"You better pray I don't brew the Truth Serum and make you reveal your innermost thoughts in front of your classmates." One has to admit, Snape really knows how to threaten these students.
And this time.
Ron's lips instantly lost their color, his legs buckled, and he almost fell to the ground. He clamped his mouth shut like a rooster with its neck seized, no longer daring to show any defiance.
The air became even more suffocating.
In this stifling atmosphere that made it hard to breathe.
"It's all our fault, Professor! We shouldn't have snuck out at night, we shouldn't have entered the Forbidden Forest without permission…" Hermione seemed to have realized something, her voice carrying a hint of urgency.
"Hmm?"
Snape's black robe moved without wind, as if an invisible power was surging, and he stared fixedly at Hermione, his voice suddenly rising.
"You dared to go into the Forbidden Forest without permission?"
This seemed to be something Snape hadn't anticipated.
After all.
Under normal circumstances.
First-year Gryffindor students weren't typically that bold.
"Miss Granger, do you think a mere confession can lessen your guilt? Now, you really should start worrying about how miserable your life will be after being expelled!"
"I will personally write to your parents and tell them how their children ignored school rules and put themselves and Hogwarts in extreme danger!"
"If you ask me! What you did deserves to be sent to Azkaban!" He glared viciously at the three, though an unintended trace of concern flickered in his eyes.
How to put it.
After all, he knows the danger of the Forbidden Forest better than anyone. Although he dislikes Gryffindor students, he doesn't want to see any student come to harm, especially since one of the girls is quite close to his nephew.
To be honest.
Even Snape himself didn't know what was going on. Recently, he found himself increasingly at odds with Aurora from his own house, yet he found this Gryffindor girl increasingly agreeable.
Just as Snape furrowed his brow.
Pondering whether this had anything to do with Ian.
The human nature can't escape the rule of evoking what's thought about.
"Yes, Professor, I don't expect you to forgive us for our mistakes, but at least please go save Ian." Hermione was clearly worried about Ian's safety.
She didn't understand Ian's capabilities.
But she had experienced how terrifying a Giant Dragon could be. Just now, the Dragon's Roar made her soul tremble; she didn't believe Ian could stand against such a creature.
At this very moment.
Hermione's mind was filled with images of Ian possibly already torn apart.
"What do you mean? Ian? Ian Prince?" Snape became confused upon hearing Hermione's words, directing an uncertain, questioning gaze at Hermione.
"What does this have to do with him?"
Snape's eyes flickered slightly.
"Hermione!"
Ron hurriedly tugged on Hermione, thinking Snape used to be a Death Eater, and who knows if the secrets in the Forbidden Forest, along with Harry and Ian's oddities, are related to this professor.
However.
Hermione was too occupied with current matters to worry about his peculiar ideas.
"Ian is also in the Forbidden Forest." Hermione opted for honesty.
After all, lives were at stake.
Snape's expression instantly froze. Under the moonlight, his face visibly darkened again.
"I will punish him, but you don't need to worry about anything." Snape had some understanding of his nephew's abilities, so he wasn't concerned about the possibility of Ian encountering danger in the Forbidden Forest.
The reason Snape's face darkened. In reality, it was merely because he thought Ian might be going for a massive procurement in the Forbidden Forest; he's already foreseen that his magic potion materials would become harder to gather.
It's no wonder people in the same profession often disdain each other.
Especially in the realm of magic potions.
Resources are limited.
Snape now just wanted to drag the three little wizards back and then rush to the Forbidden Forest to see if he could scavenge any leftovers—the main reason for Snape's displeasure was the prospect of having to stay up all night again.
"Now, all of you return to the castle!"
Snape's tone brooked no argument.
And seeing this head of Slytherin seemed unbothered.
Hermione's expression became increasingly anxious.
"Professor, you really need to go save Ian, Ian was just in the Forbidden Forest!" Hermione, under Snape's pressure, tried to persuade him to rescue Ian.
"Miss Granger, ratting out your friends isn't a good habit." Snape looked coldly at the girl, his favor for her diminishing significantly.
Seeing this.
Ron wanted to mutter a few words.
But he had exhausted his courage for the day.
Ultimately, he just grumbled in his heart about Snape's partiality—for he also knew about Ian being Snape's nephew, something few little wizards in the entire school were unaware of.
After all.
Ian had boasted about this relationship with Snape during the last school year. Now, in Ron's view, Snape was blatantly favoring his own family.
"He doesn't deserve to be a professor!"
Ron grumbled inwardly.
However.
He suddenly noticed Snape glaring sharply at him, an expression frighteningly cold, causing Ron to stagger back a few steps, quickly bowing his head, yet still unable to understand why Snape disliked him so.
Just because I'm from the Weasley family?
Ha!
Obviously, he must have been bullied by my family when he was young!
Ron's mind remained active.
Then.
He saw Snape kick out, sending him sprawling to the ground, groaning in pain.
"Control your thoughts!"
Snape sternly warned.
"I don't have time to waste with you here." Snape said, about to take action, when Hermione had already rushed in front of him again.
"Professor… Ian intends to challenge a Giant Dragon, or perhaps more than one in the Forbidden Forest." Hermione's words were like thunder, reverberating through the air.
Challenge a Giant Dragon?
Not just one?
Is he challenging a whole nest?
"What?"
Snape's pupils constricted sharply, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably. In his over two decades of teaching, no student had ever dared to be so audacious.
Even if the matter involved his own reckless nephew, Snape found it extremely fantastical. How dared he?! Snape's brow furrowed deeply.
How to say.
Although he had some understanding of Ian's abilities, he clearly didn't think Ian could accomplish such a feat. In fact, he believed Ian's character would more likely have others hunt dragons for him.
"Did he tell you this, or are you guessing?"
Snape's gaze flickered continuously.
"Answer me!"
His tone was somewhat urgent.
"We heard the sound of Dragon's Roar, and he just used magic to send us here; it seemed he intended to challenge the Giant Dragon." Hermione quickly voiced her conclusion.
"Take me to find him!"
Snape's tone was irritable, as he grabbed Hermione by the collar, lifting her like a helpless kitten. Hermione's scream mixed with Ron and Neville's exclamations echoed into the night sky.
"But Professor, what about them—"
Hermione wanted to say something more.
"Let them feed the Dementors here!" Snape roared, dragging Hermione towards the Forbidden Forest, his black robe billowing like bat wings.
Dead leaves underfoot crunched loudly.
Ron and Neville stared wide-eyed as the two vanished into the darkness.
"What Dementors? Does Hogwarts have Dementors? That can't be right!" Neville's eyes were filled with terror, looking around nervously, clearly terribly frightened by Snape's words.
"He must be trying to scare us; only Azkaban has Dementors." Ron let out a long sigh of relief, his near-escape leaving him to wipe away the cold sweat from his forehead.
However.
The so-called cold sweat doesn't disappear; it just shifts—Ron's head lifted to see Neville's own head slick with sweat, even more than he'd sweated earlier when facing Snape.
"Don't be scared! That damned old Slytherin bat is gone!" Ron bolstered himself, referring to Snape by his nickname.
"That… that…"
Neville stammered.
Raised his trembling hand.
Ron looked over.
Then he fell to the ground in a heap.
He saw.
"Whooo whooo whooo~"
A Dementor was roaming outside the castle—not so much roaming, as fleeing or hiding, seemingly playing hide-and-seek with something incredibly feared.