Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Afternoon
It was afternoon, and warm sunlight slanted across the corridors of Hogwarts Castle. Pandora walked briskly, leading Snape to her laboratory. Along the way, shifting patches of colored light from the stained-glass windows danced across the stone floor. She needed to make some preparations in the lab before they went to examine that unusual protective magic.
"Pandora, what kind of experiments do you do?"
"Recently, I've been researching a special topic: combining spells with plants. Sometimes, casting special spells on certain plants can have surprisingly amazing effects."
"For example, if you cast 'Stupe-Tergeo' on mistletoe, its flower crown will release an enchanting fragrance. That scent will irresistibly draw people closer, and after smelling it for a while, you'll fall into a trance, dreaming a warm, beautiful dream."
"Last time, I missed several days of classes like that, but thankfully no one came looking for me. When I returned, it was as if nothing had happened."
"..."
Snape was at a loss for words after hearing this. A strange feeling welled up within him; he found these things charmingly endearing about her, yet he also felt a pang of sadness for her.
"What is 'Stupe-Tergeo'?" he asked softly.
"It's a spell I invented. I combined 'Stupefy' and 'Tergeo,' and it became 'Stupe-Tergeo.'"
They talked as they walked, and before they knew it, they had climbed to the eighth floor of the castle. Snape looked up and saw the tapestry of the troll wearing a ballet tutu. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: Were Hogwarts' ancient secret places getting this popular?
"Wait for me," Pandora said to Snape, glancing around. She scurried back and forth in the corridor, mumbling, "I need to do my experiment, I need to do my experiment..."
In a moment, Snape saw the smooth door appear on the white wall again. He stepped forward first, pulled the door open, and gestured for Pandora to enter with him.
It was a circular room, much smaller than where he had hidden things last time. The room held several large round tables, covered with various shaped glass vessels and some papers. Near the window, along the wall, about ten kinds of colorful plants were growing.
"Isn't it amazing?" she said. "The castle actually has a laboratory just for me, and I'm the only one who uses it."
"Yes, it's very amazing," Snape agreed, not wanting to dampen her spirits.
He scanned the room, his eyes falling on the papers on the table, realizing they were several copies of the Daily Prophet.
"Why do you have the *Daily Prophet* here?"
"I use them to wrap dragon dung," Pandora replied casually, tidying up the instruments on the table.
"Perfectly reasonable," Snape said, twitching his lips. "By the way, how did you find this place?"
"They wouldn't let me do these things in the dorms, said it was too dangerous," Pandora explained. "So I wanted to find an empty classroom in the castle for my experiments. But the professors weren't too keen on me using those classrooms, so I kept having to change places. One time, Peeves even broke my experimental materials that I'd saved for ages."
"Of course, it's much better here; no one bothers me anymore."
She picked up a shiny crystal ball and said to Snape, "Look, this is a 'Resonance Revealing Crystal.' If you tap it with your wand, you can see invisible things around you, like wrackspurts and such."
"But be careful, using it for too long will make your brain turn slower and slower, like it's solidifying..."
Pandora excitedly introduced her laboratory to Snape. Many things here defied Snape's imagination; he truly wondered how she had made them.
"Alright, I need to prepare for the special demolition."
She laboriously lifted a plain small bag from the floor, then pulled out several sets of bottles and jars and a brass scale, beginning her preparations in a cloud of smoke.
"Pandora, did you make this little bag yourself?"
Snape noticed the bag's remarkably impossible capacity, which reminded him of Hermione's undetectable extension charm bag for the trio's wanderings.
"What?" Pandora looked up, her hands still busy, and said, "Oh, this. Yes, I made it with an Undetectable Extension Charm. Without it, moving the lab would be far too painful."
"That, um, I wonder if I could trouble you to make something similar for me?" Snape asked her, picking up a copy of the *Daily Prophet* from the table, feeling a bit sheepish. He suddenly felt the room temperature seemed a bit high.
"Sure," Pandora said quickly, almost without hesitation. "But that charm is very tricky. It took me many tries to make this bag, so I don't know when I'll be able to make another one for you."
"No worries, no rush at all," Snape said cheerfully. "Just whenever you have time."
Then, he leaned against the corner, unfolded the newspaper, and no longer disturbed Pandora's work.
It was an April newspaper, with no particularly noteworthy reports. Various Ministry of Magic updates and gossip columns almost filled all the pages, and the entire newspaper contained no magical theory whatsoever, indicating the author's lack of theoretical understanding. After reading it, Snape concluded that the *Daily Prophet* was indeed not a top-tier newspaper, and using it to wrap dragon dung was probably its most fitting purpose.
Suddenly, in a small corner of the last page, he noticed the words "Muggle Prime Minister"—
**Minister for Magic and New Muggle Prime Minister Meet Successfully:**
"Recently, Minister for Magic Harold Minchum has successfully completed a friendly and in-depth meeting with the new Muggle Prime Minister, James Hacker... Both sides engaged in deep discussions on several topics of common interest... During the meeting, both parties particularly emphasized the importance of harmonious coexistence between wizards and Muggles... We believe that the current difficulties are temporary, and with the joint efforts of both sides, a new world filled with harmony and prosperity..."
"Wait, James Hacker..."
Snape picked up the newspaper he was about to put down, staring intensely at the common British name, identical to Potter's, and the accompanying moving illustration below.
"James... Jim... Jim Hacker..."
"Blimey!" He couldn't help but apply too much force, tearing the page in half with a ripping sound. Half of the new Muggle Prime Minister's face remained on it, smiling stiffly.
"What's wrong, Severus?" Pandora asked.
"Nothing, nothing," Snape said, folding the page and putting it in his pocket. "It truly is a wondrous world..."
"Yes, I think so too," Pandora said, continuing to mix her colorful reagents without looking up.
Much later, Snape would still clearly remember that autumn afternoon in 1976, in the Room of Requirement, with Pandora tinkering with her experimental setup and him leafing through the *Daily Prophet*. There was no trouble, no hint of shadow in his heart. For many years thereafter, he journeyed tirelessly, rarely stopping, and never again experienced an afternoon quite like that.
---
Snape certainly stumbled upon an interesting revelation in that *Daily Prophet*, didn't he? It seems Pandora's unique view of magic, and her accidental discoveries, might prove to be quite useful for him. What do you think Snape's next move will be, now that he knows this piece of information about the Muggle Prime Minister?