The day before the start of school, having gathered all his small belongings and set up the defensive and signaling charms that he had managed to cast on the building during the holidays, Alan returned to the training room toward evening and took out the parchment taken from the Marauders.
"What is this...?" Nagini crawled up to him and stared at the thing in his hand in bewilderment.
"Yes, I took it from one of the annoying four," he said, pointing his wand at it. "I solemnly swear that I am planning a prank and nothing but a prank."
But strangely enough, the parchment remained completely clean, which puzzled him slightly.
"Interesting..." he grinned bloodthirstily and pointed his finger at it. "Open up!"
For the first few seconds, there was no response, until suddenly red lines began to appear from the tip of his index finger, slowly spreading across the parchment. Finally, as if giving in, words began to appear on the smooth surface of the parchment.
"Mr. Moony asks Longnose to stop trying to get through the security and demands that the map be returned to its rightful owners.
Mr. Prongs joins Mr. Moony and would just like to add that Snot is not only a thief, but also a freak.
Mr. Padfoot is amazed that such a weakling managed to get his hands on the map.
Mr. Wormtail advises the damn slob to finally wash his hair."
Alan didn't pay any attention to such insults, but merely nodded with slight surprise, twirling the parchment in his hand.
"I thought they were fools, but to create such a thing... it's interesting..."
"And they 'love' you very much," Nagini hissed with irony in her voice after reading the words.
"That's true," he said, but he didn't stop, continuing to calmly push through the artifact's defenses. "The tracking and scanning enchantments are pretty good... but the defenses are weak. They used their own personal fingerprints without blocking or concealing the path to them. So getting to the core is a matter of seconds. Apparently, I shouldn't have praised them."
A few seconds later, the words appeared on the parchment again:
"Mr. Moony humbly asks Mr. Snape to stop this!
Mr. Prongs demands that Nosey remove his hands from the map!
Mr. Padfoot agrees with Mr. Prongs.
Mr. Wormtail apologizes for his earlier rudeness and begs you not to touch him."
Alan chuckled in response and only increased his pressure. The previously simple lines began to transform into symbols and be absorbed into the parchment.
"Mr. Moony humbly requests...
Mr. Prongs demands…
Mr. Padfoot insists...
Mr. Wormtail begs…"
But he didn't read the rest, and simply destroyed three of the four personality prints.
"Open up," and as soon as these words left his mouth, the following words appeared on the parchment:
"Mr. Wormtail greets the Master and thanks him for keeping him alive."
After these words, the small parchment began to unfold, and on the previously blank surface Alan began to see the familiar outlines of Hogwarts Castle's interior, along with the names of people in small frames moving around the grounds. For example, in the upper left corner, he saw the Headmaster's office, where a nameplate with the name "Albus Dumbledore" was pacing back and forth. In the lower corner, a nameplate with the name "Horace Slughorn" emerged from the Slytherin Head of House's office and headed toward the stairs. He also noticed numerous other Hogwarts faculty names, and even Filch's cat, labeled simply "Mrs. Norris," not to mention the castle's surroundings and the many secret passages leading beyond the school grounds.
"No, I was mistaken. They really surprised me. I can't even believe those idiots were able to create such an interesting thing. I was just thinking about creating an artifact like that." Watching the moving nameplates brought a satisfied smile to his face. "Well, since they decided to give me such a nice gift, I'll gladly accept it and use it for my own purposes..."
He touched the parchment with his wand, and it closed without any further words.
"The rat's Animagus form suits him perfectly, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up betraying them just as easily..." But still, Alan didn't care much about the lives of Potter and company, so he didn't think much about it and, throwing the map into the wallet he'd bought to replace the bag, left the training room...
The next day, deep down cursing the Ministry of Magic again with their idiotic rules regarding Apparition, Alan finally reached King's Cross railway station and, moving from memory through the crowds of people who were all trying to step on his feet, he finally reached platform 9¾, located between platforms nine and ten, with the passage itself in the column supporting the roof above the platforms.
"Maybe I'm too old to understand this, but why take the train to Hogwarts at all? Wouldn't it be easier to use the same Floo Network and immediately teleport to the castle, since it's both safe and fast…" he thought with bewilderment, passing through the pillar and finally sighing with relief.
Behind the barrier located on platform 9¾, there was a completely identical station with only one red train, but there were far fewer people, which could not but please him.
And just a few minutes later, he finally found a free spot, not yet occupied by Slytherin students, and could finally relax. But the blissful solitude didn't last long.
"Excuse me for disturbing you, but are you free here?" came a calm, yet arrogant voice, forcing Alan to look up from his book and face his guest.
"No, sit down."
"Than... YOU?! YOU AGAIN! Do you even know what my cousin put me through because of you?!" The guest turned out to be an old acquaintance of Alan's, and also Bella's cousin, Regulus Black.
But Alan only smiled at the young man's indignation.
"Should I care?"
"How could you...!" The wizard, unable to restrain himself, tried to grab Alan, but the next moment he froze and turned abruptly pale. All he managed to make out were a pair of yellow eyes with vertical pupils, a blurry green silhouette, and then he felt a chill on his neck...
"What's going on here?" a sharp voice rang out, and two boys approached the pale Regulus, one of whom had the prefect's badge on his chest. By this time, Nagini had already returned to Alan's shirt, still looking straight into Black's eyes with a narrowed gaze.
"Nothing happened, my friend just felt unwell, he just needs to rest a little," Alan stood up and "helped," or more accurately, thanks to his greater physical strength, sat the Slytherin down opposite him.
"Hmm... who are you?" the prefect, a fair-haired boy with delicate features, looked at him with mild surprise.
"Oh... have I really changed that much?"
Seeing the smug smile on Alan's face, the two began to peer into his features, and after a few seconds the second one froze in shock, as if not believing his eyes, and began to rub them vigorously.
"Snape...?"
"Well, at least one remembered, and that's good."
"Snape? No, they just look... Snape...?"
Finally, Regulus himself began to peer into Alan's face, since before this he could only recognize him by his hair and eyes.
"How can you change so much in just one vacation...?" His gaze dropped down to Alan's strong figure, lingering for a few seconds on his broad shoulders and chest.
Although Alan didn't look like an Apollo from mythology, compared to his former skinny physique, he was now like a different person, and his slightly corrected nose also played a significant role.
But Regulus did not look for long, because in a moment, the burning bodies of the wizards killed by Alan that day appeared in his head, and in an instant his face again lost all color.
He'd lost his temper earlier because of his training with Bella, which had become much more brutal since that day. But now, having calmed down a bit and regained some rationality, he realized how stupid he'd just been. If Severus had been able to easily deal with five wizards in a matter of seconds, against whom he could only defend himself, then he wouldn't have had to lift a finger to deal with him. The realization alone made the young man tremble.
"I can't believe it's you. Spill the beans. What miracle cure did you take?" the boy standing next to the prefect asked, his eyes shining.
"A side effect of one potion, nothing more."
"Can you make another one like this?!"
"Of course, a thousand Galleons." Both wizards stared at Alan in shock at the amount, but Regulus was still lost in his thoughts.
"Why is it so expensive?!"
"I told you, it's a side effect, and to somehow achieve it again, I need Galleons for research. I have to buy ingredients, and spend my personal time."
"That makes sense," the prefect nodded, then, looking back at the pale Black, continued. "I hope you'll keep an eye on him until we get to Hogwarts?"
"No problem," Alan replied with a smile, but Regulus, finally coming to his senses after hearing that answer, nearly burst into tears at the realization that he would have to sit directly across from such a terrifying person all the way to Hogwarts. Just when he was about to protest and move, he noticed a pair of yellow eyes with vertical pupils watching him. "I'll keep an eye on my good friend."
"Leave me alone! What have I ever done to you?!"
"Thank you for your assistance," the prefect said, not paying attention to Black's words and leaving the compartment.
As soon as the prefect left, Alan knocked twice on the table, and two illusions in the form of Slytherin students appeared in the empty seats. At the sight of this, Black's eyes widened in shock, because they seemed to be alive, but as soon as he touched one of them, his hand passed right through.
"An illusion, and so realistic…?" the young man thought, not believing his eyes.
"Well..." Alan's sharp voice nearly made him jump in his seat. "Let's talk."
"Oh... about w-what...?"
"Don't be afraid, I don't bite. Maybe in the future you and I will even become relatives..."
"Merlin don't let this happen!"
"Come on, tell me."
"A-about what?"
"About Bella, of course! What she likes, what she doesn't like, her dream, and so on—in short, everything you know. And as for me... well, I'll teach you some interesting combat spell, not that nonsense they teach at Hogwarts."
"And... that fiery one, with which you were able to deal with those wizards...?" Black asked him, swallowing.
"Of course I can, it has a fairly simple formula, but until you execute it, your magic won't be enough."
"It doesn't matter," I'm sorry, Cousin Bella... "I'll tell you everything I know if you teach it to me."
"Well, okay, remember the formula..."