Dumbledore eventually agreed to Victor Wick's method.
Even if the method greatly violated the rules and was completely inconsistent with his usual style.
Because he was worried that if he didn't agree, Victor Wick would come up with something even more ridiculous.
Rather than let those youngsters attempt to assassinate Fudge or something similar, it was better to let them attack Azkaban.
Dumbledore had some understanding of those young people's capabilities; if a ruse turned into a reality, it would be a complete disaster...
Attacking Azkaban was indeed a better option. The defensive forces at Azkaban, aside from the Dementors, consisted only of a few Hit Wizards and Aurors on rotation. If the youngsters were careful, it would be difficult to cause accidental injuries.
After Victor Wick and the finally compromised Dumbledore discussed the specific timing and details, Victor excitedly hung up the two-way mirror.
At that moment, Lily happened to pass through the wall and return to Victor's office.
"Oh? Weren't you going to find Severus to research the formula?" Victor asked, putting away the two-way mirror.
"His mood today might not be suitable for work..." Lily said with some embarrassment.
Clearly, she knew her words today had a significant impact on Snape, but as a mother, she truly couldn't refrain from saying them.
However, delaying Snape's work and hindering Victor Wick's plan made her feel very apologetic.
"It's fine. A day or two won't hurt anything," Victor waved his hand nonchalantly.
"I've made an arrangement with Harry... to meet him in an empty classroom every day..." Lily said tentatively.
"You can decide that for yourself; I won't interfere," Victor smiled. "As I said, you can go anywhere as long as it's within the grounds of Hogwarts."
With mother and son so close, Victor had no intention of stopping their reunion.
Besides, as mentioned before, the more the deceased wished to be resurrected, the higher the experiment's success rate would be. By meeting more often, Lily's desire to return to life would become firmer.
Lily nodded gratefully. She had originally thought Victor might disagree, as such actions seemed quite easy to expose from her perspective.
After receiving Victor's permission, Lily drifted into the nearby Soul-Summoning Banner to rest like a wisp of smoke.
Victor stood up, stretched, and went to his own room to get a good night's sleep.
He hadn't rested much these past few days. Even with abundant mental energy and Invigoration Draughts... life is always imperfect without good sleep.
Besides, all the various matters had been set in motion; now, it was just a matter of waiting for the plan to unfold.
The news of Snape's recovery and return to duty caused a chorus of wails from the students of the other three houses.
Even some Slytherin students were a bit disappointed.
Compared to the taciturn and gloomy Snape, Professor Slughorn actually fit their image of a perfect Slytherin better.
He had taste, spoke elegantly, and was incredibly knowledgeable...
However, the matter was settled. They couldn't exactly find another troll to give Snape another blow with a club.
But there was also good news: Dumbledore announced that Professor Slughorn would not be leaving. Instead, he would remain at Hogwarts to teach Potions alongside Snape, with the two sharing the workload for different year levels.
If this were the past, Snape would definitely not have agreed, and might even have viewed it as an insult and a sign of Dumbledore's lack of trust.
But now, all of Snape's focus was on the formula for the resurrection potion. To him, having fewer classes meant saving time that would otherwise be spent teaching those foolish trolls how to brew potions, which was of great significance!
After Lily appeared beside him again to research the formula with him, Snape almost wanted to skip teaching altogether!
Snape's silent compromise was something the professors who knew him found utterly inconceivable.
Professor Slughorn had originally intended to visit with a gift to express his apologies, but to his surprise, Snape didn't care at all.
This former student of his seemed to have changed completely from the person in his memories...
"Why can't the Potions classes Snape manages be for the upper years?" Ron felt very unlucky.
"It's better that he teaches the lower years," Harry said wisely. "We only have another year or two like this. If we had to face that old bat teaching us in fifth year during our major exams... if he tripped us up then, we could announce our failing Potions grades ahead of time."
"Well, you have a point... I'm eating!" Ron said indignantly, stabbing a chicken leg on his plate with his fork as if it were Snape's sallow face.
Harry didn't say anything more. Although he was falling back into Snape's clutches, it would actually make it easier for him to observe Snape's state, allowing him to better help Professor Wick keep an eye on this suspicious character!
That afternoon was Potions class, and it was also Snape's first Potions class since his recovery.
Harry and the others were very cautious, fearing they would make some mistake and be targeted by Snape again!
Because of the Weasley twins' thrilling trip to the Forbidden Forest, Gryffindor's points were truly running low...
However, they encountered an accident on the way to class. Peeves was throwing Dungbombs everywhere along their usual path, forcing them to take a detour.
As a result, even though they hurried, they were still late. They reached the familiar dungeon classroom just as the final bell stopped ringing.
In the classroom, every other student had arrived. Snape was standing at the podium, looking at the three of them with a dark expression.
Harry and the others turned pale and silently lowered their heads.
There was no doubt that Gryffindor's points were gone today; even if Merlin himself showed up, he couldn't save them... at least according to Snape...
Malfoy and his two cronies were looking at Harry and his friends with smug satisfaction.
Seeing a rival have points docked by their own Head of House was always a delightful sight.
"Come in! Sit down!" Snape's dark voice rang out.
Harry and the others looked up in shock, then tentatively walked toward their seats step by step.
Snape's brow furrowed. "Hurry up!"
Startled, the three of them immediately broke into a trot. By the time they sat down, they were still a bit shaken.
Snape glanced at them and began writing on the blackboard. "Today we are going to learn how to brew the Draught of Living Death."
Only then did Harry and the others realize... no points were deducted? The fact that they were nearly late had actually been overlooked by Snape?
Not far away, Malfoy also looked at Snape with some surprise, seemingly feeling very confused.
Snape ignored the confusion of the three little fellows below and explained the brewing process for the Draught of Living Death in detail. "Take good notes, and then begin."
With that, Snape stood by the podium, his gloomy gaze sweeping over the entire class.
Under Snape's terrifying aura, all the students immediately sprang into action, setting up cauldrons and processing ingredients...
Unlike Professor Slughorn's teaching style of liking to talk about humorous tangents, Snape didn't like to waste words. Once he taught the process, the practical work had to begin.
So, no one dared to hesitate for a moment, lest they be caught and lose points.
The students worked in pairs, busy as could be.
Snape strode down, moving quickly among the students.
Along the way, Snape's mouth never stopped.
"Idiot! Lighting the fire before you've even added the liquid? Are you trying to burn a hole through the cauldron? If you had even poured the water from your flask into the cauldron, this licorice root wouldn't be scorched!"
"You foolish troll! Is your wand a troll's club? That's a cauldron, not someone's skull!"
Snape's angry rebukes made the young wizards tremble with fear.
It could be said that taking Snape's Potions class required quite a bit of mental fortitude.
Harry endured the immense pressure and focused on preparing his materials.
Suddenly, he felt a dark shadow flash past... Snape had stopped beside him!
Harry's heart instantly leapt into his throat, and even the hand he was using to cut the medicinal roots began to tremble slightly...
On the other side, Neville, who was paired with Hermione, was almost on the verge of tears.
Every time Snape had a Potions class, he would be scolded and lose points. So many setbacks had made Neville lose all self-confidence. In the Potions classroom, he even felt like his very breathing was wrong...
Not far away, Malfoy's eyes flashed with a hint of excitement once again.
Here it comes! Here it comes! Potter is going to be scolded and have points deducted!
Harry gritted his teeth and processed the materials, not daring to look up at Snape.
But he knew that as long as Snape wanted to, he could always find a fault!
"When processing herb roots, crushing them with a knife works better."
Harry thought he had misheard. He looked up in shock, only to find that Snape had already strode away...
"Huh?" Harry felt something was off about Snape today.
'Was that advice meant for me?'
Harry lowered his head again in disbelief and looked at the herb root in his hand that he had already cut once.
He hesitated for a moment but eventually gathered the cut herb roots together and crushed them with his knife.
Thick herb juice quickly seeped out...
In the distance, Malfoy turned away in disappointment. Why hadn't that wretched Potter lost any points yet? It shouldn't be like this...
Snape's suggestion was indeed correct. Harry soon found that the crushed herb roots converted much more effectively when brewing the potion.
"Hiss... Is this right?" Harry looked doubtfully at the potion in the pot as it gradually changed color.
"Ah... no..." A sudden cry of alarm came from nearby.
Harry turned his head and saw the potion in Neville's cauldron boiling far too violently!
Because Neville was afraid of Snape, he had forgotten all the steps and was in a frantic state.
Hermione, beside him, was hurriedly trying to stop Neville from adding more ingredients... but the potion looked ready to erupt.
Harry's hands were quick and his eyes were sharp; he drew his wand and directly extinguished the fire beneath Neville's cauldron.
This measure was indeed correct. The potion in the cauldron immediately stopped being so violent, although it had already turned a messy yellowish-brown...
Snape strode back down and stood beside Harry.
"Potter!"
Harry put away his wand with a grim expression.
'Fine, fine... arrogant, conceited, seeking the limelight, five points from Gryffindor... I could recite it by heart!'
"For helpfully assisting a classmate and preventing a classroom accident, while also ensuring your own potion's temperature remained stable... this proves you have mastered the method for making the Draught of Living Death. Ten points to Gryffindor!"
"Uh... what?"
The moment Snape finished speaking, the entire classroom fell into a deathly silence... only the sound of bubbling potions remained.
"Hiss..." Malfoy dug into his own ears vigorously. He began to suspect whether his lunch had been laced with hallucinogenic potions; otherwise, how could a situation where Snape gave Potter points possibly occur!?
"Longbottom!"
Neville was completely stunned. He lowered his head miserably, waiting for the storm to hit.
"Be focused when brewing potions! Stay calm! Being frantic will only lead to more mistakes! Learn more from Potter in the future!"
"Uh... hmm?" Neville was also dazed. He actually hadn't been scolded?
At this moment, although Snape's words were still stern, compared to the Snape of the past, he was almost unbelievably gentle!
Clang! Ron's mouth was hanging open, and he didn't even notice the spoon in his hand falling onto the table.
Hermione ruffled her bushy hair vigorously. She suddenly felt that her usually clever little head wasn't quite working right.
BOOM!
"Ah!"
Just then, another loud noise came from not far away.
It turned out Malfoy was so shocked that he accidentally added the wrong herb, causing the cauldron to explode and splashing red marks all over his and Goyle's faces...
"Malfoy! You dolt! I said it! Knotgrass should only be added after the fire is turned down! Were you even listening? Five points from Slytherin!" An enraged Snape rushed over, flicking his wand to clear the potion from the table.
"Ah?" Malfoy was completely stunned.
'Wait... Potter didn't lose points, but I did?'
'Professor, am I no longer your favorite student?'
Harry couldn't help but scratch his head and shared a look with the shocked Ron.
"Wait... is this right?"
Harry was utterly baffled. If he didn't know his mother was currently in a ghost state, he would have thought this Snape was his mother in disguise.