Half an hour later.
Having finished tampering with the Marauders' memories, Alan returned to the Whomping Willow through the same passage.
"There it is..."
He pointed his wand at a large branch. A blue flash shot from the tip.
A moment later, a rather large rat fell from the tree.
The mage didn't waste words on it. He simply used Obliviate, erasing the last seven hours from its memory.
Then, taking the chunk of wood (which he had previously transfigured into a coin), he headed back toward the castle.
Finally reaching his room, Alan tossed the coin onto the floor.
A few seconds later, it resumed the shape of a large piece of wood.
"Well, time to get to work."
Pointing his wand at it, the mage used wind elemental magic to split the large chunk into several dozen cubes.
Picking one up, he nodded thoughtfully.
"This will do."
Tucking his wand away, Snape pointed a finger at the cube.
A flame ignited on it. Carefully, he began tracing an unknown pattern...
A few minutes later, he turned it over and started inscribing the second one...
And so, half an hour later, a cube hovered before the mage.
Every side was covered in dark symbols.
"Aporrófisi — absorption rune, Aíorisi — levitation, Empódio — barrier, Therapeía — healing, Antanáklasi — reflection, and Apókrypsi — concealment...
A simple toy, but in this world, it could serve the locals quite well.
Both magical and production costs are minimal."
The wizard wasn't worried that someone might recognize the runes.
The "concealment" rune completely hid their presence.
In their place appeared entirely random symbols.
And if anyone tried to "hack" the artifact, it would simply self-destruct.
Alan had learned how to make this toy purely by accident from an acquaintance who had looted an ancient tomb and grown rich selling the finds.
One of the blueprints was for this very item.
At first, the tomb raider thought it was some powerful artifact.
But after creating and studying it, he realized it was just a toy for improving control and a simple way to detect a young wizard's talent for supportive magic.
For mages, it was merely a toy.
But for ordinary people — especially villagers — it became a protective artifact capable of reflecting spells from a "Master" and saving them from common magical beasts.
For example, Alan's current power was roughly that of a weak "Master," and Severus himself had been a rather talented young man.
From the memories inherited from the body's previous owner, he knew that many wizards left school after their OWLs — mostly mere "journeymen."
So such an artifact definitely had a place here.
Besides protection, it could heal simple wounds.
Of course, it wouldn't regrow a severed arm, but a finger — if pressed against it in time — yes.
It also didn't require magic to use.
Binding it only needed a drop of blood.
It was the perfect protective artifact for this world — one that promised Alan considerable profit.
But of course, the young man had no intention of stopping there.
He wanted to live a happy life where money was never a concern.
He had plenty of ideas, but they required capital.
He planned to earn startup funds with the cubes and then invest in his research.
"I'll make four more. Then I can wait and see how the local wizards react to my little toy..."
That evening, the mage made two more cubes and went straight to bed.
In the morning, he finished the last two.
Transfiguring all four into black needles, he tucked them into an inner jacket pocket.
The remaining wooden cubes he hid in the wardrobe and under the bed.
Then, leaving the room, he settled back in the library to continue his search.
He decided to leave the booklet taken from the Marauders for now.
He only checked it for tracking charms, then safely turned it into a white needle and stored it with the others.
He would examine it properly during the holidays, once he left Hogwarts.
After sitting in the library almost until lunch and finding nothing interesting, he was about to head to the Great Hall for a bite.
But a familiar voice stopped him.
"Mr. Snape."
The smiling dean approached the young man.
"How are you feeling?"
"Professor, everything is fine. Madam Pomfrey got me back on my feet quickly."
"Glad to hear it. I see you're heading to lunch. Care to join me?"
"I'd be delighted. I actually have a few questions about Potions."
With a wave of magic, he quickly returned the books to the shelves and followed the dean.
"Oh, questions are always welcome. I'm listening."
"I'm currently working on a potion that can double magical abilities for a while."
"That's commendable."
"But to finish it, I need a certain type of mushroom I saw in a book. Its properties were the closest to what I need, but the name wasn't given."
Taking out a sheet of paper, under Slughorn's mildly interested gaze, he quickly sketched a mushroom with a thin red cap dotted with black spots.
"The cap is red with black dots, the stem completely gray, and the mycelium..."
"Hm... This mushroom is called the 'Delusion Mushroom.' If a wizard eats it, it triples their magical power — but inevitable death follows. I'm actually surprised you found a description of it in a book..." The man muttered in astonishment. "I assume you're planning to use it as a base, weakening the effect to remove the poisonous part... Good idea, but you won't succeed."
"Why not?"
"I once had a similar idea, but I eventually abandoned it. There's a chance to neutralize the poison, but then the potion becomes too weak." He explained gloomily, smiling at the young man's puzzled face. "But I won't discourage you. Perhaps you'll succeed where I failed."
"I'll do my best!" The young wizard replied with a proud smile, puffing out his chest slightly — eliciting cheerful laughter from the professor.
"Good. If you have any questions, you know where to find me."
"Of course. May I ask a few more?"
"I'm listening."
"About white mandrake — when I..."
For the next hour, Alan continued questioning the Potions master.
Of course, he stuck to the school curriculum and books available in the library.
He also tried to behave as "childishly" as possible — exactly how Severus acted when it came to Potions.
After lunch, they parted ways.
The dean, reassured that Severus was alright, returned to his work.
Alan went back to the library.
Tomorrow was the end-of-year banquet and awards ceremony, so he spent as much time as possible searching for more information about Salazar and his descendants.
Toward evening, when Madam Pince was practically kicking Alan out, a woman wearing a black pointed hat entered the library.
"Mr. Snape, follow me. The headmaster wishes to see you." Minerva McGonagall, who also served as Gryffindor dean, looked at him with mild indifference.
"Is it urgent?" Raising his gaze from the book, the wizard asked discontentedly.
He had finally found something interesting about Salazar: words left after his departure from Hogwarts — a rather complex anagram using several scripts and languages.
In two hours, Alan had deciphered only one word — and that by chance, finding a reference in a historical chronicle full of quotes from great wizards.
The word was "hidden." The next began with "in..."
"Yes."
Sighing in disappointment, Snape closed the book and returned it to the shelf, along with the others on the table.
"Could we call Professor Slughorn? I feel much calmer with him."
Hearing his words and seeing the distrust in Alan's eyes, the woman pressed her lips together.
She felt uncomfortable under his gaze.
Remembering the incident from two days ago only worsened her mood.
No, she wasn't angry at Severus — she was angry at herself for being so prejudiced toward him.
Deep down, the dean saw her own reflection in him: she too had once spent entire days in the library.
They had even considered sorting her into Ravenclaw for her sharp mind and love of new knowledge.
"Very well... and I also wanted to apologize for that incident. I behaved inappropriately."
"I understand. No need to apologize. Let's go get Professor Slughorn. The headmaster is probably waiting."
"That... yes..."
Ten minutes later, the three of them stood before the stone gargoyle on the second floor.
"Lemon drop." Minerva said confidently, a slight blush on her cheeks.
Alan barely suppressed a smile.
"What a cheerful old man..."
The gargoyle's eyes glowed, and it stepped aside, revealing a spiral wooden staircase.
As soon as the wizards stepped onto it, it began rising slowly like an elevator.
A few seconds later, they reached the headmaster's office.
Alan's attention was immediately drawn to the old man sitting behind the desk.
"A Magister... very weak, but I'm surprised such a mage can exist in this world.
I clearly underestimated the locals, assuming the strongest I'd see would be peak Masters...
Hm, in my world, he would definitely have reached Great Archmage."
Though Alan considered the Hogwarts founders Magisters as well, Severus had plenty of information showing that wizards of this era were far weaker than in the past.
That's why the young man had previously assumed the strongest he would encounter were peak "Masters."
Thus, he was surprised to see the old man whose power level equaled a "Magister."
Then the wizard shifted his gaze to another person in the office: Lily, who was looking warily at the frowning Alan...
*In Alan's world, mage ranks: apprentice, journeyman, master, magister, Archmage, Great Archmage, Creator.