Chapter 50 — Snape's Change
"The Forbidden Forest isn't off-limits just because of dangerous creatures," Hagrid explained gravely.
"What's worse is how easily young witches and wizards get lost in there."
"But last time Fawley fell into the Forest, Professor Corvey found him pretty quickly," Cedric said, puzzled.
"Professor Corvey is different," Hagrid said with absolute conviction.
"He's a survival expert—left footprints all over the world and met more magical creatures than I can count. Not like the rest of us."
To Russell, Hagrid was practically a born Magical Creatures teacher.
Forget how gentle he was with beasts—he had bred an entirely new species, the Blast-Ended Skrewt, using a manticore and sixty fire crabs.
A manticore, a XXXXX-class creature on par with dragons and thunderbirds…
And Hagrid somehow made it cooperate with fire crabs to breed offspring.
If Newt Scamander was a master of magical creatures, then Hagrid was at least a doctor of magical monstrosities.
"I suppose yeh've heard the rumors," Hagrid continued, lowering his voice dramatically.
"About werewolves in the Forest. I've never actually seen one meself—maybe just tales. But there are things in there far worse than werewolves."
"The Acromantulas?" Russell said.
Hagrid's face changed instantly.
"H-how'd yeh know that?" He stammered. "Their leader's a friend of mine. They're well-behaved! Not dangerous at all!"
"Of course, Hagrid. I won't tell anyone."
Russell sipped his tea. "Honestly, I want to go into the Forest just to collect a few rare herbs."
"Oh! That's easy then."
Hagrid visibly relaxed.
"If yeh need somethin', just tell me."
That was exactly what Russell wanted to hear.
He pulled out parchment and quickly filled an entire page with a long list.
Seeing Hagrid's troubled expression, Russell added quickly:
"Hagrid, you misunderstand. I meant—if you happen to see any of these herbs while patrolling, just pick a little. No need to go out of your way."
"Oh! That's fine then!" Hagrid thumped his chest confidently.
"Thanks, Hagrid."
Russell considered giving him a few Galleons in gratitude…
But then his eyes landed on the unicorn-hair woven rug under their feet.
Yeah… no amount of money was going to impress this man.
"Hagrid, have you ever seen a kneazle?" Russell asked suddenly.
"Always wanted to!" Hagrid sighed. "But there aren't any in the Forest."
"What a coincidence. I actually own one. I'll bring him over next weekend."
"Really? Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant, Fythorne!"
Hagrid jumped up and enveloped Russell in a rib-crushing hug.
"Cough—cough—" Russell struggled free.
"Just call me Russell from now on."
"And call me Cedric," Cedric added cheerfully.
---
Tuesday's Potions class was pure misery for most first-years.
Not only did they have to endure Professor Snape's perpetual scowl,
they had to brew sticky, bubbling concoctions in the dark dungeon—
without using their wands at all.
As the class prepared for Snape's usual round of interrogation, he suddenly broke routine.
Instead of glaring at them, he went from table to table handing out a thin booklet titled "Safety Regulations for Potions Class."
While everyone sat in confusion, Snape began explaining:
"To ensure that certain idiotic individuals make fewer mistakes—this is a set of rules I…"
He suddenly noticed Russell staring at him. His voice quickened awkwardly.
"…a set of rules I co-authored with a certain wizard. Inside are the basic guidelines you must follow during my class. I don't expect you to memorize it word for word, but you'd better understand most of it."
"Starting next lesson, if I catch any of you making the same basic mistakes, I will seriously reconsider whether you're fit to continue this course."
He gave them the entire period just to study the booklet, stopping occasionally to call on students to recite sections aloud.
And so the lesson dragged on until the dismissal bell finally rang.
"Snape must've come up with a new way to torture us…" a Hufflepuff groaned, flipping through the booklet.
It was thin, sure, but memorizing all of it felt like climbing a mountain.
"Hey… that's not totally fair," another student argued.
"If everyone actually follows this, accidents really would go down. At least we won't keep losing House points."
"…You're not wrong," the first one admitted reluctantly.
At that moment Snape spoke again.
"Fythorne, I will admit—barely—that the Muggle chemistry safety manual you left on my desk was… marginally useful.
Ravenclaw, five points."
Before Russell could respond, Snape grabbed several worn textbooks from the lectern and thrust them into his hands.
"Fythorne, your memory is adequate, but all you do is rote memorization. Your understanding of potions is shallow."
He tapped the books.
"These are my old textbooks. My personal notes are inside. If I don't see improvement by next time…"
A cold, familiar smirk curved across his face.
"Thank you, Professor Snape," Russell said with genuine excitement.
Being able to study the Half-Blood Prince's notes was practically a cheat code.
(So even Snape had his edgy teenage phase, huh…)
Russell knew this was Snape's way of repaying him for the useful safety manual.
He gladly accepted.
But it also made him realize something else—the Hogwarts curriculum clearly hadn't been updated in decades.
Snape's schoolbooks had to be twenty or thirty years old…
yet they were still using the same edition today.
"If you score full marks on the Potions final, you may join the Potions Club. You may go now," Snape said with a dismissive sniff.
"Goodbye, Professor."
Only after Russell's footsteps faded did Snape's expression soften—just a fraction.
A faint glimmer of nostalgia flickered in his eyes.
"Morticia… I've repaid your favor."
---
That night—
"Lady Morgan, can you teach me the next spell?"
Since they had already formed a pact, Russell didn't mind flattering her a little.
"Do you wish to take Me as your master? …Very well."
To his surprise, Morgan didn't object to the title at all.
Then she suddenly asked:
"Tell Me—what is the most powerful magic in the world today?"
"Uh… Avada Kedavra, I think?" Russell wrote hesitantly.
He wasn't entirely sure whether Dumbledore's firestorm spell or the Killing Curse should be considered stronger.