Sitting on the bed, he began to review the memories in more detail, studying Severus's personality and history. For the entire hour, a smile did not leave his face, but it was not cheerful; it was sad.
"They drove the kid right to the noose, and all because of women..." Alan felt sorry for Severus. After all, losing his mother, constantly being subjected to humiliations, being betrayed by the one he loved more than life, and in the end, suffering defeat from his own spell used by the enemy, who was also a rival in love... When he reviewed that moment, the Archmage felt only resentment... But those were not his emotions; they were Severus's. "Children, how childish they are..." Alan thought with irritation, ridding himself of all the emotions and feelings that were also in the memories of the body's previous owner. He felt sorry for the guy, but he did not want to lose his own individuality.
When he opened his eyes again, the clock already showed twelve o'clock at night.
"Already past midnight. The 'examination' dragged on quite a bit, but still, that's too much information. I'll have to slightly adjust the block's settings so that they gradually flow to me," the mage thought with slight annoyance. "And the world is pretty crappy, especially in terms of magic. How far behind it is..." He pulled a dark wand from his sleeve and waved it with a nostalgic smile. "A conductor... I used one only when I was learning magic, and even then for just a week. So I need to get rid of such a crutch as soon as possible or rework it into something more interesting... But for now," he closed his eyes, waved the wand, and whispered barely audibly, "Katharismos." A cool air enveloped the mage's body.
A few seconds later, he slightly opened his eyes and, with a satisfied face, touched his hair, sniffed his clothes, and looked at his nails.
"It works." This was a basic spell in his world that every self-respecting mage was obliged to know. After all, it happened that one got too carried away studying something and simply forgot what time was, and this spell came to the rescue, instantly cleaning both clothes and body. This spell could be applied not only to oneself but also to one's surroundings, though it would require spending a bit more magical power. "Since that's the case, it'll be easiest for now to use spells from this world and leave my own for the most extreme cases..." For a moment, a bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face. He extended his hand and whispered barely audibly, "Mavri Floga." A black flame the size of a ping-pong ball ignited at his fingertip. "There it is..." He looked at the fiery ball with affection.
This flame had saved his life more than once, for he had created this spell himself when he advanced to the rank of Archmage. It contained all his knowledge and nearly five years of uninterrupted research. With its help, he had once managed to kill a Great Archmage, a being that no state would ever dare offend, for it would be no trouble for such a one to destroy it.
"Still, it's too early to use it," he said with annoyance, extinguishing the flame. "Only ten seconds, and already such a huge load on the magical core. Eh... it's not yet capable of absorbing a sufficient volume of magic. I'll have to resolve that as soon as possible." He extended his hands, and all the nearby objects floated up, but only for a few seconds, and then slowly descended to the floor. "Telekinesis... Still, I got lucky with the body: for this world, it could be called a true genius. Talent for alchemy, a good magical core at the 'Master' level, the ability to use what they call 'wandless' magic here. What more do you need?"
With a light smile on his lips, he fell onto the bed.
"I want to live this life to the fullest, and so that no one bothers me, I need to at least become strong enough that no one threatens me. And that shouldn't be a difficult task. I think three years will be enough; at worst, five..."
With these thoughts, he fell asleep. In his dream, he saw his smiling parents, his brother, friends, and the one he had once loved... They all said goodbye to him and walked toward a bright white light... And no matter how Alan ran after them, he couldn't catch up, but still, no matter how sad it was for him to say goodbye at that moment, there was still a happy smile on his face, for he had managed to see them, just as he had dreamed, before death...
Waking up early in the morning, Alan glanced at the clock and, with a heavy sigh, got out of bed. At the same time, a tired smile did not leave his face.
"And why do these classes start so early?" Pulling the wand toward himself and waving it, he felt the fatigue leaving his body. "That's better." He waved his other hand toward the lying clothes; they flew to him and hung in the air. And he quickly put on a shirt, long black pants, a jacket of the same color, and a black robe settled on his shoulders. "What lesson do they have now...?" He pondered for a moment; Severus's memories began to appear in his head. "Not a lesson, but OWLs... Exams. I never liked them..." Approaching the wardrobe, on which there was a large mirror, he opened the first drawer and took out a sheet of paper. "So, twelve exams in total. He's already passed ten with 'Outstanding'; you can immediately tell he's a book lover. Only Potions and Transfiguration left." The guy nodded with a satisfied smile. "Potions won't be a problem to pass; after all, it's his favorite subject. But Transfiguration... Though he masters it excellently, I should review and get used to this magic." Rummaging in the wardrobe, he pulled out a book on Transfiguration and frowned slightly. "And where's the Potions textbook...?" In the next moment, an image of a girl with long red hair, green eyes, and a bright smile appeared in his head. "Lily... So you gave her the textbook... Fine, I'll take it back today. After all, I don't want his spells to keep leaking out." Glancing at the clock again, he put on his shoes and left the room, heading down the stairs to the faculty common room.
The faculty common room was furnished with taste; tapestries and paintings depicting the greatest wizards who had graduated from this faculty hung on the walls. Antique dark wood sideboards stood against the walls. Despite the presence of fireplaces, the room was cool and quite gloomy. It was illuminated by a pair of lamps in a swamp-green color.
The educational institution where Severus studied was called Hogwarts, and it was the only one in the country.
In total, there were four houses in this place: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. A magical hat determined which house a wizard would go to, distributing based on character traits. Nobility and bravery: Gryffindor house; Intelligence, sense of humor, wisdom: Ravenclaw; Persistence, hard work, and honesty: Hufflepuff; Cunning, thirst for power, resourcefulness: Slytherin. Severus himself studied in Slytherin, where mostly only nobles and aristocracy were, in whose lineage there were only wizards.
Surveying the common room and the teenagers and children scurrying back and forth, a satisfied smile appeared on Alan's face.
"As if I've returned to childhood!"
Passing by his "classmates," the strangest thing was that he didn't notice anything like "contempt," but only slight dissatisfaction mixed with envy. But these were only isolated cases; most didn't care about him. And after thinking a bit, he understood why.
"The future... Most of them are future heads of their families, and from the moment they enter this place, they start making connections and establishing good relations with those who might be useful in the future. And spoiling relations with a potentially excellent potion-maker, and one like Severus – the 'Half-Blood Prince' – no one strives to do that, for anything can happen in life..." Pondering this, an image of a man with long silver hair came to his mind. "Lucius Malfoy... And he still kept in touch with Severus. Eh... Whether in my world or this one, aristocrats are all the same." Shaking his head, he left the common room and headed at a slow pace toward the Potions classroom, walking through dark corridors with huge windows in medieval style.
Along the way, several students from different houses followed, but Alan paid no attention to them, only surveying the surroundings with light curiosity.
"Though all this is in my head, it still feels as if I really haven't left my world; it's exactly the same as there... Maybe later I'll capture this place?"
While Alan walked toward the needed classroom, along the way he encountered a rather interesting group in the form of that very Lily whom Severus loved, as well as those four who had bullied him all these years.
"You chose the wrong one, the wrong one, Severus..." Shaking his head, he walked toward them.
The four guys, noticing the approaching Alan, only glanced at him with smirks, while the girl turned away, as if not intending to talk to her former friend.
"Snotty, do you want more? You were told not to approach Lily; she doesn't want to talk to you," stepping forward from the group, chest puffed out proudly, came a guy with short unruly dark hair and glasses with round lenses.
"Is that so? Indeed," Alan nodded thoughtfully, feeling irritation rising from somewhere in the depths of his memory. "I'll have to check the memories again; apparently, I missed some emotions." "I won't take much of your time, and you can keep her for yourself; I'm not claiming this 'Mudblood.'" He said with a light smile, looking at the teenagers' elongated faces. "I just need you to return my book that I lent you; you're not worthy of it."
In Alan's world, spells that a wizard created were their honor and pride. Their creators never trusted them to anyone. The exception was only the closest people whom the mage trusted like himself. And those who passed these spells to others, mages had full right to kill on the spot without trial. Therefore, Alan wanted to return the textbook, though the spells in it were useless; it was still something that Severus had once created.
"Apologize to her! Immediately!" Grabbing Alan by the jacket, James exclaimed angrily.
"Hands off."
"I told you to imme..." But he didn't finish; his eyes widened, and releasing the jacket, he clutched his throat and fell to his knees.
"I would hit you, but I can't offend animals." Raising a gaze filled with contempt from the writhing James on the floor to the others, he saw three wands pointed at him.
"What did you do to James?! Stop it immediately!" exclaimed the guy with dark curly hair and gray eyes. "Or else..."
"I just asked the Mudblood behind you to return my textbook, and your buddy attacked first," he shrugged and caught his textbook. "See, it's all quite simple, and we could have done without this." Alan said with a smirk, looking at the girl's angry face, and stopping the squeezing of the guy's neck with telekinesis, he passed by him and continued toward the Potions classroom. "Come on, Lily, comfort this animal; you like deer, after all."
"I'll kill you!" James exclaimed in fury, pointing his wand at Alan's back. "Bomba...!"
But again, he wasn't allowed to finish: his wand flew out of his hand, and his mouth disappeared.
"Minus fifty points from Gryffindor," a rough male voice sounded.
And before the astonished five appeared the dean of Slytherin house, Horace Slughorn. He was a middle-aged man with straw-colored styled hair and bushy mustache. He had a rather plump body and wore a three-piece suit. In his hand, he held his wand pointed at James.
"Mr. Potter! Explain immediately why you tried to use a spell like Bombarda on Mr. Snape?! Do you even understand that with this, you could have seriously injured or even killed him?!" the man exclaimed in fury.