— — — — — —
Snape lay sprawled on the floor for a full five minutes before the ringing in his head finally subsided.
His expression, however, remained terrible.
He forced himself to his feet for one reason only: To find out exactly how much of his fortune had been wiped out.
The good news was that his most precious ingredients were still sitting quietly in their storage compartments. The protective enchantments around them had been broken, but they were untouched. It almost looked as though the thief had taken one glance at them, found them uninteresting, and left them behind.
The bad news? Everything else was gone.
Overnight, he'd been reduced to a pauper all over again.
"Riddle... you ruthless little bastard."
Snape's heart ached.
Converted directly into Galleons, the stolen materials might not have been worth an entire dragon, but they were easily worth half of one.
More importantly, many of those ingredients couldn't simply be bought.
Even for him, collecting them had required years of favors, connections, smuggling channels, and discreet backroom deals.
He'd been saving them for researching new potions.
Now there was nothing left to research. What was the point? The man was bankrupt.
Everything would have to start from scratch.
Back then, while he'd been lying in St. Mungo's for those past few weeks, Snape had genuinely felt that he hadn't lost much. He'd gotten the dragon blood, after all.
If letting the brat vent his anger cost him a few weeks in a hospital bed, so be it.
But now? Now he'd lost so much it made his soul hurt.
Unfortunately for Snape, this was only the beginning.
...
..
The next morning, the moment Snape appeared in the Great Hall, he caused an enormous sensation.
The students broke into thunderous applause.
Many clapped until their palms turned red, showing no sign of stopping. Some even had tears in their eyes, looking so emotional that they seemed ready to rush forward and present him with bouquets.
"Professor Snape! Welcome back!"
"Professor Snape! You're finally back!"
"Hope you never get sick again, Professor."
"..."
Seeing this heartwarming scene, Dumbledore looked moved.
He took out a handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of his eyes, appearing genuinely touched.
"Severus, do you see this? This is the affection your students have for you."
He sighed emotionally. "Adversity reveals people's true feelings. It's difficult to notice under normal circumstances, but now you should understand just how much the students care about you. You must treasure this sincere affection."
The muscles in Snape's face twitched violently.
Adversity? What adversity?
Riddle?
He had already learned yesterday that Tom had been teaching Potions in his place during his absence. And all those precious ingredients of his had been squandered because of it.
Just thinking about his treasured stockpile being wasted by a bunch of idiotic students made it difficult for him to breathe.
That hurt far more than Tom stealing it.
At least when Tom used them, the ingredients were being put to good use.
Giving them to other students? What for? Did they deserve them?!
Yet looking at the students' enthusiastic, emotional faces, Snape found himself genuinely confused.
What exactly had happened while he was gone? How had he become the most popular professor overnight?
...
After breakfast, Snape intended to find one of the Slytherin prefects and ask what had been going on recently.
Before he could, however, Professor Sprout intercepted him.
"Severus, you're finally back."
The plump Herbology professor wore her usual warm smile as she handed him a thick parchment scroll.
Snape looked at her blankly, "Pomona... is there something you need?"
"Oh, this?" Sprout cheerfully lifted the scroll. "It's the bill for all the potion ingredients used during your classes."
She blinked. "Did you forget? You told Riddle to inform me that all material expenses would be settled after you returned."
Snape: "..."
The Great Hall suddenly felt a lot colder.
'F*ck, there's more?!' Snape felt like he was one step away from having a heart attack.
Still... Numbly accepting the parchment, he skipped over the long list of itemized expenses and went straight to the final total.
The moment he saw the number, an overwhelming urge to flip a table surged through him. The one who had used the ingredients was Riddle, so why the hell were they billing him for it?
Unfortunately, Snape understood the situation perfectly well.
If he refused to pay now, not only would he offend Sprout, it would also mean that his account with petty Riddle remained unsettled.
And who knew what kind of retaliation might come next?
So despite his heart bleeding profusely, Snape could only nod slowly and accept the bill through gritted teeth.
"Give me a little time, Pomona. I'll get you the money."
"Just don't take too long," Professor Sprout reminded him kindly. "I sourced all those ingredients through friends."
"Don't worry." The old bat managed to squeeze out a strained smile.
...
From the entrance hall, Tom had been quietly observing the entire exchange.
A satisfied smile spread across his face before he turned and walked away.
That settled things.
As far as he was concerned, this matter was over. He had no intention of continuing his feud with Snape.
Which meant he could finally turn his attention elsewhere.
It seemed Jeanne's side had started making moves.
...
..
Deep within the Amazon Rainforest, far from any trace of human civilization.
This was one of the most extraordinary regions on Earth, lying close to the equator. The climate remained hot and humid year-round. There were no winters, no hibernation seasons, and annual rainfall exceeded two thousand millimeters.
It was one of the planet's rare regions that had escaped glacial coverage and large-scale species extinction, allowing life to evolve continuously for countless ages.
Surrounded by plateaus, oceans, and deserts, the rainforest had remained geographically isolated for an immense span of time.
As a result, an astonishing variety of bizarre lifeforms had emerged here.
To the magical world, this place was also considered one of the great forbidden zones. Because in the eyes of wizards, the Amazon was far more terrifying than it appeared to Muggles.
Countless Dark magical creatures gathered within its depths. One careless step could cost a person their life, leaving their remains to nourish the jungle floor.
The founding of Castelobruxo had only been possible because generations of South American wizards had carved out a safe zone with their blood and lives.
And for thousands of years, they had never abandoned efforts to explore the Amazon's immense treasures.
The tribal ruins discovered this time were one such treasure.
At that moment, the academy's expedition team had completed its preparations and was officially beginning its descent into the ruins.
The site was protected by an ancient magical barrier and constantly shifted locations.
Had a Castelobruxo professor not once retrieved an artifact from within and established a magical connection to the ruins, simply locating them would have consumed enormous manpower and resources.
Now, the ruins had drifted deep into the heart of the rainforest. The concentration of toxic miasma here was more than ten times greater than in the outer regions. Any creature capable of surviving in such an environment was either lethally venomous or a heavily mutated beast.
Every wizard entering the area was fully equipped. Bubble-Head Charms enclosed their heads, while their clothing had been enchanted with powerful anti-toxin properties.
The group of more than a dozen explorers moved through the remains of ancient Doric-style structures.
Massive mahogany roots coiled around crumbling walls and shattered pillars, slowly reclaiming the ruins.
Before long, hissing sounds echoed from the dense undergrowth ahead. Dozens of crimson lights appeared in the darkness. Then the creatures emerged.
A pack of enormous green anacondas, each thicker than a water barrel, slithered across the ground. Their cold, emotionless eyes locked onto the intruders.
The professors from Castelobruxo remained calm.
This wasn't their first expedition.
These anacondas were merely the appetizer.
Many more guardian beasts lay ahead, each deadlier than the last.
Two of the professors uncorked vials of potion and swallowed them in one gulp.
Within moments, their bodies rapidly transformed into basilisks.
The Kings of Serpents surged forward to drive off the anacondas.
But what nobody noticed was that several hundred meters away, hidden from sight, a young woman with blonde hair tied into a ponytail was quietly watching everything unfold.
Jeanne d'Arc had arrived.
.
.
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