Permission to Stay Out Late?!

"Hello, Professor Snape."

A voice came from behind Devero.

It was Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts.

He was carrying a lantern.

He was probably making his rounds,

checking for students who were out of bed after curfew.

Now he was looking at Devero suspiciously.

"Professor, has some young wizard been giving you trouble, running around instead of going to bed like he's supposed to?"

He obviously thought Snape had caught Devero out late.

Snape looked up at him.

He gave a slight shake of his head.

"He's here to help me."

Filch clearly trusted Snape.

After all, Snape didn't seem like the sort of person who would cover for a student.

They had probably worked together to catch students many times.

Filch was about to leave with his lantern.

"Wait."

Snape suddenly turned around and called after him.

Filch stopped in surprise.

"What is it, Professor?"

"This student, Devero Alexander, will be helping me regularly from now on. That means he may sometimes be out late in the school. If you see him, don't give him a hard time."

"Professor, I..."

Filch looked troubled.

This was definitely not in keeping with his usual ways.

Snape said nothing.

He simply stared at him.

Filch felt the weight of that gaze.

He slowly swallowed.

"Er, all right. But try not to stay out past eleven."

He agreed with difficulty.

"Eleven thirty."

Snape's voice was low.

"Of course, Professor. I'll get back to my rounds, then."

Filch agreed at once.

Then he hurried off in a panic.

Permission to stay out late?

Hey!

Devero's lips immediately curled into a grin.

This was a real prize.

In the original story, Harry was punished several times for being out late.

And Devero was a man determined to explore every corner of Hogwarts.

How could he not stay out late?

Snape's special permission had come at just the right time!

Looks like working for Snape hadn't been for nothing after all!

Watching Filch hurry away,

Snape turned and looked at Devero again.

Devero had a feeling Snape had something he wanted to tell him.

But he couldn't guess what Snape might be keeping from him.

After all, he couldn't use Legilimens.

He couldn't read Snape's mind.

In the end, Snape still said nothing.

He took Devero to the entrance of the common room.

He told him the password,

then left.

Only then did Devero breathe a sigh of relief.

Not bad!

He'd made it through the day without a hitch!

He'd picked up countless valuable spells,

and even loaded a red trait from Harry.

It didn't seem to do much, though.

He'd look into it in bed later.

Thinking this,

Devero slipped into the passage leading to the common room.

Meanwhile, in Snape's office,

Snape sat in his broad chair.

His eyes were fixed on the sheet of parchment spread across his desk.

His fingers tapped anxiously against the armrest.

He murmured,

"Forget it. I'll give him another year. I shouldn't tell him this early. Yes, that's what I'll do..."

The entrance to the Slytherin Common Room was hidden behind a stone wall in the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle.

After Devero spoke the password,

he was able to enter the common room without a problem.

To be honest,

when he saw the place where he'd be spending the next seven years,

he felt a little frantic.

The Slytherin common room was a long, low-ceilinged dungeon.

Round, green-glowing lamps hung from the ceiling on chains.

There were carved chairs for students to sit in,

and even a few skulls used as decorations.

Part of the dungeon extended beneath the lake,

giving the room a greenish hue.

The walls and ceiling were made of rough stone.

A fire burned beneath an elaborately carved mantel.

Even so,

the common room still felt dim and chilly.

Honestly,

Devero thought that, by comparison,

living at Snape's house wasn't so hard to accept.

At least he'd get to see the sun!

This place was practically a ship sunk at the bottom of the sea!!

Could anyone really like somewhere like this?

Devero felt like his gout was about to flare up.

Sigh.

There was no point complaining now.

He could only convince himself that he really was, as Dumbledore had said,

a natural-born Slytherin.

Devero crossed the common room.

Along the way, he even saw the Giant Squid swimming beneath the lake through one of the windows.

There were also a few strange creatures whose shapes he couldn't make out.

Although Devero didn't like the feeling of being under the lake,

the sound of waves lapping against the shore outside was quite relaxing.

Devero dragged his tired body along.

He slowly climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

What a day.

He'd done so much.

First, in the early hours of the morning, he'd taken Polyjuice Potion and gone to Knockturn Alley.

He'd nearly ended up fighting the dark wizards there.

After that, he'd successfully upgraded his Potion Prodigy trait.

Then he'd fought Snape in the Leaky Cauldron.

It was Devero's first time facing off against an adult wizard.

He'd nearly run out of magic,

and the fight had made him realize how important magic reserves were.

After outsmarting the professor and then getting defeated,

he'd used his homemade potion recipe to leave Snape stunned.

But before he could finish showing off,

he'd packed his things and rushed off to the station to start school.

At the station, he'd met the famous Boy Who Lived.

He'd loaded his third gold trait and his first red trait.

He'd become the Boy Who Lived himself, in a manner of speaking.

Then he'd made friends with a few of the Weasley children.

He'd even finished exploring all of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and obtained his first Wisdom of the Sages!

He had to admit,

this Venerable One's Zen Meditation Method was incredibly useful!

It had helped him immensely!

He hadn't even been practicing it for long,

but Devero could already feel his magic growing.

If the method hadn't kept running just now,

restoring his magic between spells,

he probably wouldn't have lasted until the test was over.

Oh, right. Thinking of that, Devero suddenly remembered:

he still had a Trait Upgrade Card he hadn't used!

But then again,

Devero wasn't in a hurry.

He wanted to load Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration Prodigy trait first,

then upgrade it.

That way, he'd become an absolute genius in all three fields: Potions, magic, and Transfiguration!

And after exploring the station,

he'd met Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others.

By beating Malfoy up,

he'd built a pretty good friendship with them.

Maybe he'd get the chance to follow the main storyline later on.

After that, he'd arrived at Hogwarts and gone through a somewhat disastrous Sorting,

had a big feast,

and was eventually summoned by Snape.

He'd shown off his skill with Potions,

and stunned Snape all over again.

Then he'd revealed that he was a peerless genius,

shocking Dumbledore and Flitwick once more.

The results were impressive.

He'd earned the privilege of taking classes with the older students and staying out late.

All in all, he'd gained quite a lot!

Devero struggled to open the dormitory door.

He found his bed in the dark.

He wanted to use Lumos to light his way.

But he was too tired.

He collapsed onto the bed, which someone had made up for him.

He even forgot about his earlier plan to practice the Zen Meditation Method a little more before bed.

All he wanted now was to drift off to sleep, filled with anticipation for his future at the school of magic.