Chinese Horror's Shock

"My name is Snape. I was born into the richest family in American Gotham City. When I was young, I witnessed my parents being killed by dark wizards. As a result, after I grew up, I specifically put on the Bat-suit and fought against dark wizards.

But my childhood sweetheart, the woman I loved my entire life, Lily Evans, couldn't understand my great cause and instead turned to James Potter, the king of the shampoo industry. When I received their wedding invitation, I went mad. I attacked all the dark wizards.

But Sheriff Dumbledore awakened me, telling me to hide in the darkness and silently protect this city.

One day, terrible news suddenly arrived: the terrifying Scarecrow Tom broke into the Potter house and killed the Potters.

The one I loved turned into a cold tombstone. I frantically questioned Dumbledore why he hadn't protected them.

Dumbledore remained silent, then brought out a little girl named Harley Potter, saying they had done their best and this little girl was all that was left at the scene.

Looking at the eyes and face so much like Lily's, I swore I would protect her with my life.

But good times don't last. Just as Harley was enrolling in school, a crazy clown named Horatio Quibble appeared out of nowhere. He used bombs to frantically destroy the city. Most importantly, he wanted to get his hands on Harley, to make her his experiment.

I fought him constantly, but one day he said he could revive Lily, but only if Harry was sacrificed, forcing me to make a choice.

I was in pain but powerless, so I decided..."

Horatio brought Snape, who had fallen into a deep sleep, to the fourth floor of Hogwarts and found Dumbledore waiting there.

Dumbledore saw Snape floating in the air, his face contorted in pain, and asked, "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing much, just let him have a beautiful dream about a knight in the darkness. Now he faces two choices, though neither outcome is good," Horatio said with a sinister smile. Shrimp with pork heart is the most delicious.

Dumbledore looked at Horatio's smiling face and got goosebumps all over his back. He quickly said, "Just get your revenge, don't go too far."

Horatio said he wouldn't take Snape's life, but he didn't know if Snape would hang himself when he woke up.

The scene shifted. Harry and Ron met up with Hermione.

Harry said to Hermione, "I'm sorry, we couldn't find Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. It seems they're not at Hogwarts."

Hermione chimed in, "It's okay, the situation with Horatio has stabilized. What should we do now?"

"I think we should stop Snape. If Snape gets the Sorcerer's Stone, Voldemort will return! He'll turn it into a school dedicated to teaching dark magic!" Harry said.

"Alright, I'd like to hear your plan," Hermione agreed cooperatively.

So the three of them made a plan and prepared to go to the dormitory to get the invisibility cloak.

Finally, they put on the invisibility cloaks and walked through the corridor to that classroom. Harry used the flute Hagrid gave him to put the Three-Headed Dog Fluffy to sleep. Ron and Hermione took the opportunity to open the trapdoor it was guarding.

Looking at the dark opening, Ron said to Hermione, "Hermione, do you want to go down first?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. She knew Dumbledore and Horatio were watching over them from the shadows, so she nodded and leaped into the opening.

Cold, damp air rushed past her ears, and finally, she landed on something soft.

"No problem, you guys can come down now," Hermione shouted up.

Ron and Harry heard her and jumped down one after another.

"This is Devil's Snare," Harry said, touching the plant that caught him, feeling its tentacle-like vines. He had seen plenty of these in Horatio's greenhouse. He said to Hermione, "This thing is terrified of fire. Is there any way to burn it?"

Hermione heard him and cast a flame like a blue bluebell with her wand. The Devil's Snare began to recede, revealing a stone corridor.

They reached the end of the corridor and faced a brightly lit room with a high, arched ceiling. Countless winged keys flew through the air. Opposite the room was a heavy wooden door.

"This is your specialty next," Ron said, seeing a row of flying brooms piled in the corner.

Harry nodded, mounted a flying broom, and among the hundreds of flying keys, found the most special one. A large silver key with drooping wings, as if it had been grabbed and roughly shoved into a keyhole.

Harry, as the youngest Seeker in Hogwarts history, successfully caught it.

As the wooden door opened, they entered the second room, which contained a giant chessboard.

"It looks like we have to win this game of Wizard's Chess to proceed," Ron said, looking at the ready pieces.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione each took the place of a knight, bishop, and rook. Finally, under Ron's command and sacrifice, Harry and the others successfully checkmated the white pieces.

"He's fine, just knocked out," Hermione said after checking on Ron, who had been captured by the White Queen.

Then Harry and Hermione went to the next room. This was originally set up with a troll by Quirrell, but since Quirrell had been dealt with by Horatio, it was replaced by Horatio's Alchemical Knight.

Harry successfully used the Disarming Charm to knock the greatsword out of the Alchemical Knight's hand, and then they proceeded to the next room.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, a surge of purple flames erupted behind them, sealing the doorway. At the same time, black flames sprang up from the doorway ahead, trapping them in the middle.

They found a table in the center of the room. On it were seven bottles. Hermione grabbed a nearby parchment and read: "Danger lies ahead, safety lies behind. Two of them can help you. Drink them, one will lead you forward, the other will send you back to where you came from. Two of them contain nettle wine, three are killers, lined up and waiting. Choose, unless you wish to stay here forever. We also provide four clues to help you choose: ..."

"Brilliant, this is a logic puzzle. Three of the seven bottles are poison, two are wine, and two can help us pass through the flames," Hermione said after a moment's thought, selecting the potions that would help them pass through the flames.

Harry took the bottle that would lead him forward and said to Hermione, "Hermione, you go back first. Listen, you go back first..."

Before he could finish, Hermione grabbed the potion that would send her back and drank it. She waved goodbye to Harry and passed through the purple flames.

"..."

Harry drank the potion that would lead him forward and passed through the black flames into the next classroom.

As soon as he reached the classroom door, he was blinded by a dazzling white light and passed out. After a while, he woke up.

Harry found himself trapped in a small, dark, enclosed space, holding something in his hand. He struggled with all his might and finally pushed open the lid above him.

Harry got up and found himself lying in a coffin. His school uniform had inexplicably been replaced by a red Chinese groom's outfit, and he was holding an embroidered shoe.

He looked around and realized he was in a shrine. On the wall at the far end, a large red "Double Happiness" character was written. Below the wall was a table, on which were placed various offerings. In the center was an incense burner with burning incense.

The room was filled with eerie paper effigies, seated around several round tables as if they were guests attending a banquet.

Beside him was another identical coffin, with a pair of paper boy and girl attendants flanking it.

Harry, suppressing the fear in his heart, approached the coffin and gently pushed open the lid. Inside lay a woman dressed in a red wedding gown, her face covered by a red veil. One of the embroidered shoes on her feet seemed to be missing.

Harry looked down at the embroidered shoe in his hand. When he looked up, he discovered a scene that sent chills down his spine. The woman in the coffin had somehow sat up, and her veiled head slowly turned towards him. The paper effigies around them also slowly turned their heads in sync with her movement.

The sight before Harry's eyes terrified him, his vision went black, and he fainted from fright.

"What kind of trial did you set up for Harry? Why did he suddenly faint?" Dumbledore looked speechlessly at the fainted Harry.

"It's nothing, just a little shock from some traditional Chinese horror," Horatio said, also looking speechlessly at Harry. It was clear that putting the embroidered shoe on the Ghost Bride would have passed the trial, but he fainted instead. It seems more practice is needed.