Snape: Who Do You Think Is the Mastermind? Luna's Chance Encounter in the Forbidden Forest

When Professor Sprout announced that the Mandrake Lucien had given him was usable, Filch's anxious heart finally relaxed, and he leaned against the wall as if all his strength had been drained.

Filch looked at Lucien with gratitude. He couldn't use magic, nor did he understand herbs and potions, but he knew that with Lucien's help, his cat was saved!

If the wait is too long, until the Mandrake in the school are ripe, Filch is really afraid his cat won't make it...

Noticing Filch's gaze, Lucien smiled and nodded at him.

I happened to have Mandrake here, so I took them out to save a person—no, I mean, to save a cat.

With a cure, things might even get faster, right, Lockhart and Tom?

Lucien glanced at Lockhart in the group of teachers and noticed that the other man's eyes were darting around. He seemed surprised that someone could provide a solution on the spot, and perhaps he was discouraged that the crisis atmosphere he had anticipated had not materialized.

Lucien recalled what he had observed in the office. Based on the extent of Lockhart's communication with Tom in the diary, Tom had promised Lockhart that he wouldn't kill anyone, only petrify them.

After all, given Lockhart's personality, he neither wanted to nor dared to kill anyone; he merely intended to create a crisis and generate news, and then leave Hogwarts with honor and fame.

Tom in the diary is merely a fragment of a soul, whose purpose is to absorb life to shape a physical body. In order to appease Lockhart and keep him obeying instructions, he will not do anything out of line, lest Lockhart become fearful and back down.

Well, it's still a good idea to get more insurance to try and avoid accidents...

Seeing Lucien's smile, Filch's gratitude deepened. If there weren't so many people around, he would have thanked Lucien properly.

Filch had planned to pretend he hadn't seen Lucien misbehave in the future, but in the past year, Lucien hadn't done anything wrong and had been a model student.

Now that the raw materials have been secured, we can begin refining the medicine.

When Dumbledore asked how long it would take to prepare the concoction, Snape replied calmly:

"The Mandrake is of good quality; it will last at most two days."

After saying that, Snape picked up the jar of Mandrake and, as he passed Lucien, tossed out a comment:

"Come to my office, I need to speak with you."

The Potions Professor's Office.

Lucien chatted with Snape while helping to process the materials:

"Professor, I have a question. Mandrake, since the grass on campus isn't ripe yet, why not buy some from outside? Is it only grown on our campus?"

Lucien was genuinely curious about this, since according to the original story, those who were petrified stayed in bed until the end of the school year.

Why wait until your own Mandrake grows to mature? Isn't that a bug in the system?

Upon hearing this, Snape looked at Lucien with a strange expression:

"You don't think Mandrake are easy to grow, do you?"

Lucien thought for a moment, because with the "Diligent Little Gardener" bonus, those ugly dolls wouldn't yell at him, the yield of the plants he grew would increase, and the growth cycle would be shortened.

With the help of various potions he concocted, growing Mandrake was as easy as growing potatoes.

Snape looked down at the large jar of Mandrake and realized the pointlessness of his earlier question.

"Anyway, Hogwarts is indeed the largest supplier of Mandrake in all of Britain. Merchants like those in the Ministry of Magic and Diagon Alley all get their supplies from here."

"Besides, it's not Mandrake harvest season yet, so how could you possibly grow this much..."

Before Lucien could come up with an explanation, Snape waved his hand.

"Alright, you have your secret formula, but don't waste too much time on it. Your potion-making talent is good; you should practice more..."

Snape glanced at Lucien's handling of the materials, and was suddenly drawn to certain details.

"The method you used is quite old-fashioned."

Lucien's process was natural and smooth, but Snape felt it wasn't a modern, or even contemporary, method.

"I learned it from my teacher during the summer vacation."

Lucien was telling the truth. These were some potion-making techniques he had learned from Nicolas Flamel. Alchemy involves a lot of knowledge about potions, and Nicolas was certainly skilled in them.

Upon hearing Lucien's answer, Snape frowned slightly, because even the veteran potions masters he knew didn't usually use these methods. And who was this reclusive old wizard, Lucien? There were very few people like him these days.

The office fell silent again, broken only by the sound of herbs being chopped.

After a while, having finished most of his work, Snape suddenly asked:

"Lucien, who do you think is behind this?"

Snape's question made Lucien's heart skip a beat. Was there any major Old Bat storyline this year? Wasn't he just a background character?

Continuing to process the remaining materials, Lucien calmly countered with a question:

"You seem to have someone you suspect?"

Snape chuckled coldly, put down his tools and herbs, and wiped his hands.

"At Hogwarts, every year there are more people; some are new students, of course, and some..."

newborn?

The Old Bat's guess is very similar to the original answer. Originally, it should have been Ginny getting Tom's diary, and then a series of events would occur.

Snape thought of someone, and his tone became increasingly strained:

"The other part is, of course, the newly appointed professors, but there aren't many changes. For example, this year there's only that one, the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

The last few words were pronounced by Snape, one word at a time, and Lucien could almost hear the resentment in them.

No, did Snape really suspect that colleague who took his position as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts?

Is it really that accurate? Is a double agent's intuition truly terrifying?

Are you going to get Lockhart too?

The Potions Professor's Office.

Upon hearing Snape specifically mention the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lucien's first thought was, "Is the Old Bat going to go after Lockhart again, like he did last year?"

But that's not quite right either. In the original book, Snape didn't really do anything significant that year. Aside from his usual annoyances to Harry, he was just concocting an antidote for petrification.

Lucien still asked:

"Professor, since you suspect Gilderoy Lockhart, why not..."

Understanding what Lucien wanted to ask—that if he had suspicions, why not report them to Dumbledore — Snape sneered and walked to the cauldron to prepare the potion.

"Dumbledore only paid me the salary of Potions professor."

"School safety should be the principal's responsibility."

From this sentence, Lucien sensed a strong sense of resentment and dissatisfaction.

Um, only receiving the Potions Professor's salary means only doing the Potions Professor's work, right?

Judging from this, it seems the Old Bat has no intention of getting involved in this year's affairs and is preparing to "laissez-faire."

Lucien recalled that Snape had been keeping a close eye on Quirrell last year, both at Dumbledore's request and to protect Harry's safety, which was why he was monitoring and obstructing Quirrell.

However, Snape was also clever. After what happened last year, he probably figured out Dumbledore's idea: keeping Quirrell around was to give Harry Potter experience and allow the Chosen One to grow.

Yes, so Snape realized that no matter how much he reported or complained to Dumbledore, Dumbledore wouldn't actually do anything about it. As long as he felt the situation was under control, he would consider treating this incident as another trial for Harry.

Lucien quickly recalled something: in the original story, when Harry faced the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, Fawkes appeared out of nowhere, first bringing the Sorting Hat containing the Gryffindor sword, and then pecking out the Basilisk's eyes, thus eliminating this greatest threat.

From this perspective, Dumbledore seems to have a clear understanding of the situation and is in control of everything.

But I'm sorry, Dumbledore, I'll be borrowing the Basilisk this year.

Speaking of the Sword of Gryffindor, it is said that only those who truly possess the qualities of Gryffindor can obtain it when needed.

Should we take the Sorting Hat beforehand and see if we can draw our greatsword when facing the Basilisk?

Lucien glanced up at Snape. Since the Old Bat wasn't planning on causing trouble this year, why bother mentioning it?

"Professor, speaking of which, do you know what the ' Chamber of Secrets ' written on the wall refers to?"

Snape paused for a moment when he heard Lucien's question, then began to answer as if he had already prepared a response:

"You surely know the founding history of Hogwarts and those Four Founders, including the later disagreements between Gryffindor and Slytherin, for example..."

Seeing Snape looking at him, Lucien had a vague idea of what was going on and spoke up:

"For example, Slytherin wanted Hogwarts to only accept children from Pure-blood families and was unwilling to accept children from Muggle families because they felt they couldn't be trusted?"

In the era of the Four Founders, the wizarding community was indeed in a vulnerable position. People feared magic, and if a wizard was discovered, they would report him to the church and be hunted down and burned at the stake. Even if a child born to Muggle couple awakened magic, it would still...

It's possible that Muggle-born wizard's family and friends discover his identity, which could then implicate the entire school.

Snape gave Lucien a deep look, then nodded.

"Yes, these are all recorded in historical documents. As for the Chamber of Secrets, that's mostly legend..."

"Slytherin built a secret room in the castle, but only Slytherin's true heir can reopen that Chamber of Secrets, unleash the terrifying monster within, and purge those unworthy to learn magic."

Lucien: "So you think that the so-called heir will control the monsters in the Chamber of Secrets to kill Muggle-born students like me?"

Snape frowned. "The legend may or may not be true; perhaps someone is using it maliciously to create panic."

After a slight pause, Snape added casually:

"Once the antidote is developed, people will stop panicking, but we should still be cautious until the truth comes to light."

Oh, so the Old Bat was trying to warn me to be careful, after going through all that trouble.

As for the Basilisk coming to find him?

It would be best if it came...

"I understand, Professor. Thank you for your concern."

Snape lowered his head and began placing the herbs into the crucible, saying calmly:

"I'm not concerned about you, it's just that it's rare to have a student who isn't clueless about potions, and I don't want others to question my teaching abilities."

"Also, when you're at school, stay away from Harry Potter; he's more likely to cause trouble."

Hearing Snape emphasize the word "troublemaker," Lucien couldn't help but chuckle. Of course, Harry experienced perilous adventures every year; Lockhart must be incredibly envious.

Ah, it sounds like I'm inviting disaster...

Oh, sorry, wrong channel.

"Alright, Lucien, you should also concoct an antidote. The potions you use in class don't reflect your skill level."

Forbidden Forest.

Lucien is searching for the settlement of the Thestral.

He planned to design a magical artifact targeting the Basilisk's eyes, at least to counteract the instant death effect of seeing it, achieving effects such as water reflection or camera obstruction, so that people would at most be petrified upon seeing the Basilisk.

It's possible that Thestral tail feathers were used, which is why Lucien came to the Forbidden Forest to buy them—or rather, to explore it.

"Liuguang, the Thestral are probably around here, right?"

"Yes, Master, I've seen it a few times before when I was playing in the Forbidden Forest."

Liuguang's voice echoed in Lucien's mind.

"Master, I sense that there are humans around that Thestral?"

Humans?

It might be Hagrid.

Lucien exchanged a few words with Liuguang, who then flew into the sky and concealed himself.

Lucien then walked in the predetermined direction.

I can see Thestral now, otherwise it would be inconvenient to collect materials or use them to make tools.

Soon, Lucien saw several dark shadows, their shapes like overstretched horses, covered in smooth black fur, making them look like walking shadows.

Their heads are especially terrifying, like a combination of a dragon and a reptile, with eyes that have no pupils and are completely pale.

A pair of large, bat-like wings clung tightly to the sides of its body.

Found it, Thestral.

But Lucien's gaze lingered more on the figure beside Thestral.

Her long, dark golden-brown hair cascaded over her shoulders.

A carrot-shaped earring peeked out from between her hair.

The man was barefoot, standing on the cold ground.

She looked like a forest sprite, reaching out her pale hand to stroke the neck of a Thestral.

Instead of dodging, the Thestral obediently lowered its head and nuzzled her palm.

Luna Lovegood?

What is she doing here?

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Luna turned her head and looked at Lucien with her large, slightly hazy silver eyes, her voice ethereal.

"You seem to be able to see them too?"

Lucien walked closer and touched Thestral's forehead. The latter showed no resistance and instead reciprocated.

"Hmm, Luna, we met at the Weasley family before. What are you doing in the Forbidden Forest?"

Luna understood that Lucien could see Thestral, which meant that, like her, he had witnessed death and separation.

"I... I'm here to look for my shoes."

"I think it's the Bubble Snot Monster,"

Luna looked down at her bare feet.

"They are very shy, live in damp corners, and love to collect little things they find pretty with their slime. My shoes are probably the prettiest yellow they've ever seen."