A Dream Full of Coincidences, and a Cheerful Snape

Harry walked out of the School Hospital with a blank look in his eyes, as if a huge cloud of misfortune was hanging over his head.

The bell rang suddenly, pulling him out of his daze.

"Having another nightmare?" Aaron asked in a deep voice. "I'm guessing the Dark Lord got the Prophecy Orb he wanted, or someone else has been harmed?"

"No, the situation is much more serious, extremely serious."

"It's obvious that your reaction just now was like the sky had fallen."

"I have no idea what to do. Umbridge has managed to get rid of anyone at school who could help," Harry said irritably. "She's practically sent by Satan to punish me."

So what did you dream about?

Harry was about to speak when Hermione and Ron rushed over.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Ron asked anxiously. "Don't tell me you're having another nightmare."

"This isn't the place to talk," Harry said calmly. "Come with me, this is very urgent."

He found an empty classroom along the second-floor corridor, and after the three of them went in, he immediately closed the door. Then he looked at them nervously and said, "Sirius Black, Voldemort has captured Sirius Black."

"What?"

How could you?

"I accidentally fell asleep during the exam, and then I saw him take Sirius Black to the room full of Prophecy Orb and tell him to get the Prophecy Orb at the end of the ninety-seventh shelf."

"And then?" Aaron asked with interest.

"Sirius Black didn't agree at the time." Harry's voice trembled as he spoke with difficulty, "They used the Cruciatus Curse on him, and I saw him covered in blood, trembling and curled up on the ground howling."

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Aaron clapped his hands. "The examiner is right. You do need to get some rest."

"I'm not kidding," Harry said angrily. "We need to figure out how to get to the Department of Mysteries. Sirius Black is waiting for us to rescue him!"

"Forget it! If you want to walk into a trap, don't drag me into it." Aaron curled his lip in disdain. "I taught you Cerebral Sealing Technique for two months, and you haven't had any nightmares for two months, so why can you see them today?"

"How should I know?" Harry roared. "Maybe you didn't teach me well. I've just improved my ability to resist Mind Extraction, but that doesn't mean I've actually mastered Cerebral Sealing Technique."

"That makes some sense," Aaron chuckled. "Don't you think what you see is too easily enough to cloud your judgment?"

"You mean Voldemort deliberately made him see that?" Hermione asked.

"Most likely." Aaron snapped his fingers. "Sirius Black is the person Harry cares about most, without a doubt."

"He's a wanted criminal! He probably won't be able to leave Order of the Phoenix until he's proven innocent!"

"That's not necessarily true," Ron said inappropriately. "Sirius Black doesn't have that kind of self-awareness. Last year, he even turned into a big dog to take Harry to school."

"Yes." Harry nodded repeatedly. "His personality means he can't stay in one place for long, and he's always felt guilty for not being able to help the Order of the Phoenix, so it's possible he took it upon himself to run away."

"Alright! This is the second coincidence, I guess!" Aaron waved his hand, both amused and exasperated. "And how do you explain the timing of this dream?"

Just the day after Dumbledore school, Professor McGonagall was hospitalized, Hagrid ran away, when the people you trust most are all gone, the person you care about most has an accident.

"This is such a coincidence! Even appointments don't happen this coincidentally."

"It's true, I really saw it."

"Your Cerebral Sealing Technique is not up to par. Even a peak Archmage can make you see something with a little effort."

"Aaron is right," Hermione nodded. "This might be a trap, Voldemort's trap to get you."

"So what? Am I just going to watch him die?"

"Good heavens!" Aaron rolled his eyes. "Can't you be a little more intelligent?"

So many coincidences, it's almost like it was all scripted.

"So you think I should pretend I didn't see anything?" Harry demanded.

"Although you might not like hearing this, that's really what I mean." Aaron shrugged. "You should calm down now, perhaps you need..."

"I don't need a sedative," Harry interrupted.

"You're overthinking it. Potions are so expensive!" Aaron said with a hint of disdain, then drew his Wand. "The Stunning Spell is different. It doesn't cost anything, and it's more effective, but it's not very friendly to you."

"What are you going to do?" Harry took two steps back in alarm.

"Relax, I'm careful, and you'll thank me for it."

"No, you can't do that," Hermione immediately dissuaded her.

"This is the easiest way; I will stop him from going to his death."

"Expelliarmus." Ron suddenly attacked.

A beam of white light shot straight toward Aaron, but he easily dodged it by sidestepping.

"Heh! It's good to be loyal, but you should at least take a look at your own abilities!" Aaron said speechlessly. Even if he only had half of his magic power now, beating a Magus would be a piece of cake for him.

Ron gave an awkward laugh. "I just wanted to tell you not to be so impulsive."

"I'm calm," Aaron said calmly. "Besides... I'm not the one acting impulsively right now."

"That wasn't a dream," Harry emphasized, enunciating each word clearly. "The reason Dumbledore made me learn Cerebral Sealing Technique is because what I saw was real."

"There should be a limit to self-deception!"

"Don't worry, Sirius Black has nothing to do with you. He's my only family now," Harry said to Aaron, his voice filled with excitement.

"I completely understand how you feel, but there's a price to pay for courting disaster."

Just then, the classroom door suddenly opened, and Ginny and Luna walked in.

"I happened to hear you talking outside," Ginny said. "What were you talking about?"

"It's none of your business."

"Isn't that a bit rude?" Ginny frowned. This was the first time Harry had ever lost his temper like this. "I was just wondering if I could help."

"You can't help."

"You really can't help him." Aaron sighed. "He dreamt that his godfather was captured by the Dark Lord and taken to the Department of Mysteries, the same place where your father was attacked by the snake."

"What?" Ginny's eyes widened in surprise, finally understanding why Harry was in such a hurry.

"That sounds a bit... unpleasant." A string of question marks floated above Luna's head. "I remember Harry was an orphan, does he have any relatives?"

"This is the only one left," Harry said painfully. "The only one."

Aaron took a deep breath, then looked meaningfully at everyone except Harry, "He's going to rescue people, and I can't dissuade him. You'd better not impulsively go with him."

"Why?" Ginny asked, puzzled. "If Sirius Black has really been captured, we should have a plan in mind, at least to notify..."

"I can't notify them," Ron interrupted. "Umbridge has driven them all away."

Ginny paused for a moment. "We can't just do nothing, can we?"

"We really can't do nothing. We don't have time to waste. Sirius Black is still suffering!" Harry said, wishing he could teleport to the Department of Mysteries immediately.

"Perhaps we should verify the situation," Hermione said hesitantly. "What if this is Voldemort's trick?"

"How do we verify it?" Harry asked, both angry and annoyed. "How are we supposed to verify it?"

Aaron seemed to have thought of something. "This is not a good idea."

"It's better than him rescuing people from the Department of Mysteries without any preparation!"

We can check Sirius Black's safety through the fire in Umbridge's office and the Floo Network.

If he doesn't, then it proves this is Voldemort's trap; if he doesn't..."Hermione's lips curled into a wry smile, "Then it's perfect for getting through to the Ministry of Magic Floo Network."

However, her hearth might not be connected to the Ministry of Magic, so we might have to go through several transfers.

"I agree," Harry said immediately.

"Then someone needs to distract Umbridge," Hermione. "But George and Fred are no longer safe, so we need a suitable candidate."

"I'll do it," Ron volunteered. "I'll tell you that Peeves smashed up the Transfiguration Class classroom while Professor McGonagall wasn't looking."

"Someone needs to keep watch to prevent others from reporting us."

"Luna and I can help," Ginny said. "We'll just say that someone has put out Garrotting Gas in the hallway and that students are not allowed to go near it."

"Harry, let's put on Invisibility Cloak and sneak into her office."

"The plan is good, but I don't recommend you do it."

I still think this is a trap, and Umbridge has been tricked so many times, what if there's some kind of warning magic in her office...?

"You don't have to help, but you have no reason to stop me." Aaron was interrupted by Harry before he could finish speaking. "I just want to check on my family's safety."

"Hmm... that reason is indeed impeccable, but you may have forgotten that Hogwarts has a professor who can help."

"Professor Snape, yes, Professor Snape too!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

Harry paused for a moment, then firmly refused, "No."

"Why?" Hermione asked, puzzled. Ron and Ginny also looked confused.

Aaron seemed thoughtful. "You don't trust him, do you? Hasn't Professor Snape helped you enough?"

"There are quite a few, but do you think I can entrust Sirius Black's life to someone with whom he has a personal grudge?" Harry said, keeping his head down and avoiding Aaron's eyes.

He knew that what he said was inappropriate, completely placing Snape in the position of a villain, but he really didn't dare to gamble.

If Snape wanted to take this opportunity to get revenge on Sirius Black, he wouldn't even need to fan the flames; simply delaying the process a little might have caused him to miss the chance to save Sirius.

"Heh!" Aaron sneered, pushed open the classroom door, and walked out.

"You...you've gone too far," Hermione said gravely. "You know he respects Professor Snape the most. Aren't you deliberately trying to anger him?"

Harry didn't bother to explain, after all, those were his father's embarrassing childhood memories, and he didn't want others to know.

Following Hermione's plan, they quickly launched their operation.

Ron was tasked with distracting Umbridge, Ginny and Luna were responsible for keeping watch, and Harry and Hermione put on their Invisibility Cloak and went to Umbridge's office.

Meanwhile, Aaron went to the Potions Class professor's office.

"Looks like you've finished your exams," Professor Snape said unhurriedly. "You always seem to be the only one who comes to my door, but let me tell you, I haven't been making any Potions lately."

"Professor, what kind of person do you take me for?" Aaron felt inexplicably wronged. "Would I covet your little collection?"

Professor Snape turned his face away. "Stop with your thoughts and stop messing with my materials."

"Okay!" Aaron shrugged. "I just happened to have something to tell you about Harry Potter."

"What trouble has Potter gotten into this time?" Professor Snape sneered. "It's a shame I didn't get a chance to speak."

"He had another nightmare."

Upon hearing this, Snape's lips twitched. "Didn't I tell you to teach him Cerebral Sealing Technique?"

"I taught, I taught very seriously."

He hasn't had any nightmares in the past month or two, not for a single day.

What did he dream about this time?

Aaron did not answer, but looked at the glass bottles on the shelf with a meaningful gaze.

This is a treasure of Potions Master; the rare ingredients inside are rarely seen on the surface, and even the black potion is priceless.

"Phew!" Professor Snape understood what Aaron meant, took a deep breath, and said, "He's had dreams before, how do I know if this dream is worthwhile?"

"It's absolutely worth the price," Aaron assured him confidently.

Snape hesitated for a few seconds before holding up one finger. "Ten percent."

"Thirty percent."

"Get out of here! You think you can steal this much with just a dream? You might as well keep dreaming."

Aaron chuckled sheepishly. "Professor, you need to learn how to bargain!"

"Half a percent," Snape said calmly.

"Okay, one-tenth, isn't one-tenth enough?" Aaron said hurriedly, "But can I choose myself?"

However, the next moment he met Snape's teasing gaze, "Looks like it's not true."

"The situation is like this: when Sirius Black Harry taking his exams, he was captured by Voldemort and taken to the Department of Mysteries, where he was severely tortured."

"Oh!" Snape's interest was piqued. "How serious is it? Are any limbs missing?"

"I doubt it, but the Cruciatus Curse would definitely be thrilling enough."

"Haha, karma!" Professor Snape smirked. "Even though it's fake, it's still very exciting."

Especially since Harry Potter is watching this scene, it's absolutely wonderful and exhilarating!

Although losing 10% of his collection cost him a lot of money, the news made him happy and gratified.

"Professor, do you know this is fake?" Aaron asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, but isn't this too suspicious?"

Based on my understanding of Dumbledore, he wouldn't casually send Sirius Black out on a mission, especially not one involving the Department of Mysteries.

"I think so too, but Harry thinks it's true."

"That's not true either, Hogwarts ' Floo Network is under close surveillance."

"No one but me can contact the Phoenix Society, so he can only worry helplessly." Professor Snape said, his mood becoming even more cheerful.