cycle

Monday mornings are often the most depressing. The few weekends are gone forever, and the long week is just around the corner. However, there is a burst of laughter at the door of the girls' dormitory.I was going to have breakfast with Hermione, and when I heard the voice I poked my head out to see what was going on, only to see that the spiral staircase turned into a long, bare stone staircase with Ron in a funny pose at the end Fell down on the soft carpet.

"It's not fair!" Ron huffed after Hermione slid down lightly behind me. "You can come into our dormitory, why don't we—"

"Can we go to the boys' dormitory?" I asked Hermione blankly.

"Oh, yes, this is an old-fashioned rule." Hermione giggled, ""Hogwarts, A School History" said that the founders agreed that boys are not as reliable as girls-why do you want to enter the girls' dormitory ?”

Ron dragged Hermione to the bulletin board where everyone was crowding, and I followed.Several senior boys stood in front of me, and I could only see a few words through the cracks, so I had to stand on tiptoe to try to see more.

"The order of the Hogwarts High Inquisitor," Harry whispered to me next to me, "probably disbands all student assemblies of more than three people in the school, and has not requested Umbridge to reorganize and approve the organization It is no longer allowed to exist, and once discovered, it will be fired immediately."

"The directionality of this education order is too obvious." I frowned, "This can only show that—"

"Someone has snitched." Talus was sleepy, and his angry tone was greatly compromised by yawning.

"Impossible." Hermione categorically denied this conjecture.

"It wasn't all our friends who came to the Saturday party!" Tallus said in a low voice. "Several people didn't trust us, like that Smith—"

"Impossible, I put a spell on the signed parchment." Hermione's expression was solemn, "It's a bit laborious, but it will definitely have an effect. If someone doesn't abide by the agreement when they signed it, we will know, and they will definitely regret."

"So you borrowed that "Contract and Curse"?" I remembered the big book she moved back from the library about half a month ago, which would raise a thick layer of dust whenever a page was turned, "No wonder you Will replace the unbroken quill."

"What did you curse?" Ron asked eagerly.

"It's just a punishment for those who don't keep their promises. I don't think it's a curse." Hermione said calmly, "And I didn't choose a very vicious punishment, but Heloise Midgen's pimples It would look like cute freckles compared to its effect."

"Everyone looks normal except for that big, nasty pimple on Smith's forehead." Ron stretched his neck and looked around while eating breakfast, "but I remember the pimple on Saturday." There it is-"

"Stop looking around." After reassuring several people who hurried over to ask questions, Hermione also began to look uneasy, and she didn't realize that she couldn't help but look around to see if there were teachers around, "I hope they don't come here again— —It really looks too suspicious!"

She gestured vigorously for Ernie and Hannah to return to the Hufflepuff table, but Cedric came anyway, desperately visible.

"I wonder if you have any objections to the prefect inspection list arranged last week?" Cedric asked Hermione calmly and calmly.

"Uh, when was it arranged last week—" Harry interrupted Ron before he could finish speaking, and replied, "They have no objection."

"Then I will notify the other prefects instead of you, don't worry." He smiled at us, and many girls around sighed.

"I didn't think it was a good idea for him to come at first." Ron said vaguely, watching Cedric's upright back (because his mouth was full of scrambled eggs), "but now it seems that we can save a lot of trouble by having him .”

"I also hope we haven't caused him any trouble." Hermione looked at the porridge in front of her with a heavy expression, "Of course, we will continue to do it... There is no reason not to do it, we knew from the beginning that Umbridge would What is the reaction..."

The situation was even worse than we imagined. Angelina hurried over and stopped the three boys, begging them to control themselves no matter what and not to have any more confrontations with Umbridge——Umbridge’s education order Including the Quidditch team, the match against Slytherin was approaching, and she couldn't imagine what would happen if the Quidditch team's application could not be approved in time.

"The Slytherin Quidditch team can keep practicing," Tallus said sullenly before Potions class. "I heard Malfoy showing off to the others that he only mentioned her to Umbridge. I agree."

I suddenly recalled the conversation between Draco and Umbridge in the school hospital before, and when Harry and I ran into him before going to the Pig's Head pub on the weekend, he didn't leave immediately, he looked like he was waiting for someone— —what if he wasn't waiting for someone, but just letting me and Harry go first?The No. 20 Education Order No. [-], which will be implemented immediately today, cannot be Umbridge's whim. If it wasn't for one of us to inform the outside, then someone else must have said something to her.The owner of the Pig's Head bar drove away a person who was trying to eavesdrop on the conversation in the bar. At that time, besides a large group of students, there were only a few strange people who wrapped themselves up tightly in the bar. They seemed to be sitting alone drinking there-

"Alice?" Hermione's worried voice interrupted my thoughts, "You look so strange, did you think of something?"

"Let's talk after class." The door of the basement classroom opened, and as usual, Dad glanced gloomyly at us crowded in the corridor, signaling that we should all enter the classroom and sit down before the class bell ended.I obediently picked up my schoolbag and sat between Patil and Brown without needing any other instructions from him. I took out "A Thousand Miraculous Herbs and Mushrooms" and placed it beside the cauldron.

"You'll see," Dad said, pointing to a corner of the classroom near Slytherin, with his usual sneering tone, "that we have a guest today."

I just realized that Umbridge was sitting there. The dim light in the basement classroom made her pink clothes no longer eye-catching. She was still carrying the writing board, and she showed a sweet smile to us who turned our heads to look at her. Nausea grin.

"Continue to prepare the enhancer today," Dad's tone could not be heard, he waved his wand, and a lot of steps and ingredient lists appeared on the blackboard, "The mixture of the last class-you have all got it - Remaining steps and ingredients are on the blackboard, start."

"My stuff from last week didn't seem right." Brown nervously tried to pour the contents of the glass bottle into the crucible, but they seemed to stick to the bottom of the bottle, "Why did it freeze, really..."

"Put the bottle in the preheated crucible for a few minutes, add some water to the crucible, otherwise the bottle may explode." I turned to ask her about the bottle, "You may have mixed up several blood components So the viscosity is wrong, I think—"

"Focus on doing your own thing first, Alice." Dad's cold voice appeared behind me, "I said more than once that my class requires everyone to complete the potion independently, and you can help Miss Brown in the OWL exam ?"

"I'm sorry, Professor." I looked down and returned the bottle to Brown, and she gave my dad a frightened look, as if worried that he would immediately announce a zero for her.

"Oh, sure enough, I heard that you are always strict with students." Umbridge appeared out of nowhere, and she pointed her father's back briskly (probably because of the huge difference in height, she felt that she kept looking up at her father's face) It will be very tiring) and said, "Your teaching content is also quite deep. Enhancers are dangerous drugs. I think the Ministry will consider deleting them from the curriculum."

Expressionlessly, I lit the cauldron in front of me and poured the clear liquid from the glass bottle into it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a mocking smile on the corner of Dad's mouth. He didn't respond to Umbridge's words. I express my opinion, but I obviously don't agree with it. This knowledge makes me feel a lot happier.

"How long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" They didn't seem to intend to leave. Umbridge seemed to be very interested in my action of filtering lizard blood. I tried my best to ignore her looking at me and focus on the cauldron. , but apparently unsuccessfully.

"14 years." Dad answered simply, he wanted to turn around and inspect other people's cauldrons, but Umbridge stopped him with a smile, put his fist on his lips and coughed twice, and still stood in front of me without moving. For a moment she wanted to light her drooping eyebrows with the fire of the cauldron.

"Miss Snape is fifteen years old," she said softly.

"Excuse me, does this have anything to do with my class?" Dad asked bluntly.

"Oh, I'm just sighing." She ignored Dad's stern face with a pleasant smile, and still looked at me unabashedly, "After all, I'm also your wife's boss. I know that she has been busy in the past, but now she is finally free. You should be able to take care of your daughter when you come down, so you should thank the minister—back to the topic, you have applied to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts several times but failed, right?"

"Yes." Dad replied quietly.

"Why is Dumbledore unwilling to let you teach?"

"I suggest you ask him yourself." Dad narrowed his eyes slightly, and gave me a warning glance to stop me from trying to skip a useless step. Medicine, I feel very boring.

"It's good that you don't favor the students very much." Umbridge still looked at me, and I was glad that the mist rising from the cauldron at this moment eased the discomfort of being stared at, "I checked the report card of this class, Judging from Miss Snape's performance today... she obviously deserves a higher score."

"I have higher demands on my daughter." Dad answered her with a little pride.

"Oh, it makes sense." Umbridge leaned over to look at the boiling liquid in my cauldron, "I think you will have stricter restrictions on her infractions at school, right? Of course this It's just an assumption, I believe Miss Snape is a good, smart and obedient child."

With a shake of my hand, I poured half a bottle of Salamander's blood into the cauldron. The previously clear liquid immediately turned an ugly orange-red color, and began to emit a sweet smell of blood.

"What are the qualities of a good pharmacist?" Dad asked, looking down at my cauldron.

"Calm, meticulous, and focused." I answered him in a low voice, without stopping trying to save the mistake by speeding up the stirring.

"Which one did you do?" He asked me softly, and I knew that the softer his voice was, the more angry he was at the moment.

I silently continued to stir my cauldron vigorously, but it seemed to have little effect. Finally, Dad waved his wand sullenly and emptied all the liquid in it: "Not all mistakes can be saved in other ways. I hope that through today's Zero points, you can firmly remember this sentence - come to my office from tonight until you make up a new enhancer."

"Yes, Professor." I looked at the empty cauldron and replied in a low voice, feeling that my face was burning because of the curious gazes of other students.

"As for your question just now, Ms. Umbridge, the school rules of Hogwarts treat all students equally." Dad turned away after half a second of silence. This time Umbridge didn't stop him again, but Gave me a meaningful look, then walked over to the Slytherin table to ask them some questions.

"How could he treat you like this—" Ron commented incredulously just after class, "I mean, Snape has been treating us badly, but you are his own daughter—"

"I think it's because Dad knows something." I listlessly threw my schoolbag on my shoulders, watching what Umbridge was still saying to Draco in the classroom, thinking of my own guess before class, my stomach felt another burst Discomfort, "We're in more trouble than we think."

The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom in the afternoon was quiet, even Tallus was just flipping through the "Defense Against Magic Theory" on the table in boredom, when Umbridge looked in his direction with an amiable smile Then he stopped expressing his dissatisfaction, yawned slowly and gently turned the book to the next page.Umbridge clearly felt she had staged a victory, and she was in a very good mood, humming the craziest old love songs, if her black velvet bow could make a sound.

I didn't have time to talk to Hermione about my suspicions. In the short time before Defense Against the Dark Arts, we were all listening to the boys talking to us about Professor Trelawney being put on probation. I thought Hermione would be indifferent, after all, she always believed that divination was just a sensational lie, and Trelawney should be the only teacher in Hogwarts who denied her ability—even Umbridge had to admit that Hermione Min could memorize that "Defense of Magic Theory" back and forth.But Hermione expressed considerable concern after hearing this incident. She thought that Trelawney's probation represented an extremely bad signal that the Ministry of Magic's interference and purge of Hogwarts had begun. Determination manifests itself in action.

The worst was yet to come, and as soon as we entered the common room after dinner, Angelina announced to the boys in a hollow voice: "No more Quidditch practice."

"What are you kidding!" cried Harry, "we didn't say anything, we didn't do anything—"

"I can't even yawn quietly!" exclaimed Tallus. "What else is she going to—"

"I know, I know." Angelina said painfully, "I just came to inform you that tonight's training was cancelled, and she said that she still has to think about it..."

"When is she going to think about it?" Ron asked angrily. He was more panicked than Harry and Tallus after losing regular training time. "She approved Slytherin, why should she embarrass us?"

In fact, we all understand why Umbridge did this—the calm in class today undoubtedly gave Umbridge a new way of working. If you can shut up these students by just grasping what they care about, why would Going to the trouble of arguing with them in class?Now that she has finally found a way, she is naturally unwilling to give up this opportunity to bring it to her door prematurely.

"Think on the bright side, at least you have an extra night to do your homework." Hermione tried to comfort the three boys, but it obviously had the opposite effect. We two girls couldn't understand the boys' attitude towards Quidditch anyway. Persevering and fanatical, Talus muttered something, and walked towards the boys' dormitory without looking back, while Harry and Ron reluctantly began to find seats in the lounge.

"I have to go to Dad's office." I said to Hermione, checking the time, "I'll see you later."

Hermione patted me on the shoulder reassuringly, then walked over to Ginny who was chatting with other girls, took out knitting needles and wool from her school bag, and then took out a thick book and laid it on her lap Ready to read.

I am very familiar with Dad's office. As I mentioned in my previous writing, I actually spent a lot of time in this office when I was a child. For other students, this room is not at all uncomfortable. Be happy—shelves with hundreds of glass bottles, glass jars of slimy taxidermy, and unlabeled bottles of colorful potions.My mother always said that the light in my father's office was too dim, but I didn't think so when I was a child.Later I learned that only when I went to my father's office to play, my father would make a lot of soft and touchable light balls floating around me to prevent me from being bumped when I was rummaging through boxes and cabinets. The impression given to all students will only be gloomy, terrifying, and make people regret why they appear here.

"Close the door." After I knocked on the door lightly and entered, my father sat behind the desk and said to me without looking up.

"Yes, Professor." I whispered.

A cauldron has been set up in the corner of the office near the medicine cabinet. I just wanted to walk over, but I heard my father say, "Sit down first."

He pointed to a reclining chair opposite him, still bowing his head and using his wand to direct the quill to quickly copy something from a book.

"I don't want to waste time," Dad told me in his usual class tone. "We already know what we need to know. Those plans are so stupid and full of holes. Smarter in pharmacy, but I'm very disappointed that you're mixing with them."

"You?" I asked sensitively, "I don't understand—"

"My lord has a way for you to know the news." He said in an unquestionable tone, "The Potter group is used to being self-righteous. I don't want to comment. Don't be influenced by them, just do your own thing."

Since I was sensible, I have never disobeyed what my father has already decided—especially in this tone, there is a voice in my head reminding me that I should nod immediately at this time, then pack my schoolbag and go to the corner to reconfigure a copy according to his requirements. enhancer, but I heard myself ask in a very small voice: "What is my own business?"

Dad finally raised his head. Even in such a dim light, his eyes were as sharp as two blades. I felt the familiar feeling of being scanned for the soul, but I didn't look away. The silence stretched me With the perception of time, I felt my eye sockets begin to ache.

After an unknown amount of time, Dad finally asked softly, "Is this hard to think of, Alice?"

"I feel that many things are changing," I forced myself not to lower my head weakly, but grabbed the hem of my robe to calm the complex emotions that suddenly rushed to my chest, "It seems... everything is changing, You and Mom are also doing different things than before, why do I-"

I didn't expect that it was my father who looked away first. He leaned back on the armchair and half closed his eyes. He stretched out his hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose, and calmly interrupted me: "From the past to the present, Alice, I only do one thing, and I can only do this one thing - protect you and your mother."

I didn't really understand the weight of that statement at the time, I just sat there watching my father show a rare exhaustion.I blamed this exhaustion at the time on my own decision to try to rebel against him, and when I became a mother myself, standing in the courtyard and stomping my feet at the helpless sons flying around on broomsticks, I suddenly understood that parents The inability to do what we want is actually forced to admit that as our children grow up, we are actually aging irreversibly day by day, and we cannot hide them in our wings for the rest of our lives.

"The ingredients you need are all in the cabinet, and the requirements are on this piece of paper." Dad recovered his normalcy, and he pushed the parchment paper that was just written on the table, which was full of dense small words, to me, "Time - Curfew Before, until you can produce something I am satisfied with, come to my office to report every night at the same time as today."

When I lowered my head and tried to see the small words on the paper clearly with the help of the dim light, the whole office suddenly brightened up, and several light bulbs emitting soft light slowly floated towards me from the tip of my father's wand.This piece of paper does not write anything about enhancers. It is much more complicated than all the potions I have prepared before. According to the prompts on this piece of parchment, the steps on the entire piece of parchment need to be completed within 5 minutes. completed within.

"The antidote to Veritaserum?" I looked up at Dad's chair in a daze, only to find that he had left the office at some point.

I had barely climbed through the Fat Lady's portrait hole when the curfew bell rang at Hogwarts.I have never been so embarrassed by brewing potions-there is a strong and pungent paste smell all over my body, and a sticky gray glue has solidified on the tip of the wand (because I got dizzy and thought the tip of the wand was tin) spoon into the cauldron, and managed to blow up tonight's failure), I suspect I may still have a few sprigs of Mediterranean sage tangled in my hair, but right now I just want to get to Hermione and the three boys.Fortunately, they haven't returned to the dormitory to rest like the others, and they seem to be discussing something. Talus is still holding an ordinary-looking mirror in his hand.

"Mundungus," Hermione explained simply after I'd told Hermione that Dad knew about our Defense Against the Dark Arts team plans, "he was at the Hog's Head protecting—"

"Surveillance!" said Tallus viciously.

"—to protect us, remember, there was a short, fat witch wrapped in a veil sitting in a seat far away from us, and that was him." Hermione showed a little annoyed expression, "Now the whole The Order of the Phoenix knows about it, and it's no surprise that Professor Snape knows."

"How do you know?" I looked at them in confusion.

"We just talked to Sirius and my dad." Harry pointed to the mirror in Talus's hand, "It's a double-sided mirror, and they told us a lot of things - Wes Mrs. Lai also objected to this matter, and specially entrusted them to advise us."

"She obviously found the wrong person. Both my father and his father thought it was a very good idea." Tallus shrugged. They were called away and said what... duty?"

"Snape objected to this, too?" Ron looked at me sympathetically, "I thought things like blowing up cauldrons would never happen to you - ouch! Why step on me!"

Hermione glared at Ron, conjured up a handkerchief and handed it to me, I gratefully took it, wiped the tip of the wand, and then gave myself a fresh clean.

"My dad did say it was a stupid plan," I said slowly, "but what he gave me today wasn't a booster...it was an antidote to Veritaserum, and he said he'd have to go to him until I got it done. closed his office, and did not say anything else."

"Looks like you're not worthy." Tallus tilted his head.

"It takes at least a month to make a perfect veritaserum," I said exhaustedly, sinking into a soft armchair, "the antidote and its corresponding potion often present a clear relativity, and this relative expression not only It is not only in the ingredients and texture, but also in the time and steps of cooking, so compared to one month, the cooking time of the veritaserum antidote is very short, but the steps are twice as long as the veritaserum itself."

"Within 10 minutes." Hermione explained to the boys who didn't understand, "it's roughly equivalent to preparing three enhancers in 10 minutes."

"My father's request is 5 minutes." I added weakly, "If you can give me 10 minutes, I might be able to make some finished products tonight, but the shorter the time, the stronger the effect of resisting Veritaserum. The shortest time recorded seems to be four minutes and 23 seconds."

"This is too much!" Talus said angrily. "Isn't he just making things difficult for you and not letting you participate in our activities?"

"Then he can just choose a potion that will take a month, two months or even more than half a year and give it to Alice," Harry, who had been listening to us in silence, said suddenly, "Why does it have to be the antidote for Veritaserum? Woolen cloth?"

"Although he said it was stupid, he was already copying the steps before I entered the office. The specific configuration of Veritaserum and the antidote are all in the restricted area-yes, why must it be Veritaserum What about the antidote?" I watched the sparks splashing from time to time in the fireplace, "And... Dad should know that I can definitely finish it in 5 minutes, I just need time to get familiar with the steps and practice."

"Anyway, we still need to find a place for the party." Harry comforted me, "You don't have to worry too much."

"It's useless to be anxious, the consequence of being anxious is—bang!" I made an explosive gesture, which made them all laugh, and my mood improved a lot.

That night I lay in bed thinking about what Dad had said to me in his office, and finally fell asleep in a daze.Those words would echo in my ears from time to time later on.My father achieved a lot and suffered a lot of misunderstandings, but he didn't care much about these things. As he said, he only wanted to do one thing in his life.