Leaving the office, Alan immediately headed toward the Slytherin common room. As soon as he reached his room and slammed the door behind him, a smile appeared on his previously saddened face.
"I haven't completely lost my acting skills yet, damn it! Even I almost believed my own words." He touched his wand to his temple; the young man's face grimaced for a moment. "I didn't think you'd still come in handy." After all, two hours before the meeting, he had managed to discover a fragment of Severus's personality that had hidden quite deep in his subconscious. And as soon as he began to move the wand away from his head, a gray firefly followed it. "And what should I do with you...?" He looked at it with a smile. "Destroy it or keep it for now?" After all, it was only thanks to this piece that Alan had played the role so well; he had used its emotions, which was why Slughorn had believed the Archmage so easily. "Fine, without you I'd be lost anyway, so live for now. And I think you'll come in handy again." Directing his hand at the personality fragment, he closed his eyes and began whispering something indistinct. In the next moment, a thin green barrier appeared around the firefly. Then the mage immersed it back into his head. Taking a deep breath, the young man fell onto the bed. "This really does make things much easier..."
After lying for some time with his eyes closed, Alan got up and decided to get to work. As soon as he wanted to learn about Salazar, a huge amount of information about him immediately surfaced in his head, which couldn't help but please the mage.
"Hm... 'The Greatest Dark Wizard': an arrogant nickname. I'd love to see this Salazar when he had to face a real dark mage... Parselmouth... meh... they've all gone completely mad if they consider that a sign of a dark mage. Damn! How stupid that is, but it's not for me to judge all these idiots." Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and delved into the memories again. "Legilimency... not bad, and quite a rare ability. Even in my world, there weren't that many Mind mages. I should look into it later..." But Alan didn't even finish the thought before information about this magic surfaced in his head, making the man unable to hold back a smile. "Apparently, I wasn't the only one thinking of studying it... And he gathered quite a bit of information. Well, now it will be much easier..." And the mage continued studying the information about the founder of Hogwarts.
Over the next hour, the young man went through all the information concerning Salazar and fully absorbed it. But he didn't find anything particularly important, which disappointed him slightly. Still, he wasn't too surprised by it, considering it quite normal. After all, who would keep such information in a place where students could easily access it?
"I'll have to talk about this with Slughorn. I think he should know more about him. And for now, I should take a nap. I think after classes, I can take a little walk around Hogwarts and get to know it better..." Yawning tiredly, the wizard quickly removed his clothes and jumped into bed. "But the beds here are excellent!"
The next day began for him with the Transfiguration exam, which he passed with 'Outstanding' without much difficulty. After all, transformation magic was just the basics in his world and stemmed from Eternal Transformation: a far more complex science that required the power and knowledge of an Archmage level. And of course, Alan mastered this magic, but his weak core didn't yet allow him to perform even the simplest similar manipulations.
But still, he had to give this world its due: simple transformation was a level above that in his own, and the number of spells on this topic was horrifyingly huge, allowing even third-rate mages with terrible control and imagination to use it.
Of course, during the exam, Alan didn't show anything extra and only used the knowledge obtained from Snape's memory.
Finally leaving Minerva McGonagall's classroom under her slightly thoughtful gaze, the mage first decided to wander around the first floor. But not just like that; he was searching for any hidden rooms. After all, the castle had a very long history, and the young man had no doubt that there must be many "interesting" places here.
There was nothing particularly special on this floor besides classrooms for subjects like Defense Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies, and Transfiguration, as well as a couple of teachers' offices, the Gryffindor dean's office, and toilets. Of course, Alan knew this, but he still decided to walk around while using a spell to enhance perception.
Over the next hour, the mage examined every classroom and got to know all the teachers better. After all, he still had two years to study in this place. But Alan tried to behave as naturally as possible, holding a Potions book in his hand and "barely paying attention to his surroundings." After all, one of Severus's favorite activities was reading such literature. There had even been precedents when he got too absorbed in a book and simply wandered aimlessly around the castle. Though mostly, he loved silence: hiding in some classroom and reading peacefully while hoping not to run into Potter and company. And one of those places was the out-of-order girls' toilet on the first floor*, where the ghost of a girl named Myrtle lived; she had died in that very place long ago.
And as soon as the young man stood in front of the door with the sign "Out of Order" and was about to open it, he heard crying, which didn't surprise him much.
Pushing the door open, Alan entered calmly and began examining the rather interesting "style" with mild interest: the sinks arranged around a huge pillar that aroused a bit of suspicion in the mage. But for now, he decided not to fixate on it and shifted his gaze to the stalls, from which a ghost in the form of a Hogwarts student flew out.
"You again..." Raising her glasses and wiping her tears, she looked at the young man with a touch of pity. "Are they bullying you again?"
"Something like that."
"You could bring them to me; I'd show them, and they'd never come near again!"
"Maybe another time. Better tell me about yourself. Have you seen anything strange here?"
"Strange?" Stroking her chin, she shook her head. "Hardly anyone comes here except you." She answered, circling around Alan.
"I see... And how did you die? After all, this is Hogwarts, and the rules are pretty strict here?"
Myrtle looked at "Snape" with mild surprise, for he had never brought up this topic with her before. He had always been very quiet, and when he came, he just locked himself in a stall and read, as if trying to escape reality, just like she once had.
"I... No one has ever asked me that before, and I don't remember much myself..." Lowering her eyes sadly, she continued. "There was a party, and I got upset... I argued with a girl and ran here. Then I heard some hissing, and a pair of big eyes looked at me, and that was it..."
"'Big eyes,' you say... And what were the pupils like?" Pointing his finger forward, he created a small eye in the air with a vertical pupil and yellow sclera while not taking his gaze off the ghost, whose face contorted. She was struggling between fear and horror. "I see." "Salazar, you damn psycho... keeping your pet in this place... But I should thank you... skin, teeth, saliva, and even eyes: such a generous gift, and..." The young man couldn't hold back the corners of his lips, which began rising on their own. "...Basilisk blood and heart... I might even manage to brew one interesting potion before leaving Hogwarts..."
"Th-that's them... I... I..."
"I understand. Thank you for answering my question." Alan had a good opinion of this ghost; after all, she could be called Snape's second friend after Lily, always trying to support him in his hardest moments.
"THINK YOU CAN HIDE HERE, EH, SNIVELLUS?!"
With a loud bang, the door to the girls' toilet slammed against the wall.
"Stupefy!" Three voices sounded at once, and three white beams burst into the toilet, hitting Alan right in the back. He was thrown forward slightly but still stood firm, and a dangerous gleam flashed in his eyes.
"Snape! You dishonorable bastards! Not only did you strike from behind, but three against one!" The girl exclaimed angrily, and in the next moment, water began pouring from the toilets, sinks, and faucets.
"Disappear, you damned crybaby. We just have questions for him." James ignored the water and looked at Alan's back with an anticipatory grin. "Well, how does it feel to be attacked from behind?! You humiliated me in front of Lily! Today you'll definitely...!"
"And?" Hearing that indifferent voice, the three guys froze in surprise, bulging their eyes at the slowly turning Snape.
"Silencio!" Another bright beam flew from behind Potter, hitting the Archmage in the chest.
"Sirius, perfect! And now... Expelliarmus!" The wand lying in Alan's sleeve flew out right under the feet of the trio of mages. "And now what do you have to say?"
"Not bad. Quick work." Snape nodded with a slight smile, making the unsuccessful students grimace. "And then?"
"We'll hang you naked in the Great Hall..."
"Oh... not bad, not bad. And then?"
"But first we'll beat you. What will you do without a wand?"
"I won't allow that! If you don't stop, I'll call Professor McGonagall here, and she'll punish you!" Standing in front of the Marauders, Myrtle exclaimed angrily.
Once upon a time, she herself had gone through bullying, and watching someone try to do the same to the only person she considered a friend was something the girl simply couldn't bear.
"No need. I can handle it myself. You've helped enough." Directing his palm at the trio of mages, he whispered, "Aguamenti."
In the next moment, water jets burst from the toilet bowls, sinks, and faucets, striking the Marauders' hands and knocking their wands out. Then several more streams as thick as a large man's arm hit them in the stomachs, throwing the mages against the walls.
"Myrtle, tell everything that happened here, except for the questions I asked you."
"Huh?" The girl, not yet recovered from what had happened, saw Alan's face suddenly pale as he fell straight onto the wet floor.
"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW...!"
Stupefy*: a spell intended to stun an opponent or moving objects and knock them off their feet. Silencio (from Latin silens: "quiet"): the silencing spell. Expelliarmus*: a defensive spell that causes the object held by the opponent to fly away.