harry potter book of crimes

There is still a while before dawn, and it is now the darkest time of the day. In addition, the sky is always covered with a thick layer of dark clouds, so that the living room of the Granger family is completely dark.

Maka used magic to silently unlock the door, and then transformed into her Animagus form, gliding past the crack in the slightly opened door and disappearing into the darkness behind the door in the blink of an eye.

In fact, if it goes according to his expectations, he may be able to get some clues from Snape. But even so, his behavior cannot fundamentally change the process of Snape holding Hermione hostage.

The most likely possibility is that Snape used Hermione to coerce him and forcibly held him back until Greenwald opened the floor-to-ceiling round mirror.

Therefore, Maka did not intend to appear in front of Snape and Hermione in a swaggering manner, but was prepared to take it by surprise and use the portkey to send Hermione away first. In that case, he could treat Snape and Snape on an equal footing.

Pu has had a good negotiation.

However, the series of accidents that followed clearly told him a truth. The reason why "unknown" is called "unknown" is precisely because when you don't know, no matter how small the probability of an event seems,

There will also be an absolutely fair chance of it happening.

"Meow--"

Maka, who had transformed into a hummingbird, had just flown to the stairs leading to the second floor when he sensed a small source of magic power quickly coming down the stairs.

If it hadn't been for the meow, he might not have been able to guess what it was. But now he understood in an instant that it was Hermione's pet, that smart mixed-breed cat, Crookshanks.

!

Speaking of which, Maka's Animagus form really has an inexplicable fate with this guy. When he first transformed, he was chased all over the room by this guy and almost lost his life.

Tired into a dead bird.

But now Maka is not the stupid bird that couldn't fly when he first transformed. When he sensed that Crookshanks was coming toward him, he immediately reacted.

He suddenly jumped up, trying to avoid the other party silently, but who knew that this fast jump caused him to hit the bottom of the stairs above.

But when he heard a soft "bang" sound, Maka suddenly felt a pain in his head, followed by a period of dizziness.

There is no way, it is too dark in this room, and how can the magic sensor detect dead objects like wooden stairs? If you move forward cautiously, it will not be a big problem, but this sudden movement will be a big problem.

However, just because Maka couldn't see clearly, it didn't mean that Crookshanks was the same. In the darkness, a pair of greens suddenly flashed and rushed towards the hummingbird that fell from the sky.

"Crack! Boom! Crash -"

Caught off guard, Maka was accurately hit by a cat punch and flew backwards. In the end, he probably hit an empty teapot, and there was a crisp sound of cracking porcelain.

…

Meanwhile, upstairs in Hermione's bedroom.

"What's wrong? Is there anyone else down there?" Hermione, who was sitting on the bed, asked in surprise, "Professor Snape, did you bring anyone else with you this time?"

Snape, who was leaning on the armchair next to the desk, turned his face slightly and seemed to be a little concerned about the movement downstairs. He knew that he did have a so-called "accomplice", but that old guy would never arrive now.

Came here.

Then, there is probably only one person who can break the spell he cast silently and try to sneak in.

Snape just had a second thought and stood up. However, he did not try to open the bedroom door and go down to take a look. Instead, he walked directly to Hermione's bed. The wand in his hand was even more...

It never left Hermione's direction from beginning to end.

Hermione was certainly not a fool. When she saw Snape's reaction, she quickly understood. Although she was not as sure as Snape about the situation downstairs, she still made corresponding guesses.

"Oh -" Hermione paused, a few thoughts passed through her mind in an instant, and then she immediately said, "I know, probably Crookshanks went to the kitchen to eat secretly and accidentally broke the plate.

!”

Her voice was a little loud, which was particularly obvious in the quiet environment of the night.

"Shut up!" Snape said coldly.

"It's true," Hermione said louder, "Crookshanks does this all the time, it-"

Snape didn't give her another chance, and a silencing spell interrupted Hermione's words. She opened her mouth several times in a row, but she couldn't make any sound, so she had to purse her lips in frustration.

"...McLean."

Snape stared at the closed door, the wand in his hand motionless, and his whole body almost turned into a rock that could not collapse. However, there was an undetectable flicker in his eyes.

…

Downstairs, Maka, who was slapped away by Crookshanks, finally got the chance. He immediately released his Animagus form and returned to his human form.

Crookshanks, who was running towards him very quickly, crashed into his arms. He grabbed Crookshanks' neck and glared helplessly at the guy.

As for the commotion just now, Snape's shrewdness had probably made preparations immediately. If he still wanted to use a sneak attack to reverse the situation now, he would be looking down on a wizard who was the Head of Slytherin.

So, Maka had no choice but to hold Crookshanks in her arms and walk towards the stairs in a calm manner.

After a while, as the door of Hermione's bedroom opened slightly, Macash walked into the sight of Snape and Hermione. Crookshanks, who was a little restless in his arms,

Now it's quiet again.

Magical creatures like cat nives are actually very smart. They can quickly detect suspicious or untrusted objects. As for hybrids like Crookshanks, they also have this ability.

At this moment, its round eyes were pointed directly at Snape's expressionless face.

"Professor... uh, good evening?"

Before coming here, Maka had a lot of things he wanted to say and questions he wanted to ask, but now that he saw Snape, he found that he didn't know how to start.

"Seeing you here, I don't think I would necessarily feel very 'good' about it." Snape stopped his words very bluntly as soon as he opened his mouth.

Hearing what he said, Maka couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

Logically speaking, Snape is not the kind of person who likes to confront tough situations. Rather than raising the topic face to face, he would more often choose to avoid such a thankless move and use roundabout ways to solve problems.

For example, right now, he wouldn't be surprised even if Snape pointed his wand at Hermione and chatted with him for a while as usual. Because Snape's current task was just to delay time.

Unexpectedly, Snape directly broke the road as soon as he came up.

"Professor, you..." Maka frowned slightly, "Do you really think that Grindelwald can let you meet Harry's mother?"

"Don't call her such a dirty name, her name is Lily - Lily Evans." Snape's face showed no expression at all, and his eyes were even more misty. It was obvious that he had received Occlumency.

Taking it to the extreme, "McLean, you seem to know a lot?"

"No, it's actually not much -" Maka shook her head, "Oh...it's really not much."

"At least you still know what Grindelwald promised me!" Snape said calmly, "I thought he and I were the only two people who knew about this matter..."

Maka looked at him noncommittally, but sighed silently in her heart.

The secret work on this matter was indeed done very well, and he was even completely kept in the dark. It was not until he used the time turner that he could learn some of the truth.

"Do you still remember the story I told you that day in the basement of the Black family?" Snape said verbatim, "I don't ask you to understand everything I did, nor do I ask you to forgive me... Yes

To me, none of this is of any value. I just hope that you can sit down and wait peacefully until dawn."

"Do you think that's possible?" Maka asked.

"...I just 'hope'," Snape said, after a slight pause, the tip of the staff came a few inches closer to Hermione's neck, almost touching her snow-white skin, "No

Knowing that I do this, can you give me a chance to 'fulfill my wish'?"

Maka stared blankly at the wand - white birch, thirteen to fourteen inches long. Judging from the magic power fluctuation, the core of the wand should be made of unicorn material. Whether it is white birch or unicorn, it is

It is a sacred and beautiful material that can drive away evil. But its owner is Snape, who has always acted viciously.

Just like now, it was being pointed at Hermione by Snape.

Hermione still couldn't speak, but she still shook her head firmly towards Maka, as if to indicate that he didn't need to worry about her own safety.

Hermione probably still doesn't know what will happen after dawn, right? But she doesn't care about Maka's purpose at all, because she knows that Maka will never do unnecessary things.

Since he came all night today, he must have a very clear purpose.

Seeing the situation evolve into this situation, apart from lamenting the power of the binding rules, what else could Maka lament?

But before he could implement his original plan, another accident shattered his emotions into pieces.

Hermione suddenly dwarfed and hit Snape in the stomach with all her strength. Snape staggered due to the impact, but the effect was not good due to the poor posture.

It doesn't seem big.

Because it was covered by the quilt just now, Maka didn't notice until now that Hermione's hands were bound by magic ropes.

At this moment, the tip of Snape's staff suddenly lit up.