"Professor, it was Severus who attacked first and insulted Lily! I was just defending myself!" As soon as Slughorn removed the spell from James, he immediately blurted that out, looking at Alan with anger.
"Professor Slughorn," the former Archmage began in a calm and even voice. "I merely addressed Miss Evans with a request to return my textbook, which I had once lent her. But he grabbed me by the jacket and started demanding something incoherent, threatening me. Therefore, I applied a non-verbal Silencio on him. And apparently, he didn't like that too much, so he decided to attack me from behind. Though, what am I saying? It's an animal; they don't have such a thing as 'honor.' Please forget the words I said earlier."
"That's not true!" Sirius exclaimed in defense of his friend. He had quite pleasant facial features and a light aristocratic pallor. "He attacked James first, and it definitely wasn't Silencio. And he also called Lily a 'Mudblood'!"
"I merely called her that because that's what she is."
"What did you say?!"
"She is a Mudblood: a witch whose parents are Muggles. I wasn't insulting her with that in any way."
"I understand," the dean of Slytherin stopped them in a calm voice, looking at Severus with slight surprise.
After all, for Slughorn, he was one of his favorites. Therefore, he knew him well, and such a change slightly alerted the professor. The Severus he remembered would never have called Lily that, for she was his only friend and the dearest person to him.
He considered him a very talented wizard who could achieve much in the future. And only because of that, Slughorn had invited the boy to the Slug Club, which the dean had founded himself several decades ago and where he gathered those who could achieve a lot in the future.
Horace himself loved comfort very much. And he also loved gathering talented people around him, helping them, revealing their talents, and introducing them to each other. And although he was the dean of Slytherin, Slughorn never discriminated against students from other houses and treated everyone equally.
"Minus five points from Slytherin," the professor shook his head discontentedly. "Mr. Snape, 'Mudblood' is an insult, and I ask you not to express yourself that way toward Miss Evans anymore."
"I offer my apologies, but I do not consider that word insulting," Alan shook his head. "In the Daily Prophet, there was even an article that this word is not an insult but an unofficial designation for wizards born to Muggles."
"Is that so? Then can you tell me the newspaper number?"
"Of course, number 6910."
"Good, I'll take a look, and if it turns out to be true, I'll award ten points to Slytherin," the dean nodded with a slight smile and looked at the group of Gryffindors. "Mr. Potter, for attempting to harm Mr. Snape, I also assign you a month of detention with Mr. Filch."
"But he started it first! Lily, why are you silent? Tell him; you saw everything!"
Lily herself had been looking at Severus all this time... She simply couldn't recognize him. She was seeing such coldness for the first time, and that indifference in his gaze when he was choking James frightened her very much. The girl couldn't understand how he could have changed so much in just a few days! And when the witch heard Potter's voice, she shuddered and looked at him with incomprehension.
"...What?"
"It was Severus who attacked first!"
"Yes..." Lily nodded dazedly, looking at Severus again. Meeting his gaze, she shuddered once more, seeing only indifference in it.
"That was self-defense, Miss Evans. And it was just a simple Silencio: the silencing spell. It couldn't threaten life in any way."
At that moment, three more students approached the group. On their robes, in the chest area, there was a silver snake on a green background, the same as on Alan's chest.
"I apologize, Professor, but we are ready to confirm Mr. Snape's words," a guy with aristocratic facial features and slicked-back light hair said in a confident voice. "We saw how he approached this group and politely asked for his textbook, but Mr. Potter grabbed him by the jacket and started demanding something fiercely. Mr. Snape politely asked to be released, but he didn't listen, and a spell was used that made him shut up. And as soon as the textbook was returned, Mr. Snape removed the spell and, turning around, started to leave. But in a fit of rage, Mr. Potter aimed his wand at his back, and when we were about to intervene, you appeared."
"Good, I'll take your words into account," the professor nodded contentedly. After all, he was pleased that in his house, many helped each other, although most often out of personal gain. "But, Mr. Snape, you will also be punished. I hope I don't need to explain why?"
"No, I understand everything."
"Good, three days of detention with Mr. Filch, but starting from tomorrow. And today, I expect you in my office; I need to talk to you about something," the professor said with a smile. "You five, follow me to the exam. And you, Mr. Macmillan, may go."
"Yes." With a contemptuous smirk, glancing at the four Gryffindors and nodding to Alan, he went about his business along with the two subordinates who followed him.
Alan, responding with the same smile, followed Slughorn, ignoring the four gazes full of hatred.
"Professor."
"Yes, Mr. Snape?"
"After the exam, can you give me a pass to the Restricted Section?"
"Why do you need that?"
"I want to study the science of Potions in more detail." "And also learn more about this world, especially about magic and spells..."
"Is that so," he nodded approvingly, took out a notebook, whispered something, tore out a sheet, and handed it to Alan. "If you have any questions about 'Potions,' I'm always ready to answer. You know where to find me."
"Thank you, Professor."
They reached the Potions classroom quite quickly, located in the dungeons of Hogwarts. The room was a spacious, gloomy, and quite cool chamber, fully furnished with various ingredients for brewing potions.
"I see everyone is here," the Dean of Slytherin said, surveying the class. "Then let's begin the exam." Several dozen sheets flew from the table and landed in front of each student. "The exam will consist of two stages: the first is written, and the second is practical. You have forty-five minutes for each stage. Are there any questions?" After waiting ten seconds, he continued. "Good, you may begin."
Looking at the sheet, a light smile played on Alan's lips. Just glancing at the first question, he didn't even need to think; the answer popped into his head on its own.
"If he hadn't ended his life, he would have become a great potion-maker," he thought with regret. "And why do such geniuses always die young?"
Sighing heavily, Alan began the test. It took him five minutes to finish, and the sheet immediately disappeared, appearing in Slughorn's hand. He scanned the answers, smiled contentedly, nodded, and placed it on the table.
As soon as the first part of the exam was over, everyone stood up from their seats. And at that very moment, the chairs and tables vanished, and cauldrons appeared in their place.
"In the second part, you must brew the Draught of Peace. You all have the ingredients, so you may begin."
As soon as they were allowed to start the task, Alan approached the ingredients, took the necessary ones, returned to his workstation, and began brewing the potion.
While he was preparing it, his hands worked automatically, adding the necessary ingredients in exact proportions and at the right time.
"I wouldn't say that Potions is such a difficult subject. The main thing here is to follow the recipe exactly. Although, looking at how the hands move, it's clear that the guy really tried to excel in this discipline... But still, seals and runes are closer to me."
After thirty minutes, a thick gray paste formed in Alan's cauldron, with a light and pleasant aroma. Inhaling it made the brain, as well as the whole body, slowly relax...
"Good," Slughorn nodded contentedly, looking into the cauldron. "Mr. Snape, as always, outstanding. The potion is perfectly brewed."
"Thank you, Professor."
Ten minutes later, time was up, and the Archmage left the classroom. His next destination was the library. And it greeted him with deathly silence.
The room itself was quite large, with a huge number of tall bookshelves. One could say that it was no different from an ordinary library, except for the material on rather specific topics.
Approaching the table at which a middle-aged woman sat, whom one could hardly call beautiful but still quite attractive for her age, he placed in front of her the sheet that Slughorn had given him.
"Madam Pince, you look magnificent as always." Hearing his words, she wasn't greatly surprised, but still, as a woman, it was pleasant for her, so her mood improved slightly, and she didn't look at poor Alan with the eyes of a bulldog ready to tear him apart if he only tried to damage any book.
Madam Pince loved books very much and considered them almost her children, and she protected them as best she could. And heaven forbid anyone stains or even slightly tears a book; they would become her personal enemy, and they would have to face her wrath.
There was even a legend in Hogwarts that once the headmaster decided to read a book on 'Theory of Transubstantial Transfiguration' and, deep in thought, began to scribble something in the margins, and the book immediately smacked him on the forehead. As they say, it was she who enchanted the book, and even the headmaster, who was the strongest wizard in the country, couldn't protect himself from her wrath.
Therefore, many feared her, for she wasn't afraid to respond to the headmaster. Then what would happen to them, ordinary students?
"Snape..." Thoughtfully examining the note, she nodded and returned it. "You may go, but just try to touch even one book..."
"I know, Madam Pince," he smiled politely, nodded, and headed toward the gate with a lock, behind which was a dark room several times smaller than the main library. "Well, let's start studying. After all, it's interesting what this world with such a small amount of magic has achieved..."