Severus Snape died in Azkaban. This news was somewhat suppressed, but for some wizards with connections and status, it was already semi-public knowledge.
In the famous Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy, who was usually elegant and composed, looked at the letter in his hand detailing Snape's death and uncharacteristically vented his rage, smashing valuable antiques in the opulent hall to pieces.
Snape didn't have many friends, but Lucius was definitely one of his closest.
They were friends when they were still in school and later both joined the ranks of the Death Eaters.
Lucius possessed an ancient and noble surname and wealth, while Snape had rare talent in Potions. With Lucius's deliberate efforts to befriend him, their relationship grew closer over the years.
After the war, their relationship became even tighter than when they were both Death Eaters.
Snape, as a core member of the Death Eaters, received Dumbledore's protection and was even able to enter Hogwarts to teach and become the Head of Slytherin.
This was a huge relief for Lucius.
One must know that at that time, the purge of Death Eaters was in full swing.
Even the descendants of some prominent families couldn't avoid being sent to Azkaban.
Even if they managed to avoid imprisonment through some means, the greedy bureaucrats at the Ministry of Magic wouldn't miss the opportunity to extort them.
Several ancient noble families were directly ruined during this purge, and their lives were extremely difficult for a time, including some who were more prominent than the Malfoys at the time.
Logically, the Malfoy family's life should not have been easy either.
However, because of Snape's connection, although the Malfoy family still had to be investigated by the Ministry of Magic, they were much better off compared to other noble families.
For a period after the war, the Malfoy family was even able to help other noble families, gradually becoming the leaders of the noble wizards after the war and the most prominent family.
Thus, the relationship between Lucius and Snape further deepened. Snape became Draco Malfoy's godfather, and Lucius also provided a large amount of money and ancient books to Snape for his Potions research.
Now that Snape was dead, whether from a personal emotional standpoint or from the perspective of their intertwined interests, how could Lucius not be angry?
Especially since Draco Malfoy was also implicated in this process, his wrist and ankle bones were broken. Although they were set, he was still lying in bed unable to get up.
Lucius had visited Draco and had seen lingering fear on Draco's usually arrogant and spoiled face.
Draco spoke very little, and even in the sleep induced by the potion, he would occasionally tremble out of fear.
Thinking of this scene, Lucius couldn't help but slam his cane heavily on the ground.
"Charle Evans, you filthy mudblood, it's all because of you!"
What angered him the most was that Charle had done such a thing, and as a school governor, he couldn't do anything about Charle.
He strongly demanded that Dumbledore expel Charle and send Charle to the Wizengamot for trial, but Dumbledore refused his demands.
It was a solid fact that Snape had used an Unforgivable Curse on Charle in public.
Given this, whatever Charle had done to Snape before, including the charge of attacking a professor and causing him a mental breakdown, naturally did not hold up.
Who would pursue a poor first-year little wizard who stood up for his classmates for the sake of a vicious Death Eater who had been sent to Azkaban?
As for the matter involving Draco, trying to expel Charle, who had been hit by the Cruciatus Curse, based on this, even if Dumbledore agreed, public opinion would likely be in an uproar the next second.
In the school board meeting, even the vast majority of governors unanimously agreed that Dumbledore needed to properly appease Charle and represent Hogwarts in offering Charle condolences and compensation.
As for Charle's punishment, it would first have to wait until his injuries were completely healed, and secondly, it must not be too severe, only serving as a warning.
Despite Lucius's strong insistence, the final punishment decided for Charle was merely to have him walk through the Forbidden Forest at night accompanied by the gamekeeper.
Lucius was so angry he almost laughed.
Regardless of how Charle defeated Snape, whether it was some rare magic or Snape's carelessness and underestimation of his opponent, this little wizard's strength was definitely not ordinary.
An ordinary little wizard going into the Forbidden Forest at night might have nightmares.
But for Charle, what was the difference between this and going out for a stroll?
Could this even be called a punishment?!
Taking a deep breath, after a long hesitation, Lucius gritted his teeth.
He was never a decisive person, but this time, Snape's death and Draco's injuries had truly provoked him.
If he didn't do something about this, if he didn't make that mudblood Charle pay the price, the Malfoy family's reputation would likely be in jeopardy.
Lucius immediately thought of Knockturn Alley.
The dark wizards there were vicious and would do anything for Galleons.
As a Hogwarts governor, he couldn't let people into Hogwarts Castle, but if it was deep in the Forbidden Forest where Hogwarts' protective magic was relatively weak, letting some dark wizards in for a short time was still possible.
In this way, with a planned attack against an unsuspecting target, coupled with the endless array of bizarre methods used by dark wizards, unlike Snape who as a Hogwarts professor couldn't use many dark spells in the castle, Lucius felt it would be very simple for a group of Knockturn Alley dark wizards to take down Charle.
Deep down, Lucius still felt that with Snape's strength, how could he possibly lose to a little wizard in a normal fight?
He must have underestimated his opponent and held back as a professor.
But this time, these dark wizards would not have any sympathy or pity.
By then, Lucius swore, he would make those dark wizards give Charle a good welcome, letting him know what it meant to be vicious!
Then, a sinister smile appeared on Lucius's lips, and he sent a message to a wizard he knew in Knockturn Alley.
"In a while, bring some people to help me teach someone a lesson. Don't worry, it's not a tough opponent, just an academic type, easy to deal with with your methods."
"Pull this off, and you can name your price for Galleons!"
As for where exactly this would be carried out, Lucius didn't specify, only saying he would take them there himself.
After all, this involved passing through a weak point in the protective magic to enter the depths of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. If word got out, the trouble would be considerable.
Inside Knockturn Alley.
A dark wizard looked at the message that had been delivered, his eyes practically glowing.
"Brothers, a job from Lucius Malfoy, a big client!"
"The chance to get rich is here!"
"Merlin's beard, after being punished by that little demon... ah, no, by that embodiment of justice last time, we were truly penniless. Today, our luck has finally turned, and a big job has arrived!"
As for the difficulty of this job?
Seeing that Lucius Malfoy said it wasn't a tough opponent, but an academic, he must be a bookworm who just follows instructions.
They had helped Lucius with dirty work several times before, such as when the Malfoy family's business encountered rivals. Lucius would ask them to help teach the opponents a lesson.
Each time the job was easy, but the reward was quite generous.
This time, the dark wizards of Knockturn Alley naturally understood it to be this type of job. More than a dozen dark wizards agreed immediately.
Not only did they agree, but to reassure Lucius and keep this big client happy, the dark wizards who had worked with Lucius before looked at the others and said,
"Although that little demon stole a lot of things last time, don't I know your habits? No one would put all their eggs in one basket. You should all have some hidden treasures left."
"This time is our first battle to regroup, and we must make it a good one. So don't hold back, and to be safe, bring all your magical items!"
Meanwhile, upon receiving the replies from these dark wizards, Lucius's expression relaxed.
"It seems there shouldn't be any problems."
However, Lucius then thought about it and decided it would be safer to be even more prepared.
There could be no accidents with this matter. Otherwise, if Charle escaped and told everyone about it, without Snape's connection, he would probably have to take a trip to Azkaban!
Therefore, Lucius went to the cabinet where the Malfoy family's treasures were stored. Besides a secret Voldemort's Diary placed there, everything else in the cabinet was the most precious, powerful, and dangerous magical items collected by the Malfoy family.
Lucius picked out a few of the most powerful items from inside, but still felt it wasn't enough.
"Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit."
"I need to be even more secure."
Immediately, Lucius contacted several noble families who had close ties with the Malfoy family.
Although the current magical nobles respected the Malfoy family the most, many others had declined, and two families had even fallen to the point of becoming the foundation of the Malfoy family, Lucius knew that the good things passed down from their ancestors might not be less than his own family's.
Since they were going to act in the Forbidden Forest, the safer, the better.
Besides, Lucius choosing to act personally was also somewhat about avenging Draco, letting him see how brave his father was and personally breaking the shadow for him.
This, of course, had to be a beautiful victory.
So Lucius visited the noble families who were close to him one by one.
"Crabbe, I heard your family has an old magical item left from a few hundred years ago, and it's very powerful?"
"Goyle, tell me, how have I treated you normally, have I taken good care of you? Now I need a small favor, lend me something, and I'll return it to you after a while. Are you willing to help me with this favor?"
In this way, Lucius visited four or five families, borrowing one or two magical items from each. From defense to attack, he had everything, essentially arming himself to the teeth.
Let alone dealing with a first-year Hogwarts student, even if he were to face Dumbledore.
Ah, no, even if he were to face Voldemort...
Forget it, even if he were to face that crazy woman Bellatrix Lestrange, or Dolohov, one of the best Death Eaters, he wouldn't be afraid at all.
This was the power of Galleons!
Lucius's eyes showed a look of full confidence.
"It's settled!"
"Just waiting for that mudblood to recover from his injuries and go to the Forbidden Forest, and I'll take the dark wizards to let him know what regret is!"
...
Meanwhile, Charle had been in the hospital wing for almost a full day.
Throughout this day, he had been almost constantly using the newly acquired mental simulation and knowledge deduction abilities to learn new spells.
It must be said that although the effect was far less than directly deducing with Deep Blue, the efficiency was much higher than learning in reality, with visible progress every moment.
A simple spell like the Levitation Charm could already reach the level Professor Flitwick had achieved when creating the dueling platform in Charle's hands.
Calculated this way, practicing for a full day using this method could probably save nearly a thousand deduction points.
It didn't seem like much, but accumulated over time, it could save hundreds of thousands of points a year.
And this was just the beginning. As Charle's mental strength increased, especially as more and more knowledge was stored in his memory palace, the effect of simulation and deduction would only get better and better.
One day in the future, perhaps Charle wouldn't need Deep Blue, and his Occlumency could bring about an effect similar to Deep Blue!
Just then, Charle opened his eyes, and what came into view were bouquets and various gifts piled almost to the ceiling in the hospital wing, as well as various blessing cards.
These were all sent by Hogwarts students.
Almost everyone in Hufflepuff House sent a gift, hoping Charle would wake up soon.
Looking at the gifts and cards, Charle's eyes showed a hint of helplessness.
He really didn't want to have any interaction with these young wizards. He came to Hogwarts only for the deduction points and various materials he could obtain here.
But after taking down Snape this time, it seemed he had become the king of the kids?
Shaking his head, Charle got up from the sickbed and pushed open the door to go out.
However, when he opened the door, the figure sitting outside the door made Charle pause.
"Little Hannah?"
Sitting by the door was indeed Hannah Abbott.
She seemed to have been guarding here and had just fallen asleep not long ago. She was then startled awake by Charle opening the door, her face full of exhaustion.
But upon seeing Charle, Hannah's expression immediately became excited.
"Charle?"
"You're awake?"
"Are you okay?!"
"I was so scared when I saw you faint, I almost died. Later, I heard you were hit by the Cruciatus Curse, and only then did I realize it was an Unforgivable Curse. Neville also cried, he said his parents were driven mad by this spell."
"I didn't dare to leave, afraid that if you went mad, no one would know..."
Hannah chattered on for a while, then her face flushed, and she whispered.
"I'll go get Madam Pomfrey."
Looking at Hannah's hurried retreating figure, a wry smile appeared on Charle's face.
He had indeed interacted with Hannah a few times at the Leaky Cauldron and found the little girl quite cute, but she was only eleven years old.
What kind of person would have ideas about a girl this age?
But looking at the situation now, Hannah seemed to have developed feelings for him?
Then, Charle suddenly turned his head, remembering that among the pile of gifts by his bed, there seemed to be quite a few small pink cards, some even with hearts drawn on them.
There were cards from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.
There were even a few unsigned ones, possibly from Slytherin.
What was this?
Charle took a deep breath, and Occlumency cleared the distracting thoughts from his mind.
At least for the next few years, he was still in the peak period of his strength development. Every minute and second invested could bring tangible improvement in strength.
Also, his strength was still quite a distance from Dumbledore and peak Voldemort.
Behind him, there was also Dark watching.
Although Dark had been playing the role of giving him points, Dark was truly improving rapidly every second in the dream R'lyeh.
If Charle were to slack off one day and get involved in romance, he might be surpassed by Dark.
Charle did not want to become fish meat to be slaughtered by Dark the next time he entered the dream R'lyeh.
Therefore, dating and such things should be put aside for now.
Just then, Madam Pomfrey hurried over. When she saw Charle standing, she let out a shriek.
"Sit back down!"
"Lie back in bed!"
Then, even though her examination showed that Charle was fine except for being a little mentally tired, Madam Pomfrey still insisted that Charle needed at least three more days of rest in bed.
After all, this was damage caused by an Unforgivable Curse, and no one wanted Charle to have any after-effects.
And then, after hearing that Charle was awake, the students of Hogwarts swarmed over, but they were all scolded away by Madam Pomfrey, who wouldn't let them disturb Charle's rest.
Only a few heads of houses came in, and Madam Pomfrey also instructed them to finish their visit quickly.
After a moment of silence, Professor McGonagall spoke with a hint of awkwardness.
"Headmaster Dumbledore is overwhelmed with Snape's matter. The pressure from the Ministry of Magic is immense, and then he needs to find a new Potions professor, and the position of Head of Slytherin House cannot be left vacant..."
"I mean, it's not that he doesn't care about you, but he's temporarily too busy. I've already sent him a message, and he will come later."
Charle waved his hand, indicating that he understood and Professor McGonagall didn't need to say more about it.
Professor McGonagall then breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took out a notebook and handed it to Charle.
"These are my Transfiguration notes. You can read them when you feel better."
"Also, there are some reference books in the notes. You can look through them if you have the chance later. It's hard to find these books elsewhere."
Charle's eyes showed gratitude.
He still admired Professor McGonagall's character and naturally wouldn't take out his anger on Professor McGonagall, who was also from Gryffindor, because of Dumbledore's actions.
Then, Professor Flitwick, beaming, praised Charle.
"Snape might be a bastard, but he's got real skills."
"Hmph, back when the Dark Lord was rampant, Snape also..."
"Forget it, let's not talk about that. In short, Charle, you managed to take down Snape in a one-on-one, that's impressive!"
He scratched his head, pulled out a list of reference books, and winked at Charle.
"These books are classics in Charms, but they are also very precious, with almost no copies circulating."
"They are all collected in one place, ahem, you know."
"You can look for these books later."
Hearing this, Charle had a rough idea.
After the two professors left, he turned to look at the Head of Hufflepuff, Professor Sprout.
Professor Sprout took out a bottle of potion from her robes.
"Here, drink this first."
Charle nodded, tilted his head back, and drank the potion.
The next moment, Deep Blue sounded a series of prompts.
A bottle of potion brought Charle over fifty thousand deduction points!
Charle's heart trembled slightly. Even the materials from a fire dragon couldn't gather so many points. The preciousness of this potion was evident.
Looking at the obvious fatigue on Professor Sprout's face, one could tell that she had likely put in a lot of effort for this bottle of potion.
Thinking back to how Professor Sprout stood firmly in front of Charle even when facing Dumbledore, this Head of House, though not one to cause trouble, truly cared for her little badgers.
Charle took a deep breath and solemnly thanked Professor Sprout.
Professor Sprout, however, shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes.
Then she wiped away her tears.
"You still need to rest. I won't say much more, but there are two things I need to tell you."
"The first thing is Hogwarts' compensation to you. You will become the first student in Hogwarts history to have the freedom to attend classes."
"This means you can choose not to attend any classes throughout your seven years, as long as you pass the final assessment to graduate successfully."
"At the same time, you will also have higher authority than a prefect. You can deduct points from other students for violating school rules and add points for commendable actions. This authority is close to that of a professor, similar to a teaching assistant."
"Also, I believe with your intelligence, you must have guessed from listening to Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick just now, that the Hogwarts Restricted Section is fully open to you. This is unprecedented since the establishment of the Hogwarts Restricted Section."
Hearing Professor Sprout's words, Charle also nodded.
He didn't care about the authority, but the full access to the Restricted Section was useful to him.
Otherwise, he would have to get a note from a professor to borrow books from the Restricted Section, which was not only troublesome but also left a record of what books he borrowed.
Charle didn't want anyone to know his browsing history.
Furthermore, the Restricted Section was not as lenient as imagined; having a professor's note didn't mean you could see everything.
For some areas of books, a professor had to be present to take them out; a note alone wouldn't suffice.
With full browsing access to the Restricted Section, it was much more convenient, and Charle could accept that.
"What about the second thing?"
Charle asked.
Professor Sprout's face showed dissatisfaction.
"Lucius Malfoy, as a member of the School Board, strongly demanded that you be punished."
"Although the absurd punishments he advocated were not approved, due to the matter with Draco Malfoy, you still have to accept a punishment."
"After your injuries have healed, you will have to go into the Forbidden Forest at night accompanied by the gamekeeper, Hagrid, as a form of disciplinary action."
Professor Sprout said angrily.
"How can they do this?"
"You've just recovered from your injuries, how can they send you to the Forbidden Forest?"
"It's too much!"
At this moment, Charle was first stunned, then nodded in deep agreement.
"Indeed, it really is too much!"
"Although I was in the right, I wasn't entirely in the right. As the old saying goes, it takes two to tango. How can the punishment be so light?"
"One night isn't enough? Professor, could you please help me convey my strong request to let me survive in the wilderness in there!"
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read 777+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский at: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Join our Discord: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------