Snape's potions classroom was in the basement.
Just like the first impression Snape gave people, the place was dark, damp, and carried a strange smell.
As usual, Snape did not look pleased to see Leonard. If Professor Sprout had not been there, he probably would have thrown out a few more sarcastic remarks.
Leonard, however, had no interest in dealing with him at all.
He calmly endured Snape's stare as he followed Professor Sprout in and out, without sparing Snape so much as a glance.
With mature mandrakes, it became possible to brew a potion capable of undoing a powerful Petrification Curse.
Harris Raymons was cured of his petrification, and afterward he had a long talk with Dumbledore.
The topic was naturally what had happened in the Chamber of Secrets. With the [Unbreakable Vow] in place, Leonard was not worried that Harris Raymons could pull any tricks.
So he simply waited in silence, waiting for the exams to arrive.
Because the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had been absent from class ever since Halloween, this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts exam naturally came to nothing as well.
After all, no matter how good Harris Raymons was at teaching, he could not make students somehow master the textbook on their own without a teacher.
Harris Raymons had really made out well. He still drew his salary for the whole school year despite barely working at all. Leonard had no idea whether Dumbledore felt cheated to death over it.
When the final exam ended, cheers rang through the castle.
Led by the Hufflepuff students, every house began holding its own celebration.
And yet, in the middle of that cheerful moment, Leonard went alone to find Harris Raymons.
At that moment, Harris Raymons was packing up his luggage. It seemed that even this member of the Ravens had failed to withstand the pressure of the Curse.
"So you're leaving," Leonard said casually, sitting on Harris Raymons's desk and watching him pack.
"I don't have a choice. I underestimated this so-called Curse." Harris Raymons sounded irritated. "But I have a feeling that if it weren't for you, my time teaching at Hogwarts wouldn't have gone this badly. I even prepared an exam paper I was extremely satisfied with."
As he spoke, he pulled out a sheet covered in writing and tossed it to Leonard. Leonard caught it casually, glanced at the questions, and curled his lip.
"You really are awful." Leonard crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it aside. "With that level of difficulty, aren't you afraid the students would tear you apart?"
The page was filled with exam questions for every year. At first glance, they looked difficult. After a closer look, they turned out to be even worse.
Harris Raymons had pushed the difficulty for nearly every year right to the limit. Nothing was beyond the syllabus, but the traps in the questions just kept coming.
If that exam paper had really been used, a bunch of students probably would have teamed up and treated Harris Raymons like a boss fight.
"Anyway, I only ever planned to teach for one year. My original idea was to use that exam paper as an outlet for the Curse. Since the Curse makes it impossible for anyone to stay in that position for more than a year, I thought I could just let the students drive me out and achieve the same result."
Harris Raymons shrugged. "Too bad it failed."
Leonard let out a scornful snort, clearly thinking Harris Raymons had been dreaming.
The Curse recorded on that open page of the notebook was a curse aimed at luck. It gradually brought misfortune to its victim.
What was misfortune?
Choking while eating, sputtering while drinking, failing at everything you tried.
Avoid it? There was no such option. You just had to endure it.
Leonard's snort caught Harris Raymons's attention. His eyes shifted, and he asked tentatively, "You took a trip through the Chamber of Secrets, so you must have found something, right? Like what kind of Curse You-Know-Who actually used?"
"Sorry, that's not something I can tell you." Leonard's expression made it obvious what he was thinking. Who do you think you are to ask me that?
"Fine, then. Forget I asked." Harris Raymons gave an awkward laugh and went back to packing.
Leonard lowered his head and casually flipped through an Ancient Runes book Harris Raymons had left on the desk, chatting with him about magic as if at random.
What he really wanted was to circle around and probe for information about the gray mist.
Harris Raymons did not seem to mind, answering while he continued packing.
"...Transfiguration is the universal spell of the magical world. There's no downside to mastering it. Haven't you noticed that every Headmaster used to be a Transfiguration professor?" Harris Raymons answered Leonard's question about whether Transfiguration was useful.
"Oh, I think Finite Incantatem is pretty good. Both the name and the effect are overbearing in a good way," Leonard said offhandedly.
"But that's still support magic in the end. It's useless against certain special things," Harris Raymons said.
He did not know that Leonard was aware of the Ravens' activities or knew about bloodline wizards, so he did not speak too plainly and kept things somewhat vague.
"Oh? Then is there a kind of magic that combines a certain degree of offensive power with a sustained magic-sealing effect, something like Finite Incantatem?" Leonard asked casually, testing him.
"How could that kind of magic possibly exist? Spells like Finite and Finite Incantatem use violent, disordered magic to break apart an opponent's spellwork. Chaotic, uncontrollable magic can't be shaped or restrained. It can't possibly have offensive power."
Harris Raymons shook his head, clearly thinking Leonard was joking.
"Not even the slightest possibility? Something like creating a shockwave the way a magical outburst does?" Leonard pressed.
"A magical outburst may look like chaotic explosive force, but in essence it's the primitive expression of various spells. It isn't truly disordered."
Harris Raymons shook his head. "So basically, it's impossible. Unless..."
"Unless what?" Leonard asked.
Harris Raymons straightened up and looked at Leonard with a serious expression, speaking each word slowly and clearly.
"Unless it's an Obscurus."
"Obscurus?" Leonard repeated the name thoughtfully. "The dark hunter that appeared during the Bloody Magic period?"
"Oh? So you've also read that exaggerated history of magic from the Restricted Section?" Harris Raymons looked like he wanted to laugh, but quickly restrained himself. "Don't tell me you ran into a wild Obscurus. I don't believe for a second that you came to chat with me for no reason. Are you here to ask about Obscurus?"
"Call it curiosity," Leonard said, unconcerned.
"This is not the kind of thing you should be curious about. Obscurus is dangerous. I advise you not to go anywhere near it," Harris Raymons said seriously.