My Teacher, My Classmate's Mother, and My Headmaster's Sister

Friday was a somber day at Hogwarts for the Gryffindor first-years.

The older Gryffindor students looked at their juniors with pity in their eyes.

Harry, not understanding why, pulled Ron aside and asked, "Why are Fred and George looking at us like that?"

"We have Potions class with the Slytherins today," Ron replied. "Professor Snape, who teaches the class, is the Head of Slytherin House. I heard he heavily favors Slytherin students and targets Gryffindor students. I don't know if it's true."

Afterward, Ron and Harry glanced at Horatio, who was eating breakfast. They wondered what kind of sparks would fly between the troublemaker and a professor who targeted Gryffindors.

During breakfast, Harry received a letter delivered by Hedwig. It was an invitation from Hagrid, asking him to visit his hut that afternoon.

Looking forward to tea with Hagrid, Harry pulled Ron along to the Potions classroom located beneath Hogwarts.

"Put away your wands. There's no foolish wand-waving in my class," said an old bat with greasy hair, a hooked nose, sallow skin, and cold eyes as he entered the classroom.

"I don't expect you to truly grasp the beauty of a steaming cauldron emitting fragrant vapors, nor the intoxicating magic that flows through people's veins, leaving them spellbound and dazed... I can teach you how to brew fame, concoct glory, and even stopper death." After Snape finished his brief opening remarks, he scanned the young wizards below with his sharp gaze.

His eyes finally landed on Harry Potter. "It seems we have a celebrity among us this year."

"Potter," Snape suddenly asked, "what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione, sitting next to Horatio, raised her hand high, wanting to answer Snape's question.

Harry Potter's mind went blank. "I don't know, sir."

Ignoring Hermione's raised hand, Snape continued, "If I were to ask you to fetch me a Bezoar, where would you look?"

"I don't know, sir."

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"I don't know, sir."

"It seems fame doesn't equate to ability," Snape said mockingly, looking at Harry.

"I think Hermione knows the answer. Why don't you ask her?" Harry said quietly.

Snape glanced at Hermione and snapped, "Put your hand down."

Then he looked at Horatio, who was sitting upright next to Hermione, and asked, "Horatio, what about you? Do you know the answer?"

"I don't know, Professor," Horatio replied earnestly.

"Tsk, while you've shown astonishing talent in Herbology, it seems you only know how to grow them, not use them. A pity," Snape said, shaking his head sarcastically.

"Let me tell you. Powdered root of asphodel and wormwood combined can create a powerful sleeping draught called the Draught of Living Death.

A Bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat.

As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, also known as aconite.

Why don't you all write these down?"

With the sound of quills scratching on parchment, the Gryffindor students were astonished to find Horatio diligently taking notes. It was rarer than a meteor striking the Earth.

"Potter, Horatio, for disrespecting your teacher, your house will lose two points," Snape said with a cold snort and walked to the front of the class.

Hermione looked at Horatio beside her and touched his forehead. "You're not sick, are you? You're not causing trouble even after being mocked like that."

Horatio ignored Hermione and continued to stare intently at the blackboard, taking notes.

"I must be dreaming." Hermione pinched her arm. Feeling the pain, she had to accept that Horatio was genuinely listening to the lecture.

Professor Snape divided the young wizards into pairs and instructed them to brew a simple potion to treat boils. Facing the Gryffindor students, Snape transformed into a Remington M870, and all the little lions were hit by Snape's shotgun blast.

Especially when facing Harry and Horatio's pair, Snape's verbal barrage was as rapid as a close-defense cannon. Even the Slytherin students worried if their Head of House would fall victim to Horatio's Avada Kedavra.

Malfoy was initially happy to see Harry Potter being berated, but when he saw Horatio being dragged down with him, he wisely shut his mouth, not daring to provoke Horatio.

Finally, Harry and Horatio's potion was ready. Snape's mouth twitched as he looked at the cauldron of purple liquid emitting a strange aura. "Heh? Is this the result of your hour-long effort? Why don't you drink this potion?"

Harry quickly nodded in refusal. Just as Snape was about to mock them, he saw Horatio, ignoring the hot cauldron, bring the entire jar of potion to his lips and drink it down in one gulp.

The young wizards present were terrified, and Snape was stunned. "Idiot." Just as he was about to help Horatio, he saw Horatio fall apart before everyone's eyes.

Horatio's head rolled to Seamus's feet, scaring him so much that he dropped the porcupine quills he hadn't processed into his potion. The potion instantly exploded, and a circle of young wizards around them suffered from red, swollen boils.

"Idiot!!" Snape roared at the surviving young wizards. "Hurry and take them to the hospital."

After directing the young wizards, Snape looked back at Horatio's disassembled body, which was, to be precise, an alchemical body made of metal and wood.

"Horatio!!!!" Snape's roar echoed throughout Hogwarts, so loud that even Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office heard it.

"Gryffindor loses ten thousand points."

Professor Snape immediately announced the end of the class and, carrying the alchemical body, rushed out of the Potions classroom.

Leaving behind a group of young wizards with lingering fear.

Arriving at the Headmaster's office, Snape threw the alchemical body directly in front of Dumbledore.

"Look at your good student. In all my years of teaching Potions, I've never encountered such a heinous incident," Snape complained to Dumbledore. "He actually sent a puppet to class. This behavior is utterly deplorable. Expulsion is a must."

Dumbledore's head ached looking at the alchemical body. Professor McGonagall, who had arrived upon hearing the commotion, also felt her vision go black.

"We'll discuss Horatio Quibble's punishment later. For now, let's find out where he is," Dumbledore said, sensing the location of the phoenix feather he had given Horatio.

"I know where he is," Dumbledore said, leading Snape and Professor McGonagall to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor.

Dumbledore opened the door to the Room of Requirement with Headmaster's permission. Upon entering, they witnessed a scene they would never forget.

The area near the window in the classroom was piled high with all sorts of torture devices: iron maidens, electric chairs, knee crushers, and torture pears, among others.

In the center of the classroom was a giant cross. Peeves was tied to it, his mouth gagged with a ball. Below the cross, a patch of Fiendfyre burned, and Peeves struggled in agony on the cross.

A table was set up in the back of the classroom, where Horatio was fiddling with a lantern-like object.

Behind Horatio was a bed, upon which lay a female alchemical puppet.

Snape stared at the female alchemical puppet, his eyes turning red as he murmured, "Lily."

He then turned to Horatio in anger and said, "How dare you?" As he spoke, he reached for his wand to deliver a harsh spell to Horatio.

Dumbledore stopped Snape, urging him to calm down, then looked at Horatio and asked, "Child, what are you doing?"

Horatio stopped what he was doing and looked up at the three professors. "Oh, professors, what brings you here?"

Dumbledore didn't answer. Instead, he showed Horatio a severely damaged alchemical puppet.

"Why is Substitute User Unit 1 so badly damaged? It looks like it was corroded by some liquid. It seems the material strength wasn't enough. I need to improve Unit 2." With that, Horatio turned towards the female alchemical puppet behind him.

Dumbledore asked Professor McGonagall to restrain Snape, who could no longer contain himself, and said to Horatio, "Child, how did you know what Lily looked like? I mean, what did you base this alchemical puppet on?"

Horatio turned back. "Oh, speaking of which, Headmaster, don't you think our school has too many resident souls? Quirrell has one, Harry has two, and even Fawkes has one."

"You're saying Fawkes has a soul too?"

"Yes, it looks like this." Horatio took out a portrait and handed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore stared at it after reading it. "Ariana..."

Dumbledore and Snape rushed to Horatio, each grabbing one of his shoulders. They said urgently, "Are you telling the truth? Do you have a way to extract these souls?"

Horatio winced in pain and patted their hands on his shoulders. "Let go, you're hurting me."

Dumbledore and Snape released their grips.

"Hmm... the one on Quirrell is easy to deal with. This will do." Horatio picked up a sickle from the table. "This thing only harms the soul, not the body. I made it based on the principles of the Killing Curse."

"The extracted souls can be contained in this lantern. The flames inside are both a torture device for the souls and a supplement to nourish them."

Dumbledore and Snape exchanged a look, then turned to Horatio and said, "No."

Horatio spread his hands. "Then there's nothing I can do. If you want to preserve souls long-term, either let them become ghosts or find ancient jade that can contain souls.

Ghosts aren't easily created. Not only does the deceased need a strong soul in life, but they also need a strong obsession. This is what I concluded from studying Peeves.

Ancient jade that can contain souls is also not easy to find, and it needs to be constantly soaked in soul nourishing potions to prevent the souls within from dissipating.

Or you could sacrifice the lives of living people. There's a connection between life energy and soul energy, but souls preserved this way, tsk tsk, would be filled with madness and decay, just like the dark soul in Harry's body."

"And," Horatio chuckled, "the soul in Harry isn't easy to deal with. That dark soul has a connection with Harry Potter's soul. I could perform surgery to separate it, but there's a small chance of failure, and Harry would die with it. More likely, Harry Potter would become an idiot.

The other woman's soul is even more troublesome. An ancient magic fueled by her soul energy is protecting Harry, but it probably won't last long. I estimate about six years left. To extract her, we'd have to dismantle that ancient magic first, but my knowledge of ancient magic is very limited.

Fawkes's case is the most bizarre. First, she's not in the same time and space as us. To rescue her, one would need to master time and space magic. Second, she's wrapped in an oily substance, like an Obscurus. How to separate her soul from the Obscurus is a tricky matter."

Horatio waved his hand. "Based on the above conclusions, my recommendation is to give up. It's too much trouble and not worth my time to research.

Making an alchemical puppet is simple and efficient. I plan to give this Unit 2 as a Christmas present to Harry. Headmaster, do you need me to make one for you?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "A fake is still a fake. No matter how similar, it can never replace the real person."

Horatio stroked his chin. "I understand. By the way, what is their relationship to you? You seem so anxious."

Dumbledore: "She is my sister."

"Oh." Horatio turned to the silent Snape. "And you? That woman should be Harry's mother, but I don't recall you being Harry's father."

Snape was silent for a moment, then finally said, "She is the regret I will never forget in my life."

Horatio's eyes lit up. "There's drama here! Tell me what happened. Perhaps if I'm in a good mood, I'll help you revive that woman."

Dumbledore and Snape exclaimed, "You can revive them?"

"Something like that. I have some ideas about the relationship between souls and bodies. It just needs a bit of experimentation.

The body is easy to solve. But the soul? Ultimately, we come back to the same problem: how to rescue their souls."

Horatio stretched. "Researching ancient magic, time and space magic, and Obscurus is too troublesome, with very low cost-effectiveness, and no benefit to me.

Unless you can offer me an irresistible price."

Horatio put on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, similar to those worn by capitalists, and produced a contract that looked like an indenture. He spoke with a devilish voice, "Come, sign this contract. Think of the chance you have to mend your past regrets. As long as you sign this contract, I will do my best to help you mend these regrets. I can't guarantee success, but at least there's hope, right?"

Horatio didn't tell them he could definitely succeed. Don't forget his "flash of inspiration" talent. And on a lesser note, there was the Philosopher's Stone. He said this to make it easier to extort them later.

With Dumbledore and Snape's signatures, Horatio gained two powerful house elves with high authority.

"I won't pursue the matter of you using alchemical puppets for class," Snape said, looking at Horatio with complex emotions. "I will revoke the points deducted from your house."

"??? How can that be? Deduct points, we must deduct points severely! We Gryffindors can afford to lose."

Professor McGonagall: "???!!!"