What the hell is this guy doing, not sleeping in the middle of the night, running around inside the castle?
Evan was more surprised that the Keresys he just saw was not Moody's appearance, but his original appearance was restored.
Although he still wears Moody's clothes, the compound tonic has lost it's effect; in the end, what happened?
Keresys seemed to be running away, so Evan immediately alerted.
"Who was that person just now?" Hermione said suspiciously, "I feel a bit familiar, but I don't think it's someone from the school."
She lowered her head and pondered. That person's back is very familiar, but she couldn't remember for a moment.
The light on the stairs is too dark, and the other party's speed was fast; making it difficult to see.
"Lets go back hurry out of here and talk!" Evan said quickly, pulling Hermione to run towards the stairs.
Since Keresys was running away, there must be someone behind him.
Evan and Hermione's presence in the foyer at this exact moment would seem out of place if that was the case.
"Evan Mason, Hermione Granger, what are you two doing?!" A terrible growl sounded behind them.
Evan and Hermione had just run a few steps when they saw a grim-faced Snape running out of the basement.
He had his wand in his hand, was wearing a long gray shirt-like nightgown, and was staring at the two of them viciously.
"Professor Snape."
"Professor, we're walking!" Evan said, firmly taking Hermione's small hand, signaling her to keep quiet.
"A walk?!" Snape said angrily, "Walking around the castle at night when you're not sleeping is a bad habit. If I were the head of your house, I'd expel you both and get you out of Hogwarts forever!"
He scowled at Evan and Hermione in disgust, his expression in a horrible and tense atmosphere.
Under Snape's furious gaze, Hermione couldn't help but take half a step backward and hide behind Evan.
"Did you guys see anyone just now?" He asked suddenly, his cold black eyes staring into Evan's eyes like drills.
Instantly, Evan felt his soul being sucked into them.
Damn it, it's Legilimency, Snape. This guy actually used this magic directly.
Evan stepped to the right, blocked Hermione's body, and used occlumency to close his brain.
"We didn't see anything, Professor; we were alone in the foyer." He said slowly.
"Yeah?!" Snape narrowed his eyes and moved closer to Evan, "Do you know what just happened?"
"No!" Evan said.
He tried not to look at Snape's eyes and could feel the other man increase his magic power.
With such a powerful force, what did Snape want to do, turn himself into an idiot?
In fact, Snape was amazed at the lack of results.
The boy before him had nothing inside his head, a feeling he was all too familiar with.
Every time he had faced Dumbledore and Voldemort, he had looked like this; it was the occlumency!
Evan was able to utilize the occlumency skillfully, which surprised Snape.
But it is not enough; Evan only mastered this skill initially and can't completely close his brain.
Snape could feel the cracks inside Evan's brain, and as long as he increased his power, he could know the secrets he wanted.
"Tonight, someone broke into my office!" Snape said coldly.
"That's unfortunate!" Evan replied softly, the pressure mounting.
"Don't play dumb for me, Mason; you must know something! I don't care how much magical knowledge you have or how many times you've appeared in the papers. In my eyes, you're nothing more than a nasty little boy, and maybe you think you can ignore all the rules and regulations, but you'll have to pay for it." Snape gazed at Evan and said impatiently, "Just now, someone broke into my office, and you weren't in your beds."
"It's just a coincidence!" Evan said, gripping Hermione's small hand tightly, "Did you lose something important there? You better be careful then; the wizarding world has been rough lately, with the attack at the Quidditch World Cup, the reappearance of the Dark Mark, and Death Eaters and whatnot. Do you think it's Voldemort?"
"Shut up, Mason!" Snape paled instantly and said in disgust, "Don't mention that name in front of me."
The spell lifted, and Snape's right hand subconsciously gripped a spot on his left arm that was the location of the Dark Mark.
Evan sighed in relief; he knew his ploy had worked!
"Very good, very good!" Snape said viciously, "You may not know, the potion ingredients in my private storeroom are missing; some students want to make forbidden potions, so I purposely left the defense magic there. That is a powerful spell beyond your imagination; that magic has just been triggered. Please wait for me to come out to chase, and I saw the two of you. Mason, Granger, do you know what this means?"
"No!" Evan shook his head, signaling Hermione not to worry, "We didn't see anyone here, Professor; you think someone broke into your office and touched your magic? It could be an illusion!"
Although he said so, Evan's heart has been scolding this guy, Keresys.
The magic medicine material, can't he let his own staff find those materials?
No one can help him, so why go to Snape's private storeroom to steal!
Although there are indeed a lot of valuable magical potions that make Evan's heart flutter, the risk is too great.
"Again, you don't know?!" Snape hissed, "I see; maybe you two snuck into my office."
There was an oppressive silence as Snape surveyed Evan and Hermione with ill intent.
Hermione didn't meet his eyes. She didn't know why Evan was lying to Snape. They had just seen a figure.
This continued to make Snape target his suspicions on the two of them.
In the face of Snape's anger, this is not a joke.
Although there are many doubts, tonight's things are obviously a trace of weirdness.
Hermione was sensible enough not to comment and was prepared to go back and ask Evan again.
Evan saw a glint in Snape's eye as he slipped a hand into his black robes.
For a moment, Evan thought Snape would take out his wand and use some spell on himself and Hermione.
If that were the case, he wouldn't mind having another fight with Snape to test his recent progress.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evan's right hand slid down naturally to the top of his wand at his waist. He then saw Snape pull out a small crystal vial containing a clear, transparent potion.
"Since you know nothing about what happened tonight, do you know what this is?" Snape said, his eyes glowing with malice once again.
"Veritasium!" Evan said in a single word. Of course, he knew about it. He had seen the formula for this magic potion and the finished product more than once.
"It seems that you are not as ignorant as you thought. That's right, it's a truth-teller, a potion that compels you to tell the truth; it's incredibly effective; just three drops will make you reveal your deepest secrets and make the whole school wash their hands of it!" Snape said.
"Professor, using this potion is illegal!" Hermione couldn't help herself. She couldn't believe it; Snape had gone too far, actually threatening them with the truth-spitting potion.
"You're right, Granger. The Ministry of Magic has very strict rules controlling the use of this potion. But you must be extra careful, or I will miss." Snape shook the crystal vial slightly, "Pour it into your dinner's pumpkin juice, for example. Then we'll find out if you've been in my office or if you know something you can't tell me."
Evan didn't reply, his eyes falling to the vial of Veritasium in Snape's hand. He had too many secrets; if Snape secretly sprinkled a few drops on him, the consequences...
In fact, upon hearing Snape's words, Hermione felt uneasy as well. Everyone deep down did not want to let others know their secrets; the truth-spitting potion was too terrifying. Unlike a Legilimency spell or a soul-snatching charm, the effect of the truth-spitting potion had no resistance, was colorless and tasteless, and was not easy to defend against. Even a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore would be affected by this potion.
"You can't do this!" Evan said softly.
"You know you're scared, don't you?" Snape had a sneer on his face as he said softly, "Let me think about what kind of punishment I should give you two for wandering around the castle in the middle of the night and lying to me. Gryffindor deducted a hundred points, and then there is confinement until the end of the semester, every week..."
Before he could finish his sentence, there was a sudden thumping and screaming from upstairs. Snape ran up as fast as he could, and Evan and Hermione looked at each other and followed.
Then they saw Filch and his cat on the stairs leading to the third floor, along with the golden egg. Evan instantly guessed that it was Ron's golden egg and that he and Harry must be around. He didn't know what they were doing with the golden egg at night, but only Harry's invisibility cloak could make them invisible.
This was really bad; if not, two more people would be in solitary confinement.
"What's going on?" Snape asked.
"It's Peeves, Professor!" Filch whispered fiercely, "He threw this egg down the stairs."
Snape walked quickly up the stairs and stopped beside Filch. Harry and Ron looked at him nervously, then went to look at Evan and Hermione at the bottom of the stairs. The two of them were disheveled and covered in dirt; they had just done something outside the castle...
"Peeves?" Snape said softly, his eyes staring at the golden egg in Filch's hand, "That's funny!"
"Professor, why are those two here?" Filch said, pointing at Evan and Hermione.
Mrs. Noris ran up to Evan and rubbed herself affectionately. Speaking of which, this cat was really ugly! In fact, because of Mrs. Loris, Filch and Evan's relationship was quite good. Sometimes, when Evan wandered around the castle in the middle of the night, Filch would let him off the hook, but that was it. Trying to plead with Snape on Evan's behalf was unlikely and useless.
"Someone broke into my office; I chased them out and saw them both!" Snape said softly.
"Could it be Peeves?!" Filch said gleefully, "Was the golden egg originally in your office, Professor?"
"Of course not!" Snape said sternly, "I heard a thump and a scream..."
"Peeves did it; he stole this golden egg and threw it down the stairs." Filch said, rubbing his hands together, "If this golden egg was inside your office, then he..."
"I said it wasn't him, Filch!" Snape's voice was stern again, "I sealed my office with a spell; only a wizard can break in, and there's a powerful defensive spell there; that person must be hurt!"
Snape looked up and swept a glance at Evan and Hermione, then at the top of the stairs. He looked right through Harry and Ron before returning to the corridor below.
"It wasn't either of them or Peeves who broke into my office!" Snape said, "He can't have gotten far; I want you to come over here and help me search for the intruder, Filch."
"What, Professor?!" Filch said in surprise. He looked blearily at the top of the stairs, his gaze piercing to Harry and Ron underneath the invisibility cloak. Harry could see that he was very reluctant to give up this great opportunity to catch Peeves.
"Close the gates and search the entire castle!" Snape said coldly.
Evan was speechless at the bottom of the stairs; Snape knew it wasn't him and Hermione. But he still took the opportunity to use Legilimency to read their thoughts and threatened them with the truth-spitting potion. He was truly a dangerous individual.
"It's like this, Professor!" Filch said, his head hanging, "I think we still have things to do; the principal will have to listen to me this time. I'm afraid Peeves has stolen from a student; I may have a chance to get him expelled from the castle for good this time..."
"Filch, I don't care about that pesky ghost specializing in pranks; my office has been broken into..."
Stomp, stomp, stomp!!!!
Snape stopped talking abruptly, and everyone looked at the top of the stairs. Through the gap between their heads, Evan saw Keresys limp in and out, reverting to his Moody persona. He was wearing the old traveling cape over his long, shabby pajamas and leaning on his crutches as usual. This guy had caused all the trouble tonight and was late to the party. If he hadn't almost died when he entered Snape's office and foolishly touched the defensive magic, Evan and Hermione would have returned to their respective bedrooms to sleep instead of standing here waiting for Snape to announce their punishment. Evan would have loved to go over there and give Keresys a piece of his mind if he could