Toward evening, Alan finally "came to" and, after an examination by Madam Pomfrey, left the hospital wing, heading toward the Hogwarts dungeons where the Slytherin common room was located.
After descending the stairs and reaching the wall decorated with skulls, the young man uttered "Pure-blood," which was the password. Thanks to it, the wall slid aside.
As soon as the mage entered the common room, the students who had been chatting with each other immediately turned their attention to Snape, sending encouraging smiles and nods in his direction. This slightly confused him.
"There he is, our star," a cheerful voice rang out. The house prefect approached Alan: the same guy who had previously stood up for him in front of Slughorn.
"Did something happen?" The young man raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.
"Don't pretend you don't know. Depriving Gryffindor of a hundred points in two days: not many can pull that off." Some Slytherins nodded as well, confirming Macmillan's words.
"I see. Glad I could help." Saying nothing more, he headed toward the dormitories. "I'm tired today. If you want to talk or discuss something, I'll be in my room."
At these words, many students immediately began looking at him disapprovingly. After all, they were no ordinary people, and the young man's arrogant behavior displeased them greatly. The prefect himself said nothing about it. He merely said goodbye and went about his business. After all, he knew more than the others about what had actually happened and where Severus had been all this time. So he didn't say anything. And this way, it would be easier in the future to win him over when the others spoiled their relations with him.
After all, Snape interested him greatly, and not just because of his gift for Potions. Even at their first meeting, it seemed to him that something had changed in the previously silent and rather downtrodden young man. And this change intrigued him very much. Moreover, this year Macmillan was finishing Hogwarts, and another chance to build good relations with such a person was unlikely to present itself. That was why he behaved quite politely toward him: to leave a good impression.
Finally in his room and quickly scanning it for any surveillance charms, he fell onto the bed face-first into the pillow.
"Another day has come to an end." Rolling onto his back, he pointed his palm toward the nightstand. An inkwell, a quill, and a simple sheet of paper flew out of it. "Hm, I think I'll need his help..."
A few minutes later, the quill stopped writing, and the sheet rolled itself into a scroll.
"I need to find an owl..." But in the next moment, information about the owlery located in the west wing of Hogwarts surfaced in his head. "Perfect, then..." Getting up, he opened the drawer and took out a small jingling pouch. Ten gold coins called Galleons spilled onto the bed, along with seven silver ones: Sickles. "Not rich. I need to find a way to earn money... Eh... If I'd known I'd end up in another world, I'd have studied alchemy. Though I do know a couple dozen beginner-level potions, but there's no guarantee those ingredients exist in this world. I should definitely look into that during the holidays or ask Slughorn." Smiling slightly, the mage extended his hand. "Fotia." A small fireball ignited in his palm. "Just one word, and I created fire. And the best part is that runes from my world work here too. But sufficiently, I won't be able to use them until I increase my magical capacity and take that potion... For now, I need to reach at least the Magister level to feel safe. Then gradually increase my power somewhere far from this mess. Damn war. Why couldn't I have been sent to some peaceful time..." Yawning, he closed his eyes. "First, I need to earn money, and not a small amount... WAIT!" Jumping out of bed, the young man's eyes lit up. "That could work! Since runes from my world function here... But I'll need materials, and there's a forest nearby..."
After brainstorming, Alan decided to pursue his business idea the very next evening. He spent the whole day in the library, studying as much information as possible about the castle's layout. He compared the current building plan with older ones he could find while rummaging through the regular section.
But most interestingly, after scouring the entire library under Madam Pince's disapproving gaze, Snape managed to find blueprints only from seventeen eighty. He found no older ones, which disappointed the young man but also pleased him. After all, it meant someone wanted to hide something. Though it was possible they were simply lost, Alan was sure it was the former.
The Archmage also examined the water supply system and sewer blueprints. But as with the previous ones, aside from data from the seventeen eighties, he found nothing more.
Yet Snape understood well that nothing could be hidden so simply. After all, besides blueprints, there were historical textbooks.
In one such textbook, he found rather interesting information about a certain Corvinus Darke (Gaunt), who in seventeen fifty had been involved in installing the plumbing system at Hogwarts.
There might have been nothing interesting about it if not for one huge "BUT": the Darkes were descendants of Salazar Slytherin, one of the greatest wizards who founded Hogwarts. And how could Alan not understand how arrogant pure-blood aristocrats were? Just suggest to any Slytherin student that they do such work, and they'd twirl a finger at their temple and tell the proposer to get lost. But Darke had no problem digging, one might say, in waste and laying pipes and plumbing. The very idea was absurd, which was why Alan latched onto it.
And though he found almost nothing, the wizard felt he was on the right path...
When evening finally arrived, the mage left the library. But he hadn't taken more than a couple of steps when he stopped and looked with mild surprise at a gray-ash cat with dark stripes. It puffed out its chest slightly and eyed him with a dangerous gleam.
"..." A cheerful smile appeared on Alan's lips, making the fur on the cat's back stand on end...
At the same time, as if sensing something wrong, an elderly man hurried to the scene. His wrinkle-covered face looked very menacing... His grim, always focused pale eyes, in which a flame burned, frightened every student he ran past. And when he heard pitiful meowing, his face contorted, and his speed would have made even Usain Bolt envious.
Rushing around the corner, he glared furiously at the young man holding the cat in his arms.
"RELEASE MISS NORRIS!"
"So this is your cat?" Raising his gaze, Alan asked with a smile, stroking the quite purring animal. "Miss Norris? Good name." He nodded, looking at the stunned man. "Can I play with her a little longer?"
"Miss Norris..."
~ Meow... The cat meowed lazily, waving its tail from Alan's stroking.
Finally coming to his senses, Argus raised a hateful gaze to Severus's face: the one who dared touch the dearest "person" in the world to him. And just as he was about to furiously yell at the insolent student, Filch heard something that made him freeze for a moment:
"I see you take good care of her. It's rare to find such well-groomed cats. Her fur, besides a pleasant smell and shine, is very soft and fluffy. Her eyes are bright without a single spot or discharge in the corners, and she's very energetic herself. Her figure..."
For the next ten minutes, he continued sharing his opinion about the cat and giving care advice, forcing the man to even take out a sheet of paper and start jotting down notes after the mage.
"...But still, I'd review her diet."
"Is something wrong?" Argus asked with concern, fully believing in the young man's "expertise." He approached closely and looked worriedly at Miss Norris.
"No, everything's fine for now." Poking her nose, she opened her mouth slightly. "Smell that slight unpleasant odor?"
He sniffed and nodded seriously.
"That already indicates an imbalance in the body. We need to adjust her diet a bit. One second." Taking the sheet from him, on the other side, he quickly wrote a balanced diet most suitable for cats using the quill. After all, his father had been quite the cat lover and "taught" him a lot—or more precisely, forced Alan to learn it. But the mage himself liked cats very much. "Don't let her eat too much; it won't lead to anything good."
~ Meow!
Hearing the displeased meow, the wizard smiled warmly and began stroking her head.
"Play with her more often; your attention is very important to her."
"I see, I see." Argus nodded, reading the new diet. As if it were the most precious thing, he folded the sheet in half and carefully placed it in the inner pocket of his dark-yellow jacket.
"Well, I won't distract you further." Handing the cat back to caretaker Filch, he turned and simply walked away under the respectful gaze of the elderly man.
Only after a minute did the old man come to his senses and stare in shock at the direction the young mage had gone.
"He tricked me..."
~ Mrrrr... meow...
Lowering his gaze to Miss Norris, Argus's face immediately softened.
"Fine, today I'll pretend I didn't see him. Come on, Miss Norris, we need to catch four more rule-breakers." Grinning maliciously, he set the cat down. Sensing the old man's mood, she meowed ominously and disappeared around the corner, with Filch following her...
At the same time, Alan had already left the castle, heading toward a huge tree on the school grounds...