Unforgivable Curses, the mental trauma left after long-term torture might perhaps be completely forgotten under the effect of lethe river water.
Thinking of this, Hodu immediately associated it with Neville's parents.
They had once been tortured to madness by Crucio, and lethe river water might have a very good effect on them.
He could find a chance to try it later; anyway, even if there was no effect, it wouldn't cause any bad results.
In addition, when studying and using Dark Arts, the mind would inevitably be affected by the Dark Arts, gradually becoming paranoid and even heading towards evil.
Snape had deep research in Dark Arts, so being subjected to this kind of distortion was not strange.
If he drank lethe river water, perhaps he could get rid of some paranoia.
For example, no longer being obsessed with not washing his hair?
However, most people's evil was innate and didn't have much to do with the Dark Arts.
The Dark Arts sometimes just made them see their true appearance clearly.
Although lethe river water appeared unexpectedly, Hoduhad not forgotten his initial plan.
As long as he temporarily turned off All Things Spiritual Material, he could still produce oblivion venom.
Thinking of this, Hodu opened the exclusive task of fusing with the Swooping Evil.
[Exclusive Task: Eating Brains]
[Gain 1 progress point for every brain consumed.]
[Note: This task is an exclusive task for fusing with the Swooping Evil.]
The moment he saw the task content, Hodu actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Just now he almost mistook brains for human brains.
Before checking the task, he had already guessed what requirements the system might issue, and he really had some worries in his heart, fearing that the system would make him suck human brains.
Fortunately, judging from the current situation, this system really looked like a cheat plug-in written by someone.
The two words "human brain" were taboo enough in themselves, and with "sucking" added in front, no matter how one thought about it, it could not comply with public order and good morals.
Eating brains was much simpler.
Hodu suddenly felt that he hadn't encountered such an easy task to complete in a long time.
Tomorrow alone would probably be able to finish it.
Snacks like duck heads and rabbit heads all counted as brains, so there was no need to specifically go find a material merchant to purchase them; just wandering around a few cities casually, the quantity should be enough.
It happened to be a good chance to go shopping along the way.
In the blink of an eye, Hodu had already arranged tomorrow's itinerary.
At the same time, in the Principal's office at Hogwarts, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were gathered together.
The expressions of the three core figures of Hogwartscould not be called relaxed.
Dumbledore took the lead and said: "Tomorrow I will send a letter to the Ministry of Magic, and they should send Aurors over to take Quirrell away."
Speaking of Quirrell, his tone carried a bit of regret.
Quirrell was originally a student from Ravenclaw, diligent and studious. Exactly because of this, Dumbledore had invited him to serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class Professor.
Who could have imagined that he would end up walking down this path in the end.
According to Quirrell's own confession, all of this was his choice. He lost his mind under Lord Voldemort's promises.
"Will the Ministry of Magic believe these?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Whether they believe it or not is not important; what is important is that the facts are just like this."
Dumbledore's expression became increasingly solemn, but he did not directly answer her question.
The matter was indeed no small affair, because it involved a Dark Lord who had long been dead in everyone's perception.
That person had once made countless Wizards feel terrified, and even made the entire Magical World not dare to mention his name for ten years.
Just this point alone was enough to show how huge the impact left by Lord Voldemort was.
"Of course, I will also remind Fudge that there is temporarily no need to let the Magical World fall into panic over this matter," Dumbledore continued, "Lord Voldemortis very weak right now, and only has a soul left."
"And what about Hodu?" Snape gave a cold laugh, "He has already run away with the Philosopher's Stone, and even specially left a letter saying he was returning to his hometown. Heh, his family is indeed all very good at running away."
Snape obviously did not plan to let it go just like that.
As long as the news spread, letting the Magical Worldknow that the Philosopher's Stone fell into the hands of a little Wizard, no matter where Hodu hid, it would be impossible for him to stay safe and secure all along.
McGonagall's expression was very complicated: "Until now I still dare not believe it was done by that child. He is only a first-year student, and the protections we arranged were originally meant to guard against adult Wizards."
After all, Hodu was a student of her house, and of course she was unwilling to easily conclude that the other party had committed a serious mistake.
"I saw with my own eyes the memory of him holding the Philosopher's Stone in his hand," Snape said.
McGonagall sternly reminded him: "Memories can be tampered with, Severus, you are very clear on this point."
"Then you can also say that I even mistook his identity."
Snape's tone was icy cold, without the slightest intention of backing down just because McGonagall was the deputy headmaster.
McGonagall immediately retorted: "This matter should not come to a conclusion so quickly, at least we should ask him face-to-face. Harry and the others have already come to find me, asking what Hodu actually did wrong, and I did not tell them about it."
A first-year student breaking through those protections and getting the Philosopher's Stone was indeed suspicious. But before confronting him face-to-face, McGonagall was unwilling to make a hasty decision.
"He can hang around with Harry and them, and even do things like impersonating a Professor, what is so strange about this?" Snape sneered.
Seeing McGonagall's expression change, he reined it in slightly, and instead looked at Dumbledore: "I think we can notify the Aurors."
Dumbledore shook his head slightly: "The Philosopher's Stone is just an item. As long as it doesn't fall into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, I don't think Nicolas will mind too much. The premise is that we can finally retrieve it."
He paused for a moment and said again: "I believe in that child's character; he won't use the Philosopher's Stone to do evil things, Severus."
Snape wanted to say something more, but ultimately didn't speak.
Hearing this, McGonagall visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's leave it at that for now," Dumbledore settled the conclusion, "I will contact Hannah and inquire about Mr. Hodu's whereabouts. Before receiving any news, let's just treat it as him temporarily going home for some business."
Regarding Hodu and the Philosopher's Stone, it could only be put aside temporarily for now. In contrast, Lord Voldemort's affair was obviously much more urgent.
If Snape could have notified him in advance at that time, the situation might have been a bit easier to handle. But in any case, they had at least confirmed by now that Lord Voldemort had not truly died, and was weak to the point of only having a remnant soul left.
Yet an existence with only a soul remaining was still able to live until now, which in itself was enough to explain the problem.
From the result, Hodu indeed rendered a great service. He dragged out the lurking Lord Voldemort, but Dumbledorestill couldn't figure out how on earth Hodu knew about this matter.
"Then what about the upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts Class?" Snape asked again, his tone carrying a trace of gloating, "Quirrell probably won't have the chance to come back and teach."
"Let the students study by themselves for now, Severus."
Dumbledore's tone was firm, directly blocking words that Snape might say next.
While these matters were being discussed in the Principal's office, Harry and the others were whispering and discussing in the common room.
"If Hodu really temporarily returned to his hometown, there's no reason he wouldn't even say hello," Harry said with a frown, "Since he had time to write a letter, he could completely tell us face-to-face. At that time we were clearly in the dormitory, and we had just seen him."
He was very confident in his judgment.
Ron, however, touched his chin: "I feel rather that he's more like he did something wrong and then ran away directly. Those two brothers of mine used to do that before."
As soon as his voice fell, Hermione glared fiercely at him.
Chapter 65: Clearing the oblivion venom
Early the next morning, many Aurors came to Hogwarts, and Fudge even rushed to the school in person.
He barged into the Principal's office with a smile, but when he came out, his face was dark, and his expression was so ugly that anyone could see it.
Quirrell was taken away by the Aurors on the spot, and many students witnessed this scene with their own eyes, leading to all sorts of speculations spreading quickly around the school.
By this time, Hodu was already wandering around his hometown.
He was not in a rush to handle his tasks; whenever he saw something to eat by the street, he would stop to taste it, running through goodness knows how many cities in a single day.
Meanwhile, the fusion of the Swooping Evil was completely finished, unexpectedly taking only a single day.
Returning to the villa in the capital, Hodu immediately began experimenting with the ten-thousand-fold property of the oblivion venom.
Compared to yesterday, the effect was simply on a completely different level.
He discovered that he could adjust the concentration of the venom at will.
The venom of the Swooping Evil usually needed to be diluted before use, and after ten thousand times of stacking, it became even more exaggerated; if it was not heavily diluted, anyone who drank it would likely have their brains wiped directly.
To put it bluntly, it was not just making people forget things, but turning them into dements.
Once the dosage went overboard, the oblivion venomwould only leave behind pure toxicity.
Yet relying on his instinct, Hodu could accurately calculate how much concentration a space required—neither too concentrated nor too diluted to be ineffective.
When the concentration was high enough, he only needed to sneeze, and the venom would disperse into the air in an extremely minute state.
The oblivion venom brought out by the sneeze could drift away quickly, instantly covering the entire space, and what his instinct calculated was precisely the amount needed to cover the entire area.
The most outrageous part was not even this.
After being blessed by the ten-thousand-fold property, the oblivion venom seemed to have become Hodu's extended hands and feet.
Whoever inhaled the venom and whose body the venom entered, he could sense all of it.
He could also use this connection to selectively erase a certain memory of the other party.
Hodu's eyes lit up instantly.
In this way, those previous troubles would be much easier to handle; he just needed to give a sneeze in a crowded place, and everyone would forget things related to him.
Of course, this kind of thing could not be deleted indiscriminately.
If the other party clearly noticed what memories they had lost, it would instead be easy to follow the vine and find out something was wrong.
Hodu looked up at the time; the sky had already turned dark.
When it grew deeper into the night here, it would happen to be dinner time over at Hogwarts, and the students and Professors would gather in the Great Hall—truly the most suitable opportunity to make a move.
For the rest of the time, he kept pondering which contents should be deleted.
Should he only erase the matter of his identity being exposed, or should he deal with the pranks he had pulled in the past together?
Those pranks spanned too long of a time, and involved too many things.
If he dug them all out, others would easily notice large blanks appearing in their memories.
In comparison, clearing only the memories of his identity leakage was obviously much safer.
Snape definitely already knew that the person making trouble that night was him; perhaps resolving this matter would be enough.
The oblivion venom came from the magical creature Swooping Evil and was a magical product itself, so it did not need to be rigidly precise like ordinary Potions.
Sometimes as long as the emotion and direction were given, magic itself would fill in the remaining parts.
Make Snape forget his abnormality.
Hodu immediately set his target.
In addition, the matter of his sudden departure from school also had to be smoothed over together.
This would require all teachers and students of Hogwartsto forget the related memories, but for him now, it was at best the trouble of a yawn.
Since Snape knew his identity, Dumbledore probably knew as well.
As for the other few Deans of the houses, they would probably also be leaked some news.
The Professors other than the four Deans did not need to be worried about too much.
They were not the true core figures of Hogwarts, nor could they be considered Dumbledore's confidants, so it wasn't so easy for them to learn the inside story.
Thinking of this, Hodu was not prepared to wait until late at night.
Let's solve these Professors one by one first, and talk about other things later.
He got up from the chair and activated Self-Transformation.
The next instant, a small ladybug only the size of a soybean appeared in place.
This was his first time turning into an insect.
As soon as his body shrank, everything around him suddenly became huge.
Before he had time to master his wings, the whole bug fell straight down, feeling like plunging from an altitude of ten thousand meters, which was immensely thrilling.
The faster it fell at high speed, the harder it was to maintain balance, not to mention opening its wings.
Hodu had no choice but to use Apparition directly, landing back onto the desktop and lying flat on it motionless, finally gaining a little sense of security.
After being able to skillfully flap his wings and fly, he cast Apparition once more.
This time, he swaggered into Snape's office, but did not see Snape himself.
Hodu activated Spirit Treasure Perception and locked onto the other party's location with the help of Snape's wand.
His figure disappeared once more, and when he reappeared, he was already in the corridor outside a classroom.
As soon as he manifested, he fluttered his wings and flew into the classroom through the crack of the door.
Viewed from the perspective of a ladybug, everyone in the classroom was as huge as a Giant.
Any casual movement of theirs seemed to stir the heaven and earth into trembling.
Snape's already uncomfortable-looking face was even more excessively huge at this moment, like a cliff face carved with a human face.
Hodu did not approach Snape, who was pacing between the desks, but flew onto the podium and landed.
He opened his almost invisible little mouth and forcefully exhaled outwards.
Shrinking was nothing more than raising the venom's concentration a bit higher, which was not difficult for him.
Immediately after, a gentle breeze rippled across from the podium.
That was the Scourging Charm, but Hodu had modified it to be extremely gentle, having not a shred of aggressiveness other than delivering wind.
The oblivion venom drifted quietly toward every corner of the classroom along with this breeze.
Yet just this little breeze aroused Snape's vigilance.
He stopped in his tracks, frowned, and looked around the surroundings, as if he sensed that someone had used magic.
His cold gaze swept across the entire classroom, but he found no abnormalities, and in the end could only continue the class.
The venom spread rapidly with the breeze, and before long, the entire classroom was enveloped within it.
Hodu felt somewhat excited.
He felt that those venom had truly become his tentacles, as if touching the minds of every teacher and student in the classroom, capable of browsing at will or casually cutting out memories from them.
He did not touch the other students, placing his target solely on Snape.
As his thought fell, the oblivion venom began to take effect.
Snape suddenly stood still, his gaze going blank for a brief moment, as if he couldn't remember something important.
But when a person didn't even know what content they had forgotten, how could they possibly think of it out of thin air?
That trace of confusion quickly dissipated, and Snapecontinued his lecture as if nothing had happened.
On the contrary, Hodu was stunned.
He unexpectedly saw that part of Snape's memory that had been cleared, which precisely contained the content about his special aspects.
The first to appear was that night in the Great Hall.
The scene of him turning into Quirrell was strikingly among them, and other memory fragments were superimposed on that scene.
That memory was obviously taken out of his brain by Snape using Legilimency.
A mirror reflected his figure, and it was precisely from here that Snape judged who the imposter really was.
Hodu had actually anticipated this point long ago, so he didn't feel surprised.
What truly made his heart skip a beat was another memory that surfaced next.
That was likewise stolen from him by Snape.
The scene was somewhat familiar, where a wide mirror could be seen, with two huge claws propped up underneath the mirror.
The mirror of erised!
And in that memory, he was clearly holding a red gem in his hand.
The Philosopher's Stone!
Hodu was completely shocked.
When did Snape see the memory of him stealing the Philosopher's Stone?
He stared at the scene emerging in Snape's memory, carefully recalling the situation at that time, and only at this moment remembered that he indeed had a thought about the Philosopher's Stone back then, only to have forgotten it by himself afterward.
Hodu rejoiced inwardly.
If there were no oblivion venom, he would not have known about such a matter at all.
He originally only thought that his identity of pranksters disguised as Quirrell had been discovered.
Who knew that even the matter of stealing the Philosopher's Stone had long been seen in Snape's eyes.
The subsequent content was nothing to be surprised about.
Snape told Dumbledore about this matter, and even proposed letting the Aurors issue a wanted notice for Hodu.
As expected of Snape, Hodu actually didn't find this strange at all.
Having finished the matter, he flapped his wings again and flew out of the classroom.
Until he left the doorway did he activate Apparition, hurrying to the next classroom.
The related memories of the four Deans were soon cleaned up by him one after another.
Next, it would be Dumbledore's turn.
AI Model: gemini-3.5-flash
Honestly, Dumbledore was on a completely different level from everyone else. Hodu was very confident in his Self-Transformation, but facing this unfathomable White Wizard, he still felt a bit nervous.
Spirit Treasure Perception gave him the location; Dumbledore was currently in the Principal's office.
Hodu took a soft breath. This was his first time stepping into the Principal's office, so it was inevitable to feel a bit nervous.
His ladybug-sized figure vanished in the air, appearing inside the office in the blink of an eye.
First, he saw Dumbledore writing at his desk, and then he saw the Phoenix, which seemed to be dozing nearby. Given his current size, this Phoenix looked terrifyingly massive, with claws much larger than his entire body.
Portraits hung on the walls, the figures inside moving from time to time, but none of them noticed Hodu's arrival.
Dumbledore didn't notice either.
Even so, Hodu didn't dare to stare at Dumbledore.
He was worried about Legilimency. A powerful Wizard like Dumbledore might be able to detect complex thoughts through Legilimency and deduce that someone was watching him from the shadows.
Hodu even suspected that this was how Dumbledore had managed to detect Harry hiding under the Invisibility Cloakback then.
He opened his mouth and began to slowly exhale.
Facing Dumbledore, Hodu deliberately increased the concentration of the oblivion venom. Who knew if this White Wizard had some extra resistance to the venom? Giving a higher dose was a form of respect.
Of course, he didn't dare to use Tergeo to blow the venom all over the office as he did with the other Professors.
After all, this was Dumbledore's territory. It was better to be safe and wait slowly for the venom to diffuse on its own.
After waiting for about five or six minutes, Hodu finally felt those invisible tentacles bore into Dumbledore's mind.
The sensation was incredibly strange, as if he were touching Dumbledore's brain with his bare hands. But in reality, he already had his hands around the neck of this strongest White Wizard.
If he increased the concentration of the venom just a bit more, he could silently turn the other party into an idiot.
This thought only flashed through his mind for an instant.
Hodu immediately began to erase the memories concerning himself. He found that the brain of the strongest White Wizard didn't seem any different from anyone else's. The deleted fragments surfaced clearly in his perception, finally allowing him to completely relax.
He didn't linger any longer and directly used Apparition to leave the office.
Even Dumbledore didn't notice any disturbance left by the Apparition. Hodu's Apparition was extremely quiet to begin with; unless a magic spell for detecting presence had been set up in advance, it wouldn't leave any trace.
Afterwards, Hodu returned home and erased Hannah's memory as well.
He had seen Hannah burn that letter with his own eyes back then, so there was no need to worry about that.
Although this operation went smoothly, it didn't leave him entirely free of hidden risks.
When erasing the Professors' memories, Hodu had also deleted the memory of himself pulling the sword of gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat.
This wasn't his deliberate choice, but because that event itself involved Hodu's special nature, the oblivion venomhad conveniently swept it into the erasure range.
Once he reached the Great Hall, he would have to completely erase this part of the memory, but it remained a potential issue.
Even if nobody remembered the sword of gryffindor, there was still one thing that did.
The Sorting Hat.
It wasn't a living thing, so the oblivion venom could do nothing to it. Fortunately, as long as the Sorting Hat didn't speak, the matter wouldn't be exposed.
Normally, this treasure kept its mouth shut. Otherwise, with how talkative it was, Dumbledore probably wouldn't have been able to stand it long ago.
Outside of the Sorting Ceremony, the Sorting Hatshouldn't have many chances to speak.
This minor risk couldn't be completely eliminated. Once something happened, it would always leave traces, and the longer it dragged on, the more evidence would remain.
Hodu could erase everyone's memories, but he couldn't smooth over all those traces.
However, he didn't take it too seriously. All he needed was time. Once he learned Occlumency, even if someone noticed something unusual, as long as he adamantly denied it and had Occlumency to protect him, no one would be able to pin the blame on him.
When dinner time arrived at Hogwarts, Hodu walked openly into the Great Hall.
Ron, being sharp-eyed, spotted him immediately and excitedly tugged on Harry beside him.
"Hodu is back!"
Hodu walked toward them with a smile, but stopped halfway. With his mouth slightly open, he sneezed several times in a row.
Just then, a gust of strong wind blew in from outside the Great Hall. Looking as though he had caught a slight cold, he rubbed his nose and continued toward the Gryffindortable.
Just as he sat down, Harry looked extremely excited, as if he wanted to say something.
But before the words could leave his mouth, a trace of confusion flashed in Harry's eyes. He had suddenly forgotten what he wanted to say.
It wasn't just Harry.
At the exact same time, everyone in the Great Hall paused for a brief moment.
Acting as if nothing had happened, Hodu greeted Harryand the others, then lowered his head to eat his dinner.
He ate this meal quite slowly. Harry and the others had already left, and people in the Great Hall came and went, yet only Hodu remained in his spot.
Only when the Great Hall was completely empty and he was the only one left did Hodu stand up with satisfaction.
He couldn't be absolutely sure that everyone at Hogwartshad forgotten about his leave of absence to go home; after all, many people hadn't known about it in the first place.
But at least all the Professors had completely forgotten about it.
Hodu felt much lighter. This trouble could be considered over.
Returning to the dormitory, he saw Harry and Ron still playing wizards chess, while Neville sat nearby watching intently.
Hodu casually pulled up a chair, sat down next to them, and asked as if in passing.
"Neville, you don't seem to have ever mentioned your parents. What do they do?"
Harry and Ron also stopped what they were doing. They, too, didn't seem to have heard Neville mention this before.
Under their gaze, Neville grew visibly nervous and spoke hesitantly.
"My... my parents are sick. They're staying in the hospital."
"Is it serious?" Ron chimed in before Hodu could ask further.
Neville hesitated for a moment. Finally, under their concerned gazes, he spoke in a low voice.
"They were once... tortured by Death Eaters with Unforgivable Curses. They went mad afterwards and have been in the hospital ever since. My grandmother has looked after me since I was little."
By the end, Neville's eyes gradually turned red.
Both Harry and Ron stiffened, their expressions changing instantly.
Death Eaters—wasn't that ten years ago? This meant that after Neville's parents entered the hospital, they had never come out.
"I'm sorry."
Harry apologized in a low voice.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that he might be slightly luckier than Neville. Even though his own parents had died, at least they hadn't been tortured into complete madness like Neville's parents.
Harry walked over and hugged Neville to comfort him.
"It's fine," Neville forced a smile. "My grandmother says they'll wake up one day."
He looked as if he truly believed his grandmother's words.
Hodu had known about Neville's parents' condition for a long time, but seeing Neville like this, he was still somewhat moved, and his expression darkened slightly.
But in the next moment, he seemed to suddenly think of something, and his expression instantly became excited.
Hodu reached into the coin pouch in his pocket and pulled out a glass vial. The vial contained a clear liquid, looking no different from ordinary water.
The attention of the others was drawn to him, none of them understanding what he was trying to do.
"I remember now," Hodu held up the vial. "I once met a mysterious Potion merchant who tried to sell me a Potion, and this is it."
He showed the vial to them. Harry and the others stared at the liquid inside, thinking it didn't look much like a Potion; after all, what kind of Potion would be as clear as plain water?
"It's called Oblivion Sweetwater. It's said to cure any mental effects left behind by the Dark Arts. It can even completely resolve the mental trauma caused by the Unforgivable Curses, so maybe it can cure your parents."
Hodu spoke with considerable exaggeration.
Harry and the others looked at him in a daze, their eyes blank like students who couldn't understand a lesson.
"Thank you, Hodu," Neville looked at him gratefully, but still shook his head gently. "But I don't think it will work. My parents are staying at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and they've already tried many methods, but..."
Chapter 66: oblivion venom and Legilimency
"Neville, trust me. That Potion merchant is the most amazing person I've ever seen, and he's from my hometown. There are some special Potions over there that maybe even St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries hasn't encountered."
Hodu really had no way to explain, so he had to bite the bullet and talk nonsense.
Neville held the bottle of Potion, his expression full of hesitation. But under Hodu's repeated insistence, he still whispered: "Alright, thank you, Hodu."
"Don't rush to thank me yet," Hodu took the opportunity to say, "I only heard that Potion merchant mention it. Whether the Potion's effects are real or fake, you can take it and let Snape take a look. I think he should be qualified to speak on this matter."
Neville's expression instantly froze.
It was clear that he didn't believe this rhetoric, but simply couldn't refuse, so he reluctantly accepted the Potion. After all, this was something related to his parents, and there was nothing wrong with him being cautious. Hodu could only place his hopes on Snape; at least as far as Potion-making was concerned, it was hard to find anyone more professional than him in Hogwarts.
"S... Snape?"
Harry, Ron, and Neville widened their eyes simultaneously and cried out almost in unison.
That was Snape!
Among the first-year students, Harry was the one targeted most severely by Snape, with Neville following closely behind. Neville already had a poor memory and always caused various problems in Potion Class, for which Snapehad frequently scolded him with harsh words. Over time, Neville almost developed a conditioned reflex; just hearing the name "Snape" would make his body tremble first.
"How about... we forget it?" Neville spoke timidly, "I don't really dare to go see him."
Hodu suddenly felt a headache coming on, but he also understood why Neville was like this. Anyone with a timid personality who had been specially targeted by Snape for a long time probably wouldn't be willing to deliver themselves to his door voluntarily.
The problem was that Snape was indeed the person who understood Potion best here. Bypassing him, others might not be able to confirm whether the Potion had any effect; and without determining the Potion's effect, Neville could not rest assured sending it to his grandmother.
Things were suddenly stuck.
The few people in the dormitory looked at each other, and no one could think of a better idea.
After a moment of silence, Hodu reached out and took the Potion back: "Forget it, leave it with me for now. When I figure out a way to confirm the Potion's effect, I'll decide whether to hand it over to you."
He wasn't entirely out of ideas, it was just that the previous arrangement was indeed poorly thought out. If Neville was unwilling to face Snape, he could also hand the Potion over to Dumbledore. After all, Neville's parents were members of the Order of the Phoenix back then, and Dumbledorewouldn't just stand by and do nothing about this matter.
But the more Hodu thought about it, the more he felt that the trouble hadn't disappeared.
Whether looking for Dumbledore or Snape, they would both use Legilimency. The two of them probably wouldn't use this magic directly on students, but once asked where the Potion came from, Neville would probably find it hard to keep things hidden. By then, their attention would ultimately fall upon him.
He could stubbornly insist that the Potion came from a magical Potion merchant; anyway, the other party had no evidence and couldn't do anything to him. But the problem was that both Dumbledore and Snape could see that he was lying.
Therefore, the problem of Occlumency had to be solved first. As for Neville's parents, they might as well continue living in St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for the time being.
After night fell, the moonlight slanted through the window into the dormitory. The lights had long been extinguished, and snoring occasionally came from the darkness, but Hodu unusually suffered from insomnia.
That night, he tossed and turned pondering Occlumency, and the conclusion he finally reached was very simple: no clue.
Among the magical creatures he knew, it seemed none of them possessed traits corresponding to Occlumency. As for whether his hometown had similar abilities, he had no way to confirm right now.
If it was just to guard against Legilimency, mastering Occlumency wasn't strictly necessary. As long as false memories could be created, or the opponent prevented from obtaining real information, the effect should be about the same.
Hodu thought for a long time, and ultimately placed his hopes on the Wampus cat. The Wampus cat possessed the ability of Legilimency, and Legilimency and Occlumencywere naturally a pair of mutually corresponding magic, one responsible for offense and the other for defense.
Then, after mastering Legilimency, could it be used to resist other people's Legilimency? After all, the best defense is an offense.
The moment this thought popped up, Hodu sighed first. If he really did that, in the end, it would most likely just be both parties browsing each other's memories. He couldn't even guard his own brain; what qualifications did he have to talk about offense? If they really fought, casting a Dragon Breath directly would be faster and much less troublesome.
Or alternatively, oblivion venom could be used.
Since the opponent wanted to check his memories, wouldn't it be fine if he simply forgot those memories first?
Hodu suddenly sat up from the bed, a look of surprise on his face. This method sounded even more reliable.
To put it bluntly, Occlumency clears out the thoughts in one's mind; Legilimency is also not able to browse through a person's entire memory at will—it first perceives the opponent's current thoughts, and then touches related memories along those thoughts.
If he used oblivion venom to wipe away his current thoughts, wouldn't he be able to achieve an effect similar to Occlumency?
The only problem was that after activating oblivion venom, his body would instinctively develop a resistance. In other words, he had to turn it on for a while and turn it off for a while; operating it was indeed troublesome, but not unfeasible.
lethe river water didn't have this kind of resistance, but it could only clear negative emotions and help people relax, obviously failing to reach the extent of oblivion venom.
Thinking and thinking, Hodu's eyes suddenly lit up, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.
Why must he make himself forget?
Rather than clearing his own thoughts, it was better to make the opponent forget directly.
When someone cast Legilimency on him, he would turn around and use oblivion venom on them. In this way, wouldn't they just cancel each other out?
If the opponent wanted to break into his memories, he would scramble the opponent's brain. Before the opponent could get the thoughts and touch the related memories, he would make those things disappear from the opponent's mind first.
Only then did Hodu realize that oblivion venom and Legilimency were simply a match made in heaven.
Under his control, he could even wipe away only the thoughts and related memories the opponent had already acquired. As a result, it would be equivalent to the opponent not having invaded anything at all.
The problem that had bothered him for half a day turned out to have its solution right in his own hands all along. In a great mood, Hodu lay back down, produced a portion of lethe river water, threw his head back and took a sip. His entire body quickly relaxed, and before long, he fell fast asleep.
Early the next morning, Hodu dragged Neville straight to Snape's office. Even though Harry and Ron clearly didn't want to see Snape, they still followed along.
Hodu of course didn't like Snape's gloomy face either, but compared to an unfathomable old fox like Dumbledore, he would rather face this sarcastic guy.
As the few of them walked up to the office door, Snapehappened to be coming out from inside, looking like he was getting ready to head to the Great Hall for breakfast.
The terror on Neville's face was almost impossible to hide, but he still forced himself to step forward: "Professor Snape, may I ask you a question?"
When Snape saw them, his expression instantly turned cold. He first glanced at Harry, and then his gaze fell upon Neville.
"Mr. Longbottom, if what you are asking about is a Potionquestion, the only advice I have for you is—give up." Snape's lips carried a faint, cold sneer, and the sarcasm in his tone grew heavier and heavier, "No matter what kind of question it is, it's all the same. You only have the brain of a Troll, how could you possibly learn how to brew a Potion? Those clumsy hands of yours, just like a Troll's, will only ruin everything."
Chapter 67: Snape Identifies the Potion
When Snape's tirade came crashing down, Neville's face flushed completely red.
The mental draft he had rehearsed countless times in his mind instantly melted into a mess, his lips trembled, and for a long time he couldn't squeeze out a single complete word.
Harry's face was gloomy, obviously furious, but he held it in after all.
He was very clear that this was Hogwarts, and with Professor Snape wearing the identity of a Professor, it was far too easy for him to suppress a few first-years like them.
Even if they won the argument, the other party could completely turn hostile and deduct points.
Hodu gave a soft cough.
The oblivion venom was then sprayed out, entering Snape's body through his nasal cavity in a very short time.
That familiar sense of control emerged once more, as if a thread had already quietly attached itself to Snape.
Looking at Snape's annoying face, Hodu curled his lips inwardly.
As expected, he had gone too easy on him last time; had he known, he would have really turned into Snape's appearance and danced a striptease in the Great Hall.
If that didn't work, pole dancing would have done too.
"Professor Snape," Hodu picked up the conversation, his tone extremely polite, "Neville's parents were hit by the Unforgivable Curses from Death Eaters back then and have been receiving treatment in the hospital.
I have a bottle of Potion in my hand, which I bought from an Eastern Potion merchant before.
That person said it can deal with the negative impacts left on the mind by magic, and I wanted to ask for your help to take a look."
Begging someone for a favor and temporarily suppressing those past grudges was nothing much.
Hodu looked straight into Snape's icy eyes, without the slightest intention of dodging Legilimency.
The oblivion venom had already entered the other party's body; as long as Snape touched his thoughts or memories, the relevant content would be wiped out immediately.
Yet after waiting for a moment, he did not sense any prying thoughts from Snape.
It seemed that this person didn't casually use Legilimencyordinarily.
As for Dumbledore, he probably wasn't casting spells all the time, but rather had practiced this skill so deeply that it ultimately became almost an instinct, or rather some kind of side effect.
Hearing this, the corners of Snape's mouth curled into a sneer.
"Heh. I said long ago, Quirrell doesn't understand what Defense Against the Dark Arts is at all, which is why he lets you people not even clear up the Unforgivable Curses."
He sneered and said, "If the injuries left by that kind of curse could still be healed, why would it be called an Unforgivable Curse?
Mr. Hodu, if there really is such a Potion, you should take a sip first to cure that head of yours that might be underdeveloped due to the Dark Arts."
Hodu almost flipped out on the spot.
How about burying Snape directly?
Melting him away with Dragon Breath felt like letting him off too easy.
However, a gentle fake smile still hung on his face: "Perhaps you haven't heard of it before, Professor.
You always look like you are alone, and seem to pour all your thoughts into Potions, but who knows if you were busy doing other big things when you were young?
For things to turn out like this today, maybe you also played a huge part.
Not knowing about this kind of Potion is very normal."
The words were spoken in a roundabout way, but the sting was not shallow at all.
Having been mocked right to his face, how could Hodupossibly not return any of it?
What he was poking at secretly was precisely those past events that Snape was unwilling to have brought up.
He wasn't talking nonsense either.
If Snape hadn't brought the prophecy to Lord Voldemortback then, Lord Voldemort might not have lost, and the matter of Harry surviving the killing curse might not have happened.
Harry and Ron were completely stunned.
They hadn't expected Hodu, who usually looked quite amiable, to actually confront Snape head-on.
The effect was immediate.
Snape's expression darkened frighteningly, his eyes wide, fixed dead on Hodu.
Bloodshot veins could be seen at the bottom of his eyes, and his entire body was trembling, especially his right hand, as if the next second he would draw his wand and hit Hodu with Avada Kedavra.
Harry and Ron's faces changed as well.
They actually saw murderous intent on Snape's face.
Having enrolled for so long, this was the first time they saw a Professor angered to this extent, and the two could not help feeling a bit intimidated.
Hodu, on the contrary, kept smiling, raising his head to lock eyes with Snape, as if that sentence just now had no problem whatsoever.
Snape's knuckles were squeezed white.
If these words came from Harry, he might only think Potterwas spouting nonsense.
But Hodu was different; his mother was Hannah, and he hailed from Slytherin, so it wasn't strange for him to have heard some things.
Just this single sentence was enough to flip up many old scenes.
"Good, good, good! Hodu, very good!"
In the end, Snape did not pull out his wand, but only forcibly suppressed his anger and said loudly to Hodu.
His gaze looked as though he wanted to carve Hodu's appearance into his brain; even if the person turned to ashes, he would still be able to recognize him.
Hodu had a carefree look.
In the school, he indeed couldn't do much; switch places, and he could teach Snape how to behave and how to be a teacher in minutes.
"Hand it over!"
Snape suddenly turned to Neville and shouted coldly.
Neville didn't react at first, then remembered that glass Potion bottle.
He flurriedly took out the bottle Hodu gave him, and the moment it was exposed, it was snatched away by Snape.
Snape raised the bottle to his eyes.
The liquid inside was as clear as water; he took one look and almost directly smashed it.
"Is this what you called a Potion that can cure the damage of Crucio?!"
He felt like he was being played.
Brewing a Potion required putting in a bunch of materials, how could it end up being this color?
"Very well, Mr. Hodu. If this is just a bottle of clear water, I can guarantee that you will have plenty of time to stay in my office in the future!"
Snape laughed out of extreme anger, turning his head abruptly to glare at Hodu.
Hodu shrugged: "Professor, I can guarantee that it is definitely a Potion."
It was just mixed with a bit of his saliva inside, why couldn't it count as a Potion?
When all is said and done, it was the same principle as traditional Chinese medicine.
With it brewed into that state, who would still scrutinize what was added inside, as long as it was effective?
Snape couldn't be bothered to deal with him, roughly pulling out the cork and leaning close to sniff it.
The next moment, he frowned and sniffed a few more times in disbelief.
It actually really was a Potion.
Snape's expression turned serious, staring at the liquid inside the bottle without a word.
He didn't make out what the raw materials were, but the materials shouldn't be complicated, otherwise it wouldn't be possible to keep the Potion liquid this clear.
Yet after sniffing it a few times, the irritability in his heart dissipated quite a bit, and his anger from just now was also suppressed.
This showed that the Potion was indeed effective, with utility somewhat similar to a sedative.
Clearly, there was a primary material that gave it the characteristics of a Potion.
Perhaps that thing didn't need to be matched with other materials at all and worked on its own.
In terms of Potions, Snape could indeed be called an expert.
Neville and the others saw his expression clearly, and gradually had hope in their hearts.
Harry couldn't help asking on behalf of Neville: "How is it? Is it effective at all?"
Snape was pulled back to his senses by these words, his expression returning to his usual gloominess as he coldly looked at Harry.
"Mr. Potter, if you could just listen for a few minutes during class, you would know that identifying a Potion is not as simple as taking a nap like you do."
He stuffed the cap back on.
The movement of his hands this time was indeed much lighter.
If he had this attitude towards students as well, there might still be one or two students willing to like him.
"I will carefully identify it. At least it is indeed a bottle of Potion."
Snape glanced at Hodu, "Fortunately, you didn't listen to someone's brainless suggestion to use it directly.
Otherwise, not only would your parents not be cured, but you might also send them off to their graves prematurely."
Finished speaking, he left with the bottle.
Neville was scared so pale by that last sentence that his face turned white.
Hodu looked at Snape's retreating back and let out a scoff.
He knew this fellow was driving a wedge, but he didn't expect Snape to play such scheming tricks.
Whether lethe river water was a poison, he knew best himself.
Every medicine has three parts poison, true, but he had controlled the dosage; even if it couldn't cure, it would definitely not cause problems.
"Judging by his appearance, this Potion is most likely really useful," Harry said to Neville.
He had been targeted by Snape for so long, and understood that person's reactions to a certain extent, instantly seeing that something wasn't right.
Neville finally let out a sigh of relief, a slight smile appearing on his face, though his eye rims turned slightly red.
As for Snape, his thoughts were naturally completely different from that surface act.
The morning classes continued as usual.
Yet as soon as class ended, he hurried back to his office, not even caring to eat.
After returning, he drew his wand and waved it, and the office door slammed shut with a snap.
Only then did he take out the Potion taken from Neville's hands, cautiously poured out a bit, and began step-by-step identification.
As the inspection continued, the expression on Snape's face grew increasingly complex.
With the help of magic, he confirmed that one of the ingredients was water, while the other could not be identified.
In other words, this bottle of Potion really looked like something diluted with water after being mixed in.
Based solely on this, it had the effect of a Potion, and taking a sniff was close to a sedative.
The efficacy of that unknown material was simply excessively strong.
Snape knitted his brows tightly.
He had never heard of such materials, and even identification spells could not determine if it belonged to any known things.
Could it be that it really was the Eastern goods Hodumentioned?
Then, after confirming that the Potion was harmless, he stuck out his tongue and gently touched that single drop separated earlier.
The liquid melted as soon as it touched his tongue, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Snape froze directly in place.
The world seemed to suddenly quiet down.
He had always lived in a place full of noise, and suddenly, all sounds were gone.
Having grown accustomed to those noises, it was only until now that he discovered silence could feel like this.
Snape's expression changed abruptly, staring at the Potionbottle in shock.
Even the negative impacts caused by the Dark Arts had been eliminated!
A single drop already had this effect, so an entire bottle might really be able to treat the trauma brought by Crucio.
After the shock, his thoughts spun rapidly.
The ingredients were so simple, yet the effect was so strong; the material most likely came from some powerful magical creature.
He thought through all those dangerous, powerful magical creatures, yet still couldn't find a target meeting the conditions.
In the afternoon, Hodu and the others had just come out of the dormitory and were heading to the classroom when they saw Snape walking quickly towards them from the other side of the corridor.
His complexion didn't seem as gloomy as usual.
At one glance Hodu knew that Snape had probably tested out the result.
Before anyone got close, he deliberately avoided the other party's gaze and suddenly sneezed heavily, his spit scattering in the air accordingly.
"Where did your Potion come from?" Snape stared into Hodu's eyes, questioning the moment he opened his mouth.
Hodu didn't answer directly, only asking: "Is it effective?"
"It has some effect, but I must know its origin to determine if it is safe." Snape was somewhat impatient.
Hearing this, Neville could no longer suppress the joy in his eyes.
He looked straight at Snape, his eyes shining brightly.
Hodu sensed that Snape kept staring into his eyes as if plotting something, but without dodging in the slightest, he opened his mouth and began to make things up.
"Before school started, I bumped into a Potion merchant in Diagon Alley.
He said he came from the East and had some magical and expensive Potions on hand, selling them at a low price for a limited time.
I didn't quite believe it at first, but still holding the mindset of giving it a try, I bought this bottle with one Galleon."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a familiar scene suddenly flashed before Hodu's eyes.
He spat a mouthful of saliva into the glass bottle and then poured water into it.
Sure enough.
Snape had used Legilimency on him.
What Hodu saw was precisely the memory deleted from Snape's mind, which was the memory that originally belonged to Hodu himself.
Snape frowned.
He of course didn't think there was anything wrong with casting Legilimency on a first-year student.
Yet he didn't detect that Hodu was lying, which meant what he just said might be true; yet he didn't see the memory of purchasing the Potion in Hodu's mind.
In other words, Legilimency had failed.
Naturally, he couldn't have imagined that his own memory had been cleared without him knowing it.
Generally speaking, there were only two explanations for the failure of Legilimency.
One was that the other party had mastered Occlumency; powerful Occlumens could even forge scenes, making the caster only see memories deliberately provided by the other party, thereby being deceived.
Another kind was a natural Occlumens.
They couldn't do the things that people proficient in Occlumency could do, but they could also make Legilimency unable to pry normally.
This situation also had another name, empty-headed, not using brains like a Troll, except a Troll's brain was messy and noisy.
Snape looked at Hodu in astonishment, feeling that he clearly belonged to the latter.
People like this usually had almost a blank slate in their minds, yet still couldn't fool the lie detector of Legilimency, only failing to have their corresponding emotions and memories peeped into.
A first-year student mastering Occlumency?
This possibility, Snape hadn't thought of at all.
"Professor, since the Potion is useful, shouldn't it be returned to Neville? His parents are still waiting," Harryquickly said.
From Snape's reaction and words, he could already see that the other party attached great importance to that bottle of Potion, which was enough to show that the Potion was useful.
But his request only traded for a cold glare from Snape.
"I think I made myself clear enough, I must first confirm it is harmless. Mr. Potter, didn't you hear?"
Snape dropped a cold sentence.
Since he couldn't get information from Hodu's side, he didn't stay any longer and turned to leave.
Harry looked at his retreating back, somewhat worried: "He wouldn't want to swallow that bottle of Potion, would he?"
"Very likely," Ron said decisively, "he is just that kind of person."
Neville was almost scared to tears by his words.
"He shouldn't, right? Perhaps he really needs to spend time researching," Hodu quickly comforted Neville.
In reality, he himself had no bottom in his heart either.
A few days flashed by, and in the blink of an eye it was Friday again.
These past two days Snape seemed to be deliberately avoiding people, and his shadow couldn't even be seen during meals.
Harry and Ron increasingly believed that Snape just wanted to monopolize that bottle of Potion.
Hermione, however, had a different view, thinking that such a thing was unlikely to happen.
Until Friday morning, they finally saw Snape, because there were two Potion Class sessions in the morning.
The few took the opportunity to ask about the Potion, but Snape only gave a brief and perfunctory reply, still identifying it.
Harry originally wanted to question whether he wasn't planning to return the Potion at all, but before the words left his mouth, he was sternly interrupted by Snape.
"Go back to class, Potter!"
Harry could only return empty-handed.
And in this Potion Class, the students in the classroom noticed an obvious change.
The targets that Snape focused on had increased, and Hodu was undoubtedly also classified into the list.
Hodu hadn't expected Snape to hold a grudge to this extent, almost failing to hold back several times and wanting to bury the man.
After a class ended, he even wanted to change the magical creature he had originally prepared to fuse with.
He had previously planned to fuse with a Demiguise, but now he suddenly wanted to choose a Soft-claw Land Shrimp instead.
No other reason, this magical creature had a special ability: as long as you were bitten by it, you would have bad luck for the next week, and everything you did would go wrong.
Having managed to endure until the end of class, they still wanted to continue asking about the whereabouts of the Potion.
Yet Snape was clearly unwilling to cross paths with them again, leaving in a quick stride.